Formula 1 -2008

[miniace]

That was one hell of a GP.As a final point I presume its pure luck and fantastic tactics by tech team brought kubica the victory.Who predicted a pit calamity take two top contenders out.

My hero of the day is Massa.He drove like a true potential F1 champ despite the fuel incident. Kept cool under very bad track conditions and overtook two top guns in a dash.

Alonso ha ha no points!!!! In 9th overall the points table.

I like Kimi 'Iceman’ Raikkonen’s cool comments on pit accident."My race was ruined by Hamilton's mistake. Obviously, anyone can make mistakes, as I did two weeks ago in Monaco, but it's one thing to make a mistake at two hundred (miles) per hour but another to hit a car stopped at a red light. I am not angry because that doesn't achieve anything and does not change my result! I am unhappy, because I had a great chance of winning."

MINIACE

Edited June 10, 2008 by miniace

[GTAm]

Guys never mind the race.. what about the grid girls? I think its the best we've seen all season!

Damn I missed the girls thanks to a cloud over our house (sigh - Dialog TV). Thankfully it cleared on the warm up lap.

Still can't forget the girls from last weeks' Mugello MotoGP though Especially in the Suzuki uniform!

[Elvis_Pil]

Damn I missed the girls thanks to a cloud over our house (sigh - Dialog TV). Thankfully it cleared on the warm up lap.

Still can't forget the girls from last weeks' Mugello MotoGP though Especially in the Suzuki uniform!

Here you go machan, dont have to worry about poor DTV service when you got the web

http://www.motorsport.com/photos/select.as...Y=2008&O=60

[GTAm]

Here you go machan, dont have to worry about poor DTV service when you got the web

http://www.motorsport.com/photos/select.as...Y=2008&O=60

WOW!!!

[GTAm]

Here you go machan, dont have to worry about poor DTV service when you got the web

http://www.motorsport.com/photos/select.as...Y=2008&O=60

WOW!!!

[KLM]

Damn I missed the girls thanks to a cloud over our house (sigh - Dialog TV). Thankfully it cleared on the warm up lap.

Still can't forget the girls from last weeks' Mugello MotoGP though Especially in the Suzuki uniform!

No doubt GTAm, the Rizla Suzuki girls in blue are fantabulous.

[Devinda_Z]

WOW!!!

most acceptable

...but i'm trying to figure out if it was worth the double post

[GTAm]

A bit rude but couldn't help myself posting this

[Devinda_Z]

A bit rude but couldn't help myself posting this

regardless of which he's gone n won again!

he seems to like it Wet!

[GTAm]

regardless of which he's gone n won again!

he seems to like it Wet!

Yes hats off to him kept his cool. And Mac team did well to get onto full wets at the crucial 1st pit stop. Ferrari pit work and strategy seems to be "the pits" these days. They are making all the wrong decisions when there's a change in situation. It seems like they stick to their plan whatever happens . Missing the old dream team I guess. See what Ross Brawn's achieving with Honda already!!

I really wanted Heiki to win though after that brilliant Qf.

Edited July 7, 2008 by GTAm

[miniace]

he seems to like it Wet!

Exactly! a good wet driver found after Senna!

MINIACE

[GTAm]

Exactly! a good wet driver found after Senna!

MINIACE

Helped by the brand new full wet tyres of course while Ferrari blundered by choosing to stay on worn intermediates.

[miniace]

Helped by the brand new full wet tyres of course while Ferrari blundered by choosing to stay on worn intermediates.

Exactly! I was wondering why they didnt change tyres during refuling stop.Thought they knew better.Finally proved wrong ne?

MINIACE

[Elvis_Pil]

Exactly! a good wet driver found after Senna!

MINIACE

IMO Hamilton's name cannot even be said in the same breath as Senna wet or dry. LH was lucky Ferrari messed up

[GTAm]

Exactly! I was wondering why they didnt change tyres during refuling stop.Thought they knew better.Finally proved wrong ne?

MINIACE

They messed up again. So many mistakes this year. They expected the weather to get better. Maybe they forgot it was England ?

Anyway the only way Ferrari can lose either title this year is if they cock up their strategy. Maybe they already have. The car is probably the best out there and the drivers are good too. But whenever something changes, they simply mess up everything. Its the polar opposite to the Ross Brawn/Jean Todt/MS era.... With an average car they'd make the moves and trounce the opposition. A change in the situation - weather, pace car or whatever was always seen as an opportunity. Now it's the excuse at the press conference.

[GTAm]

IMO Hamilton's name cannot even be said in the same breath as Senna wet or dry. LH was lucky Ferrari messed up

True. Btw I was surprised and dismayed at Williams performance on their home track....... Really expected better.

[Elvis_Pil]

Yeah its sad the way Williams has declined from where they were at the start of the season- its all about momentum which they lost after Canada where they were all set for a good result. Anyway I wasnt expecting them do well at Silverstone- the car does not digest high speed circuits to well. But I'm hopeful for Valencia as their experience will help them a lot on a new circuit.

[miniace]

The Euro GP is coming up! Its a brandnew street circuit.These are Renault predictions/preperations for the GP.Sourced F1.

Aerodynamics:

The track layout means that the teams will run with relatively low levels of downforce, This is possible as there are no high-speed corners and good straight-line speed is important down the long back straight. However, it won't be until free practice begins on Friday that the team will be able to finalise aero levels, which can depend on the grip offered by the tarmac.

General car set-up:

The drivers need a responsive and well-balanced car with good change of direction to deal with the high-speed kinks that are spread around the circuit. But, as always, this needs to be balanced with a supple enough suspension to give good mechanical grip in the low-speed corners. There are a few curbs that the drivers can use, mainly on the corner exits, but until the drivers take to the track it is difficult to predict what impact they will have on car set-up. Good braking stability is also important, especially at the end of the straights, to avoid locking wheels on a track where there is little margin for error.

MINIACE

[KLM]

What a great win by Sebastian Vettel. I really was hoping that my boy, and the in-form man of the moment, Sebastien Bourdais would be able to pull off the surprise but he can't seem to catch a break - this time his STR-Ferrari cut out on the pre-grid and that was that.

Me and my cousin used to be huge fans of this team, way back when they were a tiny entity known as Minardi. Giancarlo Minardi was a real racer in every sense, and despite never having the budget to compete with the big boys, had a real eye for talent: He gave F1 debuts to Fernando Alonso, Jarno Trulli, Giancarlo Fisichella, Mark Webber, Tarso Marques and many other notable drivers. Latterly however, economic realities forced Minardi to take a number of pay drivers, including Alex Yoong. In the late nineties especially, their technical director Gustav Brunner used to produce neat and innovative machines that always had Ross Brawn, Patrick Head and other team technical directors checking out the Minardis with extra scrutiny at the season-opening Australian GP. Sadly, they were always hamstrung by a lack of testing, development and second-rate customer engines (like the old Cosworths) and rarely ever competed for points.

Despite their lack of success they had lots of fans for their sheer determination, and I know for sure that was what appealed to me. It was quite refreshing to see a tiny outfit come and compete against the massive budgets of Ferrari and McLaren, all for the love of racing. More often than not, they didn't score enough points to get logistics support funds from the FIA, but they always soldiered on cheerfully. It wasn't quite the same when they had to sell out to Paul Stoddart and become European Minardi in 2001 but he, like Scuderia Toro Rosso, ran out of the old factory at Faenza, with many of the same staff. I still remember how Luca Badoer, Ferrari's chief test driver and former Minardi driver was inconsolable at the wet 1999 European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring after his car failed him while running in 4th position with a few laps to go. That would have been Minardi's best ever result and he never scored an F1 point in over 40 races. For that team to finally come through for a win from pole, more than 20 years after they were founded is a fantastically emotional story and they deserve their success.

As much as I wanted Bourdais to win, it couldn't have happened to a better guy, as Vettel has proved to be a delightful personality and a fantastic driver all year round. They played the German/Italian national anthem combination for the first time since Michael Schumacher retired, and Vettel is now his heir apparent. Michael also won his first race in his second year under wet conditions, so the comparisons aren't far-fetched.

I just hope that Bourdais (and Heidfeld) catch their breaks soon as well.

[GTAm]

Great drive by Vettel . I knew he was going to score big points soon, but never expected a win so soon. Great. Thanks KLM for the piece of Minardi history, I know there's a book out about them that I thought of getting.

Anyway it's so nice when an underdog team does something brilliant like this! Let's hope the confidence from this win will transform the team for next few races and the next season.

Bourdais is so unlucky. I hope they keep him one more season at least. He deserves it. Hats off to Gerhard too.

I was really hoping that Vettel gets selected by Ferrari. But they've juts gone and extended mono-tone Kimi

[The Don]

I think most importantly I hope this win will secure the future of STR cos they have certainly done really well with what is available to them and constantly done better than their sister team over the last few Grand Prix's

I hope they find a buyer with sound financial backing soon and they can build on their experience to become a serious title contenders.

I've always been a fan of Minardi and its certainly one up for the underdog today

[miniace]

************ Error************* Edited September 15, 2008 by miniace

[miniace]

That was a cool run by little boy Vettel and finally made history.

Im not impressed by my hero LH's Monza actions..Somebody needs to tell him the dos & Donts of F1.

MINIACE

[KLM]

Bourdais is so unlucky. I hope they keep him one more season at least. He deserves it. Hats off to Gerhard too.

www.grandprix.com reports:

"One felt desperate for poor Sebastien Bourdais. He's had a pretty bad year with the team but when things finally went well for him and he was sitting fourth on the grid, it was a bitter blow that the car stalled on the grid. Despite that he drove a super race, with no hope at all of getting even close to the points. He ended the afternoon leaving the paddock with little fanfare, but he set the second fastest lap of the race, which compared rather well to Vettel's, who was the author of only the 14th fastest lap."

[The Don]

That was a cool run by little boy Vettel and finally made history.

Im not impressed by my hero LH's Monza actions..Somebody needs to tell him the dos & Donts of F1.

MINIACE

He is acting either like somebody who is very desperate or somebody who does not give a shit ! Seemed to lack courtesy to anyone on the field yesterday. Not very sportsman like ...