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."