The F1 Thread 2008 Season

Great start from Hamilton...long way to go though but what an eventful 1st lap. Coulthard out. Webber and Massa spinning to drop down the field.
 
Martin Brundle's input makes watching/listening very interesting.
 
Something seriously wrong with Massa's car. Spin Spin Spin. :lol:

Poor showing by Ferrari this weekend. They messed up sending Raikkonen out with the same tyres, just managed to get fifth place taking Alonso. It seems to me that gone are the days when they used to get 99% of strategies right.
 
TheRedFlag said:
Its great to see Ferrari f**k up.

I hate them and their puppets called the FIA
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Many people do, especially so with their dominant years recently.

McLaren were always the innocent one's though.... Just like when Ron Dennis kept saying it during the whole saga last year... In truth they are just as sneaky.

Another thing I have started to hate is the hype around Hamilton. He's great but it goes too far sometimes. He has just gone over the line and won. I feel like killing James Allen.
 
Great win for Hamilton in really tough conditions - a minute ahead is some going.

Good to see Barrichello do well too.
 
Hamilton needed that performance (more consistent than flashy) to get back into it after the last few races. Even better for him was that many of his rivals didn't score.

Rubens profited from going on full wets - can't understand why any of the others didn't and take a chance - probably banking on keeping places more than anything else. The BMW had some late pace in the end and maybe they could have challenged if they did. Great race though overall, the rain helped, but Silverstone is normally always a decent race.

Hamilton, Massi, and Raikkonen are all now level on points so that is set up pretty well.
 
Well done Barrichello though, nice to see the old faces being on the podium once again.
 
ZIDANE said:
Hamilton, Massi, and Raikkonen are all now level on points so that is set up pretty well.
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yeah they are all on 48 points, Kubica only 2 points back on 46, this is going to be really a great fight for the drivers title.
 
Kelvin said:
yeah they are all on 48 points, Kubica only 2 points back on 46, this is going to be really a great fight for the drivers title.
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FIA will make sure one of the ferrari driver wins it.
 
Superb by Lewis. For a man who's made a litany of errors lately, you have to applaud him going through that race with only one relatively innocuous off-track excursion.

Ferrari really messed this one up. Leave Massa to one side, there's no analysing his weekend really. With regards to Raikkonen though, keeping him on the same tyres was a gamble, considering another shower was forecast - but it wasn't completely from left field either, there was some rationale underpinning it. However, not correcting the outcome when the gamble failed and leaving him wallowing around 5 or 6 seconds a lap off the pace was incredible. Then, not changing him to full wet later on - which would have put him a least the same amount per lap quicker was, well, McLarenesque.

Kubica will be kicking himself, Kovalainen will be nervous about his position, Webber should have pitted for full wets as well, there was 6-10 secs to be made per lap and he wasn't risking anything.
 
Was at the race weekend at Silverstone, the Sat and Sun anyway. Cracking race, as ever when Formula 1 cars meet changing conditions. It adds drama, and it sorts the men from the boys in terms of driving ability. Massa ends up looking amateur when all is not in his favour, while Hamilton takes it in his stride. Me and the missus took an absolute soaking, but it was all worth it. Will add a few pics on here at some point

Well done Lewis :D
 
Brad said:
Was at the race weekend at Silverstone, the Sat and Sun anyway. Cracking race, as ever when Formula 1 cars meet changing conditions. It adds drama, and it sorts the men from the boys in terms of driving ability. Massa ends up looking amateur when all is not in his favour, while Hamilton takes it in his stride. Me and the missus took an absolute soaking, but it was all worth it. Will add a few pics on here at some point

Well done Lewis :D
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Hamilton was lucky to get to first because of the very poor starts of Heikki and Webber.

If Ferrari hadn't made that stupid decision to leave the tyres on for another stint, Raikkonen would have given Lewis a run for his money. Can't understand why they just didn't call him in when they realised they were wrong. He was losing 5 seconds a lap... just call him in immediatly instead of sitting around waiting for it to get better. It's kind of a miracle that Kimi finished fourth in the end.

Now Hamilton could just cruise to the finish as his closest competitors were Heidfeld and Barrichello who were more than half a minute away. If you have that kind of gap you can ease through the changing conditions and win. Still a great race by Lewis mind, it's also hard to concentrate with that kind of lead, but it was not the godlike race some media are trying to make of this.

We have all seen Lewis crack under pressure when he is not in first place, just like Massa did yesterday.
 
CrazyBelgian said:
Hamilton was lucky to get to first because of the very poor starts of Heikki and Webber.

If Ferrari hadn't made that stupid decision to leave the tyres on for another stint, Raikkonen would have given Lewis a run for his money. Can't understand why they just didn't call him in when they realised they were wrong. He was losing 5 seconds a lap... just call him in immediatly instead of sitting around waiting for it to get better. It's kind of a miracle that Kimi finished fourth in the end.

Now Hamilton could just cruise to the finish as his closest competitors were Heidfeld and Barrichello who were more than half a minute away. If you have that kind of gap you can ease through the changing conditions and win. Still a great race by Lewis mind, it's also hard to concentrate with that kind of lead, but it was not the godlike race some media are trying to make of this.

We have all seen Lewis crack under pressure when he is not in first place, just like Massa did yesterday.
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Eh? When did getting off to a better start than your rivals, a driving skill, constitute 'luck'?! :wenger:

If, but, maybe. Ferrari DID make the wrong decision on tyres. I can't quite believe how Kimi finished 4th, I guess all around were having just as many problems. Except Hamilton, Heidfeld and Barrichello (benefitting from the fine tactics of Braun which pissed me off no end for years when he applied them for Schumachers cause), which makes their drives so impressive. There's no hiding place in changable, wet conditions. Massa was found out, not for the first time. Hamilton stepped up, not for the first time
 
Brad said:
Eh? When did getting off to a better start than your rivals, a driving skill, constitute 'luck'?! :wenger:

If, but, maybe. Ferrari DID make the wrong decision on tyres. I can't quite believe how Kimi finished 4th, I guess all around were having just as many problems. Except Hamilton, Heidfeld and Barrichello (benefitting from the fine tactics of Braun which pissed me off no end for years when he applied them for Schumachers cause), which makes their drives so impressive. There's no hiding place in changable, wet conditions. Massa was found out, not for the first time. Hamilton stepped up, not for the first time
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Because Kovalainen and Webber just blocked Raikkonen off, who was as fast off the line as Hamilton. When I saw the replay my first thought was, great tactic by Mclaren. Telling Heikki to block Raikkonen off since Kovalainen was probably on a dry setup.

Hamilton has been found out on many an occasion too. With Hamilton you can say it's because of his lack of experience, something Massa can't hide behind, you are right about that. Massa is not a championship winner, he's just not consistent enough and he doesn't deserve a place in a top team.
 
Final positions in Hockenheim:

1. Hamilton (McLaren)

2. Massa (Ferrari)

3. Kovalainen (McLaren)

4. Trulli (Toyota)

5. Alonso (Renault)

6. Raikkonen (Ferrari)

7. Kubica (BMW Sauber)

8. Webber (Red Bull)
 
Good lap by Hamilton at the end, looks good for him.

Raikkonen does not look hooked up at all.

Ferrari are generally faster in a race rather than qualifying though so I think tactics will play a major part tomorrow.
 
Yep, unless the weather plays its part.

Raikkonen will be one to watch out for later in the race, he's probably got more fuel in than those few just ahead of him. I would still fancy him for a podium finish.
 
Raikkonen looked bad. Seems like there is something wrong with the balance of his car, turn-ins are really bad.

Mclaren seem to have an advantage at the moment and with Hungary coming up (where they always perform very well) in August they can create a gap with Ferrari in the championships.
 
Is it just me or is qualifying just a repeated anti-climax?

The art of it is gone, isn't it? The single banzai lap....they should bring it back. Now it's a case of 'How good was that lap?....Well, we won't know until tomorrow'. Empty them for qualifying, fill them for the race. No refuelling.
 
It is but I think it was a structure brought in to make the field a bit more competitive.

If the previous method was applied we wouldn't see the front runners on reasonable race fuel and the likes of Alonso mixing it up with them with less fuel.
 
ZIDANE said:
It is but I think it was a structure brought in to make the field a bit more competitive.

If the previous method was applied we wouldn't see the front runners on reasonable race fuel and the likes of Alonso mixing it up with them with less fuel.
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But nobody knows what's going on half the time. My first reaction seeing Hamilton cross the line today was that it was a brilliant lap, he's put in another serious lap when it mattered.....but then if he pits 3 laps earlier than Massa....meh. Maybe they need to revisit the rules....they've tampered with everything except refuelling. It's probably money related.
 
Its true we don't know if its a great lap and so the only purpose of qualifying at the moment is to sort out a grid order.

No doubt it is money related but that is the way of the sport - whereas the old structure was better for the more interested race fan the current system appeals to the less so interested.

Maybe they should give everybody in the last ten a set fuel load like 20-25 laps worth? That way they can't fuel up before the race and will have similar amounts.
 
Hamilton in awesome form, pulling away from the rest of the pack.
 
Well that looks nasty.

Safety Car will bunch everyone up.

I wouldn't worry for Hamilton he has this in the bag, Ferrari don't have an answer today.
 
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