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Fisichella to Ferrari!

Giancarlo is finally getting his chance to driver for Ferrari.  He will drive for the remainder of the 2009 season and it is also believed that he has secured a long term testing role as well.

Good luck Fisi!

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O, Canada (we don't need you)

So the FIA has released the 18 race 2009 schedule and the Canadian GP in Montreal is nowhere to be found. This only a couple of years after they punted the U.S. GP. I guess F1 doesn't need North America. We only buy most of the cars made by the manufacturers. I'm sure Honda, Toyota and BMW love this decision, to name a few.

By all means, let's give Spain two races but none in the U.S. or Canada. This is not a great way to build a fan base. I suspect it has to do with revenues and the new overseas tracks being more willing and able to line Bernie's pockets.

This is truly sad, because Montreal provided Americans the chance to get the feel of a European GP without the expense. It was also a great track that has produced some memorable results over the years.

At least we still have Spa, Silverstone and Monza, but with the loss of the Nurburgring, the neutering of Hockenheim, and the constant threats against Silverstone, trends are headed a direction I don't like, and it goes far beyond Canada. This is just the latest symptom of the disease. I fear for my favorite sport.

McLaren Appeal Found Inadmissible

McLaren should think about staying out of the courts.  This is their second time to lose an appeal in as many years.  In this case, they were allowed to make a full argument and yet they threw out the appeal on grounds that it's inadmissible regardless of their statements.  It seems that the FIA are wanting to set a precedence  in this matter and by not allowing the argument to even be considered, have stamped their authority on the previous ruling.

During the hearing, Hamilton snapped and made this ridiculous statement when he was questioned about his comments regarding the hearing.

"Are you a racing driver? No. I have been a racing driver since I was eight years old and I know pretty much every single maneuver in the book, and that's why I'm the best at my job.
We're talking about a skilled driver under intense pressure making a split-second decision which no one, unless they are in F1, can comprehend."

It appears that the media hype is finally starting to go to his head.  If Lewis makes it to the end of the season without making even more boneheaded mistakes, I'll be surprised.

Read On

Lewis Hamilton "Deserves" to Win?

Somebody should tell Lewis that the season isn't quite over.  He's already stating that he "morally" deserves to win the 2008 WDC title.  If he doesn't snap before the end of the year, I'll be surprised.  Normally when a driver talks like this, it comes back to bite him.

Read for yourself...

Lewis Hamilton Bias – The First Black WDC?

The latest scandal is yet another example of the uncompromising bias in the media for Lewis Hamilton.  Many people are chomping at the bit to have the first black world champion.  This is a very worthy desire, but I believe it is a bit dishonest to the sport that is Formula One, to push a driver for the WDC title in an attempt for racial parity.  Yes, I know…you’re above all that and you are just supporting Lewis because he is a superb driver and a great racer.  Well, then you’ll appreciate the honest look at the events that took place during the closing laps of the Belgian Grand Prix.

First we'll look at the actual ruling by the stewards and then we'll look at the International Sporting Code.

 

 

This is the text for Article 30.3 out of the 2008 Formula One Regulations:
30.3   a) During practice and the race, drivers may use only the track and must at all times observe the
provisions of the Code relating to driving behavior on circuits.

This is the text for Appendix L Chapter 4 Article 2:
2. Overtaking
a) During a race, a car alone on the track may use the full width of
the said track. However, as soon as it is caught up on a straight
by a car which is either temporarily or constantly faster, the driver
shall give the other vehicle the right of way by pulling over to one
side in order to allow for passing on the other side.
b) If the driver who has been caught does not seem to make full use
of his rear-view mirror the flag marshal(s) will give a warning by
waving the blue flag to indicate that another competitor wants to
overtake.
Any driver who does not take notice of the blue flag may be
penalized by the Sporting Stewards.
Systematic or repeated offences may result in the exclusion of
the offender from the race.
c) Curves, as well as the approach and exit zones thereof, may be
negotiated by the drivers in any way they wish, within the limits of the track. Overtaking, according to the circumstances, may be done either on the right or on the left.
However, maneuvers liable to hinder other drivers such as
premature changes of direction, more than one change of
direction, deliberate crowding of cars towards the inside or the
outside of the curve or any other abnormal change of direction,
are strictly prohibited and shall be penalized, according to the
importance and repetition of the offences, by penalties ranging
from a fine to the exclusion from the race. The repetition of
dangerous driving, even involuntary, may result in the exclusion
from the race.
d) Any obstructive maneuver carried out by one or several
drivers, either having common interests or not, is prohibited.
The persistent driving abreast of several vehicles, as well as fanshaped arrangement, is authorized only if there is not another car trying to overtake. Otherwise the blue flag will be waved.
e) The penalty inflicted for ignoring the blue flag will also be applied to the drivers who obstruct part of the track and shall be more severe in the case of systematic obstruction, thus ranging from a fine to the exclusion from the race. The same penalty shall be applied to drivers who swing from one side of the track to the
other in order to prevent other competitors from overtaking.
f) The repetition of serious mistakes or the appearance of a lack
of control over the car (such as leaving the track) may entail the
exclusion of the drivers concerned.
g) The race track alone shall be used by the drivers during the
race.

 

After reading the sporting code, it is pretty clear that Lewis Hamilton was in error.  The question that remains for many though is whether or not he gave back the "advantage" that he gained from cutting the chicane.

Well, lets look at an example...

Two race drivers are on track at Spa.  We shall call them Racer A and Racer B.  On the current lap, Racer A is two seconds ahead of Racer B.  There is a chicane approaching and Racer A negotiates the chicane on the normal racing line.  Racer B approaches the chicane and instead "straight lines" the chicane and continues on so he can get closer to Racer A.  Now the two cars are only one second apart with Racer A still in the lead.

In that example it's easy to see where the advantage is obtained and if it was obvious that the driver cut the chicane on purpose he would be given a drive thru penalty.   What are the differences between this example and what happened at the race in Belgium?  One difference is that Lewis was in the middle of trying a pass on Kimi at the entry to the chicane.  Given the normal racing line, he wasn't going to make it so he had three possible variables to choose from. 

1. He could maintain his line and risk taking them both out.
2. He could lift and let Kimi maintain the lead.
3. He could cut the chicane and take the lead.

If he had lifted and let Kimi maintain the lead he would not have been in a position to pass him on the very short straight that followed and would have to try and pass him later.  Instead, he chose to cut the chicane and take the lead.  After he did this he realized that he needed to let Kimi by.  He did so briefly, but since it was just before a braking zone he took the lead right back and never gave up his advantage.  He knew this would not hold up.  He's been part of the driver meetings where they have discussed the fact that you should wait until the next corner after "giving back" an advantage.  Instead, Lewis plays the victim and acts like the world is out to get him.  This is turning into a common reaction for him and it's not very becoming.

McLaren and Lewis thought they could skirt the regulations this time since they've done so in the past and almost got away with it.  Working in a culture of cheating at McLaren like Lewis has for the past season and a half, I'm not surprised that he doesn't see this as that big of a deal.  Cheating is cheating though, whether it's done by an engineer using a stolen technical manual from Ferrari or if it's done on track by a driver.  Both should be punished.

Now, back to our media bias.  I assure you that if it was another driver that had passed Lewis Hamilton in the same fashion they would be in full support of my analysis above.  But sadly, they want racial parity more than they want a real world champion and will push to a fault to obtain that goal.  Instead, let Lewis Hamilton be the brilliant driver that he is and let him get there on his own merits.  He and the world will be much better off if we can let that happen.

Felipe Massa Wins Grand Prix of Europe

Massa dominated the 2008 European Grand Prix much like he did in Hungary.  Unlike Hungary, he had no troubles at all with his car and sailed into the distance leaving a distraught Lewis Hamilton in his wake.

Heikki Gets His First Victory

Felipe Massa was storming to victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix with 3 laps to go when it happened.  The video switched to Felipe driving down the front straight with a huge plume of black smoke behind him and he came to a stop.  He had driven a flawless race, but racing is a very cruel sport and it was his turn to be dealt the blow.  Hamilton had already been relegated to further back in the field when he had a flat on his front left tire (Possibly a result of his constant locking of his front brakes).   So, that left Heikki free to take the victory with ease.  A great result for a real up-and-comer.  One of the big surprises of the weekend was Timo Glock coming in second.  He had to work for it too, holding off a very quick Kimi Raikkonen who came in third.  All in all, the Hungarian Grand Prix was a very exciting race and I can't wait for the next one.  That's why it hurts so much that we have three weeks before we can see the sights and hear the sounds of Formula One again.

 

Pos	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired
1	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	70	1:37:27.067
2	Timo Glock	Toyota	70	+11.0 secs
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	70	+16.8 secs
4	Fernando Alonso	Renault	70	+21.6 secs
5	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+23.0 secs
6	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	70	+32.2 secs
7	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	70	+36.4 secs
8	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	70	+48.3 secs
9	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	70	+58.8 secs
10	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	70	+67.7 secs
11	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	70	+70.4 secs
12	Jenson Button	Honda	69	+1 Lap
13	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	69	+1 Lap
14	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	69	+1 Lap
15	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	69	+1 Lap
16	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	68	+2 Laps
17	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	67	Engine
18	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	67	+3 Laps
Ret	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	62	+8 Laps
Ret	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	22	+48 Laps

McLaren stays on top: Hungarian GP Qualifying

A stunning Q2 time for Felipe Massa didn't translate into the final session, and Lewis Hamilton continued McLaren's recent dominance with pole over teammate Heikki Kovalainen. Massa did snag the third slot, with Robert Kubica wringing some speed out of the BMW to claim fourth. Another recent trend that continued was Kimi Räikkönen trailing his teammate. Kimi could do no better than sixth and faces a tough battle for points on a track where passing is notoriously difficult.

Timo Glock backed up his second best time in Q2 (only 0.2s off of Massa's stunner) with a solid fifth position for Toyota. Alonso, Trulli, Webber and Piquet round out the top 10. It should be a heck of a race. Let's see if Ferrari can reverse trend and find speed to push McLaren.

Pos	Driver	Team	Time
1	L. Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:20.899 (Q3)
2	H. Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:21.140 (Q3)
3	F. Massa	Ferrari	1:21.191 (Q3)
4	R. Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:21.281 (Q3)
5	T. Glock	Toyota	1:21.326 (Q3)
6	K. Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:21.516 (Q3)
7	F. Alonso	Renault	1:21.698 (Q3)
8	M. Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:21.732 (Q3)
9	J. Trulli	Toyota	1:21.767 (Q3)
10	N. Piquet	Renault	1:22.371 (Q3)
11	S. Vettel	STR-Ferrari	1:20.144 (Q2)
12	J. Button	Honda	1:20.332 (Q2)
13	D. Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	1:20.502 (Q2)
14	S. Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	1:20.963 (Q2)
15	N. Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	no time (Q2)
16	N. Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:21.045 (Q1)
17	K. Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	1:21.085 (Q1)
18	R. Barrichello	Honda	1:21.332 (Q1)
19	G. Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	1:21.670 (Q1)
20	A. Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	1:22.113 (Q1)

2008 Hungarian Grand Prix - Friday Practice

Lewis Hamilton ended up with the top spot at the completion of the first two practice sessions.  Nelsinho Piquet was the odd ball that pipped his teammate and Heikki Kovalainen for the second spot.  The Ferraris, after leading the first practice session, came in behind the McLarens and Renaults.  I have a sneaky feeling that this is going to be a very interesting and close race.

Practice 1

Practice 2

Hamilton makes it two in a row

Lewis Hamilton followed up his British Grand Prix victory two weeks ago with another win in Germany at Hockenheim (side note - I miss the old track with the massive straights out into the woods).

In a bit of a stunner, Renault's Nelson Piquet took second place with a one-stop strategy. Ferrari's Felipe Massa completed the podium, keeping his championship hopes alive, although Hamilton has broken the three-way tie at the top and also becomes the first to win four races in 2008.

It's going to be an interesting finish to the season, with Kimi Räikkönen still in touch.

More later...

Lewis heads the grid

Lewis Hamilton grabbed the pole position at Hockenheim from Ferrari's Felipe Massa, with Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes teammate Heikki Kovalainen rounding out the top three.

Lewis "Light Load" Hamilton

After setting a fast time early on in the session, Lewis Hamilton fell off the pace until the final closing minutes of the practice when he put in an obvious light fuel run to take P1.  While he was meandering through the rest of the session in the high 1:15s, the Ferrari drivers were consistently putting in the faster times on long fuel runs.

While qualifying will probably be rather close, the race should be leaning in Ferrari's direction.  McLaren may soon be wishing they had someone in the car that was a little more mature and focused on the entire picture at hand.  Throwing in light fuel runs to "puff" yourself up is a rather "Red Bull" sort of thing don't you think?

 

	Driver	Team	Time
1.	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:15.025
2.	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:15.722
3.	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:15.760
4.	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:15.990
5.	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:16.017
6.	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:16.230
7.	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	1:16.355
8.	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:16.363
9.	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:16.377
10.	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	1:16.378
11.	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:16.422
12.	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:16.530
13.	Jenson Button	Honda	1:16.542
14.	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:16.677
15.	Nelson A. Piquet	Renault	1:16.734
16.	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:16.781
17.	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	1:16.829
18.	Sebastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:16.860
19.	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	1:17.008
20.	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	1:17.047

Test Times - Hockenheim Day 3

Name Team Laps Time Gap Massa Ferrari 109 1:14.989 136.443 mph Button Honda 121 1:15.081 0.092 Kovalainen McLaren 123 1:15.289 0.300 Webber Red Bull 117 1:15.378 0.389 Vettel Toro Rosso 106 1:15.556 0.567 Alonso Renault 115 1:15.593 0.604 Nakajima WilliamsF1 118 1:15.759 0.770 Kubica BMW 107 1:15.869 0.880 Trulli Toyota 128 1:16.065 1.076 Fisichella Force India 73 1:16.113 1.124

Test Times - Hockenheim Day 2

Name Team Laps Time Gap Hamilton McLaren 101 1:14.872 136.656 mph Rosberg WilliamsF1 117 1:15.257 0.385 Raikkonen Ferrari 90 1:15.296 0.424 Coulthard Red Bull 42 1:15.767 0.895 Sutil Force India 97 1:15.945 1.073 Vettel Toro Rosso 62 1:15.955 1.083 Glock Toyota 114 1:15.995 1.123 Alonso Renault 106 1:16.141 1.269 Barrichello Honda 90 1:16.144 1.272 Webber Red Bull 70 1:16.217 1.345 Heidfeld BMW 115 1:16.235 1.363 Bourdais Toro Rosso 36 1:16.550 1.678

Test Times - Hockenheim Day 1

Name Team Laps Time Gap Hamilton McLaren 75 1:15.483 135.550 mph Raikkonen Ferrari 63 1:15.803 0.320 Rosberg WilliamsF1 87 1:16.099 0.616 Sutil Force India 97 1:16.516 1.033 Bourdais Toro Rosso 113 1:16.533 1.050 Kobayashi Toyota 65 1:16.570 1.087 Heidfeld BMW 59 1:16.593 1.110 Piquet Renault 111 1:16.856 1.373 Coulthard Red Bull 67 1:17.351 1.868 Wurz Honda 89 1:17.825 2.342

2008 British Grand Prix - Results

Going in to the grand prix, many people had one question on their mind.  How did Heikki out qualify his teammate Lewis Hamilton by almost a full second?  The answer...he was gambling that it would be a dry race on Sunday.  Lewis chose the correct strategy and car setup and left everybody else in his wake.  Heikki, with his dry leaning setup, slipped and twitched his way to P5.

Ferrari as well had two drivers split between setups and it showed as Massa's car swapped ends numerous times throughout the race.  Kimi on the other hand was doing quite well and even cutting into Hamilton's lead until Ferrari made a horrible decision and put him and Massa out on the track with their used intermediates.  The race appeared to be over for both drivers, but Kimi found his way up to P4 by the end while Massa was already too far behind and out of the points.

Nick Heidfeld finally got to grips with his BMW Sauber and came in a distant second to Hamilton.  He drove a very clean race and stayed out of trouble to the end.  Kubica was not doing quite as well, but was quick on track up until he got caught out by the changing conditions and beached his car in a gravel trap.

Rounding out the slightly strange podium was Rubens Barrichelo with an enormous grin on his face.  There may have been a few tears as well knowing Rubhino.  Jenson Button didn't fare as well spinning out on lap 38.  Even though there were mixed emotions in the Honda camp, I'm sure they were very happy with the points Rubens brought home.

Fernando Alonso, Jarno Trulli and Kaz Nakajima rounded out the top eight in what was the most chaotic grand prix of the year so far.  Personally, I can't wait for more!

Pos	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired
1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	60	1:39:09.440
2	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	60	+68.5 secs
3	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	60	+82.2 secs
4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	59	+1 Lap
5	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	59	+1 Lap
6	Fernando Alonso	Renault	59	+1 Lap
7	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	59	+1 Lap
8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	59	+1 Lap
9	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	59	+1 Lap
10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	59	+1 Lap
11	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	59	+1 Lap
12	Timo Glock	Toyota	59	+1 Lap
13	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	58	+2 Laps
Ret	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	39	Spin
Ret	Jenson Button	Honda	38	Spin
Ret	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	35	Spin
Ret	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	26	Spin
Ret	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	10	Spin
Ret	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	0	Spin
Ret	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	0	Spin

Heikki grabs first pole for British Grand Prix

 

Heikki Kovalainen nabs his first F1 pole with a half second margin over a surprising Mark Webber in second. The usual suspects seemed to struggle a bit, with Kimi Räikkönen third, Lewis Hamilton fourth and Felipe Massa mired in ninth due to a pit problem that prevented a final run in qualy 3. It will be interesting to see the race unfold, especially with the predicted rain.

Sebastian Vettel getting an STR into qualy 3 is a mild surprise, as he builds his stock and perhaps looks at Coulthard's ride for next year.

Pos	Driver	Team
1	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes
2	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes
5	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber
6	Fernando Alonso	Renault
7	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault
8	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari
9	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber
11	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault
12	Timo Glock	Toyota
13	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari
14	Jarno Trulli	Toyota
15	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota
16	Rubens Barrichello	Honda
17	Jenson Button	Honda
18	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota
19	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari
20	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari

2008 British Grand Prix - Practice 2

Pos	Driver	Team	Time/Retired
1	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:19.989
2	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:20.520
3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:20.543
4	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	1:20.589
5	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	1:20.748
6	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	1:20.805
7	Jenson Button	Honda	1:20.929
8	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:20.943
9	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	1:20.985
10	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:21.002
11	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:21.023
12	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:21.275
13	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:21.453
14	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:21.472
15	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:21.511
16	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	1:21.520
17	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	1:21.634
18	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	1:21.642
19	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	1:21.756
20	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:22.196

2008 British Grand Prix - Practice 1

Pos	Driver	Team	Time/Retired
1	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:19.575
2	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:19.587
3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:19.623
4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:19.948
5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:20.367
6	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:20.436
7	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	1:20.588
8	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	1:20.653
9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	1:20.698
10	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	1:20.744
11	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:20.892
12	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:21.102
13	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:21.107
14	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	1:21.166
15	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:21.265
16	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	1:21.282
17	Jenson Button	Honda	1:21.901
18	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	1:22.169
19	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	1:22.219
20	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:24.123