F1 2008

Ferrari did it once again! No one can stop them!

FORZA MASSA! FORZA KIMI!

British GP 2008 Results:

01 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:39:09.440
02 N. Heidfeld BMW + 1:08.500
03 R. Barrichello Honda + 1:22.200
04 K. Räikkönen Ferrari + 1 laps
05 H. Kovalainen McLaren + 1 laps
06 F. Alonso Renault + 1 laps
07 J. Trulli Toyota + 1 laps
08 K. Nakajima Williams + 1 laps
09 N. Rosberg Williams + 1 laps
10 M. Webber Red Bull + 1 laps
11 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso + 1 laps
12 T. Glock Toyota + 1 laps
13 F. Massa Ferrari + 2 laps
Did not finish
14 R. Kubica BMW + 21 laps
15 J. Button Honda + 22 laps
16 N. Piquet jr. Renault + 25 laps
17 G. Fisichella Force India F1 + 34 laps
18 A. Sutil Force India F1 + 50 laps
19 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso + 59 laps
20 D. Coulthard Red Bull + 59 laps

WOW!
What a race!
Never seen something like this. Literally. I was on phone when the race reach it's peak when it's raining hard..
And now three drivers on the top standings! What a season it will be.
I must admit that Hamilton was really doing a master driving...

Mafalda wrote:

I was waiting the thoughts of someone of you guys about the most incredible race ever.

Gio please tell us what said the englich newspapers about Lewis now .... what was he thinking??
Kimmi was so polite, I remember once a chilean pilot crashed Piquet and he left the car and hit Eliseo

After that Alonso lost HIS chance ...

Good for Kubica he dereved this revenge

Mafalda, are you referring to Eliseo Salazar here? I'm a bit confused.

I know Salazar, Chile's best motor racer maybe?

Hamilton is good leading from the front, he is like Schumacher in that sense, but he's not good at coming from behind to win. He's too reckless and makes many mistakes.

Raikkonen is the best on the grid at this.

The most talented driver on that grid is Vettel, not Hamilton. Hamilton is overhyped by the British media. If you put Kubica or Alonso in that Ferrari, Hamilton's title hopes would be over already I feel.

Last Sunday's race was my favourite of the year. A thrilling race at arguably the best circuit in the world. The gap between 1st and 2nd was never more than 5 seconds. Hamilton managed to close the gap lap by lap until it started to rain again and all hell broke loose. Raikkonen crashed and Hamilton managed to tip toe home to win the race. It must be a massive blow to Raikkonen's ego to lose this race, when he has already talked about retiring from F1. Massa finished second and great tactics from heidfeld to finish third.

But it doesn't end there, after a stewards enquiry it was ruled that Hamilton gained an advantage by overtaking Raikkonen over a chicane. Even though Hamilton gave the lead back he still had an advantage as he was closer to Raikkonen than before the chicane. The penalty was 25secs equivilant to a drive through penalty. Which means the offical results were:

1st Felipe Massa
2nd Nick Heidfeld
3rd Lewis Hamilton
4th Fernado Alonso
5th Sebastian Vettel
6th Robert Kubica
7th Sebastian Bourdais
8th Mark Webber

Ex-F1 champion Lauda has been calling the decision to penalise Hamilton the worst in the history of F1.

Although it seemed obvious Hamilton was going to overtake Kimi anyway, I think it was a fair decision. Firstly Lewis was attempting to overtake Kimi on the outside but he was NOT ahead of Kimi as he claims, therefore Kimi had the right to squeeze him off the track. Secondly, he only lifted slightly to slipstream him down the straight and then he overtook him. Of course he gained an advantage, had he not cut the chicane, he would have been 2-3 seconds behind Kimi. There's also a case for dangerous driving, as a driver is not allowed to swerve over and back on a staight. Lewis did as Kimi moved to defend the pass and as he did so Lewis went the other way, but Lewis had already swerved to draft Kimi. Anybody who saw it will know they almost collided.

Hamilton is completely overhyped. He couldn't win the championship last season when his team was obviously biased against Alonso and cost Fernando the title. The new cost cutting rule changes have harmed the more experienced drivers in F1 and Hamilton should be capitalising on this but he is not that good. He won the Monaco Grand Prix even though he crashed (bad rules), he has crashed in the pit lane (twice!!!), he has benefitted from wet races because rain gives his car a huge advantage and he has had the best reliability. Massa has suffered blow ups, bad luck, unfair penalties all season and he should already have the title won at this stage. Hamilton should be less cocky and get on with the job because it is costing him championships and I don't think he has the ability to merit them.

Caxi wrote:

Ex-F1 champion Lauda has been calling the decision to penalise Hamilton the worst in the history of F1.

Although it seemed obvious Hamilton was going to overtake Kimi anyway, I think it was a fair decision. Firstly Lewis was attempting to overtake Kimi on the outside but he was NOT ahead of Kimi as he claims, therefore Kimi had the right to squeeze him off the track. Secondly, he only lifted slightly to slipstream him down the straight and then he overtook him. Of course he gained an advantage, had he not cut the chicane, he would have been 2-3 seconds behind Kimi. There's also a case for dangerous driving, as a driver is not allowed to swerve over and back on a staight. Lewis did as Kimi moved to defend the pass and as he did so Lewis went the other way, but Lewis had already swerved to draft Kimi. Anybody who saw it will know they almost collided.

Hamilton is completely overhyped. He couldn't win the championship last season when his team was obviously biased against Alonso and cost Fernando the title. The new cost cutting rule changes have harmed the more experienced drivers in F1 and Hamilton should be capitalising on this but he is not that good. He won the Monaco Grand Prix even though he crashed (bad rules), he has crashed in the pit lane (twice!!!), he has benefitted from wet races because rain gives his car a huge advantage and he has had the best reliability. Massa has suffered blow ups, bad luck, unfair penalties all season and he should already have the title won at this stage. Hamilton should be less cocky and get on with the job because it is costing him championships and I don't think he has the ability to merit them.

Totaly! Im so sick of the Hamilton hype. If he was from anywhere else, he would be labelled as a thug of the sport but the British media cant see past the fact he is their only hope for a domestic champion. Its about time he grew up and stopped thinking he can make up his own rules and thats why the stewards are making an example of him!

There is no vendetta against him either, it's just that when Hamilton makes mistakes, it normally results in a crash. He is too rash, most definitely, I remember Schumacher was similar in the early stages of his career, but Michael kept getting banned from whole races! Lewis needs to shut up because, outisde of Britain, he is not a popular guy. Lewis getting booed in Spain, well, that was a 1st for me. Sport is full of egos but Lewis takes it to new extremes.

And I know you will agree with me on this Gio, Lewis and Andy Murray are getting similar press coverage at the moment and Andy could be about to do something no Brit has done in the modern era. Lewis is not yet a patch on even David Coulthard. Incredibly unfair. It's the media's fault.

Caxi wrote:

There is no vendetta against him either, it's just that when Hamilton makes mistakes, it normally results in a crash. He is too rash, most definitely, I remember Schumacher was similar in the early stages of his career, but Michael kept getting banned from whole races! Lewis needs to shut up because, outisde of Britain, he is not a popular guy. Lewis getting booed in Spain, well, that was a 1st for me. Sport is full of egos but Lewis takes it to new extremes.

And I know you will agree with me on this Gio, Lewis and Andy Murray are getting similar press coverage at the moment and Andy could be about to do something no Brit has done in the modern era. Lewis is not yet a patch on even David Coulthard. Incredibly unfair. It's the media's fault.

Yes definately, it's crazy, but Britain has always had this mindset. No wonder they never win anything, too many expectations and pressure.

Ofcourse though we all know how different the media build up an Englishman compared to a Scot.

The British media is a very strange animal. They love to hype the young British talent to point when they lose all sense of perspective. Hamilton isn't a bad driver, he's actually got good raw talent, but he's isn't the best. It's difficult to judge talent in this sport because you never know how much it is down to the car. For me the best drivers are Kimi and Alonso. Not only have they won world drivers championships but they can improve the car's performance beyond what is thought possible. I also believe that Kubica, Massa, Rosberg are better drivers than Hamilton but its diffcult to prove when Kubica and Rosberg drive inferior cars.

I like many other F1 fans hate Hamilton's attitude and his lack of respect for his fellow drivers. I find it difficult to like him with the fact that he just swaned in and got a drive in a McLaren F1 car. Think of the other drivers who have worked they way up through the different formulas, fighting for sponsership then at last they get an F1 drive, but are ignored due to the fact they are in an inferior car and getting poor results. Hamilton has had it easy, whilst he has talent I agree, but he hasn't had the challenge that most other drivers faced. And the way he looks down upon the other drivers with a snobbish attitude makes me angry. I don't like him.

What is interesting though, going back to the British media, has Jenson Button droped off the face of the earth? Every F1 show would have him in, now its as though he doesn't exist!

Alonso is top by a long distance. Kimi is unstoppable if he likes his car. I feel at Ferrari, Kimi has psychological issues with the car and the fact Massa is just very fast doesn't help him either. I think Kubica and Rosberg are better than Hamilton too although it is difficult to judge. I think Heidfeld, Vettel, Sutil etc. could be better but how can we know when they are in poor cars.

I feel we will see Alonso at Renault next season too, solely because I don't feel McLaren, BMW and Ferrari will change their line ups but it is a travesty because Alonso outclassed Schumacher in the past and I think he could be one of the best drivers in history but I need to see him in a top car so I can judge.

Senna is the best ever for me. He had it all.

What Hamilton did was unacceptable. He's such a moron. In a stable car like that, he could past Kimi in another corner and no controversy after it. But he did it like he want to show his class.
But IMO, stripping his 1st place is too much, he should get 10 grid penalty next race or whatever. This stripping off decision will make FIA's name worse and worse after many scandal hits them. Plus media attack and another experts can make a opinion that Ferrari helped by the FIA. I'm sure everybody doesnt like that.
I wish Massa win this years title. Hamilton's should win it another time when he reach 37yo...

Massa has been awesome this season. No points from the first 2 races and unfairly criticised, but since then, incredible. Mocked by the media for letting Hamilton past so easily at Hockenheim which was a stupid argument as Massa couldn't hold him off anyway and chose to keep safe. His mentality has been excellent, the last race impressed me a lot. He was on his second race engine which cost him time but yet he still nailed a perfect quali lap and then in the race, he didn't race Kimi when he was much slower and he just settled for the points. Job well done I think. Now at Monza, I expect him to head a Ferrari 1-2 and I think he will clinch the title at his home race in Brazil. I have high hopes that he will.

I hope you are right Caxi, I love Massa, Raikkonen is surely out of it which is a shame so I think Ferrari will start focussing on Massa now and we will start to see the old tactics from the Schumacher-Irvine/Barrichello eras.

I have many respect to Massa.
His career is totally 180 degree from what Hamilton did.
He start it all form zero, and all the hardworks is now paid.
I also like the way he learn, he know he is a world class driver but he never act like superstar which what Hamilton does everytime. He always know he still need a lot to improve and does improve race by race. The Championship is more worthy to be handed to him rather than Hamilton for sure.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7615250.stm

Hamilton "equally" deserving of plaudits as Vettel? The British media are nuts! How does Lewis in the best car coming 7th match Vettel storming ahead and dominating the GP. Of course Hamilton could have won" if this or that happened but then so could have I if I was on the grid and everyone except me spun off. But to say he "would have won" had it rained was a disgusting statement to make. How did he come to that conclusion. It rained yesterday and he qualified 15th!

What a drive from Vettel, he has more talent in his little finger than Lewis if you ask me. That was one of the best performances in F1 history and all I'm hearing about is how Hamilton could of won. Then, to make things worse, they get stuck into Massa and say who badly he did. Well, it's common knowledge that the McLaren is better than the Ferrari in the wet and I think I saw Massa ahead of Hamilton at the end. People need to stop hyping this guy...

Did u watch how many times this Hamilton guys doing crazy yet dangerous manouver against other driver?
That's insane! He wont be popular among drivers there. It's a bit like Shumi dirtyness but he isnt even world champion!
Well done to Vettel, he deserves it. IMO he will replace either Massa or Kimi at 2010.

Swiss driver Lewis Hamilton lost his appeal: LINK

One of the comments made me laugh:

Hamilton asserted his case powerfully in front of Tozzi, at one point stating: "Are you a racing driver? No!

"I have been a racing driver since I was eight years old and I know pretty much every single manoeuvre in the book, and that's why I'm the best at my job.

"We are talking about a skilled driver under intense pressure making a split-second decision which no-one, not unless they are in Formula One, can comprehend."

Tozzi told Hamilton to "stop personalising" the issue as he was under instruction from Ferrari, who "know as much about Formula One as you do".

Hamilton responded: "With respect, I doubt it."

Yeah right Hamilton, you know more than Ferrari

Once again Hamilton shows his lack of class.

David wrote:

Swiss driver Lewis Hamilton lost his appeal: LINK

One of the comments made me laugh:

Hamilton asserted his case powerfully in front of Tozzi, at one point stating: "Are you a racing driver? No!

"I have been a racing driver since I was eight years old and I know pretty much every single manoeuvre in the book, and that's why I'm the best at my job.

"We are talking about a skilled driver under intense pressure making a split-second decision which no-one, not unless they are in Formula One, can comprehend."

Tozzi told Hamilton to "stop personalising" the issue as he was under instruction from Ferrari, who "know as much about Formula One as you do".

Hamilton responded: "With respect, I doubt it."

Yeah right Hamilton, you know more than Ferrari

Once again Hamilton shows his lack of class.

Swiss driver...wh...what?

I've highlighted the bits that made me laugh...

I mean, what does that man smoke? He's not the best, he can't be, his name is not among world champions and even if it was, he still wouldn't be the best in my book.

Complete idiot.

He lives in Switzerland.
Apparantly he moved there because of media intrusion, nothing to do with tax!

What a ****!!!!!!!!

David wrote:

He lives in Switzerland.
Apparantly he moved there because of media intrusion, nothing to do with tax!

hehe, I see what you did there...clever!

it's funny, I knew he was contemplating a move to Switzerland (all over the papers) but his actual move was so low-key that I missed it (hmmm...wonder why).