2008 Formula 1 World Championship calendar

Mar 16 - Melbourne, Australia
Mar 23 - Sepang, Malaysia
Apr 6 - Sakhir, Bahrain
Apr 27 - Barcelona, Spain
May 11 - Istanbul Park, Turkey
May 25 - Monte Carlo, Monaco
June 8 - Montreal, Canada
June 22 - Magny-Cours, France
July 6 - Silverstone, Great Britain
July 20 - Hockenheim, Germany
Aug 3 - Hungaroring, Hungary
Aug 24 - Valencia, Europe
Sep 7 - Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Sep 14 - Monza, Italy
Sep 28 - Singapore*
Oct 12 - Fuji, Japan
Oct 19 - Shanghai, China
Nov 2 - Interlagos, Brazil * night race

Brazilian Grand Prix - 19.20.21 October 2007 @ Interlagos Sao Paulo

Race weekend report , Q1. Q2 . Q3 and race times click here


The Race
The Ferrari's were dominant this afternoon with Felipe Massa leading from the start until the second pit stop when Kimi Raikkonen reversed the position with his team mate to lead to the chequered flag and in doing so becoming the world champion by one point. At the start he had tucked in behind Felipe Massa, overtaking Lewis Hamilton and this upset the rookie, whose team mate Fernando Alonso moved onto the inside line overtaking Hamilton, who probably made the mistake by trying to reverse the position with an overtaking manouvre on the outside. This led to an off and a drop to seventh before he recovered. Very shortly afterwards on lap 8 Hamilton was out of luck again when a gearbox glitch lost him 30 seconds and put him down to 18th place. A spirited fight back and helped by some retirements meant that he finished in 7th place, despite a third pit stop for a short stint on the soft rubber, two place below the magical fifth place needed. The team said afterwards that this third stop had gained them 10 seconds so it was not a bad team strategy. Fernando Alonso dropped away from the two Ferraris, his 2 race engine said to be down on power. Nico Rosberg had a great race and indeed the interest probably revolved around him and the two BMW`s of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld with Jarno Trulli always looking dangerous, who managed to take the last point. Kazuki Nakajima managed to finish tenth behind David Coulthard in his first Formula 1 race, the Japanese managing to run over a couple of the Williams mechanics during his pit stop, luckily without either of them being seriously injured. Kimi Raikkonen was probably the most appropriate winner for the world championship title this year especially in view of the infighting at the McLaren camp

Qualifying Q3
Felipe Massa gave his home crowd what they wanted, his second successive Brazilian Grand Prix pole position and a repeat of last years result will send the crowd ecstatic and would not Lewis Hamilton of the Championship crown if he repeats today´s qualifying position - second. The rookie nearly took pole when he went fastest in the middle sector, but still managed to bump Raikkonen down into third ahead of Fernando Alonso, who seemed to have ruined his chances on the out lap by graining his tyres, the Current World Champion having to put in a last minute flyer to put him ahead of the impressive Mark Webber, putting the two BMW's of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica behind him with Jarno Trulli, David Coulthard and Nico Rosberg rounding up the top ten. Once again Lewis found that perfect last lap to importantly split the two Ferrari´s. He has a new engine against Fernando Alonso´s second race engine (used in China), so he is in a strong position to be the first rookie world champion tomorrow.

2nd Practice (Friday afternoon)
This morning it was the two Ferrari's of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa setting the pace with World championship leader Lewis Hamilton learning the twisty circuit, completing 10 laps and setting the fifth quickest time, with Fernando Alonso only going out for an installation lap. This afternoon it was Lewis Hamilton (1m12.767s) that set the fastest time ahead of his team mate Fernando Alonso (1m12.889s). The Spaniard was 0.122s behind despite clocking the fastest times in sectors two and three. The "local boy" Felipe Massa (1m13.075s) was third ahead of Kimi Raikkonen (1m13.549s). Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella (1m13.549s) took a strong fifth place, edging out the first BMW of Robert Kubica (1m13.587s) with the two Williams of Nico Rosberg (1m13.655s) and Alex Wurz's replacement Kazuki Nakajima (1m13.664s) being impressive, just 0.009s slower the the German. David Coulthard (1m13.706s) continued in form with a ninth fastest time ahead of the second BMW of Nick Heidfeld (1m13.785s). Lewis Hamilton who is currently under investigation by the stewards for using one more set of wet weather tyres than permitted in the morning session and it remains to be seen if there will be a penalty for this contravention of the rules and if so what it will be, which of course could affect the outcome of this weekend. It is not over until the chequered flag on sudnay. Anything can happen between now and then.

The Race

Brazilian Grand Prix on ITV
Live qualifying Saturday 20 October 1630-1830 ITV4
Quali highlights Saturday 20 October 2350-0050 ITV1
Live race Sunday 21 October 1600-1900 ITV1
Highlights Sunday 21 October 2345-0045 ITV1
Highlights re-run Monday 22 October 1800-1900 ITV4

The Contenders

Kimi Raikkonen

“I will treat the final race the same as the last two. My aim is to win and the rest is not up to me. For me it is a similar position to 2003. Then I lost the title to Michael, but looking back it was a close call and at one point during the race it looked possible. Hamilton has seven points more than us. It is not easy to go to the last race just to get a couple of points more. We cannot calculate. We have to win. For us it is a straightforward race."

Fernando Alonso
“For a championship chance I think it’s still very difficult to recover four points in a normal race. We know how difficult it will be. I will be very optimistic for Brazil, but knowing it will be difficult.” Concerned about whether he had the team’s full backing? “I think that is still a worry, no doubt, but at the end of the day I think both cars are the same and with the same performance, so it’s up to me to do a little bit better. But for sure it’s not easy with the relationship with the team has with me.”

Lewis Hamilton
“We’ve still got one more race to go, and don’t worry we can still do it. Obviously when I got out of the car (Chinese GP) I was just gutted, because I haven’t made a mistake all year and to do it on the way into the pits is not something I usually do. But you can’t go through life without making mistakes, and I’m over it. Now I’m looking on to Brazil and I know the team will be working hard to make sure the car’s quick enough there. We’ve still got the points in the bag.”

Felipe Massa (Last years winner)
“You never know. (Brazilian GP) For sure if Kimi has a chance during the race to win the championship, I think it’s very good for the team and I would also be very happy to help the team. If maybe Lewis or Fernando are in the middle and we have no chance, I will try to win the race.”

Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix - 05.06.07 October 2007 @ Shanghai International Circuit

Race weekend report , Q1. Q2 . Q3 and race times click here

The Race

Lewis Hamilton's luck finally ran out in Shanghai on today, as he spun out entering the pit lane on worn tyres and ending up in the gravel trap. He had built up a good lead against the favourite this weekend - Kimi Raikkonen who after both drivers had made their first pit stop, not electing to change rubber on lap 19 the Finn overtook the rookie and went on to dominate the race, having stayed out for another 4 laps. This means that Lewis, Fernando and Kimi head to the season finale in Brazil with a shot at the title. Alonso made a good start from the second row overtaking Massa on the outside line but had to concede to the Brazilian until after the first pit stop finally managed to overtake Felipe on lap 27. Lap 31 was the end for Alonso´s team mate the marshals not being able to push him out of the gravel trap this time. The admitted that they had kept Lewis out for one lap too long and maybe it was his attitude and not the tyres that caused the off as he could have let Raikkonen pass, preserving his rubber, in the knowledge that he could still win the championship here today. Alonso and Raikkonen switched the dry tyres, the Spaniard electing for hard compound and the Finn for the soft. Towards the end Alonso was starting to catch Raikkonen, whilst behind Sebastian Vettel, punished for the Fuji incident (Lewis Hamilton not) drove the race of his life to finish 4th and was nominated "driver of the day". Makes you wonder what would happen if you had Sebastian and Lewis in the same chassis! He achieved this from 17th place on the grid. Felipe Massa had the consolation of setting the fastest lap on his final tour. Jenson Button sandwiched the two STR drivers in a season high fifth, enjoyed his race, he commented afterwards and Tonio Liuzzi ran strongly into sixth place giving this "ex Minardi" team valuable points. BMW's Nick Heidfeld finished a difficult weekend, with seventh at the chequered flag, his team mate Robert Kubica having to retire from the race lead before his second pit stop. David Coulthard´s weekend was rewarded with the final point. It could have been more than that had the rain not returned just after he had switched to dry tyres at his second pit stop.

Comments

Fernando Alonso - “My retirement in Japan has not made it easy for me in the championship, but there are still 20 points to be won and I am going to fight hard for each one of them. There is always a lot of talk of pressure and distractions at this time of the year; all I think about is racing and winning at Shanghai and Interlagos. We are all focused on this aim and giving the maximum over the next few weeks.”

Lewis Hamilton - “We are going into these races with a really tight drivers’ battle with only 12 points between me and Fernando. Anything is still possible but I am feeling confident and very determined and I hope we will have another couple of exciting races. There has been a lot of talk over the last couple of days about the championship, but I just push that to the back of my mind. I am only focused on the next two races and doing the best I can in China and Brazil with the team.”

Chinese Grand Prix on ITV
Live qualifying Saturday 6 October 0630-0820 ITV3
Quali re-run Saturday 6 October 1140-1310 ITV1
Live race Sunday 7 October 0600-0905 ITV1
Race re-run Sunday 7 October 1130-1330 ITV1
Highlights Sunday 7 October 2345-0045 ITV1
Highlights re-run Monday 8 October 1800-1900 ITV4

Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix. - 28.29.30 September 2007 @ Fuji Speedway Fuji Japan

Race weekend report , Q1. Q2 . Q3 and race times click here

The race

The first 19 laps of the race were run behind the safety car and thereafter Lewis Hamilton drove perfectly to win, after being hit by Robert Kubica and his chances of being world champion look almost certain after his team mate Fernando Alonso lost it on the exit of turn five and smashed into the outside wall. having earlier been tapped into a spin by Sebastian Vettel. Vettel looked almost certain for a podium finish until, behind the safety car he rain into the back of Mark Webber causing both of the Red Bull cars retirement. The Ferrari´s had got it wrong at the start having put on intermediate wets when the FIA had ordered wets and had to come in to change them and Kimi refueling to the end. From the back in the early stages Raikkonen drove brilliantly and during the latter stages overtaking David Coulthard and crawled all over his fellow Finn Heikki Kovalainen using all of the track, and off it in his attempt to wrest the second place, but the rookie deservedly took the honors, aquaplaning the Renault to the chequered flag. Felipe Massa had been lying third before he came in for an unexpected fuel stop and during the last lap kept the crowd on their feet with his duel with Robert Kubica, the Brazilian taking sixth, despite a drive through penalty and 3 other pit stops and the Pole seventh ahead of Vitantonio Liuzzi giving Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari their first point. Adrian Sutil drove well to bring the Spyker into ninth ahead of Rubens Barichello finishing in front of his team mate Jenson Button who had driven well in the earlier stage until his front wing was knocked off. David Coulthard used all of his race craft to take an impressive fourth place for Red Bull.

Comments
Lewis Hamilton - "I think for every race it's important for me to focus and just remember that it is my first year. I have to remain relaxed and calm. Anything can happen."

Fernando Alonso - "For next year I have a contract with this team and I don't see any (problem on that. I have been working with the engineers, with the mechanics, with everybody from the beginning of the season, until now with the same relationship. They are all very professional, very focused on doing the best we can and we are achieving good results. I won four races, I make some good podiums and I am fighting for the world championship so everything is going quite well for me and I am happy." (Reuters)

Felipe Massa - "I have to think about the team, thinking to do the most to help the team whenever I can. In that situation, if one driver no longer has the chance of winning, then he must concentrate on just working for the good of the team to help it win. But at the moment, I still have a chance of taking the title."

Giancarlo Fisichella - "There are several interesting places on this circuit: turns five and six for example look fairly tricky. The final section is a bit slow with first and second gear corners. I think there’ll also be a few traps because of poor visibility. This is because there’s a part of the track that falls away, and in one corner in particular it’s impossible to see the apex."

Ralf Schumacher - "The track itself has a very long straight, so that's very exciting; you could end up overtaking twice on the straight. I think the corners we have except for turn four are not so special, but it's a nice layout."

Takuma Sato - "I think everything is open but looking realistically, it's going to be a very very tough race for us, so we need something - a little change – that always gets us into an exciting situation."

Japanese Grand Prix on ITV
Live qualifying Saturday 29 September 0530-0720 ITV3
Quali re-run Saturday 29 September 1000-1120 ITV1
Live race Sunday 30 September 0430-0735 ITV1
Race re-run Sunday 30 September 1130-1330 ITV1
Highlights Monday 1 October 0010-0115 ITV1
Highlights re-run Monday 1 October 1800-1900 ITV4

Belgian Grand Prix @ Spa Francorchamps - 14/15/16 September 2007

Race weekend report , Q1. Q2 . Q3 and race times click here

The Race
Kimi Raikkonen le from pole to take the chequered flag and his third victory at Spa., never putting a wheel wrong with Felipe Massa coming second, complaining of handling problems until the first pit stop, rectified by the change of tyres and a perfectly handling car on the soft tyres after the second stop. The result give the Italian team their 15th constructors' world championship title following the FIA´s Paris ruling in Paris on thursday. Fernando Alonso despite the pressures of the last week, drove well, and after a first lap duel that ran all the way from the lights to the top of Eau Rouge with his team mate, held Lewis Hamilton behind him for the rest of the race, the British driver appearing to loose his cool towards the last few laps of the race. Nick Heidfeld took his traditional place behind the top four after breaking clear of squabbling midfield pack early on. The consistent Nico Rosberg took sixth ahead of Mark Webber who must be considers as one of the contenders for "Driver of the day" for his driving her this afternoon, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen who just managed to hold of Robert Kubica. Other drivers of note were the performance of Adrian Sutil during the first part of the race, breathing down DC´s exhaust pipe and up to 12th, Takumo Sato in last years Honda overtaking Jenson Button in this years car!

Comment

Fernando Alonso when questioned about the World Council hearing today

“I’m not thinking of anything outside of the race weekend. I’m going to have a meeting with my engineer to decide on the tyres to use in P1 and P2, check the forecast, set-up, and the updates from the test we had here at end of July.

Anymore than this I am not ready to think about.

I am concentrating 100 per cent on this paddock, this track and winning this race.

With all that I won’t have two seconds to think" [about the WMSC hearing].

What do you think will be the outcome of the World Council hearing?

The Majority say
No penalty, McLaren exonerated


Belgian Grand Prix on ITV
Live qualifying Saturday 15 September 1230-1420 ITV4
Quali re-run Saturday 15 September 1615-1720 ITV1
Live race Sunday 16 September 1200-1505 ITV1
Highlights Sunday 16 September 2245-2345 ITV1
Highlights re-run Monday 17 September 1800-1900 ITV4

Italian Grand Prix @ Monza - 07/08/09 August 2007

Race weekend report , Q1. Q2 . Q3 and race times click here

Comment(s)
Raikkonen says he is fully aware of the threat his former team is likely to pose on the high-speed track.

"That was a good test, where we could try out some new things for the car.

Looking at the times, I think you can say that we have a fierce fight ahead of us; but you never know how much fuel the others use during the tests, so we'll only see during the qualifying what the situation is really like.

Traditionally Ferrari has been very competitive here, but also McLaren has been very strong, during the years when I raced for them, but for some reason or another I never managed to win.

Let's hope we can make it this time, by being perfect from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon.

Winning the home race of Ferrari would be a great feeling."

The Race
Fernando Alonso cut Lewis Hamilton´s lead to three points this afternoon driving superbly to lead from pole to the chequered flag. For his part Hamilton made up for a bad start, overtaking Massa, who had overtaken him, going into the first corner, having given the Brazilian very little room as he moved to the left, causing Felipe to ride the white line, and so close was it into the chicane that Felipe was forced to touch Lewis sending the rookie onto the green area. It would have been possible to maybe attack Fernando as a result, but would sure to attract the steward's attention, so he tucked in behind the Spaniard who gradually pulled away until the safety car came out after David Coulthard´s high speed crash - Not DC´s weekend with the gearbox problems yesterday!. Pressure was taken off Lewis Hamilton when Felipe Massa came in for an unexpected pit stop, went out again for just one lap before "calling it a day" - Something to do with the rear end and unfortunately taking the Brazilian's contention for the World Championship. The best battle meanwhile was between Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg. The two McLaren´s made their first stops, Lewis obviously having a lighter fuel load, coming in first with Fernando a couple of laps later, Fernando managing to retain his lead. Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari played their ace and went for a one stop strategy, the Finn managing to come out in front of Lewis. Kimi must have been very surprised to see a silver car out brake him into the first chicane from 50 metres behind and overtake him. After that it really was a question of keeping the engines in good shape for Spa next weekend. The two McLaren drivers and Ron Dennis must be very pleased to have finished first and second at Ferrari's Monza. Are Ferrari trying to win the Championship of the circuit must be asked? At first it was just one Italian employee, then one McLaren employee. Hopefully the matter will be settled once and for all next thursday.

Come on Ferrari - do you remember when you ordered Rubens Barichello to let Michael Schumacher overtake in Austria?

Italian Grand Prix on ITV
Live qualifying Saturday 8 September 1230-1430 ITV4
Highlights qualifying Saturday 8 September 2325-0040 ITV1
Live race Sunday 9 September 1200-1450 ITV1
Highlights Sunday 9 September 2245-2345 ITV1
Highlights re-run Monday 10 September 1800-1900 ITV4

Turkish GP @ Istambul Park - 26 August 2007

Race weekend report , Q1. Q2 . Q3 and race times click here

The RACE
Felipe Massa was rightly voted "driver of the day" after leading from start to finish and making it his second Turkish Grand Prix win in a row. Kim Raikkonen kept in second place throughout, closing on the Brazilian, but never looking a threat, although he did put in the fastest lap towards the end to "make a point". Lewis Hamilton held third place, but never seemed in a position to overtake either of the Ferrari's who had started on the soft compound, only changing this after the second pit stop. This with the higher down force possibly gave them the advantage over the McLaren´s. Fernando Alonso, like Hamilton, on hard tyres and on the dirty side, lost two places at the start to the two BMW's and for 17 laps had to look at the rear wing of Nick Heidfeld, a frequent view for him this year. Kubica came into the pits on lap 13 and he managed to leapfrog the other BMW of Heidfeld at the first pit stop holding fourth place until with just 15 laps to go Hamilton´s right front went elevating Alonso to third and a podium finish, narrowing the gap down to just points with just 5 races remaining. Michael Schumacher was 21 points down (I think) before last years Turkish Grand Prix so the Championship is not over with Ferrari instructing their drivers to have one/two finishes for the remaining races. Lewis Hamilton held on to sixth place with a badly handling car (only they blown tyre being changed) just holding of the ever improving Kovalainen who had even briefly led the race in the first stint just prior to his first stop. The only incident was Giancarlo Fisichella touching Jarno Trulli and causing his fellow Italian to spin his Toyota from which he was not to recover at the first corner on the first lap. Mark Webber was the only retirement.

Turkish Grand Prix on ITV
Live qualifying Saturday 25 August 1130-1315 ITV1
Live race Sunday 26 August 1145-1505 ITV1
Highlights Sunday 26 August 2315-0015 ITV1
Highlights re-run Monday 27 August 1800-1900 ITV4

Hungarian Grand Prix @ Hungaroring Budapest - 5 August 2007

Race weekend report , Q1. Q2 . Q3 and race times click here

The Race

"Penalty severe and inappropriate", say McLaren so were the public robbed of a race between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton by the decision to drop the Spanish driver five places on the grid for which really was an internal McLaren matter. Under the circumstances of the weekend Lewis Hamilton drove superbly to win leading from start to finish, but really this race does not have a "driver of the day" as more than one could qualify for this honour. Nick Heidfeld at the start was caught out by Kimi Räikkönen who challenged Hamilton throughout the race and seemed to be catching him in the last few laps. Alonso was boxed out at the start, dropping 2 places to eighth and then was held up by the
Toyota of Ralf Schumacher for many laps and finally by Nick Heidfeld as it is a well known fact that at the Hungaroring there is only one line. Grand Prix´s venues are being canceled so as the American Grand Prix and Silverstone under threat until as recent as last week. Bernie might it not be an idea for this circuit to be redesigned to allow more overtaking. Today was a bit boring and processional! Anthony Davidson drove a good race until being knocked off in a racing incident with Giancarlo Fisichella and today Felipe Massa could not charge through the field (due to
the circuit design?) as he has done in other races, the bad qualifying yesterday in fact being down to a pit mistake and not a bad handling car. McLaren have appealed about the decision not to award Manufacturers Championship points for this race so we will not update this section of our website until the outcome is known. The tension between Alonso and Hamilton that I have sensed since the start of the season finally came to a head this weekend. As I commented to a friend yesterday evening "there are always two sides to a story" and today it was revealed by the team that Hamilton was not faultless.

Qualifying (Saturday afternoon)

Lewis Hamilton made a statement in Q1 - Q2 and Q3 that he was the man to beat and in Q3 set the provisional pole time. Fernando Alonso´s first visit to the pits in Q3 had been disastrous with the string on the tyre warmer delaying his planned departure from the pit lane. On the second visit to change tyres for his last attempt to claim pole he stayed in the pits despite his "lollipop" being raised. When he eventually left he snatched pole position from Lewis Hamilton who had been waiting behind him, Fernando´s actions not allowing Lewis time to complete a full flying lap, Hamilton having changed his soft tyres for another set of soft tyres. It is said that the rear view mirrors on a Formula 1 car on the circuit has very limited visibility. Nick Heidfeld took third place away from the only Ferrari in the top ten - that of Kimi Raikkonen who could manage no better than fourth fastest, his team mate Felipe Massa struggling in Q2 with a badly handling car and not being able to go higher fourteenth, despite being the fastest car in practice 3 this morning. Nico Rosberg was a promising fifth ahead of Ralf Schumacher, Robert Kubica, Giancarlo Fisichella and the second Toyota of Jarno Trulli and Mark Webber, his team mate David Coulthard starting eleventh. Both Hondas were knocked out in Q1 but Anthony Davidson in the Super Aguri Honda really shone with a seventh fastest time.

Practice 2 (Friday afternoon)
This morning it was Robert Kubica super soft bridgestone BMW that showed the two Ferraris followed by the two McLaren´s how to set the fastest lap, but this afternoon it was Fernando Alonso (1m20.919s) that was the boss with Heikki Kovalainen (1m21.283s) splitting the two McLaren´s, Lewis Hamilton (1m21.338s) having a late spin when in traffic on the back section of the circuit. Nico Rosberg (1m21.485s) put his Williams ahead of the BMW of Nick Heidfeld (1m21.517s) with the two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen (1m21.589s) and Felipe Massa (1m21.620s) only managing sixth and seventh best times this afternoon. Giancarlo Fisichella (1m21.698s) was eighth quickest 0.4s slower than his team mate with Jarno Trulli (1m21.857s) and this mornings pacesetter Robert Kubica (1m21.906s) completing the top 10.

Kimi Raikkonen - "Everybody says that McLaren has to be stronger than us here; but I don't think that this will be the case. We have taken a big step forward since the race in Monaco and it will be really interesting to see how competitive we are over the weekend. The Hungaroring is very slow and winding; so the two most important things here are the right angle entry into the corners and the traction: if these two things work out, then you have good cards in your hand.”

Nick Heidfeld - "Last year I came third in Budapest - it was the first podium place for our team. It was a chaotic race. Normally Budapest in August means very hot weather, but last year it was raining. The circuit was wet at the start of the race, and it remained cool throughout the weekend. The circuit itself is short, twisty and usually very dirty at the start of the weekend. The races there are often pretty exhausting as there are no long straights where you can catch your breath. But I enjoy driving there and hope we will be as strong again as in 2006."

Giancarlo Fisichella - “Hungary is quite a selective circuit, and the very high temperatures often make things a bit more complicated, especially for the drivers and also the powertrain. To be quick here, you need an effective high downforce set-up, good grip and good traction out of the slow corners. We will be working on those areas as soon as we start running on Friday morning.”

Jenson Button (Last years winner) - “It was never really one of my favourite races before, but for obvious reasons that all changed last year. It will always be a special place as the scene of my first win. Obviously it will be quite a different race for us this year but hopefully we can keep up the steady progress we have been making and take another step forward.”

Hungarian Grand Prix on ITV
Live qualifying Saturday 4 August 1230-1415 ITV1
Live race Sunday 5 August 1200-1530 ITV1
Highlights Monday 6 August 0045-0145 ITV1
Highlights re-run Monday 6 August 1800-1900 ITV4

European Grand Prix @ Nürburgring - 22 July 2007

Race weekend report , Q1. Q2 . Q3 and race times click here

Race (Sunday)

Fernando Alonso needed it and Fernando deserved it, out dueling Felipe Massa during the closing laps of this race held in chaotic climatic conditions when rain fell for a second time this afternoon.Rain was forecast, but there was no sign of it during the warm up lap, the only team electing to run on intermediate was Markus Winkelhock (having his first Grand Prix) in the Spyker Ferrari starting from the pit lane. The clouds opened half way around the first lap and going into corner one the next time Jenson Button aqua planed off the track, followed by Lewis Hamilton, who had worked his way up to 5th from 10th before being involved in the Heidfeld/Kubica incident giving him a puncture. He had the sense to keep his motor running and under the regulation of being in a "dangerous position" was allowed to rejoin the race. Adrian Sutil, Nico Rosberg, Scott Speed, and Vitantonio Liuzzi (narrowly missing the tow tractor) where victims of this corner and did not rejoin the race, which after the safely car was called out was "red flagged. At the restart Markus Winkelhock was to lead and the team gambling on another downpour elected to go out on wets, but his glory ended there as he gradually fell back. Hamilton, a lap down due to his off under the regulations was allowed to un lap himself and chose to come into the pits a take on dry rubber, a gamble that was not to pay off, but he still managed to work
his way up to 9th position by the chequered flag. During the second part it looked as Kimi Raikkonen, who had messed up his first lap, was capable of catching Fernando Alonso but he gradually dropped away eventually to retire - Kimi´s "Nurburgring Jinx" had struck again, despite bringing his grandmother to the race. It looked as if Felipe Massa had the race all sown up until the clouds opened again. McLaren just managed to get Fernando out in front of Fisi´s Renault in the pit lane which caused some comments and thereafter Fernando gave it 100% trying to overtake Felipe again and again, eventually doing it going into turn 5., where he had had his incident in qualifying yesterday, which probably cost him pole position and led to the finish. The Ferrari and the McLaren touched and neither driver was very pleased at the weigh in, but is was a racing incident as was Ralf Schumacher´s and Nick Heidfeld´s coming together leading the the Toyota driver having to retire. Fernando Alonso with his end of the race performance stole "Driver of the Day" from Felipe Massa. This was a World Champion at his best and could be his turning point in the World Championship fight, the points difference between him and Lewis Hamilton just 2 points.

Qualifying (Saturday)

Q1 it was Fernando Alonso the dominant driver, "the four top guns" only needing to put in one fast lap before coming in. In Q2 it looked as if Fernando would take the honours, but it was Felipe Massa that just snatched it from him. Q3 and Lewis Hamilton looked on form in his first flying lap, when a wheel nut failure caused a high speed crash. The wheel was improperly secured, caused by a wheel gun failure. If Hamilton is cleared to race, after at least two hours in the medical centre, he will start from 10th position tomorrow. This decision could be made as late as tomorrow. Obviously this put pressure on Lewis´s team mate waiting for the restart in the pits and when the qualifying started again, it only left time for one warm up lap, a tyre change and a flying lap. Massa took the provisional pole position, and then it looked as if Fernando Alonso would take this from him, but a mistake in the middle sector allowed Kimi Räikkönen to take Pole. It promises to be an exciting race tomorrow and Fernando Alonso obviously want to be the leading into the first corner and if Lewis does race tomorrow, on GP2 form we are in for some exciting overtaking.

Practice 2 (Friday Afternoon)
Kimi Raikkonen (1m33.339s) with just five minutes remaining in this afternoons session pushed this mornings "fast man" Lewis Hamilton (1m33.487s) into second place, who had led for most of the session. Drivers went faster and faster on a drying track after the clouds had opened during the GP2 practice session. In the last ten minutes Lewis had had a ragged final ten minutes which included a spin and another off track excursion at Valvoline. Felipe Massa (1m33.590s) improved this afternoon to third fastest ahead of Fernando Alonso (1m33.637s) with the two Toyotas of Ralf Schumacher (1m33.668s) and Jarno Trulli (1m33.746s). If only practice and qualifying form could be translated into the race? Nico Rosberg (1m33.845s) - Jenson Button (1m33.880s) and the two BMW's of Nick Heidfeld (1m34.146s) and Robert Kubica (1m34.221s) completed the top ten drivers this afternoon.

Practice 1 (Friday Morning)
Lewis Hamilton (1m32.515s) set the fastest time this morning just over 0.2s faster than Kimi Raikkonen (1m32.751s) the Brit and the Finn trading fastest laps in the final 10 minutes of the session. Fernando Alonso (1m32.932s) took third spot dropping the impressive BMWs of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica down to fourth and fifth respectively these two earlier providing Hamiltons closest opposition with Felipe Massa only managing sixth fastest and a second away.

Kimi Raikkonen (after Spa test) - "The car felt almost even better than in Silverstone. Race after race we are making improvements. The Nurburgring is a completely different track compared to the one in Belgium, but nevertheless I expect us to be very competitive. I don't want to predict anything right now. We have to get on the track and give our best: then we'll see if it's enough to win the race."

Felipe Massa - "From a technical point of view, the Spa test was really good and the car seems to respond very well to changes....we go to the Nurburgring where I expect the F2007 will again be very competitive. Last year in the European Grand Prix I finished third and it was my first ever Formula 1 podium. Hopefully this time, we can be back on the podium but in a better position. I have good memories of last year, but we always want more!"

Lewis Hamilton will race this weekend - "I've just caught a bit of 'flu, but it's okay. I'm really up for it," he said. "I don't think it's going to be a problem. The worst of it was earlier on in the week. Trust me, I'm a lot better now than I was on Monday. I've got some good medicine, I'm with a good team, so I'm sure there will be no problems."

Nick Heidfeld - "I've driven a lot of races on the Nürburgring and recorded victories in almost all the series I've competed in there - Formula Ford, Formula 3 and Formula 3000. In 2005 I took my first Formula One pole position in the Eifel mountains with BMW Williams and finished second in the race itself. We didn't do so well there last year, and it would be great if we could get back among the Ferraris and McLarens at my home race this time around"

Giancarlo Fisichella - "It is fair to say that the last two races were disappointing, all the more so because they were our home races. We knew it would be a tough battle with BMW. All of the teams are making progress, and our challenge is to do so faster than them in order to get ahead and try to close the gap in the championship. We are going in the right direction, and everybody is doing their maximum - and I am convinced that if we carry on like this our hard work will pay off."

European Grand Prix on ITV:
Saturday 21st July
ITV1: Live Qualifying, 1230 – 1435
Sunday 22nd July
ITV1: Live Race, 1200 – 1500
ITV1: Highlights, 2345 – 0045
Monday 23rd July
ITV4: Highlights, 1800 – 1900

McLaren summoned to FIA hearing on July 26, 2007

The FIA has called McLaren to appear before the World Motor Sport Council to answer a charge of breaking the sporting regulations by possessing confidential Ferrari data.

Information belonging to Ferrari was discovered at McLaren´s chief designer, Mike Coughlan home during a search of it. Ferrari has named Stepney as the source of the documents received by Coughlan.

The two men made a joint approach to Honda in the hope of joining its technical staff but these documents were not offered. 2007 the battle between Ferrari and Mclaren - the rivalry between Alonso and Hamilton, Raikkonen and Massa to win the drivers title and now this - can it get any better?

British Grand Prix - Silverstone - 8 July

Race weekend report , Q1. Q2 . Q3 and race times click here

The Race (Sunday)
Lewis Hamilton made a text box start from poll position, moving to the inside, Kimi
Raikkonen moving to the left of the McLaren driver only to be countered by Lewis´s
defensive move to the left as well, to get a good line through the first corner Copse,
with Fernando Alonso sensibly holding station. The Finn kept within striking distance
of Hamilton throughout the first part, catching him towards the end as the Hamilton´s
tyres went off and maybe Ferrari's election to start on the soft rubber paying off. Kimi
leap forged Lewis, who made a mistake on his first pit stop, and to everyone's surprise
Fernando leapfrogged the two of them having had a short fuel stop, electing to go
out on soft rubber in the hope of pulling away from Kimi Raikkonen.

The gamble looked as if it might have paid off, but Kimi managed to put several very
fast laps in, but Fernando when he rejoined had to fight through traffic and so Kimi
Raikkonen managed to pull in front of the Spaniard to lead to the chequered flag,
Ron Dennis ordering the two cars engines to be turned down, to conserve them for
the German Grand Prix in two weeks time and knowing that really the Ferrari had
about a half a second advantage in race trim, although equal to his cars in qualifying.

During all this, Felipe Massa who's Ferrari had stalled on the grid and had had to
start from the pit lane worked his way from the back of the field and finished fifth
having tried with all his might to overtake Robert Kubica for the last 10 laps, the
driver that Lewis Hamilton, sees as his biggest threat in the future. Nick Heidfeld
came sixth, with Renault team mates Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella
taking the final points. Jenson Button's one stop strategy paid off and he had his
own private duel with David Coulthard but his team mate still managed to finish
ahead of him. Both Toyotas that had been so promising in qualifying had to retire
with handling problems as did Anthony Davidson whose Super Aguri´s plank was
touching the ground and giving him handling problems. Takuma Sato had to start
also start from the pit lane as he had changed his chassis between qualifying and
the race. The polls have nominated Kimi Raikkonen "driver of the day" ahead of
his team mate Felipe Massa. Had he managed to overtake Kubica and who knows
Hamilton he would definitely won this honour. Had his car not stalled - who knows
he could have won the race!

Start Video (commentary Portuguese? / Will open in new window)

Qualifying (Saturday)
Fernando Alonso had been strong throughout qualifying setting the fastest times
in both Q1 and Q2 and it looked as if Q3 was his until at the last moment despite
running wide at Woodcote Kimi Räikkönen snatched provision pole with Felipe
Massa behind him. Meanwhile with a quick tyre change Lewis Hamilton just
managed to get out in time for one more try, having managed not better than
fourth fastest in the previous two qualifying sessions. An almost flat run through the
super fast Copse corner improved his first sector time where he had been struggling
losing two tenths of a second, especially to his team mate Fernando Alonso, gave
him the pace to snatch pole position in front of his ecstatic fans. Had Kimi not run
wide pole could have been his, but that is motor racing. The start tomorrow promises
to be thrilling. Robert Kubica was the faster of the two BMW's this afternoon taking the
fifth fastest time with Ralf Schumacher alongside him on the grid, with the two
Renaults of Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella on row four and Nick Heidfeld
and Jarno Trulli on row five, these drivers taking the top ten places. Anthony Davidson
who had promised so much during practice had an off in Q1 and could not rejoin and
Jenson Button's trip onto the weigh bridge probably was responsible for him
progressing no further than Q1.

2nd Practice (Friday)
Kimi Raikkonen (1m20.639s) half a second faster than the rest, with team mate Felipe Massa (1m21.138s), second spoiling Lewis´expectations this afternoon Ralf Schumacher (1m21.381s) put his Toyota into third place ahead of Lewis Hamilton (1m21.381s) with Jarno Trulli (1m21.467s) the filling in the sandwich between the two McLarens - Fernando Alonso (1m21.616s) 0.2s behind his team mate this afternoon. Nico Rosberg (1m21.619s)faced up to a revitalised Alex Wurz (1m21.650s) with Mark Webber (1m22.137s) and Anthony Davidson (1m22.143s) in his first British Grand Prix completed the top ten. 4 Toyota engined cars in the top ten this afternoon! The Renaults could manage no better than eleventh and twelth ahead of a slow Robert Kubica. Christian Klien, standing in for the injured Jenson Button, got within 0.3s of Rubens Barrichello, to go 18th. The unpredictable wind,played havoc with the field this afternoon sending several drivers mading trips to the gravel traps, Barichello having a couple of offs, once at Abbey and once in the complex - both Renaults in the twisty section, Takuma Sato saving it with a big moment exiting Becketts and Kimi in his efforts to set the fastest time had a grassy moment at Copse.

1st Practice (Friday)
On the limit, Hamilton played to his fans to set the fastest time this morning, spinning at Abbey and then running onto the grass at Priory on a later lap, having to content with tricky winds. Next up the favourites - the Ferrari´s of Raikkonen and Massa with Alonso fourth despite looking to have the pace to challenge the red cars ........

Fernando Alonso - “To try to repeat the success of last year and to win the race with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. I hope to have a good weekend and do my best with the team for all the fans. Also there will be a lot of people from Woking and Brixworth there so I want to put on a good show for all of them.”

Lewis Hamilton - “To do the best job I can. I won there last year in GP2, and it would be another step of my dream to win at Silverstone this year, especially in front of my home crowd. The pressure is on and at the end of the day, the most important thing is to get points.”

Nick Heidfeld - "I especially like the crowd in England because they are just true racing fans. They are very well informed and were also enthusiastic in the years when they did not have a home grown front runner. Of course with Lewis Hamilton the interest will increase a lot for this year's race, but the atmosphere has always been good. During the test I found the circuit extraordinarily bumpy, and apparently other drivers thought the same. The English weather can also add to the excitement. The sequence of the corners at Becketts is very fast and very special. For Silverstone it is especially important to have a good aero package for the fast corners."

Felipe Massa - "Now we come to Silverstone and the British Grand Prix and I think it will be very good for us. We have a car that is fantastic on this track and it was very quick all through the test we did there before the French race. I am convinced we will again have a very competitive car. Of course, we need to keep an eye on McLaren, but I think we could have a little bit of an edge over them. There is a good chance we will have to cope with a wet track this weekend and I like to drive in the rain, even though a wet track can make things a bit of a lottery. Whatever the conditions, I am sure we can be very competitive. Overtaking will again be very difficult at this circuit, almost impossible in fact, but all the same it is a great track to drive and one of the most challenging of the season for us drivers, with some very fast corners. For my driving style and my experience of quick corners, I love the challenge of Silverstone, which reminds of other great fast tracks like Spa."

Kimi Raikkonen - "We had a very good test here two weeks ago. If we manage to bring all the latest developments on the track, then I think that Ferrari will be even more competitive than in Magny-Cours.I've been asked if we now have an advantage: I really can't tell. We have to wait for the British GP to find out. Obviously the gap of our competitors in France is not representative. The situation changes from track to track: we were behind at Indy and ahead at Magny-Cours. It's just a waste of time to think about who will be favoured at Silverstone."

On ITV

Live qualifying Saturday 7 July 1215-1425 ITV1
Live race Sunday 8 July 1200-1515 ITV1
Highlights Sunday 8 July 2345-0045 ITV1
Highlights re-run Monday 9 July 1800-1900 ITV4

Fernando vs. Lewis and Anthony

"I think that, yes, they would prefer that (a Lewis victory) and I don't think there will be any argument," Alonso was quoted as saying by the British newspapers. We will be in England and we have a Spanish driver and an English driver and the Englishman is leading the championship. So if he wins it will help the team. The team wanted me to win in Barcelona and they will want Hamilton to win at Silverstone."

Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri Honda) "I am feeling good about my performances at the races so far, I am at the level where I wanted to be and achieved the results that I wanted to have. Without a little bit of bad luck here and there I would have had points in the bag, so I have taken even more pressure off myself in that respect. I am looking forward to the rest of the season and getting even more out of myself in the races to come."

French Grand Prix Circuit de Nevers Mangy Cours 1 July 2007

Race weekend report , Q1. Q2 . Q3 and race times click here

The Race
Kimi Raikkonen needed it - Kimi got it. OK the Ferraris had the upper hand this weekend, Massa making a faultless start with Kimi slipping past Lewis to hold second position until the second pit stop when he managed to leap frog his team mate Felipe Massa who had been held up in traffic during the second stage. McLaren were resounding thrashed this afternoon by Ferrari with Lewis Hamilton a distant third, his team mate providing most of the excitement with his duel with Nick Heidfeld. Fernando had made a number of failed attempts in to the Adelaide hairpin, but frustrated by this, tried something different to catch the German by surprise. No one could have expected he would finally pass Nick at the entry to the super fast Nurburgring corner, with a run on Heidfeld, Alonso pushed his MP4-22 up inside of the BMW giving Nick two options - a big crash or drive straight over the chicane. He was to loose all this hard work in the second pit stop and try as he may he just could not catch the German for a second time. He had hoped that by electing to go for soft tyres in the first stage that he could possibly have overtaken more cars than he did, his overtaking of Heidfeld probably when the tyres were off their best, which made the maneuver even more thrilling and audacious!
Giancarlo Fisichella held off Alonso's late advances to finish sixth, the double World Champion having to settle for seventh. Jenson Button proving his pre race prediction, that the car was better in race form than in qualifying, took the final point to give Honda their first point of the season in the upgraded RA107. Robert Kubica made a convincing return to the cockpit after the horrendous Montreal accident by taking a mightily impressive fourth, having qualified fourth, ahead of team-mate Nick Heidfeld and could have been nominated "Driver of the Day".

Incidents were in the first lap of the race when Anthony Davidson misjudged the turn one concertina affect and sliding into the back of Tonio Liuzzi’s Toro Rosso, collecting the spinning Italian and causing substantial damage both cars. He later admitted his error. At the Adelaide hairpin on lap 1 with the pack streaming through Jarno Trulli left his braking too late on the inside of corner, clipped the back of Heikki Kovalainen´s Renault causing the car to spin in front of the pack, forcing the Toyota driver to retirement, Fernando Alonso having to take avoiding action having made up two places by Adelaide. Kovalainen went to the back of the field and then into the pits. Albers Spyker had to be wheeled of the start line as it would not start and his team mate Sutil had an incident in the pits when he drove off with the fuel line still attached to the Spyker!

+ + + + +

Second Friday Practice
Ferrari dominated once more as Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen set the pace in session two, but Scuderia Toro Rosso's Scott Speed was the star with third fastest time.......click here

First Friday Practice
Kimi Raikkonen top as Ferrari dominates. the Finn proved uncatchable at Magny-Cours on Friday morning despite the very best efforts of his team-mate Felipe Massa.
Fernando Alonso had a quieter session, ending up third, some 0.772s slower than Raikkonen's. Lewis Hamilton's engine protection system on his McLaren-Mercedes switched off automatically, stranding him out at the entry to the Adelaide Hairpin on only his third lap but still managed to set the sixth fastest time. Nico Rosberg's fourth fastest time indicates that the new aero tweaks Williams has brought to France are working well.

Felipe Massa - “Our car was very well balanced and we immediately found a good level of grip, along with a consistent performance,” the Brazilian told a media conference at Magny-Cours.commenting on the new aerodynamic package at the Silverstone test, where he topped the timesheets on the final day.

Fernando Alonso admitted in the Thursday press conference at Magny-Cours that switching to Bridgestone tyres has required a big change in his approach to the first seven races of the season. "For me, it has been the tyres, how different they are to drive on,"

Giancarlo Fisichella reckons that Renault now has the measure of BMW. "Obviously for this weekend [the objective] is again to get to the end of the race and to score points. We would like to fight for the podium because it is a very important grand prix for us, but I think McLaren and Ferrari are maybe a step forward, maybe two steps forward..., But I think we are quicker than BMW. Or I hope. And for the rest of the season it is just to make progress as we have so far. I think for Budapest we will have a new front wing which is a good step forward. So, we just make progress in each race and get closer to McLaren, Ferrari and BMW."

Heidfeld confident of BMW reliability asked about the cars reliability at the Silverstone testing last week after his Indy problem?
“No, at the test it was fine.
Actually we tried some new things to rectify the problems that we had at Indy, that I had at Indy. It all worked OK, and actually the parts that failed we had on for a very long time before, also during races. Sometimes you can do so much testing and you still don't know if something will fail just after however many kilometres. We tried to change it and I'm quite sure it's going to be OK now.”

United States Grand Prix Indianapolis - 17 June

Race weekend report , Q1. Q2 . Q3 and race times click here

The Race
Lewis Hamilton drove faultlessly having resisted Fernando Alonso´s initial attack during the first two laps and then later on lap 38 when Fernando pulled out of Lewis´s slipstream and attempted to overtake going into turn 1. Behind at the start Ralf Schumacher and David Coulthard made contact with both drivers having to retire and also Rubens Barichello, but there was no need for the safety car. Learning from Canada McLaren pulled both cars in earlier than anticipated for their pit stop. Hamilton was superior in the first stage, then it looked as if Alonso had the upper hand in the middle sector, but in the third sector with the two McLarens out front and apparently in no danger from the Ferraris they could ease off. It was thought that Kimi Raikkonen´s soft compound would allow him to overtake Felipe Massa but in the end it was the Brazilian that took the third place. Heikki Kovalainen followed up his fourth place in Montreal with fifth place at Indy and 2005 pole sitter Jarno Trulli drove his Toyota into sixth place ahead of Mark Webber, ending his run of bad luck and BMW's teenage ace Sebastian Vettel to eighth, giving him the final point on his debut. Commentators this weekend were alert to the possible tensions between the two McLaren team mates but on the podium the body language was one of friendship today. Nick Heidfeld once again looked strong until he had to retire after 55 laps and driver of the day last weekend Takumo Sato retired after only 13 laps with an off. Had he not retired he would have got a 10 second penalty for overtaking under yellow flags. The stewards have given him a 10 place drop on the grid for the French Grand Prix as his punishment......

US Grand Prix on ITV
Live qualifying Saturday 16 June 1730-1930 ITV4
Qualifying re-run Saturday 16 June 2355-0125 ITV1
Live race Sunday 17 June 1700-2000 ITV1
Highlights Sunday 17 June 2345-0045 ITV1
Highlights re-run Monday 18 June 1800-1900 ITV4

Alonso not 100% comfortable at McLaren

Fernando Alonso has revealed that he has not felt truly comfortable at McLaren since joining the Woking squad last winter.

In an interview with Spanish radio station Cadena Ser, Alonso admitted that he is finding it hard having a British team-mate in a British team – but said he had never expected it to be an easy situation.

“From the first moment, I wasn’t comfortable with everything,” he said.

“It's completely understandable that the results of each Grand Prix are going to provide both the British and the Spanish media with an opportunity to hang on every word that the drivers say - and sometimes quotes are taken out of context which can put a completely different spin on an innocent remark,” Dennis told McLaren’s official website.

At Indianapolis on Thursday, Hamilton told a news conference that he was surprised by Alonso’s comments.

“I find it strange he said that because I feel that ever since he joined McLaren, the team have been extremely motivated to push us both toward winning,” he said.

However this blog has noticed the body language of both drivers for a few races now and they indicated to me that all was not well.

A Spanish friend of mine thinks that Fernando will eventually join Ferrari. I personally think that the amount of media attention on Lewis is being overdone and that maybe this is having an effect on Fernando´s mental attitude. A win at Indy is what the doctor ordered Fernando

Grand Prix du Canada. Gilles Villenueve - 10 June 2007

Race weekend report , Q1. Q2 . Q3 and race times click here

The Race
Please Please said Lewis Hamilton as he came out of the last corner yesterday hoping that he could get his first F1 pole position. Hamilton was slower away off the line than and Alonso looked set to sweep around the outside of the sister McLaren going in to turn one or maybe forced onto that line by a rapidly starting Heidfeld. Alonso outbraked himself and decided to cut across the grass at the first chicane but appeared to damage the underside of the chassis which was to cause problems for the rest of the afternoon, Jenson Button stalling at the start, no gears,having been confident on the grid of picking up some points this afternoon. Lewis had opened up a substantial lead and made his
first pit stop when the first safety car came out when a Spyker crashed into the wall at turn 4.

This was the first of 4 incidents which caused the safety car to come out the worst being on lap 29, when the race went green, the Kubica had an enormous crash after touching the right-rear wheel of Jarno Trulli’s Toyota on the 180mph approach to the hairpin. Prior to this Alonso and Rosberg mistakenly made a pit stop when the the safety car came out, were investigated and given a 10 second drive through penalty. Later Massa and Fisichella as they went to re-join the circuit, they jumped a red light at the exit of the pit lane, whilst Kubica waited, an infringement that led to the Ferrari and Italian driver being black flagged with just 19 laps to go. (Later it was reported that Kubica had sustained a broken
leg).

To cap a quite extraordinary afternoon Sato challanged Alonso in the closing stages out braking Alonso into the final chicane with two laps to go to take sixth, Fernando Alonso possibly yielding rather than making in issue out of the place, attempting "damage limitation" to the afternoon. Fernando said afterwards mistakes were inevitable as he tried to make up lost ground, out-braking himself at turn one for a four time, the last time letting Kimi through. He added about Lewis win - “Very lucky as well as we were on very similar strategies and if the safety car comes one lap before the stop we would have been eighth and ninth today."

There is a "refran" (saying in Spain) that men commit the same mistakes twice, and it would appear that if he had indeed tried to take Hamilton into the first corner that he had made the same mistake as in Barcelona. The team, and drivers, are trying to play down the pressure between the two drivers, but it can only increase. Lewis Hamilton drove a faultless race despite all the pressure and deserves being "nominated driver of the day", but close must be Nick Heidfeld and of course Alexander Wurz who had started twentieth on the grid and in the poles Sato was second favorite for this nomination. Monday - Sato overtakes Hamilton as Driver of the day 60.1 % (3178) v 28.97 % (1532). Walker Murray reckons that Lewis Hamilton could be the 2007 World Champion who says that he is "onanother planet". Will Bernie be running an event on Mars in the not too distant future?

Monte Carlo Grand Prix Monaco 27 May

Race weekend report , Q1. Q2 . Q3 and race times click here

the race
Lewis wanted it - Fernando needed it - the public said Lewis would take it, but in the end Fernando Alonso delivered it. Fernando regained the lead in the world championship today, won the race, set fastest lap, took his second consecutive win at Monaco and his second of the season. The body language of both Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton before and after the absorbing duel between them during the race told the story.

Lewis Hamilton maturely tucked into Fernando Alonso going into Ste. Dovete and this year there were no incidents on the first corner and even when Vitantonio Liuzzi hit the barriers (Massenet) 2 laps in, but the safety car was not called out. Fernando Alonso had pulled out a lead on his team mate but this incident allowed Lewis to close it again as Fernando went very slowly around the incident, whereas Hamilton did not have to so. Fernando Alonso then pulled out a gap of 8 seconds before coming upon back markers and the lead came down to 3. Then it was Hamiltons turn to go into traffic.

It was thought that Lewis was carrying more fuel than Fernando and that the Spaniard needed to be at least 5 seconds in front of the second McLaren by the first pit stop to win the race. He managed to be in the lead after Lewis made his first pit stop so the calculation had been correct. It was thought that Lewis would go longer in the second session but this was not the case and so Fernando Alonso took the win showing both his physical and mental strengths, Lewis Hamilton looking a bit ragged in the third session. Felipe Massa managed to keep up with the two McLaren´s in the first session and could not match them in the last two as the team tried the "super soft" tyres in the last two sessions, but the Italian team reckon that in both Canada and America that they will mix it with the McLaren´s. Giancarlo Fisichella drove a good race the circuit suiting their chassis. Alex Wurz registered his first top eight finish since his return to Formula 1 racing with a strong seventh place with Kimi Räikkönen taking the final point after. Scott Speed took a worthy ninth place for Toro Rosso, capitalising on an excellent start and solid pace throughout the race.

They call it the 2007 F1 "Hamilton Effect" with a 60,000 crowd at Monaco today, but today it was Fernando Alonso that was deservedly voted "Driver of the Day". It is estimated that the race brings in a revenue of 60 million
pounds to the Principality. Might we see land reclamation here?

Technorati Profile

Spanish Grand Prix - Circuito Montmelo Barcelona Spain - 13 May 2007

Race weekend report , Q1. Q2 . Q3 and race times click here

The race
Fernando Alonso played his cards entering the first corner and lost the game for as he said afterwards with a light fuel load and 4th place at this stage a win was not on the cards. Alonso tried to go around the outside of Massa, nearly making it, but the Brazilian was having nothing of it and was not going to be run onto the inside by the Spaniard and the two cars touched lightly, Fernando sliding momentarily off the road and letting Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen through. When rejoining he nearly caused a moment between the two BMW Saubers. After this Felipe Massa was never challenged, his team mate Raikkonen retiring on lap 9 with an electrical problem, and went on to win his second consecutive win. Lewis Hamilton could not close the gap, but took his fourth consecutive podium finish in four rookie races and now leads then Championship, the youngest driver to do so since Bruce McLaren. Trulli had stalled on the grid (fuel pressure problems) and had to start from the pit lane but had to retire on lap 8 with the same problem, lack of fuel pressure. Kubica started to show last seasons form with a fourth place but Nick Heidfeld in his second pit stop started to move away before the right front wheel gun was disengaged. The mechanics should have wheeled him back and his almost certain fifth place went out of the window on lap 46, but the cause of retirement was his gearbox. David Coulthard improved performance continued during the race, and despite a problem with the gears during the last few laps he brought the Red Bull in fifth just ahead of Heikki Kovalainen and really should be the "driver of the day." Nico Rosberg gave Williams Toyota points for his 7th place and the popular Takuma Sato also gave Super Aguri Honda their first point ever.

What is the relationship between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton at McLaren Mercedes and also the relationship between Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen at Ferrari after the fourth round? I ask this question as Fernando did not seem too happy that he did not win here and Lewis is now leading the World Championship. I understand that Kimi Raikkonen came to Ferrari thinking that he would be the number one driver there?

Video link