You mean NASCAR is boring?!?! Perish the thought! ;)

I have it on TIVO and I am going to rewatch the end.

We were discussing while watching how hard it was going to be to pass MS. He was not going to give up the line easy and off line was wet. If a car went off line in a turn he would understeer into MS which would make it dangerous for both.

When MS shot across the chicane and did not give up the position I was baffled at first but had to wonder if he did it so they would not get tangled up, he had to know the other car would understeer if he tried to go off line.

That was one of the most bizzare races I have seen in a while.

I bet NASCAR races in the rain are every bit as exciting.

Still seems strange for me to say the name "Jensen Button" when referring to the winner of the race. Kind of nice to see a different group on the podium than the norm.

Jim C.--check you pm when you get a chance....

Agreed. But why didn't they put new inter's on during his second stop? He would have had better tires at the end.

And why did he fight Pedro and Nick? He should have lost those 1 or 2 places, maybe not pull over and let them by, but certainly don't fight so hard you break things. That would have gotten him fourth place points and really made the champoinship battle interesting.

His inters look good when he stopped and the track was still pretty wet. Plus on the horizen it looked like the bottom was gonna drop out again. Only Ferrari knows for sure.

Like I said Pedro and Nick were going to have to go around him he was going to hold the dry line even if it was bad for his tires because he knew off the line in the wet would be really really bad for the other 2 and that was the only way around. So instead of heading off into the wet both of them tried to race MS in to the corner and take away his line trying hard not to understeer. MS held his ground the first time and this resulted if his Ferrari being hit in the side. He was ahead in the turn and had the right to hold his line. It was the other cars responisbility to give him room, which they could not due to being in the wet and understeering. So MS was hit. The second time MS took evasive action (in my eyes maybe not to MS haters) to avoid damage to his car. The third time he sustained damage.

In hindsight? He should have let them by, andmaybe held on for 4th place. But that is racing he gambled holding his ground tnd trying to force the other 2 to take a difficult line around. Unfortunatly he was getting the crap kicked out of his car in the process.

That's an interesting perspective ... I need to watch it again.

I'm not an MS hater, I just thought he was beaten in the turn and got an advantage by cutting the corner.

I actually love the Schumi legacy (yes, he's a cocky arrogant ass a lot of times and there are certainly more "likeable" drivers, but one has to respect what he's done for the sport). Anyway, that said I think he got what he deserved. He was beaten and should have yielded the position - instead it's almost like "you can't pass ME, I'm Michael Schumacher!" Wrong. It was good to see him put in his place. He got beaten fair and square, tried to bully his way into retaining the position and it bit him in the arse. Sometimes fate works out the way it should. . .

Sure, they looked good, but they had some wear, and there were a lot of laps left. New inters would have lasted longer than the old ones.

I tape the F1 races for the first couple of laps or if there is rain. Sunday's race was one of the best F1 races that I have seen in years. I second installing sprinklers on all the F1 tracks.

Respectfully, I think a lot of you guys are missing the point. What fun is it to have seen him surrender the position without a fight? He made them work for the position, he's a racer after all and he was trying to race not just salvage a title.

Sux that it apparently ended his chances at the race but it was a heck of a show to have seen the faster (that day...) McLaren struggle for some laps to get by........

and in all fairness, it must be hard to be humble when you are the best.

Heck it beats that unsafe move that Alonso made during Friday practice, that was unsportman behavior and quite unsafe, Schumacher was just racing on Sunday.

Id say keep it up, no more boring races, have the guys actually race each on the track rather than at the pits.

Agreed you shouldn't just roll over and yield position, but he jeopardized his own safety and that of DLR by not only being overly obstinate about it, but physically contacting the other car. Even the commentators initially said "he should move over for him".

Yea that's racing I guess and part of what I admire about the guy is what a fighter he is, but OTOH there comes a time when you let ego and pride get in the way of safety and common sense and that crosses the line.

Anyone got a guess on what happened to that one Renault pit crew dude (right rear wheel)?

Think they'll ever find the body?

I thought it was not the wheel, but an axle that was the problem.

Maybe - the coverage I watched said it was the RR wheel lug came off.

Here's an interseting story from Planet F1:

'Schumi has only himself to blame'
07/08/06

Michael Schumacher has only himself to blame for his failure to finish in the points in Hungary, at least that's according to the two drivers he tangled with, Pedro de la Rosa and Nick Heidfeld.

With five laps to go, Schumi, whose tyres were fading fast, was lying in second place before coming under attack from De la Rosa. The German was unable to hold the McLaren driver at bay, although he tried very hard to do just that - a bit too hard according to De la Rosa.

"He was defending his position a bit too much for his pace, already doing miracles to stay on the track, but I didn't expect him to battle that hard," De la Rosa said.

"I just waited and waited, and knew that I just had to be patient.

"The second time around I made it, but he nearly caused me to crash because he jumped over the chicane, backed off, and then when I went into Turn 8 on the inside, thinking he was letting me go past (after gaining an illegal advantage), he suddenly accelerated and we clashed wheels. I didn't understand."

Schumi's woes, though, didn't stop there as a lap later it was Heidfeld who was all over the back of his Ferrari and a still-fighting Schumi refused to concede defeat. The pair tangled as Heidfeld muscled past, resulting in catastrophic damage to Schumi's car.

"Michael drove into the back of my car, his suspension was damaged and my steering wasn't straight any more, so I took it easy for the last few laps," Heidfeld said.

Schumacher added: "Of course I'm disappointed. We had a great opportunity but we did not take it. But these things happen."

Schumacher, though, was given a boost late on Sunday when Robert Kubica, who had finished the race in seventh place, was disqualified due to his BMW being underweight.

The Pole's disqualification meant that Schumacher was lifted to eighth in the results and therefore narrowed the gap to Fernando Alonso in the Drivers' standings to just ten points.

I just rewatched the last 6 laps. Pedro tried to run MS off the track. He dove in and slid into MS making him take evasive action. Pedro had no tracion in the wet he was on.

Same goes for Heidfeld he cut into Michael's path and forced him to TRY to get out of the way. The tires were not there and MS hit him the the back tire.Costing MS lots of points.


ErVikingo - I agree 100% hence my observation that MS stayed on the dry line forcing comers to go in the wet where he knew they had no traction. What he did not count on was them coming into the wet and beating the hell out of him.

I am all for a good clean pass those muscle moves are BS. If MS pulled that move on FAlast year in Imola where he was faster everyone would be crying foul. MS had the faster car in Imola but could not get a clean pass without the possibility of a wreck so he had to ride it our behind FA. Meanwhile FA was brakchecking MS on the entrance to turns to throw off his rythem.

If the positions were turned and MS muscled past either one of those guys everyone would be slamming MS for his bonehead moves. The guy is supposed to be perfect.

Did anyone notice MS not be able to get his Ferrari into revers and stall it on Saturday in the pits?

Of course its o.k. there but on the track its a no no.

YES! And a in intermittantly engaged snow machine on turn one! Make these prima donnas sweat for their bread I say!

(disclaimer: this does not apply in all situations...):

I remember going to Skip Barber in the early 90's and Vic Elford telling me "in racing, passing is the responsibility of the guy overtaking you. You worry too much about their race and spend too much time looking at the mirrors...".

I still do but I race vintage not pro. I saw the race again also and I saw De La Rosa skid into MS and he was the one trying to pass, how is that MS's fault? This is real racing not vintage....

Yeah, MS was racing allright. But he forgot that he's in two races. One is the current race for position and the other is the year-long race for the championship. Sometimes you have to lose a battle to win the war. The championship is the bigger prize, and it's better to lose the battle for third and take fourth place points home than it is to crash and take zero points home (he got lucky and got one point due to the disqualification).

Very true Kang but you can't blame him for racing those guys in hopes of getting more points..... It did not work in the end but he tried...