Brazilian Felipe Massa ended Lewis Hamilton’s two-race domination of Formula One by taking pole position ahead of the young Briton on Saturday for Sunday’s French Grand Prix. The Latin-American Ferrari driver clocked a fastest lap in the final segment of qualifying with a time of one minute, 15,034 seconds.
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/ 24 October 2006
Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso has played down his chances of matching the achievements of the retired Michael Schumacher. The 25-year-old Spaniard reclaimed his crown at the Brazilian Grand Prix, and in so doing, ended Schumacher’s bid to add to his record of seven drivers’ championships.
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/ 22 October 2006
Fernando Alonso celebrated clinching his second drivers’ world title in his final race for Renault on Sunday with a rich tribute to his team and retiring seven-times champion Michael Schumacher. The 25-year-old Spaniard finished second behind victorious home-city hero Felipe Massa in the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Defending world champion Fernando Alonso was accused of dangerous driving and hit with a two-second penalty after Felipe Massa clocked the times in Friday’s final opening practice session for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix. The penalty he picked up for the qualifying session will probably knock Alonso halfway back down the grid.
Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve believes Formula One is becoming a bore. The 1997 world champion, who at 35 is one of the senior men still on duty in motor racing’s elite division, said he believed most teams now preferred to recruit young, cheap and ”corporate” drivers.
Defending world drivers’ champion Fernando Alonso believes that this weekend’s French Grand Prix will see him bounce back from his disappointment in America last time out. The 24-year-old Spaniard could only finish fifth in his Renault at the United States Grand Prix as his title rival Michael Schumacher won for Ferrari to cut his championship lead to 19 points with eight races left.
Michael Schumacher was dramatically stripped of pole position and placed last on the grid for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix late on Saturday. The International Motorsport Federation, motor racing’s governing body, came down hard on the seven-time champion after finding him guilty of ”deliberately stopping his car in the middle of the track”.
With Prince Albert at the helm, Monaco are now in a position befitting their glamorous surroundings. Prince Albert, heir to the Monaco throne and unofficial spokesperson for the principality’s troubled football club, has lured a Francophile commercial asset to help.