Engine blow for Raikkonen, Alonso: "Kimi is lucky!

Engine blow for Raikkonen, Alonso: "Kimi is lucky!

MoHax

https://img1.eurosport.com/imgbk/forml1/all/big_md-i201068.jpg

McLaren's hopes of winning the constructor's title received a setback on Friday when Kimi Raikkonen suffered an engine failure in opening practice for the Japanese GP. The Finn completed just eight laps before his Mercedes engine gave out, handing the initiative back to rivals Renault.
The Mercedes-powered team are two points clear of Renault with just the season-ending Chinese Grand Prix remaining after Suzuka.

Raikkonen pulled off the track halfway through the session with smoke and flames spewing from the engine, resulting in him losing 10 places on the starting grid and a tough task despite the evident superiority of his car in recent races.

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Obviously I'm disappointed with the engine failure," Raikkonen said. "However we managed to get some running in the second practice and the balance is basically OK but a lot depends on what the weather will do for the rest of the weekend."

McLaren's Spanish test driver Pedro de la Rosa posted the fastest time in the first one-hour session, lapping the Honda-owned circuit in 1: 30.532 seconds and 0.543 faster than Toyota's reserve Ricardo Zonta before the Brazilian got revenge with the fastest time of 1:30.682 in the second session before the rain fell.

Briton Jenson Button used a new Suzuka special Honda engine to be the quickest race driver with the third best lap, more than a second and a half slower than De la Rosa.

FERRARI SIGNS PROMISING

While McLaren and Renault dominated the opening session, Ferrari showed signs of progress as Michael Schumacher recorded the fastest time by a race driver in the second session with Rubens Barrichello fourth, confirming their pace from Interlagos two weeks ago.

"I find it difficult to judge how we went today," Schumacher said. "We definitely did better in the second session but the time difference is down to the fact that we were probably the only ones to run on new tyres before the rain came in the afternoon."

Alonso, who became Formula One's youngest champion at the last race in Brazil, lapped sixth fastest in the morning and eighth in the afternoon as the team concentrated on their programme.

"The important event of the day was Raikkonen's engine failure, but it doesn't change anything for us: we are racing both cars, and need to beat them both to win the constructors' championship," said Renault chief engineer Pat Symonds.

Toyota gave their new TF105B chassis a solid debut with Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli clocking the sixth and seventh times respectively in the second session.

"I'm not yet happy with the balance of the B car but we have brought it here because it looks more consistent over long runs," Trulli said. "It's still a young car so we need to find out how to get the best out of it."

Japan's Sakon Yamamoto made his debut at a grand-prix weekend as third driver for the Toyota-powered Jordan team, setting the 17th best time in the afternoon and lapping faster than Indian team mate Narain Karthikeyan and Portugal's Tiago Monteiro in both sessions.

https://img1.eurosport.com//imgbk/forml1/all/md-i204813.jpg

Eurosport - 07/10/2005

***
Alonso: "Kimi is lucky!"

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Kimi Raikkonen can consider himself lucky despite repeated engine failures, champion Fernando Alonso said on Friday. The Finn was unlucky enough to suffer his fourth engine failure of the year at Suzuka on Friday but the Spaniard believes that he has been lucky not to have such failures in the races

Raikkonen was forced to bring his opening practice session to a premature conclusion when his Mercedes V10 let go after just eight laps, handing him a ten-place penalty on the starting grid for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.

Spaniard Alonso said the failure could so easily have happened during the last race in Brazil, where McLaren took their first one-two finish since August 2000 to move two points clear of Renault in the standings.

The Mercedes-powered team can win the constructors' title if they repeat the feat on Sunday and Renault fail to score more than one point. Otherwise the championship will be decided in Shanghai on Oct. 16.

"McLaren have been very lucky again," Alonso told reporters at Suzuka. "A few laps more in Brazil and they break the engine there and we have more points. But they can change now and it will be difficult for us to beat them in the race even if they start 11th."

SIMILAR MISHAPS

Raikkonen suffered similar engine failures in France, Britain and Italy but still managed to power back through the field to finish on the podium at Magny-Cours and Silverstone.

He has won six times, the same number of victories as Alonso. But despite leading more laps, Raikkonen is 23 points behind the 24-year-old Spaniard who became Formula One's youngest champion in Brazil.

"I have been saying this all year, but nobody believed me when I said that Kimi has been lucky," said Alonso, himself stung by suggestions that he has benefited from his rival's misfortune.

"I know that it sounds strange but, of the four or five engine problems he has had, they have always been very close to the race," he explained. "It's always been last lap on Saturday morning or first laps on Friday.

"If they had happened during the race before or on the Sunday then he would have had 30 or 40 points less and this would have been a big help for me for the drivers' title and for sure for Renault in the constructors'."

Alonso said he did not expect Raikkonen to be too disadvantaged on Sunday: "He can easily finish on the podium so this will not help us too much. Maybe on Sunday they will have more problems."

Reuters - 07/10/2005

2005 m. spalio 7 d.

MoHax / rekonemduoju: Haven

2010 m. lapkričio 12 d.

MoHax / gyvenu be skecio :(

2010 m. lapkričio 5 d.

MoHax / ka

2010 m. spalio 25 d.

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SweetGirl (Užblokuotas)
2005 m. spalio 7 d. 16:12:28

____________________
If you wana be rich, you got to be a bitch :D

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Mirtis
2005 m. spalio 7 d. 15:22:22

ir vėl?

jei neklystu, jau ketvirtą kartą šiais metais..

FA
FA
FA....

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Priesajka
2005 m. spalio 7 d. 13:17:32

Tyngiu tiek anglikai skaityt!

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Stingas
2005 m. spalio 7 d. 12:22:23

nuo pat pirmos dienos buwau uz Montoya ir iki paskutines busiu...

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cia turetu but parasyta kazkas idomaus...

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aneurysm
2005 m. spalio 7 d. 11:02:35

raikonenas yra vienas nemegstamiausiu mano lenktynininku , labiau nemegau tik hakineno

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Legendinis

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war_girl
2005 m. spalio 7 d. 09:40:15

pff...angliskai..nukopinta ar ne?

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birbt.

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