Shanghai 2008

Will this race nail Hamiltons world championship? Or will the next race be the deciding race? Will Kubica spring a surprise? , may be not his pole position is 11 for today’s race. What about Alonso who has been winning the last couple races? Lets wait and watch.

Ferrari run on softer tires, Mclaren on hardsm with 40% chances or rain predicted. Will that determine the race. The cars are on their warm up lap. Wait and watch now.

First lap. It is Hamilton to Raikonnen to Massa. And it stayed that way the whole race through. But for the last few laps, when Raikonnen suddenly lost pace and Mass overtook him to get to second position.

Nothing spectacular to write home about, I say. It was Hamilton from start to finish.

Next race is Brazil. Massa’s home race. To win the world championship, Massa has to win and Hamilton finish less than 5th place or better still, not gain any points at all.

Me being the fervent Ferrari fan, hope that Hamilton does not finish the race!!! Too much to ask for. You never know, you might end up getting what you wanted. So, ask I will. And I have.

Corner Mishaps, Loosing Positions, Gaining Points, Rains!!

Rains, where did that come from, no not on the circuit for people who got to watch the whole race. Rain in Chennai that played spoil sport for me and cut me off watching the race for about 20 mins, that is about 18 laps.

But the first 2 laps were significant enough with Kubica taking the lead, Coulthard crashing his car, Hamilton loosing positions. What an eventful first corner.

2 race incidents and the better for it. Massa was involved in an incident with Hamilton early in the race and both the drivers earned drive through penalty. Massa was also involved with Bourdais as Bourdais was coming out of the pit lane and spun his car. Bourdais was not a happy man as he was handed over a 20/25 sec penalty at the end of the race that moved him from 6th to 10th position and moving Massa one position ahead and giving him 2 points to Hamiltons none, moving him closer to the world championship.

Will Massa make it happen for Ferrai, all us Ferrari fans do hope so. Don't we pray for that?

Weber was leading Massa to take the 8th position, but tire wear in one of his tires (right) made him  loose speed and Massa took lead to earn a championship point, which later increased to 2 as Bourdais received his penalty.

Driving at about 300 kms/hr and near contact of wheels with an opponent seems daily occurenences in these races, we saw Massa overtake Weber in that fashion. Almost gave me an heart attack with a millionth of a sec possibility of Massa crashing out. Nothing was to come his way yesterday, it seems, apart from those 2 incidents from which he recovered so well proving his experience and cool.

All Ferrari Fans, keep your fingers crossed for a week. Pray that it is a Mass-Kimi 1-2. Don't we all want that.

Btb, Alonso won the race with Kubica in second place. How we tend not to see this as Kimi came 3rd and Massa close to the title.

Bravo Ferrai team.

Longtime No see!!

I had been on a self imposed sabbatical since the time Ferrari did not perform to my expectations. No mistake of theirs, bad luck, mechanical issues, pit stop errors. No one can be blamed.

After watching the Singapore race, I was thrilled beyond words. What a race! What a circuit!. Jhonny Walker releasing a Collectors Edition of Black Label that reflects both the Singapore's skyline and The Voadfone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 race car. Man, all this was reason enough for me to start this again.

Does it really matter who wins or loses, is it not in the mind that the game is played and there that it is either won or lost?

Renault’s Fernando Alonso scored a surprise success just when he most needed it, in one of the most eagerly anticipated Grand Prix in Formula One history, under the lights of Singapore on Sunday. And he owed much of it to team mate Nelson Piquet, whose crash on the 14th lap changed the face of the race.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa led from pole position from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari, and Alonso dropped way back when he was the first to stop as the result of an aggressive opening stint. Then Piquet had his shunt and out came the safety car. Fourth-placed Robert Kubica for BMW Sauber and Williams’ Nico Rosberg both pitted before the pit lane was officially opened, and when it was on the 17th lap, Massa’s race fell apart as he led Hamilton, Raikkonen, Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel and Toyota’s Timo Glock.

The green light within his cockpit told Massa he could restart, but the refuelling hose was still attached to his car. He knocked over a mechanic as the hose tore away, and fuel spewed everywhere. Subsequently he was given a drive-through penalty for another unsafe exit in front of the Force India of Adrian Sutil.

Kubica and Rosberg were given 10-second stop-and-go penalties. The Pole’s ruined his race, but Rosberg was able to keep in play even after serving his. In the pit stop shuffle Hamilton got delayed running behind Alonso, Rosberg, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli, Giancarlo Fisichella (who had started from the pit lane after set-up changes on his Force India), and Mark Webber and David Coulthard in the Red Bulls. Eventually the British driver moved up to fourth behind Alonso, Rosberg and Coulthard, but he was losing a second a lap behind the Scot, and that was where his chance of winning evaporated.

Not even a second safety-car period, on the 51st lap after Massa spun and an unsighted Sutil crashed, could throw him a lifeline, but with Raikkonen crashing while fighting Glock for fourth place on the 58th lap, he could afford to settle for the six points that took his championship tally to 84 points, with Massa still on 77, Kubica 64 and Raikkonen 57. Equally, McLaren were able to move a point ahead of Ferrari in the constructors’ chase.

Thus Alonso scored his first win since Monza 2007 and Renault’s first since Japan 2006, and Rosberg scored his best-ever finish after a fine drive. Behind Glock, Vettel fended off Nick Heidfeld for fifth, and Coulthard and Kazuki Nakajima completed the points scorers.

Jenson Button was ninth for Honda ahead of an unhappy Heikki Kovalainen, who lost out badly in a first-lap brush with Kubica as they fought over fourth place; the Pole was 11th from Sebastien Bourdais, the deeply unhappy Massa and Fisichella. Raikkonen was classified 15th.

Trulli failed to finish with a mechanical problem, as did Webber; Barrichello ran out of fuel in his Honda, and Sutil and Piquet both crashed.

With far more overtaking than the drivers had predicted, Formula One’s first-ever night race packed in plenty of excitement, and was adjudged a great success.

The whole race update part is taking from elsewhere. From next race on, we will see a more "original" one for sure.

Race Day - 11 May 2008. Istanbul, Turkey

Racing Skills vs. Pit Stop Strategies

The race from start to finish was a great competition between some great racing skills and pit stop strategies. From the pole and into the first turn we saw Kimi loosing precious positions and the lead being taken by team mate Massa, who incidentally was leading from pole to finish in this race.

Turn one fiasco

Into turn one and we saw Fisichella running his car onto the back pack and stalling. Kovalinen who was in position 2 in the pole was moved to the back of the pack after an early pit stop and could make it only to position 12 at the end of the race though he had overtaken 8 other cars in the race.

Ferrari vs. Mclaren

The rest of the race was Ferrai vs. Mclaren all the way. Hamilton was running on a 3 stop strategy to Massa and Kimi's 2 stop strategy. With making a splash and dash 3rd stop, Hamilton was able to join back ahead of Kimi and secure his position 2. Kimi gave a good chase for about 13 laps in the end, but had to be satisfied with position 3.

Hatrick for Massa

It was a dream run for Massa winning his third consecutive podium finish this season. The race concluded with a Ferrai-Mclaren-Ferrai for Massa to Hamilton to Kimi. With this win Massa is second to team mate Kimi by 8 points with a total of 28.

Race Results

Felipe Massa (Ferrai), Lewis Hamilton (Mclaren), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber)

Drivers standing

Kimi Raikkonen (35), Felipe Massa (28), Lewis Hamilton (28), Robert Kubica (24), Nick Heidfeld (20)

Constructors Standing

Ferrai (63), BMW Sauber (44), Mclaren-Mercedes (42), Williams-Toyota (13), Red Bull - Renault (10)

Istanbul - Practice Sessions update

Massa keeps Ferrari on top in Turkish GP practice

Ferrari's Felipe Massa led first free practice for the Turkish Grand Prix on Friday while a gearbox problem left championship-leading team mate Kimi Raikkonen at the other end of the timesheets.

F1 2008 Season - Pre Race Update 9 May

Season Calendar

Melbourne	14-16 March
Kuala Lumpur	21 - 23 Mar
Bahrain	04 - 06 Apr
Catalunya - Next Race, Details Below	25 - 27 Apr
Istanbul	09 - 11 May
Monte Carlo	22 - 25 May
Montreal	06 - 08 Jun
Magny-Cours	20 - 22 Jun
Silverstone	04 - 06 Jul
Hockenheim	18 - 20 Jul
Budapest	01 - 03 Aug
Valencia	22 - 24 Aug
Spa-Francorchamps	05 - 07 Sep
Monza	12 - 14 Sep
Singapore	26 - 28 Sep
Fuji Speedway	10 - 12 Oct
Shanghai	17 - 19 Oct
Sao Paulo	31 Oct - 02 Nov

Drivers Championship Standing - As on 09 May 2008

Pos	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	29
2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	20
3	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	19
4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	18
5	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	16
6	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	14
7	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	9
8	Mark Weber	Red Bull-Renault	8
9	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	7
10	Alonso	Renault	6
11	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	5
12	Jenson Button	Honda	3
13	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	2

Constructors Championship – F1 2008, as on 09 May 2008

Pos	Team	Points
1	Ferrari	37
2	BMW Sauber	35
3	McLaren-Mercedes	34
4	Williams-Toyota	12
5	Toyota	9
6	Red Bull - Renault	8
7	Renault	6
8	Honda	3
9	STR - Ferrari	2

 

Next Race

Location:-  Istanbul – Turkey

Race Schedules– IST

Fri 09 May 2008
Friday Practice 1	12:30 - 14:00
Friday Practice 2	16:30 - 18:00
Sat 10 May 2008
Saturday Practice	13:30 - 14:30
Qualifying	16:30
Sun 11 May 2008
Race	17:30

 

Circuit Details

No. Of laps: 58

Circuit length: 5.338 km

Race distance: 309.396 km

Total Turns: 14

Lap Record Holder: Montoya (1:24:770 in 2005)

Last year results (2007)

Massa, Kimi , Alonso for a Ferrari 1-2 , Mclaren finish.

About the Circuit

Turkey made its debut on the Formula One calendar in 2005 with an all-new purpose-built circuit in Istanbul. The spectacular 5.378 kilometre track was designed by famed German architect Hermann Tilke, the man behind Sepang, Bahrain and Shanghai, and features 14 turns - eight lefts and six rights - with the cars reaching speeds of up to 330 km/h.
An unusual feature of the venue is that the lap runs anti-clockwise, making the Turkish Grand Prix one of only two races on the calendar to do so ( Brazil being the other). It possesses a wide variety of corners - including the notorious multi-apex Turn Eight - and while perhaps not as technical as, say, Shanghai, it definitely provides the drivers with real challenge.
The character of the circuit is further enhanced by plenty of gradients - the track is built on four different ground levels. There may be fewer obvious overtaking opportunities than at some other Tilke circuits - it doesn't feature the long straights followed by tight hairpins that characterise the likes of Sepang and Shanghai - but the potential for a driver under pressure to make a mistake here means no shortage of passing.
As you'd expect from a new venue, spectator facilities are impressive - organisers knew they had to rival the very high standards set by Bahrain and China. Seating capacity is around 130,000, with 25,000 of those in the main grandstand, and parking is available for 12,000 cars. Dominating the circuit's skyline are two seven-floor VIP towers at either end of the paddock.

Ferrari News!!!

Ferrari reverts to old nose for Turkey

Ferrari will not run its innovative vented nosecone in this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix, reverting instead to a conventional nose.

Coming up!!!

The next race is scheduled for the 11thof May, 2008. More details on the track, previous winners... coming up shortly!!!!! Keep watching this space.

Race day-April 27, Catalunya, Spain

The race was exciting with lots of scintillating overtaking at the back of the pack, drivers waving their ok after big accidents and many mix ups forcing the safety car twice on track. At the start of the grid it was Kimi, Alonso, Massa at the 1,2,3 pole position. But at the end of the first corner it was Kimi to Massa for a Ferrari1-2.

The start grid saw the Ferrari team of Kimi and Massa dominate the race from start to end with some competition from Lewis Hamilton for Massa, but Hamilton could not get close enough to Massa to pose serious threat to his position.

Safety car was on twice during the race once during lap 3-4 at the end of which it was Kimi to Massa to Hamilton and it stayed that way to the end of the race.

From a point very early in the race after the first safety car got off, it was evident that it was going to be a pit stop strategy unless some heavy duty overtaking at the lead track. But that was not to be, it was more pit stop strategy for the start grid.

Lap 21 saw Kovalainen hit the tire wall heavily. Safety car was out in lap22 after the Kovalinen incident along with the medical car. Fisichella and Barrichelo tires touch while coming out of the pit stop during the safety car. Lap 27 saw the safety car off with Kimi, Massa, Hamilton at 1-2-3. Alonso was at position 6 when in lap 34 mechanical failure forced him to exit the race.

The race at the back of the grid between Nick Heidfeld and Fisichella was electrifying with Heidfeld trying to overtake Fisichela and Fisichela holding him off for 5 laps in with Heidfeld overtaking him in lap 54 in the straight line for the speed of his car was better than Fisichela's car with Heidfeld overtaking Fisichela in the corner.

The final standing was a Kimi to Massa to Heidfled for a Ferrari 1-2.
The current drivers champioship saw Kimi leading with 27 points followed by Hamilton at 20 and Kubica at 19. The constructors championship saw Ferrari leading with 47 points and BMW with 35 at the second place.

Ferrari in the News!!!

Any news about Ferrari and their racing team is exciting news. Here I try and update you with all the latest news and gossips about the team, its drivers and just about anything related.

Motorsport: Raikkonen leads the way to Spain
Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen will lead the way when Formula One returns to Barcelona this weekend for the first race of the season in Europe.

Ferrari stand by Massa leaving Alonso at Renault
Fernando Alonso's hopes of driving for Ferrari should Renault fail to give him a winning car have been dashed by the Italian team's president

F1 2008 Season

This F1 season lets "Follow Ferrari" as we all have over the last few years!! Atleast I have. :-)

Kimi looks good, Massa not so good. But then, its just 3 races down. So much more to come.. so much more to see.. analyse... enjoy!!!

Here you will find the race calendar, greens indicate complete and the pink the upcoming. Details on the upcoming race location is also given... a little history etc...Updated driver and constructor championship scores are available too...

one stop shop for all your F1 needs?? nah!! close to it.. yes :-)
I hope.

Season Calendar

Melbourne	14-16 March
Kuala Lumpur	21 - 23 Mar
Bahrain	04 - 06 Apr
Catalunya - Next Race, Details Below	25 - 27 Apr
Istanbul	09 - 11 May
Monte Carlo	22 - 25 May
Montreal	06 - 08 Jun
Magny-Cours	20 - 22 Jun
Silverstone	04 - 06 Jul
Hockenheim	18 - 20 Jul
Budapest	01 - 03 Aug
Valencia	22 - 24 Aug
Spa-Francorchamps	05 - 07 Sep
Monza	12 - 14 Sep
Singapore	26 - 28 Sep
Fuji Speedway	10 - 12 Oct
Shanghai	17 - 19 Oct
Sao Paulo	31 Oct - 02 Nov

Drivers Championship Standing - As on 06 April 2008

Driver	Team	Points
Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	19
Nick Heidfeld	BMW	16
Hamilton	McLaren	14
Kubica	BMW	14
Kovalainen	McLaren	14
Massa	Ferrari	10
Jarno Trulli	Toyota	8
Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	7
Alonso	Renault	6
Mark Weber	Red Bull-Renault	4
Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	3
Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	2

Constructors Championship – F1 2008, as on 06 April

Pos	Team	Points
1	BMW	30
2	Ferrari	29
3	McLaren-Mercedes	28
4	Williams-Toyota	10
5	Toyota	8
6	Renault	6
7	Red Bull-Renault	4
8	STR-Ferrari	2

Next Race  Location:-  Catalunya – Spain
Race Schedules– IST

Fri 25 April 2008
Friday Practice 1	13:30 - 15:00
Friday Practice 2	17:30 - 19:00
Sat 26 April 2008
Saturday Practice	14:30 - 15:30
Qualifying	17:30
Sun 27 April 2008
Race	17:30

Circuit Details
No. Of laps: 66
Circuit length: 4.655km
Race distance: 307.104km
Total Turns: 16
Lap Record Holder: Massa (1:22:680 in 2007)
Last year results (2007)
Massa, Hamilton, Alonso for a Ferrari, Mclaren 2-3 podium finish.

About the Circuit
The Formula One teams are no strangers to Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya; not only have they raced there every year since 1991, they also conduct extensive testing at the venue.
Familiarity does not, however, lessen the challenge for car or driver. Barcelona's mix of high and low-speed corners, plus its abrasive and rather bumpy track surface, makes for a physically and mechanically taxing race. Tyre wear is particularly high and the varying winds that cut across the circuit mean an optimum set-up can be hard to find.
For spectators Elf corner is among the best places to watch, as it is one of the track's few overtaking opportunities. For the drivers it is the final two turns, known collectively as New Holland, which provide one of the biggest challenges of the season. A fast exit is essential in order to maximise speed down the start-finish straight into Elf.
2008 marks the 18th time Barcelona has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher has been the most successful driver at the circuit, with a total of six victories. Among the current drivers, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa have all won there.