F1 French GP - Race 22/06/2008

Third win of the season for Massa

Kimi Raikkonen led away from pole position this afternoon in the 70-lap French Grand Prix and controlled the race from Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa for the first half of the race. However, a right hand side exhaust failure saw Raikkonen suddenly lose a second and a half a lap and Massa was able to cruise ahead and would go onto take a relatively easy third victory of the season.

Massa’s eighth career win moves him to the top of the championship standings with 48 points while Raikkonen was able to finish the race in second position - such was the advantage the Italian team enjoyed this weekend in France. Raikkonen looked fully in control of the race, but second position and the eight points moves him third in the championship standings just five points behind Massa.

While the battle for the race win was not much of a contest, third position remained very much in doubt right until the chequered flag fell. Jarno Trulli took the position in his Toyota, ten seconds behind Raikkonen and fended off an aggressive challenge from Heikki Kovalainen over the closing stages of the race.

For Trulli, his first podium position of the season, was an impressive achievement Toyota this week mourns the loss of former Team Principal Ove Andersson.


Kovalainen finished fourth in the leading McLaren Mercedes from tenth position on the grid after a mature drive that saw the Finn run a long first stint to move through the field and take some much needed points for his title aspirations.

Robert Kubica had a low-key race for BMW Sauber with the F1.08 package clearly not particularly well suited to the demands of the Magny Cours circuit. The Canadian Grand Prix winner shadowed Trulli and Kovalainen across the line to finish in fifth position on a day when team-mate Nick Heidfeld was nowhere. Kubica’s four points in France see him now second to Massa in the overall standings.

A strong race from Mark Webber saw Red Bull Renault score points in its seventh straight Grand Prix as the Australian took the chequered flag in sixth position. Team-mate David Coulthard had a less successful run to ninth position in the second RB4.

Fernando Alonso flattered only to deceive in qualifying yesterday as he was unable to run with the front-runners after starting the event from third position on the grid. An error lapping traffic right at the end of the race saw him run wide at the Adelaide hairpin, handing seventh position to Renault team-mate Nelson Piquet.

For Piquet, seventh position and his first career Formula One points finish, was a solid reward after an error-free Grand Prix weekend. Alonso took the chequered flag two seconds behind Piquet to give Renault three valuable championship points. It was also Alonso's 500th career point in the sport.

The French Grand Prix weekend will be one Lewis Hamilton will be as desperate to put behind him as was his Canadian effort two weeks ago. Starting 13th the McLaren driver found himself side-by-side with Sebastian Vettel on the first lap as he attempted a pass for position, but he had to cut turn seven in order to make the pass stick.

Instead of handing the position back to the Toro Rosso racer, Hamilton and the team carried on and it was therefore unsurprising that he was handed a drive through penalty for his actions. Hamilton went on to finish in tenth position and subsequently drops to fourth position in the championship standings. For whatever reason, Hamilton seems rattled at the mid-season point.

Timo Glock was unable to score points this weekend as he finished 11th in the second Toyota while Sebastian Vettel started 12th in his Toro Rosso and finished in the same position. Nick Heidfeld’s poor spell continued this afternoon as he finished a distant 13th in the second BMW Sauber, more than half a minute behind team-mate Kubica.

Honda did not have a good package for Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button as the former struggled to finish 14th and a lap down while the latter damaged his RA108 early in the race and was probably happy to park the machine for the day.

Over at Williams and the team suffered their least competitive outing in some time. With both FW30s brimmed with fuel at the start Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg struggled to 15th and 16th positions respectively and never showed any real pace. For Rosberg, his season is rapidly turning into a nightmare with just two points from the last seven races.

At the back of the pack, Sebastien Bourdais had a first home Grand Prix to forget in the second Toro Rosso as he finished 17th nearly half a minute ahead of the Force India Ferrari duo of Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

F1 Canadian GP - Race 08/06/2008

Kubica leads home a BMW Sauber one-two!

It’s not often that a mechanical problem towards the back of the field can trigger a chain of events that alters the entire outcome of a race. That is exactly what happened today in the action-packed 70-lap Canadian Grand Prix, a race where BMW Sauber recorded its first Grand Prix win.

The whole complexion of the race changed after Adrian Sutil’s Force India Ferrari ground to a halt on lap 15 with a mechanical problem. A small fire from the front brakes saw the safety car deployed and once the pit lane was opened for business, the top seven runners all headed straight to the pits.

With the safety car still circulating, race leader Lewis Hamilton suffered a slightly slower pit stop than Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica. The Ferrari and BMW pulled up at the end of the pit lane side by side as requested by the red light but Hamilton did not note the situation quickly enough and simply crashed into the back of his championship rival, eliminating Raikkonen and himself from the Grand Prix. Kubica, also waiting at the end of the pit lane after running second to Hamilton during the early laps, waited for the lights to turn green and got back on track with no dramas.

Kubica, made short work of Nick Heidfeld following his pit stop and would then bide his time behind cars that had not pitted on lap 22.
Once the Pole had a clear circuit ahead, he quickly extended his advantage over Heidfeld from 11 to 25 seconds before making his second and final stop and emerging back in the lead – one he would hold to the chequered flag.

It was a fully deserving win, as those pitting just the once in Montreal largely dominated the results. Heidfeld had no answer to Kubica’s pace in qualifying and the same in the race itself, but his second position brings BMW Sauber right up with Ferrari in the constructors’ championship battle.

David Coulthard steered clear of trouble and finished third for Red Bull Renault using a one stop strategy, his first points paying position of the season. It was an important result as the team now move fourth in the championship behind Ferrari, BMW Sauber and McLaren Mercedes.

Timo Glock always seems to go well in Montreal, the scene of his points with Jordan during his first stint in Formula One. Using a one stop strategy the German racer took the chequered flag in fourth position defending all the way to secure valuable points for Toyota.

With Raikkonen eliminated by Hamilton, Felipe Massa charged back through the field after an error in the pits saw him forced to make an additional stop for fuel. The Brazilian racer charged though the field from 17th to finish fifth just behind Glock and he is now tied with Hamilton in second position in the championship.

Jarno Trulli finished sixth in the second Toyota, losing out to Massa on the penultimate lap of race while Rubens Barrichello actually led the race at one point for Honda before his sole pit stop and held on for a seventh place finish and two more points for the team. Sebastien Vettel secured the final point for Toro Rosso Ferrari after starting from the pit lane.

Heikki Kovalainen’s poor weekend continued on race day as he was unable to make much of an impression on the race and finished ninth behind the one stoppers, Kubica and Massa. The result means that McLaren Mercedes do not take any points away from Montreal.

Nico Rosberg threw away more points for Williams as he ran into the back of Hamilton’s stricken McLaren in the pit lane and was forced to make an additional stop for a new front wing on his way to tenth position. With Kazuki Nakajima running into the back of Jenson Button and breaking his wing before crashing in the pits lane, it was a poor race for Williams who now slip behind Red Bull and Toyota in the championship standings. Jenson Button started from the pit lane in his Honda and finished 11th, while Mark Webber took 12th position ahead of Sebastien Bourdais – the final runner - in the second Toro Rosso Ferrari.

It was a poor day for Renault with Nelson Piquet running suffering from brake problems and retiring following a spin, while Fernando Alonso lost his R28 at turn seven and spun into the wall. Alonso was third on track at the time but had yet to make his second stop, so he may have been in contention for lower points after such a strong showing in qualifying. With Sutil stopping on lap 15, Force India team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella made it until lap 53 before spinning into the Armco exiting turn four.

It didn’t rain and the circuit didn’t break up badly as feared but it is a historic day for the BMW Sauber team as they celebrate their first Formula One win. Kubica’s first victory moves him ahead in the championship four points clear of Massa and Hamilton heading to Magny Cours...

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

F1 Monaco GP – Race 26/05/2008

Hamilton wins dramatic rain hit Monaco GP

The Monaco Grand Prix did not quite go the full distance as it hit the two hour time limit with Lewis Hamilton taking the chequered flag and his sixth career win around the streets of Monte Carlo. It was a fantastic drive from Hamilton who now takes over the championship lead from Kimi Raikkonen who failed to score today.

Rain at the Principality made it a very tricky race for the 20 starters and while Hamilton celebrates his second win of the season, it was a far from easy Sunday afternoon drive. An error on lap seven saw him returning to the pits after brushing the barriers at the swimming pool, slashing his right rear tyre in the process.

Ironically, Hamilton’s early stop allowed him to take extra fuel on board and he was then able to time his switch from the rain tyre to dry tyre to perfection. Hamilton was not the only driver to make errors however as Felipe Massa made one and Kimi Raikkonen made two...

Massa started from the pole position and controlled the pace in the early laps despite Hamilton slotting into second position. However, a mid-race error saw him run off track at Sainte Devote and lose position to Robert Kubica. The Brazilian would never recover the lost ground and took the chequered flag two seconds behind the BMW Sauber driver who put in a flawless drive to claim the runner up position.

Adrian Sutil was on target to take a sensational fourth position in his Force India Ferrari. A late race safety car bunched up the field and Kimi Raikkonen lost control of his Ferrari under braking exiting the tunnel.
The Ferrari struck the back of the VJM01 forcing Sutil to return slowly to the pit and retire. It was an awful end to a fantastic race from the German racer.

Mark Webber recovered to finish in fourth position, losing ground mid-race after pitting too early to take the slick tyres and losing position to Sutil. Still it was a good solid run from the Red Bull racer who picks up five points for the Milton Keynes-based team.

Sebastian Vettel kept out of trouble and like Webber used a one-stop strategy well to take fifth position in the Toro Rosso Ferrari ahead of Rubens Barrichello who finally gets back in the points with the Honda team. Kazuki Nakajima brought home two points for Williams with his seventh place finish ahead of Heikki Kovalainen who should have finished so much higher.

Kovalainen stalled his McLaren Mercedes on the dummy grid and was forced to start the Grand Prix from the pit lane. The Finn battled on but a mistake behind the safety car saw him slow to unlap himself and therefore dropped some 20 seconds to Nakajima. A late race charge saw him take eighth position and the final championship point just three seconds behind the Japanese racer.

or Kimi Raikkonen, the Monaco Grand Prix was a race to forget. A slow getaway from second on the grid saw him lose position to Hamilton. An error on lap 27 saw him running down the escape road at Sainte Devote and damaging his front wing and then his late race blunder that proved so costly for Sutil. Raikkonen finished ninth.

Fernando Alonso had an eventful race to tenth position but a rash move in the wet conditions saw him run into the side of Nick Heidfeld’s BMW Sauber. A pit stop for a new front wing and also a brush with the wall cost him a chance of points at Monaco.

Jenson Button made contact with Heidfeld on lap one and was forced to pit for a new front wing and the Honda racer would go on to finish 11th ahead of the Toyota duo of Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli who had their own incidents in the wet. Heidfeld’s F1.08 sustained damage when hit by Alonso and he would struggle on to finish 14th, four laps down in what was a dismal weekend for the German driver.

Only nine finished the Grand Prix on the lead lap and there were six retirements. The first was David Coulthard who hit the barriers on lap nine and was then promptly hit by Sebastien Bourdais who went off at the same point in the wet conditions. Giancarlo Fisichella retired his Force India Ferrari with a gearbox problem while Nelson Piquet nosed his Renault into the barriers after switching to dry tyres.

Nico Rosberg had a tough race as he broke his front wing on the first lap as he ran into the back of Alonso at the Casino hairpin. He would work his way back up the order before running wide at Piscine and making very heavy contact with the barriers on lap 62. The final non-finisher was the unfortunate Sutil who was on target for the shock result of the season in the Force India Ferrari.

Hamilton’s victory moves him to the head of the championship standings with 38 points, three ahead of Raikkonen and four ahead of Massa. Ferrari retains the lead of the constructors’ championship heading to Montreal but McLaren now moves second ahead of BMW Sauber.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

F1 Turkish GP – Race 11/05/2008

Massa keeps his cool for the Istanbul hat trick.

Felipe Massa has claimed his third straight victory at Istanbul Park, taking the chequered flag four seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton in a race of tyre and fuel strategy. Kimi Raikkonen finished in third position to retain his lead at the head of the championship standings.

Massa drove a great race, keeping his cool when Hamilton breezed by him to take the race lead. The McLaren driver also had a good race, opting for an unconventional three stop strategy to challenge for the race win and ultimately only lose out to the flying Massa by a small margin. Massa’s victory moves him second in the championship from fourth, tied with Hamilton.

The start of the race saw Massa convert his pole into the race lead while Raikkonen lost ground to Robert Kubica. Front-row starter Heikki Kovalainen was the man to lose out as Raikkonen’s front wings caught Kovalainen’s rear tyre forcing the Finn to make an unscheduled stop for a new set of tyres.

As Massa and Hamilton pulled away at the front, Raikkonen tailed Kubica but did not make any real impression until the BMW Sauber driver pitted. A string of fast laps from the championship leader saw him regain third position but even then he seemed comfortable with the position and did not continue to push.

Hamilton’s third and final stop saw him exit the pits just ahead of the second Ferrari, holding the position to the chequered flag.
It was an impressive performance from Hamilton while Raikkonen could - and probably should have pushed to ensure he finished second to his team-mate.

It was a pretty lonely race for the BMW Sauber duo as Kubica finished fourth, 17 seconds behind Raikkonen while team-mate Nick Heidfeld made a good start and then picked up another two positions in the first round of stops to finish an equally distant fifth. It was a pretty good result after a tough weekend for the Swiss-based team.

Fernando Alonso got the jump on Mark Webber at the start of the race and had a relatively trouble-free run to sixth position in his Renault, ten seconds ahead of the leading Red Bull Renault. For Webber, seventh position was a solid result, with points now in the last four Grand Prix.

After a poor showing in qualifying, Nico Rosberg charged hard in the 58-lap Grand Prix to take the final points paying position for Williams Toyota. David Coulthard was ninth in the second Red Bull Renault, crossing the line four seconds behind Rosberg.


Jarno Trulli qualified eighth and finished the race tenth after losing ground at the start while Toyota team-mate Timo Glock finished his day 13th. It was not a good race for Honda with Jenson Button finishing 11th a lap down while Rubens Barrichello’s much publicised 257th Grand Prix start yielded a fairly low-key a 14th position.

After his first lap incident, Heikki Kovalainen had a busy race working his way back though the order, taking the flag less than a second behind Button and five seconds clear of Glock.

Nelson Piquet looked on target for an 11th place finish in his Renault but inexplicably dropped down the order late in the race to finish 15th ahead of Adrian Sutil in the Force India and Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso. For Vettel, 17th position and last at least marks his first race finish of the season.

There were three non-finishers, the first being Giancarlo Fisichella who drilled into the back of Kazuki Nakajima into the first turn on the first lap bringing out the only safety car period of the race. Sebastien Bourdais was having a solid run until a mechanical problem sent him and his Toro Rosso sailing into the gravel trap.

From the sweeping turns of Istanbul Park, Formula One now heads to the confines of Monte Carlo.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

F1 Spanish GP – Race 27/04/2008

Raikkonen firmly in control

The race result may not show it, but Kimi Raikkonen dominated the Spanish Grand Prix from the pole position to take his second win of the season and to further extend his championship lead. Raikkonen’s win, the 17th of his career, continued the now eight year run at Circuit de Catalunya that has seen the pole-sitter claim the race victory.

There was plenty of drama, if not much passing during the 66-lap event, as Raikkonen launched his Ferrari from the pole ahead of Felipe Massa in the sister F2008 who got the jump on front-row starter Fernando Alonso. From that point onwards the gap between the two Ferraris fluctuated between two and four seconds, but the championship leader never really came under any threat from his team-mate.

Raikkonen took the chequered flag 3.2s ahead of Massa while Lewis Hamilton had a solid error-free run to third position. The result moves the Australian Grand Prix winner back into second in the championship on a weekend McLaren could not fight for the win. There was however great drama for Heikki Kovalainen who briefly took over the lead ahead of the first round of pit stops. On lap 23 the MP4-23 suffered a front left wheel failure that sent the Finn across the gravel trap at turn nine at almost unabated speed, burying most of the car in the tyre barrier.

The safety car was deployed as the medical team attended to Kovalainen, but thankfully it seems that the Finn does not have any serious injuries.
Back on track and Robert Kubica had a solid run in his BMW Sauber from fourth position on the grid to fourth position in the race. The Pole lost out to Hamilton off the line while team-mate Nick Heidfeld meanwhile was the latest victim of the badly thought out rules that govern this sport. With Kovalainen receiving treatment track-side and the safety car circulating on track, the German racer was unfortunate enough to require a pit stop for fuel. With the pits closed, Heidfeld was forced to pit from fifth position and as a result incurred a ten second stop and go penalty that effectively ended his race there and then.

Mark Webber ran well to take fifth position and another points-paying result for Red Bull Renault while team-mate David Coulthard had an eventful Grand Prix. Starting 17th, the Red Bull veteran was rammed on lap one by an out-of-control Adrian Sutil, battled on and then was later hit from behind by Timo Glock. With an extra unscheduled stop for a slashed left rear tyre, Coulthard did well to finish 12th.

Jenson Button finished in sixth position to take some well-earned points for the improving Honda team while Rubens Barrichello ran well early on before losing his wing in his first pit stop and then retiring the RA108 with a mechanical issue.

Kazuki Nakajima made a poor start to the race, but largely thanks to the high attrition rate, took the chequered flag in seventh position and claimed his first championship points since joining Williams Toyota at Interlagos last year. Jarno Trulli finished eighth in what was a disappointing showing from Toyota - not helped by a third pitstop - while Heidfeld battled back to ninth in the second BMW Sauber.

Giancarlo Fisichella kept out of trouble and put in another good race in his Force India Ferrari to finish in tenth position, battling hard in the latter stages to try and keep Heidfeld at bay but ultimately losing out to finish tenth ahead of Glock - way off the pace in his Toyota - Coulthard and Takuma Sato.

There were many retirements from this 66-lap event with Nico Rosberg running seventh in his Williams Toyota after a fast start only to retire with an engine failure. Perhaps the biggest cheer of the day came not for race winner Kimi Raikkonen as he took the race win, but for Fernando Alonso on home soil.

Alonso started second, but was immediately jumped by Massa at the start. Running a short first stint the Renault star pitted on lap 15 of the race. Exiting the pits Alonso found himself behind Barrichello who at the time was on a long first stint and lapping two seconds slower than Alonso was capable. Following the end of the first round of stops, Alonso had lost position to Hamilton, Kubica and Heidfeld. It would matter little as on lap 35 whilst running fifth, the Renault V8 failed.

While Alonso had a strong race Nelson Piquet did not. A trip through the gravel early on was followed by a rash move down the inside of Sebastien Bourdais putting himself and the unfortunate Toro Rosso driver out of the race. The second Toro Rosso was eliminated on lap one as Sutil barged his way into Coulthard and spun. Sebastian Vettel rounded the turn and had no option but to crash into his countryman.

There was plenty of bad luck around today, but the good luck seems to have fallen on Kovalainen who has escaped serious injury after a heavy crash.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

F1 Bahrain GP - Race 06/04/2008

Massa gets the job done for Ferrari

There were no mistakes this afternoon in the 57-lap Bahrain Grand Prix from Felipe Massa who put in a flawless performance to kick-start his championship campaign. Starting second behind pole-sitter Robert Kubica, Massa breezed past the BMW Sauber driver to take the lead on the first lap, a lead he would never relinquish.

While Massa had the pace off the line to take the lead, he was kept under pressure throughout the race by Malaysian Grand Prix winner and team-mate Raikkonen. The pace was furious at the front with the duo trading best laps ahead of the second and final pitstops.

Massa took the chequered flag three seconds clear of Raikkonen, who was also able to make short-work of pole-sitter in the opening laps of the race, while Kubica took the flag in third position, less than two seconds behind Raikkonen.

For Kubica, the gap at the end of the Grand Prix does not tell the full picture as Ferrari utterly dominated the third round of the championship and it was only in the final sting that the team went into car conservation mode and controlled the gap to the flag.

The ten points for Massa is a much needed boost after failing to finish in Australia and Malaysia while Raikkonen’s second position moves him to the head of the championship table heading to Barcelona in three weeks time.

With Kubica finishing third, Nick Heidfeld made best of a good getaway at the start of the race to bring home the second F1.08 in fourth position and in doing so the Hinwil-based team leave Bahrain leading the constructors’ championship for the first time.

Bahrain would prove to be something of a reality check for the McLaren Mercedes team. Starting the race with Hamilton third and Kovalainen fifth, the team had hoped to challenge the front-runners from the outset.

Lewis Hamilton made a mess of his race start dropping to tenth position but his race really came unstuck next time around as he inexplicably ran into the back of Fernando Alonso Renault. The McLaren took to the air shedding its front wing forcing Hamilton to creep back to the pits for repairs. The Australian Grand Prix winner made little impression from that point, despite switching to a one stop strategy and would finish a lapped 13th.

Heikki Kovalainen steered clear of trouble and fended off advances from behind to take the chequered flag in fifth position, almost 30 seconds behind race winner Massa

Jarno Trulli put in a spirited drive in his Toyota, chasing Kovalainen for much of the race and keeping the Finn under pressure. The final stages of the race saw Kovalainen pick up the pace on what was a very short final stint and Trulli had to be content with sixth.

Mark Webber started 11th in his Red Bull Renault and put in a strong drive to score two championship points with seventh position, gaining position over rival Nico Rosberg in the first round of pit stops. For Rosberg, he started the race on the harder tyre – unlike the other top ten starters - and dropped back from Trulli and then was unable to make much progress. The Williams Toyota racer took the flag ten seconds behind Webber.

Timo Glock completed his first full Grand Prix with Toyota and had a strong race to ninth from 13th position on the grid.

Over at Renault and there was little to take away from this event. Fernando Alonso survived his incident with Hamilton on lap two despite some damage to the rear wing on the R28. Alonso would lose a position to Glock in the pit stops and then spend the final stages of the Grand Prix fending off the Honda of Rubens Barrichello to claim tenth position. Nelson Piquet had a low key run in the second R28 as he suffered from gearbox issues that would eventually force his retirement.

With Jenson Button getting tangled up in lap one dramas and then running into David Coulthard whilst battling at the back of the pack, Barrichello carried the flag for Honda putting the pressure on Alonso to the flag.

Giancarlo Fisichella vaulted up the order from 18th on the grid at the start and then put in a tremendous drive in his Force India Ferrari. The Italian veteran finished a lap down in 12th position but proved consistent and on the pace over the race distance.

Kazuki Nakajima used a one stop strategy to little effect from 16th position on the grid to finish 14th in his Williams Toyota while Sebastien Bourdais will be disappointed with 15th in the sole surviving Toro Rosso Ferrari following Sebastian Vettel’s early exit from a nightmare weekend.

A good battle between Super Aguri Honda team-mates for 16th saw Anthony Davidson take the honours from Takuma Sato. David Coulthard finished 18th in the second Red Bull ahead of Adrian Sutil in he second Force India.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

F1 - Malaysian GP - Race 23/03/08

Raikkonen shines for Ferrari

It may not have been the most entertaining of races for the fans, but for Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari his dominant Malaysian Grand Prix victory is just what he needed following the disappointment in Melbourne a week ago.

Starting second, the defending champion was happy to shadow pole-sitter and team-mate Felipe Massa until the first round of pit stops and then put in a quick lap to ensure that he exited the pit just ahead. With the race lead in his hands, Raikkonen quickly pulled a four second advantage on Massa who then spun his Ferrari into retirement.

Starting fourth, Robert Kubica made best of Jarno Trulli’s bad start to run a comfortable third for the first half of the race before taking over second position when Massa retired. The BMW Sauber driver took the chequered flag just under 20 seconds behind Raikkonen and a similar margin ahead of third placed finisher Heikki Kovalainen in the McLaren Mercedes.

Kovalainen drove an error free race but to take the chequered flag 40 seconds behind the winner. After their Melbourne performance, the result will be a shock for McLaren who by their own admission have struggled this weekend.



Jarno Trulli started third but he and Nick Heidfeld found themselves squeezed out of the pack through turns one and two at the start of the race. The Toyota driver recovered and took a comfortable fourth in the much-improved TF108, despite late race pressure from Lewis Hamilton.

For Hamilton, the race was always going to be about damage limitation but surprisingly he opted to run the softer type in both the first and second stint. In the third and final sting when it was effectively too late to make any further progress, the Melbourne winner was much faster as he chased Trulli across the line, just 0.7 seconds adrift.

Hamilton also lost ground in his first stop when his front right wheel insert slowed the wheel change by an additional ten seconds, so it was a case of lost opportunity for the championship leader who heads to Bahrain with a three point advantage over his nearest rival.

After losing out at the start of the race as Trulli pushed him wide, Nick Heidfeld was unable to regain the lost ground as he took the chequered flag in sixth position ahead of Mark Webber who will feel he and the team deserved more than two points from this event. The second round of stops saw the Red Bull Renault driver lose out to both Hamilton and Heidfeld but the Australian battled hard to keep Fernando Alonso behind to the flag.



For Renault, eighth position for Alonso and 11th place from Piquet was a fair result but not the kind of performance they would have hoped for heading into the weekend. Piquet had a much better weekend than in Australia and over the 58-lap race, lost just 22 seconds to his double world championship winning team-mate.

David Coulthard had a trouble-free run to ninth place in the second Red Bull Renault ahead of Jenson Button in the leading Honda. Giancarlo Fisichella drove a good race for Force India Ferrari to record the team’s first finish with 12th position ahead of Rubens Barrichello who served a drive through penalty late in the race after speeding in the pit.

Over at Williams Toyota, the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend has been disappointing. Starting 16th Nico Rosberg ran into the back of Timo Glock forcing the retirement of the Toyota driver. After pitting for a new front wing, Rosberg was unable to make much progress and finished 14th. Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima finished last in 17th position.

Anthony Davidson finished 15th in his Super Aguri Honda a lap clear of team-mate Takuma Sato. Over at Toro Rosso, Sebastien Bourdais spun into retirement on the first lap while Sebastian Vettel survived a while longer before the Ferrari engine failed.

Hamilton retains the lead of the championship, but now leads Raikkonen and Nick Heidfeld by just three points with Heikki Kovalainen just one point adrift in fourth. The Formula One circus packs up and heads to Bahrain in two weeks time. Two teams tested there for six days in the off-season and they were Ferrari and Toyota...

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

F1-Australian GP - Race 16/03/2008

Anyone finishing the opening race of the new season was awarded a championship point in what was a fraught race for many including three safety car periods. One man having no problems whatsoever was Lewis Hamilton who dominated the Australian Grand Prix from the pole position while all of his major championship rivals hit trouble.

With Hamilton cruising to the race win, Heikki Kovalainen looked set to make it a McLaren one-two until the timing of the third safety car compromised his race dropping him down the order. This handed Nick Heidfeld a solid second position in the BMW Sauber.

Starting second and fifth, BMW Sauber had been expected to challenge McLaren for the race win but the reality was that McLaren were far too strong in race trim today.

Nico Rosberg has waited a long time, but today’s action packed race saw the Williams Toyota record his first podium position after a fine error free drive. Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima survived a clash with Robert Kubica whilst behind the safety car to finish in seventh position, the final finisher in this incident strewn race.

Fernando Alonso kept his nose clean in the Renault to finish in fourth position, having a tremendous scrap with Kovalainen over the final two laps to take the position. Kovalainen should have had more, but hitting the pit lane speed limiter by mistake coming onto the main straight on the last lap saw Alonso pounce and take the position.

Rubens Barrichello finished the race in sixth position after an eventful race. Running as high as fourth in the much improved Honda, the team instructed him to leave the pit before re0fuelling was complete. In addition Barrichello has made the stop when the pit lane was closed so the Brazilian veteran received a stop and go penalty. To cap off a tense few minutes for the Honda team, Barrichello seemed to exit the pits with the red light showing. It remains to be seen if sixth position will stand.

Sebastien Bourdais had a very strong Grand Prix debut holding back both Alonso and Kovalainen in the closing position while running fourth. An engine failure almost within sight of the chequered flag robbed the Frenchman of fourth position, but with no one else still running, is classified in eighth position.

The race was a disaster for Ferrari. Errors from the team and both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen see the defending champions leave Albert Park with no points. Raikkonen made up ground early on to move through the field. The team did not bring the Finn in during the second safety car period and Raikkonen found himself battling hard with Kovalainen.

A mistake from Raikkonen saw him run too deep into turn three and into the gravel trap. Raikkonen was soon back underway but pitted the very next lap pitting himself at the back of the field. Why Ferrari did not pit him sooner is not clear. Raikkonen soon closed down a 15 second gap to Timo Glock but then spun at turn three while trying to make a pass. It would prove academic as the F2008 slowed with an engine issue in the closing staged and Raikkonen retired from the race.

Felipe Massa started in fourth position but spun exiting turn one at the start and was forced to pit for a new front wing. From here Massa battled hard making contact with David Coulthard in what was a racing incident into turn one on lap 26 but would later retire with a mechanical problem.

Robert Kubica started on the front row of the grid but did not have the pace to run with Hamilton. Some rather oddly timed pits stops saw the Pole fall down the order before being hit from behind from Nakajima ending his disappointing race.

Timo Glock was having a steady race in his Toyota and could have picked up some points but running wide in the latter stages of the race, the TF108 was rather alarmingly launched into the air – crashing back down to earth breaking most of the suspension. Glock was able to climb from the badly damaged car. Team-mate Jarno Trulli had retired early on with a battery issue.

The start of the race saw five drivers eliminated with Giancarlo Fisichella, Sebastian Vettel, Anthony Davidson, Jenson Button and Mark Webber all making contact in the opening turns. Adrian Sutil retired the second Force India with a mechanical problem after starting the race from the pit lane having damaged his primary car yesterday in qualifying.

A scrappy opening race to the season, but the Formula One circus now packs up and heads straight to Sepang where first practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix gets underway on Friday.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Renault - R28

Williams - FW30

Honda - RA108

Red Bull - RB4

BMW - F1.08

Toyota - TF108

McLaren - MP4-23

Ferrari F2008

2007 - Ferrari - Review

With Michael Schumacher hanging up his crash helmet, Ross Brawn leaving Maranello and Rory Byrne in retirement it really was the start of a new era for the Ferrari team in 2007. The long-standing names that had brought so much success to the Italian squad were all gone and it was down to the new generation to carry on the winning ways.

With Kimi Raikkonen joining Felipe Massa on the driving front the team showed that it had plenty of depth and strength despite the loss of it close long-term technical relationship with Bridgestone.

The industrial espionage scandal involving Nigel Stepney aside, it was a successful campaign with Kimi Raikkonen winning six Grand Prix on his way to the World Championship, while Felipe Massa was a factor until the closing stages of the season, notching up three victories.

Raikkonen’s championship campaign got off to a great start in Melbourne as the Finn converted his pole position into a race win, an accomplishment no Ferrari newcomer had accomplished before on his first outing for the team.

Malaysia and Bahrain brought further podium results while an electrical problem eliminated him from the Spanish Grand Prix and kicked off a difficult phase of the season for Raikkonen. Massa meanwhile took two straight wins in Bahrain and Spain from the pole

An error in qualifying around the streets of Monte Carlo saw Raikkonen qualify a distant 16th but on race day he was able to score one championship point. McLaren dominated the event with Massa finishing over a minute down in third position. Raikkonen’s difficulties continued in Canada and the US as Lewis Hamilton took consecutive wins but Raikkonen bounced back with victories at Magny Cours and Silverstone. A hydraulic failure at the European Grand Prix really put the team on the back foot with Fernando Alonso leading home Massa.

With seven rounds remaining, the championship looked to be heading towards rivals McLaren Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. Raikkonen knew that his chances of success were slim but over the remaining rounds he scored wins at Spa Francorchamps, Shanghai and Interlagos, picking up 58 points in the final races. Hamilton and McLaren hit their own problems scoring just 39 points.

In both China and Brazil, Raikkonen drove flawless races to score maximum points while Hamilton picked up just two points. This was enough to give Raikkonen the drivers’ championship by a single point over his rival.

Raikkonen may not be the all-round team-player that Schumacher was in his decade with the team, but the Finn proved that given the equipment, he is a regular race winner and a very worthy champion.

For Massa, his third and final win of the season came as he dominated the Turkish Grand Prix but an early retirement at Monza effectively ended his title aspirations. He would finish the season on 94 points, 16 adrift of Raikkonen. Brain fade in Montreal, a poor showing in Hungary and a mechanical retirement in Italy all conspired against the Brazilian who will be aiming to bounce back in 2008.

Off track, the constructors’ championship had been wrapped up long ago with the World Motor Sport Council opting to remove McLaren from the contest. Assuming that McLaren would have failed in its bid to reverse the decision to strip it of its Hungarian Grand Prix points, Ferrari would have taken the title in any case.

Raikkonen may not have enjoyed the same bullet-proof reliability enjoyed by Hamilton and Alonso, but six wins from 17 starts including 12 podiums makes for a most successful campaign…

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

2007 Race Season - The F2007

The F2007 is the fifty third single-seater built by Ferrari specifically to compete in the Formula One World Championship.

The F2007 chassis has been significantly modified when compared to last year’s 248 F1. The design was revised to accommodate a new front suspension that represents a major conceptual innovation, mainly in terms of aerodynamics. The rear of the car is much narrower, taking advantage of the more sculpted shape of the gearbox housing. The gearbox itself, which is still mounted longitudinally, is fitted with an innovative quick-shift system.

Overall, all modifications, and mainly those concerning safety, have led to a significant increase in the weight of the car, in the region of just under ten kilograms.

In accordance with the regulations which came into force this year, the basic structure of the engine remains the same as the one homologated at the end of last season.

The technical partners have played an important role during the development stages of the F2007. Ferrari and Shell engineers have been working closely together to ensure the car is equipped with the best formulations of Shell V-Power fuel and Shell Helix lubricant to get the most power from the car.

Technical Specification

Chassis

* Carbon-fibre honeycomb composite structure
* Ferrari longitudinal gearbox
* Limited-slip differential
* Semiautomatic sequential electronically controlled gearbox
* Number of gears7 + Reverse
* Ventilated carbon-fibre disc brakes
* Independent suspension, push-rod activated torsion springs front and rear
* Length 4545 mm
* Width 1796 mm
* Height 959 mm
* Wheelbase 3135 mm
* Front Track 1470 mm
* Rear Track 1405 mm
* Weight with water, lubricant & driver 600 kg
* Wheels (front and rear) 13”

Engine

* Type 056
* Number of cylinders 8
* Cylinder block in cast aluminium V 90˚
* Number of valves 32
* Pneumatic distribution
* Total displacement 2398 c m³
* Magneti Marelli digital electronic injection
* Magneti Marelli static electronic ignition
* Fuel Shell V-Power ULG 62
* Lubricant Shell Helix SL- 0977

MotoGP - Valencia - Ricardo Tormo - 04/11/2007

Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa rode to a fantastic victory in the Grand Prix of Valencia today and in doing so took a surprise second place in the riders World Championship.

The 22-year-old from Barcelona converted pole position into the win and also set the fastest lap of the race to become the first rider to claim victory in all three Grand Prix classes at the Ricardo Tormo circuit. The 25 points Pedrosa earned today were enough to overturn the 24-point championship deficit he held to Valentino Rossi coming into the final race of the season and Pedrosa took second in the world standings by just one point. Rossi retired from today's race.

Despite leading for 25 of the 30 laps and crossing the line 5.447s ahead of Casey Stoner, this was far from an easy win for Pedrosa. From pole position the Spaniard slipped to third behind Stoner and Repsol Honda team-mate Nicky Hayden, who made an excellent getaway from third on the grid. Pedrosa passed Hayden into turn two and began his pursuit of Stoner, closing in on the Australian before making his decisive move at the beginning of lap six. Riding on the absolute limit, Pedrosa set the fastest lap of the race – a new lap record of 1m 32.748s – as he gradually stretched a two second gap to Stoner. Only in the final two laps did the pressure ease as Stoner settled for second and a delighted Pedrosa took the chequered flag in front of 132,500 delirious home fans.

Hayden put up a valiant fight today. The 2006 World Champion was second from the start and held third place for the first three laps as he extracted the maximum performance from his RC212V. It was always an uphill struggle for the 26-year-old American who had battled grip issues for the entire weekend. Hayden duelled with Marco Melandri for two thirds of the race but in the final ten laps he couldn't maintain the pace and slipped to eighth at the finish. Despite this Hayden climbed one place in the World Championship today to finish in eighth overall.

With the 18-race 2007 season over, preparations for 2008 begin immediately with the Repsol Honda Team remaining at Valencia for two days of testing, beginning on Tuesday.

F1 Brazil GP - Race - 21/10/2007 Interlagos

It has been a real roller coaster of a season and the finale in Brazil was a fitting climax to a year that has enthralled fans both on and off the circuit. Kimi Raikkonen has achieved what seemed all but impossible and he overcame a seven point deficit by winning the this afternoon at Interlagos while Lewis Hamilton suffered his own problems.

The start of the 71 lap Grand Prix saw pole-sitter Felipe Massa sprint in the lead with Kimi Raikkonen making a good getaway and slotting into second. One man not making a good start was Lewis Hamilton who dropped from second to fourth and then compounded his problems by running off track and losing another four positions.

At that point Hamilton will have been frustrated but he was still in the race and the championship race was very much still on. Lap seven however saw the McLaren Mercedes slow dramatically with a gearshift issue. Hamilton dropped from sixth position to 18th and while he was able to reset the electronic systems and get back under power, his title hope were in tatters.

Out front Raikkonen shadowed Massa and seemed content to bide his time behind his Ferrari team-mate. The turning points for Raikkonen came in his second round of stops as he was able to stay out a few more laps and once he had made his final pit stop, emerged in the lead of the race. Fernando Alonso at this point ran in a lonely third and was not able to mount a serious challenge.

It has been a real roller coaster of a season and the finale in Brazil was a fitting climax to a year that has enthralled fans both on and off the circuit. Kimi Raikkonen has achieved what seemed all but impossible and he overcame a seven point deficit by winning the this afternoon at Interlagos while Lewis Hamilton suffered his own problems.

The start of the 71 lap Grand Prix saw pole-sitter Felipe Massa sprint in the lead with Kimi Raikkonen making a good getaway and slotting into second. One man not making a good start was Lewis Hamilton who dropped from second to fourth and then compounded his problems by running off track and losing another four positions.

At that point Hamilton will have been frustrated but he was still in the race and the championship race was very much still on. Lap seven however saw the McLaren Mercedes slow dramatically with a gearshift issue. Hamilton dropped from sixth position to 18th and while he was able to reset the electronic systems and get back under power, his title hope were in tatters.

Out front Raikkonen shadowed Massa and seemed content to bide his time behind his Ferrari team-mate. The turning points for Raikkonen came in his second round of stops as he was able to stay out a few more laps and once he had made his final pit stop, emerged in the lead of the race. Fernando Alonso at this point ran in a lonely third and was not able to mount a serious challenge.

Raikkonen took the chequered flag by just over a second from 2006 race winner Massa and with 110 championship points on the board, takes the title by one point from Hamilton who battled back to seventh position on track and Alonso who finished third.

"I always believed we could recover from our poor results and do a better job than our rivals," Raikkonen said. "So I never gave up and it was a great result for me and the team.

"I wasn't really 100 per cent sure of what was happening at the end as we were still waiting for still to finish - I had to wait a long time to hear that I had finally won it. I waited and waited. It was amazing for me that after all the last races we have had such a good finish to the season and I am very happy now."

Nico Rosberg put in a great drive in his Williams Toyota and finished in fourth position after a rather hectic battle with the BMW Sauber’s of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld who finished fifth and sixth. With Hamilton seventh, the final point went to Jarno Trulli who put in a strong performance for Toyota to claim a much needed championship point.

David Coulthard found himself spinning late in the race after contact with Kazuki Nakajima. The Red Bull racer would finish in ninth position while Mark Webber ran fifth early in the race only to retire with a drive train issue. Nakajima had an eventful debut in his Williams, arriving too fast into his pit box and knocking down several members of his team. Still, the Japanese rookie finished the event in tenth position.

Ralf Schumacher was 11th in the second Toyota in what is his final drive with the team while Takuma Sato finished 12th for Super Aguri Honda ahead of Tonio Liuzzi and Anthony Davidson.

There was plenty of incident and accident with eight drivers failing to go the distance. Giancarlo Fisichella cut across the grass at turn one and rejoined the circuit right in front of Sakon Yamamoto. The Spyker racer had no where to go, making heavy contact and eliminating both cars from the race.

Heikki Kovalainen suffered a failure on his Renault and crashed heavily at turn three, ending a nightmare weekend for himself and the team. Jenson Button’s Honda failed early in the race while Rubens Barrichello’s car lasted a little longer before suffering a massive engine failure. Adrian Sutil was up to his old tricks again in his Spyker as he hit Anthony Davidson’s Super Aguri Honda while battling for position and would retire a few laps later as a result.

A fitting end to a dramatic season as Kimi Raikkonen has won the championship with his sixth win of the season. Lewis Hamilton will be most disappointed having been the firm favourite heading into the race while Fernando Alonso will be looking to the 2008 season. There can only be one winner, so congratulations to Raikkonen and his team, commiserations to Hamilton, Alonso and their respective crew members and team.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

1. K.Raikkonen
2. F.Massa
3. F.Alonso