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[KyrosV]

Ive just realised, they didnt point this out on ITV but Kimi cant win the championship now, hes 21 points behind, he really should of either kept trying to overtake RK or crashed out and let FM get 2 points

[bud]

Ive just realised, they didnt point this out on ITV but Kimi cant win the championship now, hes 21 points behind, he really should of either kept trying to overtake RK or crashed out and let FM get 2 points

Ahh yes cheers for pointing that out, so its only between Lewis Felipe and Robert! with 2 races to go!

[KyrosV]

Ive just realised, they didnt point this out on ITV but Kimi cant win the championship now, hes 21 points behind, he really should of either kept trying to overtake RK or crashed out and let FM get 2 points

Ahh yes cheers for pointing that out, so its only between Lewis Felipe and Robert! with 2 races to go!

AND Ferrari, Mclaren & BMW for the constructors (13 points in it), its so close

[bud]

Ive just realised, they didnt point this out on ITV but Kimi cant win the championship now, hes 21 points behind, he really should of either kept trying to overtake RK or crashed out and let FM get 2 points

Ahh yes cheers for pointing that out, so its only between Lewis Felipe and Robert! with 2 races to go!

AND Ferrari, Mclaren & BMW for the constructors (13 points in it), its so close

Well BMWSauber its a long shot they dont have the pace of Ferrari or McLaren and Renault i feel is going to pose their biggest problem come the next 2 races. And as shown today Renault's pace is also enough to cause McLaren and Ferrari problems if given the oppertunity!

[f1maniac95]

That was a great race I was on the edge of my seat for most of the race. Well done to Alonso he is really making that Rena8ult work now, I'm expecting Renault to be fighting with the Mclarens and Ferraris next year and excellent driver by Piquet.

[Denthúl]

Well, I said that it probably wasn't worth getting up for and I was very much in the wrong. That was a great race with far more overtaking than I had expected (and, indeed, far more incidents than I had expected, too). I think several drivers underlined their great skills today and really showed why they are as highly rated as they are. Definitely earning their money. Congratulations to Alonso, two in a row and in a spectacular fashion. Hopefully Renault will be more competitive next year with the engine parity that is supposedly coming in to play. I wonder just how fast that chassis would be if it had a Mercedes or Ferrari engine in it.

Congratulations also to Kubica who drove what I would say is his best race yet. Sure, he won in Montreal, but there were no better cars in contention at that race due to additional pitstops for Massa and Kovalainen, and the Hamilton/Raikkonen pit-lane incident. Today, however, he had Raikkonen breathing down his back and pulled off an excellent defence of his position to put himself very much back in to title contention. The way that mistakes are flowing out of Ferrari and McLaren (albeit far less from the latter, and more from the drivers than the team - in fact, I don't think any of the recent couple have actually been team mistakes) at the moment, I wouldn't be surprised if Kubica actually went in to Brazil only a couple of points behind.

Raikkonen, finally, returned to the podium and, had it not been for the first corner incident then he probably would have been flying off in to the distance as we saw in Spa. Unfortunately for him, he didn't make it out of the pits in time to stay ahead of Kubica and suffered some tyre wear that was more than I expected to see from the red cars, but nevertheless it was a really good drive. It seems that in the past few races he's been back on form, although bad luck and a couple of mistakes have worked their way in to the mix.

Piquet drove his best race ever today. In the same way as Kubica, he's had a better result this season, but one more through luck than through ability. He was truly on the pace today and at one point lapping a second faster than Kubica and Raikkonen squabbling over the podium positions. Without the error that he made, he could have been involved in that one, too. Not enough to secure his drive for next season, but a good stepping stone. The next two races will be crucial. If he can score some points in both of them, I think maybe Flavio will give him another chance, which he would deserve should he have good races in Shanghai and Sao Paolo.

Bad luck for Kovalainen. It seems that whenever he's really on the pace, bad luck hits him. Australia, Spain, Turkey and Monaco join this one as being bad luck that Heikki did not deserve, but unfortunately that's life. Strange to see a McLaren go out with an engine failure. Since the 19,000RPM rev limit was introduced, the Mercedes-Benz units have been bullet-proof. He'll probably be wishing he didn't take the joker when he did, as he'd have been on a fresh engine today.

Massa, well...some stupid driving from him today, hitting Hamilton and Bourdais, but he did well to rescue a point from it all. I think that he would've had the pace to follow Raikkonen home today had Hamilton not locked-up and gone too aggressive at the first turn, as he'd already made it ahead, but again this happens and you just have to deal with it. His tangle with Hamilton was stupid and he could quite easily have carried on behind Lewis, though he didn't know that Lewis had done such damage to his tyres. I suspect he was attempting to avoid cutting the chicane, although his execution of such a move was very, very clumsy.

And now, finally, on to Hamilton himself. The first corner incident reminded me a lot of Brazil last season where, despite being able to finish fourth to Raikkonen if he was immediately behind Alonso, he attempted to take the victory and, as a result, lost time on the opening lap, subsequently leading to problems and being made worse by a technical glitch. I do think he over-drove at that moment. He could quite easily have defended his place from Kovalainen and then attempted something on the Ferraris a little later in the lap, rather than trying something which quite clearly did not work and was quite dangerous - he could have been taken out of that race within seconds of starting. What also worries me is that he intends to go and win the next two races which could lead to repeats of this kind of thing. I really hope that he plays the points game in the next two races, because otherwise he could go away from Brazil with nothing yet again.

So, all in all, a race that I thoroughly enjoyed and, if this kind of action (i.e. the close racing and overtaking) is the norm at Fuji, then I'll be quite happy to see it alternate with Suzuka.

[nikon133]

Now guys and girls, let's put the Massa and Hamilton squabble aside for a couple of minutes to consider what you have just seen today.

(Ableit Luck) Alonso has shown YET AGAIN that he is the best out there. Unfuckingbelieveable how the f*** did that happen. Man Im f***ing climbing the walls here! TOMATOMATOMATOMA!

That pace him hittin 1.19.2 lap after lap after lap.
That is what you miss Mclaren - he is now 3 points behind ur driver in a car which is still way off you
That is what you miss Ferrari - a driver who pushes ALL race, not just the last 10-20 laps.

I don't want to offend people. I'll discuss the other matters in due course.

But well done RENAULT and well done Alonso. Heck Wee Piquet has helped us. Keep this up and who knows?

Easy, Spiderman

Yeah, congrats to Alonso.

I hope they will end this season in high spirit and be able to continue the same way into next one. They did need a good motivation boost and Alonso is providing just what the doctor ordered.

Coincidently, I also think Alonso is still the best package out there. I would bet my new laptop he would keep his cool out there - something Lewis missed end of last season, and is kind of repeating this one.

[nikon133]

Whats lewis' ego got to do with this?? He's trying to win races and he made a mistake.

Well, isn't it a fact he had no reason to attack Kimi first turn - he IS racing Massa at this point, not Kimi? But it looked as if he just could not let anyone be in front of him.

All drivers race to win, but real good drivers race with their head...

[nikon133]

1. Lewis once again fluff's letting his ego get the better of him. Apparently he learned nothing from last season but hey he's hungry right? Regardless of any excuse's people try to make for Lewis he should not have attempted such a dumb move at the first corner.

2. Massa also fluff's concerning his coming together with Bourdais.

3. Webber what a douche bag almost pushing Massa into the wall.

4. Starting to have a few issue's with RK's racing tactic's also.

Alonso has shown YET AGAIN that he is the best out there.

He is good but the only thing he has shown is he has gotten very lucky the last two race's.

That is what you miss Mclaren - he is now 3 points behind ur driver in a car which is still way off you
That is what you miss Ferrari - a driver who pushes ALL race, not just the last 10-20 laps.

Sleep deprivation has apparently deemed you irrational so we will let this one slide.


This season is turning out to be more intense that last season !

A dumb move that I believe didnt deserve a penalty

Massa shouldn't of gone to the right of Mark, what if a car had been coming down the pitlane exit ?

Yes if lewis' start move was deamed punishable then massa's move in to the pitlane was equally dangerous if not more so. not even an investigation

Well, when it comes to FIA we all know the answer to the question "Who's your daddy?". But that is reason more for Lewis to play it COOL. Drive smart. Minimize damage. Don't give those douche bags any reason to drag you down. Loose race, win championship. But he just can't do that, now, can he..?

[bud]

Whats lewis' ego got to do with this?? He's trying to win races and he made a mistake.

Well, isn't it a fact he had no reason to attack Kimi first turn - he IS racing Massa at this point, not Kimi? But it looked as if he just could not let anyone be in front of him.

All drivers race to win, but real good drivers race with their head...

yeah experience plays apart in that! its easy to sit in your armchair and say hey let Kimi go Lewis.

[nikon133]

Well, first, I think that Hamilton's driving at the start was scandalous. He completely cut up Kovalainen and could have collected several cars. Yeah, he didn't hit anybody, but that is not the point. He could well have done so. I don't know what he was thinking. Massa's driving was absolutely reprehensible. He deliberately took out Hamilton - shades of Prost c. 1989 - and should count himself lucky he only got a drive-through penalty. His attempt to "overtake" Bourdais was also a disgrace and he passed Webber outside the track, so he must get a five or ten-place grid penalty next weekend.

Overall, it was a shocking weekend for McLaren. Winning the race and having another car on the podium was a real possibility, but that was ruined by Hamilton's moment of madness and a very rare technical failure with Kovalainen's car. I can't remember the last time a McLaren broke down. Probably sometime in 2006! What's worse is that Kovalainen has already used his engine "joker", so will be getting a ten-place penalty next weekend. The only saving grace is that - if the stewards do their job correctly - Massa will be getting a five or ten place grid penalty for "racing" today. It's almost worth putting de la Rosa in one of the cars to avoid Kovalainen's penalty, for it's getting squeaky-bum time in the constructors' title.

Raikkonen had another poor weekend. He showed flashes of pace, but was again completely inconsistent - even factoring in his tyre problems. He also showed a distinct lack of invention in trying to pass Kubica. Ferrari's pit stops are still sloppy. Raikkonen missed out in getting by Kubica in the pits because the fuel hose got stuck again.

Alonso was driver of the day by a million miles. He just oozed class today. His kept it together in the first lap and his times were truly fantastic. He's definitely the best all-round driver on the grid. The more I see of him this season the more I wish he were still at McLaren. That way the constructors' title would have been dead and buried. Also in terms of Renault, Piquet had a decent weekend. His race pace wasn't bad. It's a pity he made that mistake towards the end of the race, but it probably would not have affecting his final position thinking about it.

Another guy who had a good weekend was Bourdais. He's started to show some promise in the second part of the season. I think he's saved his seat for next year.

There is not a word in your post I don't agree with.

We're back to Lewis personality and the implications coming from it. He says he's the best. He believes he's the best. And he's taking for granted everyone else will accept him being the best, and will act accordingly. King is here - move away.

Is it only me or Lewis is the most aggressive and least respectful regarding other drivers on the track? I think he is; something he started last season (Hungaroring team strategy, brakes-testing behind safety car...) and pushed to the limits of actually being a bully and saying he doesn't really care what other drivers say (guess they are all just jealous, eh Lewis?).

I hope he will put his act together and win this championship. I don't care much for him, but I do for McLaren.

[Denthúl]

What's worse is that Kovalainen has already used his engine "joker", so will be getting a ten-place penalty next weekend. The only saving grace is that - if the stewards do their job correctly - Massa will be getting a five or ten place grid penalty for "racing" today. It's almost worth putting de la Rosa in one of the cars to avoid Kovalainen's penalty, for it's getting squeaky-bum time in the constructors' title.

Actually, I think the regulations state that if you retire from a race with an engine/gearbox failure, then you're allowed to replace that component without penalty. The fact that you've not been able to finish the race is, effectively, your penalty.

[nikon133]

Whats lewis' ego got to do with this?? He's trying to win races and he made a mistake.

Well, isn't it a fact he had no reason to attack Kimi first turn - he IS racing Massa at this point, not Kimi? But it looked as if he just could not let anyone be in front of him.

All drivers race to win, but real good drivers race with their head...

yeah experience plays apart in that! its easy to sit in your armchair and say hey let Kimi go Lewis.

Bud, this is the end of his 2nd season and I'd bet team radioed him not to attack Kimi as they were technically not racing each other - Lewis was racing Massa, after all.

I'm sorry but I don't think this was a rookie mistake - it is just the way he is. And while that makes him very entertaining driver, id does not do any favours to him or the team.

[bud]

You seriously think in that split moment he was listening to the team radio, assuming there was a call to not go for the hole shot? and im sorry he is still only 23 and 2 seasons in and at that age your instincts get the better of you in the cockpit no matter what. I mean if he does become champion he will be the youngest ever so that says something doesnt it?

But ultimately Lewis can never do anything right with you! and when he makes a mistake you jump right on it!

[8-ball]

Mclaren are starting to unravel just like last year. Lewis made such a big deal all season about playing the percentage game and then in a split second throws the race away. Instincts told him to go for the win but I am sure that Ron Dennis sat him down and said just beat Massa and he didn't do it. This tells me he is still immature and not the "best driver in F1" as he likes to go around bragging.

Ferrari are still not to their slick best but they are ahead in the Constructors and Massa gained a point on Lewis. So all and all not too bad.

Good victory for Alonso and it means that he will definitely stay with Renault for at least one more year. Honda are too risky even if Ross Brawn is running the team.