Watch Your Back Kimi!
August 29, 2008
Luca Montezemolo has announced that Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikonnen will be Ferrari F1 drivers next year. This is the same guy that stated Michael Schumacher could drive for the Scuderia forever. Read more
Massa dominates Euro GP
August 26, 2008
I had a chance to catch up on my DirecTV playlist over the weekend, and watched an F1 race that featured a couple hours of boredom interrupted by moments of excitement and/or sheer terror. Felipe Massa and Ferrari won the race in dominating fashion, which helped to soothe some of the disappointment of a horrible day for Kimi Raikkonen. Raikkonen ran what seemed to be a loafing pace compared to Massa, but that may have been due to a lagging engine.
But that wasn’t the worst of it for Kimi. Near the end of the race, Raikkonen and Heikki Kovalainen pitted on the same lap within seconds of each other. And let’s just say that the race out of the pits was a little bit too exciting. Raikkonen got a little bit anxious and left his stall before the fuel hose was detached, causing a huge debacle. The launched car dragged the fuel hose through a group of crew members, knocked down the crew like a set of bowling pins, and causing one man to nearly get run over by Kimi’s right-rear tire. It was a frightening incident, and fortunately nobody was terribly hurt, and there was no fire. Reports I’ve found are that the injuries are limited to bruises, scrapes, and a broken toe.
Massa holds off Hamilton for Europe GP pole
August 23, 2008
The F1 circus turns toward the shores of Valencia this week for the Grand Prix of Europe. The street circuit in Valencia is a winding 3.4 mile course that highlights the beauty of this Old World city and it’s Mediterranean shore.
Today’s knock-out qualifying session had a few surprises at the tail end of the field, but the pole sitter is not surprising. Felipe Massa will start P1 for tomorrow’s race, but will have to fight Lewis Hamilton who starts from P2 for early control of the race. Massa was the class of the field, setting a torrid pace in the first few turns of the circuit that nobody, including Hamilton could compete with.
The first two rounds of qualifying were actually dominated by Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso machine. The German phenom was quickest going into the final round of qualifying, and ended up qualifying fifth, which is a fantastic result for Torro Rosso. Likewise fellow Torro Rosso teammate, Sebastian Bourdais, qualified 10th in a solid showing.
The back end of the field yielded some big suprises as Button, Coulthard, Fisichella, Barrichello, Sutil all were knocked out in the first round! And in a huge disappointment for the hometown fans, Fernando Alonso was knocked out in the second round of qualify, although he starts a respectable 12th.
Tomorrow’s race airs live on Speed TV at 7:30 AM ET.
Results for Qualifying:
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:38.176 | 1:37.859 | 1:38.989 | 19 |
| 2 | 22 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:38.464 | 1:37.954 | 1:39.199 | 15 |
| 3 | 4 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:38.347 | 1:38.050 | 1:39.392 | 18 |
| 4 | 1 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:38.703 | 1:38.229 | 1:39.488 | 21 |
| 5 | 23 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:38.656 | 1:38.120 | 1:39.937 | 18 |
| 6 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | STR-Ferrari | 1:38.141 | 1:37.842 | 1:40.142 | 19 |
| 7 | 11 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:37.948 | 1:37.928 | 1:40.309 | 21 |
| 8 | 3 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:38.738 | 1:37.859 | 1:40.631 | 19 |
| 9 | 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1:38.595 | 1:38.336 | 1:40.721 | 18 |
| 10 | 14 | Sebastien Bourdais | STR-Ferrari | 1:38.622 | 1:38.417 | 1:40.750 | 18 |
| 11 | 8 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 1:38.667 | 1:38.428 | 15 | |
| 12 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:38.268 | 1:38.435 | 12 | |
| 13 | 12 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 1:38.532 | 1:38.499 | 14 | |
| 14 | 10 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1:38.559 | 1:38.515 | 15 | |
| 15 | 6 | Nelsinho Piquet | Renault | 1:38.787 | 1:38.744 | 15 | |
| 16 | 16 | Jenson Button | Honda | 1:38.880 | 6 | ||
| 17 | 9 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault | 1:39.235 | 9 | ||
| 18 | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Ferrari | 1:39.268 | 10 | ||
| 19 | 17 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1:39.811 | 10 | ||
| 20 | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Ferrari | 1:39.943 | 9 |
Silverstone friday: Massa crashes, Ecclestone announces British GP moving to Donnington
July 4, 2008
Formula 1 returned to Silverstone this weekend for the British Grand Prix for the second to last GP to be held at the historic circuit. Bernie Ecclestone announced this weekend that the British GP will be moving to Donnington Park starting in 2010.
The loss of Silverstone is a great one for the history of the sport. Silverstone has been a part of Grand Prix racing since the late 1940’s and hosted the first Formula 1 World Championship GP in 1950.
Canadian GP: BMW Rules
June 8, 2008
I tuned into the Canadian GP this afternoon and a funny thing happened: An all out race……including (gasp) passing! Read more
Super Aguri Barred From Istanbul Paddock
May 4, 2008
Transporters for the Super Aguri F1 team were barred from entering the
The Mosley Spin Machine Begins To Whir
May 1, 2008
You didn’t think the
Barcelona: Ferrari Cruise to 1-2 Sweep
April 27, 2008
The Spanish Grand Prix was a convincing statement of which team gained the most from their car improvements over the last three weeks. No doubt, it was Honda and Red Bull! Read more
Ferrari Defend Mosley, Kind Of
April 22, 2008
Luca Montezemolo has issued forth with comments relative to Max Mosley’s “personal” predicament. That should give you a clue where he stands. Read more
Is There Life At Super Aguri After All?
April 22, 2008
With the entire team enroute to