"he beat Schumacher in a car 2 seconds a lap slower than the Ferrari> at Imola">

"where was his 2 seconds a lap advantage today?">

"able to run two seconds a lap faster than anyone else for half a race">

Not to be critical of anyone in particular, we expect exaggeration and> hyperbole on Usenet. But this "myth" seems to becoming entrenched - even> Brundle/Allen were talking of 1.5s per lap at Imola during yesterday's> commentary.>

Let's look at the Imola laptimes.>

In a 62 lap race Michael was faster than anyone else on only 21 laps (just> 34% of the race).>

On those 21 laps his nearest rivals in terms of lap speed were:>

Alex Wurz 9 laps> Fernando Alonso 7 laps> Jenson Button 2 laps> Takuma Sato 1 lap> Felipe Massa 1 lap> Nick Heidfeld 1 lap>

In those 21 laps he was only more than 2s quicker than his nearest rival

one lap - lap 48 (Alonso). That was the fastest lap of the whole race and> Alonso was a full 2.444s slower.>

There were five laps when the difference was between 1.5s and 2.0s - the> average was 1.778s.>

On another six laps the difference was between 1.0s and 1.5s - the average> was 1.302s.>

On yet another six laps the difference was between 0.5s and 1.0s, average> 0.769s.>

The remaining three laps (of the 21) had a difference of less than 0.5s,> average 0.289s.>

The average difference over those 21 laps was 1.173s.>

The laps when MS was quickest on the track were>

24-26 he was low on fuel, pitting on lap 28> 29-42> 47-49 also low on fuel, pitting on lap 49> 51>

So on six of the 21 laps he was within 4 laps of pitting and so was

That still leaves 15 laps where he was a lot faster than his nearest

All in all it was a typical Schumacher performance, running laps at

"he beat Schumacher in a car 2 seconds a lap slower than the Ferrari> at Imola">

"where was his 2 seconds a lap advantage today?">

"able to run two seconds a lap faster than anyone else for half a race">

Not to be critical of anyone in particular, we expect exaggeration and> hyperbole on Usenet. But this "myth" seems to becoming entrenched - even> Brundle/Allen were talking of 1.5s per lap at Imola during yesterday's> commentary.>

Let's look at the Imola laptimes.>

In a 62 lap race Michael was faster than anyone else on only 21 laps (just> 34% of the race).>

On those 21 laps his nearest rivals in terms of lap speed were:>

Alex Wurz 9 laps> Fernando Alonso 7 laps> Jenson Button 2 laps> Takuma Sato 1 lap> Felipe Massa 1 lap> Nick Heidfeld 1 lap>

In those 21 laps he was only more than 2s quicker than his nearest rival

one lap - lap 48 (Alonso). That was the fastest lap of the whole race and> Alonso was a full 2.444s slower.>

There were five laps when the difference was between 1.5s and 2.0s - the> average was 1.778s.>

On another six laps the difference was between 1.0s and 1.5s - the average> was 1.302s.>

On yet another six laps the difference was between 0.5s and 1.0s, average> 0.769s.>

The remaining three laps (of the 21) had a difference of less than 0.5s,> average 0.289s.>

The average difference over those 21 laps was 1.173s.>

The laps when MS was quickest on the track were>

24-26 he was low on fuel, pitting on lap 28> 29-42> 47-49 also low on fuel, pitting on lap 49> 51>

So on six of the 21 laps he was within 4 laps of pitting and so was

That still leaves 15 laps where he was a lot faster than his nearest

All in all it was a typical Schumacher performance, running laps at

--

Between lap 29 and 42, in 12 laps, he closed down the gap of approximately > 20 seconds, which led to TV commentators and others to the intepretation > that Ferrari was 1.5 seconds to 2 seconds a lap quicker. He closed on a

"Brian Lawrence" <Brian_W_LawrenceRE­MTHIS@msn.com> wrote in message> news:3e8llvF1orp2U1­@individual.net...>>­ Anonymous quotes from the last couple of weeks.>>

The extent to which Michaels-fanboys go to never ceases to amaze. He> cracked under pressure in qualifying and then benefited from> Bridgestone's massive advantage over Michelin in race conditions. In> all likelihood Kimi and Alonso would have won the race starting from> 14th in the Ferrari. As a driver his performance was below par, given> the Bridgestone's superiority. >

Pond-scum would have a greater grasp on reality than you, it knows it's> place. To sit there, to look ugly, and to smell bad. You, on the other> hand, have no idea.