that was sooooo funny :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I have enjoyed so much in this round
Congratulations alonso :clap:
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that was sooooo funny :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I have enjoyed so much in this round
Congratulations alonso :clap:
:blink: :blink:Quote:
Originally Posted by sulphide
Did you really?
If so, I'm really miffed. :( Lucky, lucky you.
I love the track, but they'll have to make some major improvements for next year.
:( :( :mad:
Reigning World Champion Kimi Raikkonen on Sunday admitted that his hopes of defending the title in 2008 are now over.
The Finn recorded yet another failure to score points at F1's first race under the lights, crashing out of fifth place after clipping the Singapore street circuit's now notorious turn 10 kerbs.
"My situation in the championship was already rather compromised, so this doesn't really make that much difference," Raikkonen said.
The DNF means he is now 27 points behind McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton's championship lead with three races to go.
Mathematically, Raikkonen's title chance is not quite dashed, but he told reporters in Singapore that he is "out of the championship" now.
"It was a pretty small chance (before the race) anyhow," he added.
Woooots...
did any of u watch the F1?
i watched it on TV lol...
my frens got to go there in person!
they are loaded...
anyway, alonso won due to luck...
This blunder made ferrari lose...Quote:
Originally Posted by sulphide
Hahahaha...
it was fun to see cars crash...:laugh::laugh:
Point taken...Quote:
Originally Posted by duje14
i bet massa must be frustrated...:laugh:
'This is humiliating for F1'
Singapore - Ferrari and McLaren have attacked the safety car rule that decided last weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, describing it as "humiliating" and "hopelessly wrong" for Formula One.
Fernando Alonso won his first race for Renault thanks to the good fortune of pitting before the safety car emerged a third of the way into the grand prix. It enabled him to tack onto the back of the field under safety car conditions and then go to the front when other drivers pitted when the pit lane was reopened.
McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh expects the Singapore events to prompt a change in the rules relating to when drivers can pit under safety car conditions.
"It will happen I am sure by the start of next year," Whitmarsh was quoted as saying by Autosport magazine. "For people to change now they have to accept they got it hopelessly wrong, and it has to change during the winter."
While safety car intervention can make races closer and provide some unpredictability, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo felt it cheapened the sport.
"Unfortunately when we race on tracks where staging a circus or something else would be better, anything can happen, because the spectacle is supplied by the safety car," Montezemolo was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport.
"This is humiliating for F1. We want to talk about this with all the other teams in the upcoming weeks."
F1's first ever night race received glowing reviews from most teams for how the track had been created largely from scratch, the faultless operation of the lighting system, and generally good organization.
However, drivers complained about how bumpy the track was, particularly off the racing line, which made overtaking difficult on a street circuit hemmed in by barriers.
The Ferrari president criticized both Singapore and Valencia - a street circuit that hosted the European Grand Prix earlier this month.
"Going forward with these circuits heralds a bad future for Formula One," Montezemolo said.
Ferrari did not score a point in Singapore after Felipe Massa's terrible pitstop in which he drove away with the fuel rig and hose still attached, dropping him from race leader to last.
Kimi Raikkonen, whose race was compromised by being directly behind Massa in a pitstop queue, crashed out with three laps remaining while running fifth.
That saw Ferrari drop a point below McLaren in the constructors' championship, while Massa slipped seven points behind Hamilton in the drivers' championship with three races remaining.
"It was a bitter day, but there are three races yet and I have faith in all Ferrari's men," Montezemolo said. "We saw that last year in the final race in Brazil.
"Ferrari went through times much more difficult than this. ... I expect Massa and Raikkonen to always finish first and second in the three remaining races. In any case, ahead of McLaren."
I agree 100%.
It's a stupid rule and it should definitely be modified.
Too bad about the fuel pump accident, ferrari could've won. Btw who was that guy who took the wrong turn and headed towards a dead end?
That was Sebastien Bourdais. He didn't take a wrong turn, he just didn't take the turn. :laugh::laugh:Quote:
Originally Posted by Joshua_pohan
Attachment 16908
Despite crashing out and scoring no points, world champion Kimi Raikkonen equalled a record at Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix.
The Finn set the fastest lap of the sport's first night race; his tenth such achievement in the 15 Grand Prix so far in 2008.
"In the opening laps, the car was a bit difficult but then it improved a lot," Raikkonen confirmed.
It equals Michael Schumacher's standing record of ten fastest laps in the 2004 season, an achievement 28-year-old Raikkonen also equalled as a McLaren driver in 2005.
:clap: :clap: Go Kimi!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Noxide
Attachment 17143.........................
I love this race. Except for the fact that I have to get up at 04:00 to watch the practice :(
I am so happy that in my timezone almost all the time all formel races are on day.:D
There are two early races and one late race. The rest are all during the day.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kendu10
Ferrari has decided to bring back the pitstop 'lollipop' for the three final races of the 2008 championship battle.
Following problems with the Italian squad's unique 'traffic lights' system in Singapore and also elsewhere, Team Principal Stefano Domenicali confirmed to Sky Italia that Ferrari will fall in line with the rest of the Formula One teams for the decisive races in October and November.
He insists that the traffic lights system usually delivers 'significant time savings' at pitstops.
"But we are going back to the old system, with a lollipop, because we have recognised that the team needs to be calm," Domenicali said.
At the last race in Singapore, when a mechanic wrongly pressed a button while Felipe Massa's car was still being refuelled, the Brazilian driver ripped the hose from the rig and dragged it the entire length of the pits.
Instead of taking the championship lead from McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, he fell a potentially terminal seven points behind with just the Japanese, Chinese and Brazilian Grand Prix to go.
Domenicali continued: "At this stage of the season and with all the tension, it is better for everyone who works in the heat of the battle to do so with as little stress as possible."
He acknowledges that Massa's points position now makes the title less likely, but vowed to push hard to the finish.
"I am convinced that we have the right ingredients to win the next three races," Domenicali said.
"It will not be an easy task, but it is definitely not impossible either," he added.
It's about time!!! Hopefully the pitstops won't be problematic anymore? :)
I think it worked, but the people in control of it didn't.
Formula One has been told it needs to implement drastic cost-cutting measures by 2010 if it is to remain "credible".
FIA president Max Mosley told BBC Sport that the global credit crisis had only exacerbated problems for F1 and several teams were now in danger of quitting.
"It has become apparent, long before the current difficulties, that Formula One was unsustainable," said Mosley.
"It really is a very serious situation. If we can't get this done for 2010, we will be in serious difficulty."
Mosley said there was a very real threat that some of the smaller independent teams would be forced to withdraw from the sport because of spiralling running costs.
"At the moment we've got 20 cars," said Mosley. "If we lost two teams, we'd have 16. (If we lost) three teams (we'd have) 14. It then would cease to be a credible grid."
The days when they could just toss out the 100, 200, 400m euros a year, which is what Formula One costs those big companies, I think they are finished
Max Mosley
Mosley claimed the smaller teams needed vast sums of money just for the privilege of taking on the big manufacturers like Ferrari, McLaren and BMW.
Even then, he said, some of them were struggling to make an impression at the back of the grid.
"It depends at the moment on millionaires - billionaires, we don't have millionaires now - subsidising it, people like Vijay Mallya of Kingfisher (Force India) or Dietrich Mateschitz of Red Bull (Racing)," Mosley told BBC Sport's Adam Parsons in an exclusive interview in Paris.
"Without them, those teams wouldn't be there."
But Mosley warned that even the major players were beginning to feel the financial squeeze.
"The days when they could just toss out the 100, 200, 400m euros a year, which is what Formula One costs those big companies, I think they are finished," he said.
Mosley, 69, said one of the areas where costs could be reduced was the "drive train", or the moving components of the car.
"If you can believe this, the engine and gear box together for an independent team is upwards of 30m euros a year," he said.
"That could be done for probably 5% of that cost without the person in the grandstand noticing any difference at all.
"Even those big spenders, if they are given the opportunity to save 100 or 200m euros a year will do so."
Mosley warned: "We've got various means of making sure they don't spend that money, but it does mean some draconian changes."
The FIA has given Mosley the power to negotiate directly with the Formula One Teams Association over proposed measures to cut F1 team costs in half by 2010.
I suppose cutting costs is a good thing, but it means the cars will have to get smaller engines, less resources will be put into aerodynamics etc etc.
We'll be watching go-karts in 2010.
The Canadian Grand Prix, staged at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal since the late 70s, has been left off the latest F1 calendar.
After a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council on Tuesday, the sport's governing body issued an amended 18-race calendar, omitting the race previously scheduled for 7th June.
Instead, the Turkish Grand Prix has been moved from 9th August to June, creating an August 'summer break'.
The loss of the Canadian Grand Prix was news to the race organisers at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. In a statement the organisers said they would not comment until they have spoken with FOM and the FIA.
Another significant development to come from the Extraordinary meeting is to allow 'teams to equalise engine performance across the field for 2009, pending the introduction of cost-saving measures from 2010'.
Meanwhile, in the FIA's row with the German racing federation ADAC, the FIA vowed to ensure that the associated authority DMSB 'is truly independent of the ACAC and capable of running the sporting power in the country'.
FIA President Max Mosley was also given authority to negotiate with the F1 teams' alliance FOTA and introduce 'radical measures to achieve a substantial reduction of costs in the championship from 2010'.
And in a Formula Two development, the top three drivers in the new low-cost feeder series 'will qualify for an FIA Superlicence', the Paris-based body said in a statement.
2009 FIA Formula One World Championship
29 March Australia
5 April Malaysia
19 April Bahrain
10 May Spain
24 May Monaco
7 June Turkey
21 June Great Britain
28 June France
12 July Germany
26 July Hungary
23 August Europe (Valencia)
30 August Belgium
13 September Italy
27 September Singapore
11 October Japan
18 October China
1 November Brazil
15 November Abu Dhabi
This is beyond belief.
Hamilton is being hailed as the next great thing, and, according to Mosley, it's because he's black.
Thank you for ******** up the sport you Nazi-prostitute loving a-hole.
Lewis Hamilton has had an impact on the traditional 'image' of Formula One, according to FIA President Max Mosley.
He is quoted by The Guardian newspaper as crediting Hamilton, the 23-year-old championship challenger who drives for McLaren, for leading F1 away from its perception as a 'white elitist sport'.
"It has that image, inevitably, because it's so expensive to get into," Mosley, 69, said.
The Briton said Hamilton's success has opened F1's doors not only to a wider public in the UK 'but even more so abroad'.
"He's come from a pretty ordinary background, he's black and he's very successful.
For us, if he's successful, it will be excellent, really, really good for Formula One.
"But that doesn't mean we're going to help him, and it certainly doesn't mean we're going to hinder him," Mosley added.
What a d#%k head!!!!! Everything always ends up being about colour!!!
Rubens Barrichello has admitted he might not secure a contract to remain in Formula One beyond this season.
The 36-year-old Brazilian, who is the most experienced Grand Prix driver of all time, has had a difficult year with Honda but insists he has never considered voluntarily retiring.
"I've made it clear that if someone offers me a good contract for the next three years, I'll sign it," he said ahead of his team's home race in Japan.
"I see my future in a F1 car, but if it doesn't happen, it's not the end of the world."
Barrichello admits he is not sure what Honda's plans are for 2009, although he confirmed that talks seem to be taking place with his young countryman Bruno Senna.
"There is a lot of silence at Honda right now and I think this is tiresome," he said.
"I've never been in a situation like this, without a contract for next year this late in the season."
Barrichello advises Senna, the 24-year-old nephew of his idol and former mentor Ayrton Senna, not to come to Honda.
"Not because of my situation, but because I think that with his lack of experience, he may waste an opportunity," he said.
"You shouldn't enter F1 just because you want to and burn everything in a year knowing that you have the capacity to be world champion. It's a big mistake."
After the novelties of the Singapore night race, it was back to the usual timetable today in Japan and the 180 minutes of free practice were all run in dry and fine conditions, although a few drops of rain fell immediately after the afternoon session. Both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen had a trouble-free day, completing a very high mileage, thus acquiring plenty of data, all the more useful given that so much time at the Fuji track last year was spent running in the wet.
The Ferrari duo actually completed a total of 134 laps, double the distance they will have to cover in Sunday afternoon's race and ended the day with the fourth and fifth fastest times respectively.
Felipe Massa
"I am pleased with this first day in Japan. The balance of the car is very good, both on the first timed lap and over a distance. The times are very close and maybe I could have been a bit further up the order in the afternoon session if I had not encountered traffic on my last run on the soft tyres. These seem to be very quick, which is no surprise, but also very consistent. I really want to do well this weekend and we will try and win and bring home the best result possible for the two Championships."
Kimi Raikkonen
"It seems very finely balanced with the lap times all very close. This means it will be very important to have a good qualifying otherwise you run the risk of being a long way back on the grid.I think our car is going well on this track and even if there is still some work to do to improve the handling, I am reasonably satisfied. The harder tyres are very consistent, while the softer ones seem to lose a bit of performance over a distance. They're not bad on the first lap and it's a shame that on my last run, I locked the wheel and was unable to do a good time. My weekend? I will try to do the best I can for myself and for the team."
Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal
"I realise this might sound boring, but today was a usual Friday. Generally, it was quite good: we got through a lot of work without any problems whatsoever, which is important. It's difficult to say what the real pecking order is as the times are very close and we don't know how much fuel the drivers had on their various runs. We expected to be competitive at this track and I think we will be, as indeed will be our closest competitors. We have a very simple objective for this weekend which is to put the two red cars in front of everyone else. It will be difficult, it will require us to do everything perfectly and we will do our utmost to achieve that."
Shame that...
I like Barrichello.
Fuji Qualifying Results:
L.Hamilton
K.Raikkonen
H.Kovalainen
F.Alonso
F.Massa
Final result of Japanese Grand Prix:
1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault one hour 30 minutes 21.892 seconds
2 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 5.2 seconds behind
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari at 6.4secs
4 Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault at 20.570secs
5 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota at 23.767secs
6 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari at 39.207secs
7 Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari at 46.200secs
8 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault at 50.811secs
9 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber at 54.120secs
10 Sebastien Bourdais* (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari at 59.000secs
11 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota at 1:02.096
12 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes at 1:18.900secs
13. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda one lap behind
14. Jenson Button (GB) Honda at one lap
15. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota at 1 lap
R Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 22 laps
R Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 16 laps
R Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 8 laps
R Timo Glock (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 6 laps
R David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 0 laps
poor Bourdais:( but it is good for massa :wow:
It was a good race. My guy finished on the podium at least...
I nearly cried with joy when Hamilton was penalized!! :D Idiot.
The last two races has to be Ferrari one -two, and then Massa can be Champion.
:laugh: :laugh: Hamilton is such an idiot! It was BRILLIANT when he went spinning, when he went for his drive through and when he finished 12th. :laugh: :laugh:
and YEAH :clap: :clap: for Kimi being on the podium!!!! :)
This is really sad :( :( :( But next year is his again!!
Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix hammered the final nail into the coffin of reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen's title defence.
The Finn's third place finish was his first podium appearance since June's Magny Cours round, but he nonetheless slipped an insurmountable 21 points behind the championship leader with just two races to go.
Also officially out of the running are BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld and leader Lewis Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen.
Singapore and Fuji winner Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, could go on to win the last two races of the season while Hamilton fails to finish, but would still fall 16 points short of a third drivers' title.
Joining Hamilton and Felipe Massa in with a mathematical chance of the title, however, is BMW's Robert Kubica, who collected eight points at Fuji while his championship rivals faltered.
"We are still in the fight, so let's try," said the Pole, who openly acknowledges that his car is not a match for the two top teams despite his mere 12 point deficit to Hamilton.
"I think Kimi showed last year that everything is possible and I hope we can find a few tenths which will help me in the battle," the 23-year-old added.
ALONSO FOR PRESIDENT!!
Back to back Grand Prix winner Fernando Alonso has admitted he would assist the title challenge of Ferrari's Felipe Massa in the last two races of 2008.
After his disastrous tenure at McLaren last year, the Spaniard makes clear he is not barracking for the British team's Lewis Hamilton, who leads the points standings against Massa by five points.
In the official post-race press conference at Fuji Speedway, Alonso admitted he agreed with the stewards' decision to penalise Hamilton for his first corner incident.
The 27-year-old later told Italy's Sky: "I didn't know why he (Hamilton) had been penalised. After last year, I want Ferrari to win. I will help Massa if I can."
Despite backing Massa over Hamilton, however, Alonso admits he has not been overly impressed with either driver's championship campaign.
"They have thrown away many points," Spain's Diario AS newspaper quotes him as saying.
"After 16 races the leader has 84 points, but I had that many after nine races in 2006," Alonso recalls.
Also unimpressed is the winner of multiple Champ Car titles Sebastien Bourdais, who lost his championship points at Fuji after stewards investigated his collision with Massa.
"He's fighting for the title and taking unnecessary risks like that, as he did with (overtaking) Webber as well.
"You've got everything to lose and nothing to gain. It is a sign of arrogance," the Frenchman charged.
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
What an idiot!!
Why would Massa try to take himself out of the race?
Lewis Hamilton has accused his championship challenger Felipe Massa of deliberately colliding with him during Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.
Ferrari's Massa, now lagging five points instead of seven behind the McLaren driver, was penalised for tipping Briton Hamilton into a spin that dropped him to the rear of the field at Fuji Speedway.
"I did the corner normally and he came back very aggressively and hit me. I think that was pretty much as deliberate as can be," Hamilton told reporters in a briefing some time after the end of the race.
Hamilton is an arrogant idiot! I agree - WHY would Massa want to take himself out? He wouldn't gain anything!!!
Interesting...
The Japanese GP was an exciting event; even Willy Rampf had no idea that it would turn out that way. “I thought it would be a boring race, but that changed within the first ten seconds,” confessed BMW Sauber’s Technical Director. By taking second place, Robert Kubica has suddenly boosted his chances of taking the title."
“It’s still only an outside chance, but we saw last year how dramatically the tables can turn,” stressed Mario Theissen in an interview with adrivo.com Motorsports-Magazine.
It could play into Kubica’s hands that he is making fewer mistakes than the two current front-runners, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa and is just 14 points down with two rounds remaining. “I thought Hamilton would have learnt his lesson from last year,” Nick Heidfeld told the same publication. “He was told by his team in the last race to go steady. As far as I can see from the action replay, the scrap on the first corner wasn’t necessary.”
But it’s not only Kubica who his making fewer errors than the two current favourites. “The whole team is making fewer mistakes. That applies not only to the drivers but also to our race strategy and our high level of reliability,” says Theissen.
“We have to look for opportunities presenting themselves and take advantage of errors that are happening ahead of us. As long as we keep that up in the last two races, everything is possible."
At the same time though BMW Sauber can feel Renault breathing down their necks. “Alonso was faster than us here,” conceded Rampf. Heidfeld agreed. “Obviously McLaren and Ferrari have done themselves no favours, but once again, the pace of the Renaults was very good.”
So good, in fact, that Pat Symonds thinks his team now have the edge on the Hinwil-based squad: “Our lap times were good; better than Ferrari and McLaren, and most certainly better than those of BMW.”
BMW Sauber has 128 points, 14 adrift of Ferrari.
the driver championship is more of a reflection of consistency that actual skill, and obviously the reliability of the car cones into it
Not so. I think it takes a lot of skill to throw that car around a track at 300km/h.Quote:
Originally Posted by Williamp90
You try it. See if you get anywhere being consistent :laugh: :laugh:
...AMEN...Quote:
Originally Posted by Noxide
Mr F. Alonso has vowed to help Massa win the title...
I would have more info only... I can't remember to whole back page of a newspaper
:D Noxide has informed us all about that already.... Look at the top of this page... :PQuote:
Originally Posted by AaronVW
:wow: GO ALONSO!!!! :wow:
How's this for a development:
Shanghai - Shorter Formula One races, a ban on refuelling and testing restrictions are being discussed by team chiefs in China this week, a report said on Wednesday.
The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) is holding meetings in Shanghai to work out ways to improve the sport with sweeping changes possible, www.autosport.com said.
A ban on refuelling surfaced after numerous pit problems this year, highlighted by Felipe Massa's bungled stop in Singapore, when he drove off with the refuelling pipe still attached to his car.
Any refuelling ban would mean an overhaul of car design because of the size of current fuel tanks, with one way to minimise the impact being shorter races, the website said.
It cited McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh as confirming that discussions in China would be about the race weekend format and a possible widespread testing ban.
"We're looking at the race format and testing," he said. "I think there are quite a few good ideas on the agenda which would change the format of racing and change the format of the weekend.
"Hopefully, together we'll come up with some agreement on how we can change the weekend in a positive way. But we've got to be careful in making changes that we retain some of the purity that is important in Formula One.
"We've got to look at our agenda on Friday and decide whether that's a worthwhile agenda, where we can make more spectacle and have a bit of competition on that day, and we're going to review what we do on Saturday and Sunday to see if we can make it a little bit less predictable.
"But you'd have to say, based on today's showing and in recent races, it's fairly unpredictable at the moment."
Formula One chiefs, concerned by the spiralling cost of motor racing in the current worldwide economic downturn, previously announced they will hold talks this weekend to discuss the crisis.
The next thing they're going to try is to make all the cars electric & limit them to 1 AAA battery per 2 races... :whistle: