Schumacher and Alonso rivalry steps up a gear

As this blog had predicted on Friday, traffic proved to be a major factor in qualifying in Australia. And it was none other than Michael Schumacher who had the most public problem,  the German subsequently having words with Fernando Alonso he found the Ferrari driver in his way on his last timed lap.

Schumacher later played down the significance of the conversation, saying only that he’d asked Alonso whether he’d been told by the team that a quicker car was coming.

Nevertheless the incident has added a little extra edge to the relationship between the two men, as Alonso continues to try to step out of the shadow of his illustrious predecessor. Earlier this week the gossip in the paddock was that Fernando was unimpressed to find a visiting Michael enjoying the Ferrari catering. Both men are smart enough to forget any petty issues once on track, but nevertheless it was an intriguing incident.

“Basically on my last try I was slowed down by him,” said Schumacher. “I asked him whether the team told him, and he said no. In a way it’s difficult because he’d been on his in-lap and worrying for other things than maybe to watch the mirrors.

“But saying that we had this chat yesterday in the driver’s briefing, that this should be taken care about. And actually he was one of the main guys about it. So I just wanted to know whether the team had told him or not.

“I had a similar issue with Lewis. He was preparing his lap and blocking me in a way, which is not very nice. If you sit behind and you try your best – and that’s what I’m doing at this moment – and then you have somebody slowing down, it’s not very comfortable.”

Schumacher says he talked to FIA race director Charlie Whiting after the session to ascertain what is and what isn’t acceptable these days.

“I had a conversation with Charlie about this, because I need to now as well what is reference, what is the guidelines here, because the rules have changed a little bit to what they used to be, so I need to know what is it, what you’d be OK and what not.”

Mercedes boss Ross Brawn was sympathetic to his driver’s problem: “There’s a lot of traffic out there. I don’t think anyone was maliciously trying to stop anyone doing another lap, but trying to make a judgement call on how quick you need to go with a guy behind is not easy, I think there needs to be a certain tolerance, but people will also need reminding if they’ve spoiled someone’s lap. It was certainly a reasonable lap.”

Although Australia is particularly tight traffic will continue to be an issue this year. The real flash point could be the end of Q2. As Lewis Hamilton has discovered, with seven of 17 cars eliminated, that session can be fraught even for those with ostensibly quicker cars.