Nothing wrong with that, IMO. As I recall, a significant reason Bernie let Flav and Benetton literally steal Schumi from Eddie Jordan in '91 after one race was the importance he attached to having a German (and the German marketing possibilities) with a top team.

Although the situation is changing with the buyouts/eliminations of many of the remaining small independent teams, the tail end of the grid has rarely contained drivers whose positions were based solely on merit.

That being said, I would argue that Speed is every bit as legitimate as Albers or Monteiro, who both pay for their seats. (and both of whom he outqualified and finished ahead of today...) He'll have a tough row with STR, but after reading a bit of Speed's personal history I have no doubts about his toughness.

Rosberg was stunning. First race in a middling car and he sets fastest race lap. That was impressive.


Tim

Exactly what we need more of in F1. I guess he skipped the meeting where they tell the rookies that you can't pass in F1 and that you should just trundle along in line with the others waiting for your pit stop.

Looks like Schumacher could use some "attachments" (per David Hobbs) like Niko. :D

Thanks for the link ... a good piece on Speed that I missed. I didn't know about his serious health struggles. The kid is a fighter, no doubt.

I was thinking about Rosberg going wheel to wheel with Coulthard, and winning, earlier tonight. Hard to overstate how significant that was for an F1 rookie in his first race.

MS was a couple of seconds behind at the flag, but he lost to Alonso by a tenth, or less, at Fernando's pit exit. His comment about the "lost lap" said it all. One more lap in the lead and he would have gained the margin needed.

Fascinating race. Good to see some overtaking in F1 again. It's been a long time.

Rosberg is a revelation, but I wonder if the FW28 Williams is better than everyone seems to think it is.

I feel sorry for Webber. If Rosberg set the race's fastest lap because he is a Senna-like talent, and not because the FW28 is a stronger package than Webber's P6 indicates, then he has to dig deeper, find some more pace or face the prospect of being shaded by another teammate.

Exciting race! Bonus that Der Michael didn´t up ´n win directly. Hopefully it will turn out a thrilling season. The years before last I thought rather boring.

Nice to see the 2006 racing season start with such a competitive race.

I am a big fan of Kimi's but yesterday I think it was Rosberg that stole the show.

He finished 7th 30 seconds behind Kimi after a 1st lap crash (remember he stepped out of the car whilst in the pit-lane).

And I bet the Williams is no-where near as competitive as the McLaren-Mercedes.

2 other observations... Forst I guess Kimi really showed everybody how Montoya is just a good driver with a fun personality, not a world class champion.

Second I bet someone is loosing sleep at BMW. Seeing the Williams finish in the points with the fastest lap of the race when their car had a completly lacklustre race (well Villeneuve's engine exploded...) must be hard...
Maybe they should try their F1 "inspired" V10 that they have in the M5 :eek: :eek:

Ron Dennis = Idoit.

This comment after Kimi charges from dead last to 3rd. Way to get behind your man.

http://www.planetf1.com/News/Story_Page/0,15909,3210_3213_1080800,00.html

McLaren have already offered Kimi 20m Euros per season. Kimi has turned the offer down.

Both Kimi and McLaren Mercedes want to win.

There are some good young drivers out there (Rosberg, Klien) that McLaren can sign up along Alonso.

By the same token Kimi could look at Renault and Toyota (and Ferrari).

I just think they are both negotiating as they know the best results for both sides is the status quo (i.e. Kimi stays in McLaren).

Ron Dennis is a very smart person (you don't become a multi-millionaire starting with nothing without brain or cojones)and very business savvy. He is also very arrogant, somewhat abrasive and selfconfident.

I respect him as a team manager that has always let his drivers go for it (senna-prost, hakkinen-dc, kimi-juan) and has always tried to provide them with equally performing cars (as opposed to some other succesful teams).

I say Kimi stays in McLaren for 2007... Beer?