If interested, you can click here to go download your free copy of the Interlagos issue of GP+ e-zine.

 

My bad by the way!!! I dunno why I momentarily thought Glock's rig was motivated by Ferrari power...wrongomundo!!!

Anyway, in related news, anyone catch the Ferrari/Shell commercial on the F1 site? I was awakened in NYC a couple of years ago - quite early by what I thought was an F1 car running thru the city at about 6am...my wife suggested it was a frustration dream - wanting to drive an F1 car. Nope! I insisted and when I looked out from my 15th floor window an F1 car went by - we were staying at the Millenium on Time Square. We quickly got dressed and ran down to the street to follow this show for almost two hours...I remember the temps being very cold for NYC...that driver must have been frozen.

 

Gromit sorry to hear that you were sick....what did you eat ?

Massa did what he had to and Lewis what he had to.

Like I said, no one can say the championship was handed to him....had Massa won, that would have been the case.

The right guy won the championship and the right guy won the race.

Enjoy !

 

Gromit, while we don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, this one I do completely agree with you. That was tragic. Especially after seeing that clip reel of Coultard's accomplishments.

I saw we all set aside our disagreements and raise a glass to the Scot.



Ok, now back to our regularly scheduled bickering.

 

I agree with the latter half of that last sentence.

 

Hear, hear!

 

Yeah, I was very disappointed to See David leave the race so tragically. I always liked him and will miss seeing him on the grid. He's one of the few class acts on the F1 grid. Rubens is another, and he could be gone soon too.

 

What would happen if Massa and Hamilton raced the same exact car? While we'll probably never know I would guess from the fact that Massa could only win when he was on pole that Hamilton would. I'm not sayin' anything, I'm just sayin'.

 

I'd like to see what would happen if they drove each other's car.

 

It is obvious that both drivers are extremely talented drivers and chances are both would lay down similar times. Both made their fair share of mistakes and errors this past season. Both had shining moments of shear brilliance.

It is also obvious that while other drivers were flinging nasty comments at Lewis, Felipe remained quiet as did Lewis. Both projected respect for each other as indicated by complimenting each other prior to and after the race.

One of the jobs of the drivers is to get attention for their sponsors - as it has been said "there is no bad press" thus many drivers joined on the bandwagon to bash Hamilton, its good to get you and your sponsors name out there.

The fact is, if you took the bogus penalties away (and really they were bogus) Lewis would have won the championship earlier. So once again, nothing was handed to Lewis, against the odds he won.

I love to see aggressive, confident and talented people do what they love to do. Lewis is a breath of fresh air in a sport dominated by a bunch of whiners. He goes out and gets on with the business backed with pure talent and pure emotion. He's the right driver in the right car at the right time and that spells a winner. In two years he has done more than any other driver out there - wake up and smell the talent !

And.......seeing all of the tear jerking comments above regarding DC, years ago even Coulthard was aggressive and made plenty of mistakes, how many times did he take himself out ? How many times did he take himself and Mika out ? Funny how the past is seen with rose tinted glasses........

I do think its a shame the David never achieved the championship, I have always liked him. His driving talented, his team support excellent and always good for an interview.

I think if you had to pick the most talented driver in F1 right now, my vote would go to Alonso. He proved that all year in a car that was a complete wreck. His reaction time and balance are truly phenomenal. You knew the relationship with Mclaren was wrong when they made him cut his hair.

What a great year ! Next year will be even better !

 

Sorry but I hate McClaren AND Mercedes and by extension, Sweet Lewie Hamilton. I disliked Bruce McClaren back in the 60's and have rooted against them for decades. Mercedes also irked me and I'd love to see BMW eventually kick their butts. Until they do I will cheer for Ferrari and dislike any and all of their opponents. Sorry if this isn't PC.

 

Overall this year, I still think Massa deserved the 'ship. He was the fastest driver consistently this year unless rain happened or his Ferrari team failed him. Lewis is a great driver, but he had more driver controllable mistakes this year. Sure, FIA wasn't any help. I am a huge fan of his and I am so happy for his family. I love his dad and for that matter, Felipe's dad too. Hated to see anyone lose.

I just like how all of the new guys are nice blokes . They seem to get along well until near the end of the season when it seemed everyone was against Lewis. Everyone except Felipe it seems. Felipe is a class act . I don't think Lewis was too angry at being punted by Massa either. Enough mistakes to go around I guess.

Vettel is my driver of the year . He was simply amazing in what I thought was inferior equipment, but Toro Rosso was often the third or fourth best team this year. This is same team as Minardi? Vettel going to Red Bull seems like a demotion. Now Vettel at BMW instead of Heidfeld would be cool.

I personally do not like Alonso , but I cannot deny he is a great driver. I hope he does not go to Ferrari, although Ferrari want the best and he is one of the best. Ferrari with Vettel, Kubica or even

Toyota was much better but should probably give up . I do have renewed admiration for Trulli and Glock's driving abilities though. Oh my gosh, Honda is just a big waste of time and money too. Not even rain will help those two teams. I don't think anyone wants Button now.

Heiki needs to step it up or give the ride to someone else like say Vettel or Kubica? He might become another David Coulthard. Having the best ride, losing to your teammate and not winning championships. Perhaps, McLaren like this Schumy like situation where they have a clear number 2 to Hammy. Lewis is like Ron Dennis' son after all.

 

Well, if he can't drive like a champ in the wet, maybe he should try NASCAR or IRL.

 

I really don't favor one team or another, if Lewis were to go to Ferrari tomorrow then I would support them at least for the first 8 championships to see him beat Schu's record.

I used to loath Mclaren when Mika and David were there, they came across as such a "cold" team. Lewis has changed that, now the guys are always smiling, even Ron smiles. Lewis also brings his energy and youthfulness to the track and that is wonderful to see. If all of the drivers were "gentlemen drivers" it would be a parade not a race !

I've said it before, I like all of these guys and their teams, its great fun and great competition. What I don't like is one team pushing its weight around behind the scenes and "influencing" others such as the FIA into making crap calls and dishing out bogus penalties. Let the teams race and let it be fair.

I hope that every championship comes down to the last race, the past two years have been the best racing in years and years. It even outshines Alonso's two championships - though his holding off of Schu for the win at Imola is still ledgendary.

2008

A great new world champ
A great runner-up
A great year of racing
A great year of development
A great variety of podium finishers
A great variety of tracks
A great taste of new talent

What more can be said ?

 

You're right, but I think a lot has to do with setup and the Ferrari itself however. Kimi wasn't exactly lighting it up in the rain either. The Ferrari could not get temp in the tyres like McLaren and I heard the SpeedTV commentators joke about the special engine mapping for the McLaren

I think McLaren was a little conservative in Brazil too, although Heiki should have done a lot better. Who knows? That's racing.

 

No doubt Mclaren ran on the safe side, in the first practice Hamilton was right there, once their pace was confirmed they concentrated on the race setup. In the race he set some fast laps too. However, it seemed like Lewis slowed quite a bit in the end, is it possible that they

a) were running a dry setup just to get pole and the performance really suffered in the wet ? doesn't seem likely.

b) Hamilton's car was having problems ? You would never hear about it unless he had not won.

That was really close ! Talk about gambling, Toyota had some ***** !

I'll bet STR was set up for wet and they prayed for heavy rain all night ! That car came on like a light bulb once the rain was on the track, too much to say it is Vettel's driving.

I think Massa at Silverstone was more the set-up since it was the spare car he raced in. I still think they were lacking spares of the special parts that had been on the primary car and which were lost due to the crash. Massa in no way is that bad of a wet driver, he proved it at Monaco.

 

Doesn't have to be PC. It's your truth and that's all that matters.

What it doesn't take into account, however, is whether the team you like or hate has talented drivers or a quality car and the fact that you like or hate them has nothing to do with, nor will it influence, their performance.

Super Aguri didn't have a good car or the best drivers but I really liked them and hated to see them go.

 

Vettel is my new favorite too. I can see this guy becoming a totally dominant driver if/when he gets the right equipment.

 

+1
BMW will rue the day.

 

Reward for a lot of hard work

 

While I wish Massa had won (Ferrari Fan since I was a kid), I would like to thank Toyota and Timo Glock for at least making the last race as exciting as it was. Well I've got 141 days to try and find a group to watch the races with, this being nascar country.

 

Fred has officially signed with Renault for two more years.
Interesting that his, and Kimi's contracts both expire at the same time!

 

Is anyone else surprised to see Renault signed Piquet again?

 

Next year should be great! Lewis is on top of his game, as is Massa. Renault has certainly come a long way, although I've never been fond of Alonso. Vettel certainly will be a threat. Who else? Don't expect much from Kimi. I suspect he's just biding his time until his pension (LOL--the guy has to rolling in dough). Too much partying.

It's a shame about Coulthard--it would have nice to see him finish his last race. I think Rubins should retire ASAP, since he only embarassed himself all year. I doubt he needs the dough, either.

One thing about Lewis/Massa--there wouldn't have been any "last race" suspense if FIA hadn't lived up to its initials--Ferrari Intervention Agency. Massa should never have been boosted to #1 in that race. Lewis had no place to go on that chicane, and he did yield the position.

Has anyone been following M. S. lately? He's starting a new racing career--in motorcycles! Lordie, I hope he knows what he's doing...

 

Not really. When they told him that his job was on the line he started finishing races, not crashing out, and scored a decent amount of points for them. Also got a podium finish. I think he had 19 points and got 12th in the drivers championship. That's with crashing out of 9 races. I think that Renault thinks that he has some potential and now he has some experience. Plus, Alonso would be really mad if they would have brought in a driver that might hint at the fact he would not be the absolute number one driver on the team.