Massa Takes Win In Bahrain GP

Photos courtesy of Formula One Administration

Massa couldn’t quite do it in qualifying, but his pace was just too much on raceday, as he comfortably led almost from the very off to collect his first win, and first points of the season (pic, bottom left). He was past Kubica after a couple of corners, and Robert then dropped down to third after Kimi Raikkonen overtook him. After the pit stops (pic, bottom right), it was smooth running for Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton’s race took a nosedive right from the beginning. He got off the grid badly, and dropped seven places. On Lap 2, he ran into the back of former team-mate Fernando Alonso (pic, top left). ITV immediately took Hamilton’s side, claiming that Alonso was “brake-testing” Hamilton, and that he intended to cause an incident. (Interestingly, on the ITV Website, they claim that only the “more cynical viewers” would assume such a thing) Either way, it didn’t get much better as Lewis coasted around Sakhir to finish in thirteenth place.

Lewis’ shunt with Alonso on Lap 2

It rounded off a bad day for McLaren, as Heikki Kovalainen could only manage fifth place behind Nick Heidfeld’s BMW in fourth. Jarno Trulli drove a solid race in the Toyota and finished in sixth. Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg rounded off the point finishers.

Only three drivers failed to finish. Sebastian Vettel failed to get to the end of lap one, while Jenson Button collided with David Coulthard at the back of the grid (pic, top right). Nelsinho Piquet’s Renault gave up the ghost towards the end of the race with a gearbox failure.

Felipe Massa’s first win of the 2007 season also came at Sakhir, and if you don’t remember, he followed it up with victory in Spain a couple of weeks later. Is he going to do it again, or will Kimi or Lewis mount more of a challenge?

1. F MASSA – 1:31:06.970
2. K Raikkonen +3.3
3. R Kubica +4.9
4. N Heidfeld +8.4
5. H Kovalainen +26.7
6. J Trulli +41.3
7. M Webber +45.4
8. N Rosberg +55.8
9. T Glock +1:09.5
10. F Alonso +1:17.1
11. R Barrichello +1:17.8
12. G Fisichella +1 Lap
13. L Hamilton +1 Lap
14. K Nakajima +1 Lap
15. S Bourdais +1 Lap
16. A Davidson +1 Lap
17. T Sato +1 Lap
18. D Coulthard +1 Lap
19. A Sutil +2 Laps

Not Classified
N Piquet
J Button
S Vettel

Lewis Loses It As Ferrari Fly

Friday Practice 2 delivered the same as what the earlier session had promised – Ferrari dominance. Massa and Raikkonen once again topped the times table, finishing first and second respectively.

But, while pushing to dislodge Ferrari’s stranglehold at the top of the timing sheet, Lewis Hamilton lost control and slid at speed into the barrier. He was already running fourth fastest, just behind team-mate Kovalainen. Felipe Massa has yet to finish a race this season, but so far in Bahrain, he has proved himself as the man to beat. Ultimately though, it’s what they do in qualifying tomorrow what matters.

FIA’s New Qualifying Rule

Following this story on Toro Bloggo after Sepang, the FIA have decided to do something about it.

You may remember the third session of qualifying at Sepang; Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen were relegated five grid places for “impeding” Fernando Alonso and Nick Heidfeld while they were on flying laps. To save fuel, drivers trundle round the track at a fraction of the regular speed, posing a danger to drivers still on their flying lap. Following this, the FIA have decided to impose a rule that states the drivers must complete their in-lap in a pre-determined time.

An FIA spokesman said “Our clarification to the teams and drivers will be that cars returning to the pits having completed their flying lap or laps will be required to do so within a time we will set. This could be approximately 120% of the normal time.” There’s no question, cars going round the track in 3 minutes is dangerous, and thankfully the FIA have done something before it’s too late.

Kimi Raikkonen Takes Sepang Win

Photos courtesy of Formula One Administation

Well, it wasn’t quite as eventful as Melbourne, but Sepang threw up a couple of surprises which ended up seeing Kimi Raikkonen on the top step of the podium.Polesitter Felipe Massa was sitting in second place before he span it out half way through the race (Picture, top left). Robert Kubica gained, to take second place, and BMW’s second successive podium finish (Picture, bottom right). Heikki Kovalainen took the final place on the podium, which was a good finish considering he started eighth.

Result of the day, though, goes to Jarno Trulli. Many people had written Toyota off at the start of this year, but he qualified fifth fastest (being promoted to third after McLaren’s penalty) and finished just outside the podium places. Team mate Timo Glock, however, got spun round by Rosberg on the opening lap, (picture, bottom left) and the team didn’t want him to stay out. As for Rosberg, following last week’s superb podium finish, his tangle with Glock meant that he needed a new nose cone, and came in a lowly 17th.

No points either for Toro Rosso or Force India. Sutil limped off after a couple of laps with a mechanical fault, and Fisichella could manage only twelfth. Neither Toro Rosso managed to finish the race, with Vettel’s Ferrari engine giving up (picture, top right) and Bourdais was unable to follow-up his two points in Melbourne.

Hamilton came fifth, meaning that McLaren still managed to get both drivers into point scoring positions. Lewis did have a problem in the pits, when the mechanics were unable to get the front-right wheel off the car. For now, McLaren still have the edge over Ferrari, but after Kimi’s torrid weekend in Australia, he’s turned it around and lies three points behind Lewis Hamilton. The normally-scolding heat of Bahrain is coming up in two weeks time – who will have the edge in Sakhir?

Classification
1. K RAIKKONEN 1:31:18.555
2. R Kubica +19.5
3. H Kovalainen +38.4
4. J Trulli +45.8
5. L Hamilton +46.5
6. N Heidfeld +49.8
7. M Webber +1:08.1
8. F Alonso +1:10.0
9. D Coulthard +1:16.2
10. J Button +1:26.2
11. N Piquet +1:32.2
12. G Fisichella +1 Lap
13. R Barrichello +1 Lap
14. N Rosberg +1 Lap
15. A Davidson +1 Lap
16. T Sato +2 Laps
17. K Nakajima +2 Laps

Not Classified
S Vettel
F Massa
A Sutil
T Glock
S Bourdais

Lewis And Heikki Penalised Five Grid Places

The stewards at Malaysia recieved complains from Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso regarding the slow-moving McLarens at the end of qualifying. According to Nick, Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton were crusing along in the racing line, trying to save fuel. The footage of this can be found here.

The stewards have stepped in, and both drivers have been demoted five places down the grid. McLaren will not be appealing the decision. It boosts Toyota’s Jarno Trulli into third place, and eases some of the pressure on Ferrari at the front.

Here is the revised driver line up for Sunday’s race:
1. F Massa – 1:35.748
2. K Raikkonen – 1:36.230
3. J Trulli – 1:36.711
4. R Kubica – 1:36.727
5. N Heidfeld – 1:36.753
6. M Webber – 1:37.009
7. F Alonso – 1:38.450
8. H Kovalainen – 1:36.613 + Penalty
9. L Hamilton – 1:36.709 + Penalty
10. T Glock – 1:39.656
—
11. J Button – 1:35.208
12. D Coulthard – 1:35.408
13. N Piquet – 1:35.562
14. R Barrichello – 1:35.622
15. S Vettel – 1:35.648
16. N Rosberg – 1:35.670
—
17. G Fisichella – 1:36.240
18. K Nakajima – 1:36.388
19. S Bourdais – 1:36.677
20. T Sato – 1:37.087
21. A Sutil – 1:37.101
22. A Davidson – 1:37.481

McLaren Under Investigation As Massa Takes Pole

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa is in a perfect position to repeat last year’s victory. He was on pole position in 2007 and went on to take the chequered flag. Kimi Raikkonen makes it an all-Ferrari front row, and if Heikki or Lewis are going to grab a win for McLaren, they will have to fight for it. Jarno Trulli qualified an excellent fifth, and Timo Glock also made the final qualifying session.

The McLaren drivers though, have been the source of complaints from Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso. Something that’s cropped up this year which we haven’t seen before are these “three-minute laps” that drivers set once they’ve set their qualifying time. They cruise round at very slow speeds to save fuel, and this can pose a risk to drivers approaching at full speed. Nick and Fernando claim their final hot laps were spoiled by the slow-moving McLarens.

Heidfeld: “Before turn four I lost a lot of time because both McLarens were cruising on the racing line. I think this has cost me about two tenths of a second, which would have meant being third instead of seventh.” Footage of Heidfeld being “impeded” can be found here. Judge for yourselves. Nick also claims he couldn’t brake where he wanted to as a result of McLaren’s cruising. If McLaren are ruled to be impeding, they could both face grid penalties.

After Red Bull’s escapade in Friday practice, the stewards have decided to take no further action. Red Bull did face exclusion from the race after David Coulthard’s car fell apart due to a track rod failure, but team boss Christian Horner has called it an “isolated incident”, and after presenting their case to the race stewards, they are free to race. Good job too, as Mark Webber qualified a very handy 8th place.

1. F Massa – 1:35.748
2. K Raikkonen – 1:36.230
3. H Kovalainen – 1:36.613
4. L Hamilton – 1:36.709
5. J Trulli – 1:36.711
6. R Kubica – 1:36.727
7. N Heidfeld – 1:36.753
8. M Webber – 1:37.009
9. F Alonso – 1:38.450
10. T Glock – 1:39.656
—
11. J Button – 1:35.208
12. D Coulthard – 1:35.408
13. N Piquet – 1:35.562
14. R Barrichello – 1:35.622
15. S Vettel – 1:35.648
16. N Rosberg – 1:35.670
—
17. G Fisichella – 1:36.240
18. K Nakajima – 1:36.388
19. S Bourdais – 1:36.677
20. T Sato – 1:37.087
21. A Sutil – 1:37.101
22. A Davidson – 1:37.481

Hamilton Wins Action-Packed Season Opener

Only 7 cars saw the chequered flag in the sweltering heat of Melbourne. Nick Heidfeld collected second place and Williams’ Nico Rosberg got an impressive third place. The race was action packed right from the start, as Ferrari’s Felipe Massa lost control at the first corner and gently nudged the barrier.

Something that was of concern was the ease at which the cars fell apart. David Coulthard was tagged by Felipe Massa at the tricky turn 3 and his bodywork fell to pieces as the Red Bull skidded along the track. David ended up in the air at Melbourne last year, when he collided with Alex Wurz. Coulthard took the blame for that, and expects Massa to do the same this year, offering to “kick three colours of sh*t out of the little bastard” if he didn’t. With around ten laps to go, Timo Glock went wide and hit a bump in the ground, flinging the Toyota into the air, and once again the bodywork was strewn across the track.

Sebastian Bourdais failed to finish, and retired with an engine problem with just two laps to go. As he had reached the final 5 laps, he is technically classified as a finisher, and managed to collect one championship point. Rubens Barrichello may well face the wrath of the stewards after leaving the pit lane under a red light, which would promote Nakajima to 6th, Bourdais to 7th, and Raikkonen, who also failed to finish, into 8th.

A disappointing opening race for Force India resulted in both their drivers retiring from the race within a few laps. Fisichella was flipped onto two wheels in a first corner incident with Anthony Davidson.

The safety car was released three times throughout the race, but amid all the chaos and retirements, Lewis Hamilton kept his head to take an early lead in the Driver’s Championship. Deserved? Leave a comment on this page and let Toro Bloggo know what you think.

1. L HAMILTON 1h 34m 50.616s
2. N Heidfeld +5.4
3. N Rosberg +8.1
4. F Alonso +17.1
5. H Kovalainen +18.0
6. R Barrichello +52.4
7. K Nakajima +1 Lap

Retirements
S Bourdais
K Raikkonen
R Kubica
T Glock
T Sato
N Piquet
F Massa
D Coulthard
J Trulli
A Sutil
M Webber
J Button
A Davidson
S Vettel
G Fisichella

Toro Presso – Lewis Tops Times In Session 2

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in practice session 2, clocking in a lap of 1:26.559.

For much of the session, local boy Mark Webber was fastest in the Red Bull, while the pacesetter for the earlier session, Kimi Raikkonen, could manage only sixth fastest.

Top 10:
L Hamilton – 1:26.559
M Webber – 1:27.473
F Massa – 1:27.640
H Kovalainen – 1:27.683
D Coulthard – 1:28.037
K Raikkonen – 1:28.208
J Trulli – 1:28.292
N Rosberg – 1:28.352
G Fisichella – 1:28.469
T Glock – 1:28.582

14/03

Kimi Quickest In Friday Practice 1

Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time in the first practice session at Melbourne. He set a time of 1:26.461, beating his closest rival, Lewis Hamilton, by just under half a second.

The session was red-flagged with around 25 minutes when Nelsinho Piquet’s car stopped on the circuit. Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg didn’t set a lap time in his Williams, due to a gearbox issue. Teammate Kazuki Nakajima only set one lap time, a slow 1:35.053.

Top 10:
K Raikkonen – 1:26.461
L Hamilton – 1:26.948
F Massa – 1:26.958
H Kovalainen – 1:27.114
M Webber – 1:28.263
F Alonso – 1:28.360
R Kubica – 1:28.576
T Glock – 1:28.913
S Vettel – 1:28.957
J Trulli – 1:29.014

14/03

2008 Drivers – Part 11/11: McLaren

Lewis Hamilton
Nationality: British
DOB: 07/01/85
Races: 17
Wins: 4
Podums: 12
Pole Positions: 6
Total Career Points: 109

Heikki Kovalainen
Nationality: Finnish
DOB: 19/10/81
Races: 17
Wins: 0
Podums: 1
Pole Positions: 0
Total Career Points: 30

Lewis Hamilton was the name on everybody’s lips last season, as the young Brit came agonisingly close to the world title at the first attempt. It was not to be, however. Lewis started karting at eight years old, and at age ten, told Ron Dennis – McLaren team boss – that one day he wanted to race for them. Ron Dennis wrote in his autograph book, “call me in nine years”, but it was as early as 1998 when Dennis signed Hamilton for the McLaren driver development program.

After being signed, he continued to win championships, including the Formula Renault championship, and then the 2006 GP2 series. In 2007, he got his race seat at McLaren, becoming the first black mixed race driver to race in F1. (N.B. Willy T. Ribbs became the first black driver to actually drive an F1 car when he tested for Brabham in 1986, but never actually raced.) Lewis got on the podium in each of his first nine races, and had a good lead going in to the penultimate race, and was the youngest driver to lead the drivers’ championship. In those final two races, he accumulated just two points, and Kimi Raikkonen won the last two races to take the title by a point. Lewis developed a healthy rivalry with Fernando Alonso which will no doubt continue this year. Has Lewis got it in him to win at his second attempt?

PREDICTION: 2nd

Heikki Kovalainen came to F1 in 2007 with a strong racing history. The young Finn started karting in 1991, and in 2000 he became Nordic Champion and voted Finnish Driver of the Year. He came third in British Formula 3 at his first attempt in 2002, before winning the World Series by Nissan in 2004. He followed this up with runner-up in the GP2 series in 2005, before gaining his F1 seat at Renault in 2007.

It wasn’t the first time Heikki had set foot in an F1 car. He tested for Renault and Minardi in 2003, and was given the role of second test driver behind Franck Montagny at Renault. In 2006, he was full-time tester for Renault, before gaining his race seat the year after, with an inferior car. Renault didn’t impress in 2007, having won the two championships before. Heikki got off to a poor start, getting 3 points in his first 5 races, but picked it up towards the end of the season, gaining his first and only podium of 2007 at the Japanese Grand Prix. Like his new team-mate Hamilton, Kovalainen just missed out on a reliability record, retiring in just one grand prix – the final one in Brazil. Heikki finished on 30 points, seventh in the championship. With a much more powerful car at his grasp this year, Heikki may surprise a few people.

PREDICTION: 3rd