Italy – Race Analysis

A good race with a magnificent drive from winner Fernando Alonso: That was the story of the 2007 Italian Grand Prix. With four races to go in the Formula One season, it seems like the final battle will be among the two McLaren drivers. The 18-point difference from championship leader Lewis Hamilton to 3rd place Kimi Raikkonen is unlikely to completely go away, especially because we have seen so few retirements this year.

Alonso stole the show in Monza

Pole position, best lap, race win. I could stop here and it would be enough for everyone to understand what a great race Fernando Alonso had. The details show that it was even greater. For every lap of the whole weekend, he was 2 to 3 tenths of a second faster than Hamilton.

He saved the best for the race, though. When it became known that Ferrari had prepared a single-stop strategy for Raikkonen, Alonso would have to drive as fast as ever to stay as leader after his 2nd stop. Kimi pitted on lap 25 and was about 15 seconds behind. Alonso would need a 28-to-30-second gap to guarantee that he would rejoin the race ahead of the Ferrari. He had fuel up to lap 43, which meant 18 laps to open up 15 more seconds – more than 8 tenths a lap. Although Raikkonen had a lot more weight due to the larger fuel load, it would be hard. Not for Alonso. He just drove some of the fastest laps of the race. By the end of the stint he was consistently lapping at around 1min23s. Just so everyone can understand how fast that was: 1) His fastest lap of the race was 1min22.871s, and he was consistently lapping close to that time; 2) Lewis Hamilton’s fastest lap was 1min22.936s, barely beating the 1min23s that Alonso clocked many times, lap after lap.

There were a lot of great performances in Monza – including those from Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen, Robert Kubica and Nico Rosberg –, but as emotional as the other choices may be, the lap chart tells me that I must pick Fernando Alonso as the star of the race.

Second was not bad for Lewis

What else could Hamilton have done? Nothing, in my opinion. Racing is like this: one day you beat your teammate, the other day he beats you. Sometimes he beats you badly, like Alonso did to Hamilton in Monza. It was just one of those days, and hopefully for Hamilton there will not be many more of those until the end of the year. Fernando is just 3 points behind Lewis in the championship standings.

Hamilton’s overtaking manoeuvre over Raikkonen was one of the greatest this season. In fact, I think it is tied for number 2 this year – number 1 has to be Nick Heidfeld’s brilliant move around Alonso in Bahrain and the other number 2 is Kubica’s move around Rosberg yesterday. He had to go by Raikkonen, and it was only a matter of time before he did, because his car was faster. By surprisingly pulling aside just as he barely got close to Ferrari, he made his job a lot easier, as Raikkonen did not even have the chance to close the inside line. Even the Formula One Management TV transmission lost the exact moment when Lewis got by Kimi, so surprising that it was.

I am a bit worried about the way Lewis started the race. Maybe I am too old-fashioned, but in my opinion the start is a drag race towards the first corner. In drag races one driver must respect the other driver’s line. I know that in today’s F1 it is very important to get to the clean racing path, but Lewis just threw his car towards Felipe Massa and hoped that the latter would avoid the collision. Hamilton usually makes a lot of moves going into the first corner. If all drivers were to zigzag like that, half of the grid would be out of the race before the first corner. In the old days, the other drivers would have spoken to Lewis and they would respectfully get to an agreement about how to proceed at the starts. Today, it seems like they do not talk to each other anymore.

Ferrari beaten at their home turf

Considering all teams and all countries where F1 goes to, the most painful defeat has to be that of Ferrari in Italy, because the Italian fans are so passionate about the red team. This time it hurt even more. Ferrari was expected to win the race. Their longer wheelbase should have helped them around the Parabolica curve. In reality, McLaren could not only match Ferrari’s straightaway speed, but could also beat them at most corners, including the critical Lesmo and Ascari curves, just before two short straightaways. My only guess is that the Mercedes-Benz engine is stronger than the one from Ferrari, so McLaren could use more wing and have better results at the high speed corners.

The one thing that should never have happened was the suspension breakdown in Massa’s car. That was critical. Now he is 23 points behind Hamilton and I believe Ferrari has only one shot at the drivers’ championship – with Raikkonen. Unless the spy scandal changes everything...

My two words on the spy scandal

As an engineer myself, I have sworn to follow the law and never to deviate from what is known as ‘integrity’. This oath is taken by engineers everywhere. If half of the information released by the press about the spy scandal is true, I am sorry, the two engineers that are involved – Nigel Stepney and Mike Coughlan – should go to jail, McLaren should lose all of its constructor points and be banned from the 2007 season – and possibly from 2008 as well. If the drivers had no involvement with the illegal procedures, they should be allowed to keep their points. Just the fact that they will be forced to change teams in mid-season – if they can – will compensate for the points they got by indirectly benefiting from the illegal information. Again, this is my opinion only if these accusations are true. Ok, maybe I wrote more than two words.

Italy’s quick notes

- Robert Kubica had a really bad first pit stop, as he stopped the car in the wrong position and the mechanics had problems with the jack. Later, his bold move around Nico Rosberg was one of the season’s highlights and compensated for anything that went wrong.

- Sebastian Vettel had very good practice and qualifying sessions, but during the race he made a small mistake and ran into Davidson. Overall he was much better than in Turkey, though, but still not better than the replaced Scott Speed.

- I expected more from Jarno Trulli, but another bad start put him out of contention for the points. He finished only 11th.

- Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg showed what it is like to race wheel to wheel, respecting each other’s racing line. I wish all F1 drivers were as respectful as them.

- Heikki Kovalainen finished 7th, leaving his teammate Giancarlo Fisichella far behind in 12th position. Another great race by Heikki, especially because the Renault engine does not seem to be very strong this year.

Star of the race:

Fernando Alonso

Shame of the race:

Ferrari as a team – especially for having the single race retirement related to mechanical failure.

--Andre N.

Turkey – Race Analysis

This past weekend Formula One headed to Turkey for the 12th round of the 2007 season. There is not much history in Turkish motorsport, but having the third Grand Prix there seems to be a good start. The track is one of the favourites among the drivers. It is very demanding and has already one of the famous corners in F1 – the magnificent turn 8, a long high speed corner with one apex for each of its four radii and lateral g-forces in excess of 4. I only wish today’s F1 did not rely so much on aerodynamics, so that two cars could race closer to each other there... Well, this is another chapter of my long-time campaign, which I could call ‘FIA, please bring back the slicks and reduce downforce’.

Overall the race was not the most exciting ever, but for the 2007 standard of completely uneventful races, this one at least had its share of surprises. Felipe Massa’s win was not one of them, as he had beaten Michael Schumacher there last year. The same cannot be said of the unexpected fact that 20 of the 22 drivers finished an event that was held in very hot weather – air temperature in excess of 35°C (95°F). The top surprise had to be Lewis Hamilton’s blown tyre, which cost him two championship points and gave Fernando Alonso one as he dropped from 3rd to 5th.


Ferrari is on a mission

Felipe Massa drove a great race, helped by the fact that teammate Kimi Raikkonen also started on the clean side of the track, in 3rd position. After Raikkonen beat Hamilton going into the first corner, victory belonged to Ferrari, the only remaining battle being which driver would have the better pit strategy. This was already decided in qualifying, as Massa had one extra lap of fuel, which meant that Raikkonen would never have the chance of remaining on the track longer to overtake him when both pitted.

By the way, a distracted fan may not have noticed that Ferrari gives the opportunity for their drivers to fight for the best time in the equally balanced Q2. Whoever has the best time races with was calculated as the ideal fuel load, and the other driver gets one extra lap. It makes sense, since the quickest driver is given a chance to start from pole and the other is given a chance of being more consistent. The two mistakes by Raikkonen during his two hot laps in Q3, though, cost him two positions on the grid. Starting third, all he could do was to hope that he could beat Hamilton at the start, which he did. From there on, he knew he could not get past a car that was exactly like his. Sad but true in modern F1.

Ferrari raced an improved chassis this weekend, and it seems to be better than the previous version. From the onboard camera I could notice since Friday practice that their cars were the ones to beat. Alonso and Hamilton had to fight a little bit with their equipment to keep them on the road. Massa and Raikkonen had minor understeering problems in the first session, but that was it. After that it seemed like they were racing slot cars. During the race, the advantage showed more in terms of better tyre wear than in single-lap times. Over the course of each stint, though, McLaren could not beat them.

Ferrari is certainly on track to make the ideal strong season finish that they need, and the next events certainly suit the red cars. Their best one should be Monza, 2 weeks from now. And they may get an extra help from BMW. There and in Spa-Francochamps I expect BMW to come even stronger as their car is really good at high speed corners when using a mid-to-low downforce setup.


Damage control at McLaren

Lewis Hamilton equalled his career worst streak of finishes without a podium finish: one race. Seriously, the guy is consistent. Since he has the same number of victories as Alonso, Massa, and Raikkonen – 3 for each –, consistency is what gives him the championship lead. He was going to get another podium finish when his tyre blew up. His driving style certainly had an effect on the rubber. I mean, tyres are supposed to last, but it seems like Alonso does a better job saving his equipment during the race than Hamilton does. Not to much to worry about, though, as in the beginning of their careers Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna were pretty much like Hamilton is today. I just think it is no coincidence that Hamilton’s tyre blew up and Alonso’s did not.

Hamilton’s advantage is raw speed, and that he showed during qualifying. Alonso was outpaced by him. Fernando even tried a gamble by running his laps in Q3 with the prime tyres. The idea was that he could take back the time that McLaren was losing on the 3rd sector. The option tyres could not keep that first layer of softer rubber for an entire lap. The starting grid shows that the gamble did not pay off. In the end, 3rd was a good result for Alonso.


Kovalainen shows how good he is

Finally we have seen the best of Heikki Kovalainen. After a struggling start of the season, he has consistently improved and is now outpacing teammate Giancarlo Fisichella. In Turkey he also beat one of the superior BMWs – Robert Kubica. He finished 6th, which does not sound like a lot, but his better consistency and speed in comparison to his veteran teammate, even if the Renault is still a very tricky, ‘twitchy’ car to drive are enough for me to call him the star of the race. All I can say to Fisichella is ‘goodbye’. Nelson Piquet Jr. is ready to race and Flavio Briatore will probably drop the veteran driver to give the upcoming star a chance.


Turkey’s quick notes

- Anthony Davidson had a great performance on Saturday, qualifying 11th with his Super Aguri. In the beginning of the race he had to leave the track to avoid a spin by Jarno Trulli and lost a lot of positions. He probably would not get any points because of the few retirements, but dropping back was probably frustrating.

- Giancarlo Fisichella touched Trulli’s rear end, causing the latter to spin. Both had no major damage, but Trulli returned to the race very far behind. Although he had nice battles with the Hondas, he could not finish better than 16th.

- Ralf Schumacher completed the bad Toyota performance by finishing 11th. After the dismal qualifying run that put him 18th on the grid – later he got 2 positions after the Hondas switched engines –, there was not much he could do. I believe his career at Toyota is about to be over.

- Sebastian Vettel is only a very young rookie, but I expected more from him. His qualifying lap was 0.6 seconds slower than his STR teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi, and that was the story for the entire race. He had a hard time holding Adrian Sutil in the slow Spyker during his first, long stint. Not a problem had he picked up the pace during the shorter stints, but that was not the case. Every day Scott Speed’s release from STR seems more political than anything else.

- Nico Rosberg had a great race and finished 7th, showing that he is racing hard despite the poor performance by Williams in the past years. Let's hope that his car improves before this desire to win goes away.


Star of the race:

Heikki Kovalainen

Shame of the race:

Sebastian Vettel.


--Andre N.

Hungary – Race Analysis

Formula One was back at the Hungaroring. The same track that became famous in the 1980’s and early 1990’s for the epic battles involving Mansell, Piquet, Prost, and Senna. The same track that has been the stage of the most boring F1 race for each of the past few years. I feel bad for the fans in Hungary – and the many that went there from Finland and Poland.

Yesterday Kimi Raikkonen drove the whole race behind Lewis Hamilton, although at different points one was better than the other. We should have seen many overtaking moves, but in the current F1 this is impossible. Even Felipe Massa in a Ferrari could not go by Takuma Sato in the slower Super Aguri. The race was boring, but the championship battle has heated up.

War inside McLaren

For starters, I agree that Alonso should be punished for what he did in qualifying. Let’s not forget, though, that he did not start the war when he waited a lot of time to exit the pit stall. Hamilton did, when he refused to let Alonso go by in the fuel burning phase of qualifying. Unfortunately, Hamilton could not be punished by the FIA for breaking team orders, but Alonso could because he broke the sporting rules.

Hamilton drove a reasonable race and did not make any mistakes while Raikkonen was right on his gearbox. Alonso, on the other hand, was overly aggressive and inconsistent at the start, but later figured out that he should score as many points as possible. Seven points separate both drivers in the point standings. The war is far from over.

Felipe Massa’s inconsistency strikes back

Felipe Massa made a costly mistake in qualifying and it led to a series of events that resulted in his worst F1 race ever – at least from my point of view. Felipe lost the balance, going wide into the last turn during his hot lap in Qualifying 2. As he corrected with more steering input, he lost his rear end and almost spun out. That cost him a lot of time. He would need another flying lap to make it to the top 10 – and into Q3. One would expect that Ferrari would be ready for this kind of situation, but guess what? They weren’t. Somehow they managed to forget to put more fuel. Felipe had to shutdown the car as he exited the pit lane and be pushed back all the way to the pit stall. In the meantime, his tyres were just cooling down. With the cold tyres, all he managed was the 14th fastest time.

Is it really all that Ferrari can do with cold tyres? Why did he not move his car from side to side in his warm up lap? In the event Ferrari probably did not tell him how much time was left – and there was plenty of time –, he should have asked... What would Michael Schumacher do?

Then the race... During the first lap he went wide going out of turn 2, allowing Takuma Sato to overtake him. That cost him the race, as he could not overtake Sato, who was on a similar fuel strategy. Is 13th all a Ferrari driver can manage when starting 14th in Hungary? I do not think so. It was one of those races that make us remind of the former, inconsistent Massa, not the one we have seen since the end of 2006.

F1 vs. GP2

Is it just me or the GP2 races have been more fun to watch than F1 for some time now? Even in the tight Hungaroring, there were plenty of overtake manoeuvres. The GP2 cars depend much less on aerodynamics and run on full slick tyres, so drivers can follow the car ahead even on the fast corners. FIA President Max Mosley seems to be taking steps ahead to create rules that create more overtaking in F1. We know it has been a problem for a long time, though. They just could have reacted faster.

Hungary’s quick notes

- Honda struggled a lot more than they have been used to this year. At one point Rubens Barrichello spoke to his engineers that he was flat out all around. He was 3 seconds a lap off the leaders’ pace. Jenson Button also had a similar pace.

- Giancarlo Fisichella was very aggressive at the pit exit, but so was Anthony Davidson in the incident when both touched. Heikki Kovalainein was the best Renault driver of the day, and saved 1 point after starting 11th and finishing 8th.

- Jarno Trulli’s bad first lap ended any chances that he had to score points. His teammate Ralf Schumacher finished 6th, although I think it is too late for him to save his job in F1.

Star of the race:

Nick Heidfeld. He drove a very consistent race and held Alonso back for the final laps. One may argue that Hamilton also held Raikkonen back, but Heidfeld clearly had an inferior car so his battle was more difficult.

Shame of the race:

Felipe Massa.

--Andre N.

Europe – Race Analysis

The FIA called it the European Grand Prix, due to contract reasons. It was really the German Grand Prix, but I will stick to the FIA’s terms in an attempt not to confuse the readers – at least not more than they may be already confused. The race at the Nurburgring did not take place at the famous north track – the Nordschleife; the last one there was in 1976. After reflecting on the events that took place in 2007, the nickname given to the north track 30 years ago by Sir Jackie Stewart still works: ‘The Green Hell’. Not as green as before, because the trees are not so close to the current Grand Prix track, but it was hell indeed.

No one can complain about the spectacle, though. Even Beelzebub himself would be delighted to see the action that took place over the weekend. There was a huge accident in qualifying that ruined Hamilton’s chances of winning the race; there were cars sliding all over during the two short stints of rain; there were some aggressive overtaking moves. He would be rally proud of the word fight between Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, because they touched as the former passed the latter with less than five laps to go.

The championship is very close now, with 2 points separating leader Lewis Hamilton from Alonso. Massa is 11 points behind in third, followed by Kimi Raikkonen, who is 18 points behind. There are seven races to go. It seems like this one will go down to the wire. Can I bet that the last race of the year – the Brazilian Grand Prix – will be a sellout?


Alonso is becoming a thinker... Inside the cockpit, that is.

I have seen it over and over this season. Whoever starts on the dirty side of the track has a big disadvantage going into the first corner. With traction control and automatic launch systems, the drivers will never make a mistake. Starting in 2nd on the dirty inside part of the track, Alonso would never get ahead of pole-sitter Raikkonen. It was so bad that Massa, who started 3rd, overtook him. Credit goes to the upgrade Ferrari made to their launch system during testing in Silverstone about a month ago. It is not fun to watch though, so thank goodness these systems will be disallowed in 2008.

Alonso had the great presence of mind of not trying the impossible. He stayed in third in the very beginning. It started raining, everyone would need a tyre change. Raikkonen made a mistake and slid wide of the pits. Alonso said ‘OK, I’ll take this opportunity’. He was second for a long time. As the rain came back with 7 laps to go he got his golden opportunity. As both he and Massa pitted for wet tyres, as soon as they returned to the track it was clear that the number-1 McLaren was faster than the number-5 Ferrari. It was difficult, but not impossible. It was the time to be aggressive, and that he was. On lap 56 of 60, he overtook Massa for the win. They even touched! It was a great move that made him look like a genius.

Unfortunately, as he got out of his car we were able to see the worst part of Alonso. He instantly helped selling the ‘crybaby’ image that his critics post all over the Internet forums. Calling the camera to show the tyre mark left by Massa’s Ferrari on his sidepod was the worst part. Is that more important than the win? Then he started an argument with Massa just before going to the podium. The TV showed everything, it was even possible to hear what they were saying – in Italian. At this point I have to agree with Massa. He said that he would never do that on purpose, and it makes sense, because the only thing that he would get from a move like that would be a cut tyre. Then he said a few times as Alonso would not stop complaining: ‘You win and make a scene?’

Alonso later apologized to Massa during the press conference. He will still get my Star of the Race award because it is not about the post-race, but the track action itself.


Is RBR improving?

By only looking at the results, one may say that Mark Webber was just lucky to fisish 3rd. He was certainly lucky that the 2 BMWs hit each other on the second corner and that Raikkonen had to retire. He drove a great race, though. Even if it were dry all around, he would probably get the same result. RBR was pretty good in Nurburgring. David Coulthard – the current ‘master of alternative strategies’ – started 20th and finished 5th. The car seems to be improving a little bit every race. This is expected, since their lead engineer is Adrian Newey. Their problem is reliability, but I would rather have a fast, unreliable car to drive in the middle pack than a slow, reliable backmarker.


It was not Hamilton’s weekend

All we can say about Hamilton is that it just was not his weekend. I was expecting a setback for him since the beginning of the season, so I would have the chance to see how good he really to overcome it. He was very good at the start, but again, it was partially due to the fact that McLaren has a better launch system than most of the teams – except for Ferrari at this point. Maybe he was too aggressive and got a cut tyre, but I cannot complain about it. He was expected to be aggressive. During the heavy rain, he lost his car coming into braking. That may be some sign of inexperience as many drivers did not make that mistake, but many others did, so there is no conclusion. I am still waiting for one fantastic race before I can say Hamilton is a genius.


Europe’s quick notes

- Someone in STR forgot to warn Vitantonio Liuzzi that the safety car was out. He was way too fast going into the first corner – in fact, he spun on the straight due to ‘aquaplanning’. Luckily the safety car driver had quick reflexes to avoid a crash from behind.
- Nick Heidfeld drove his worst race of the year. He hit teammate Robert Kubica as they made it into the 2nd corner of the race. Robert spun around but was able to return. Later on, Nick also hit and Ralf Schumacher, who had to retire. Maybe he had his mind away from the track, due to his newborn son.
- Is Kimi Raikkonen becoming that unlucky driver he used to be? When he missed the pits, it was his own mistake. When his car broke down – with alleged hydraulic problems – there was nothing that he could do.
- Points go for the FIA, because red flagging the race was the smart thing to do. The fans do not want another safety car showdown like the one in Canada.

Star of the race:
Fernando Alonso, with Mark Webber a close second.

Shame of the race:
Nick Heidfeld.

--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.

France – Race Analysis

Since I am posting this after 1200 GMT, it will be more like Formula One Tuesday for some of the readers. It is still Monday for me, so I will write about yesterday’s race; just consider it the day before yesterday’s race if this is your case.

The 2007 French Grand Prix was a good race, and even included some overtaking manoeuvres so uncommon in today’s Formula One. Kimi Raikkonen drove a great race and got his second win of the season, making it two for each of the main title contenders – himself, Massa, Hamilton and Alonso. Hamilton increased his championship gap to Alonso, but the Ferrari drivers are a little bit closer now.

Kimi Raikkonen finally seems to be himself

Kimi Raikkonen can say that he was very lucky once in his F1 career and that was yesterday. For a driver who has had so many misfortunes over the years, it was unexpected for him to win with what was probably the wrong strategy. The logic was that Kimi should have qualified with less fuel to make sure that he would start on the front row in order to have a chance. Although Hamilton started on the front row – on the dirty side of the track –, Raikkonen was able to jump ahead. That move gave him a chance to win the race.

The problem was that he had a heavier load of fuel than Felipe Massa, who opened a reasonable gap before his first pit stop. Massa is doing a wonderful job at Ferrari, there was no way that Raikkonen could drive any faster than him. Then the strange strategy worked out for Kimi, as Massa had problems overtaking the backmarkers and was not able to increase the gap during the second stint. Kimi drove two superb laps before his stop, and that guaranteed his return in first place. That was the driver we got used to, the same one that challenged Schumacher and Alonso in two championship runs.

Merit goes to Ferrari as well. The car has changed for better. Now it has also received some of Kimi’s inputs, therefore it is easier for him to drive. He is also more adapted to the Bridgestone tyres than he was in the beginning of the season. The two drivers are really pushing. Massa deserved the win as much as Raikkonen. Ferrari is back. Let's see for how long.

Different strategy for Hamilton, but one that would never work

After losing a place to Raikkonen at the start, Lewis Hamilton could have gone for two pit stops and easily finished third. McLaren tried three, though, knowing that they could not beat Ferrari in a straight fight and anything different would give them an opportunity. The strategy proved to be wrong, but since the gap to BMW was large enough, it was worth trying. At least it reduced the chances that Hamilton would spin out due to tyre wear.

Hamilton keeps proving that he has what it takes to be a champion. He finished a good third and did not try anything stupid. After the start on the dirty side of the track, third was the most he could get. Third was what he got.

McLaren made Alonso earn his salary

Mclaren started to ruin Fernando Alonso's race on Saturday, since he was not able to finish qualifying due to gearbox problems and had to start 10th.

During the race Alonso was helped by the early melee involving Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen. Then he had to follow Nick Heidfeld for a long time, though, and lost a lot of time. 'Follow' may not be the best verb, as Alonso tried everything he could to overtake. Heidfeld is one of the most difficult drivers to go by. Alonso showed his talent by passing at an unexpected spot, returning the favour for Heidfeld's great move in Bahrain. The scorecard is now 1-1. As a Formula One fan I am delighted to see their fight. It is very clean. They are both great drivers. I only wish that the current F1 cars depended less on aerodynamics so that we could see more fights like that.

Later in the race I believe McLaren changed the strategy and called Alonso in earlier for his second pit stop. In the end, this proved not to be good, as Alonso was held by Giancarlo Fisichella until the end of the race. Two long fights with two of the most difficult drivers to overtake. Alonso certainly earned his salary, although he was not able to beat Fisichella.

France’s quick notes

- Honda scored their first point of the season as Jenson Button finished 8th. It is still too little if we think about their budget. I think that Honda should change the team's management to get better results. Toyota too.

- Jarno Trulli is not helping Toyota out, as he hit Heikki Kovalainen from behind entering the Adelaide corner. I did not expect that from a long time veteran.

- Robert Kubica showed that he is a great, fearless driver. After the horrible crash in Montreal, he returned to score his best result of the season, finishing 4th.

- Christijan Albers has no excuse for leaving the pits before the 'lollipop' was up. That was a stupid mistake and he knows it. I think that the pressure he is getting from Sutil is making him a bit nervous. Albers was one of the best DTM drivers but is yet to make something happen in F1.

Star of the race:

Kimi Raikkonen. I really did not think that he could pull out a win until I saw the gap he opened before his second pit stop.

Shame of the race:

Christijan Albers.

--Andre N.

United States – Race Analysis

After the safety car showdown in Canada, we finally got a proper F1 race in North America. The clever track layout allows for some overtaking manoeuvres, mainly going into turn 1. This is what we saw yesterday, a very nicely fought race, especially for positions 5 and below. The top four positions seem to belong to the two silver and the two red cars. Besides Kimi Raikkonen’s bad start, it seems like McLaren and Ferrari are still in a league of their own, with the obvious advantage going for McLaren. Hamilton won, but it could have been Alonso had the starting positions been the other way around. At least we had some fight for first place, although it required the backmarkers’ presence to set up the moment. Formula One may have improved, but with such aerodynamically dependent cars, closely matched cars still cannot fight for position, as the pursuer loses too much downforce around the corners.

Two in a row for Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton won his second race in a row. More than that, he won two races this season, same as Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Since he is more consistent than the other 2-time race winners, he truly deserves to be leading the championship.

My biggest complain about Hamilton is not exactly about his results. It is that I have not been able to accurately tell if he is ‘only’ a great driver or a genius. Not that he cares about it. He certainly knows his limitations, but he is not going to tell everybody about them. I just wish I knew... I am pretty sure that he is a great driver, but there were not enough chances for me to confirm if he is a genius. Besides some great starts, he did not have to overtake anyone.

Most of the races were pretty straightforward for Lewis. Yesterday, at least, he had to fight with Alonso. And he did not disappoint me at all. After making a minor mistake in turn 9, he knew how to hold his position at the end of the frontstretch, breaking at the exact point he was supposed to, following the perfect line at the corner exit, leaving no chance for Alonso. However, it seems to me that if Alonso were in first place he would hold Hamilton behind the same way. Alonso even seemed faster – he just could not follow closely due to the loss of downforce and the car overheating that comes from drafting closely. Therefore, I cannot confirm if Hamilton is genius. Maybe he is ‘just’ a great driver.

I am almost hoping that at one point Hamilton hits trouble in qualifying so that he starts on the back of the grid. Or maybe it will rain during a race, so I can see if he’s got that natural talent that only geniuses have. And just to make sure, I also want to see in F1 the only other driver who I think was able to match Hamilton’s speed in the access series: Nelson Piquet Jr.

A better Alonso makes an even stronger McLaren

Fernando Alonso may have lost a race, but mentally he became stronger. The fact that he complimented Hamilton twice – after crossing the finish line and on the podium – shows that he is not going to keep complaining as much as he did this week. He lost, yet he knows that he could have won. He knows that the difference was in qualifying and that he can beat Hamilton. More than that, he knows now that McLaren will always give them equally matched cars, because this is what they got yesterday. If he wins or loses to Hamilton, it will mean one thing: the better one has won.

My praises go to Ron Dennis. McLaren is so well managed that it makes me believe that Ron would do well at any other kind of business. The way he manages the team is just beautiful. It was beautiful during the Prost-Senna era. It is beautiful at the current Alonso-Hamilton period. Dennis has certainly done his job in calming down Alonso, in order to make sure that the current period will also become an era in the history of F1.

Ferrari finally got something from Raikkonen

After being beaten on the track by Felipe Massa throughout the season, Kimi Raikkonen was finally able to match his teammate’s performance. He was again on the wrong end of the results, as he was 4th just behind Felipe. At least he pushed hard and showed us two things: 1) he has changed his driving style and is finally adapting to the Bridgestone tyres; 2) what we saw today was the most the Ferrari could do.

Felipe Massa was not brilliant, but he got the most that he could from today’s race. If he had driven with the same mentality in Malaysia, the championship gap would be much closer than the 19 points he has less than Hamilton. He is stronger this year, but of course he still lacks something to become a Michael Schumacher. He is still improving, though, so maybe one day he will be a seven-time world champion. Maybe not. Seriously, though, he has what it takes to be as good as anyone I have ever seen. The natural talent is there. It is just a matter of improving his mental state. And also getting a race-winning car, something Ferrari is not providing at this time.

United States’ quick notes

- Adrian Sutil drove a fantastic race – for a Spyker, that is. After starting 21st, he avoided the first corner melee and managed to drive as high as 12th. In the end, he finished 14th, just ahead of teammate Christijan Albers. But he certainly drove a lot better than Albers, the final results just do not show it.

- I do not know what Ralf Schumacher thought he could do by breaking deep into the first corner. He is being badly beaten by his teammate Jarno Trulli this season, the least he could do was to finish the race. Since Jarno finished 6th, including a nice fight with Mark Webber, I believe Ralf is about to lose his job. My bet is that he will not be driving for Toyota by the end of the year.

- Takuma Sato was about to do one of his memorable races, overtaking many opponents as he was recovering after starting only 18th. Then his car understeered, he drove wide, hit the grass with both left wheels, then oversteered and spun out of the race. One week he is great, the other he is a shame. Either way, he is just a poor man’s Nigel Mansell.

- Since the difference between prime and option tyres was not very large, many drivers tried a one-stop strategy. Among these, Nico Rosberg was the one who had the best chance of finishing in the points, but he left the race in anger as his engine gave up and caught fire.

- BMW had a strong race with rookie Sebastian Vettel, who became the youngest ever driver to score points as he finished 8th. By the end of the day, however, they had a bitter taste in their mouths because Heidfeld had gearbox problems – once again.

- Heikki Kovalainen is finally showing what he is all about by finishing a strong 5th. Although Giancarlo Fisichella finished 9th with the other Renault, his race also shows some improvements for the team. He spun and drove through the gravel in the second lap of the race and came from the back of the pack, overtaking many drivers in the process.

Star of the race:

Lewis Hamilton. No one did more than what they were supposed to do, so the award goes to the race winner. The way he held back Alonso is the exclamation point needed for winning my award.

Shame of the race:

Ralf Schumacher.

--Andre N.

Canada – Race Analysis

Let’s start by saying that the good news is that Robert Kubica only broke a leg after his huge crash [note: this was the information at the time of the post; later it was known that he only sprained the ankle!].Everything else, though, was very complicated. Whenever you have to read the rulebooks to understand a sporting event, something went wrong. This is the case of the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix. After four Safety Car entrances, the race itself became a mess. At least the race winner was preserved from the chaos. Lewis Hamilton became one of the youngest ever race winners and keeps showing that he is there to fight for the championship. However, besides the British fans – who must be ecstatic – most of the rest of the world is still trying to understand a confusing race.

Hamilton shines, but not as much as he could

Lewis Hamilton won his first race. The guy is great, everyone knows that by now. I have a feeling, though, that he has not shown us what he is capable of. Driving the best car in F1 is just too easy for him. Beating Alonso is impressive, but something is missing. Maybe I feel like this because Alonso self-destructed yesterday.

I said before and I will say it again: I wish Hamilton started off his career driving for a worse team. It would be exciting to see him doing the impossible with a slower car. Like Fernando Alonso did with Minardi and then the improving but not yet no.1 Renault. Like Michael Schumacher with Jordan, then the not so great Benetton. Like Ayrton Senna and the lousy Toleman, then the inconsistent Lotus.

The only other recent driver who had such an easy start to his F1 career was Jacques Villeneuve. But when he got to F1 and the dominant Williams team, he was the reigning Indycar (CART) and Indy 500 champion – at a time when Indycar was really competitive. And he had great battles against teammate Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher before he became world champion. I just wish Hamilton has at least one good fight against someone before he becomes champion.

Hamilton was lucky to get a contract with McLaren at a very young age. I just wish this does not become the trend for the top teams, or else we are going to have two championships in one. One with the top teams’ protégés and one with the drivers who will never make it to the top teams because someone wearing diapers already owns the seat that will become available.

I deviated to another subject because there is not much to say about Lewis’s race performance yesterday. It was perfect.

As Alonso self-destructs, Ferrari never had a chance

Fernando Alonso had a really bad race yesterday. He overshot the first corner because he was trying so hard to overtake Hamilton. He did not need to do that. The world champion version of Alonso is the driver who finishes 2nd when he cannot win, like Alain Prost or Emerson Fittipaldi. Yesterday Alonso was more like Mark Webber or the F-3000 version of himself. Unimpressive, to say the least.

Also outrageous was Kimi Raikkonen’s performance. He almost took both Ferraris out of the race in the first corner as he hit Massa’s rear wheel. At one point he was losing ground to Nico Rosberg. He is earning too much money for what he is doing. I mean, for what he is NOT doing.

Felipe Massa on the other hand seemed very self-controlled given the circumstances. He had a great start and would give Nick Heidfeld a run for his money in the fight for 2nd place. The safety car messed up his race. He could still finish 3rd, but then he made a mistake while leaving the pits under the red light. I think this rule is confusing – not to say that it makes no sense, as I will explain below – but rules are rules. Massa was wrong and was disqualified. As was Fisichella who was also having a good race.

Someone’s got to be blamed for the lousy race. Why not the FIA?

After 4 drivers from 4 different teams were penalized in safety-car-related incidents, it was clear to me whose fault it was: the FIA’s. For about a century racing events in the United States have been using a safety car – or pace car, as they call it – without the problems we usually see in F1. How many odd incidents have you seen during the F1 SC periods? I have seen too many. Have you seen two cars trying to stop on the same pit stall at the same time and blocking the car behind? I have. Have you seen drivers slowing down on purpose to hold back the other drivers so that their teammate completes his pit stop? I have. Have you seen drivers stopped at the end of pit lane because the pit exit is closed, although the entry was open? I have. In fact, I have seen it all once again this weekend.

The easy thing for the FIA to do is to carbon copy most of the IRL or CART regulations for the safety car period. But no, they have to be the clever ones, they must innovate. So they create a different set of rules that never works and has to constantly be changed because it interferes negatively with the race results.

Why complicate what is simple? Here are some ideas for the FIA:

1. Clearly indicate when the pits are closed – both entry and exit – by having a steward signaling with a flag.

2. If the pit entry is open, so must be the pit exit.

3. Drivers who hold back other cars while following the safety car should be penalized, including during the pit entrance.

These ideas were all taken from the American race series. So was the idea to close the pits before everyone lines up behind the pace car, new to F1 until this year, but so old in other race series. Since F1 has only one pit stall for every two cars, they should also give more room between stalls so that an eventual waiting car does not block the team behind him. Something has to be done!

Canada’s quick notes

- McLaren is suddenly the fastest team. What is their secret? It seems like they are able to exit the slow corners better than Ferrari. At first this would probably seem like they have better torque and traction. However, that extra front wing element just above the car’s nose seems too flexible in my point of view. ‘Slow’ corners in F1 are still pretty fast to the point that aerodynamics still makes a difference. Having higher apex speeds due to the extra downforce generated by the wing element, while not having the drag as it bends on the straigthways certainly helps. The FIA cannot scrutinize every type of wing element – they are too different, so no standard test can be created. Therefore these kinds of wing elements should simply be banned.

- Robert Kubica had a tremendous crash after he hit the back of Jarno Trulli. It is good to know that he is alive and almost unhurt after this crash. And I am not exaggerating by saying ‘alive’. Fifteen years ago the same crash would be fatal. Nevertheless it was a reminder that F1 is a dangerous sport, even 25 years after we lost the great Gilles Villeneuve who gave his name to the circuit.

- Takuma Sato took advantage of the many safety cars and was able to finish 6th with his Super Aguri. He is still a very talented showman indeed, as he overtook the struggling Alonso on the outside, entering the last chicane.

- Alexander Wurz finished third, but that does not save his job at Williams for next year. He was so lucky that it is hard to believe it will happen again.

- Heikki Kovalainen was also lucky, but his 4th place finish counted more than Wurz 3rd. What was special about Heikki’s race is the fact that he bounced back from 2 crashes on Friday and Saturday and was still cool enough to keep his car on the track during Sunday.

- Toyota scored one point with Ralf Schumacher, after the dismal performance during Friday practice. Two suspensions were broken when Trulli rode the curbs like all the other cars.

Star of the race:

Lewis Hamilton.

Shame of the race:

Fernando Alonso. Yesterday it seemed like he was a different person in comparison to the Alonso who won my star of the race award two weeks ago.

--Andre N.

Monaco – Race Analysis

It is difficult to separate Monaco from Formula One history. The slow speed layout reduces the engine differences, the tight corners reduce aerodynamical deficits and drivers become more important. Some of the greatest F1 drivers have had memorable races in this race track. The first Monaco Grand Prix was actually in 1929, but for Formula One it all began with the yet to be 5-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio, who won in 1950.

Graham Hill was the original Mr. Monaco, with 5 wins in the 60’s. Michael Schumacher later matched the 5 wins, but when he did, Ayrton Senna had already won 6 times. It could have been 7 for Senna, had the 1984 race not been controversially stopped due to rain, when he drove a Toleman to 2nd – that would be equivalent to a Spyker winning the race today, for those who are not old enough to remember Senna’s greatness.

Where do I want to get with all this history and nothing about the 2007 Grand Prix? Well, the first statement is that it is not a coincidence that the winner was the current world champion, Fernando Alonso – actually, twice world champion and also twice a Monaco winner. The second statement is that the race itself had not much going on for me to write about, so I had to write about something else... Most seemed happy with the positions they held and even those who did not – such as Hamilton and Raikkonen – could not do anything to change the results as it is almost impossible to overtake in the tight street circuit. The rain that could spice up the race never showed up, so it was just another race, not a great race. Still, there are a few things that I wish to analyse with a little more detail...

Alonso proves that Hamilton is McLaren’s no. 2

Fernando Alonso can say whatever he wants, but I am certain that he was affected by Lewis Hamilton’s recent pace. The world press kept saying that his teammate was faster, and Alonso had not much to answer, as he was clearly slower in the past 2 races. Yesterday he showed the world who is the boss in McLaren.

Actually, it all started yesterday during qualifying. Lewis Hamilton seemed faster, but did not give enough distance to traffic before starting his last flying lap. That was a rookie mistake, as were the two or three times he brushed the wall during the race. In the post-race conference even Hamilton acknowledged that he was McLaren’s number 2 driver [1].

The way Hamilton drove during this weekend makes me feel like he is not that special after all. I mean, the guy is great, but he is human. He makes mistakes. He is young and eager to win, but does not know when to hold back. After the first races almost everyone seemed to have the feeling that Hamilton was better than any other rookies they had ever seen. Well, he is just lucky to have a great car. There are many other young drivers who could do the same good job in McLaren – Nelson Piquet Jr., for example. I am sure Heikki Kovalainen would not struggle so much if he drove for McLaren. Don’t get me wrong, Hamilton is great. He will fight for championships. Right now, though, he is McLaren’s number 2. The good thing for him is that he knows it.

Massa proves that Raikkonen is Ferrari’s no.2 – for now, at least

This is not yet clear as it is in McLaren, but I believe Ferrari also has defined its number 1 driver. Felipe Massa was expected to get the upper hand in the beginning of the season, but by now Kimi Raikkonen should be closer to him. This is not happening. Raikkonen’s mistake during Qualifying 2 is hard to be understood. Not much effort was needed to put the Ferrari in the top 10 for the final qualifying session. So why did Raikkonen hit the inside wall as he got out of the famous Swimming Pool section?

Since Kimi has the highest salary in Ferrari, I am sure that no decision was made by the team bosses. It is clear who the favourite among the mechanics is – Massa. His performance yesterday was nothing to write home about. But it was the smart thing to do, since the next two races – Canada and United States – should favour Ferrari. It is also nice to save the engine before the fast Montreal circuit. I am sure that Michael Schumacher gave Felipe a little helping hand in deciding this strategy!

Monaco’s quick notes

- Giancarlo Fisichella proved that experience is what counts in Monaco, as he finished 4th with the very hard to drive Renault R27.

- BMW finished a solid 5th and 6th, with Kubica and Heidfeld respectively. The one-pit-stop strategy paid-off, but I wonder if they could not finish better if they had lower fuel loads during qualifying. I guess they were expecting a safety car period that could make them win the race, but why try that with both cars?

- When everyone expected Nico Rosberg to score points for Williams after he qualified 5th, a poor start put him for many laps behind Heidfeld, who had a heavy load of fuel. That cost Nico his race, as he ended up in 12th place. At least that helped his teammate Alexander Wurz to score 2 points in 7th.

- Anthony Davidson held back Felipe Massa for many laps, and was penalised with a drive-through. Later on, he said that Massa was not close enough, so he did not open up for him to pass. This is pretty dumb thinking for a driver who is being lapped and has blue flags waived at him corner after corner. After the drive-through, he returned to the track behind teammate Takuma Sato and lost the only battle that could prove anything in his favour.

- Scott Speed started 18th and finished 9th. Besides great strategy by STR, this shows that Speed has taken seriously the rumours about him losing his ride for 2008. This was his best race ever. He still needs to improve if he wants to keep his job, though.

Star of the race:

Fernando Alonso. Hat-trick: pole, best lap, win.

Shame of the race:

Anthony Davidson. Kimi Raikkonen almost got this award after Saturday’s crash, but at least he saved 1 point.

References

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

--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.