Formula 1

[Lemmings]

Yes but a lap at Spa is 1:40.00 in dry conditions.
I think Massa should have gone on intermediates though.

Not that it matters now. He won the race.

Apparently McLaren are going to "argue" the penalty they received. Surely they can't?

[Noxide]

Apparently McLaren are going to "argue" the penalty they received. Surely they can't?

They can and they will. But nothing will come of it. And if something does come of it, then Amaway is right. The sport is a farce.

Just for different reasons.

[Lemmings]

They can and they will. But nothing will come of it. And if something does come of it, then Amaway is right. The sport is a farce.

Just for different reasons.

I don't think anything will come of it. But geeeeeez, Hammy / McLaren fans are really ******!

[Noxide]

If I could give Fernando Rep, I would.

Fernando Alonso believes the decision to strip Lewis Hamilton of his Belgian Grand Prix victory shows the FIA was right to overhaul the stewarding system for 2008.

In many expert observers' eyes, Hamilton's penalty for an apparently illegal pass near the end of the Spa Francorchamps race a week ago was evidence of either the FIA's incompetence or, worse, a pro-Ferrari bias.

But Hamilton's former McLaren team-mate Alonso believes that, for the first time, all infractions are now being dealt with consistently at races.

"The FIA decided to change (the system) after several big scandals of the past seasons," he told reporters in Madrid this week."

"This year, if you do something wrong, you pay. I touched a painted line in Valencia and I got a 10,000 Euros fine."

"The decision to change was done with very good judgement, because in the past four of five years, there were always surprises. You never knew what they were going to do," he said.


Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, meanwhile - the beneficiary of the Hamilton penalty - dismisses suggestions that the incident will discourage drivers to make risky overtaking moves.

"It is true that for good races you need good overtaking," the Brazilian told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"But there is overtaking and then there's overtaking," he continued, explaining that after cutting the chicane, he believes Hamilton continued to use the advantage to immediately re-pass Kimi Raikkonen.

"He did not have the patience to wait for another corner and try again," Massa continued, "and the rules say he should be penalised."

[EvilSpaghetti]

Lewis Hamilton says he will not allow last Sunday's dramatic events in Spa to distract him at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza this weekend.

The McLaren driver was stripped of his Belgian GP win for cutting a chicane and the team are taking their case to the International Court of Appeal.

But Hamilton said: "I don't feel at all disheartened by what happened.

"I don't feel that there's a need for revenge. We want to win on the track. Winning in court is not what we want."

Hamilton had clinched a thrilling victory in Spa passing Ferrari rival Kimi Raikkonen, who later crashed out, as rain began to fall in the closing laps.

But the Englishman was handed a 25-second penalty that saw him drop to third and Ferrari's Felipe Massa promoted to race winner.

Officials judged Hamilton had gained an advantage by cutting the Bus Stop chicane in his battle with Raikkonen, but McLaren have lodged an appeal on the grounds that Hamilton immediately ceded the position back to the Finn.

The hearing will be heard by the court of appeal of Formula One's governing body, the FIA, before the end of the month.


With judicial proceedings under way, Hamilton had to watch his words but did say: "Everyone in the team thinks we've won the race on moral grounds.

"We just have to try our best to stay squeaky clean, stay out of trouble for the rest of the season, and not let them have any opportunity to put us in that position."

As well as examining whether Hamilton surrendered any advantage he gained by cutting the chicane when he let Raikkonen past him on the pit straight, the court may also examine the manoeuvre at the chicane.

Hamilton himself discounted suggestions that a lack of grip forced Raikkonen to brake earlier going into the chicane, causing the McLaren driver to veer off the track.

"We had the same amount of grip," said Hamilton. "That's the way he drives.

"If you don't have the balls to brake late, that's your problem.

"At the end of the day, in those situations, it's the driver who can feel the grip more, and put the car more on the edge.


we're coming here for a great win to beat them on home turf like last year

Lewis Hamilton
"I'm great in those conditions, and I felt the grip more than he did. I knew where to place my car, I placed it in a different position to him and I found the grip."

For now, the 23-year-old is determined to put the appeal to the back of his mind and focus on the looming battle with Ferrari in Monza.

Hamilton arrives at the Italian marque's home race two points ahead of Massa in the drivers standings but believes McLaren have the upper hand going into the weekend.

"I hope what has happened does not have an effect, and I plan to make sure it has no effect on the championship," insisted Hamilton.

"I still have a two-point lead and we will continue to attack and perform like we did in the last two races. If anything we can use this [the Spa incident] as our fuel to keep pushing.

"Massa is on his back foot. He has to work damn hard to keep up with me.

"We do have a close battle but I'm in a very strong position. I have a great car and we will continue to take points from them.

"I feel like I'm coming away from a win and moving on to the next race.

"We're having a great season battling the Ferraris and it's a real pleasure. But I think we're coming here for a great win to beat them on home turf like last year."

[DipShyt]

FIA Thursday press conference - Italy

Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association) Felipe, Lewis has just remarked at his McLaren press conference that despite what happened and the penalty in Spa, that he's coming here on a high, he feels like he's coming here as a race winner. I'm just wondering if, from your perspective, do you feel the same thing, that you're coming here as a race winner, even though the win was effectively handed to you by the stewards?
Felipe Massa: To be honest, I've given my ideas on this many times about what happened. What's happened is that he took an advantage by cutting the chicane. You can ask other drivers how many overtaking manoeuvres you see there: no overtaking. Going from the last corner to the first corner is such a small straight, so he took an advantage, that's clear, that's my opinion, so it doesn't change.

Q: (Dan Knutson - National Speed Sport News) Could I ask the other four drivers what they thought about that incident and Kimi, and as a follow-up, do you think you and other drivers might be afraid to fight for a position now that you might get a penalty?
Giancarlo Fisichella: I have just seen pictures, so it is difficult for me to say whether what happened was right or not. For sure, maybe, he took a small advantage, that's why he had the possibility, as Felipe said, to overtake him again in braking for turn one. But obviously, a 25s penalty was quite a strong penalty. As for the second question: when we get in the car and we're fighting to overtake a car, we don't think about that. We just try to do our best. Obviously we know if we cut a chicane or we take an advantage we need to back off and give the position back.
Sebastien Bourdais: Yes, I think the rules are very clear. Maybe the penalty was a bit hard, but I think he's made the same mistake twice: he's done it in Magny-Cours and he's done it again in Spa. I don't really understand why there's been such a mess around it. There's a rule book and everybody has to obey the same thing. The penalty is really rough but in the end it's up to you to give the position back or not. Pretty straightforward.
Nico Rosberg: Yeah, I definitely agree, because he did get an advantage, because he wouldn't have been that close behind Kimi had he not cut the chicane. But then again, I also think the penalty was a bit harsh as that did not have such a big effect on the actual race result in the end.
Jarno Trulli: Well, I agree completely with my colleagues. The penalty was quite big but I'm not a steward and I cannot decide what kind of penalty should be given. But on the other hand, it was very clear that he got an advantage out of it, so that's where it is. The rules are very clear. If you cut the chicane and you get an advantage, you just have to drop back and give back the position and in Lewis's case he shouldn't have attacked straight away at the next corner; that was it. On the other hand, with this new chicane, there is a lot of run-off, it gives you more chance to attack because in the case of a mistake, you wouldn't end up in a wall or in the gravel. If it was the case of Lewis in Spa, he wouldn't have gone much further than that. We have more chances to overtake.
Sebastien Bourdais: I think it was very clear and I agree as well. You have to be responsible for what you decide to do, and in this particular case, if you do gain an advantage like I said, you just give it back and make sure that you don't expose yourself to penalties. I think it's the easiest way to handle it. In my previous experience, my previous life in the States, it was actually a common thing. The stewards would not take action if you gave the position back, so I think it's only fair.
Nico Rosberg: I agree and I don't think it's going to stop us from trying to attack, definitely.

Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association) To any one of you: although it says in the rules you give a place back, does it say in the rules how much advantage you are supposed to give back? Because Lewis was effectively second both crossing the line - the time sheets prove that - and also going into the La Source hairpin. Just for clarification because we don't know the rules like you guys do.
Sebastien Bourdais: The rules are available for everybody to read I think and they are very clear. You gain an advantage, you gain an advantage. It doesn't matter how big it is, if you end up being in a position to pass at the next corner then you gain an advantage, because at that place, as everybody said, you are never going to be in a position to pass, if you exit the chicane normally behind the guy, because it stretches out, it's normal. It's very simple, I think.

[Noxide]

Hamilton is making big K@k for himself.

1. Not even Michael Schumacher has ever said anything like "if you don't have the balls to brake late, that's your problem"
Who the hell does he think he is?
He's a F....... rookie in a quick car. That's all.

2. How is Massa on his back foot? "He's going to have to work damn hard to keep up with me" Bah!!!
Massa is only two points behind him because Hamilton made a rookie error!!!


What an IDIOT.

If I see that guy in person, I'll drive over him, reverse, and do it again.

[Noxide]

While it is impressive that the entire 20 car F1 field is covered by some two seconds in qualification, the end result is that a car that is a fraction of a second faster than its opponent in race conditions is simply unable to overtake come Sunday afternoon.

Formula One has set up an ‘overtaking working group’ which aims to make races more entertaining for race fans in 2009 with the introduction of KERS, adjustable front wings and slick tyres. In the meantime passing –within the rules – is proving to be quite a challenge for the race drivers.

The sport is going to be a complete joke next year.

[Noxide]

BEAUTIFUL!!!

The way it should be.

F1.jpg

[EvilSpaghetti]

1 S Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 37.555secs
2 H Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:37.631
3 M Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:38.117
4 S Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:38.445
5 N Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:38.767
6 F Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:38.894
7 J Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:39.152
8 F Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:39.751
9 T Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:39.787
10 N Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:39.906
11 R Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:36.697
12 G Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:36.698
13 D Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:37.284
14 K Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:37.522
15 L Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:39.265
16 R Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:36.510
17 N Piquet Jr. (Brz) Renault 1:36.630
18 K Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:36.653
19 J Button (GB) Honda 1:37.006
20 A Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:37.417