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"SR F1 Championship - Italian Grand Prix and Round 16 Predictions"

Qualifying: Alonso stakes his claim for the title
Race: Heidfeld survives where others fail

Fernando Alonso took pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, his 5th career pole position and his 2nd this season. Alonso sits 19 points behind Pizzonia, but with Pizzonia down in 12th, it's a chance to get right into the mix.

Heidfeld continues his relentless end of season form and takes 2nd on the grid ahead of Sato, who is desperate for a good finish. Raikkonen in 4th gives McLaren hope of a good haul to propel their Constructors challenge. Firman sits in 5th ahead of both Renaults, invaluable at this point in the season. World Champion Baumgartner is lurking around for more points in 6th. Ferrari take row 4 for themselves with Villeneuve taking 7th and Michael Schumacher in 8th.

Only Alonso and Baumgartner start ahead of Pizzonia of those drivers within 20 points of the leader. Montoya starts right behind Pizzonia in 14th, Fisichella is 17th, Barrichello is 20th and Pantano is right at the back in 22nd.

Full Qualifying Results:

1st Alonso (Jules) 1m22.231s
2nd Heidfeld (Shadow) 1m22.270s - (+0.039s)
3rd Sato (Poopots) 1m22.304s - (+0.073s)
4th Raikkonen (Ineedsleep) 1m22.318s - (+0.087s)
5th Firman (Notorious Biggles) 1m22.331s - (+0.100s)
6th Baumgartner (Grandprix) 1m22.331s - (+0.100s)
7th Villeneuve (Mike Swade) 1m22.399s - (+0.168s)
8th M Schumacher (Vampyr) 1m22.443s - (+0.212s)
9th De La Rosa (Virtuoso) 1m22.498s - (+0.267s)
10th Verstappen (Jae) 1m22.517s - (+0.286s)
11th Klien (Figo) 1m22.547s - (+0.316s)
12th Pizzonia (Icarus) 1m22.562s - (+0.331s)
13th R Schumacher (Clazon) 1m22.568s - (+0.337s)
14th Montoya (Afrojoe) 1m22.583s - (+0.352s)
15th Button (Der Nazi) 1m22.596s - (+0.365s)
16th Webber (Shelljed) 1m22.606s - (+0.375s)
17th Fisichella (Badgerman) 1m22.651s - (+0.420s)
18th Karthikeyan (Ortega) 1m22.659s - (+0.428s)
19th Panis (Foreman) 1m22.679s - (+0.448s)
20th Barrichello (Lipe) 1m22.680s - (+0.449s)
21st Salo (Biggie Little) 1m22.697s - (+0.466s)
22nd Pantano (Chris) {B]1m22.966s[/B] - (+0.735s)

The weather was perfect for the entire weekend as the Italian Grand Prix got underway. Alonso held onto the lead off the grid and seemed to have the speed to hold on comfortably. Sato was Alonso's main challenger but a spin on lap 2 blew any opportunity of putting pressure on Alonso.

The first retirement was Karthikeyan when his engine blew near the end of lap 2. There was some dirty driving on lap 4 when Pizzonia, trying to find a way round Montoya, decided he'd rather just push Montoya off the track. Is the pressure beginning to show in Pizzonia's driving?

Well, the pressure was certainly showing in Button's driving. Only 11 points so far this season and he spun on lap 5. Sato was the unlucky driver as he crashed into Button's front wing. Sato retired and Button needed a new front wing.

Lap 6 now and another engine cried 'Enough!' when Baumgartner's engine blew up. Onto lap 9 and Ralf Schumacher was the next car to retire when his tranmission failed.

We had reached the pit stop window around lap 18, Firman came out of the pits right in front of Salo. Salo tried to get round but Firman wasn't having any of it and he spun Salo around, causing a bit of a traffic jam for a few seconds. More mechanical troubles for Red Bull as their race ends on lap 27, when Webber pulled off the track with transmission problems.

The main incident in the race was on lap 28 when Alonso, comfortably leading the race after the first pit stops, pulled off the track in a cloud of smoke as the engine had blown. Did that leave any oil on the track? We don't know but on lap 29, Pantano flew straight into a wall around Alonso's car to retire. The last retirement saw Panis suffer from transmission failure on lap 32, indentical to Ralf Schumacher his teammate.

With one pit stop remaining, who would win the race? It would be Nick Heidfeld, as he held off Raikkonen to record his 1st win of the season and his 2nd win in a row in Italy. Raikkonen will take heart from a gutsy 2nd place and Michael Schumacher gets his Ferrari on the podium, which is a rare occurance for him.

Firman outscores any Renaults with 4th, which means Jordan edge closer in the Constructors Championship and puts Firman back in contention for the Drivers Championship. Klien gives Sauber a 1-5 finish and a decent points haul from Italy. De La Rosa was on Klien's back for most of the race but couldn't find a way past so 6th he will have to settle for. Verstappen gives Minardi a couple of points for 7th and Pizzonia sneaks into 8th somehow, despite having a poor car underneath him.

Full Race Results:

1st Heidfeld (Shadow) 1h15m05.998s - (Up 1)
2nd Raikkonen (Ineedsleep) +3.892s - (Up 2)
3rd M Schumacher (Vampyr) +5.000s - (Up 5)
4th Firman (Notorious Biggles) +9.054s - (Up 1)
5th Klien (Figo) +11.482s - (Up 6)
6th De La Rosa (Virtuoso) +13.029s - (Up 3)
7th Verstappen (Jae) +18.764s - (Up 3)
8th Pizzonia (Icarus) +25.648s - (Up 4)
9th Montoya (Afrojoe) +34.783s - (Up 5)
10th Fisichella (Badgerman) +40.881s - (Up 7)
11th Barrichello (Lipe) +45.440s - (Up 9)
12th Salo (Biggie Little) +51.683s - (Up 9)
13th Villeneuve (Mike Swade) +58.402s - (Down 6)
14th Button (Der Nazi) +1m03.041s - (Up 1)

DNF

Panis (Foreman) Transmission
Pantano (Chris) Crashed
Alonso (Jules) Engine
Webber (Shelljed) Transmission
R Schumacher (Clazon) Transmission
Baumgartner (Grandprix) Engine
Sato (Poopots) Accident
Karthikeyan (Ortega) Engine

Drivers Championship

1st Pizzonia 51pts
2nd Fisichella 44pts
3rd Barrichello 38pts
4th Baumgartner 35pts
5= Montoya 33pts
5= Firman 33pts - (Up 4)
7th Alonso 31pts - (Down 1)
8= Pantano 30pts - (Down 1)
8= Heidfeld 30pts - (Up 5)
10th R Schumacher 29pts - (Down 2)
11th Raikkonen 28pts - (Up 2)
12= Salo 26pts - (Down 2)
12= Webber 26pts - (Down 2)
14th De La Rosa 24pts - (Down 2)
15th Verstappen 20pts
16th Klien 19pts - (Up 2)
17th Panis 17pts - (Down 1)
18= Villeneuve 16pts - (Down 1)
18= M Schumacher 16pts - (Up 4)
20= Sato 14pts - (Down 1)
20= Karthikeyan 14pts - (Down 1)
22nd Button 11pts - (Down 1)

Constructors Championship

1st Renault 89pts
2nd Jordan 77pts
3rd McLaren 59pts - (Up 1)
4th Minardi 55pts - (Down 1)
5th MG F1 50pts
6th Sauber 49pts - (Up 4)
7th Williams 47pts - (Down 2)
8th Toyota 46pts - (Down 1)
9th B.A.R 41pts - (Down 1)
10th Red Bull 40pts - (Down 1)
11th Ferrari 32pts

Fastest Lap: Montoya 1m23.048s

PREDICTION WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

7 predictors this week so it's back to the normal points scoring on 10 for 1st, 8 for 2nd, 6 for 3rd, 5 for 4th, 4 for 5th, 3 for 6th, 2 for 7th and a bonus point for the closest to the tie breaker. Here are the results:

1st Chris 10pts (14pts - +4.936s)
2nd Jae 8pts + 1pt (13pts - +2.046s) - THE CLOSEST
3rd Badgerman 6pts (8pts - +2.382s)
4th Shadow 5pts (8pts - +3.273s)
5th Ineedsleep 4pts (7pts - +4.318s)
6th Shelljed 3pts (7pts)
7th Foreman 2pts (6pts - +3.040s)

The table now looks like this after Round 15:

1st Chris 91pts (5 wins)
2nd Shadow 80pts (3 wins)
3rd Ineedsleep 69pts (2 wins)
4th Badgerman 61pts (1 win)
5th Jae 59pts (2 wins)
6th Shelljed 58pts (2 wins)
7th Icarus 33pts
8= Biggie Little 14pts
8= Foreman 14pts
9th Jules 12pts
11= Notorious Biggles 5pts
11= Clazon 5pts

Round 15 of 19 completed and Pizzonia's lead, which he has had since the end of Round 1, is increased ever so slightly from 6 points to 7. Jordan did end up having a better weekend though as they cut the gap to Renault from 16 points to 12. A big win for Chris moves him 11 points clear from 6.

Round 16 is in Indianapolis, USA and only 40 points are available for both Drivers and Prediction Championships. 72 points remain in the Constructors Championship. This means that if Button, Karthikeyan, Sato, Villeneuve, M Schumacher, Panis, Klien or Verstappen don't score enough points, they will not be able to win the Drivers Championship. Only 6 Predictors can still win the Prediction Championship and all the teams are still in the Constructors Championship.

Here are the list of drivers and teams required for the predictions: [URL]http://www.freewebs.com/gpsr/srf1.htm[/URL]

PREDICTION DEADLINE: 24th AUGUST

PLEASE CHECK YOUR PREDICTIONS FOR ERRORS AS IT CAN LOSE YOU POINTS!

Who will qualify in pole position? (10 points)

Which team will qualify in pole position? (5 points)

Who will be last on the grid? (10 points)

Which team will be last on the grid? (5 points)

The top 8 qualifiers (1 point for driver being in top 8, 3 points for driver being in correct place)
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th

Which driver will make up the most positions in the race? (8 points)

Which team will score the most points in the race? (5 points)

Who will win the race? (12 points)

Who will be the first retirement? (10 points)

The top 8 finishers (1 point for driver being in top 8, 3 points for driver being in correct place)
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th

TIE BREAKER: What will be the fastest qualifying lap? (The lap record is 1m11.677s)

IMPORTANT! PLEASE SELECT 2 TRACKS FROM THE LIST BELOW FOR ROUNDS 18 AND 19!

Australia
Malaysia
Brazil
San Marino
Spain
Austria
Monaco
Canada
Europe - Nurburgring
France
Britain
Germany
Hungary
Belgium
Italy
USA
Japan

Thanks for reading and sorry for the delay!

Ineedsleep wrote:
> Grandprix wrote:
> Foreman wrote:
>
> You could do it the easy way and copy Badgermans predictions, so
> that he has 0% of winning you.
>
> But that would be too easy and no fun...
>
> But that would be like... cheating... kinda and like you say - far
> too easy :)
>
> You could do that, but 3rd really doesn't get you anything. It's all
> about winning in this Championship... :)
>
> Aww but I think I'd rather settle for 3rd then come 2nd again. It
> almost broke my heart last year, honest, and Der Nazi was so smug
> about winning! :)

Keep the chain alive

And I honestly don't know how i've gotten 61 points. I just vote for Fisichella and Jordan all the time. That's all I've done and I've even won a round.

Grandprix wrote:
> Foreman wrote:
>
> You could do it the easy way and copy Badgermans predictions, so
> that he has 0% of winning you.
>
> But that would be too easy and no fun...

But that would be like... cheating... kinda and like you say - far too easy :)

> You could do that, but 3rd really doesn't get you anything. It's all
> about winning in this Championship... :)

Aww but I think I'd rather settle for 3rd then come 2nd again. It almost broke my heart last year, honest, and Der Nazi was so smug about winning! :)

Who will qualify in pole position? (10 points)

Raikkonen

Which team will qualify in pole position? (5 points)

McLaren

Who will be last on the grid? (10 points)

Sato

Which team will be last on the grid? (5 points)

MG F1

The top 8 qualifiers (1 point for driver being in top 8, 3 points for
driver being in correct place)

1st Alonso
2nd Firman
3rd Raikkonen
4th Montoya
5th Heidfeld
6th Villeneuve
7th Baumgartner
8th Panis

Who will make up the most positions in the race? (8 points)

M Schumacher

Which team will score the most points in the race? (5 points)

Jordan

Who will win the race? (12 points)

Montoya

Who will be the first retirement? (10 points)

Pantano

The top 8 finishers (1 point for driver being in top 8, 3 points for
driver being in correct place)

1st Raikkonen
2nd Montoya
3rd Heidfeld
4th Baumgartner
5th Firman
6th Fisichella
7th Alonso
8th Verstappen

TIE BREAKER: 1m11.121s

Britain
Monaco

Will you look at that... haven't been on here for a while and still my driver's top gun. Just.

I pick Monaco and Italy for the tracks, my two favourites.

Foreman wrote:
> Ineedsleep wrote:
> A good race for Raikkonen and surprisingly still third in the
> predictions. However, with Badgerman now breathing down my neck I
> think I need to revamp my predictions :)
>
> You could do it the easy way and copy Badgermans predictions, so that
> he has 0% of winning you.
>
> But that would be too easy and no fun...

You could do that, but 3rd really doesn't get you anything. It's all about winning in this Championship... :)

Who will qualify in pole position? (10 points)
Montoya

Which team will qualify in pole position? (5 points)
Jordan

Who will be last on the grid? (10 points)
Webber

Which team will be last on the grid? (5 points)
Red Bull Racing

The top 8 qualifiers (1 point for driver being in top 8, 3 points for
driver being in correct place)
1st Heidfeld
2nd Pantano
3rd Montoya
4th Baumgartner
5th Raikkonen
6th Pizzonia
7th Alonso
8th Barrichello

Which driver will make up the most positions in the race? (8 points)
Firman

Which team will score the most points in the race? (5 points)
Jordan

Who will win the race? (12 points)
Fisichella

Who will be the first retirement? (10 points)
Heidfeld

The top 8 finishers (1 point for driver being in top 8, 3 points for
driver being in correct place)
1st Verstappen
2nd R Schumacher
3rd Heidfeld
4th Pizzonia
5th De La Rosa
6th Button
7th Montoya
8th Raikkonen

TIE BREAKER: What will be the fastest qualifying lap? (The lap record
is 1m11.677s)

1m11.812s

IMPORTANT! PLEASE SELECT 2 TRACKS FROM THE LIST BELOW FOR ROUNDS
18 AND 19!

Monaco
Belguim

Ineedsleep wrote:
> A good race for Raikkonen and surprisingly still third in the
> predictions. However, with Badgerman now breathing down my neck I
> think I need to revamp my predictions :)

You could do it the easy way and copy Badgermans predictions, so that he has 0% of winning you.

But that would be too easy and no fun...

Not doing too badly.

I might do a prediction later. I'm always crap at them mind, which is why I rarely do them.

A good race for Raikkonen and surprisingly still third in the predictions. However, with Badgerman now breathing down my neck I think I need to revamp my predictions :)

Yes, there are 19 rounds.

Also, in case any of you are wondering, Shrimper's predictions are valid as the prediction championship is for anyone to enter. He obviously has no chance of winning the Championship but he could where the title could go...

Predictions in for Wednesday, as the results should be up by then. If you are using this prediction set as a guide, remember the tie breaker!

These are Shelljed's predictions until further notice

Who will qualify in pole position? Karthikeyan (10 points)

Which team will qualify in pole position? Red Bull (5 points)

Who will be last on the grid? Klien (10 points)

Which team will be last on the grid? Red Bull (5 points)

The top 8 qualifiers (1 point for driver being in top 8, 3 points for driver being in correct place)
1st Karthikeyan
2nd M Schumacher
3rd Barrichello
4th Raikkonen
5th Salo
6th Panis
7th Montoya
8th R Schumacher

Who will make up the most positions in the race? Karthikeyan (8 points)

Which team will score the most points in the race? Ferrari (5 points)

Who will win the race? Webber (12 points)

Who will be the first retirement? Heidfeld (10 points)

The top 8 finishers (1 point for driver being in top 8, 3 points for driver being in correct place)
1st Webber
2nd Alonso
3rd Raikkonen
4th Pizzonia
5th M Schumacher
6th Barrichello
7th Panis
8th R Schumacher