Of those who retired, TAKUMA SATO/
Super Aguri went out on lap 1; TIAGO MONTEIRO/Midland launched himself on a kerb after something snapped at the rear of his car, causing him to lose hydraulic pressure; RUBENS BARRICHELLO/Honda had an engine problem; JARNO TRULLI/Toyota was running fourth when he succumbed to a brake problem which he felt was too dangerous to continue-Trulli led briefly when
Michael Schumacher made his first pit stop; MARK WEBBER/
Williams gave up the ghost after five pit stops to remedy damage from his delaminating left rear tyre causing him to spin early on in the race; and JENSON BUTTON/Honda had engine problems.
Bridgestone tyres had the winning car, and three in the top four, and Schumacher's victory was its ninety-ninth in
Formula One since it started in 1997. But out of the 16 finishers, only six were running Bridgestones. The remaining ten including runner-up Alonso were on Michelin tyres.
As The Wheel Turns - RON DENNIS, team principal for
McLaren brushed off any questions regarding JPM and NASCAR, saying he had a
F1 race to run and walking away. Next week the McLaren team will test in
Jerez, Spain with Raikkonen, de la Rosa and test driver GARY PAFFETT. No mention of Montoya. Michelin said in its post-race release that Montoya was "currently on sabbatical after announcing that he was going to switch to the US-based NASCAR Nextel Cup in 2007." Stay Tuned.
Before the race started, the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association issued its statement regarding future F1 engine rules. The GPMA consists of
BMW, DaimlerChrysler,
Honda,
Renault and
Toyota. Williams and Toro Rosso use Cosworth engines, the only independently owned engine manufacturer. Fiat, owner of
Ferrari, is no longer a member of GPMA.
