Formula 1 - 2008 Season

[Bludd]

Yeah, it was a stupid decision. He was robbed and Massa didn't lose position when he spun.

 

[Davros]

Dc's opinion

"The penalty that particularly mystified me was the Sebastien Bourdais one.
I saw his pit exit collision with Felipe Massa as a standard racing one. Sebastien had every right to be there, every right to be defending his position.
I think we need more transparency in some of these decisions, more explanations as to the reasons for the penalties."

 

[Phil]

I hate to say it - after a year of hating Hamilton (I couldn't stand him, moreso the press/media), I'm finally coming round to him. I like his driving style and hope to see him win is first WC this year. Shanghai 2008 roll on!

 

[Bludd]

I hope Kubica will win. Hamilton and Massa are good at making mistakes when it counts.

 

[infinity4]

Q3 results

1, Hamilton
2, Raikkonen
3, Massa
4, Alonso

First 2 rows are the same line up as last season's!!!

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Hamilton snatches Shanghai pole

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton gave his Formula One title hopes a huge boost when he took pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai with his main rival Felipe Massa of Ferrari qualifying third.

The 23-year-old Briton - who would become the sport's youngest world champion if he wins Sunday's penultimate race of the season and Massa finishes fifth or worse - will line up alongside reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen on the front row.

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, the third driver still in the title race - albeit 12 points behind Hamilton - scraped into the second qualifying session but failed to reach the final shoot-out and will start 12th on the grid.

The Pole, who has been complaining about a lack of balance in his car all weekend, had a good morning practice with the third-best time behind team-mate Nick Heidfeld and Hamilton but his troubles returned when it mattered.

The first two rows of the grid will be exactly the same as last season in Shanghai with Renault's Fernando Alonso qualifying fourth.

Last year, Hamilton just needed to beat his championship rivals to win the title but failed to finish the race after skidding off at the pit-lane entry.

The front row in Shanghai will also be a repeat of last weekend's Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, where Hamilton failed to score any points after a wild start that earned him a drive-through penalty.

The pole position in China is Hamilton's seventh of the season and 13th in 34 races.

His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen could not improve from fifth with his final flying lap of the session, denying McLaren the opportunity to protect Hamilton going into the opening corners.

Red Bull's Mark Webber pulled off the track with his car on fire during the morning's final practice and suffered a 10-place penalty for replacing the engine. That relegated the Australian from sixth to 16th.

News Source: Hamilton snatches Shanghai pole - Yahoo! Eurosport UK

Qualifying live standing

P. 	Driver 			Team 		Time 
1 	Lewis Hamilton 		McLaren 	1:36.303
2 	Kimi Räikkönen 		Ferrari 	0:00.923
3 	Felipe Massa 		Ferrari 	0:01.167
4 	Fernando Alonso 	Renault 	0:01.205
5 	Heikki Kovalainen 	McLaren 	0:01.208
6 	Mark Webber 		Red Bull 	0:01.361
7 	Nick Heidfeld 		BMW 		0:01.479
8 	Sebastian Vettel 	Toro Rosso 	0:01.963
9 	Jarno Trulli 		Toyota 		0:02.212
10 	Sebastien Bourdais 	Toro Rosso 	0:03.163
11 	Nelson Piquet 		Renault 	0:00.000
12 	Robert Kubica 		BMW 		0:00.092
13 	Timo Glock 		Toyota 		0:00.215
14 	Rubens Barrichello 	Honda 		0:00.357
15 	Nico Rosberg 		Williams 	0:00.488
16 	David Coulthard 	Red Bull 	0:01.009
17 	Kazuki Nakajima 	Williams 	0:01.141
18 	Jenson Button 		Honda 		0:01.331
19 	Adrian Sutil 		Force India 	0:02.008
20 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	Force India 	0:02.017

 

[Zaphod]

Qualifying live standing

P. 	Driver 			Team 		Time 
1 	Lewis Hamilton 		McLaren 	1:36.303
2 	Kimi Räikkönen 		Ferrari 	0:00.923
3 	Felipe Massa 		Ferrari 	0:01.167
4 	Fernando Alonso 	Renault 	0:01.205

Those time-differences are all wrong. The first two rows should be at 0.342, 0.586, and 0.624 repectively. Still quite large gaps, but far from as dominant by Alonso as Eurosport made it out to.

Also, Webber have been penalized 10 places on the grid for changing his engine (dropping to 16th) and Heidfeld three places for some qualifying irregularity (effectively placing him 9th).

 

[Kaotik]

Let's see wether Lewis will go Kamikaze again in case Kimi gets better start

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Kimi should pull off a Schumacher then

 

[Deepak]

So only one race (Brazil) left now?

 

[RobertR1]

Domination race by Lewis. Well done! I hope it's raining in Brazil. I want a edge of the seat thriller

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Edge? as long as Hamilton doesnt crash he's won it already and given how all the bad luck of mclaren goes to Kovi its pretty much done already.

 

[nutball]

Edge? as long as Hamilton doesnt crash he's won it already and given how all the bad luck of mclaren goes to Kovi its pretty much done already.

You sound annoyed. Again.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

It was funny to hear Massa trying to convince in the press conference that it was a normal racing overtaking when he passed Kimi and then right after Kimi made it clear that he let Massa pass, which of course everybody already knew hehe.

Hamilton was just a little bit too fast for the Ferraris today and is in a really good position going to Brazil.
I just wish he doesn't talk "God was on our side today" crap ever again.

 

[nutball]

yeah and Kimi came as close as he could to saying "it was team orders" without actually saying it.

Anyway the F1A got its wish. Every Grand Prix has to count you know, it's in the contract.

 

[Bludd]

Boring race, only action was Kovy vs. Alonso in the first lap.

Kimi had to slow down massively to let Felipe past. Kimi seemed annoyed at the ridiculousness of it all during the press conference.

Renault achieved their goal with fourth in the constructors', Toyota can't score 20 points in one race.

Kovy has to perform in Brazil if McLaren is to win both titles, but Ferrari needs to have problems since they are 12 points ahead with 18 points up for grabs. He's cooking the brakes in the formation lap, so he needs to work on that.

 

[pocketmoon66]

I just wish he doesn't talk "God was on our side today" crap ever again.

I think the full quote is

"God was on our side today, as always..."

 

[Bludd]

I think the full quote is

"God was on our side today, as always..."

Full quote is "Yeah, all weekend we've had God on our side, as always and the team ..."

 

[Deepak]

http://racing.timesofindia.indiatim..._Brazil_title_decider/articleshow/3663329.cms

SAO PAULO: Local hero Felipe Massa of Ferrari grabbed pole for Sunday's championship showdown at the Brazilian Grand Prix with a dazzling lap in a dramatic and hotly-contested qualifying session.

Massa, who trails Lewis Hamilton by seven points in the title race, clocked a best time of one minute and 12.368 seconds in the third and final part of Saturday's session.

McLaren's Hamilton, who needs to finish in the top five to become the youngest and first black champion in F1 history, qualified fourth behind Massa, Italian Jarno Trulli in his Toyota and outgoing world champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari.

Trulli split the two Ferraris with a dramatic last-gasp lap that forced Raikkonen down a place and wrecked the Italian team's hopes of an all-scarlet front row.

It was Massa's sixth pole position of the season, his third in succession at Interlagos and the 15th of his career.

Hamilton's team-mate, Finn Heikki Kovalainen, qualified fifth ahead of two times champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Renault.

German Sebastian Vettel was seventh for Toro Rosso ahead of compatriot Nick Heidfeld in a BMW Sauber, Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais in the second Toro Rosso and another German Timo Glock for Toyota.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I hope Alonso tries to overtake Hamilton VERY aggressively tomorrow
:smile:

If Hamilton doesn't have any mechanical problems it should be quite easy for him to win the title, but you never know what happens.