The F1TV Experimentation Thread

[good_Ralf]

My PS3 has arrived! Now I am going to spend time using the F1TV mode on the 2006 game F1 Championship Edition. F1TV allows you to produce any grid you like, even putting a Super Aguri on pole! The race is played by AI and my first race will be at Indy with a 100% race distance. The game covers 2006 only so I can only do 2006 grids.

Indianapolis

The grid

1) Raikkonen
2) Fisichella
3) M Schumacher
4) Alonso
5) Webber
6) Montoya
7) Button
8) Villeneuve
9) R Schumacher
10) Barrichello
11) Rosberg
12) Trulli
13) Speed
14) Heidfeld
15) Coulthard
16) Klien
17) Liuzzi
18) Monteiro
19) Sato
20) Albers
21) Ide
22) Massa

Massa crashed at the end of Q3 and had to change his engine, thus penalizing him to dead last place on the grid.

For sure I will use the banking and the long, long straight to gain places. Hopefully I can score points today.

Massa gains 3 places on lap 1. Fisichella leads and Webber is down to 7th.
On lap 3, Massa is stuck in 16th but has done well since the start.

1) FIS
2) RAI
3) MSC
4) ALO
5) MOY
6) BUT
7) WEB
8) VIL
16) MAS

Coulthard is holding up Massa but M Schumacher is into 2nd past Raikkonen. He closes to less than a second behind Fisi.
Michael is leading! On lap 8 he passes Fisichella into the first corner. Massa is 11th and onto the off-the-pace Webber.

Nice job, mate. You're into 9th after 9 laps. Fantastic job!

At the start of lap 12, Massa goes down the inside of JV and is now in the points, but a long way behind compatriot Barrichello.

1) MSC
2) FIS
3) ALO
4) RAI
5) MOY
6) BUT
7) BAR
8) MAS

Massa is 6.5s behind Barrichello but will soon close in.
Trulli has retired and an unhelpful Ide lets Button past Montoya. Speed blows up on the banking from 17th, ending a nice day on home soil.
After 19 laps, drivers such as M Schumacher are pitting. He is now 5th. Fisichella retakes the lead of the race.
Raikkonen, the polesitter pits. Button is now 2nd and Massa is 3rd. Later Fischella and Massa are in, giving Button the lead.
When Button pits, Schumacher is there to take P1 back.

1) MSC
2) FIS
3) ALO
4) RAI
5) BUT
6) MAS
7) MOY
8) BAR

Barrichello is the first to make a second stop. Honda must be three-stopping and Barrichello is now 9th, elevating Heidfeld.
M Schumacher also pits and is P6. McLaren prepare to pit one of their drivers and it is Montoya.
Coulthard baulks Raikkonen, Button and Massa, the three drivers closing up. Massa gets past Button for 3rd.
In the pits, Fisichella leapfrogs Schumi and is back in front. 4.6 seconds is the gap.

1) FIS
2) MSC
3) ALO
4) RAI
5) MAS
6) BAR
7) MOY
8) BUT

Massa overpowers Raikkonen and is 4th, but is almost a pit stop behind Alonso. Only a retirement for Schumacher or one of the Renaults will give Felipe a podium.
Fisichella makes contact with Barrichello who spins off. The Brazilian recovers. When Fisichella pits, Schumacher retakes the lead.
Alonso is more than 25 seconds ahead of Massa, so the Ferrari driver is likely to finish 4th at best.

Schumacher wins narrowly from Fisichella by 1.759s. A great effort from Massa to finish 4th from 22nd on the grid.

1) M Schumacher
2) Fisichella
3) Alonso
4) Massa
5) Button
6) Raikkonen
7) Montoya
8) Barrichello
9) Heidfeld
10) Coulthard

[good_Ralf]

I'm biased towards Villeneuve!

In Montreal, JV, never scored points on home soil after 1996 so I'm putting him on pole and reversing the grid to give him the opportunity to win at last.
Once again, I'm doing the race on 100% distance.

Montreal

The grid

1) Villeneuve
2) Ide
3) Sato
4) Monteiro
5) Albers
6) Speed
7) Liuzzi
8) Klien
9) Coulthard
10) Webber
11) Rosberg
12) R Schumacher
13) Trulli
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Villeneuve leads from pole.
Massa is out at the Wall of Champions! Incredible! He is the first retirement. He rammed Barrichello at the final chicane. Rubens is unscathed.
Button has hit Klien at the same place as Massa and is out too.
Villeneuve leads Ide by 9.3s after just 5 laps. Could he win today? Alonso hits Speed at the first corner and retires from the race.
Both McLarens are out as well!!!! Contact at the final chicane has caused disaster. Raikkonen hit a Williams by the looks of things and then Montoya hit him.
In 9th is Michael Schumacher after all the chaos.
The gap between Villeneuve and 2nd placed Coulthard is 14s after 11 laps.
Klien and Schumacher have come together and are both out! Another final chicane incident sees Michael hit Christian. A grid lock has formed too.
Well that's a double-DNF for Ferrari and Monteiro also went out in the incident. Fisichella makes contact with Webber and Mark gets a puncture.
14 cars are left including the slowing Webber. The retirements: Massa, Button, Alonso, Raikkonen, Montoya, Klien, M Schumacher and Monteiro.
Villeneuve and Coulthard pit together after 17 laps of racing. Villeneuve still leads but DC is down to 4th. Fisichella pits.

1) VIL
2) COU
3) FIS
4) LIU
5) TRU
6) BAR
7) HEI
8) SPE

On lap 29, Fisichella is 2.8s behind Coulthard. Villeneuve's position is in trouble. After one lap, Fisichella has closed on DC by 1.0s.
ITV (James Allen and Martin Brundle) think Coulthard will pit first then Fisichella, who could leapfrog the Scot.
Villeneuve and Coulthard both pit, giving Fisico P1. When the Renault pits, Jacques is back in the led, but for how long?
Giancarlo is shortly all over the back of Villeneuve. At the final chicane on lap 38, Fisichella finally gets past Villeneuve. The dream appears to be over.
2 laps after passing Villeneuve, Fisichella is already 4.9s ahead. In the 32 laps after the move, how far will Fisichella go?
Coulthard closes in on Villeneuve. At the worst, Jacques is on course for 3rd and a podium position. Yippee!!!!!

1) FIS
2) VIL
3) COU
4) BAR
5) LIU
6) HEI
7) TRU
8) ROS

20 laps after passing Villeneuve, Fisichella is about 31-32 seconds in the lead. That's an advantage of 1.5 to 2 seconds a lap.
Trulli has retired again! 13 cars are left. Then R Schumacher blows up. Now both Ferraris, both McLarens and both Toyotas have DNFed.

1) FIS
2) VIL
3) COU
4) BAR
5) HEI
6) LIU
7) ROS
8) SPE

Webber is stuck behind Ide and the game has a glitch. When he gets past to unlap himself, Webber then lifts as Ide is theoretically about to lap him. Whenever the Ai are about to be lapped, they back off.

Fisichella wins from 19th on the grid. Villeneuve should be pleased with a bittersweet 2nd place from a shock pole. He was 45 seconds behind Giancarlo at the finish.

1) Fisichella
2) Villeneuve
3) Coulthard
4) Barrichello
5) Heidfeld
6) Liuzzi
7) Rosberg
8) Speed
9) Sato
10) Albers

[andrew]

1. Micheal Schumacher 10
2. Giancarlo Fisichella 8
3. Fernando Alonso. 6
4. Felipe Massa 5
5. Jensen Button 4
6. Kimi Raikkonen 3
7. Juan Pablo Montoya 2
8. Rubens Barrichello 1



1. Ferrari 15
2. Renault 14
3. BAR Honda 3 ( 1 5th)
4. McLaren Mercedes 3 (1 6th)

[good_Ralf]

1. Micheal Schumacher 10
2. Giancarlo Fisichella 8
3. Fernando Alonso. 6
4. Felipe Massa 5
5. Jensen Button 4
6. Kimi Raikkonen 3
7. Juan Pablo Montoya 2
8. Rubens Barrichello 1



1. Ferrari 15
2. Renault 14
3. BAR Honda 3 ( 1 5th)
4. McLaren Mercedes 3 (1 6th)

You can do an alternate championship, but for now I'm just doing individual races. I I do stage a championship, that will be later on.

[andrew]

Ah sorry

[good_Ralf]

Another back to front grid in Istanbul for another 100% race. This time, for the sake of pride, Williams lock out the front row in their FW28s, in a bid to win. Super Aguris fill row 2, Midlands are on row 3... OK, you get the idea

Istanbul

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Webber leads Rosberg in a Williams 1-2 off the grid. But Nico fires past on the back straight at the end of the lap and leads lap 1. I think Rosberg is programmed to be faster than Webber on this game because in some championships, on YouTube, Rosberg scores points on occasion but Webber doesn't.
For some weird reason, Coulthard pits early, suggesting he was on a light fuel load. Ralf is in too, having been in last place.
Rosberg also stops and Webber takes over the lead. Nico is 17th. A lot of AI drivers, including Montoya and Alonso, pit around lap 10. Montoya runs last.
Webber pits and rejoins in 4th behind Rosberg. Trulli and Klien are yet to stop and are now 1-2 on lap 14. When Trulli pits, Klien leads the Grand Prix. Eventually Trulli and Klien are 9th and 10th respectively.
Villeneuve becomes the first retirement with a suspected electrics/gearbox problem.

1) ROS
2) WEB
3) COU
4) BAR
5) MAS
6) BUT
7) ALO
8) IDE

Coulthard has somehow used the very early pit stops to his advantage and is now 3rd, closing in on Webber. DC is also under serious pressure from Barrichello's Honda.
Ide is 8th and forming his own Trulli train here. Ironically, the car he is defending from is... Trulli!!! But Fisichella sneaks by his fellow Italian.
I get the feeling that 3 stops are the norm in these races and in Turkey, there might be 4 stops.
The first frontrunners to pit for a second time are Coulthard, Rosberg and Massa.
Webber is back in front only to be passed by Jenson Button. But the Honda is on it's in-lap and Button has to do it again.
Rosberg regains the lead but Massa is in the faster car. On lap 34, Massa flies past on the straight but Nico repasses him down the inside at the next corner.
DC pits again and releases the cars behind him.

1) ROS
2) MAS
3) BAR
4) ALO
5) BUT
6) WEB
7) FIS
8) COU

Rosberg pits and Massa leads, having started on the back row. Rosberg rejoins 7th but Massa is in 1 lap later. Miraculously, Rosberg is still ahead. Alonso leads the two Hondas and soon Alonso and Barrichello are in too. Button comes in to the pits as well after leading a few lap. With no timing I have no idea who is on 2 stops, 3 stops or even 4 stops. Webber pits and Rosberg is back in the lead. Webber is now 8th with Fisichella getting by just before turn 8. By the looks of things Liuzzi has become only the second car to drop out.
Alonso is by Massa for 2nd place! Fernando took advantage of Massa's failed passing attempt of Rosberg to overtake. A few laps later, Rosberg still leading, Massa does the same thing to Alonso that Alonso did to Massa and is back in P2. Nico's lead is about 0.4s.

1) ROS
2) MAS
3) ALO
4) BUT
5) BAR
6) COU
7) FIS
8) WEB

A train of 6 cars (Rosberg to Coulthard) is covered by 4 seconds, yet Fisichella is nearly 10s behind in 7th. For half the race, Rosberg has magnificently defended from drivers such as Massa and Alonso and still the 21 year old stays ahead. How Webber managed to sink to 8th and hold up M Schumacher and the McLarens is beyond me. Fisichella gets past Coulthard with 2 laps to go. David challenged for the podium early on but has not maintained the position.
On the final lap, Nico Rosberg still leads Massa and Alonso for a virtuoso victory. Alonso repeats his trick on Massa and in the final corners of the final lap takes 2nd place, although it's too late to change the winner.
Rosberg wins by 0.399s from Alonso and 6th placed Fisichella is 3.3s behind Rosberg

1) Rosberg
2) Alonso
3) Massa
4) Button
5) Barrichello
6) Fisichella
7) Coulthard
8) Webber
9) Raikkonen
10) Montoya

[good_Ralf]

Sakhir

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Webber takes pole in Bahrain as he was faster in Rosberg in reality in qualifying. But once again, Rosberg passes him for the lead of the race a few laps in. At the start, M Schumacher and Raikkonen both lose their front wings in an incident at turn 4 which eliminates both Hondas and R Schumacher. Barrichello and Ralf have their rear wings knocked off.
Rosberg has a 3.6s lead after 6 laps. By now Alonso is in 7th with Massa and Fisichella chasing him.

Pit stops

Heidfeld lap 12
Robserg lap 14
Alonso lap 17
Webber lap 18
Massa lap 21

At the second stops, Rosberg is beaten by Massa and Alonso and later on, Fisichella slipstreams past Nico. Raikkonen at this point has not pitted since the emergency stop on lap 1 and he is into 2nd place. When he pits again McLaren appear to shortfill him in an attempt to get him further up the field. The tactic doesn't work and Raikkonen falls to an eventual 8th. Schumacher only stops twice but he loses a lot of time in traffic and is 6th at the finish.
Rosberg settles for 4th but loses out to Montoya in the final corner of the final lap. Polesitter Webber is a lapped 11th.

1) Massa
2) Alonso
3) Fisichella
4) Montoya
5) Rosberg
6) M Schumacher
7) Heidfeld
8) Raikkonen
9) Coulthard
10) Trulli

Drivers

1) Massa - 10
2) Alonso - 8
3) Fisichella - 6
4) Montoya - 5
5) Rosberg - 4
6) M Schumacher - 3
7) Heidfeld - 2
8) Raikkonen - 1
9) Coulthard - 0
10) Trulli - 0

Constructors

1) Renault - 14
2) Ferrari - 13
3) McLaren - 6
4) Williams - 4
5) BMW - 2
6) Red Bull - 0
7) Toyota - 0

[good_Ralf]

Sepang

The grid

1) Rosberg
2) Webber
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

The two Williams drivers are side by side into the first corner and surprisingly Webber leads out of turn 2, pulling away as well.
Sato blows up on the pit straight on lap 5 defending 4th position from Coulthard. He is the first car to drop out. The Honda of Barrichello is 5th. Rubens FTW?
Alonso crashes into Barrichello! Fernando breaks his front suspension and is out. The Honda is undamaged but is stuck behind Monteiro who is 4th. Montoya hits Alonso's loose wheel but he continues without a hitch.
Speed also appears to be out with no rear wheel. He was hit by Massa, who has lost his front wing! Weirdly the wingless Massa attempts to pass Klien.
While one Midland hinders Barrichello, the other holds up Raikkonen. Kimi runs in last place.
Webber is the first of the leaders to pit. Coulthard does the same 2 laps later from 3rd place. Again this must be a three stop race.
Rosberg stops 8 laps after his teammate and is the leader, albeit under pressure from Barrichello.

First pit stops

Massa lap 9
Webber, Trulli, Montoya, Button lap 12
Albers lap 13
Coulthard lap 14
Heidfeld lap 15
Villeneuve lap 17
M Schumacher, Klien lap 18
Liuzzi, Monteiro, Ide lap 19
Rosberg, Barrichello, Fisichella, R Schumacher, Raikkonen lap 20

lap 21

1) ROS
2) BAR
3) WEB
4) COU
5) FIS
6) TRU
7) MOY
8) BUT

Barrichello is soon onto Rosberg and into the first corner on lap 23 takes the lead! On merit too.
Second pit stops are 10 laps after the first ones. To work out when drivers make their second stop, just add 10 to the lap number of their first stop. Unseen from the local director Ralf Schumacher has retired.

lap 31

1) BAR
2) ROS
3) FIS
4) COU
5) TRU
6) MOY
7) BUT
8) WEB

Fisichella passes Rosberg for 2nd after the second stops. The Ferraris both dispose of Webber shortly after. Klien drops out as does Liuzzi. Both Toro Rossos are out.
The first pit stops for the leaders were on lap 12 and the second stops started on lap 22. The third stops have begun on lap 36 with the drivers who first stopped on lap 12.
Massa makes his second and presumably last stop on lap 38. He was running in the points.
On lap 40, Barrichello leads Fisichella by 5.5s. The win may not be his but Fisichella's.

lap 45

1) BAR
2) FIS
3) ROS
4) COU
5) MSC
6) TRU
7) MAS
8) BUT

Michael Schumacher gets past Coulthard and looks good for a podium as he will inevitably pass Rosberg. Massa squeezes past Trulli into 6th. Montoya is out with a mechanical failure, once again unseen. Schumacher uses turn 1 to overtake Rosberg. From dead last he is 3rd. Webber in the other Williams is 10th.
Massa continues his crusade to 4th and makes his move on DC for 5th place stick.
Webber, the first leader of the race, loses a measly 10th to Nick Heidfeld. Barrichello's lead over Fisichella with 3 laps to go is than 1.9 seconds.
On the penultimate lap, Rosberg is robbed of 4th by Massa but is safe to take a second consecutive 5th. Ferrari go from 21-22 on the grid to 3-4 in the race.
Barrichello wins a race for Honda! Fantastic! He was 1.1s ahead of the Renault.

1) Barrichello
2) Fisichella
3) M Schumacher
4) Massa
5) Rosberg
6) Coulthard
7) Trulli
8) Button
9) Raikkonen
10) Heidfeld

Drivers

1) Massa - 15
2) Fisichella - 14
3) Barrichello - 10
4) M Schumacher - 9
5) Alonso - 8
6) Rosberg - 8
7) Montoya - 5
8) Coulthard - 3
9) Heidfeld - 2
10) Trulli - 2
11) Raikkonen - 1
12) Button - 1

Constructors

1) Renault - 22
2) Ferrari - 24
3) Honda - 11
4) Williams - 8
5) McLaren - 6
6) BMW - 2
7) Toyota - 2
8) Red Bull - 2

[good_Ralf]

Melbourne

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Webber manages the lead from pole at his home Grand Prix. Massa and Raikkonen make contact at turn 3, Raikkonen losing his rear wing, Massa his front wing. For the second race in succession Massa has to pit for a new nose. But Raikkonen is out. If there were an alternate championship starting with my Bahrain race, Kimi would have scored only 1 point so far.
The Williams are side by side into Ascari! Rosberg once again nips past and is the leader after 1 lap of 58.
On lap 3 Alonso pushes past Montoya, who falls off the road. JPM will not be happy about that.
Button hits Liuzzi and retires again due to an incident.
On lap 8, Ide is still 3rd, critically allowing the Williams pair to escape. Speed is Yuji's nearest challenger. Then the on-form Klien gets by as does Barrichello.
Rosberg is 5.3s ahead of Webber starting lap 10. Within 11 laps, Michael Schumacher is up to P4.
Monteiro slows with a puncture but as it is at the end of the lap, he doesn't lose too much time.
McLaren pack up with Montoya suffering a race ending colllision.
Webber is passed by Barrichello at turn 3 on lap 18. Two in a row for the Honda driver?

First pit stops

Massa lap 1
Klien lap 12
M Schumacher, Alonso, Villeneuve, Trulli lap 13
Rosberg, Ide, Montoya, Albers lap 14
Speed, Monteiro lap 15
Liuzzi lap 17
Barrichello, Webber, Sato lap 18
Fisichella, R Schumacher, Heidfeld lap 19
Coulthard lap 20

Rosberg remains ahead of Barrichello and Webber after the pit stops. Having not lost a lot of time following his nose change on lap 1, Felipe Massa is 4th, but when he stops again is a mystery.
Coulthard pits from 4th and exits the pits in 8th just ahead of teammate Klien. The two collide at turn 2, putting DC out of a promising position. Christian Horner must be tearing his hair out.

lap 22

1) ROS
2) BAR
3) WEB
4) MAS
5) FIS
6) MSC
7) ALO
8) KLI

Heidfeld runs into Speed and Scott loses a rear wheel, retiring from the race. At that moment, Schumacher passes Fisichella.
With Ferrari changing his strategy, Massa needs to make a second stop soon and finds a way past Webber out of turn 1. A few corners later, Schumacher has a go but breaks his front suspension instead.
Rosberg is 0.7s in front of Barrichello on lap 27. That same lap, Alonso overtakes his teammate for 5th.
The retirements: Raikkonen, Button, Montoya, Coulthard, Speed, M Schumacher
Klien is the first to pit again. His first stop was on lap 12 and his second stop is on lap 27, meaning that drivers will pit 15 laps after their first stop.
Albers has a rear wing failure on the pit straight and parks up just before his second stop. The rear wing is struck by Rosberg, who is not badly affected.
Nico pits and Barrichello has 4 more laps left before he comes in. Webber loses his battle with Fisichella's Renault.
Barrichello makes his stop, but because he is still yet to pit again, Massa takes the lead. Barrichello easily comes out ahead of his Williams rival.
Massa makes what should be his last stop on lap 34. He too leapfrogs Rosberg.

lap 35

1) BAR
2) MAS
3) ROS
4) ALO
5) FIS
6) WEB
7) RSC
8) KLI

There is little change in the order but the two Renaults have a brief battle for 4th, giving Rosberg a bit of time.
Klien is again the first to pit on lap 42. Alonso pits a lap before Rosberg but still gets ahead. Barrichello pits from the lead and if Massa isn't going to stop again, Felipe has everything sealed up. In many ways, it appears to be better to lose your nose on the first lap than keep out of trouble on this game.
Massa is stopping again! They fueled him with a low amount, so the stop would be quicker and Massa would have better pace. What if Massa had only stopped once, not counting the lap 1 stop? He is still 2nd.

lap 51

1) BAR
2) MAS
3) ALO
4) FIS
5) ROS
6) WEB
7) RSC
8) HEI

With 5 laps to go, 6 seconds separates the two Brazilians running 1-2. Traffic cuts Rubens' lead over Massa and traffic is getting in the way. Liuzzi has retired again.
Klien slows letting Massa lap him, so Trulli grabs 9th off the Austrian.
Barrichello wins by 1.219s from Massa for another victory. The Renaults are 3-4 and the front row Williams are a distant 5-6.

1) Barrichello
2) Massa
3) Alonso
4) Fisichella
5) Rosberg
6) Webber
7) R Schumacher
8) Heidfeld
9) Trulli
10) Klien

Drivers

1) Massa - 23
2) Barrichello - 20
3) Fisichella - 19
4) Alonso - 14
5) Rosberg - 12
6) M Schumacher - 9
7) Montoya - 5
8) Coulthard - 3
9) Webber - 3
10) Heidfeld - 3
11) Trulli - 2
12) R Schumacher - 2
13) Raikkonen - 1
14) Button - 1
15) Klien - 0

Constructors

1) Ferrari - 32
2) Renault - 31
3) Honda - 21
4) Williams - 15
5) McLaren - 6
6) Toyota - 4
7) Red Bull - 3
8) BMW - 3

[good_Ralf]

Imola

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

I don't expect the Williams to win because although Imola doesn't allow much overtaking, the faster cars will get past the slower cars in the first stint and at the first stops. They will then close in on the blue cars and will be held up. The cars will promptly leapfrog Williams at the second or third stops. This could happen anywhere.

The field gets away cleanly until Massa gets caught up in his third consecutive incident, putting him out on the spot at the Variante Alta chicane. That is his first retirement since the season began. Then Fisichella is knocked out as well!!! Oh dear. He slammed into M Schumacher at the final chicane.
Klien loses his rear wing thanks to Ralf Schumacher, who survives but needs a new front wing. Could this change of strategy assist him into the points by the finish?
Alonso hits the front wing but is not harmed.
Liuzzi makes contact with a Midland and runs wide. Heidfeld collects him and has a puncture. Heidfeld spins as a result at the final chicane and locks wheels with Villeneuve. Heidfeld disappears and Jacques crashes. Liuzzi goes a couple of laps down with a puncture of his own.
Now Raikkonen and Michael have collided at Variante Alta!!! Both are out and the Ferraris both DNF at Imola.
Webber is hit by Rosberg and suffers rear wing damage but it is minor. They then pit together and Ide is now leading. Soon enough Trulli makes his way through to lead at home. Massa, Fisichella, Klien, Heidfeld, Villeneuve, M Schumacher, Raikkonen and Button have DNFed. Jenson hit Monteiro, also at Variante Alta.

First pit stops

R Schumacher lap 3
Barrichello lap 4
Liuzzi lap 12
Webber, Rosberg, Speed, Monteiro, Button lap 13
Sato, Alonso lap 14
Trulli lap 19
Ide, Coulthard, Montoya lap 20
Albers lap 21

lap 22

1) WEB
2) RSC
3) BAR
4) ROS
5) TRU
6) IDE
7) ALB
8) COU

Alonso runs in P9, stuck in the Ide train. Barrichello forces his way past R Schumacher into 2nd. On the next lap, lap 24 he gets past Webber at but there is a question of when Rubens will pit again.
Coulthard eliminates himself getting past Ide. Massa, Fisichella, Klien, Heidfeld, Villeneuve, M Schumacher, Raikkonen, Button and Coulthard are out.
Ide is hit by Montoya, damaging the rear wing.
R Schumacher pits for a second time on lap 30. Rosberg is in on lap 31 and Webber on lap 33, Trulli lap 34. The Toyotas get ahead of both of them. Montoya stops too and he rejoins just behind the Williams. Not promising for Sir Frank.

Second pit stops

R Schumacher lap 30
Rosberg lap 31
Webber lap 33
Trulli lap 34
Montoya lap 35
Barrichello lap 36

lap 40

1) BAR
2) RSC
3) TRU
4) WEB
5) ROS
6) MOY
7) ALO
8) ALB

Montoya gets past Rosberg and Alonso does the the same a few corners later. Then Montoya hit Webber, damaging the rear wing like Ide. Ide himself has been hit by Speed! The rear wing is gone. Speed collided with Ide entering the pit lane. Yuji lost a rear wheel and spun, then crashes backwards into a wall and ripping off the wing. Suddenly, Alonso becomes Variante Alta's latest victim, Webber shutting the door. Rosberg comes out of the pits in front of his teammate.
Then Ralf blows up! It was at Tosa. Albers has also gone, so 9 cars are left, many crashing at the Variante chicanes.

1) BAR
2) TRU
3) MOY
4) ROS
5) WEB
6) SAT
7) SPE
8) MON

The main battle is now for 2nd, with Trulli ahead of Montoya who is in the much faster McLaren. Speed is uptight behind Sato and he must be careful, given how he took out Ide earlier on.
Barrichello scores a hat-trick of victories and Sato pips Speed for 6th. Trulli was 49s behind at the finish.

1) Barrichello
2) Trulli
3) Montoya
4) Rosberg
5) Webber
6) Sato
7) Speed
8) Monteiro
9) Liuzzi


Drivers

1) Barrichello - 30
2) Massa - 23
3) Fisichella - 19
4) Rosberg - 17
5) Alonso - 14
6) Montoya - 11
7) Trulli - 10
8) M Schumacher - 9
9) Webber - 7
10) Coulthard - 3
11) Sato - 3
12) Heidfeld - 3
13) R Schumacher - 2
14) Speed - 2
15) Raikkonen - 1
16) Button - 1
17) Monteiro - 1
18) Liuzzi - 0
19) Klien - 0

Constructors

1) Ferrari - 32
2) Renault - 31
3) Honda - 30
4) Williams - 24
5) Toyota - 12
6) McLaren - 12
7) Red Bull - 3
8) Super Aguri - 3
9) BMW - 3
10) Toro Rosso - 2
11) Midland - 1

[good_Ralf]

Nurburgring

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Webber leads the pack into turn 1. Raikkonen is out again!!!!!! Schumacher slammed into the McLaren and has lost his front wing. As usual on this game, the early stop will give Michael an advantage and probably a shot at victory. Villeneuve gives the luckless Ralf a puncture at the hairpin.That's both Schumacher's in incidents on the first lap. Ralf rejoins a lap down, into the path of other traffic. Could this help the Williams duo? However the AI Ralf is generous and lets the opposition lap him.
After 5 laps, M Schumacher is just a few seconds behind the back of the pack, so the stop has helped a lot. Trulli has gone from Imola hero to Nurburgring zero as he is forced to retire. He made contact with Montoya at the hairpin, but the real damage was done when Alonso also hit him, knocking off a front wheel. Toyota are set to score no points today.
Ide retires when he gets a puncture and is hit moments later. It's Schumacher and he is out again!!

First pit stops

M Schumacher, R Schumacher lap 1
Alonso lap 7
Liuzzi, Monteiro lap 16
Rosberg, Villeneuve lap 17
Coulthard, Barrichello, Montoya, Sato lap 18
Button, Fisichella, Klien lap 22
Webber, Massa, Heidfeld lap 23
Albers, Speed lap 24

lap 24

1) ROS
2) WEB
3) COU
4) MAS
5) BUT
6) ALO
7) FIS
8) MOY

Rosberg, despite stopping earlier, gets in front of Webber. Massa passes Coulthard and just one lap later, he causes Webber to defend. Massa remains behind. By the way, championship leader Barrichello is out of the race.
After a few laps, Webber gives best to Massa into turn 1.
Nico pits on lap 32. A lap later Coulthard, Alonso and Montoya follow. The pit stops allow Massa to get ahead of Rosberg easily, as he stops some laps after the Willimas does. Williams then suffer a blown engine for Rosberg, who loses another good chance to score a podium. Worse still, Webber has been beaten by the entire train that formed behind him and he is now 7th.

lap 40

1) MAS
2) FIS
3) COU
4) ALO
5) BUT
6) MOY
7) WEB
8) KLI

Coulthard locks up and Alonso is into 3rd. DC's pace is as bad as the Williams and he also loses positions to Montoya and Button. Further around the lap, Albers baulks Button badly, Christijan runs wide exiting the hairpin and gets a wheel knocked off by Jenson.
DNFs: Raikkonen, Trulli, Ide, M Schumacher, Barrichello, Rosberg and Albers
The order is hardly shuffled at the final stops.

lap 54

1) MAS
2) FIS
3) ALO
4) BUT
5) MOY
6) COU
7) WEB
8) KLI

Heidfeld has dropped out, putting Jacques Villeneuve in 9th. Klien looks good for his first point of the year, after losing it in Australia.
Massa wins for the second time, this time by 25s from Fisichella. Massa takes the lead of the championship back and all the races this year have been won by Brazilians.

1) Massa
2) Fisichella
3) Alonso
4) Button
5) Montoya
6) Coulthard
7) Webber
8) Klien
9) Villeneuve
10) Liuzzi

Drivers

1) Massa - 33
2) Barrichello - 30
3) Fisichella - 27
4) Alonso - 20
5) Rosberg - 17
6) Montoya - 15
7) Trulli - 10
8) M Schumacher - 9
9) Webber - 9
10) Button - 6
11) Coulthard - 6
12) Sato - 3
13) Heidfeld - 3
14) R Schumacher - 2
15) Speed - 2
16) Raikkonen - 1
17) Klien - 1
18) Monteiro - 1
19) Liuzzi - 0 (1 9th and 1 10th)
20) Villeneuve - 0 (1 9th)

Constructors

1) Renault - 47
2) Ferrari - 42
3) Honda - 36
4) Williams - 26
5) McLaren - 16
6) Toyota - 12
7) Red Bull - 7
8) Super Aguri - 3
9) BMW - 3
10) Toro Rosso - 2
11) Midland - 1

[good_Ralf]

Catalunya

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Webber on pole again as he beat Rosberg in that domain in reality. The two cars are side by side and Rosberg is momentarily in the lead. Michael Schumacher makes another mistake and is out for the 4th successive race. He seemed to have collided with Raikkonen for the 3rd successive race. Then there is a gridlock when Trulli goes off track and spins. Villeneuve, Fisichella, Button and Montoya are the big losers but no-one, including Trulli, is damaged.
Rosberg goes for it starting lap 2 and the lead is his. Coulthard overcooks it exiting the final corner and flies into the gravel before rejoining. Button and Montoya are the first to stop and are automatically looking like favourites to win or score a podium.
A collision between Villeneuve and Speed puts both out of the race. As the first stops begin Trulli blows up. Coulthard and Albers also go out. Fisichella passes Webber for a net 2nd just after their stops into turn 1.

First pit stops

Montoya, Button lap 2
R Schumacher lap 14
Heidfeld lap 15
Fisichella, Raikkonen, Monteiro lap 16
Webber lap 17
Ide, Klien lap 18
Barrichello, Sato lap 20
Rosberg lap 21
Alonso, Massa lap 22
Liuzzi lap 23

lap 25

1) ROS
2) FIS
3) ALO
4) MAS
5) WEB
6) MOY
7) BUT
8) BAR

Webber loses 4th to Massa and then 5th to Montoya. Fisichella leads on lap 27 with a textbook move on Rosberg in turn 1. Soon enough, Alonso has a go and Renault are 1-2. Fisichella comes in on lap 31. Can Alonso beat him as he is not stopping for another 6 laps? The answer is no, but Alonso is less than 2 seconds behind.
The Williams are dropping like stones. They're on course for an 8-9 finish given how little front-running attrition there has been.
Alonso goes out for longer at the third stops again and this time he gets ahead of Fisichella to lead his home Grand Prix. Ide is out with a technical problem.
Fernando Alonso wins in Spain! Harumble! Webber is 11th but Renault are 1-2 on Alonso's home turf, their first win of the season.

1) Alonso
2) Fisichella
3) Massa
4) Barrichello
5) Montoya
6) Button
7) Raikkonen
8) Rosberg
9) R Schumacher
10) Heidfeld

Drivers

1) Massa - 39
2) Barrichello - 35
3) Fisichella - 35
4) Alonso - 30
5) Montoya - 19
6) Rosberg - 18
7) Trulli - 10
8) M Schumacher - 9
9) Button - 9
10) Webber - 9
11) Coulthard - 6
12) Sato - 3
13) Heidfeld - 3
14) Raikkonen - 3
15) R Schumacher - 2
16) Speed - 2
17) Klien - 1
18) Monteiro - 1
19) Liuzzi - 0
20) Villeneuve - 0
21) Albers - 0
22) Ide - 0

Constructors

1) Renault - 65
2) Ferrari - 48
3) Honda - 44
4) Williams - 27
5) McLaren - 22
6) Toyota - 12
7) Red Bull - 7
8) Super Aguri - 3
9) BMW - 3
10) Toro Rosso - 2
11) Midland - 1

[good_Ralf]

Given how my races trying to get Williams to win are failing, I'm experimenting with the BMW cars.

Hockenheim

The grid

1) Villeneuve
2) Heidfeld
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) Rosberg
12) Webber
13) R Schumacher
14) Trulli
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

I have set the weather to 'Variable' so there could be some rain.
There has been a massive pile-up at turn 2 that leaves at least 8 cars out, including Klien, Alonso, R Schumacher, Raikkonen, Webber, Rosberg, Barrichello and Button. Massa loses his entire nose and Liuzzi has a puncture, putting him a lap down on everyone. Montoya then hits M Schumacher and he becomes the 9th retirement in just 3 laps.
The biggest beneficiary of all this is Fisichella, who takes 3rd at the end of lap 5. By now he is more than 10 seconds behind the BMWs. Trulli hits Speed. Speed gets a puncture like his teammate and Trulli damages his front wing. Both pit. M Schumacher gets stuck behind Ide but eventually 4th is his.
Villeneuve pits on lap 13. A few corners later, Heidfeld gives up P1 to Fisichella. M Schumacher pits. Massa crashes into Sato and we are down to 11 cars.
As Fisichella rejoined from his stop ahead of Villeneuve, I'm quitting the race.

[good_Ralf]

Imagine that the grid has been muddled up and Toro Rosso have taken their first pole position with Tonio Liuzzi.

Magny Cours

The grid

1) LIU
2) HEI
3) WEB
4) FIS
5) ROS
6) VIL
7) BUT
8) MSC
9) MAS
10) TRU
11) SPE
12) RAI
13) COU
14) ALO
15) MOY
16) ALB
17) MON
18) RSC
19) KLI
20) BAR
21) SAT
22) IDE

On a wet track, Liuzzi leads lap 1, while Rosberg makes his way past Fisichella and Webber into 3rd place. Button is 4th.
After an engine change penalty Barrichello is 20th on the grid and he retires due to a collision at Adelaide on lap 2.
On lap 6 Fisichella takes 4th and the track is drying. The change to dries hurts Renault, who fall to 16th and 20th.
Liuzzi still leads Heidfeld and Rosberg but Trulli is now 4th. Monteiro is out along with Barrichello.
Webber stops with what could be a gearbox failure.
Schumacher rises to 2nd behind Liuzzi and is ahead on lap 29. With that, I'm quitting the race again.

[good_Ralf]

Reducing race distance to 50% to help the FW28s.

Bahrain

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Webber leads and Raikkonen is unlucky to be caught up in yet another race-ending incident, his front suspension broken as a result of car contact.
Rosberg nearly takes the lead on lap 2. He does so by slipstreaming on lap 3.
Schumacher is out when he hits Coulthard on lap 5. 4 laps later, Massa in the other Ferrari does the same thing with Barrichello. Coulthard has a puncture but Christian Klien is now 3rd. Trulli hits Speed and becomes another retirement. He even crashes into the pit wall.

First pit stops

Heidfeld, Montoya lap 1
Coulthard lap 9
Rosberg lap 10
Liuzzi, Villeneuve, R Schumacher lap 11
Klien, Alonso, Button, Monteiro, Sato lap 12
Barrichello, Fisichella, Ide, Albers lap 16
Speed lap 17
Webber lap 18

lap 19

1) ROS
2) MOY
3) WEB
4) BAR
5) KLI
6) ALO
7) HEI
8) BUT

Rosberg is under serious pressure from Montoya now but the Williams holds on. Montoya finally passes on lap 22 of 29 and simultaneously Barrichello passes Webber for 3rd. On the final lap, Barrichello gets past Rosberg to take 2nd place. Can Alonso take 3rd? Rosberg just holds him off. Rubens gains 2.3s on Rosberg on the final lap alone.
Villeneuve retired earlier.

1) Montoya
2) Barrichello
3) Rosberg
4) Alonso
5) Webber
6) Button
7) Fisichella
8) Klien
9) Heidfeld
10) Speed

Drivers

1) Montoya - 10
2) Barrichello - 8
3) Rosberg - 6
4) Alonso - 5
5) Webber - 4
6) Button - 3
7) Fisichella - 2
8) Klien - 1
9) Heidfeld - 0
10) Speed - 0

Constructors

1) Honda - 11
2) McLaren - 10
3) Williams - 10
4) Renault - 7
5) Red Bull - 1
6) BMW - 0
7) Toro Rosso - 0

[good_Ralf]

Sepang

The grid

1) Rosberg
2) Webber
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Rosberg is challenged by Webber into turn 1 but he is not overtaken. Massa is out from 2 Grand Prix starts for Ferrari. Barrichello loses a rear wing and is out too as well as Alonso. Both Schumachers pit for repairs, which puts them in contention if they catch with the slower cars. Heidfeld blows up into turn 1. Button follows a couple of laps later. Montoya is eliminated at turn 1 and when Ide passes the stationary McLaren, Martin Brundle describes it as 'A classic piece of overtaking' when Ide hasn't done anything! Albers blows up just after his stop.
No, Trulli! He is out too from a very strong position. Massa, Barrichello, Alonso, Heidfeld, Button, Montoya, Albers, Trulli, Coulthard

First pit stops

R Schumacher, M Schumacher lap 1
Ide lap 11
Webber, Liuzzi, Trulli, Coulthard, Albers lap 12
Fisichella lap 15
Rosberg, Klien, Villeneuve, Speed, Monteiro lap 16
Raikkonen, Sato lap 17

After the stops, M Schumacher slips past Webber into 3rd place. Fisichella catches Rosberg while Raikkonen also gets past Webber. On the penultimate lap, Fisichella is almost there and on the final lap, the one that counts, Fisichella takes the lead off Rosberg.

1) Fisichella
2) Rosberg
3) M Schumacher
4) Raikkonen
5) Webber
6) Liuzzi
7) R Schumacher
8) Klien
9) Villeneuve
10) Speed

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 14
2) Fisichella - 12
3) Montoya - 10
4) Barrichello - 8
5) Webber - 8
6) M Schumacher - 6
7) Alonso - 5
8) Raikkonen - 5
9) Button - 3
10) Liuzzi - 3
11) R Schumacher - 2
12) Klien - 2
13) Heidfeld - 0
14) Villeneuve - 0
15) Speed - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 22
2) Renault - 17
3) McLaren - 15
4) Honda - 11
5) Ferrari - 6
6) Toro Rosso - 3
7) Toyota - 2
8) Red Bull - 2
9) BMW - 0

[good_Ralf]

Melbourne

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Stupid login accidentally deleted my summary.

1) Alonso
2) Rosberg
3) Coulthard
4) Webber
5) Klien
6) Button
7) Raikkonen
8) Fisichella
9) Villeneuve
10) Barrichello

Alonso won as he was up to P4 by the end of the first stint and he leapfrogged initial leader Rosberg. Coulthard was on course for a podium but was pressured by Barrichello. On the final lap, Coulthard was baulked by traffic and Barrichello challenged into Ascari but DC shut the door, Rubens lost a front wheel and his resultant DNF dropped him from 4th to 10th place. Both Ferraris were taken out in incidents with Trulli, Montoya and Albers all getting punctures in the early stages of the race.

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 22
2) Alonso - 15
3) Fisichella - 13
4) Webber - 13
5) Montoya - 10
6) Barrichello - 8
7) Raikkonen - 7
8) M Schumacher - 6
9) Coulthard - 6
10) Klien - 6
11) Button - 6
12) Liuzzi - 3
13) R Schumacher - 2
14) Villeneuve - 0
15) Heidfeld - 0
16) Speed - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 35
2) Renault - 28
3) McLaren - 17
4) Honda - 14
5) Red Bull - 12
6) Ferrari - 6
7) Toro Rosso - 3
8) Toyota - 2
9) BMW - 0

[good_Ralf]

Imola

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

The first lap is incident-free and uneventful. Nothing really happens in the first few laps. Finally, on lap 10, Massa has a puncture, his 4th consecutive Ferrari incident. Fisichella was also involved in this incident. Action begins when Barrichello loses a wheel at the Variante Alta. Raikkonen also has three wheels on the wagon and Villeneuve loses a rear wing.
Massa is lapped and attacks Webber ferociously just to unlap himself. R Schumacher is spun by Liuzzi at Variante Bassa at the pit entrance. He loses a rear wheel, spins backwards into a wall and smashes the rear wing. Ide gets rear wing damage after making contact with Rosberg and Heidfeld is spun, fortunately without harm.

First pit stops

Massa lap 10
Coulthard lap 11
Rosberg, Sato, Albers, Alonso, Trulli lap 12
Klien, Montoya lap 13
Speed lap 14
Liuzzi lap 16
Webber, Ide, Button, M Schumacher, Fisichella, Heidfeld lap 18

lap 21

1) WEB
2) ROS
3) KLI
4) SPE
5) BUT
6) IDE
7) SAT
8) LIU

Fisichella gets a puncture and he is a lap down now. Massa has caught up with a massive train of cars. Speed is in a shock 4th place, but Button wants the place. Jenson damages his front wing. Liuzzi loses the final point to Alonso, who is past Sato. More contact between Speed and Button means the American needs to pit. His 4th place becomes a heartbreaking 14th. Ide has a puncture and he too loses a critical result. On the last lap, Michael comes in as does Trulli.
Webber leads a 1-2 for Williams. I wonder where they would have come if the race was set to 100% distance. Klien scores a podium. On the last lap, Liuzzi breaks the front suspension against Sato at, you guessed it, Variante Alta.

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Klien
4) Button
5) Alonso
6) Sato
7) Massa
8) Montoya
9) Monteiro
10) Coulthard

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 30
2) Webber - 23
3) Alonso - 19
4) Fisichella - 13
5) Klien - 12
6) Montoya - 11
7) Button - 11
8) Barrichello - 8
9) Raikkonen - 7
10) M Schumacher - 6
11) Coulthard - 6
12) Liuzzi - 3
13) Sato - 3
14) R Schumacher - 2
15) Massa - 2
16) Villeneuve - 0
17) Heidfeld - 0
18) Monteiro - 0
19) Speed - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 53
2) Renault - 32
3) Honda - 19
4) McLaren - 18
5) Red Bull - 18
6) Ferrari - 8
7) Toro Rosso - 3
8) Super Aguri - 3
9) Toyota - 2
10) BMW - 0
11) Midland - 0

[good_Ralf]

Nurburgring

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Over the opening laps, Liuzzi makes his way into 3rd and he appears to be closing on the Williams cars. Rosberg takes the lead on lap 6. Coulthard has fallen back since the start and a clash takes him out of the race. At the first stops. Ralf has an engine failure. Webber has gone out of the race with a gearbox/hydraulics failure. Raikkonen has also retired.

First pit stops

Rosberg, M Schumacher lap 11
Raikkonen lap 12
Liuzzi, Barrichello, Alonso, Villeneuve, Albers lap 13
Trulli, Ide lap 14
Sato lap 16
Klien, Heidfeld, Button, Fisichella, Speed, Monteiro lap 17
Montoya lap 18
Massa lap 19

Massa leapfrogs his way into 2nd and passes Rosberg on lap 22. How far can Massa pull away in the last 9 laps? Montoya has an engine failure and that's both McLaren's out.
Schumacher closes on a train of cars and is up to 5th by the final lap. Heidfeld pips Fisico to score BMW's first point in this 50% championship.

1) Massa
2) Rosberg
3) Klien
4) Barrichello
5) M Schumacher
6) Button
7) Alonso
8) Heidfeld
9) Fisichella
10) Liuzzi

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 38
2) Webber - 23
3) Alonso - 21
4) Klien - 18
5) Button - 14
6) Fisichella - 13
7) Barrichello - 13
8) Massa - 12
9) Montoya - 11
10) M Schumacher - 10
11) Raikkonen - 7
12) Coulthard - 6
13) Liuzzi - 3
14) Sato - 3
15) R Schumacher - 2
16) Heidfeld - 1
17) Villeneuve - 0
18) Monteiro - 0
19) Speed - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 61
2) Renault - 34
3) Honda - 27
4) Red Bull - 24
5) Ferrari - 22
6) McLaren - 18
7) Toro Rosso - 3
8) Super Aguri - 3
9) Toyota - 2
10) BMW - 1
11) Midland - 0

[good_Ralf]

Catalunya

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Webber leads into the first corner. Button hits Coulthard and DC has a puncture. Rosberg is on fire! He flies past Webber starting lap 2. The unluckiest of the frontrunners by miles, Raikkonen, has a spin. Teammate Montoya has a puncture. Then Webber blows up. He is joined by Heidfeld. Klien is 2nd after his first stop but is passed by Barrichello and Massa, then blows up on the final corner himself.

First pit stops

Coulthard lap 1
Raikkonen, Montoya lap 6
Rosberg, Trulli, Ide, Alonso lap 12
Vileneuve lap 13
Liuzzi, M Schumacher, Monteiro lap 14
Massa, Speed, Albers lap 18
Klien, Barrichello lap 19
Fisichella, R Schumacher lap 20

Rosberg is under huge pressure but backmarkers help his cause. Barrichello goes off the road at the final corner of the penultimate lap, but Rosberg is baulked by another car and Massa capitalizes. Barrchello falls to P4. Disaster. Rosberg is set for his 5th consecutive 2nd placed finish. Massa makes it back-to-back Ferrari victories.

1) Massa
2) Rosberg
3) Fisichella
4) Barrichello
5) M Schumacher
6) Alonso
7) R Schumacher
8) Raikkonen
9) Trulli
10) Liuzzi

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 46
2) Alonso - 24
3) Webber - 23
4) Massa - 22
5) Fisichella - 19
6) Barrichello - 18
7) Klien - 18
8) M Schumacher - 14
9) Button - 14
10) Montoya - 11
11) Raikkonen - 8
12) Coulthard - 6
13) R Schumacher - 4
14) Liuzzi - 3
15) Sato - 3
16) Heidfeld - 1
17) Villeneuve - 0
18) Trulli - 0
19) Monteiro - 0
20) Speed - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 69
2) Renault - 43
3) Ferrari - 36
4) Honda - 32
5) Red Bull - 24
6) McLaren - 19
7) Toyota - 4
8) Toro Rosso - 3
9) Super Aguri - 3
10) BMW - 0
11) Midland - 0

[good_Ralf]

Monte Carlo

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Rosberg is out at the first corner!!! He clipped the Ste. Devote barrier and brings his run of consecutive points and podium finishes to a close.
Nothing special happens until the first stops.

First pit stops

Speed, Klien, Heidfeld lap 15
M Schumacher lap 16
Ide, Albers, R Schumacher, Barrichello, Fisichella lap 17
Montoya lap 18
Raikkonen lap 20
Sato, Monteiro, Trulli, Button, Alonso lap 21
Massa lap 22
Webber, Liuzzi, Coulthard, Villeneuve lap 23

The later you stop, the better.

lap 24

1) WEB
2) LIU
3) SAT
4) COU
5) MON
6) VIL
7) IDE
8) MAS

Webber leads Liuzzi by 31s on lap 33. Heidfeld picks up a puncture at the chicane with 4 to go. He was tapped by M Schumacher. Then Barrichello gets a front puncture against the barrier when challenging R Schumacher. He next makes contact with Fisichella at Loews, knocks off a rear wheel and retires all together.
Webber's lead over Liuzzi was 29s at the end. Sato scores a unbelieveable podium, which unrejectifies Super Aguri.

1) Webber
2) Liuzzi
3) Sato
4) Coulthard
5) Monteiro
6) Villeneuve
7) Ide
8) Massa
9) Albers
10) Speed

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 46
2) Webber - 33
3) Alonso - 24
4) Massa - 23
5) Fisichella - 19
6) Barrichello - 18
7) Klien - 18
8) M Schumacher - 14
9) Button - 14
10) Montoya - 11
11) Liuzzi - 11
12) Coulthard - 11
13) Sato - 9
14) Raikkonen - 8
15) Monteiro - 4
16) R Schumacher - 4
17) Villeneuve - 3
18) Ide - 2
19) Heidfeld - 1
20) Trulli - 0
21) Albers - 0
22) Speed - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 79
2) Renault - 43
3) Ferrari - 37
4) Honda - 32
5) Red Bull - 29
6) McLaren - 19
7) Toro Rosso - 11
8) Super Aguri - 11
9) Midland - 4
10) BMW - 4
11) Toyota - 4

[good_Ralf]

Silverstone

The grid

1) Rosberg
2) Webber
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Montoya, M Schumacher, Fisichella and Alonso collide, leaving the Colombian without a rear wing, M Schumacher without a front wheel, Fisichella without a front wing and Alonso without a rear wheel. All four bar Fisico are out on the spot. Ide blows up on lap 6 from P4. Monteiro has the same problem when pressurised by the Hondas.

First pit stops

Fisichella lap 1
Liuzzi lap 11
Coulthard lap 12
Rosberg, Button, Trulli lap 13
Sato, Villeneuve lap 14
Heidfeld lap 16
Webber, Barrichello, Albers, R Schumacher lap 17
Klien, Massa, Raikkonen lap 18
Speed lap 19

The Williams are still 1-2 after the stops, mainly because of traffic getting in people's way in the first stint. Fisichella, thanks to the lap 1 stop is up to 3rd and passes Webber, only for the Renault to detonate just a few laps later.
Rosberg wins from Webber by 22.6s, with Button on the podium at Silverstone .

1) Rosberg
2) Webber
3) Button
4) Barrichello
5) Trulli
6) Klien
7) Massa
8) Raikkonen
9) Villeneuve
10) Coulthard

1) Rosberg - 56
2) Webber - 41
3) Massa - 25
4) Alonso - 24
5) Barrichello - 23
6) Klien - 21
7) Button - 20
8) Fisichella - 19
9) M Schumacher - 14
10) Montoya - 11
11) Liuzzi - 11
12) Coulthard - 11
13) Sato - 9
14) Raikkonen - 9
15) Trulli - 4
16) Monteiro - 4
17) R Schumacher - 4
18) Villeneuve - 3
19) Ide - 2
20) Heidfeld - 1
21) Albers - 0
22) Speed - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 97
2) Renault - 43
3) Honda - 43
4) Ferrari - 39
5) Red Bull - 32
6) McLaren - 20
7) Toro Rosso - 11
8) Super Aguri - 11
9) Toyota - 8
10) Midland - 4
11) BMW - 4

[good_Ralf]

Montreal

The grid

1) Rosberg
2) Webber
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Rosberg leads them away but Raikkonen gets a puncture at turn 1. Montoya appeared to be the catalyst. Now a Honda is without a wheel. It's Button! He got hit by Barrichello. Montoya also has a front wheel ripped off at the hairpin when he is pinned by JV. Then Speed ends his race in a collision as well! Klien was the blame. So that's 4 cars in incidents on the first lap. Montreal certainly knows how to deliver.
When being lapped, Kimi is rammed by Albers and his race is over, rear wing destroyed. Another awful result for McLaren.
Fisichella suffers the same fate as Montoya at the hairpin. Villeneuve gets a puncture as a result but at least his stop is out of the way.

First pit stops

Albers, Klien lap 2
Villeneuve lap 5
Webber, Heidfeld, Sato lap 13
Trulli, Massa lap 15
R Schumacher, M Schumacher lap 19
Coulthard, Liuzzi lap 20
Rosberg, Barrichello lap 21

Alonso loses a front wheel so that is a double DNF for Renault and McLaren, the second in a row for the former. The culprit was Villeneuve, who gets another puncture. What a disaster for Villeneuve, with Heidfeld set to score more points. Barrichello has a go passing Coulthard for P2, but he breaks the suspension at the last chicane.
Later on Michael has a coming together with Monteiro.
Rosberg is on course for back-to-back victories but Massa is closing in. Nico makes it by 0.399s. Jacques manages 14th and last.

1) Rosberg
2) Massa
3) Coulthard
4) Webber
5) Trulli
6) Heidfeld
7) R Schumacher
8) Klien
9) Liuzzi
10) Albers

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 66
2) Webber - 46
3) Massa - 33
4) Alonso - 24
5) Barrichello - 23
6) Klien - 22
7) Button - 20
8) Fisichella - 19
9) Coulthard - 17
10) M Schumacher - 14
11) Montoya - 11
12) Liuzzi - 11
13) Sato - 9
14) Raikkonen - 9
15) Trulli - 8
16) R Schumacher - 6
17) Monteiro - 4
18) Heidfeld - 4
19) Villeneuve - 3
20) Ide - 2
21) Albers - 0
22) Speed - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 112
2) Ferrari - 47
3) Renault - 43
4) Honda - 43
5) Red Bull - 39
6) McLaren - 20
7) Toyota - 14
8) Toro Rosso - 11
9) Super Aguri - 11
10) BMW - 7
11) Midland - 4

[good_Ralf]

Indianapolis

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Webber leads. Both Renaults are out!!! What happened?! Well, Barrichello has a puncture so this is chaotic again.
Rosberg slips past into the lead on lap 2. Raikkonen has another race ending incident. Klien breaks off a wheel into turn 1.
Ralf Schumacher retires following another turn 1 crash. Trulli is hit too and both Toyotas are out. As it turns out, both Toyotas came together with no-one else involved. If I were to give out an ROTR award (which I should be doing), it would currently go to the Toyota drivers.
Another Japanese racing figure, Yuji Ide, has an engine failure. Scott Speed runs 4th in the early laps at his home Grand Prix, but he slips to 8th place.
Button has dropped out. Later on so does Liuzzi.

Pit stops

Barrichello lap 1
Heidfeld lap 7
Rosberg, Massa lap 14
Sato lap 15
Montoya, Speed lap 16
Albers lap 17
Villeneuve, Monteiro lap 19
Liuzzi lap 20
M Schumacher, Webber lap 22
Coulthard lap 23

Webber is beaten by loads of cars at the midway stops and is only 7th. Massa closes in on Rosberg before the Williams falls out with a mechanical failure.
At least this puts JV in the points. Soon Montoya, who was passed by Massa in the pits, loses out to M Schumacher as well, so Ferrari are 1-2.
The retirements: Fisichella, Alonso, Raikkonen, Klien, R Schumacher, Trulli, Ide, Button, Liuzzi, Rosberg
If one of the top 7 retire (please Heidfeld, not Villeneuve or Webber!!), Speed will score a point. Heidfeld passes Webber for 6th.
Massa leads home a Ferrari 1-2. But Renault have now gone 4 races without scoring.

1) Massa
2) M Schumacher
3) Montoya
4) Barrichello
5) Coulthard
6) Heidfeld
7) Webber
8) Villeneuve
9) Speed
10) Albers

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 66
2) Webber - 48
3) Massa - 43
4) Barrichello - 28
5) Alonso - 24
6) M Schumacher - 22
7) Klien - 22
8) Coulthard - 21
9) Button - 20
10) Fisichella - 19
11) Montoya - 17
12) Liuzzi - 11
13) Sato - 9
14) Raikkonen - 9
15) Trulli - 8
16) Heidfeld - 7
17) R Schumacher - 6
18) Monteiro - 4
19) Villeneuve - 4
20) Ide - 2
21) Speed - 0
22) Albers - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 114
2) Ferrari - 65
3) Honda - 48
4) Renault - 43
5) Red Bull - 43
6) McLaren - 26
7) Toyota - 14
8) Toro Rosso - 11
9) Super Aguri - 11
10) BMW - 11
11) Midland - 4

[good_Ralf]

Magny-Cours

The grid

1) Rosberg
2) Webber
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Rosberg is on pole again. The start sees some shuffling but nothing really eventful happens until Trulli blows up on lap 3.
Seconds later, Raikkonen has a puncture, the third successive race which sees him caught up in an incident. Button has a rear wing failure and Coulthard spins. The former retires again.

Pit stops

Raikkonen lap 3
Webber, Liuzzi, Montoya, Villeneuve, Sato, Coulthard lap 14
M Schumacher, Monteiro lap 15
R Schumacher, Fisichella lap 16
Alonso lap 18
Massa, Albers lap 19
Rosberg, Ide, Speed, Klien, Heidfeld lap 20
Barrichello lap 21

lap 22

1) ROS
2) WEB
3) RAI
4) MOY
5) LIU
6) FIS
7) ALO
8) MAS

Raikkonen's emergency stop has catapulted him to 3rd. Speed has dropped out of the points yet again and Liuzzi is set to so the same. Then Rosberg blows up on lap 25, his 3rd retirement in 5 races. Raikkonen, now 2nd and closing on Webber, suddenly has a chance of winning the race. With 8 laps to go the gap is just under 8 seconds.
Liuzzi predictably has sunk to 9th from what would now be 4th.
Raikkonen is on course to win but over the final laps, especially at Adelaide, Webber defends well. Raikkonen is still heading for his first podium of the season.
Webber wins again. The margin was 0.779s.

1) Webber
2) Raikkonen
3) Montoya
4) Fisichella
5) Alonso
6) Massa
7) M Schumacher
8) Barrichello
9) Liuzzi
10) Ide

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 66
2) Webber - 58
3) Massa - 46
4) Barrichello - 29
5) Alonso - 28
6) Fisichella - 24
7) M Schumacher - 24
8) Montoya - 23
9) Klien - 22
10) Coulthard - 21
11) Button - 20
12) Raikkonen - 17
13) Liuzzi - 11
14) Sato - 9
15) Trulli - 8
16) Heidfeld - 7
17) R Schumacher - 6
18) Monteiro - 4
19) Villeneuve - 4
20) Ide - 2
21) Speed - 0
22) Albers - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 124
2) Ferrari - 70
3) Renault - 52
4) Honda - 49
5) Red Bull - 43
6) McLaren - 40
7) Toyota - 14
8) Toro Rosso - 11
9) Super Aguri - 11
10) BMW - 11
11) Midland - 4

[good_Ralf]

Hockenheim

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Rosberg beats Webber out of turn 2 and takes the lead again. At the end of the first lap, Massa is out and so is Button by the looks of things. Jenson lost a rear wheel, his car becoming a tripod. Alonso is out of the race again. He hit the back of Heidfeld. Nick is unscathed.
Montoya has rear wing damage and pits. Again, this could put him in a winning position.
Fisichella hits Monteiro and simultaneously, Coulthard blows up. Fisico and DC park within a few yards of each other. Renault have a double-DNF for the 5th time in 6 races. Monteiro has a puncture. By lap 11, Heidfeld is up to 3rd. Albers is tagged by M Schumacher at the pit entrance, the Dutchman spinning and crashing out.
Sato loses a rear wheel when he is given a whack by Villeneuve. Then Klien has a front wheel break off as well when he is squeezed by Ide. Red Bull suffer a double-DNF.


Pit stops

Montoya lap 3
Monteiro lap 8
Barrichello lap 12
Albers lap 13
Rosberg, Heidfeld, Klien lap 14
Ide lap 15
R Schumacher, Lluzzi lap 16
Speed, M Schumacher, Trulli lap 18
Raikkonen lap 19
Webber, Villeneuve lap 20

The first stint and fuel stops have put Heidfeld into P2. JV is a dismal P13. One gets the sad feeling that Heidfeld is programmed to be the faster of the two in this game.
Speed is destined never to score points because his engine has blown when he was running strongly.
Webber soon loses P3 to Montoya and may lose 4th to Rubens as well.
Vileneuve stops by the side of the track and his miserable season, relative to Heidfeld, continues.
The retirements: Massa, Button, Alonso, Fisichella, Coulthard, Albers, Sato, Klien, Speed, Villeneuve
Rosberg is victorious on home soil as well.

1) Rosberg
2) Heidfeld
3) Montoya
4) Webber
5) Barrichello
6) R Schumacher
7) M Schumacher
8) Raikkonen
9) Trulli
10) Liuzzi

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 76
2) Webber - 63
3) Massa - 46
4) Barrichello - 33
5) Montoya - 29
6) Alonso - 28
7) M Schumacher -26
8) Fisichella - 24
9) Klien - 22
10) Coulthard - 21
11) Button - 20
12) Raikkonen - 18
13) Heidfeld - 15
14) Liuzzi - 11
15) Sato - 9
16) R Schumacher - 9
17) Trulli - 8
18) Monteiro - 4
19) Villeneuve - 4
20) Ide - 2
21) Speed - 0
22) Albers - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 139
2) Ferrari - 72
3) Honda - 53
4) Renault - 52
5) McLaren - 47
6) Red Bull - 43
7) BMW - 19
8) Toyota - 17
9) Toro Rosso - 11
10) Super Aguri - 11
11) Midland - 4

[good_Ralf]

Hungaroring

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Webber makes good use of his pole. Monteiro has an incident in turn 1 and drops to the back. Nice to see Jacques in 9th after the calamity of Hockenheim, where he DNFed and Heidfeld scored a podium. Nick runs at the very back.
Montoya has another puncture and he has a whole lap to limp back to the pits. The other MON, Monteiro, has an engine failure. As he limps back to the pits, Monty holds up Ralf, who is hit by Button with terminal rear suspension damage. Button loses his front wing.
This can't be happening! AI Villeneuve blows up again, this time from a potential points position and if Heidfeld scores again...

Pit stops

Montoya lap 7
Button lap 8
Albers lap 13
Speed, M Schumacher lap 14
Sato, Fisichella, Heidfeld, Coulthard lap 15
Webber lap 16
Rosberg lap 18
Ide, Trulli, Klien, Alonso lap 19
Massa, Raikkonen lap 20

A the first stops unfold, Barrichello has an engine blow up as well.
Webber pits first, with Rosberg coming out ahead. Button's early stop has elevated him to 3rd position. Liuzzi is out, joining Monteiro, Villeneuve, Barrichello and R Schumacher.
Honda waste their chances with Button blowing up and opening the door for Fisichella.
Coulthard gets a puncture in turn 1, the same place as Montoya.
Webber is still 2nd but under serious pressure from Fisichella, only for Giancarlo to blow up as well!!! New 3rd placed man Massa will soon be onto Mark's gearbox.
Coulthard unlaps himself and Massa loses time. Unbelievably, Massa becomes the third successive man to drop out chasing Webber, gearbox. There were 3 laps to go.
Raikkonen is suddenly on course for a podium and Ide is in 8th.
Rosberg

1) Rosberg
2) Webber
3) Raikkonen
4) Trulli
5) Alonso
6) M Schumacher
7) Klien
8) Ide
9) Heidfeld
10) Sato

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 86
2) Webber - 71
3) Massa - 46
4) Barrichello - 33
5) Alonso - 32
6) Montoya - 29
7) M Schumacher - 29
8) Fisichella - 24
9) Raikkonen - 24
10) Klien - 24
11) Coulthard - 21
12) Button - 20
13) Heidfeld - 15
14) Trulli - 13
15) Liuzzi - 11
16) Sato - 9
17) R Schumacher - 9
18) Monteiro - 4
19) Villeneuve - 4
20) Ide - 3
21) Speed - 0
22) Albers - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 157
2) Ferrari - 75
3) Renault - 56
4) McLaren - 53
5) Honda - 53
6) Red Bull - 45
7) Toyota - 22
8) BMW - 19
9) Super Aguri - 12
10) Toro Rosso - 11
11) Midland - 4

[good_Ralf]

Istanbul Park

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

As usual. Rosberg gets ahead of Webber, at the end of the straight at the end of lap 1 of 29.
Sato's engine lets go on lap 7, when the Japanese driver is still 4th.
Barrichello breaks his front suspension against Coulthard. He was spun by a Midland and was collected by the Scot, who is undamaged. Raikkonen has also retired.
DC has dropped out as well

Pit stops

Trulli lap 10
Alonso lap 11
Rosberg, Albers, Liuzzi, Heidfeld, M Schumacher lap 12
Webber, Ide, Speed, Villeneuve, Monteiro, Massa, Button lap 16
Montoya, Klien, Fisichella lap 17
R Schumacher lap 18

lap 19

1) ROS
2) WEB
3) TRU
4) ALO
5) RSC
6) IDE
7) SPE
8) MOY

Villeneuve, Ide and Speed, the three drivers that badly need points, are eventually passed by Fisichella and Montoya.
But at least JV can smile as its Heidfeld that retires due to a engine problem this time.
Rosberg wins for the 3rd consecutive time.

1) Rosberg
2) Webber
3) Alonso
4) Trulli
5) R Schumacher
6) Montoya
7) Fisichella
8) Speed
9) Ide
10) Villeneuve

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 96
2) Webber - 79
3) Massa - 46
4) Alonso - 38
5) Barrichello - 33
6) Montoya - 32
7) M Schumacher - 29
8) Fisichella - 26
9) Raikkonen - 24
10) Klien - 24
11) Coulthard - 21
12) Button - 20
13) Trulli - 18
14) Heidfeld - 15
15) R Schumacher - 13
16) Liuzzi - 11
17) Sato - 9
18) Monteiro - 4
19) Villeneuve - 4
20) Ide - 3
21) Speed - 1
22) Albers - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 175
2) Ferrari - 75
3) Renault - 64
4) McLaren - 56
5) Honda - 53
6) Red Bull - 45
7) Toyota - 31
8) BMW - 19
9) Toro Rosso - 12
10) Super Aguri - 12
11) Midland - 4

[good_Ralf]

Monza

The grid

1) Rosberg
2) Webber
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Webber passes Rosberg, the polesitter, at the start of lap 2. But Nico repasses into Parabolica.
Trulli is the first retiree with a mechanical failure, not engine.
Montoya gets a puncture as a result of an incident at the first chicane at the start of lap 4.
Webber leads on lap 5. However, when they come to lap Montoya, Nico takes the advantage.

Pit stops

Montoya lap 4
Heidfeld lap 9
Rosberg, Button, Ide, M Schumacher, Alonso lap 10
Raikkonen, R Schumacher, Coulthard, Monteiro, Liuzzi lap 11
Klien, Speed lap 15
Webber, Barrichello, Massa, Fisichella, Sato lap 16
Villeneuve lap 17

While the Williams and Klien dice for P1, Ralf has an engine failure.
After the stops, Klien passes Webber to lead at Monza.
But Raikkonen is on to him and a win is in doubt.
Kimi's teammate Montoya finally retires after a clash with Speed.
With 4 to go, Klien and Raikkonen are side-by-side.
Eventually the McLaren finds a way through and pulls away.
Kimi Raikkonen wins at Monza!

1) Raikkonen
2) Fisichella
3) Klien
4) Massa
5) Webber
6) M Schumacher
7) Barrichello
8) Button
9) Rosberg
10) Alonso

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 96
2) Webber - 83
3) Massa - 51
4) Alonso - 38
5) Barrichello - 35
6) Fisichella - 34
7) Raikkonen - 34
8) Montoya - 32
9) M Schumacher - 32
10) Klien - 30
11) Coulthard - 21
12) Button - 21
13) Trulli - 18
14) Heidfeld - 15
15) R Schumacher - 13
16) Liuzzi - 11
17) Sato - 9
18) Monteiro - 4
19) Villeneuve - 4
20) Ide - 3
21) Speed - 1
22) Albers - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 179
2) Ferrari - 83
3) Renault - 72
4) McLaren - 66
5) Honda - 56
6) Red Bull - 51
7) Toyota - 31
8) BMW - 19
9) Toro Rosso - 12
10) Super Aguri - 12
11) Midland - 4

[good_Ralf]

Shanghai

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

On lap 2, Trulli loses a wheel at the hairpin. Eventually the Williams are 1-2, the Red Bulls 3-4 and Heidfeld is in the points once again, with Villeneuve dead last.
Rosberg ultimately gets past Webber on lap 6. Coulthard challenges Webber but he blows up instead, leaving Klien in 3rd again.

Pit stops

Monteiro lap 9
Barrichello lap 10
Raikkonen lap 11
Webber, Heidfeld, M Schumacher, Sato lap 12
Klien, Fisichella, Speed lap 13
Alonso, Liuzzi lap 15
Rosberg, Massa, Villeneuve, Ide lap 16
Montoya, R Schumacher lap 17
Button lap 18
Albers lap 19

Rosberg is passed by Alonso on lap 15, who pits immediately yet still beats the German. Heidfeld is P3 but soon Fisichella is on to him and the Italian is by. Giancarlo also passes Rosberg on lap 22 and Renault are 1-2. Heidfeld is P4 but Jacques is way down in P14. Ouch. Button is 5th after passing Klien. Can he get past Heidfeld and Rosberg at the finish? Yuji's engine has gone. Webber is P12.

1) Alonso
2) Fisichella
3) Rosberg
4) Heidfeld
5) Button
6) Massa
7) M Schumacher
8) Barrichello
9) Raikkonen
10) Klien

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 102
2) Webber - 83
3) Massa - 54
4) Alonso - 48
5) Fisichella - 42
6) Barrichello - 36
7) Raikkonen - 34
8) M Schumacher - 34
9) Montoya - 32
10) Klien - 30
11) Button - 25
12) Coulthard - 21
13) Heidfeld - 20
14) Trulli - 18
15) R Schumacher - 13
16) Liuzzi - 11
17) Sato - 9
18) Monteiro - 4
19) Villeneuve - 4
20) Ide - 3
21) Speed - 1
22) Albers - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 185
2) Renault - 90
3) Ferrari - 88
4) McLaren - 66
5) Honda - 61
6) Red Bull - 51
7) Toyota - 31
8) BMW - 24
9) Toro Rosso - 12
10) Super Aguri - 12
11) Midland - 4

[good_Ralf]

Suzuka

The grid

1) Rosberg
2) Webber
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Nico Rosberg only needs 1 point to seal the virtual title and he starts from pole.
Liuzzi is taken out on lap 1 by Monteiro. Trulli makes a mistake, runs wide and holds people up upon rejoining.
DAMN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 Villeneuve was running hish in the points only to run wide and drops back. But then Heidfeld makes the same error and is dead last.
Button is out at the chicane dicing with a Toyota. A lap later, Montoya breaks his suspension against Villeneuve.
Klien is yet another driver who goes out at the Casio triangle.
Then Michael and Fisichella run wide and the Renault is hit by Heidfeld. Nick has no nosecone and Fisico has no rear wing.

Pit stops

Villeneuve lap 7
Albers, Massa, Trulli lap 9
Rosberg, Sato, Alonso, Heidfeld lap 10
Speed lap 15
Webber, Raikkonen, Coulthard, Ide lap 16
M Schumacher, R Schumacher, Monteiro lap 17
Barrichello lap 18

lap 25

1) ROS
2) WEB
3) BAR
4) MSC
5) RAI
6) MAS
7) ALO
8) RSC

Nothing really happens after the stops. At least Villeneuve beats Heidfeld.

1) Rosberg
2) Webber
3) Barrichello
4) M Schumacher
5) Raikkonen
6) Massa
7) Alonso
8) R Schumacher
9) Speed
10) Coulthard

Rosberg scores another win and is the champion, at least in this respect.

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 112
2) Webber - 91
3) Massa - 57
4) Alonso - 50
5) Fisichella - 42
6) Barrichello - 42
7) M Schumacher - 39
8) Raikkonen - 38
9) Montoya - 32
10) Klien - 30
11) Button - 25
12) Coulthard - 21
13) Heidfeld - 20
14) Trulli - 18
15) R Schumacher - 14
16) Liuzzi - 11
17) Sato - 9
18) Monteiro - 4
19) Villeneuve - 4
20) Ide - 3
21) Speed - 1
22) Albers - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 203
2) Ferrari - 96
3) Renault - 92
4) McLaren - 70
5) Honda - 67
6) Red Bull - 51
7) Toyota - 32
8) BMW - 24
9) Toro Rosso - 12
10) Super Aguri - 12
11) Midland - 4

[good_Ralf]

Interlagos

The grid

1) Webber
2) Rosberg
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) R Schumacher
12) Trulli
13) Villeneuve
14) Heidfeld
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Webbers leads away. DC ends his season with no points in the last 8 races and a clash with Albers on the first lap in Brazil.
After 1 lap, Button is 7th. By lap 5 he is 5th. In typical fashion, teammate Rubens is at the back of the field for his home GP.
Speed is spun by Trulli, losing his front wing. Scott has to pit and he is set to score just 1 point. It appears as though the same thing has happened to Klien.
Monteiro resists Button for 3rd. Button is by on lap 8. M Schumacher has retired. Trulli's rear wing has failed! Jarno retires and ends this season without a podium.


Pit stops

Speed, Klien lap 6
Villeneuve lap 14
Webber, Monteiro, Sato lap 15
Button, Fisichella, Montoya lap 16
R Schumacher lap 17
Alonso, Raikkonen, Barrichello lap 20
Rosberg, Liuzzi, Ide lap 21
Massa, Heidfeld lap 22

Button takes the lead while the Williams fall back. Fisichella's engine ends a mixed year. His demise means Ferrari are almost certain to clinch 2nd in the title.
Jenson Button wins the finale and Massa gets a podium from the back row. Barrichello finishes just out of the points.

1) Button
2) Alonso
3) Massa
4) Rosberg
5) R Schumacher
6) Webber
7) Klien
8) Raikkonen
9) Barrichello
10) Montoya

Final Championhip Standings

Drivers

1) Rosberg - 117
2) Webber - 94
3) Massa - 63
4) Alonso - 58
5) Fisichella - 42
6) Barrichello - 42
7) Raikkonen - 39
8) M Schumacher - 39
9) Button - 35
10) Montoya - 32
11) Klien - 32
12) Coulthard - 21
13) Heidfeld - 20
14) Trulli - 18
15) R Schumacher - 18
16) Liuzzi - 11
17) Sato - 9
18) Monteiro - 4
19) Villeneuve - 4
20) Ide - 3
21) Speed - 1
22) Albers - 0

Constructors

1) Williams - 211
2) Ferrari - 102
3) Renault - 100
4) Honda - 77
5) McLaren - 71
6) Red Bull - 53
7) Toyota - 36
8) BMW - 24
9) Toro Rosso - 12
10) Super Aguri - 12
11) Midland - 4

[Bleu]

I played the game few times in some mall. I tried to put always this grid order:

First three spots for Rosberg, Speed and Ide in whatever order. Then followed:
Liuzzi
Sato
Albers
Monteiro
Klien
Villeneuve
Massa
Coulthard
Heidfeld
Webber
Button
Barrichello
Trulli
R Schumacher
Fisichella
Montoya
M Schumacher
Räikkönen
Alonso

Basically, the order is done by reversing 2005 WDC standings. (therefore three rookies are on top). That would be order for first race, and after that, all grids would be in reverse order of the game WDC standings.

[good_Ralf]

Sakhir

The grid

1) Heidfeld
2) Villeneuve
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) Webber
12) Rosberg
13) R Schumacher
14) Trulli
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

50% races again and its the BMWs who are on rocket fuel this time. Heidfeld takes pole.
There is a big crash in turn 4 and Raikkonen, Ralf and Rosberg are eliminated, with Massa losing his front wing, Montoya held up and Trulli picking up a puncture.
When lapping Trulli, Monteiro is wiped out. Coulthard blows up.
Alonso has a puncture but ends up missing the pit lane! Fernando has to limp back a whole lap.
Trying to pass Ide, Klien breaks his front suspension and retires. Albers also has a puncture.
Liuzzi drops out. As does Trulli. Sato DNFs too.
Villeneuve brilliantly defends from Barrichello, even spinning the Honda.

Pit stops

Massa, Trulli lap 1
Speed lap 5
Alonso lap 6
Heidfeld, Montoya, Button lap 11
M Schumacher, Ide lap 12
Webber lap 15
Villeneuve, Barrichello lap 17
Fisichella lap 18

Heidfeld still leads after the first stops but JV is down to 6th place.
Massa applies pressure but somehow Heidfeld holds on. Felipe finally makes it past on lap 23.
Webber blows up while running 9th. Fisichella also passes Heidfeld.
Massa wins the first race in Bahrain.

1) Massa
2) Fisichella
3) Heidfeld
4) Barrichello
5) M Schumacher
6) Montoya
7) Button
8) Villeneuve
9) Ide
10) Speed

Drivers

1) Massa - 10
2) Fisichella - 8
3) Heidfeld - 6
4) Barrichello - 5
5) M Schumacher - 4
6) Montoya - 3
7) Button - 2
8) Villeneuve - 1
9) Ide - 0
10) Speed - 0

Constructors

1) Ferrari - 14
2) Renault - 8
3) BMW - 7
4) Honda - 7
5) McLaren - 3
6) Super Aguri - 0
7) Toro Rosso - 0

[good_Ralf]

Sepang

The grid

1) Villeneuve
2) Heidfeld
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) Webber
12) Rosberg
13) R Schumacher
14) Trulli
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Villeneuve on pole this time. Can he keep ahead of Heidfeld?
Jacques holds off Heidfeld but into turn 4 Ide loses a front wheel as does DC!
R Schumacher and Montoya have punctures, Button is held up and Fisichella and Massa lose their front wings.
At the end of lap 1, Heidfeld passes Villeneuve and leads. Damn it.
Raikkonen is 6th after just a few laps.
Klien gets ahead of Liuzzi for 3rd.

Pit stops

Massa, Fisichella, R Schumacher, Montoya lap 1
Heidfeld, Klien, Rosberg, Button, Albers lap 10
Sato lap 11
Raikkonen lap 12
Liuzzi, Alonso lap 16
M Schumacher lap 17
Villeneuve, Trulli, Barrichello, Webber, Monteiro lap 18

Heidfeld leads again but Villeneuve is down to 4th place and Fisichella hounds the leading BMW.
On lap 24, Fisichella is by. Massa follows 3 laps later. Montoya has gone out.

1) Fisichella
2) Massa
3) Heidfeld
4) M Schumacher
5) Alonso
6) Villeneuve
7) Klien
8) Trulli
9) Raikkonen
10) Barrichello

Drivers

1) Massa - 18
2) Fisichella - 18
3) Heidfeld - 12
4) M Schumacher - 9
5) Barrichello - 5
6) Alonso - 4
7) Villeneuve - 4
8) Montoya - 3
9) Button - 2
10) Klien - 2
11) Trulli - 1
12) Ide - 0
13) Raikkonen - 0
14) Speed - 0

Constructors

1) Ferrari - 27
2) Renault - 22
3) BMW - 16
4) Honda - 7
5) McLaren - 3
6) Red Bull - 2
7) Toyota - 1
8) Super Aguri - 0
9) Toro Rosso - 0

[good_Ralf]

Melbourne

The grid

1) Heidfeld
2) Villeneuve
3) Ide
4) Sato
5) Albers
6) Monteiro
7) Speed
8) Liuzzi
9) Klien
10) Coulthard
11) Webber
12) Rosberg
13) R Schumacher
14) Trulli
15) Barrichello
16) Button
17) Montoya
18) Raikkonen
19) Fisichella
20) Alonso
21) Massa
22) M Schumacher

Heidfeld leads away, but Monteiro and Klien have a race ending collision in turn 6. Trulli also goes out as well as both Ferraris!
Webber is 6th but Liuzzi of all drivers passes him, only to hit Sato and retire. Takuma gets a puncture. Now Montoya is 3rd by the start of lap 4.
Montoya blows up chasing Heidfeld! McLaren's chance of winning has disappeared

Pit stops

Barrichello lap 10
Raikkonen, Webber lap 11
Villeneuve, Ide, Coulthard, Speed lap 12
Fisichella lap 13
Alonso lap 15
Heidfeld, Albers, Sato lap 16
R Schumacher, Rosberg lap 17
Button lap 18

Alonso passes Heidfeld for the lead. Fisichella has retired. Speed hits Sato and that's both Toro Rossos out.
Villeneuve is still 3rd but loses out to Button. Raikkonen is baulked in traffic and Barrichello takes the advantage.
Alonso scores a second consecutive win for Renault.

1) Alonso
2) Heidfeld
3) Button
4) Villeneuve
5) Barrichello
6) Raikkonen
7) R Schumacher
8) Rosberg
9) Webber
10) Coulthard

Drivers

1) Heidfeld - 20
2) Massa - 18
3) Fisichella - 18
4) Alonso - 14
5) Barrichello - 9
6) M Schumacher - 9
7) Villeneuve - 9
8) Button - 8
9) Montoya - 3
10) Raikkonen - 3
11) Klien - 2
12) R Schumacher - 2
13) Trulli - 1
14) Rosberg - 1
15) Ide - 0
16) Webber - 0
17) Speed - 0
18) Coulthard - 0

Constructors

1) Renault - 32
2) BMW - 29
3) Ferrari - 27
4) Honda - 17
5) McLaren - 6
6) Toyota - 3
7) Red Bull - 2
8) Williams - 1
9) Super Aguri - 0
10) Toro Rosso - 0

[good_Ralf]

Another 50% race

Suzuka

The grid (trying to resemble the 2005 one)

1) Klien
2) Heidfeld
3) R Schumacher
4) Villeneuve
5) Trulli
6) Webber
7) Barrichello
8) Montoya
9) Button
10) Speed
11) Rosberg
12) Monteiro
13) Fisichella (engine change penalty)
14) Raikkonen
15) Albers
16) Alonso
17) M Schumacher
18) Massa
19) Coulthard
20) Liuzzi
21) Sato
22) Ide

Klien leads, with Villeneuve into P3. Fisichella finds his way into P8. On lap 3, with Klien still P1, it starts to rain!
Many drivers do not pit and Heidfeld takes Klien into turn 1 on lap 4. Raikkonen then takes P8 off Fisi. On lap 5, the drivers finally stop for wets.

Lap 6

1) HEI
2) KLI
3) RSC
4) WEB
5) FIS
6) RAI
7) BAR
8) MSC

At the Casio Triangle, Button hits Monteiro, becoming the first retirement. Montoya is out as well when Rosberg pinches him at Degner 2. Albers and Webber then blow up. In 4th, Fisichella attacks Ralf and by lap 13 is on his tail. For the record, Massa is in P15. He then hits Monteiro, who gets a puncture. Ide blows up.
Behind Ralf, the field starts to bunch up.
Then, with 6-7 laps to go, Heidfeld the leader has an engine failure, handing Klien the lead!!! Eventually, new P2 man Ralf loses it to Fisichella and soon is just ahead of his brother. Speed is P9 but has formed a big train. With Villeneuve massively losing out at the stop for wets, BMW have truly wasted their chances of winning, the cars almost 1-2 before the rain fell.
Now P2, Fisichella is all over the RBR of Christian Klien. On the penaltimate lap at the Triangle, Ralf is passed by Michael for P3, the elder Schumi starting P17 remember. Raikkonen then passes the Toyota. CHRISTIAN KLIEN WINS THE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was nose-to-tail for Klien, Fisichella and M Schumi over the line. Well that was a much better race than the one this morning...

1) Klien
2) Fisichella
3) M Schumacher
4) Raikkonen
5) R Schumacher
6) Barrichello
7) Trulli
8) Alonso
9) Speed
10) Rosberg

[good_Ralf]

Magny-Cours

The grid

1) Klien
2) Heidfeld
3) R Schumacher
4) Villeneuve
5) Trulli
6) Webber
7) Barrichello
8) Montoya
9) Button
10) Speed
11) Rosberg
12) Monteiro
13) Fisichella
14) Raikkonen
15) Albers
16) Alonso
17) M Schumacher
18) Massa
19) Coulthard
20) Liuzzi
21) Sato
22) Ide

Klien defends from Heidfeld and Villeneuve, but Ralf is hit by Webber is goes out of the race. Somehow, Coulthard, Massa and Raikkonen are also out. Webber has a puncture and Sato loses his front wing. Through all this, Scott Speed is into P7 and Albers is 8th in the Midland! Montoya sadly disposes of Albers by lap 2 and Speed promtly has to defend. Somehow, Alonso has already retired.
Villeneuve is the first frontrunner to stop and sinks from P3 to P12. A lap later, Klien follows him in, rejoining in 9th. Eventually, Button leads out the pits from Klien. Heidfeld makes it into P2.

[good_Ralf]

Recently, I did an alternate championship with 50% races.The first 3 rows were formed by SAs, Midlands and STRs, with the Ferraris, McLarens and Renaults at the back. Barrichello dominated and Fisichella came 2nd, with there being 8 different winners (Barrichello, Fisichella, M Schumacher, Button, Massa, Alonso, Speed and Sato).

This is a typical example of what you can expect from these races.

Bahrain - 50% distance

Liuzzi starts on pole from Sato and Ide. The Hondas are banished to row 8, McLarens to row 9, Renaults to row 10 and Ferraris to the back row.
Liuzzi makes a good start and a few corners later Rosberg is the first to retire after a collision with Trulli, who survives.
After 1 lap, Liuzzi leads from Sato, Monteiro, Ide, Speed and... Ralf Schumacher! The Toyota is into P4 by lap 3 and then P3.
Not much happens until, Klien gets a puncture and falls a lap down! Then Villeneuve whacks another car and is out. Klien is lapped before pitting. BMW's day ends poorly when Heidfeld suffers an engine failure. Ralf finally passes Monteiro for 2nd after spending several laps behind the Midland.
On lap 9, Liuzzi still leads, but Schumacher is P2, followed by Monteiro, Button, Webber, Trulli, Alonso and Barrichello.
Lap 10, and Monteiro pits from 3rd. He rejoins in 16th place. A lap later, M Schumacher and Barrichello are next.
Ralf is stuck behind Liuzzi for ages and by the time he passes the Toro Rosso on lap 14, Button has closed in.
Ralf and Liuzzi pit on lap 16. Multiple drivers pit shorty after. Montoya is the race leader before his stop. JPM is 5th exiting the pits.

Lap 20

[1) RSC] [2) BUT] [3) ALO] [4) MAS] [5) MOY] [6) MSC] [7) LIU] [8) FIS] [9) COU] [10) WEB]
Retirements: Rosberg, Villeneuve, Heidfeld, Speed, Raikkonen

Ralf is still the leader with 8 to go but he has pressure from the faster cars behind him. Monteiro then becomes the 6th retirement. Fisichella slipstreams past Liuzzi for 7th, but Tonio is on for 1 point.

With 3 to go, Button continues to close in on the Toyota. Massa then passes Alonso for 3rd place.

Battle for 1st

Lap 26: S3 - 1.2s
Lap 27: S1 - 1.0s
Lap 27: S2 - 1.1s
Lap 27: S3 - 1.0s

In short, Button can't overhaul him quickly enough. On the final lap, the gap between Schumacher and Button in 0.8s, then 0.7. Through sector 2, it is 0.9s.
Ralf wins for Toyota! Liuzzi pips DC and Rubens for 8th.

1) R Schumacher
2) Button
3) Massa
4) Alonso
5) Montoya
6) M Schumacher
7) Fisichella
8) Liuzzi
9) Coulthard
10) Barrichello

[good_Ralf]

Malaysia

The PS3 random generator puts Liuzzi on pole again! But the Toyotas will start from row 4. Super starts from Speed and Ralf put them in 2nd and 4th. But both Ferraris are in big trouble. Michael gets a puncture and Massa is wiped out by Montoya, who loses his front wing. But with the field bunched up, this will help Montoya recover.
Ralf S. takes up 3rd on lap 2 and sets his sights on the STRs. His brother is lapped due to his puncture and Ferrari are certain to score nothing today.
Alonso is out! He clashed with Webber at turn 1. Ralf is flying. Starting lap 5, he moves past Speed for 2nd. Button is out in the same way as Alonso.
On lap 7, Ralf takes the lead off Liuzzi, as he did in Bahrain. Raikkonen ensures, when he hits Klien, that he retires and both McLarens have been involved in incidents.
Lap 10 marks the first stops for drivers and Heidfeld is in. From 6th, he is back out in 17th. One lap later, Ralf is in. He initially is 8th but he brilliant sneaks past Webber and Ide. Now he is in clean air, rather than getting stuck behind backmarkers.
Barrichello uses turn 1 to perfection, passing Speed and Trulli for the lead of the race. Effectively non-stopping in this race, Montoya has risen to P7, but he is behind Ralf Schumacher. On the same lap that he passed Speed and Trulli for P1, Rubens pits.
Trulli and Speed pit together and Ralf retakes the lead. Montoya, in effect because of having to change his front wing is now on 2nd place!

Lap 18

[1) RSC] [2) MOY] [3) BAR] [4) SPE] [5) TRU] [6) VIL] [7) FIS] [8) LIU] [9) HEI] [10) ROS]

Villeneuve finally pits and he leaves in P13. Speed was 4th after his stop but Trulli and Fisichella are past with ease.
On lap 23, Toyota's chances of repeating their Sakhir success are cut when Montoya cruises past into turn 1. That lap 1 crash really did help Montoya.
2 laps after Montoya did so, Barrichello disposes of Ralf. Then Fisichella takes P4 off Trulli.

1) Montoya
2) Barrichello
3) R Schumacher
4) Fisichella
5) Trulli
6) Speed
7) Heidfeld
8) Rosberg
9) Coulthard
10) Liuzzi