Who will win 2007 F1 Championship ? Poll !

[Jims5543]

Weather forecast for Sunday in Sao Paulo:

Sunny 86° - 0% chance of rain.

Its going to be a dog fight.

[MFAFF]

Jim,

Massa must be on pole.. the team cannot take the risk on his driving being good enough to beat everyone else.

The lower weight gives him an added advantage and can guarantee him the position.

Ferrari need him to control the race from the first corner to allow Kimi to either run away with it during the second phase or keep everyone behind him if Kimi is lower than second at the end of the first couple of laps....

They cannot do an obvious 'let Kimi past' as even the FIA would be forced to do something against the team....or risk having the new Concorde Agreement go unsigned....

So they need Massa in front.. he might want to win but the circuit is not as obviously advantageous for the Ferraris...so he will be controled far more from the pits...either deliberately..as he has no control over how many pitstops he has.....

[Henry Schmidt]

Times after Friday's first practice session:
1 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari one minute 19.580 seconds
2 Felipe Massa (Bra) 1:20.062
3 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 1:20.829
4 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:21.064
5 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McClaren 1:21.121
V
V
V
V
21 Fred (Spn) McClaren no time

I know it's only practice BUT if you're going to win the whole thing you have to win the first part.

The Finn is flyin and Massa , his tail gunner is in possition to cover his a**.
I'm smiiilin
I'm smiiiilin
I'm smiiilin

[legion]

Hamilton has a long track record of sand-bagging until Q3...

[sammyg2]

LOL, I didn't realize hamilton had a long track record of anything

[legion]

Okay, fine, he's done it all season--his only season.

[Henry Schmidt]

Originally Posted by legion

Hamilton has a long track record of sand-bagging until Q3...

Sand bagging? or playing in the sand?

Mclaren has unloaded and been fastest from the get go at nearly half the events this year.
Sand-bagging? Please.
These guys are racers, they go as fast as their strategy allows.
It is true that after unloading a fast car, teams will work on race set ups but I would hardly call that sand-bagging.

[legion]

What I meant was the Hamilton intentionally is just fast enough to get into Q2, just fast enough to get into Q3, and turns his fastest lap as time runs out during Q3.

[911teo]

It was raining. Hamilton went out just to learn the track.

Alonso did only 1 lap as he has not changed his engine unlike the other three....

Henry get your smiles in until you can, as the WC goes to the silver arrows!

[911teo]

P2 in less than 1h... let's see.

The forecast is for good weather tomorrow and on Sunday.. No need to risk it in P1

[Henry Schmidt]

World constructors championship goes to Ferrari. Perhaps with a asterisk but the same asterisk will be next to every McLaren driver this year.
Why? let's hear you say it, out loud "cheating !!!".
If the right thing happens Ferrari will also win the driver's championship.

One quick question: How does a team benefit from stealing (cheating) but not the drivers?
Answer: it's impossible. Team benefits so do the drivers. All McLaren points should be forfeited.

That said, Kimi will still win.

[911teo]

Lighten up Henry... I was pulling your leg.

Whatever happened the decision has been made. Ferrari is OK with it, McLaren is OK with it... Can Herr Schmidt accept that too?

Why do we need to go over this again and again?

Can't we just enjoy the final race of an exciting (albeit tainted by some huge fukc up) season?

[Henry Schmidt]

Everyone enjoys F1 in different ways.
Teasing is just one way.
We go at it over and over again because there isn't enough racing to fill the time.
If all you get from F1 is the on track adventures you are missing a great deal more.
Technical advances
Rule interpretation
Driver character
Team interaction
Huge salaries
Off the wall predictions
and yes even all the soap opera non sense.
It's all F1 and I love it all.
Cheers

[911teo]

Get down your patronizing seat

Since you know F1 and are an avid follower you must certainly know that spying has beeng going on for ever....
Just read some of Jackie Stuart's interviews he has given in the last 3-4 months. So to get all worked up about what a Ferrari employee has done is not understanding F1.

Also not accepting the outcome of the FIA fiasco is not understanding the "whole" F1 package.

That's why I am saying let's leave that in the past and enjoy F1 for what it is....
Technical advances
Rule interpretation
Driver character
Team interaction
Huge salaries
Off the wall predictions
and yes even all the soap opera non sense

What's done is done and nobody looks back in F1.... Senna waited 1 year to vindicate himself over Prost... But never complained. And Prost... silence...

All is good.

I am off now (and won't have access to the internet until after the race).

Let's talk on Monday!

[Henry Schmidt]

Mclaren, Hamster is under investigation for rules violation again.
He could be penalized 10 grid spots for his tyre choices in the first practice.
Things are getting more interesting by the minute.
We've all seen the Hamster hold on to first but can he work his way through the pack? only time will tell.

Hamster fans are holding their breath. Good luck

[Jims5543]

HOLY!!!

Lewis Hamilton could find himself in trouble after allegedly using two sets of wet weather tyres during Friday's first practice in Brazil.

Under the F1 regulations 'no driver may use more than one set of wet and one set of extreme weather tyres during P1 and P2.'

However, according a FIA report Hamilton, together with Jenson Button and Takuma Sato, broke the rule during Friday's first free practice at Interlagos on Friday morning.

"Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Takuma Sato have used two sets of wet-weather tyres during the first free practice session which is breach of article 25.3 of the 2007 Formula One Sporting Regulations," the technical delegate said in a report.

According to Autosport, the breach of the rules was brought to the attention of the race stewards by FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer.

As to what action, if any, will be taken against the three drivers remains to be seen as there is no set penalty for the breach.

But should Hamilton be penalised it could cost him his shot at the World title as the McLaren rookie is currently a three-way fight involving himself, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton leads by battle by four points over Alonso and a further three ahead of Raikkonen.

Here comes Kimi's miracle.

[Paco Anton]

Originally Posted by Jim Cesiro

Here comes Kimi's miracle.

You mean Alonso's chance

[Aerkuld]

Here's the scenario we were working on in the office this afternoon.
Alonso and Hamilton qualify on the front row and Alonso slips in behind Hamilton of the line. He has already worked out that if he plows his nosecone into Hamilton's right rear suspension at the first corner then Hamilton will be off the track with broken rear wishbones and probably wouldn't be able drive the car back to the pits. Meanwhile Alonso can drive around the circuit and go in the pits for a new nose which is easy to replace. He only needs to finish just behind Kimi and the championship is his.
So first corner - BLAM! Alonso into the back of Hamilton. Alonso has aimed well and wrecks Hamiltons right rear suspension. Not only that but Alonso managed to break the drive shaft on Hammy's car -mission accomplished!. He needs a new nosecone as planned, so drives around and pulls into his pit. When he gets there the McLaren mechanics are all sat in the garage on their chairs watching the race. They toss him a wrench and tell him the new nosecone is out the back on the truck!
Alonso complains to the stewards that he is being givern unequal treatment at which point the McLaren mechanics unveil a large banner that say's "...and we'd have done the same for Lewis"

[Jims5543]

Nothing to see here move along......

Lewis escapes punishment
Saturday 20th October 2007

Lewis Hamilton has avoided a sanction for Sunday's title-deciding Brazilian Grand Prix following another brush with the stewards.

McLaren, though, have been fined 15,000 euros (£10,445) for using two sets of wet-weather tyres on Hamilton's car in first practice at Interlagos.

The same penalty applies to Honda and Super Aguri as Jenson Button and Takuma Sato also breached the Formula One sporting regulations that state only one set can be used in Friday's two sessions.

All three teams also have to return one set of wets to ensure no advantage is gained by using part-worn wet tyres.

[livi]

The bed is certainly made for a thrilling finale after the Q today. I can envision the Ferrari strategy.

I´ll shut up until I know you guys have seen it.