I avoid all media when I don't want to know the result of a popular event....public forums being at the top of the list. There is a guy who's posted a thread stating he was leaving the Speed F1 forum because folks spoiled it for him. Someone kindly reminded him that it was a Formula 1 forum! :rolleyes:


So! Back on topic..or as it was the original topic of Kimi!

This is a good quote from The Guardian:

'Formula one is waking up this morning to a very different world champion from the one that British race fans were waiting to celebrate. Whereas Lewis Hamilton is a media-savvy member of the high technology generation, Kimi Raikkonen is an old-fashioned racing driver out of the heroic mould to whom a beer with his old friends is as important as driving flat-out to grand prix glory.


'There is very much a touch of James Hunt about Raikkonen. The Finn may not be as obviously extrovert as the 1976 world champion but Hunt would certainly have approved of reports of Raikkonen's roistering behaviour in a West End club and his reportedly falling asleep outside a Spanish bar clutching an inflatable dolphin. The third Finn to win the world championship can certainly put his foot down in more ways than one.' - Alan Henry, The Guardian

...and some of you guys say that he doesn't have a personality - Phah!

I think Kimi is terrific and actually think his monotone interviews are quite funny. I appreciate how understated he is, but I suspect what you are seeing is Kimi's business persona. I also get the impression that he is very self concious of his English speaking ability and is a little on edge in a situation like that. I would bet that he is a completely different person when he is with trusted and familiar company and given the opportunity to let his hair down.
Basically I think he is a long way from having no personality.

Also, is it just me or is has he been doing better interviews this year? I just get the impression that he has been a little bit more chatty and may actually have smiled on several occasions.

Is there any official word on Alonso for next year?

It ain't over until all the protests have been heard. Apparently McLaren is appealing a decision that, if upheld, will result in the disqualifications of Nico Rosberg, Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica. This would make Lewis the champion.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7055644.stm

I doubt that the drivers would face disqualification. I can see that they may rule that the team was in violation and maybe disallow the constructors points for that race, but I don't see that the drivers themselves did anything wrong.

They won't do anything that would possibly be of benefit to McLaren at this point. Kimi/Ferrari have their win, and that is the end of the story.

If the FIA changes the Brasil race result, they they will have to go back and change the results of the entire weekend, i.e. the tire viloation by Hami, the questionable pit exits by Hami in front of Kimi. Additionally the FIA will have to review all the minor vilolations of the entire season, which would include the Hami's driving in Japan during the safety car period, or the Alonso penalty after he held up Hami. Bottomline, the fuel thing is BS. It didn't have any affect on how the suspected driver's performed. Someone would have to provide a scientific case. Finally, they FIA could take points away from Hami and Alonso for having gained points in a car that was part of a program which may have benefited from the Ferrari documents.

There is no benefit to McLaren's protest, other than getting Ron's boy a questionable trophy. Like Alonso said, a change in the Brasil results would be the last straw for a lot of F1 fans. Mosely has it out for Ron anyhow, so I don't think he'll give Ron anything...

I wonder what the fuel temperature was of every other team? I presume they were all checked and recorded and not just Williams and BMW?

I read that supercooling the fuel allowed to put more fuel in the car and maybe squeeze an extra lap, hence the regs about fuel temperature.... [edit] Actually it allows to put the fuel in faster and to get slightly more power... You have to admit it's kinda odd for the fuel to be a full 10 degrees C cooler than the ambient air, with the tankbeing that close to a super hot engine and a blistering race track surface... But I agree, it's probably BS, that appeal from McLaren reeks of "bad loser" syndrome.
Worst case the teams will get a penalty, not the drivers, so Kimi still wins the crown !

Hey, "wonder boy" blew it, pure and simple. That's got to be the mother of all chokes ! On to 2008...

And my money's still on a kova-Alonso swap between renault and Macca...

I am with everyone else in hoping that this season can be put to bed.

That being said, it was interesting listening to some comments made by Peter Windsor about this fuel issue. This fuel temp issue is not some minor arcane rule like I initially assumed it was. This is one of the important parameters on each teams monitors in the garages. There is no way that they could not have been aware of the problem. It was also interesting that BMW has already been warned about this infraction once this year. It is indeed a serious infraction and McLaren are certainly within thier rights to draw attention to it. Also, the race stewards apparantly did not have the right to say that no sanctions would be made, that is up to the rules committee. So yes this could get ugly.... :confused:

THAT being said, I think it is a bad idea for McLaren from a political standpoint to pursue this. BUt I think it is arguable that if the roles were reversed, Mclaren would likely be catching heat over an infraction of this sort!

Mosely would be demanding Dennis resigns.

Ferrari fans would be calling McLaren cheaters (nevermind the flexible floor).

Really, how much worse could it get for McLaren? They have been hamstrung by FIA, even though by actual transcript there was no proof in Stepneygate that represented a legally defendable guilty plea, their driving situation is in disarray and percieved as wankers, they know if they were the guilty party they would be strung up by their nuts and flayed by the noodle that Max Mosely really is, complete with a sycophantic Ferrari providing the lube....I mean, what do they have to lose?

Dennis

Agreed. There's a great clip where a reporter from German television catches Kimi just before a race and says something like: "I was looking for you earlier but couldn't find you." And Kimi deadpans in response; "I was having a $hit."

The reporter cracks up at this - and then so does Kimi.

Probably on Youtube.

That was during the driver's ceremony honoring Schumacher. Great stuff from Kimi!

And now on top of all of this mess, the Jamacian FIA representatve is protesting Alonso's apparent sabotaging of Hamilton's electronics that regulate the clutch engagement. He claims that Urie Geller is involved!

Naturally, the Spanish FIA rep is protesting the protest.
















This is of course a joke, but methinks they doth protest too much. :rolleyes:

I am sick of all this courtroom BS.

Here is an interesting tidbit, on lap 70, Massa dropped back and did a 1:15+ lap leeting Kimi get ahead. Then on the last lap he turned on the fire and tried to set the fast lap, he went purple in sector 1 and green in sector 2, it was looking like he had the fast lap in the bag, but it was not enough as he did not have the pace in sector 3 to take Kimi out falling short. They were both trying to make a statement here.


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...brasil2007.jpg

actually iIchanged it as soon as I saw it. I actually hadn't seen the race yet either (some of us sleep in on Sunday) so I shared Jeff's crankiness :p

This picture says a thousand words...

http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/libra...2104588_pv.jpg

Thanks Todd, but I can't believe you sleep in on a race weekend.
Sorry!

Call me nuts but when I Tivo a race I avoid the internets like the plague.

That said, when Belgium, Japan, China, and Brazil televised live I was watching. Sometimes at 2 in the morning and other odd times. Call me a fanatic but I had to see it when it happened.

The 1st 1/2 of the season I watched on Tivo but I could not stand it for these last 4 races.