Official Formula 1 thread

[Craig 6700]

http://www.sniffpetrol.com/2007/10/08/depr...ol-on-way-home/

 

[Ketsbaia 0]

http://www.sniffpetrol.com/2007/10/15/fern...onso-yesterday/

[sammynb 3507]

Everything seems to have gone quiet on the Prodrive front - I was expecting some reference to it when Dave Richards had his helicopter crash but there was nothing. I keep forgetting they're in from next year...

Their deal with McLaren has fallen through according to Autosport. Doesn't give them a lot of leeway to get something sorted for next year.

Seeing he fell out of the sky the same weekend as his friend died the same way, you might find Dave Richards is busy having a reality check.

[Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0]

Hamilton under investigation for wet weather tyre rule breach

 

 

By Jonathan Noble Friday, October 19th 2007, 15:56 GMT

 

World championship leader Lewis Hamilton is one of three drivers under investigation by the race stewards at the Brazilian Grand Prix for breaching the wet weather tyre rules.

 

McLaren's Hamilton, Honda's Jenson Button, and Super Aguri's Takuma Sato were deemed to have used two sets of wet weather tyres during the first free practice session at Interlagos, in breach of the Sporting Regulations.

 

Article 25.3 of the F1 Sporting Regulations states: "No driver may use more than one set of wet and one set of extreme weather tyres during P1 and P2."

 

The matter was brought to the race stewards' attention by FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer, and it is not clear at this stage whether or not the drivers involved will face any sanction.

 

All three drivers have been summoned to see the stewards individually following the end of the second practice session.

 

Dennis rues McLaren's 'silly mistake'

 

By Jonathan Noble and Biranit Goren Friday, October 19th 2007, 18:38 GMT

 

McLaren team chief Ron Dennis rued his team's 'silly mistake' in using a second set of wet weather tyres on Lewis Hamilton's car during Friday's first free practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

 

And despite admitting this has been a clear breach of the regulations, Dennis emphasized there was no advantage to be gained by that error and hoped Hamilton will not be penalised severely for his team's mistake.

 

Hamilton is currently under investigation by the race stewards at Interlagos, along with Honda's Jenson Button and Super Aguri's Takuma Sato, for breach of article 25.3 of the F1 Sporting Regulations.

 

The article states: "No driver may use more than one set of wet and one set of extreme weather tyres during P1 and P2."

 

And while Dennis fully conceded his team had breached the regulations, he said the mistake only happened on a single installation lap and gave Hamilton no benefit.

 

"It was 100 percent the team's mistake," Dennis said. "Lewis did an installation lap on one set of wet tyres, and we just put on another set. It was 100 percent our fault.

 

"He only did an in-and-out lap, so there was no advantage, but it was clearly a breach of the rules. Two other people made the same mistake, and it is up to the stewards to decide on the penalty.

 

"We are trying maybe too hard, and it was a silly mistake. We can do no more than our best, and we are really trying hard. People make mistakes. I am not trivializing it.

 

"It just perhaps shows we are all human. I don't think anyone will imagine there was any advantage there at all. There is a rule there, we broke it, and we just have to get on with it."

 

Dennis, whose team has been excluded last month from the 2007 constructors' championship, was also humorous about the situation, adding: "I just hope the stewards don't take the constructors' championship points away - oh, wait, they've already done that!"

[Sima 0]

Send Hamilton to the back of the grid tbh

[Ketsbaia 0]

Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying times:

 

1. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1 min 11.931 secs

2. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:12.082

3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:12.322

4. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 1:12.356

5. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull - Renault 1:12.928

6. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:13.081

7. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1:13.129

8. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:13.195

9. David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull - Renault 1:13.272

10. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams - Toyota 1:13.477

11. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1:12.932

12. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Renault 1:12.968

13. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 1:13.058

14. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 1:13.251

15. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Toyota 1:13.351

16. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1:13.469

17. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Renault 1:14.078

18. Takuma Sato (Japan) Super Aguri - Honda 1:14.098

19. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams - Toyota 1:14.417

20. Anthony Davidson (Britain) Super Aguri - Honda 1:14.596

21. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Spyker - Ferrari 1:15.217

22. Sakon Yamamoto (Japan) Spyker - Ferrari 1:15.487

[Meenzer 15716]

[Brock Manson 0]

Kimi!

[Jimbo 175]

What a great race, and what a fantastic season its been.

[luckyluke 2]

For pity's sake, is there ANY sport that we can win at?

[Toonraider 0]

Well I wanted Lewis to win but half suspected Kimi would get it, though I imagined that would happen by Lewis and Alonso taking each other off! At least Alonso didn't win.

 

I thought Lewis showed alittle immaturity at the start, he should have just tucked behind Alonso when he got past. Still, in the end it made no difference. I bet he is absolutely gutted. What McLaren need to do is get someone in to sort out their race strategies though, thats their main weakness, as demonstrated on too many occasions this year.

Edited October 21, 2007 by Toonraider

[Sima 0]

Kimi

 

Pure mongish commentary btw, Brundle praying for a crash, Allen expecting Alonso to move out of the way.

 

Alonso partying with Ferrari

Edited October 21, 2007 by Sima

[Jimbo 175]

Hamilton showed his inexperience at the start, but even so, had he not had that gearbox failure there is every chance he would have done it, he had a great race today coming back from 18th, and did some utterly phenominal moves making up the places, arguably more impressive than some of the processions we have witnessed when he has won.

[Toonraider 0]

Hamilton showed his inexperience at the start, but even so, had he not had that gearbox failure there is every chance he would have done it, he had a great race today coming back from 18th, and did some utterly phenominal moves making up the places, arguably more impressive than some of the processions we have witnessed when he has won.

 

Yeah, I'm sure he would have won it had it not been for the gearbox problem, but tbh, he should have had the title all sorted at the last race. Its really gutting, McLaren have no one to blame but themselves. Poor ole Ron looked shell shocked

 

I hope the two mechanics that got knocked over are ok

[Craig 6700]

LH had a hell of a season and despite not winning the title, he's done an awesome job.

 

Kimi won 2 more races than any other driver so by definition deserves the title. Hamilton made a mistake by panicking in turn 4 but that's not what cost him the title. A combination of the engine cutting out on him AND taking the ludicrous decision to pit 3 times did the damage.

 

The move he made on Barrichello was breath-taking. No way in hell did I think he'd make that stick.

 

Been a hell of a season and lets hope 2008 is just as exciting.

[Jimbo 175]

LH had a hell of a season and despite not winning the title, he's done an awesome job.

 

Kimi won 2 more races than any other driver so by definition deserves the title. Hamilton made a mistake by panicking in turn 4 but that's not what cost him the title. A combination of the engine cutting out on him AND taking the ludicrous decision to pit 3 times did the damage.

 

The move he made on Barrichello was breath-taking. No way in hell did I think he'd make that stick.

 

Been a hell of a season and lets hope 2008 is just as exciting.

 

 

Good point about the pitting strategy, that along with the tyre fuck up last time out, it almost seemed that Alonso and Hamilton were on different teams in terms of the fuck ups McClaren made with Hamilton rather than Alonso.

[Craig 6700]

Brundle hit the nail on the head when it suddenly dawned on him that they were bringing Lewis in for a 3rd stop. What the hell were they thinking because had it not been needed he'd have been ahead of Rosberg & Kubica at the end and therefore would be World Champion now.

 

Sima, I don't know what the fuck you're going on about but would you like to point out where Brundle was praying for a crash? He might have suggested that for Lewis to have a chance he'd need one of the people in front of him to drop out. To suggest that a ex-F1 driver would pray for a crash is ridiculous. You're an idiot at times...

[RlCO 0]

Fucking Kimi Raikonen, I fucking hate that boring cunt.

[Smooth Operator 10]

All is not lost lads, just been on the bbc news that BMW are being investigated for fuel irregularities in todays race and as they finished 5th and 6th means if they are disqualified Hamilton will move into 5th and therefore be crowned world champion!!!

 

Here's hoping! Don't know who'd be more pissed of Raikkonen or Alonso.

[Craig 6700]

 

Can they just not let this season go FFS! The stewards have fucked about enough as it is and it'd be a tarnished WDC if it was given to Hamilton now.

 

Oh and RICO on what grounds are you calling Raikkonen boring? He's the fucking wildchild of F1!

 

[Happy Face 29]

So has formula 1 now officially overtaken heavyweight boxing as the biggest laughing stock in world sport?

 

Investigations pending, here's your champion...

 

 

[Ketsbaia 0]

 

Fair play to him

[Sima 0]

Brundle hit the nail on the head when it suddenly dawned on him that they were bringing Lewis in for a 3rd stop. What the hell were they thinking because had it not been needed he'd have been ahead of Rosberg & Kubica at the end and therefore would be World Champion now.

 

Sima, I don't know what the fuck you're going on about but would you like to point out where Brundle was praying for a crash? He might have suggested that for Lewis to have a chance he'd need one of the people in front of him to drop out. To suggest that a ex-F1 driver would pray for a crash is ridiculous. You're an idiot at times...

 

Err, his constant mentioning of Rosberg and Kubica ahead of Hamilton.

 

If there was to be contact....If there was to be contact.

 

Basically willing it to happen.

[Ketsbaia 0]

The FIA has confirmed that the fuel temperatures of the BMW Sauber and Williams cars were outside the regulations during the course of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

 

As the race stewards continue to investigate the matter to decide on whether or not a punishment is necessary, a statement issued by technical delegate Jo Bauer revealed the extent of the temperature variation of the cars involved.

 

Article 6.5.5 of the Formula One technical regulations states: "No fuel on board the car may be more than ten degrees centigrade below ambient temperature."

 

The statement issued by Bauer showed that Heidfeld's fuel was 13 degrees centigrade lower than ambient at his first stop and 12 degrees centigrade lower at his second stop.

 

Robert Kubica's fuel varied by 14 degrees, 13 degrees and 13 degrees at his three stops; Nico Rosberg's fuel was 13 degrees and 12 degrees out at his two stops and Kazuki Nakajima's was 12 degrees out at his first stop. His second stop was inside the 10-degree limit.

 

Spyker technical chief Mike Gascoyne said he believed the variation would have provided a performance advantage.

 

"It can be five to ten horsepower easily," he told autosport.com. "The car is producing a performance advantage during the race. If they dump fuel in that is below the limit, it is an illegal performance advantage. They should be excluded from the event, there is absolutely no doubt."

 

The implications of a disqualification for the BMW and Williams drivers would be huge, as it could potentially move Lewis Hamilton up the order into fourth place.

 

In such a case, Hamilton would be crowned the world championship.

 

Mike Gascoyne trying to blag a job at McLaren? He's had one everywhere fucking else.

Edited October 21, 2007 by Skol

[Craig 6700]

Brundle hit the nail on the head when it suddenly dawned on him that they were bringing Lewis in for a 3rd stop. What the hell were they thinking because had it not been needed he'd have been ahead of Rosberg & Kubica at the end and therefore would be World Champion now.

 

Sima, I don't know what the fuck you're going on about but would you like to point out where Brundle was praying for a crash? He might have suggested that for Lewis to have a chance he'd need one of the people in front of him to drop out. To suggest that a ex-F1 driver would pray for a crash is ridiculous. You're an idiot at times...

 

Err, his constant mentioning of Rosberg and Kubica ahead of Hamilton.

 

If there was to be contact....If there was to be contact.

 

Basically willing it to happen.

 

Aye he mentioned that if one of them dropped out - no mention of contact.

 

Brundle's a bloke who sat behind the wheel of an F1 car for 12 years and so a number of his rivals killed in accidents (Bellof, De Angelis & Senna spring to mind), he would never will for an accident to occur - that's something that the JCL fans look out for...