Monaco Results

1. Alonso
2. Montoya
3. Coulthard
4. Barichello
5. Schumi
6. Fisichella
7. Heidfeld
8. Ralf Schumacher

Schumi's Manager Fights Back

A lot has been said about Michael Schumacher's qualifying incident. A Spanish Monaco GP Steward said there was plenty of proof to punish Schumacher. Schumacher's manager, Willi Weber, believes the Spanish Steward should have kept his mouth shut.

"The man is Spanish, just like Alonso. It wasn't very smart to spread his personal opinion," Weber told German magazine Bild. "You might as well ask the wolf how Little Red Riding Hood is doing lately!" Webber joked.

The telemetry-data showed the Stewards that Schumacher was hitting the brakes 50% heavier than in his previous laps, but according to Weber that doesn't prove anything. "Of course he braked harder, he had to! When you make a mistake and lose control you will brake a lot harder than you do normally. This evidence is a complete joke. None of these three Stewards sat in the car - it was Michael who sat there."

Ferrari President Responds To Monaco Incident

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has spoken of his displeasure with the back-of-the-grid punishment dished out to Michael Schumacher after Saturday’s controversial qualifying session.

Montezemolo feels that Schumacher was harshly treated when stewards stripped the seven-time champion of his pole position after ruling that the German had deliberately parked his Ferrari on the exit of Rascasse corner.

“Ferrari do not comment on the decisions of judges,” he told Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.

“I never like it whatever the judgement – sporting or otherwise – when there is a presumption of guilt.

“I particularly don’t like it when the presumption of guilt can decide the world championship.”

Montezemolo said that Schumacher had responded in the perfect manner on race day, with a stunning fightback up to fifth position which saw him set the fastest lap of the race on route.

“Schumacher honoured his role as a great champion,” said the Italian.

“I believe it was the best possible response in sporting and technical terms on the part of Ferrari.

“On Saturday and Sunday we had by far the fastest car so we must not give up and continue to work.”

Monaco Steward: Qualifying decision was painful

Joaquin Verdegay, one of the race stewards at the Monaco Grand Prix, has said it was a painful decision to punish Michael Schumacher for his actions during Saturday's qualifying in Monte Carlo.

Verdegay said that all the evidence pointed out that Schumacher acted deliberately and that it wasn't a driver's mistake. "It was a painful decision because we could not make a mistake and put the reputation of the driver at risk," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "We don't know for sure if the entire manoeuvre was deliberate, but in that spot he had certainly not done anything like it throughout the weekend. Schumacher braked over 50% more heavily than on the other laps he did. He then performed some absolutely unnecessary and pathetic counter-steering, and that lasted five metres, until there was no more chances of going through the turn normally."

"He lost control of his car while travelling at only 16km/h. That is something completely unjustifiable. And the engine only shut off because he wanted it to by losing enough time before hitting the clutch. And the excuse that he did not engage reverse because there was traffic doesn't make sense at all."

"If he had damaged his Ferrari we would have probably filed the matter as an error," Verdegay admitted. "We have only applied article 116 of the sporting regulations which says: if a driver affects the results of other drivers by committing an error, you can cancel all of his lap times."

Statement From Jean Todt on Monaco Fiasco

Ferrari's Jean Todt described last Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix as "a disappointing and frustrating weekend," after Michael Schumacher finished a fighting fifth and Felipe Massa ninth.

The team's performance was compromised in qualifying on Saturday, said Todt. "If there is a Grand Prix where you have to be in a good position at the start it is Monte Carlo. So of course it was not very pleasing to have one car starting from the pit lane and the other car starting from last position on the grid.

"But there are explanations for that. Felipe made a mistake in first qualifying, and if you make a mistake in this context, that's the price you have to pay. It was different for Michael. Michael was on pole until he lost the car in the last corner and then the stewards, after eight hours of discussion, decided that he was due to leave from the back of the grid."

Todt described Ferrari's position regarding the incident which led to Schumacher's times being cancelled. "We tried to demonstrate the evidence that it was a racing incident and it was not considered. As we did not have the possibility to appeal, either, we did not have any other option but to accept it and to try to get the best out of the situation. There's nothing we can do now. The weekend is over, no right of appeal, so we just have to move forwards."

Todt admitted that he was surprised by the reactions of people in the paddock to the incident and its consequences. "But we are in a world where people very easily over-react. Personally, I try not to over-react and try to understand exactly what is happening. I know that the majority of the people around were saying that Michael did it on purpose. We tried to demonstrate what had happened with the information, with telemetry data we had that it was a driver's mistake. He explained all that at length and we had the telemetry evidence which allowed us to understand. We have, in detail, all the evidence of this special episode.

Schumi Finishes 5th After Harsh Penalty

Statement From Schumi:

Sunday, May 28th: "Of course I'm happy that I managed to finish fifth after having started as last, but I also have to admit that I'm still a little disappointed following yesterday's events - especially because now we saw what would have been possible during the race. I was also disappointed about what happened yesterday and of course all of us were shocked that I received such a severe punishment. I acknowledge the fact that certain situations in qualifying might have looked a little odd from the outside, but everyone needs to understand that you can't really judge what happened unless you were the one in the car and had all the information. I did not want to spoil Fernando's fast lap, that was not my intention and I am sorry that it ended up that way. I did not even know where he was at that time, because I had no information through the team-radio. But there was a reason why this happened. Some people tend to be very harsh critics and others are more careful when making a judgement. You have to live with that - why should Formula One be any different than real life? There are always people that don't want to understand you and choose to speak through the media. But there are also others who don't need to do that, and it's perfectly normal that these people are far more important to me. I'm still second in the drivers' championship table and my view is that the championship is still not decided after this 7th race. And I think that after this race everyone knows that giving up is not an option for me "

Schumi's Pole Taken Away By FIA

The stewards of the Monaco Grand Prix have deleted all of Michael Schumacher's qualifying times, sending him to the back of the grid for Sunday's race. In a statement the stewards said that Schumacher had deliberately stopped his car on the track in the closing seconds of qualifying, preventing rivals from setting a faster time.

The stewards considered data evidence produced to them by both Ferrari and the FIA, viewed video evidence, and compared data evidence from Schumacher's previous laps in qualifying. Their findings were, as they mentioned in their statement: "having set a fast time in sector one, the driver lost time in sector two, arrived at Turn 18 at a speed little, if any, different from his previous fastest lap, and braked with such force that his front wheels locked up, requiring the driver to regain control of the car."

"The driver ultimately did so without hitting the barrier on the outside of Turn 18. The engine of the car subsequently stalled, with the result of the car partially blocked the track."

"Having compared all relevant data, the stewards can find no justifiable reason for the driver to have braked with such undue, excessive and unusual pressure at this part of the circuit, and are therefore left with no alternatives but to conclude that the driver deliberately stopped his car on the circuit in the last few minutes of qualifying, at a time at which he had thus far set the fastest laptime."

The Stewards penalised Schumacher under Article 112 of the FIA Sporting Regulations, which makes it impossible for Ferrari to appeal.

"Article 112 enables the stewards to delete any number of a driver's qualifying times for a driving infringement, which decision is not susceptible to appeal," the Statement said. "The stewards accordingly direct that the qualifying times of Michael Schumacher, the driver of car number five, be deleted. The effect of this is that...the driver will start the race from the back of the grid."

Schumi Changes Colors For Monaco

New Sponsor

Ferrari today announced that it has reached a sponsorship agreement with Telecom Italian Group, a leading telecommunications, media and internet company. Telecom Italia, through its Alice brand will thus become an official sponsor of the Scuderia
Ferrari Marlboro, with a presence on the cars that take part in the Formula 1 World
Championship. The agreement comes into effect Jan 1 2007 and lasts 3 years.

Spanish Grand Prix Results

1. Alonso
2. Schumi
3. Fisichella
4. Massa
5. Kimi
6. Button
7. Barrichello
8. Heidfeld

Schumi Finishes In Second Place !!!

Schumi finishes second in the Spanish GP after qualifying 3rd in the grid.

Michael Schumacher did what he could, but second position was as good as it was ever going to get unless Alonso had a problem - and he did not. Schumacher made up one position on Fisichella in the first round of pit stops, but could do nothing about the pace of the leading R26.

Felipe Massa started fourth and finished in the same position in the second Ferrari, recording the fastest lap of the race prior to his second stop. For whatever reason the Brazilian was not able to show that pace over the entire race distance, as he finished six seconds behind Fisichella.

New Tires For Ferrari

Michael Schumacher will charge for a hat-trick of victories with a brand new 'super-soft' Bridgestone tyre in Spain.

Germany's 'Bild' newspaper revealed that the new spec, only completed by the Japanese supplier on Monday this week, is softer and faster than the tyre with which Ferrari's number one won a week ago in Germany.

Previously, Bridgestone's product - also used for the first time in 2006 by Toyota and Williams - operated only within a small 'window' of performance.

But Schumacher told Bild: ''Whether it is hot or cold no longer plays a role.''

Ferrari boss Jean Todt added: ''Bridgestone have made a giant jump and from now on we will be strong.''

Ferrari Sets V8 Record

Ferrari was the first team ever to win 2 consecutive races with the same engine.

Europe Grand Prix Results

1. Schumi
2. Alonso
3. Massa
4. Kimi
5. Barrichello
6. Fisichella
7. Rosberg
8. Villeneuve

VICTORY #2 FOR MICHAEL AND FERRARI !!!

FERRARI IS BACK !!! Michael Schumacher held his nerve, matching Fernando Alonso right until the second pit stops and putting fast laps in when it counted to beat the championship leader for the second successive race. Felipe Massa finished third getting his first podium of his career. Ferrari seem to be regaining the domination they are so used to having in Formula 1, the whole package seems great, tires, aero, race pace, it is all coming together. Michael is only 13 pts behind Alonso in the championship.

Ferrari Strong In Europe Qualifying

Ferrari turned in another strong qualifying performance today at the Nurburgring with Michael Schumacher clinching second on the grid and Felipe Massa third. They also dominated the third practice session with Michael and Felipe coming in at one and two.

Aiming for third Pole of the season

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher said today that he is confident of fighting for a second straight victory in this weekend's European Grand Prix.

The German was the highest-placed race driver in the morning's opening practice session and was only four hundredths of a second slower than world champion Fernando Alonso's Renault in the afternoon. Schumacher is second in the title race - 15 points behind Alonso after winning in San Marino two weeks ago, and he goes into Saturday's qualifying session with high hopes of gaining his third pole position in five races.