Schumacher still racing as fast as ever
MONZA, Italy (AP) – Whether Michael Schumacher announces his retirement or not this weekend, one thing remains unchanged – he’s still driving as fast as ever. While Schumacher missed out on the pole for today’s Italian Grand Prix by two-thousandths of a second, he put considerable distance between himself and championship leader Fernando Alonso on the starting grid.
Schumacher qualified second Saturday and will start alongside pole sitter Kimi Raikkonen.
Alonso was dropped from fifth to 10th on the starting grid for blocking Schumacher’s Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa, who qualified fourth.
Schumacher trails Alonso by 12 points with four races remaining, and Ferrari is poised to overtake Alonso’s Renault team in the constructors’ standings. Renault holds a two-point lead.
Pat Symonds, Renault’s executive director of engineering, called the penalty “a surprising decision.”
“Massa was 100 meters (behind). Check the speed and time and you can work it out,” Symonds said.
Symonds added that Alonso was going faster in the sector where the infraction occurred than his previous laps.
“It’s a strange way to impede someone, going faster than you were before,” he said.
Schumacher is expected to announce his retirement after Sunday’s race.
He says speculation about his retirement hasn’t affected him.
“It’s (more) a distraction to other people than us,” Schumacher said. “It would be nice to be on pole in our home grand prix but the important thing is to perform tomorrow.”
Raikkonen earned the 11th pole of his career and third this season. Raikkonen also started first in the German and Hungarian GP’s, although the McLaren-Mercedes driver has yet to win this year.
“It could go either way tomorrow, but I’m quite confident,” said Raikkonen, who finished third in Germany and smashed into the back of Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Toro Rosso in Hungary.
Raikkonen covered the Monza circuit in 1 minute, 21.484 seconds on his final lap of qualifying. The Finn is expected to replace Schumacher at Ferrari next season.
Schumacher was second in 1:21.486, and Nick Heidfeld was third in 1:21.653 for BMW-Sauber’s best-ever qualifying result.
The right rear tire on Alonso’s car punctured early in the final qualifying session and some pieces of his Renault car flew off. The Spaniard drove into the pits with only shreds of rubber hanging on the wheel.
Alonso eventually returned to the track but couldn’t catch the leaders.
“We knew qualifying was the worst point of our weekend,” Alonso said.
Massa said Alonso prevented him from posting a top-two time.
“It’s a shame, because I felt capable of putting (the car) on the front row,” Massa said.