Reflections on the British Grand Prix

Another extraordinary weekend in the business/political world/sport that is Formula One. Max and Bernie were going full pelt to set the pace in the early stages - new rules, a peace pact, Donington, you name it - then there was Lewis who seemed to be stuck in one groove when getting to only fourth in quali, only to stun us all in the race with an absolutely matchless performance.

There are always ifs and buts about any drive in Formula One as we have debated before here(especially after Lewis's win in Monaco). How much of it was the driver, the car, tactics, tyres, weather, luck, mistakes by other teams or other drivers? In this case I believe there are very few other explanations required. Lewis was in a class of his own and I would imagine that even his most fervent detractors must see that a guy who can drive like that in those conditions has got something extra.

I wrote about his determination to remain "cool, calm and collected" in the race in today's paper. My feeling however is that Lewis's biggest weakness might well be his unbridled competitiveness and his inability not to go "go for it" when he sees a chance. His start yesterday was full of risk which could have ended in tears again. Once through however he settled down, even if he kept his pace higher right to the end than his pitwall might have wanted.

It is this fighting quality which makes him so exciting to watch(Fernando is the same) but it also accounts for the "all or nothing" feel to his results this season which are in such contrast to last year. Is the consistent Lewis of the early part of 2007 the real Lewis or is the erratic Lewis of 2008 the genuine article? Time will tell one way or another. (Click on the image below for a year-on-year comparison). But it was a great race and fantastic to see a British driver put all his talent on show for a packed home crowd.

Having said all of the above, Lewis did not win the race on his own and McLaren and he were in perfect harmony at Silverstone on Sunday, getting all their calls right. By the way, Martin Whitmarsh admitted afterwards that they were amazed and delighted when they saw that Ferrari were not changing Kimi's tyres. They could hardly believe their luck. It's weird how Ferrari seem to make these sorts or errors. What they probably need is a stocky, rather pessimistic Englishman who is always(correctly) expecting the English summer weather to get worse; Ross Brawn would fit the bill perfectly.

Lewis is, at the moment, a better race driver than qualifier. Heikki out-did him on Saturday, albeit in a car which was two laps lighter and Felipe has "done" him in quali several times this season. But in the heat of battle Lewis leaves both of them in his wake. The old karting moves, the awareness of gaps opening up and the commitment to take them. All that sort of stuff which brings us back to that dangerously competitive streak. You can't have one without the other.

Anyway what of his rivals? Well Heikki has done his reputation no good this weekend. He had a great opportunity to carve his own name in glory but he faded again in the race in the same machinery as his team-mate. He looks less self-confident in the car, less committed and weaker competitively than Lewis. There is no official ranking order at McLaren but there can be few people following Formula One who do not believe, as I do, that Heikki is now the de facto number two as much by his own efforts as by the team's decisions.

As far as Ferrari goes, well it was a race they will definitely not want to dwell on for too long or they may seriously come to doubt themselves. We have already visited Kimi's tyre strategy error but what of Felipe? I got a far amount of ribbing in the press room as we watched the Brazilian spinning like a top on his way to finishing 13th at the end of one of the worst drives in recent Formula One history. Having talked him up, the "I told you so" brigade were making the most of it. Clearly Felipe is not a wet weather driver(odd, given that it rains a lot in Sao Paulo), something we saw last year when he looked hopeless at the Nurburgring with Fernando in his mirrors. On the other hand, he wasn't too bad at all at Monaco, it has to be said. But how relevant is this going to be? In the dry(normal) conditions in which Formula One is staged, Felipe is devastatingly quick in qualifying and he can get his car to the finish pretty well so he is still a proper candidate for world champion.

BMW are fading from the battle, unless they spring a technical surprise starting at Hockers. Mark Webber must have been furious with himself, spinning it early on having been left standing at the start. He drove well afterwards but it was a case of too little too late.

That's about it apart from the fauna. I read that some of you thought they were rabbits. They looked like hares to me...

The pic is another superb shot by Darren Heath which was taken from the footbridge which is quite a long way away from the podium down the straight. Darren has a new exhibition of his Formula One work which you can check out here.   

Comments

[El Ponso]

I couldn’t watch the race live as I had a lunch date and my hosts are into tennis, no F-1, so I had it recorded.
Anyway, as we were watching the Wimblendon final and enjoying the meal (sorry D, but I won’t extend on the menu, just to say that it was a delicious selection of seafood and an exquisite, properly chilled white wine) I couldn’t help my thoughts going to Silverstone and what the weather would be like (here is hot and sunny).
So as the final went for ages we kept disposing of several bottles of wine, then some port and finally brandy.
Now I know this is a F-1 blog but I think it would be unjust not to mention what a great final this has been. I can’t remember, not even those classic Connors/MacEnroe, a match like this one. It is on ocassions like this that one feels that’s not fair there should be a winner/loser and that the trophy could be just sawed in two halves. What two players!
And by the time it all finished and I finally got home it was almost midnight. But the wine, the port and the brandy had not diminished my thirst for more exciment and so I got down to watch the race. As I did avoid to know the result it felt like it was live. Little did I imagine what it had in store. What a race! The best of the season so far. Better than Monaco even, because here you are allowed to speed and overtake at several stretches.
Again an excellent race from Lewis in the rain. He had a lot of pressure on him and needed this win. I said after his Monaco GP that he showed a mental strength that was very telling and that the championship would probably be between him and Felipe. Now, after three more races, they are leading the table on equal points but Felipe is not showing the same confidence as he did then and Lewis had, in between, two races to forget. So in an unpredictable sport such as formula one and with the second half of the season yet to come it’s wiser not to say anything.
I would say one thing though for I think it's important. Would Lewis fail to win the WC this year, could be due to his rivals, that is, he would be beaten or rather he would lose it. Remember China last year?
What I try to say is that his willingness to win, to show his detractors that there cannot possibly be any doubt that he is the best might turn against him.
Was there any need yerterday to overlap those cars in the final laps? There were risks involved, like at any overtaking moves. He had over one minute on the second driver, Heidfield, and yet he went to overlap him. See what I mean?
A very good performance by Heidfield again. He also needed to maintain his momentum.
And what about Barrichello? Muito bom Rubinho! Well done. An intelligent strategy with three stops. He was on extreme wet tyres for some part of the race and it paid of.
Kimi did his best, same as Kova, but they were just not on the same level as Lewis.
Good races from Kubica and Webber, at least until they begun sliding on the grass. Like almost eveyone. When you think of this blokes racing each other on a swimming pool at over 100 mph well, hats off!
Felipe a nightmare and Fernando did well in spite of the tyres. He was one of the few that did not spin in the whole race. On the tyres issue he said after the race that they decided to keep the same set on the first stop (just like Kimi and many more) because the team thought there won’t be rain and a few minutes later it was pouring. That’s why Nelsinho changed his as he came in later.
Oh, for those who complaint about ITV’s commentators I would suggest that you tune in to Telecinco. What a headache! At least they have Pedro de la Rosa’s intelligent, knowledgeable, measured and objective comments, although somewhat a bit biased towards Lewis and Fernando. But it’s understandable, one is his working mate and the other one his ex-working mate. And what the heck, they are the best two drivers of the lot as someone here pointed out some time ago ( can’t remember Baena, Tim, IDR or Anon).
So, a hot and sunny Sunday, day of the Lord, a fine lunch, excellent drinks, good company, a great Wimblendon final and a British GP at it’s best.
Could anyone ask for more?

[A Parker]

It's not often I agree with one of your reports Ed, but I do today. At last (phew) you haven't put Lewis' stupendous drive down to luck or other teams' bad decisions. If Ross Brawn and Jackie Stewart can recognise brilliance when they see it (and they know a thing or two about F1 racing) then surely the anti-Hamilton, armchair experts, of which there is an overload on this site, should be able to recognise it too. Somehow I doubt they will.

[Derek Smith]

Ed,

It is nice to know that I wasn't the only person to suggest that Massa would go well at Silverstone, and not the only person to be the subject of some barbed comments. In my case they were drinking my beer which somehow makes it worse.

I agree with you on Lewis as to his competativeness but I don't see it as a weakness. It is a shame more drivers don't want to risk a few points for the top step of the podium. I agree it might cost him the occasion finish but, from a spectator's point of view, much better to go home from a memorable race where your team didn't win than from a race you can't really remember.

It was a cracker, wasn't it, even allowing for the shouts of, "Is that your bet for a podium?" five times during the race when Massa decided to make me look an idiot.

And the best bit is we're talking about the race and not Mosley's habits.

[Felipe]

El Ponso, well said. It was a great sporting Sunday...

[Felipe]

A. Parker get over yourself... let people have their own opinions even if they don't match yours... however stupid they might be.

[Anon]

A Parker, interesting how you and b Cave (you're really the same person right) disappear when things go wrong for Lewis and when they go right come back and say, "Oh, I knew they'd go right".

El Ponso, nice comment.

[LUCAS]

As one of Lewis's (anonymous) detractors, I have got to admit that he mastered the field yesterday. I think only Lewis and 'quick-again' Nick did not spin.

Still, I would like to have seen Barrichello, the real rain master, trashing him. He was taking few seconds per lap from Lewis when he had to pit again to put more fuel (thanks to Honda's errors in his previous pit-stop) and new tyres (stopped raining). Note that the decision to go for Extreme Wet Tyres was Barrichello's one, not Ross's - we might have done the same mistake were he in Ferrari.

Yes, Massa spun 5 times. They all did. Kimi did the same 2 or 3 times. Webber and Massa destroyed their races for spinning to early and Kubica and Piquet for doing the same in the wrong place. It is a matter of luck.

But Ed, do not get your hopes high... sooner or later the effects of a oppressed teenager controlled by an obsessive (and strange) father will appear and take off Lewis from his stelar path...

[Bog]

Sorry everybody for me coming back with the same question I already put in the other post, but weren't those weather condition for the race to be started under the safety car?

[A Parker]

Anon, I NEVER say "I knew they'd go right". I would never presume to say something so stupid. What I do say is it is futile to predict as if you really can tell what will happen in every race. That's pretty obvious, isn't it? I don't go on here a lot because I'm too busy, but I love to celebrate a Lewis win and congratulate him because it makes me so happy. Then I notice all the daft predictions from people who think they really know it all (as Big Ron says "armchair experts") and I find it so hilarious how WRONG they are, so have to comment.

All I have to say is I think Lewis is the best racer on the grid, and the most exciting to watch and the nicest guy. Sorry if that offends you, but it's my opinion. I have no idea if he will win the championship, so there's no point predicting it. I just hope he does. I wish you wouldn't misinterpret and misquote what I write. I'm glad you have the time to loiter on here day after day. Some of us don't, but feel compelled to when Lewey gets a great result.

[Felipe]

BOG, I don't think so. There was hardly any rain when the race started, and proof of it is the way there were hardly any accidents at the start of the race. Or no more accidents than on a normal race...

Lucas, I don't think Alonso span... but I'm not quite sure...

[A Prost]

Let's reflect on what happened, shall we?

1. Lewis did a fantastic race – no doubt about it. He won clear and by a mile. But please, let's also put things in context and analyse them properly. You brits get too excited when things go well and suddenly drop your excitement when things go wrong. I am trying to say that Lewis’s victory needs to be seen not only in the context of what he did but also under the circumstances in which he did it.

2. Circumstances: fatal error from Ferrari. Not changing tyres on first pit stop was decisive (but also Ferrari not reacting promptly and bringing Kimi quickly back again into pits). Some heads should roll. How many seconds did Kimi lost in just a few laps? More than a minute!

3. I know, I know, errors do happen. But this time was Ferrari’s error (maybe in Germany will see a McLaren error and Kimi overlapping Lewis). And this, my dearest friends, is the reason for the big show we saw last Sunday. What would have happened if Ferrari had changed Kimi's tyres? I am pretty sure the outcome of the race would have been very different. A Kimi’s victory? I certainly think so. And forget about the subsequent driving mistakes done by Kimi. Those happened in his role as chasing better positioned drivers.

4. What I am trying to say is that Lewis’s victory was not entirely up to driver’s ability but most importantly up to Team tactics and “savoir faire”. And last Sunday’s “savoir faire” was in McLaren garage. So, don’t try to sell to the general public how wonderful Lewis Hamilton is. Maybe in two weeks time he is back to what he did in the previous two races. And then you have to rethink your arguments again.

[Bruce Talamon]

Ed,

Maybe young Lewis is "channeling" Sir Stirling Moss, circa 1955 for new inspiration. I remember reading reports of daring driving and lap records continuing to fall even though there was no way that Moss was going to win or place. I almost think that the phrase "all or nothing at all" was the Moss password. And of course, when he did win, it was magnificent. That made for some classic drives

That Lewis Hamilton has that same combination of charm and "all or nothing" drive, signals that we are in for some new "classic drives".

Cheers,

Bruce Talamon
Los Angeles, California

[CHIUNDA]

A Parker set the trap "Somehow I doubt they will." and Anon and Felipe walked right into it - pliiiizzz!

El Ponso what is the likelihood that you were still under the influence when u wrote your post - u sound too mellow. "hey are the best two drivers of the lot " - u r starting to scare me. Hope you get round to normal soon.

"We will (manage it) if we don't carry on doing stupid things." -with this kind of fuming from Montezemolo i am starting to believe those who expect Kubica and Alonso at Ferrari next year. Though if Alonso were to beat Lewis in a Ferrari we would know it was the car and not the driver wouldn't we?

[CHIUNDA]

A Prost "What would have happened if Ferrari had changed Kimi's tyres?" - why is it so hard for people to accept reality? Ok so lets extend this what-if scenarios since some seem to enjoy make believe situations - what if Lewis had not run into Kimi in Canada and as a result not got the penalities in Magny Cours - may be he would be leading the Championship by ten points?

Or maybe what if Kimi's broken exhaust in Magny Cours had set the car on fire, or if the marshalls had black flagged him. Or what if Lewis had not run into the gravel trap at China last year - i hope you get how hopeless it is to live in this what-if scenarios.

The result that matters is the one that actually happened - what if scenarios referring to past events probably exist in parallel universes but unfortunately the human race does not yet possess the science to experience them - so in the meantime as the lab rats go about their business of trying to master quantum physics, lets stick to reality.

[El Ponso]

Hi Chiunda,
I wish I could send you a couple of bottles of that wine, I can assure you would probably think that Fernando is a great driver too.
But as I can't, at least at the moment, lets just hope that maybe one day we could meet. Life is as unpredictable as a F-1 race.
Now, you never heard me say that Lewis is a bad driver. Why? Because he's not.
My comments, sometimes not too kind, must be seen/read in the context of the thread. If this is about mismanagement, erratic decisions/behaviour, then is not about driving, isn't?
And anyway, there's already a lot of aggro going on to add more, don't you agree?
I also feel surprised sometimes when I read that Alonso is crap, but then I realize that fans are like that.
L'pool/Manure, Barca/Real, etc.
We are a hopeless lot mate!
Incidentally, wouldn't you love to see Fernando driving a proper car and him and Lewis battling on the track?
I personally think it's something we are all missing. It would be a classic man!
Regards.

[McLaren the fairest team in F1 ever]

Any true F1 fan who witnessed Lewis Hamilton's drive on Sunday will remember it for as long as they follow F1.
The similarities with Senna's history making drive at Donington are remarkable and for all those Hamilton knockers out there - knickers (and in Spanish - knickers).
Hamilton IS the new Rainmaster and he's English, great :-))))

[colin grayson]

a prost ....if ferrari thought kimi was faster than lewis they would have used the same tyre strategy as him ; he wasn't , so they didn't ;didn't you notice that when both were on new inters lewis flew away from kimi ? love the remark that kimi's subsequent errors were to be forgotten as he had to chase ..of course when lewis does the same it is because he is an accident prone driver ; surely you can have just a soupcon of impartiality

lucas .... rubinho and button had the only 2 cars optimised for full wets [ and on full wets ]...that's the team principal's decision , not the driver's ; if the car is set up like that in pouring rain it is MILES faster than anything else with full wets on a car not optimised for them ; some guy called brown or something calls the shots ; as opposed to ferrari and renault his gamble worked ...but he would probably tell you it was a no brainer , he had nothing to lose [ unlike ferrari ] , ..maybe creeping into the points if lucky, no more

[A Prost]

@Chiunda and Colin:
You seem to miss my point. I am not taking anything away from Lewis Hamilton. All I am trying to say is that you brits seem to overrate Lewis when he does well and bury him when he doesn't. The fact is that he drove very well indeed but do not believe for a second that he is the best driver ever, the new Senna, the new rainmaster and so on... Do you think that he is better than Schumacher, or Alonso, or Kimi?

The reason why Kimi kept his used tires was because Ferrari played with erroneus weather information and they thought no more rain was coming. That would have given Kimi and advantage of 0.5 seconds per lap (at least) over Lewis (as he changed tires). Unfortunately for Kimi, more rain came and that was the end of his race. It was not that Lewis started to drive like a God and Kimi like a rabbit - it was a Team's unfortunate decision. McLaren will make mistakes as well, be sure of that.

And Colin, at the end of first stint, just before first pit stop, Kimi took 4.5 seconds off Lewis in 6 laps. Lewis did not fly away from Kimi until after first pitstop when Lewis had new tires and Kimi kept the old ones. Then, when Kimi changed to new tires it was too late. It's not the same to drive from first position that in the middle of the pack - you should know that. I do. For example, what happened in Nurburing last year? Both Alonso and Massa overlapped Lewis...Does that mean that Massa (or Alonso) are better drivers than Lewis? Definitely not. At least Massa is not.Alonso, maybe. LOL

[Anon]

Okay A Parker, fair enough. Just checking. ;)

[LUCAS]

@COLIN GRAYSON (using this strange @ terminology)

Bourday had full wets as well and did nothing. Button, the previous-and-already-forgotten British 'rain master' CRASHED with Extreme Wets.

Barrichello called the pits using the radio and asked for Extreme Wet Tyre, it was his call, not the team principal's (who respected it, of course).

I do not know if full wets require a specific setup. We don't know if Honda did a specific setup, if they did, it was not written anywhere.

[Jordi]

Personally I have no doubts that Monaco win had much more merit than Silverstone, with the safetycars (somehow missing from silverstone) the victory in Monaco was very impresive.

But I think Ham has the right to pick and choose whatever win he thinks is his best ever, ever win, ever.

Ed said "Lewis did not win the race on his own and McLaren and he were in perfect harmony at Silverstone" We should add Heikki allowing LH to fly pass.

But my biggest disappointment was when I woke up Monday and read the papers, what did I see? A Spaniard in every single front page! Poor Ham, what do you have to do to get a bit more attention, hey? Play tennis perhaps?

[Stelmara]

Ed
The motor racing boss Max Mosley admitted a secret 45-year history of sadomasochism in court yesterday.

So it wasn't the first time he used prostitutes it's been going on for 45 years.

Just wondering if he ever would have been elected if his use of prostitutes were known?

Stella

Money talks doesn't it?

[F1-Insider]

Jordi
What is your problem man? Why the petty negatives towards Hami? Does this make you feel big or something?

Hikee did not let Hami through, maybe you did not see his interview.

The slight you make about safety cars is another sign of your weird logic, at what point was a safety car required? In my view the current safety car rules are a nonsense as it presents well beaten drivers the opportunity of winning and that's wrong.

McLaren the fairest team in F1 ever

Sennaesk it most certainly was (did down all the Hami haters know it).

[F1-Insider]

F1 boss Max Mosley: 'My life of kinky sex is private.. even from my wife of 48 years' is the Headline in the Daily Mail today 8 July 08.

What does that say about the president of the FIA and can we begin to imagine how many people knew of this?

Only in today's F1 could this happen, just unbelievable, whatever happened to human standards?

Many have said, lets move on etc but who the heck is not going to remember this, can you imagine how the top bosses at the leading sponsors are reading and following all this?

[Anon]

F-1 Insider- think you made this funny mistake a few times: it's Heikki, Hikee. (thank God, Hikee, now that's a name).

Or is Hikee a nickname?

[David Hodge]

Just got back from some very long flights for work and so I watched the race yesterday evening - and I managed to avoid all news reports so I could watch it "live".

What a race! Finally, our heroes driving rocket ships on the swimming pool. For me Lewis was in a class of his own and maybe he had the perfect setup or whatever, but he was simply perfect. Then there were some other fantastic drives - Fernando, no mistakes. Rubens, tactical skills. Nick, quiet but big points - his usual position. In fact, they were all good. I don't like driving on the motorway in the rain and my speed is slow compared to them.

I like this new F1 format. All the politics (Donington, etc) on Friday then the weekend just for the racing. Now we have the adventures of Spanker Mosley which I hope is gone before Hockenheim. I still think he should resign...

Last but not least, a big cheer for David Coulthard. I hope I hear his thoughts on the BBC next year.

P.S. Great post El Ponso - maybe we should organise a blog meeting - you choose the restaurant...

[john o'doe]

Thought you might like to see this shot from another crap photographer
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3010/2616257520_d289789699_o.jpg

[KoJ Finland]

Hello
I have just been reading http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3265_3786654,00.html which is an excellent article.
The point about Heikki is sadly (very sadly) true. He's no Kimi or Mika and far more like Salo. There is no doubting he can produce great speed but both Hamilton and Kimi really showed him the way on Sunday. If he does exit McLaren at the end of the year where will he end up, back at Renault maybe if Alonso moves which seems ever likely?
Well at least I hope the Spanish readers will take note and see that we Finns see what is what and see the flaws in our drivers when they have them. It's a shame Kimi isn't always awake and Alonso has a really big dark side to him as if they were on form all the time like Hamilton is at the moment it would be better for all F1 fans.

[Carleton Twitchell]

A good read..thanks Ed!I was perplexed ,as were the Speed channel comentati ,about the tyre-changing hiatus at McLaren..when everyone else was spinning and aquaplaning it looked like they,the team,were going to drop the ball...it seemed inevitable that LH would spin/crash/bog-down etc but no ,he didnt...he ,in fact , saved the team from a big No-No by a driving tour-de-force!It was mesmerising to watch...such magic in front of so many dazed spectators.
For me the tantalising performance was the record-holder himself..Ruben Barrichello.His change to wets catapulted his Honda from teens to 3rd..nearly catching Heidfeld ,now 5th in the champeenship and 10 pts behind the Pole.
A quick run through the standings is intriguing to say the least...can this be -sort-of-stuff?...to wit:-Trulli & Webber ahead of Alonso(13pts).Massa sharing the lead 48 pt slot with his team-mate and LH (team orders at Ferrari surely on the cards?):The team that wins in the end will be the team with the most synergy ( sorry Toyota Hybrids!):Kubica (my pick to sew it up!) lurking on 46pts still definitely behind the 8-ball.I look at photos of him and he actually reminds me of those great prewar races .Who though? Must study some archives ...Rosemeyer,Seaman,Nuvolari?
Back to the points ...Kovaleinen with HALF the pts of the dominant McLaren driver...this is where his support of his 'team-leader' (,just like DC and his support of Mika-gifting several races without team orders!!)..will really pay off and
will tell on the final result.Heikki can help LH from the front or from behind (sorry Max!:).He can race for himself and they'll lose the Big One...Drivers and Constructors.
Ferrari,in contrast, have ,perplexingly (their dilemna not ours!)..two drivers with different skill sets ;(one of whom has mooted retirement even now )on the same 48pts.So who gets the support?...its never gonna happen...dog eat dog.Hence I cant see the Prancing Horse winning the Big One's but BMW just might sneak in there ,like a jackal ,and steal the prizes from the Big Names.
OK so what did Sir Jackie say to Bernie 'The Guv'? The car engines were whining ,the ear defenders came off for the 10 second chat..bet it was about BRDCs Silverstone and Donington along these lines :)-
Sir J "We're Marooooooooned!"
Bernie"Lends yer Barbour McTavish!or I will head to Tom Territory! Away the bloomin' Nooh!"
The constructors ...Ferrari 14 pts ahead of Bimmer ...methinks the German GP will be their Big Push or Grossen Putschen.A new engine, new aeros,driver comforts ( I-control:)..fresh air,Liszt on the headphones,promises of Bratwurst and Sauerkraut washed down with gallons of Liebfrau..mmmm.
But then melooks...McLaren 24 pts adrift in third place.
So this is how it goes ...Ferrari get the Constructors,Todt gets the FIA (after all the unravelable revamp?),Bimmer or McLaren get the Drivers ?What? No? Louder...

Wouldnt it be great if next year Ron entered Lewis in the Indy 500 and the Le Mans 24hrs all in 09! In McLarens ...an F1 LM version and
this F1 chassis with the axles tweaked (like Colin did to Jims Lotus ?)..and the correct nitro-crack'd engine ? Now that would be a great way to end the debate... the elusive Triple. By the way did you notice Jaques V.? He nearly pulled it off .. better luck next year ... cut down on the pierogies what?
A last but not least ..what a spunky drive Nakajima had ...passing some big names ...guess they got "Naka-d"!

ps.Toodlepip,fol de rol,congratz agin to Lew...the difference this year in my opine is the lack of his Mums cooking and the balancing of the demands of his new "Diana-like' life and staying focussed on the 8-BALL!
pps.. One more note ..I was surprised and dismayed to read that a driver had bet on another and profited out of it ...surely the FIA must rule on this before races get 'thrown'..or is it another practice thats "OK" now??Doesnt go down too well in soccer....

[KoJ Finland]

Quote from the Mosley case, “But we are the Aryan race, the blondes.”
So now we know.

Ed, not sure if this should go in a new thread

[Gerry]

When a driver makes the rest of the field look second rate by his outstanding ability’s it's usually in a lower class of motor sport and that driver is tipped for the top. It's very rare that a driver does this in F1 but do it Lewis did!

[F1-Insider]

Ed,

So Max Mosley says in court;

Under cross-examination, he said: “I don’t believe anyone who was a sensible modern adult would honestly believe these activities to be sick.”

Well, I consider myself to be a normal sensible and modern adult and I honesty believe them to be sick as I am certain many others will think the same.

Now who is judging who?

I think a separate section would be good to run alongside the trial would be good.

It would be nice for this to be posted as I am absolutely certain many many others will feel the same.

[F1-Insider]

Anon

No mistake, just nthe way I choose to shorten his name like Hami, Kubi, Hikee :-)

[javiervivaespania]

I am so happy. Ferrari will bring Magic to his team next season to replace Massa. Raikonnen might go as well. Ok, he is the champion now but only because Dennis made it possible by stopping our Champion last season. The best thing is that they will have to pay so much money to Alonso that this will be a revolution in Formula 1. And they longer they wait, the more expensive it will be, and the worse Massa's performance will be. Ha, ha, ha!!!

[Delboy]

Reading all this Maxi stuff is all very interesting. The only thing I ask for is that they get to the 'bottom' of it all quickly so I can sell a few more dodgy wheels and some of those radio thing.
The reason for Massa's cock-ups during the race was because Trotters were called in to give it the once over and Plonker Rodney (or as Trigger calls him, Dave got the settings all wrong!!

[McCheets]

F1-INSIDER

You recently, and incorrectly, claimed that I was discussing a totally irrelevant matter in a thread.

Now look at what you are doing! Ed has written a blog on the Mosley case, perhaps you should practise what you preach and post any related comments there.

[Felipe]

Chiunda, I don't know why I bother to answer your post... but I congratulated Hamilton (not personally) for an excellent win, and tipped him to do very well before the race... but I just don't like when people are so narrow minded, and intolerant. And then complain about other people's intolerance!!! It's just pure hipocrisy.

I'm not Anon's defender, but I reckon that he's reacting a bit to other people's comments. He's been on this blog from the beginning and has been mostly very balanced. But you push someone enough and he'll bite back. Anon, I hope you don't mind...

[colin grayson]

lucas , as you clearly are a tyro regards motor racing technology I will attempt to explain so you will know in the future ; ALL tyres demand a specific set up for optimum performance ; you don't think ford put a set of tyres on your fiesta without hundreds of hours of testing and adjustments of the suspension , do you? ; normally this means a compromise between the best settings for the tyres you expect to use

if bourdais did NOT have a car set up for full wets it is probable that they wouldn't help him to any discernable amount ; with a more normal set up worse conditions than yesterday would have been needed for a big advantage
what is the connection between button crashing and the performance of his car on full wets ?

brawn's choice of full wet set up not written anywhere ? you don't think ross' post race statement to the press that...
we were aware that rain was forecast for today, and we had compromised our qualifying settings yesterday to be better prepared for the wet conditions , a decision which fully paid off

covers that ?

so instructions to reubens ....tell us when it is wet enough to get full wets on ...and he obviously said it was

at a guess brawn's settings decision was a compromise between full wets and inter ...but don't bother to ask him , he won't tell ! made the car pretty hopeless on dry's , obviously

what honda mistake in the pits ? the fuel rig went wrong ; gosh , that never happened to anyone else before , did it [ sorry , irony , slap wrist from derek after my previous comments]

a prost ; for once I agree with a comment you make , the fact that lewis wiped the floor with them wasn't JUST his ability , yes , he was easily the best driver in the conditions , but not by that much

el ponso [ I think ] well I for one don't think alonso is crap , and I don't notice other people here seem to think so either ..he gets lots of comments on his ability , didn't many of the british help rate him the best current driver ?
what I sense the feeling is here is that people think that he is not as good as HE thinks he is , and certainly not as good as the spanish contributors SAY he is

I read a lot here which makes me smile because it demonstrates a lack of technical knowledge ...no shame in that , people are fans , not engineers in this field

so just for once I will give my analysis as to why a lot of the criticism levelled at the teams and drivers is unjust ...especially as they cannot explain what happened without giving away their strategies

from my perspective a lot of things were down to events before qualifying ...decisions on set up

don't get the idea that the cars can't be fitted with a tyre for which they are not optimised ...they can ...by definition they just don't perform as well

ferrari

kimi dry/inter compromise
felipe dry

ML

heikki dry/inter compromise
lewis inter

honda

reubens inter/wet compromise
jensen inter/wet compromise

now view the driving performances and team decisions bearing my prognosis in mind

Q3
great laps from heikki and webber [ albeit on lower fuel ] , lewis struggling a bit on a less good set up ; kimi usual goodish performance on similar set up, felipe mechanical problem

race

lewis flies off line with best set up , heikki and kimi struggle , heikki fends off lewis for a bit [ should have let lewis through immediately in my view as his car was clearly faster ]
lewis pulls away rapidly until it starts to dry when kimis car has the better set up , lewis' tyres obviously abrade more , kimi starts to catch up
first pit stop ; brief rain forecast , new inters for lewis [ no brainer for lewis with his set up ] ; ferrari can see that with their set up only hope for a kimi win is that it is briefly wet , then dries , hence stick to existing tyres as best bet

honda

basic strategy , pray for heavy rain. if they had really been lucky [ steady rain all day ] they could have had a 1-2 finish !! of course it didn't rain hard all day , a fuel rig broke but as reubens had to come in again for the wets it didn't cost him so much as you would expect ; what button thought sitting waiting in the pits is certainly unprintable

so if what I judge to be correct set up wise was the reality , what does it say about those teams and drivers

honda

as a back runner brawn could see his best chance of a result in the rain ..jumped at it , and reubens delivered ;10 out of 10 for their strategy correct for their cars ; RACE 10 for reubens [ did the best with what he had ] 5 for jensen [ could be either unfair OR charitable , didn't see enough ]

ML , had cars on different set ups to hedge bets for race; strategy ....heikki on pole [ best set up for the conditions of Q lighter on fuel, lewis 2nd , but too ambitious by him so 4th
RACE lewis best driver , best strategy for a ML ; as he was so much faster than heikki [ superior driver AND set up ] team should have ordered that he was let through immediately ; heikki disappointing , clearly didn't have setup to beat lewis [ or possibly kimi ] , but really should have been on podium

ferrari , cars on different set ups to hedge bets for race ...aim for Q3 massa on pole , kimi 2 ; stellar laps by heikki and webber [ both on lighter fuel ] put kimi 3rd , massa stuck in pits

RACE kimi did well with his setup couldn't live with lewis until it got drier , race ruined when team decide not to settle for a podium at 1st stop ..thereafter not perfect but fought back to 4th and exploited others errors
massa ? driving around all day in inters on a dry setup he must have thought he had died and gone to hell
strategy 5 out of 10 , set up wrong which encouraged the losing gamble on kimi at stop 1 ; dry set up for massa wildly optimistic at silverstone ; kimi 8 , massa 8 ......anyone else would have pulled off long before 5 spins ...another team error , should have pulled him in and told him there was something wrong with the car ; what was the point in destroying his morale ; he knows it wasn't all his fault , but it is hard to say nothing when everyone is calling you an idiot

ed will be happy to know that I will be busy tomorrow and will stop using up his allocation of space

[LUCAS]

@COLIN

Thanks Colin, now you extended your comment I get the picture. I was wondering just about this during the race, as much as Lewis is good in the rain, his McLaren seemed to perform much better than the other cars. I thought I was all Lewis because Heikki was a shame.

Same for Massa, he could not go from his drive in Monaco to this pathetic performance all because his driving skills... something was wrong in the car.

I only expected that people like James Allen or Ted Kravitz to put this on the table. Without a in-deep journalism it is impossible for us to grab glimpses of this technical side of F1.

[Weasel]

What would this blog be without Stella, self appointed guardian of public morals, to take the subject of this blog off topic (yet again) and get back to where her apparent focus lies - the dirt on Mosley? I guess that having a thread on this specific subject posted elsewhere does not deter her from availing herself of taking every opportunity to derail any thread she can find. F1 Insider should know better too.

Stella and F1 Insider this thread is about R-A-C-I-N-G. Please keep it there.

[Stelmara]

Weasel
Sorry to tell you but your constant wooing of me is never going to work, get over it!
Holland might be better for you.

Stella
You obviously find women threatening, would you like to share you troubles?

[colin grayson]

quick reminder to me of why I am a kimi fan ....didn't whine like you know who through all his ill luck and problems at ML ...no one was more delighted than me when he won the championship , had to get his bit of luck SOMETIME [ and lewis' day will come , which is why there isn't a team in F1 who wouldn't give their eye teeth to have him ]

when asked to criticise the way his team let him down on sunday he is reported to have said

we win together , and we lose together

they don't criticise me , and I don't criticise them

for their sake , I hope ferrari can keep him racing ...for my sake too

[Vincent]

@ Colin

Why it is imposible to change your set up in order to maximize your race posibilities if you have used a different set up in the qualifying?

I don't undestand this point. As a F1 team you could not prepare two different settings to avoid weather problems and improve strategies?

For example preparing a dry-standart setting (low temperature dry-standart setting) in the first trainning sessions, and inter-wet settings in another momment of the training sessions. You save all the settings and, at least, you can use them if you see that your predictions are wrong for the day after.

Why F1 teams don't do that? Are they subjected to hard setting regulations? It's too difficult to change your settings? Why?

[supercampeaobrasileiro]

you have to laugh at ITV commentators- massa only did one flying lap in quali and none of them noticed that he was not on the track! They said that massa had had a poor quali 3..before being corrected that he had a wheel nut problem! Amazing that they did not notice that he was hardly on the track in Q3!!
As for the race, a good race from ham, and error free for a nice change. I do not agree that he is generally leaving his rivals in his wake during the races - what success he has had has come from racing, not qualifying, but by no means have all his races over the course of this year been successful. I hope lewis can however now stop silly mistakes and get back to racing consistently.

As for massa, the car (which was rebuilt after hitting oil etc) set up was a woeful gamble by ferrari hoping for dry weathe and speed from the back of the grid - he could not even go straight using the throttle very lightly...not a fine drive by massa but after showing that he can drive in wet in monaco it is clear that scuderia made a fine mess of his and kimi's race. Yes, what did they think they were doing with Kimi's tyres?? Kimi's car also looked a handful with his car going off road a few times as well...a bad race for ferrari

[colin grayson]

quite simple vincent ..once cars have left their garage for first practise they are regarded as being in parc ferme , ie is no work to be done on them whatsoever

I guess the rule is to cut costs , previously teams with lots of money and mechanics could just about rebuild the cars before the race

at the end of practise they physically DO enter parc ferme ; there are special rules for certain circumstances , accidents , publicity shows , things like that

the top ten cars , of course , cannot even put in a litre of petrol!!if any car has to start from the pits they are allowed to fuel AFTER the race has started which , if memory serves , means all cars have to have passed the start line , or maybe the pit exit !

am sure there is someone here more up to date with the regs than me , but that is the broad picture

[Vincent]

@ Colin

Ok, I've understood more or less the broad picture of that. It's quite previsible in some way...

But even if the restrictions are strong... there's no way to readjust the car in the very momments before the race starts? It's so frustrating.

The last question is... top 10 cars are even more restricted than the others (without counting fuel restrictions) ?

If there are differences in the parc ferme between top ten cars and the others, sometimes being in the top 10 grid in unstable weather circumstances is worse than being 11th.

[guishe]

Great race from Lewis. Unbeteable.
Congratulations from Spain.

Nothing to say

regards

[ELCROWLEY]

My reflection: Ham won thanks to the right strategy, not for his hability on wet conditions.

Anyway, I don't see Ham fighting or doing tough overtakings with direct rivals.

Alonso did more overtakings on just one lap (Hungary 2006) that Ham probably do on his whole career.

And Ham doesnt have brain for racing. Just look last laps doing fasts laps FOR NOTHING, do a mistake and ruin the race. Also he probably disturbed Kova on his attack to Kimi and Alonso.

[ELCROWLEY]

Ham the masterrain?
Oh my god...

Fuji 07. He won thanks to start on pole. o exciting driving. No masterclass. No spray in front. Just luck to do the pole.

China 07. Well......

Monaco 08. He won thanks to wrong Massa strategy.

UK 08. He won thanks to Ferrari's wrong stategy with Kimi.

Masterclass on rain is Alonso in Hungary06. Starting from 15th position to 1st position in just a few laps. All drivers with same tyres. All drivers with same conditions. Not good or bad strategies. Just brain and ability to drive. That's raining masterclass.

Ham raining masterclass?
Please let have a heart attache.

[SuperJohnnyHerbert]

If anyone doubted the rubbishness of the Spanish press and how much it hates Hamilton. Carlos Miguel of AS says on his blog:

"The car may be less important in the wet but I'd love to have seen the 'English Senna' in an R28. He wouldn't have finished the race."

Poor Carlos. Not a bone of objectivity in his body. Have a word with him Ed and tell him he's a bitter old no-nothing.

[gfehr]

Would just like to throw in that Trulli went from 14th to 7th at the start, and ended up there after passing Nakajima in the last lap. A very good driver is Trulli, when he is onto it which is most of the time. The cream generally rose to the top in this one, even in crap machinery.

Second unrelated point: what was the deal between El Macho-Finn Raikkonen and Paul-Henri Cahier the photog for grandprix.com? Having watched the vid a few times I can only conclude that El Macho-Finn:

a) makes Alonso (nevermind glad-laddie Hamilton) look overwhelmingly mature; and,

b) needs a (suitably submissive) girlfriend real, real bad.

Can a career "in retirement" as a reindeer steakhouse entrepeneur be far behind?

[colin grayson]

vincent , the tyre is a large part of the suspension of one of these cars ...set up isn't just turning a few knobs ; changing all the components maybe ?
I am no longer privy to what goes on , so cannot tell you exactly what is the current methodology

and to those who say hamilton has weaknesses in his driving , I agree , but I have seen the same weakness [ wanting to win every race ] in other drivers in the past

drivers like senna , clark , moss , schumacher ...if there hadn't been drivers like that I wouldn't be a F1 fan personally ; without these people it would be just a business ,or out of business even

[Anon]

Were is the video of that Gfehr? Must be fun to watch.

[Penske666]

DONT KNOW IF ANYONES NOTICED BUT YOUR GRAPH IS WRONG FOR MONACO AND CANADA FOR 2008

MON: 1st
Can: DNF

[CHIUNDA]

Penske666 - Look at the bottom of the chart

[gfehr]

anon: youtube "raikkonen" and "cahier" and that should get you a couple of examples. My fave is the one entitled "Borat meets Kimi".

There is also a shot at grandprix.com (if links are permitted, here is is: http://www.grandprix.com/jpeg/phc/pbri08/sun/raikkonen1-lg.jpg)
that must have been taken an instant before the TKO. Not a happy reindeer, is young Kimi.

[Kohque]

@SUPERJOHNNYHERBET,

I can't be bother participating in his blogs. He is better suited to write for magazines like "Hello!".

I going to add some other great moments from Carlos Miquel http://blogs.as.com/carlos_miquel/

"McLaren's rival say that a [better] knowledge of the ECU, which they themselves developed, allow them to reach a bit further up in their meteoric starts and [achieve better] control if they lose traction (very important in water). That would explain the differences in wet with the Ferraris, much wider than it would be between drivers".

"The Hamilton Grand Prix was excellent, with the best car and the best decisions, but he [Hamilton] also went to the grass..."

"All the English newspapers portrait Hamilton as the new Senna. He wished! The best pilot in the track was Alonso, who didn't make any error and..."

"What I liked most from the winner, Hamilton, was his attitude at the start of the grand prix. Last year, before the start of a race in the wet, he would watch Fernando Alonso's performance in Hungaroring 2006... Ron Dennis' pupil copied the fierce start of Fernando Alonso in Budapest."

"About how Kovalainen let Hamilton overtake him, I just leave a comment from someone in McLaren during the race: "Hamilton will win. The car is going great and he is our best pilot in the championship."

"I would like to end with the shame of the security car. With many cars spinning in the track and making 1:56 [per lap], Charlie Withing decided not to call it in. But of course, that decision was detrimental to the leader Hamilton. This glorious Sunday in Great Britain everyone put their grain of sand to achieve Hamilton's win."

Then, there are imbeciles that have nothing better to reply that "I am with you in everything you've written in this blog."

Anyway, it is just a blog. The worst part is that his articles are no much better. In fact, the whole tabloid is filled with this sort of manure. The worst part is that AS, like Marca, has a huge circulation in Spain. Poor country of mine...

[colin grayson]

kohque , tell the truth ; you made that up didn't you ....nobody could have written such a travesty of the truth , surely

but come to think of it , there are such papers in england as well [ I think they are called red tops] ; one week they write that hamilton is the greatest driver that ever lived ; next week they write that he can't drive at all ; but you must remember that the first thing the journalists are instructed when they join these newspapers is ...never let the truth get in the way of a story that sells papers ; no doubt if max wins his case they will be asking for him to be made sir max

as some of you perhaps do , I tend to watch motoGP ; today there was a discussion with valentino , who was in the commentary box of eurosport during the 125 race; because of the weather there was much talk of tyres , and he said that tyre selection is made about 30 minutes before the start , and the suspension for that particular tyre is set up then , much easier to change on a bike !!! of course there is no possibility of changing to another tyre during the race ; much easier than F1 ! AND they still have traction control !

[Kohque]

@ COLIN GRAYSON,

Nope. In fact, the post is titled "Hamilton and Alonso's video in Hungary".

You may want to check this:
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-home&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.as.com%2Fcarlos_miquel%2F&lp=es_en&btnTrUrl=Translate

[JoseBelgica]

Kohque:
Sorry for my words, by you are pathetic. You are using babelfish for a transalation? Put yourself together man! Or better, buy yourself an Spanish-English dictionary and translate the same text.

By the way, this blog is about F1 and not about another blogs.

Even if I'm not a fan of Hamilton, he made a superb start!! He was kind of lucky with Ferrari's mistakes, but this is also part of the race, make things better than the others, and Mclaren did!

[Kohque]

@JOSEBELGICA,

Don't be sorry. I can't be bother.

I didn't use babelfish to translate the text, I used it to prove to Colin Grayson -who I guess doesn't understand Spanish- that the post really existed and he could check it out by himself... Now please, take your time to process that piece of information before you chew another "thoughtful" comment.

"By the way, this blog is about F1 and not about another blogs...about F1."

Just finishing the sentence for you, Jose. But even if it was about vacuum cleaning... so what? Please, make your thoughtful complains to Ed, who is, BTW, the moderator of this blog. I can't do anything to censor myself in order to please your senses. I feel it is an incredibly stupid excercise.

If just wanted to tell me that you didn't like my comment, it's fair enough, nothing to add. Your comments just reinforced my views, though. Peace & Love.