Albert park turns into a destruction derby but Alosno is in the 'zone'

Well after the australian smash derby other races might seem a tad too boring. But if imola repeats anything close to what happened last year i'll trade it for a thousand albert parks. At least the last 10 laps had me on the edge of my seat or rather squirming on the floor my eyes wide open and my mouth shut tight in a nervous clench. It was the most amazing ten laps of 2005. Schumi and alonso head to head screeching along vying for the victory. They had more than a victory at stake - both had points to prove. It was the acid test of 2005 and alonso came out of it unscathed.

The situation is not very different this season. Alonso is again leading the ranks and fisi is close behind. Schumi is looking for an improved performance and what better place to do it than in front of a million screeming red-clad fans. Imola is ferrari's stronghold and last season alonso got away with the attack into its very heart. That the climax was a one on one ( like in a movie climax) between the two heroes (yeah dont wanna call one of them a villain) was the perfect finish for an unfinished story. The story will continue this time around. Only now the master of the castle will have to recapture his rightful place, his fortress. Only time will tell as always.

Well honda did it again, in australia. They 'advised'jense not to complete so that they could avoid the down grid penalty in the next race. They certainly are thinking about the future and maybe that is where their problem is. Australia was a huge dissapointment, no doubt. Jense was expected to end at the podium, may be even win the race(not by me!) but ended up coming to a halt 75 yeards from the chequered flag. Had some grip problems during the race that had alonso and kimi overtake him at will although they were helped immensely by the safety car. I still fail to comprehend this hue and cry about jense not getting his first win yet. Jense is one the most overrated drivers in the circuit. How can he win when he has neither the fastest nor that most reliable car on the circuit. He is not special. If you really want me to rank racers i would place jense on step two, below racers like alonso, kimi and schumi.At least in this season, for him to win, the renaults and the mclarens have to perform poorly or have dnfs. Of course, he can end up on the podium. He is good enough for that. He might do it in imola and i am willing to take a bet on that. But i am also willing to risk a bet that jense might never get to win once this season with kimi and alonso on track. Meanwhile barri is enduring a painful transition. The fact that he had to be happy about ending in points in Oz reflects the current state.Serious problems for honda.

So what can we expect at imola. A ferrari resurgence? Quite possible. Schumi showed some serious race pace in his brief stint in albert park. So the car is still competent enough and imola is a ferrari's circuit. So will this homecoming be a happy one? We'll have to wait and see.

Meanwhile yet again kimi sets the fastest lap at the last lap. I keep wondering why he does that time and again. I understand that he will have the least fuel then but more than a second faster in the last lap is not just fuel load. Why should he wait till the last lap to do it? Well kimi is a total enigma more so his partnership with Mclaren. So where will they be in imola? Its a big puzzle and with mclaren its better to stay out of predictions a win as well a big zero are equally possible.

Renaults, ever so reliable and oozing performance will be the favorites more specifically alonso. He just carries on as if nothing is happening around him. He is in what i call the 'zone'. Sportsment occasionally do fall into it and you see performances that are totally out of league of the others. I've seen aussies do it, i've see tendulkar do it and also laxman during one of those knocks. They seem totally self assured, peaceful and ruthlessly dominating all the same time. He is the 2006 champion too! Oops there i did it again..Too early to call?..Lets wait and watch how this drama unfolds.