Michael Fights Extremely Hard But Comes Up Short


By Dale Calkins
July 25 2005

It was a dissapointing race today for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team, as Schumacher finished 5th and Barrichello 10th. Schumacher fought very hard today in front of a home crowd, but ultimately his tyres let him down.

Badoer Prepares Ferrari

Michael Fights Extremely Hard But Comes Up Short

Dale Calkins
Michael Schumacher
Race: 5th + 0'50.587

Michael Schumacher came into this race weekend, not expecting to do very well, and in the end, he did not. Schumacher went for a qualfying optimized run, with lower fuel and softer tyres. Schumacher then rocketed from 5th on the grid to 3rd, where he would remain until the pit stops started. It became obvious that Michael's qualifying lap was something special as he actually had the same amount of fuel on board as his competitors. Unfortunately his Bridgetone tyres were just not up to the task and he fell into the clutches of his pursuers after his right rear tyre began to dissolve. Near the end, Michael was passed by Giancarlo as Schumacher was suffering from a fuel feed problem. In all, this was a very good race by Michael, but it was the car and especially the tyres that let him down in front of his home country fans. Here is what the 7-Time World Champion had to say about his race at Hockenheim:

“In the end, I guess you could say this was an interesting race, although I would have preferred to be fighting for a podium finish rather than the lower places. I struggled a lot with my tyres today, which is why I could not hold off Jenson. Later, Giancarlo got past me as I had a fuel feed problem. Fifth place is okay in that I did not lose any positions from where I started, but of course I was hoping to do something better for the fans, who were incredible all through the weekend. I am proud to have such support.”

Rubens Barrichello
Race: 10th + 1 Lap

Rubens Barrichello elected for a higher fuel load and harder compound tyres than his team mate and suffered for it in qualifying. Because he started 15th, there was no doubt that Rubens would need a substantially amount of luck to score some points. Barrichello did not get this as only one driver failed to finish the race. Barrichello made contact at the start of the race with a few drivers but he managed to escape serious harm. Rubens then battled hard with Christian Klien in the closing stages of the Grand Prix. Klien did well in his Red Bull Racing car to beat Rubens and take the 9th spot. If Ferrari does not improve for next year, they had better watch out as their new customer team may beat them often. Here is what the Brazilian had to say about his lackluster drive:

“The race started well for me and I even managed to move up a few places. Then, just after the start, another car came up the inside of me and I had no option but to move to the outside of the corner, which is how I collided with Villeneuve. After that, I spent the rest of the race fighting a lack of grip from the tyres. The grip I was expecting to improve in the race compared to the way it was in qualifying did not in fact do so. The choice I made yesterday did not pay off.”

Ross Brawn
Technical Director

Ferrari's Technical Director Ross Brawn, was certainly not pleased about Ferrari's result today, and admits that Ferrari simply simply has a lack of grip. Here is what Ross had to say about the German Grand Prix:

“It turned out to be a very frustrating race, after we had started well. But our performance faded as the race progressed. This got worse in the final stages and we were very vulnerable to attack from the cars behind us. Michael had a little problem with the car and had to let Fisichella pass, which is a shame.”

July 24, 2005

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