2008 European Grand Prix - Race Analysis

New venue, same old boring Formula One. That is a good summary of last Sunday’s European Grand Prix. I thought about using at least one verb to make it a proper sentence, but I did not think the race deserved that much. Too bad for the organizers, who created a wonderful atmosphere. Unfortunately, today's F1 grooved tyres and excessive downforce do not allow anyone to drive out of the racing line in an overtake manoeuvre.

It was another display of strength by Felipe Massa. At the same time, it was another display of Ferrari’s weakness. Two engine failures in two consecutive races is not what one would expect from a title contender. Especially when the other contender – McLaren – is doing much better in that area. That gives them a big advantage. That allows Lewis Hamilton to be leading the championship, although he has also had his share of ups and downs. That inconsistency was matched by Felipe Massa’s own mistakes in the beginning of the season, so the drivers are equally matched. If that engine had not failed in Hungary, he would Felipe would be the championship leader. And let’s not even mention Ferrari’s other miscues this season.

The Raikkonen situation

Kimi Raikkonen also did not help Ferrari by leaving the pit stall before getting the green light from their new - yet unproven - automated system. When the media is saying that you are not at the top of your form, it does not help to break the bones of one of your crewmembers.

Still, it seems like the media all over the world is obsessed in saying that Raikkonen has no desire to race anymore. I doubt that. The way he drives is a reflex of his personality. He has never been a flamboyant character either on or off the track, Still, he has finished the championship twice in second place, and, more importantly, once on top of the world. He is not as aggressive as other drivers are – e.g. Massa and Hamilton. Still, that does not mean that his driving style is wrong.

Let's think about Alain Prost, for example. The guy was neither a great qualifier, nor the best in overtaking other drivers. I even remember a few times when he had problems overtaking backmarkers! Ok, the blue flags were not as strict as today, but some guys like his arch-rival Ayrton Senna were doing a much better job. All in all, Prost was champion 4 times. Once is luck, two is coincidence, but 4 times is what? That’s consistency. He was always hanging in there even during bad situations, scoring precious points. This is what Raikkonen has been doing. Ok, maybe he has not had the best races of his life, and on average he has just scored 4.75 points a race. Nevertheless, he is 13 points behind the championship leader. That is not perfect, but not bad at all. It allows him to hang in there. Who can blame the guy for thinking that the current F1 is boring?

Quick notes:

- David Coulthard once again decided to try a daredevil overtaking move and overestimated his chances. He hit Adrian Sutil, but at least he only hurt his own race. He is about to retire now, so I guess he decided to have some fun. Maybe too much fun.

- I am not sure what Kazuki Nakajima was thinking when he hit Fernando Alonso’s rear wing on the first lap. He was close, but not so close he did not have room to react. That cannot be called a rookie mistake. That is a total mental lapse by a guy who has not yet proven why he is in F1. Or maybe he has, especially if we read the 'Toyota' on top of his engine.

- Nick Heidfeld seems to be fading behind more and more. I do not think that he suddenly forgot how to drive, but something in that car is clearly not matching his driving style. He needs to watch out or he will lose his job. All BMW needs is to find another German driver to replace him. That seems to be easy in the post-Schumacher era. If they want, they can get Nico Rosberg for 2009 or Sebastian Vettel for 2010. Or Timo Glock. They may have clauses in their contracts, but BMW has enough money to buy them out.

- By the way, Rosberg scored a point, but it is becoming too painful to watch Williams lingering around the track. He is sure desperate to get a better car.

- Vettel scored a 6h place without any safety car appearance, rain or anything unusual. When that is done in a new circuit, it means that the guy knows a lot about setting up a car.

Star of the Race:

Felipe Massa, especially for bouncing back from a dramatic end to his previous race.

Shame of the Race:

Kazuki Nakajima

--Andre N.

2008 French Grand Prix - Race Analysis

Lap 30 of 70. The rain threatened but never came. It was the only thing that could possibly take the victory away from Ferrari, but even so the red cars were too far ahead of the rest of the field. Kimi Raikkonen was leading Felipe Massa by 6 seconds, and everyone else was more than 20 seconds behind the latter. Felipe had already given up fighting for the win. Then disaster struck for Kimi. Part of the exhaust pipes on the right side of the car cracked, he started to lose power - which translated to a loss of 1 to 2 seconds a lap - and his side pod began to slowly burn.

The final result? A Ferrari 1-2, with Massa inheriting the victory at a track he is not known to be faster than Raikkonen. And yes, Raikkonen was second. What does it tell us? That Ferrari is so dominant at this point of the season that it is hard to predict them to lose the Constructor's Championship. One may claim that McLaren could challenge for the victory if they did not have to face penalties for both drivers - Heikki Kovalainen 5 grid positions for blocking in qualifying, Lewis Hamilton 10 grid positions for crashing into Raikkonen in the previous race and a drive-through for cutting a corner to go by Sebastian Vettel. I have to disagree. The two Ferrari drivers were certainly racing hard until the first pit stop, but I doubt that they were going for that last chunk of power that they could take from their engine mapping. If McLaren were closer, Ferrari would be even faster. Ok, a 1-2 would be difficult due to Kimi's problems, but Felipe would easily win.


Hamilton Self-Destructs

I have seen it happening to pretty much every driver this year. At one point the guy simply makes a stupid mistake and throws away precious points. This time it was Lewis Hamilton. Actually, it was Hamilton for two weeks in a row. He was already starting 13th after the penalty for crashing into Raikkonen in Montreal. He started the race quite well, as did Sebastian Vettel just ahead of him. When both got to the Adelaide corner - the slowest turn of the track - Lewis had a better entrance and a much better exit. That put them side-by-side going into the Nurburgring chicane, a very fast right-left turn combination. Vettel braked before the turn. Hamilton braked deep into the turn, so deep that it was not enough for him to remain on the track. He basically cut the second leg through the tarmac escape area, and remained ahead of his STR rival. Until then, it was no big deal. Lewis should simply let Sebastian go by and he would get no advantage out of his off-road tour.

For some reason, Lewis thought that the move was legal and never let Vettel go by. The marshalls penalized him with a drive-through. After the race, Hamilton still thought he was right! This time he is the deserving winner of the 'Shame of the Race' award.

Once again, McLaren was blinded by the fact that they think their star British driver cannot make a mistake. It was clear on TV that he gained an advantage, so why not radio him and tell him to return the position? Lewis is a young driver and has a lot to learn! He needs coaching. The 'coaches' at McLaren do not seem very good, though. China 2007 is a good example: They allowed Lewis to stay on the track although his tyres were gone, and ultimately he slid out of the race. They trusted his inexperienced call that staying on the track was ok.


Trulli's Brilliant Performance

Is Toyota a car good enough to finish on the podium, fighting for position with a McLaren and a BMW? Certainly not. Yet, Jarno Trulli somehow managed to do just that, including a wheel-to-wheel fight with Heikki Kovalainen with less than 2 laps to go. As Toyota was mourning the death of one of their greatest team members - the guy who led the team during the golden rallying days, Ove Andersson - it seems like everyone gave it a little more. Hopefully they will learn something from this race, because they have one of the largest budgets of F1 and their results have never matched the investment.


Quick Notes

- Fernando Alonso had a disappoint weekend. After qualifying third on a light-fuel load, reality struck hard as a bunch of drivers returned from their stops ahead of him. His demise was a wide turn going into Adelaide, when he lost 7th place to his teammate Nelsinho Piquet.

- Piquet had the strongest performance of his short F1 career. He qualified reasonably well - 11th, but started 9th due to McLaren's grid penalties - and drove a good, constant race. He was braking much earlier than in the previous races. That means he was braking where he was supposed to, because up to now he had the bad habit of braking too deep and too hard going. Maybe Renault found out that his driving style was the reason why his brakes vaporized in Montreal.

- Nick Heidfeld is having problems adapting to this year's BMW. He finished a lousy 13th, while his teammate was 5th. He should adapt quick, because there are a few drivers waiting for his spot. Bring on the Vettel and Alonso rumours once again.


Star of the Race
Jarno Trulli

Shame of the Race
Lewis Hamilton


--Andre N.

2008 Canadian Grand Prix - Race Analysis

Sitting on the grandstands at the hairpin exit, I was able to watch a good race in Montreal. At one point, though, I had to ask myself: 'I am really paying almost 400 Canadian dollars for this?' When? Here is a hint: FIA's safety car rules are plain stupid. When half of the field pitted under the safety car, Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica had to stop at the pit exit, waiting for the green light that would come after the pack of driver on track went by. Then Lewis Hamilton made a stupid mistake and hit the back of Kimi's Ferrari. Kubica took the opportunity and won the first grand prix of his career, the first of a Polish driver in F1, the first of BMW as a constructor on its own.

The safety car rules shall be changed because they are always affecting the race results in a way they should not. Who in the world wants to see two of the three main contenders of a race retiring inside the pit lane? I guess that FIA's president Max Mosley did not have the time to think about that, though, as he spent the better part of last month using his influences to stay in power, something he somehow managed to do even after being caught in an orgy with prostitutes. It may not be so bad if it is true that Formula One Management's big boss Bernie Ecclestone wants to create a parallel championship without the FIA. More than 10 years of grooved tyres and no overtaking is the biggest achievement in rulemaking in the recent years.

Enough with that and back to the race...


Leading all Young Promises

All in all, the race had a deserving winner. It is true that Kubica's main contenders made it easier for him. Besides Hamilton and Raikkonen, Felipe Massa was excluded from any hopes of winning when Ferrari messed up while refueling his car on the first pit stop, and he had to return to the pits on the next time around. That does not take anything away from the magnificent job by the Pole. Because many drivers did not stop under the safety car, he was in the middle of the field for a while. He knew how to keep his cool, waited for everyone to pit, overtook his teammate Nick Heidfeld - who was returning from the pits heavier on fuel - and later drove 7 or 8 superb qualifying-like laps before his final pit stop. He rejoined the race as the leader, showing qualities that not many 23 year-old drivers have.

Robert Kubica is a member of my list of young drivers who are talented enough to add their names to the history of the sport. He will be around with Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel for a long time to come. And trust me, Nelsinho Piquet will join that group soon. Right now he is just suffering because of the lack of testing in 2007. Oh, and Massa, Raikkonen, Kovalainen are a little older, but they will also be around for a while! Right now, though, one driver is ahead of them all, and that is championship leader Kubica.


An Improved Massa

As impressive as Kubica was, the crowd favourite was Felipe Massa. When Ferrari had to call him back to the pits due to the aforementioned mistake, he returned to the track in anger, 15 seconds behind the last of the other drivers. He drove an aggressive race as no one else did, overtaking many cars in the process. The move of the day was when he passed both Kovalainen and Barrichello at the same time. That was right in front of me at the hairpin and at that time I had no doubts that my money was well spent.

He scored valuable points by finishing 5th. Had he not thrown away 8 points by spinning in Malaysia, he would be the championship leader now. That is Massa, though. He will make a few mistakes, but his good moments will more than compensate for those.


Quick Notes:

- Rubens Barrichello did what he could with the lousy Honda, and held back as many cars as he could while going for a one-stop strategy. He finished 7th.

- Nelsinho Piquet cannot be blamed for his spin this time. His brakes simply became black dust. After the spin, he was breaking earlier and earlier every lap before the hairpin, until he was so slow that he had to stop. The fact that Alonso also spun out during the race counts in Nelsinho's favour, showing that the Renault may be faster, but still has a 'nervous' behavior.

- After starting from the pits, Sebastian Vettel held back Heikki Kovalainen in the late laps and scored 1 point by finishing 8th. He is taking everything that he can from driving a bad car. This kind of experience will help him a lot when he eventually gets a job at a top team.

- As I expected, Lewis Hamilton was actually lighter in qualifying. Maybe not as light as I thought - I even wondered if he would be 3-stopping - but he had less fuel than both Kubica and Raikkonen. Therefore, he needed more time to refuel when the safety car put everyone who pitted on the same strategy. When both the BMW and the Ferrari overtook him, he lost his concentration and threw his race - and Kimi's - away. It is a good thing that he was penalized with 10 grid positions for the next race, because his mistake was completely avoidable. As usual, he at least admitted his fault.


Star of the Race
Robert Kubica


Shame of the Race
Ferrari, for throwing Massa's race away due to a faulty refueling operation.

--Andre N.

2008 Bahrain Grand Prix - Race Analysis

Since Friday, Ferrari seemed to be the team that would dominate the Bahrain Grand Prix. During the practice sessions, another fact could be noticed: Felipe Massa had better car balance than Kimi Raikkonen. If nothing disastrous happened, it was clear to me that they would finish 1-2, with Felipe ahead of Kimi (reference: my previous post Raikkonen and Hamilton under pressure?), and so it happened. It was a brilliant comeback for the Brazilian driver, who had been criticized after making costly mistakes in the previous two races.

Raikkonen was not bad either. He continues to deserve his 'Iceman' moniker, this time for being sensate enough to realize that second place was the best he could get. The Finn knows that many times he cannot match Massa's pace, and settled for the 8 points that put him in the championship lead.

According to my observations, Massa is still faster considering single lap times, but over the course of a race, Raikkonen is more consistent. That reminds me a little of the old Nigel Mansell vs. Nelson Piquet duel at Williams in 1986-87. Due to his own mistakes, the faster Mansell lost a few races to the more consistent Piquet. Both Raikkonen and Massa are long ways from becoming the legends that were Mansell and Piquet, but if I were Massa, I would take a glance at the history books and try to be more consistent. Piquet ultimately won the battle within Williams by winning the 1987 championship.


Not just another German race car

BMW once again showed some promising pace. They seem to be better than McLaren during the race, especially considering that they have less tyre wear than the British team. In fact, their problem is that they cannot heat up their rubber fast enough. That plays a big factor in qualifying. Kubica had to take less fuel than Ferrari and McLaren to be able to get the pole. Once they get around this issue, they will be racing more closely to the red cars. All in all, BMW is leading the Constructors Championship, after finishing 3rd and 4th in Bahrain.

BMW made two mistakes during the race. One at the start, when Robert Kubica had major wheelspin and lost his lead to Massa going into turn 1. The other was when the team provided no information to Kubica about the fact that there was oil on the track. As he lost his grip, Kimi Raikkonen managed to get by him. Those mistakes were not that costly, as the most that BMW could have hoped for was third. Ferrari was in a league of their own and Kimi would eventually get around Robert.

For the second consecutive race BMW got faster, more consistent lap times during their last stint, coincidentally when they used the prime tyres. The cars were lighter on fuel, because the last stint was shorter, but they seemed to be a lot more well balanced. Maybe it is something that BMW's engineers should consider for the next race: two stints with the primes and one with the options.


McLaren struggles, especially Hamilton

If everything went well for Ferrari and BMW, the same cannot be stated about McLaren. Lewis Hamilton was out of control throughout the weekend. On Friday he seemed uncomfortable that his teammate Heikki Kovalainen was very close to - even ahead of - him on the time charts, and crashed into a tyre barrier while trying to be faster. During the race, he got a poor start. His car just did not jump away when the red lights turned off. Later he said it was his own mistake, because he did not press early enough the button that would engage the proper engine setting (reference: post-race driver quotes). At least he raised his hand for that mistake.

By lap 2, Hamilton was in 10th position, behind Fernando Alonso. He still had a chance of finishing at least 6th. Something came loose inside his head, though, because as he accelerated faster than Alonso out of a corner, he did not steer away from the Renault, hit its back, almost flew over it, and lost his front wing. I am not sure what he was thinking. He later made it worse by saying that it was a racing incident. Hopefully he will watch the replay and publicly blame it on himself as soon as possible. I do not recommend waiting one full week for him to change his mind. Felipe Massa just did that after Malaysia and the Ferrari fans were not happy about that.

After the accident with Alonso, Hamilton came in for the pit stop, changed his nose cone, put a lot of fuel and went back to the race with a different strategy. That was not enough. There was no miracle Schumacher-style comeback for him. In the end he finished just 13th.

While everyone talks about Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen has scored the same amount of points - 14. Watch out for him. He does not lack any natural talent in comparison to Hamilton, and driving the last season in the lousy Renault taught him a couple of things that Hamilton is yet to learn. Yesterday, though, he finished only in a business-like 5th.


Quick notes:

- Fernando Alonso could not score any points this time. With 19 of the 22 cars finishing the race, all he could manage was a realistic 10th for Renault. He raced since the second lap without a small part of his rear wing - chopped off by Hamilton - but that did not affect the results.
- David Coulthard brake-tested Jenson Button going into a corner and 'f'orgot' to check his rearview mirrors. Button avoided the crash under braking, but Coulthard simply turned as if nothing was happening. The two collided. These situations are becoming common to Coulthard. He has to stop blaming them on the other drivers or on plain bad luck. He cannot show a gap, brake early and close the door when the driver behind is already committed to a move.
- Although Honda had disappointing race results - Rubens Barrichello was 11th, Jenson Button DNF -, they have once again shown some improvements. While they still lack straightaway speed, they may be consistently fighting for the points if the new aero package planned for Barcelona fixes that.

Star of the race
Felipe Massa

Shame of the race
Lewis Hamilton

--Andre N.

BMW: The Surprise of 2008?

Is BMW going to be the surprise of the 2008 Formula One season? According to Saturday's practice and qualifying times for the Australian Grand Prix, the answer is 'yes'. Robert Kubica will start 2nd. Had he not made a mistake in turn 12 during his final qualifying lap, he would have beaten Lewis Hamilton to the top spot.

I believe that they are much closer to the top 2 teams than everyone had anticipated, which puts than as contenders for race wins this season. Well, someone had anticipated that: Nico Rosberg. He mentioned to journalists a few times that, based on his observations from testing, BMW was going to fight for than 5th place in Australia (as published by F1-Live.com). He said that they were very fast during the winter, although lap times did not show. Would that be the biggest case of 'sandbagging' ever? Maybe... It would be good for F1 if that was the case.

Nick Heidfeld's 5th place at the starting grid, though, seems more like reality for BMW. As fast as they may be, I do not believe that they are at the same level as McLaren and Ferrari, especially for the long runs between pit stops during the race. Nick is probably on a heavier load of fuel than Robert, and seems to be in better shape for the race. He will fight for the podium, but I am not sure about the race win.

On the other hand, if I am wrong and Kubica pits with the other contenders, watch out as he may win the race!

One final note is that Rosberg also pointed out that what impresses him the most about McLaren is how they simulated race starts. That is something easy to understand. F1 has a single supplier for the electronic control units this season, and the company behind it was already a supplier to McLaren last season. Therefore, I am expecting a great start from both Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen. Heikki will start 3rd, and the odd side of the grid has preference going into the first chicane. I expect McLaren to be leading 1-2 before turn 3. Deep inside, though, I am cheering for Kubica to go for it and add fun to this championship.

Let's not forget that Ferrari's Felipe Massa also seems to have a car to fight for the win. The only certainty after qualifying is that F1 fans all over the world have more than enough reasons to want to watch the Australian Grand Prix.

--Andre N.

Belgium – Race Analysis

After the McLaren unexpected win last week at the high speed Monza circuit, I expected another at Spa-Francochamps. The hilly, curvy layout should have favoured the better mechanically adjusted Mclaren and its high-torque Mercedes engine. I was wrong. The deciding factor in today’s F1 is always aerodynamics, and Ferrari is known to have, at this stage of the season, a better aero package than McLaren.

The race itself was again nothing to write home about, as it has been the case for most of this year. A few battles for position were exciting, but except for Lewis Hamilton vs. Fernando Alonso, they had no major effects on the championship standings.

Raikkonen’s last championship thrust

Kimi Raikkonen had one of the cleanest wins of his career. Based on his lap times, I do not think that he made any mistakes. He had perfect lap after perfect lap. Maybe on Saturday during qualifying he had a little bit of a bad moment during his last flying lap, but even with that he was still on pole position. Of course when he beat Felipe Massa on Q2, by Ferrari internal rules that meant he would be the one with the lighter car. With the long lap around Spa – 7.004 km/4.352 mi – that meant Massa would carry added weight that would cost him about 0.1 to 0.2s a lap.

By the way, Massa also did a good job. The problem for him is that he is now 20 points behind Hamilton with 3 races – maximum 30 points – to go. Therefore, Raikkonen, 13 points behind the championship leader, is the only real remaining hope of a Ferrari driver winning the title. Even so, it will be very hard to happen.

Kimi’s last championship thrust does not depend on much more than only him or his team. If they finish 1-2 and Hamilton finishes third for the remaining three races, the Englishman would still be world champion by 1 point. In Ferrari’s favour is the fact that Alonso is now constantly getting the upper hand on Hamilton. Against them is the fact that, based on what we have seen this season, McLaren will probably have the best car for at least one of the remaining tracks.

Kudos for Raikkonen for pulling a donut after winning the race. This is what the fans want to see. If you have ever seen Valentino Rossi’s victory celebrations in MotoGP – like the one yesterday in Portugal – you will understand what I am saying. Maybe the FIA will give him a fine, but it was worth it. The fans deserve it.

Alonso continues to one-up Hamilton

What a battle between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton going into turn 1 all the way to the exit of the famous Eau Rouge! At that point one would have to brake, or they would end up in a pile of carbon fibre debris. Luckily Hamilton did, as it seemed Alonso was determined not to do so.

After Hungary, Alonso has constantly beaten Hamilton. This probably means that the press rumours are true: The team has divided into two since that pit melee in the Hungaroring, and no setup information is transferred from one car to the other over the course of a race weekend. As good as Lewis is, he does not have yet the same setup finesse as Alonso.

The Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway will be a good place to prove my theory. If it stands, Alonso should beat Hamilton by a large margin there. The last time that Formula One was there was in 1977. None of the title contenders were even born then and they certainly do not have any setup references.

The only other explanation is that pressure has finally affected Hamilton, but I think that he is the kind of driver who turns pressure into good results. By the way, that wide turn into the safety track on the penultimate lap was probably just because he lost his concentration as the race had become very boring.


The effects of the spy scandal closure

McLaren was able to race, besides the fact that it is now clear to me that many people in the organization were aware of the illegal information obtained from Ferrari. At this point I agree with Flavio Briatore’s comments during Friday Press Conference: Although the drivers were benefited by some sort of illegal advantage, it is not their fault. They have not stolen the blueprints from Ferrari and more than that, they may not even know what is legal and what is not regarding an engineering project. Engineers and technicians, on the other hand, absolutely know where the line that they should not cross stands. Good luck to Nigel Stepney and Mike Coughlan. They will need it if they do not want to go to jail.

The better decision from the legal standpoint, in my opinion, would be to exclude McLaren from this championship and for at least a few races of the next. From the sporting standpoint, on the other hand, you should let the drivers compete. The decision was based on that fact that Formula One is still a sport for the drivers, although it is just business for the teams. The 100-million-U.S.-dollars fine will make sure that no team will even try something similar in the future.

With all that as part of the past, Ferrari has won the 2007 Constructor’s Championship, as BMW does not have any mathematical chances of beating them. Not that the general public cares.


Belgium’s quick notes

- Adrian Sutil did a fantastic race by Spyker’s standards, starting 19th and driving as high as 12th. He finished 14th. The B-spec car, Mike Gascoyne’s first full design for the team, is certainly an improvement. Sutil had his first chance of showing how good he actually is and he is pretty good.

- Heikki Kovalainen had a good start and moved from 9th on the grid to 6th after the first corner. His 1-stop strategy did not seem to be the best, but even so he got 1 point, after two excellent battles with Robert Kubica. Heikki won the most important, i.e. the final one.

- Jarno Trulli is continuing to struggle on race starts. He had to avoid contact going into the first corner and could not manage to retain his position at the starting grid – 8th. He finished 13th, one place behind teammate Ralf Schumacher.

- Alexander Wurz was again beaten by teammate Nico Rosberg. During the race Wurz had fuel pressure problems that made him drive behind the slow Sakon Yamamoto. That was no excuse, though, as Rosberg started the race in 5th place and Wurz only in 15th. If it were not for the problems, which were not his fault, he would be the ‘shame of the race’.

- Mark Webber showed that he is still that lightning-fast driver that got to Formula One in 2002. He finished 7th, ahead of better-balanced cars driven by Kovalainen and Kubica. I think his performance was a bit underrated by the media, so I will give him the ‘star of the race’ award.

Star of the race:

Mark Webber, with an honourable mention to Adrian Sutil.

Shame of the race:

Giancarlo Fisichella. Getting beat by your teammate in qualifying is not good, but it happens. Hitting the wall because you misjudged the braking point and damaging your suspension before the end of the first lap gives you this award.

--Andre N.

Great Britain – Race Analysis

Before starting, I would like to make a few comments not related to the race itself. Every time I watch the British Grand Prix, I feel like it is the perfect place for a Formula One race. For many years it has been in Silverstone, but no matter where you chose to race at British soil, you are at a place full of history and the most knowledgeable fans. I mean, real F1 fans are knowledgeable everywhere, but the average citizen in Great Britain knows more about motorsports than anywhere else I know. I have the feeling that Bernie Ecclestone himself does not want this atmosphere to go away. By threatening to cancel the British GP, he only is making what he does best: more money.

No matter how great the venues like the ones in Bahrain and Malaysia are, Formula One needs the history behind countries like Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, and France. These are the countries where some of the greatest drivers ever were born. They represent the places where people have continuously been racing cars over the years. Formula One would not be the same thing without races in these countries. Yet it seems like France will be gone for next year. Let’s hope Britain stays.

After the ‘save the British GP speech’, let’s move on to yesterday’s race. It was a clear display that this year’s championship is going down to the wire. Every couple of races we either have a stronger Ferrari or McLaren. Yesterday it was fun to watch, although the winner could be picked beforehand from one of the leading four cars. Does anyone out there think we are going to see a winner that does not belong to these two teams until the end of the year? Not in normal conditions, I have to say...

Yesterday was actually a three-car plus 1 bonus showdown, as Felipe Massa’s engine died on the starting grid – he had to start from the pits and make his way past a lot of people to finish 5th. Besides his great aggressive driving, there were not many overtaking manoeuvres on the race, but there were many good fights. Raikkonen vs. Hamilton was a great close range fight, and Raikkonen vs. Alonso was more like a sniper battle. Since Raikkonen won these two battles, he won the race. Great driving for the Iceman.

Two in a row again, now for Kimi

After Lewis Hamilton’s display of power in North America, Kimi Raikkonen returns the favour and wins twice in Europe. These victories mean a lot more to Raikkonen than they did for Hamilton. Everyone expected Kimi to win. In fact, everyone expected him to beat his teammate. It was not happening until now. At some point even I thought that the Iceman had finally melt down, but it was certainly not the case.

If we consider that Massa had two mechanical failures this year – Australia and Britain – that did not prevent him from scoring a few points, we can compare that to Kimi’s race ending problem in Spain. Add to that the fact that they are now only separated by one point on the championship standings, and we realize that they are as evenly matched as Ferrari teammates have ever been since 1982, with Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi. Let’s hope Ferrari keeps it fair until the end of the year, as I believe McLaren will.

Kimi was as consistent as ever yesterday, and that gave him the race win. Besides that, he had the fastest lap of the day and was very fast just before his two pit stops. He is still not a Michael Schumacher. He may not even speak to him a lot, but he has certainly learned something from him.

I also have to point out that Ferrari did a wonderful job improving their start system. Although he was on the dirty side of the track, Raikkonen had a better jump than Hamilton.

Once again the strategy failed for McLaren

After Saturday qualifying I thought I had seen Ayrton Senna again when Lewis Hamilton beat the clock and everybody else to get the pole. It was the first real display of geniality I had seen from Hamilton. Everything was going for him until then; he did not have to face any real adversity. Then, under pressure, he clocked the pole. After the race started, some of my feeling was taking away, as Hamilton was clearly lighter. Still, that meant that he had to pull out the impossible to win. If he did, that would make me finally agree with the ‘Hamilton histeria’ and put him up there with the greatest ever, although he is still a rookie.

He did not win, and this was probably his worst F1 race. He only finished third because Massa would never reach the 3 front-runners. He almost made the same mistake as Albers did in France, by leaving with the fuel hose still attached. He destroyed his tyres in the beginning of the stints and had no grip in the end. He saved third and he is still the championship leader, but I would still put my money on Alonso to be the best McLaren driver on the long run.

For the past two races, McLaren lacks the pace and they try to compensate by changing the strategy. For the past two races, Ferrari has won. I believe that their main problem is the tyre consumption. They had an edge after implementing that flexible front wing element – although they say it is not, it clearly drops down on the straightaways –, but that alone is not enough now that Ferrari has also improved the aerodynamics.

Massa put up a show, but stopped one place short

Ferrari has sometimes seen some small reliability problems over the years. Yesterday trouble hit Massa. By the way, it certainly was not his fault, as F1 cars have a button for neutral, and the driver does nothing to control the revs.

He then did what he had to do, overtaking as many cars as aggressively as he could in his chase for the best possible result – 4th place. He was one place short, since Robert Kubica closed the door for more than 10 laps in the end and he could only finish 5th.

Kubica has made an impressive return from his Montreal accident. Usually it takes drivers a couple of races to return to the same form after large accidents, but Kubica seems to be better than before! The high torque of the BMW engine helped him out in order to hold Massa, though, as he would get away at every corner exit except for Club.

Britain’s quick notes

- We may say that Heikki Kovalainen has finally adapted to F1. He overtook his teammate Giancarlo Fisichella and did not show any of his rookie mistakes from the first races of the season. If he continues like this until the end of the season, the only thing that will make Fisichella keep a race seat is experience.

- Alexander Wurz tried to take advantage of the blue flags as Alonso was going by him and the car ahead, Scott Speed’s STR. As Scott opened the way for Alonso, Alexander tried to squeeze to the inside going into Vale. I do not like this kind of attitude. He should just have waited for Speed to let Alonso go by and got back to the fight they had before. It would be OK if Speed had made a mistake, but he did not. Scott got the worst of it as they touched, his left-front suspension broke down and he had to retire. Wurz went on to finish 13th. At least he got an award. My ‘Shame of the Race’ award, that is...

- Honda did a nice race for the bad car they currently have, but since no Ferrari, McLaren, BMW or Renault had race-ending troubles, all they could do was to finish 9th and 10th – Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button respectively.

- Toyota disappointed everyone – again, if it is possible. After a strong testing in Silverstone a couple of weeks ago, a lot more than a double retirement was expected. To make it worse, Jarno Trulli’s problems are still unknown; he was just sliding all over the track with no grip at all. Just for the records: Toyota has what is said to be the 2nd largest budget in F1, yet they are 6th on the Constructor’s Championship standings.

Star of the race:

Kimi Raikkonen. Had Felipe Massa finished 4th, he would probably have gotten the award.

Shame of the race:

Alexander Wurz.

--Andre N.

Spain – Race Analysis

The 2007 Spanish Grand Prix started off really well, with a lot of action during the first lap, including a fight for first place between Massa and Alonso. Then we saw a race in which no one was actually making a move on anybody else. Since Barcelona is the track that most of the teams use for their large bulk of testing, the results are usually very predictable. This time, though, a few incidents messed around with the final results. Due to this fact, we now have the youngest ever championship leader – Lewis Hamilton, 22 years old – and Super Aguri with their first ever championship point as Takuma Sato finished 8th.

Fast and Furious: Felipe vs. Fernando

Fernando Alonso, who was very aggressive all his all to Formula One, has been mostly self-controlled over the past years, especially after he got a car that could make him a champion. I cannot tell if he is frustrated for not having the best car, but the move on Massa’s outside right after the start reminded me of the younger Alonso from Formula 3000. He tried to intimidate Felipe as much as he could, by forcing him to the inside of the first right-hander, allowing for an overtake manoeuvre in the subsequent left-hander. His only mistake is that he tried that against the wrong guy...

Everyone knows Felipe Massa is an aggressive driver. He has shown that over the years. As Alonso attacked, his natural reaction was to counterattack. Aggressiveness sometimes pays off in Formula One. It did for Massa in Spain, contrary to what happened in Malaysia. This time though, he was the one on the inside. It was risky, but the fact that he got away with no damage makes him look like a genius. Let’s give him credit. That was a Michael Schumacher-like move.

I believe it was a normal race incident because Alonso was the one on the outside and the one trying to pass. Therefore, he caused the situation that led to the contact between the two cars. Although Fernando was very upset at the end of the race, he did not say at any time that it was Felipe’s fault. Deep inside he knows that the accident was avoidable.

After the complicated start, Massa drove a pretty straightforward race, opening a large gap to Hamilton and in the end just saved the equipment – especially the engine. The only other scary moment was when some fuel spilled and caught fire over his engine cover as he exited the pits. He later explained in the press conference [1] that he did not know it had happened, so it did not interfere with his race. Let’s say it was his lucky day.

Luck apart, Felipe Massa is still in my opinion the strongest candidate for the title (related post: ‘Felipe Massa – 2007 F1 world champion?’). But the fact that Kmi Raikkonen was unlucky yesterday helps Felipe’s cause.

Hamilton: Youngest ever championship leader

Four podiums in his four first races and the championship lead at the age of 22 years and 127 days. These are two records that show how well-prepared Hamilton. He is still playing safe, though, and is yet to show the same form from last year’s GP2 championship, when we could say he was a potential race winner any time he lined up on the grid. But there are only three major barriers before he becomes one of the all-time greatest. He must: 1) win a race; 2) consistently win races; 3) win a championship.

Hamilton must watch out for Alonso, though, as the Spaniard does not seem very happy about this situation. Alonso even stated at the press conference [1] that he considers Hamilton an opponent just as he considers Massa and Raikkonen. It does not seem like Alonso is friends with a lot of people in F1, but Hamilton should try to get closer to him as much as possible before it becomes a war within the team. If it does, I am sure that the easygoing Hamilton can handle it emotionally better than Alonso, but this kind of dispute would be good for no one except Ferrari.

McLaren’s suspicious front wing

From McLaren’s onboard camera point of view, it was easy to see that there was relative movement between the nose cone and the new wing element, especially in the long frontstretch – where it was possible to see the element going down. Since the nose is rigid, it is pretty clear to me that the wing is flexible. This is against F1 regulations. McLaren will benefit from the fact that the FIA does not have a standard for testing these so-called aerodynamic appendices, only the main wing parts. But at one point there will be a new regulation or these types of aerodynamic parts will be banned for good. If Ferrari and BMW had flexible chassis for the first 3 races, McLaren now has a flexible front wing.

Spain’s quick notes

- BMW made a stupid mistake on Nick Heidfeld’s first pit stop, as they sent him back to the track with a loose front wheel. Later he had gearbox problems, which shows that the car is still not reliable enough.

- Jenson Button also made a stupid mistake by hitting Barrichello’s rear wheel as he left the pits. He only lost his front wing, but that move could have cost both Honda cars the race.

- Fisichella had to make an extra stop after the fuel pump did not provide enough fuel on the second pit stop. These fuel pumps are very reliable these days, so it could be a human mistake while programming the pump. Whatever happened, though, allowed Takuma Sato to finish ahead of Fisichella in 8th.

- David Coulthard drove a superb race. Although RBR has improved a lot, it is still not as good as Coulthard made it seem. He drove the last part of the race without 3rd gear. Since the cars have sequential gearboxes, that meant he had only 4th gear and above. Still, he was able to hold Nico Rosberg’s attack and finish 5th.

- Alexander Wurz hit Ralf Schumacher’s left-rear wheel on a first lap incident. Wurz had to retire. Although Ralf had to hit the breaks hard due at an unexpected spot due to a melee just ahead of him, I am not sure that the impact was unavoidable. A great driver would be expecting this sort of situation happening on the first lap. Maybe Wurz is not a great driver.

Star of the race:

Felipe Massa.

Shame of the race:

The BMW pit crew.

References

[1] Formula One official web site, ‘FIA post-race press conference – Spain’

--Andre N.

Bahrain – Race Analysis

This time we had a reasonable F1 race. Unlike the first two races of the season, the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix had a little bit of a fight for the victory. The race was fun to watch, with many overtaking manoeuvres, although most of them for positions outside the points. Drivers had a hard time controlling their cars, especially when going out of the race line and onto the thin sand that covered the least used asphalt. Due to that, there were many off-track excursions. Rising above all the problems, Felipe Massa got his first win of the season and Alonso had his worst result – 5th – making the championship battle even closer.

Felipe Massa drove like a champion

Massa really drove like a champion. This is what Jean Todt said on the radio after Felipe crossed the line. He got the hat trick – pole position, best lap, win – which is already impressive. Hamilton’s pursuit did not alter his concentration. Add to that the fact that he came from a disappointing result last week, after a mistake that was solely his fault, and we may have two ‘icemen’ in Ferrari.

I have written in this blog that I believe Massa is the strongest contender for the title (‘Felipe Massa – 2007 F1 world champion?’) and have given many reasons for this. The speed and focus that he showed yesterday are two characteristics of a champion. I also have a feeling that Michael Schumacher treats him like his pupil. Massa has admitted that they spoke about Malaysia right after the race. That cannot hurt, can it? If I were Raikkonen I would start listening to Schumacher as well.

Lewis Hamilton rewrites the record books

Hamilton is a great driver, who got to Formula One better prepared than most before him. And Ron Dennis gave him a great car. Now he takes his 3rd consecutive podium, in his first 3 races, and he is the only rookie to have ever accomplished that. He beat Alonso all weekend long. There is nothing else to say about this guy.

Wait, there is. After Malaysia’s press conference, some people had the point of view that he was way overexcited, maybe even joking about Massa’s mistake. I do not think that was the case, he is just a young kid having fun. To strengthen my point of view, after yesterday’s race he put his car right next to Massa’s and applauded his opponent’s performance. He may only be a kid, but he is definitely one who respects his adversaries.

What is wrong with Raikkonen?

Kimi Raikkonen may never show his emotions, but deep down he knows he has found his match at Ferrari. Massa will drive many other races like he did in Bahrain, and Kimi will not be able to catch him. There is one extra pressure: he gets paid a lot more than Felipe, so he is expected to be faster.

He seems to have taken a hit from Massa’s phoenix-like rebirth from the ashes. His race was filled with apathy. He was not the driver he normally is, who pushes hard even when the car is not great, trying to force the others to make mistakes. He did the right thing at the start, trying to overtake Hamilton, but then he paid the price of not being able to finish the move and got passed by Alonso. Good thing he had a couple more laps of fuel during the first stint, otherwise he would ride all the way to park fermé stuck behind the McLaren. He has 3 weeks to think about his performance before the next grand prix.

Heidfeld vs. Alonso

Heideld got by Alonso with a fantastic move on the outside. BMW seems to be stronger every race, and maybe they will challenge Ferrari and McLaren for the win in a few races. Since they do not seem to have as much top speed, it is more probable to happen at a track with less straightaways. Well, Monaco is only two races away...

Alonso would have to have a bad race at some point. This was it. Heidfeld got by him because he made a small mistake. It will take him a while to digest Heidfeld’s pass, but the 4 points he got will count a lot by the end of the season. I am sure that if he ends up behind Heidfeld anytime soon, he will go for a bold move in exchange for the one he got yesterday.

Bahrain’s quick notes

- Anthony Davidson had a good race until his engine blew up. It seems like it could have been even better, though. For some reason Super Aguri filled his tank with a lot of fuel, so he only made his first pit stop in lap 28 of 57. His car seemed fast enough to match the others with equal amounts of fuel, so there was no reason for him to have a different strategy. Maybe they already knew that the engine could probably not take the extra revs...

- RBR is showing more speed. Chief engineer Adrian Newey is certainly behind this, as his nickname should be ‘continuous improvement’. Hopefully they will solve the reliability problems in a few races and fight for points. Both Webber and Coulthard got out with transmission problems – gearbox and driveshaft, respectively.

- Williams seemed to be a car that could finish in the points, but both Rosberg and Wurz made many mistakes and finished only 10th and 11th. Rosberg seemed to be suffering from the same disease that plagued Massa in Malaysia: lack of patience.

- Like yesterday, Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher had memorable battles in the past, when Rubens drove for Ferrari and Ralf for Williams. Those where battles for more relevant positions though, worth championship points or places on the podium. They met more than once in Bahrain, but both have disappointing cars now. Ralf took his Toyota to 12th place and Rubens his Honda to 13th. Their battles were fun to watch, as usual.

- Trulli drove very well, maintaining his fame of a driver who is almost impossible to be overtaken. He held both Williams’ drivers at one point, causing them to make many mistakes. In the end, he finished 7th, holding a faster Fisichella, who tried hard to go by on the last few laps.

Star of the race:

Nick Heidfeld. I could also say Felipe Massa, but the Heidfeld’s performance had a surprise appeal that got him this award. Passing the current world champion on the outside also helped.

Shame of the race:

Adrian Sutil. He had an excuse for every trouble in the beginning of the previous two races. Now he just hit Scott Speed from behind, period. He came back to finish the race, but he needs to improve his concentration if he wants to keep his job.

--Andre N.