Chinese F1 Grand Prix

[Pancake]

Current Drivers Standings going into race weekend:

 

[b]Pos   Driver       Team        Pts[/b]
1     Hamilton     McLaren     84
2     Massa        Ferrari     79
3     Kubica       BMW Sauber  72
4     Räikkönen    Ferrari     63
5     Heidfeld     BMW Sauber  56
6     Kovalainen   McLaren     51
7     Alonso       Renault     48
8     Vettel       Toro Rosso  30
9     Trulli       Toyota      30
10    Webber       Red Bull    21

Current Constructors Standings going into race weekend:

 

[b]Pos  Constructor   Engine    Pts[/b]
1    Ferrari       Ferrari   142
2    McLaren       Mercedes  135
3    BMW Sauber    BMW       128
4    Renault       Renault   66
5    Toyota        Toyota    50
6    Toro Rosso    Ferrari   34
7    Red Bull      Renault   29
8    Williams      Toyota    26
9    Honda         Honda     14
10   Force India   Ferrari   0
11   Super Aguri   Honda     0

Previous Winners:

 

• 2007 - Raikkonen
  
• 2006 - M. Schumacher
  
• 2005 - Alonso
  
• 2004 - Barrichello
  

TV Coverage:

 

Chinese Grand Prix on ITV

Practice Friday 19 October 0300-0430 & 0700-0830

Live qualifying Saturday 18 October 0615-0815 ITV1

Quali re-run Saturday 18 October 1525-1725 ITV1

Live race Sunday 19 October 0700-1005 ITV1 (Race start 0800)

Race re-run Sunday 19 October 1455-1800 ITV1

Race highlights Sunday 19 October 2315-0015 ITV1

Highlights re-run Monday 20 October 1800-1900 ITV4

 

News:

 

Hamilton hits back at critics

Mosley to discuss cash cuts

Hamilton: Im not haunted by China '07

Massa expects fast Ferrari in China

Official F1 China Preview drivers comments

Press Conf schedule for China

Senna expects to test for Honda in November

Flav: Piquet driver not secure after Fuji show

Alex Wurz talks through Shanghai track

 

BBC Preview/Track commentary from Webber

[Arizona]

4 different World Champions in 5 years. Makes a great change from the "anyone but Michael" days.

 

I will be rooting for Hamilton (attitude aside he is British after all) and Kubica, who has been very impressive in a distinctly average BMW.

[Colinjb]

Why bother watching? The stewards will doctor it in Ferrari's favour regardless of what happens on the track.

[Pancake]

Why bother watching? The stewards will doctor it in Ferrari's favour regardless of what happens on the track.

 

And thats based on Alonso winning the last 2 races?

[Ponty]

I shall be rooting for Alonso & Piquet but will hope that Kubica can somehow spoil the party for the big two and at least take it to the last race. I'd settle for a DNF for both Massa and Hamilton after they collide, with both have to start Brasil with a 10 place grid penalty for dangerous driving. That should spice things up a bit.

[Weston Super Saint]

I shall be rooting for Alonso & Piquet but will hope that Kubica can somehow spoil the party for the big two and at least take it to the last race. I'd settle for a DNF for both Massa and Hamilton after they collide, with both have to start Brasil with a 10 place grid penalty for dangerous driving. That should spice things up a bit.

 

That'll probably happen.

 

Apart from the 10 place penalty. Only Hamilton will get that!

[St Landrew]

Why bother watching? The stewards will doctor it in Ferrari's favour regardless of what happens on the track.

 

And thats based on Alonso winning the last 2 races?

 

Tbf to Colinjb's point. It hasn't hurt Massa to have Alonso winning races. And if Alonso is winning, then Hamilton can't. And Massa has gained another 2 points on Hamilton in the overall scheme of things. If it was fiction, it would be more obvious. Massa to gain 6 points over Hamilton in the remaining 2 races. I think the FIA can engineer that without too many people causing a stir.

 

This is all alledged stuff, of course. :cool:

[Ponty]

Christ, could you imagine the outcry? The odds for the races are slightly stacked in the favour of the Ferrari; their car works very well at both tracks and Massa will have a new engine for Brasil when he won't have to be concerned about making it last two races. Lewis has a new one for China but, of course, he has to take it to Brasil as well. That said, I still think Lewis has enough of a points advantage to come out on top IF he can keep his head! He also needs Heikki to step up at the forthcoming races. In a car that's leading the WDC he's only managed 3 points more than Fernando and one race win less. The more cynical might propose the theory that he's being hobbled in favour of Lewis as he's not Ron's golden child but I think he's just been poor, relatively speaking.

[Ponty]

Also, all bets are off if it rains, which is 60% likely, in China. Lewis has proved both very good and very suspect in the rain, whereas Massa has just been suspect.

 

Anything could happen.

[Post-it note]

Anybody want to join me in a rain dance?

 

Might liven things up abit instead of the usual dross.

[Ponty]

Anybody want to join me in a rain dance?

 

Might liven things up abit instead of the usual dross.

 

Valencia aside, this season has been anything but "the usual dross".

[Weston Super Saint]

Valencia aside, this season has been anything but "the usual dross".

 

Christ yeah!

 

Who'd have thought the Renault team would win anything :shock:

[Ponty]

Christ yeah!

 

Who'd have thought the Renault team would win anything :shock:

 

As the only non-Ferrari team to win WDC and WCC this millennium, a few people I should imagine.

[Weston Super Saint]

As the only non-Ferrari team to win WDC and WCC this millennium, a few people I should imagine.

 

LOL

 

Alonso has got lucky twice in a row and taken advantage of others' misfortunes....

[Ponty]

LOL

 

Alonso has got lucky twice in a row and taken advantage of others' misfortunes....

 

In Fuji?

 

Misfortunes or sh!t driving?

 

It's all about taking advantage of others' mistakes mate, else they'd all finish in the same place they start every week.

[Weston Super Saint]

In Fuji?

 

Misfortunes or sh!t driving?

 

It's all about taking advantage of others' mistakes mate, else they'd all finish in the same place they start every week.

 

Very true.

 

My argument is no-one 'expected' Alonso to win those two GP's.

 

Fair play to him though, as he could have bottled it and put it into a wall or something...

[Ponty]

Perhaps they didn't expect it at this stage of the season, true, but it's unfair to write the Renault team off. Two double world championships, in the Schumacher era, aren't luck.

[Arizona]

Christ yeah!

 

Who'd have thought the Renault team would win anything :shock:

 

As the only non-Ferrari team to win WDC and WCC this millennium, a few people I should imagine.

 

LOL

 

Alonso has got lucky twice in a row and taken advantage of others' misfortunes....

 

In Fuji?

 

Misfortunes or sh!t driving?

 

It's all about taking advantage of others' mistakes mate, else they'd all finish in the same place they start every week.

 

Hook, line and sinker.

 

I too shall be rooting for Kubica and a Mass/Hamilton DNF, but only if both of them DNF. The most important thing is that Ferrari don't win the WDC.

[Um Bongo]

Well Lewis is on Pole.

 

Hamilton

Kimi

Massa

Fernando

 

Not the line up he would have wanted to see!

[Ponty]

Looks like Bobby K has blown it, but the stranger things have happened.

 

Anyone got a few bob on a 1st corner incident and a Fernando hat-trick? No, nor me

[Arizona]

I hope it rains.

 

Hamilton SHOULD sh*t all over Massa in the rain, and it might give Bobby K half a chance.

 

I just hope Heikki ploughs into the back of Massa at turn 1, although after Japan I suspect it will be a very 'diplomatic' first lap.

[tommi]

Rain would certainly make it interesting............!

 

Strategy also looks interesting, what price Hamilton and Kimi stopping earlyish????

[jawillwill]

I'm expecting Piquet to have another great race. He's been in cracking form lately.

[Arizona]

A large step towards the title. Well done Lewis.

 

I thought team orders, like the Ferraris swapping possition at the end, were banned. No doubt both drivers will be disqualified from the race now.

[Ponty]

A large step towards the title. Well done Lewis.

 

I thought team orders, like the Ferraris swapping possition at the end, were banned. No doubt both drivers will be disqualified from the race now.

 

No, team orders during a race are banned. Team strategies are fine, and expected in those situations. Nothing out of the normal happened there.

[Al de Man]

"Racing" like the bad old days.

 

Take note FIA, this is what happens when you penalise people for trying to compete.

[Guest Dark Sotonic Mills]

I watched the race this morning.

 

Trouble was, half an hour later I wanted to watch it again...

[Ponty]

A large step towards the title. Well done Lewis.

 

I thought team orders, like the Ferraris swapping possition at the end, were banned. No doubt both drivers will be disqualified from the race now.

 

Also, at least Ferrari had the decency to wait until the penultimate race to decide on their No1 driver. Heikki was pulling over to allow Lewis past back in Hockenheim.

[St Landrew]

Also, at least Ferrari had the decency to wait until the penultimate race to decide on their No1 driver. Heikki was pulling over to allow Lewis past back in Hockenheim.

 

Well, tbf Ponty, both drivers have had similar performances, and Massa has only been truly superior since his points advantage piled up, and even then Raikonnen has been in with a shout. Yesterday, to prove it, he was second fastest in qualifying. Kovalainen has simply been a lot slower than Hamilton, which incidentally, either says a lot about the Ferrari as a car, or about how good Hamilton is as a driver. I won't mention how good I think Heikki is, because you would have a lot more data on that than I would.

 

BTW, my first time in watching theChina GP coming up.

[Son of Bob]

Also, at least Ferrari had the decency to wait until the penultimate race to decide on their No1 driver. Heikki was pulling over to allow Lewis past back in Hockenheim.

 

Ponty in McLaren/Hamilton bashing shocker...

[St Landrew]

Christ, could you imagine the outcry?

 

Hmm, as long as nothing actually happened along with the noise, I tend to think they'd give it a go.

 

Having now seen the Chinese GP, I have to comment on the Raikkonen/Massa pass, late in the race. It may not have been official team instructions to let Massa through, but let's not be in any doubt that before the race, I'm sure the Ferrari drivers were made aware [especially Raikkonen, who looked embarrassed in the post race interview] of what was expected of them. Any other team could possibly have been penalised, but of course, McLaren weren't about to protest, so no action taken. They may need to do something similar at Interlagos, in any case.

 

Like the MotoGP today, not a great race for the casual watcher, but enough fun for the keen. A disciplined and fast drive by Hamilton helped me to stayed awake.

[Ponty]

StL, they already did something similar at Hockenheim and, for the record, no-one involved in the sport has any issue with it. It is a team sport after all. Neutering team orders is a bit like telling your strikers that they can't pass to a midfielder if he's in a better position than they are.

[Arizona]

StL, they already did something similar at Hockenheim and, for the record, no-one involved in the sport has any issue with it. It is a team sport after all. Neutering team orders is a bit like telling your strikers that they can't pass to a midfielder if he's in a better position than they are.

 

At Hockenheim Hamilton was clearly much faster. After passing Heikki, he went past Massa and Piquet with very little resistance. I doubt either of them had orders to let him through.

 

 

Letting a driver past who is clearly faster is all well and good, but Kimi was quicker than Massa all weekend until suddenly becoming slower right at the end. Of course I understand why Ferrari did it, I just thought they'd banned such tactics after races like Austria 2001 and 2002.

 

Read the first paragrah:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Austrian_Grand_Prix

[PhilB]

Well done Lewis Hamilton, that shut all the critics up.

[Ponty]

At Hockenheim Hamilton was clearly much faster. After passing Heikki, he went past Massa and Piquet with very little resistance. I doubt either of them had orders to let him through.

 

 

Letting a driver past who is clearly faster is all well and good, but Kimi was quicker than Massa all weekend until suddenly becoming slower right at the end. Of course I understand why Ferrari did it, I just thought they'd banned such tactics after races like Austria 2001 and 2002.

 

Read the first paragrah:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Austrian_Grand_Prix

 

In the post race PC, the journalists tried to make a big deal out of it. Unfortunately for them when they mentioned it to Lewis he agreed that he'd have done exactly the same thing with Heikki if the situation called for it. In one sentence he repaired a lot of the PR damage he's done recently. Unfortunately he opened the PC with "God was on our side".

[Ponty]

Also unfortunately, ITV cut it out of their broadcast.

 

It went;

 

Q: (Jerome Bourret - l'Equipe)

Lewis, what's your opinion of Ferrari's tactics to switch position between Kimi and Felipe?

LH:

There's not really much to say about it. They're a team and I know, if it was in my position, if Heikki was leading, we would probably do the same thing. It's playing together as a team and they obviously did a great job.

[St Landrew]

At Hockenheim Hamilton was clearly much faster. After passing Heikki, he went past Massa and Piquet with very little resistance. I doubt either of them had orders to let him through.

 

 

Letting a driver past who is clearly faster is all well and good, but Kimi was quicker than Massa all weekend until suddenly becoming slower right at the end. Of course I understand why Ferrari did it, I just thought they'd banned such tactics after races like Austria 2001 and 2002.

 

Read the first paragrah:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Austrian_Grand_Prix

 

That's kind of what I was trying to illustrate. There's a difference between

somone being passed by someone else due to being consistently much slower, and someone actually slowing down over a period of laps, watching a teammate pass, and then getting the lap times back to very quick again.

[Ponty]

See above. Every team would and has done it. It's a team sport and that's how it should work IMO. I wouldn't expect any different from us, Macca, Ferrari or Force India.

[Guest Hacienda]

Ferrari didn't do anything wrong, perfectly acceptable decision by the drivers.

 

Hamilton drove the perfect race and even the FIA will struggle to dock him points.

[Ponty]

Ferrari didn't do anything wrong, perfectly acceptable decision by the drivers.

 

Hamilton drove the perfect race and even the FIA will struggle to dock him points.

 

The correct answer... lol

 

I think the FIA must be sweating over this one. It may come as a surprise for me to say I'm not Lewis' biggest fan, but he was flawless today and he has to be given the credit as Heikki managed to make the McLaren look quite ordinary. Fernando's overtake on lap 1 showed him up completely and was the move of the race (except Massa's blistering overtake of Kimi).

[Son of Bob]

The correct answer... lol

 

I think the FIA must be sweating over this one. It may come as a surprise for me to say I'm not Lewis' biggest fan, but he was flawless today and he has to be given the credit as Heikki managed to make the McLaren look quite ordinary. Fernando's overtake on lap 1 showed him up completely and was the move of the race (except Massa's blistering overtake of Kimi).

 

I loved the way they repeated the overtake about 10 times on Chinese TV... Like it was someting exciting and unexpected!

 

Nothing wrong with the move in my eyes, as long as the driver giving up the place is taking that decision themselves.

[Son of Bob]

Ferrari didn't do anything wrong, perfectly acceptable decision by the drivers.

 

Hamilton drove the perfect race and even the FIA will struggle to dock him points.

 

They'll probably give him a 25 second penalty for not letting Massa catch him up! :-s