ALONSO BENEFITS FROM BRIT DISASTER
(Image taken from Yahoo)
So the Grand Prix circus hit Silverstone a couple of months early and the qualifying had to be pushed forward so as not to clash with the football World Cup match with Paraguay. The thing with the British Grand Prix is, you always expect British drivers to do well, no matter that both Jenson and DC have been on very hit and miss form so far this season.
Matters weren't exactly helped in qualifying either when first Jenson got Ko'd in the first round of of qualifying, having to start 19th after being forced to do a random weight check. DC survived that round only to crumble in round 2 after getting blocked by Villeneuve. He'd start 11th. In the final session, it was the Canadian who who was the first to strike seriously, though MIchael then took the lead, only for Alonso to snap pole at the last second and Raikonen second.
As for the race itself well, Jenson looked to be on fire early on. Within a few laps he'd made it up as far as 12th and was looking a dead cert to break into the points only for his engine to catch fire thanks to an oil leak after eight laps. That has to be the worst possible end to a home Grand Prix for anyone and simply an extension of what is turning into another horrid season for the English driver.
DC on the other hand would up having a very uneventful race. Never in a points position during the whole race he did at least get to see the chequered flag. However he didn't see much camera action for a good reason - 12 place won't exactly get many headlines, a crash back down to Earth after events in Monaco - don't thhink he'll get to play Superman ain anytime soon.
Up front though it was another Alonso show with Raikonen only taking the lead when out of sync with pit stops. The bigger battle was Kimi and Michael for second place and the German won that duel, with Raikonen going on to pick up third, leaving Alonso to pick up his third win in a row. Fisichella went on to grab fourth and Massa fifth.
Lessons learned from Silverstone:
Everyone else: There is no way that Fernando Alonso won't win the 2006 World title.
After that race the Championship standings look like this: Alonso leading on 74 points, Michael on second with 51, Raikonen third with 43, Fisichella 4th with 32, Montoya 5th with 26, Massa 6th with 24, Jenson 7th with 16 while DC's in 11th with 7 points(and a podium).
Comments go here
Click here to return to sports homepage
Click here to return to Matt G's homepage
