NewsOnF1 - The Real Race - Round 16

Despite a pretty fair prediction of the outcome Indy 2002 was a series of surprises for me. I predicted that Ferrari would take pole, I didn't expect them to do it that convincingly. I predicted McLaren would be up there, I really didn't think it would be David that would be the one to do it, Kimi disappointed with a 6th.

Williams has Juan more chance in Japan for Juan to show his stuff. Despite coming in 4th, he didn't today. 19,000 revs just weren't enough for Indy 2002. I predicted Alex would come last by a fair margin; at least I got that one right although to be fair to him he did crash out after qualifying and he may have reduced the losing margin with 12 laps.

Another surprising thing about Indy was that all the drivers finished either in the team order that their paycheques dictated they should or in fairly close proximity to their partners times. The exception was Mika Salo who failed to make the grade in the Toyota and almost scored an Also Ran for his effort.

The United States GP 'Also Ran' Award.

I predicted Eddie Irvine would be a surprise, but I didn't expect him to surprise by being 13th. After his efforts in print and in front of the microphone I went back and reviewed my criteria (see The Real Race Explained page) for awarding also rans. Based on that reasoning today's award for the first time goes to a driver who did outperform his team mate. In my explanation I said, in part:

"…. There are also some who are legends in their own mind, who are much better at talking than driving and who look to lay blame for their own failures on the doorstep of the car, the traffic, the weather or the Feng Shui of the track. These drivers are overrated, overpaid and often overawed with their own importance."

After Eddie's supreme effort at self-praise in his regular Sun article that said "It's comforting to know that old farts like myself can still blow the pants off Formula One's young guns," going on to say "I was fifth here last season and I'll be disappointed if I don't at least equal that result this time around. My objective is to add at least another couple of points to the scoresheet and again show the old 'uns have what it takes."

I look forward to the press conference where the old fart explains away today's performance where, incidentally, quite a few of Formula One's young guns blew the pants off him. Sorry Eddie, the only thing you have left is the ability to talk better than you can drive … oh, and the ability to win Also Ran's for your efforts.

The United States GP Qualifying Heroes

1. Giancarlo Fisichella, 2. Mark Webber, 3. Jarno Trulli

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Charts to follow

The Real Race - Drivers Standings - Round 16

Grid	Driver	Car	Team	Wins	Losses	Best	QualiPoints
1	M. Schumacher	1	Ferrari (B)	12	4	1	112
2	R. Barrichello	2	Ferrari (B)	4	12	1	82
3	D. Coulthard	3	McLaren Mercedes (M)	6	10	2	23
4	JP. Montoya	6	BMW WilliamsF1 (M)	9	7	1	97
5	R. Schumacher	5	BMW WilliamsF1 (M)	7	9	2	61
6	K. Raikkonen	4	McLaren Mercedes (M)	10	6	2	31
7	J. Villeneuve	11	BAR Honda (B)	9	7	7
8	J. Trulli	14	Renault (M)	12	4	6	2
9	G. Fisichella	9	Jordan Honda (B)	12	3	5	4
10	N. Heidfeld	7	Sauber Petronas (B)	11	5	5	2
11	H. Frentzen¹	20 8	Arrows Cosworth (B) Sauber Petronas (B)	11	2	10
12	O. Panis	12	BAR Honda (B)	7	9	7
13	E. Irvine	16	Jaguar Cosworth (M)	10	6	5	1
14	J. Button	15	Renault (M)	4	12	6	1
15	T. Sato	10	Jordan Honda (B)	3	12	12
16	A. McNish	25	Toyota (M)	2	14	10
17	P. de la Rosa	17	Jaguar Cosworth (M)	6	10	8
18	M. Webber	23	Minardi Asiatech (M)	16	0	18
19	M. Salo	24	Toyota (M)	14	2	8
20	A. Yoong	22	Minardi Asiatech (M)	0	14	19
-	F. Massa¹	8	Sauber Petronas (B)	5	10	7
-	A. Davidson	22	Minardi Asiatech (M)	0	2	20
-	E. Bernoldi	21	Arrows Cosworth (B)	1	11	12

1. Heinz Harald Frentzen replaced Felipe Massa at the US Grand Prix.

QualiPoints are awarded in the same way points are awarded to the top 6 drivers in a race. (i.e. 10, 6, 4, 3, 2,1)

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