What a confusing, irritating little race that was.  THIS is your F1 Update! for the German Grand Prix.

*AUSSIE RULES:  He shattered his leg and arm in an off-season bicycling accident.  Since the last race, he had surgery to remove some screws from his leg, though the titanium rod is still in place.  It took him 130 races to get his first pole position, a F1 record for both futility and perseverance.  He had gone 130 races without a victory.  Until today.  Mark Webber, Australian, Red Bull driver, has finally... finally... won a Formula 1 Grand Prix.  Even a well-deserved drive-through penalty for his contact with Rubens Barrichello at the beginning of the race, a penalty that he agreed with, could do little to slow him down.

*BRAWN DROOLS:  After today's race, it has become obvious that the Brawns are no longer the fastest cars on track.  What may very well be the case is that they may not be the second or even the third fastest.  Toyota and Renault had faster laptimes than either Brawn, and Ferrari was on the podium.  McLaren's weight-adjusted speeds in qualifying show them to have been faster than the Brawns as well.  In past seasons, we've seen smaller teams, like Williams, come out like a house afire but by midseason the bigger teams have usually caught up.  We may be seeing that here.  For all their talent, Brawn just can't throw 200 people at a problem like Ferrari or McLaren or Toyota.  We're not even sure they have 200 people in their factory.  What was looking like a runaway season suddenly looks much, much different with eight races to go.

*DRIVER OF THE RACE:   Well, gee, I wonder:


*TEAM OF THE RACE:  Their third straight one-two podium finish, 18.5 19.5 points behind in the Constructor's championship, and looking as dominant now as Brawn did at the beginning of the season, Red Bull is looking like the team to beat the rest of the way.  They're also the first team this season to have both their drivers each win a race.

*MOVE OF THE RACE:  At first, we here at F1U! were pretty sure there wasn't going to be a MotR... if there was anything decent past the first lap, we didn't see it.  It turns out that there was a very nice pass while our staff was in the loo.  On lap 17, Jensen Button came out of the pits with fresh tires and a full load of fuel, but was behind Sebastien Buemi's Toro Rosso.  Going into turn 2, he put himself on the inside of the rookie, and all the way through the turn 2-3-4 complex the two cars were side-by-side.  Button had the better exit position from 4, however, and won the battle.  A tidy little pass that made what turned out to be the Moooooo-ooove of the Race look even worse by example.

*MOOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE:  Adrian Sutil was flying high in his Force India.  After qualifying seventh, he was looking pretty good for the team's first ever points-paying finish.  He swooped into the pits in eighth.  Coming out with new shoes and a full tank of gas, he found himself side-by-side with Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari.  Wanting to hold his ground and not let the red car go by, he nudged himself over onto the racing line... right into the side of the Ferrari.  Carbon fiber flew as the left-front endplate of his front wing was torn off, completely destroying the front end grip of the Force India.  Dreams of points disappeared into the night as Sutil had to limp around for an entire lap before he could get a new nose put on, rejoining the race in 18th.  Yo, Adrian!  Here's your Moooooooo-ooove!

*DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 04:27 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
Post contains 1183 words, total size 8 kb.

Stomp.  Stomp.  Squish.

THIS is your F1 Update! for the 2009 British Grand Prix!

*GODZILLA:  Maybe it was the cool asphalt making the Red Bull's tires last longer.  Maybe it was the cool asphalt making it harder for the Brawns to get their tires up to temperature.  Maybe it was the aero improvements to the RB5.  Whatever it was, from the second the lights went out this race belonged to Seb Vettel.  Every lap for the first 20 he added a second to his lead over second-place Rubens Barrichello, and when he finally swung in for his first pitstop he rejoined the race in the lead.  Vettel relinquished that lead for a total of three laps as the second round of stops happened, but even then it was to teammate Mark Webber.  At the end of the massacre, he was 15 seconds clear of Webber, 41 ahead of Barrichello.  We've seen some dominant performances this year, but nothing quite as like this.

*GODZOOKY:  In contrast, last year's polesitter Heikki Kovaleinninninnie was involved in an accident and World Champion Lewis Hamilton finished a resounding 16th.  Oh how McLaren has fallen... you know it's bad when there are banners in the British stands suggesting that the team junk the car and start over.  Meanwhile, the current points leader, Jenson Button, could do no better than sixth in his Brawn.  Not the way the partisan crowd wanted to see this one come out.

*DRIVER OF THE RACE:  At the age of 21, Seb Vettel is the youngest driver ever to win the British Grand Prix, and he did it while taking pole, setting fast lap of the race, and leading 57 out of 60 laps.  He also cured cancer, brought about world peace, and saved three kittens from a tree near Woodcote.  A honorable mention goes to Giancarlo Fisichella who brought his Farce India home in 10th place, and had a halfway decent shot at earning the team's first points going into the final batch of pitstops.

*TEAM OF THE RACE:  A Red Bull 1-2, and it didn't seem like a fluke that they were 26 seconds up on the closest opposition.  Even when their cars were on hard tires and dialing back the engine revs, they were still faster than the fastest cars behind them.  Truly dominating, and maybe (maybe) a threat to the Brawns in the future.

*MOVE OF THE RACE:  On lap 2, Grizzly Nick Heidfeld and HWMNBN were having a knockdown, dragout fight for 13th.  Some 10 carlengths behind was Giancarlo Fisichella's Farce India, near enough to be "in contact", but not so close as to be a threat.  As the BMW and the Renault bobbed and weaved, they entered Stowe.  Inexplicably, both of them completely blew their braking points and ran wide.  Meanwhile, Fisichella calmly zipped underneath them both, looking for all the while like he had a jet engine in the back of his car.  It was a beautiful job of taking advantage of your opponent's mistakes, and a glorious selection for the MotR.

*MOOOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE: On Lap 34, McLaren's Heikki Kovaleininninninnie came out of the pits, slow and heavy with fuel.  Closing on him quickly came Toro Rosso's SeaBass, while just ahead was the backmarker Lewis Hamilton.  Heikki, thinking the Toro Rosso was one of the leaders, moved into the middle of the track in the run to Vale, leaving plenty of room for SeaBass to get by, either on the inside or the out.  SeaBass swerved inside, outside, then inside again, for no reason that any sane human being could possibly fathom, and...

...a broken nose for SeaBass, a broken rear for Kovaleinninninnie, and a load of debris all over the track was the result.  Oh, and the Moooooooo-ooove for SeaBass, too. 

*DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 04:43 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 1107 words, total size 8 kb.

"You have built me a monster of a car, guys!" - Jenson Button

THIS is your F1 Update! for the Grand Prix of Turkey!

*A CHINK IN THE ARMOR?: Not so much, no.  In fact, the Grand Prix of Turkey turned out to be the least interesting race on the calendar so far.  At the start, it looked like it was going to be a true potboiler, with Rubens Barrichello completely blowing the start and dropping nine places in the blink of an eye and his teammate Jenson Button slotting in behind Sebastian Vettel and holding close despite being heavier on fuel.  Halfway through the second lap, Vettel went off-track for just an instant, which was all that Button needed.  He blew by the RB5, rocketed away, and never looked back.  It just became a question of which Red Bull driver would end up in second.

*BARRICHELLO BALLAST:  In what should be a legendary season full of unicorns and rainbows for the Brawn team, Rubens Barrichello is doing everything in his power to drag their glory through the mud.  First he complained about not getting to win a race earlier this season.  Then there was the pit-strategy change at Spain. 

Now, after cocking up his start, spinning out after bumping into Heikki Kovaleinninninnie, then tearing up his front wing when he collided with Adrian Sutil, he brought BrawnGP their first retirement with a broken gearbox on lap 48.  Of course, Barrichello is whining about all of this: "It's just frustrating because it has been happening too much on my side."  Meanwhile, his teammate is running away with the driver's championship with nary a fault or bobble.  What does Rubens think is happening here?

*DRIVER OF THE RACE:  Button would be the easy choice with another of his flawless drives to victory, but we're going to give the award to Mark Webber.  Starting from fourth, promoted automatically to third when Barrichello tried to leave half his gearbox on the grid, then had the unenviable challenge of hanging on to the tail of his teammate and Button as they tried to break the sound barrier.  As usual, Webber was up to the challenge and was rewarded with 2nd place when Red Bull's gambit of changing Vettel to a 3-stop strategy didn't pay off.  Couldn't've happened to a better guy on the grid.

*TEAM OF THE RACE: Red Bull.  2nd and 3rd on the podium is nothing to sneeze at when you're in a Constructor's Championship race, and when one of your rivals winds up in the garage, all the better.  While their overall race strategies appear to need work if they're going to have a chance to catch Brawn, days like this are important.  Well done, lads.

*MOVE OF THE RACE:  Last year, hearing that a Renault passing a McLaren for the MotR, you'd probably think it was for 3rd or 4th place, right?   Just goes to show that we're truly in Bizarro Season, for the pass was Nelson Piquet Jr passing Lewis Hamilton for 16th place.  On lap 34, Hamilton was flush with fuel, Piquet not so much, but the KERS advantage had shown that it could be insurmountable when used defensively.  Going into Turn 12, Piquet put himself on the outside of Hamilton and held off on his braking as long as he could.  Through the turn they were side-by-side, wheels with maybe two inches between them.  Being on the outside of 12 meant that the Renault was on the inside for 13, a clear advantage.  Hamilton wisely backed off slightly, while Piquet kept his foot down and overshot the turn, fishtailing slightly while Hamilton took a slower, yet shorter, line through 13.  Piquet's overshoot turned out to be strategy, however, as Hamilton, though in the lead at this point, was on the outside for 14.  As they came through the final turn the Renault re-re-claimed the lead and even pulled away slightly.  Great racing between two poor cars, and a well-earned MotR for the embattled Piquet.

*MOOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE:  Ruben Barrichello's ill-advised attempt at a pass on Heikki Kovlaleinninninnie was bad, and he paid for it with a drop to 17th place.  His stupid move on Adrian Sutil, however, was worse.  He stuck his nose in from too far back and got most of his right endplane taken off for his trouble.  A hasty pitstop and a new nose dropped him down to 19th... last place, in other words, since Giancarlo Fisichella had already retired.  Bravo, Rubens, your weekend wasn't completely wasted... you won the Moooooo-ooove!

*DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 04:51 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 1155 words, total size 8 kb.

A glorious day in Monte Carlo, a sunny sky greeting the F1 Circus as they lined up on the grid.  Would Jenson Button continue Brawn's dominance?  Would Ferrari mark their territory?  Or would Sebastian Vettel return to the top of the podium?  THIS is your F1 Update! for the Grand Prix of Monaco!

*RUNAWAY:  For all intents and purposes, the race was over when the tire covers came off for the formation lap.  Every car in the field opted to begin on the "hard" compound for their first stint... every car except for Button and Barrichello, the Brawn Boys.  The softer tires were faster, true, but they were known to go bad after only a few laps, and the speed gained from them wasn't all that much.  The "hard" tires were considered the way to go, all in all.

But nobody told the Brawn Boys.  Button cleanly stayed in the lead when the lights went out, and Barrichello blew the doors off of Raikkonen's Ferrari to take 2nd into Sainte Devote.  Then, poof, the race was over as the two disappeared into the sunset.  By the end of the first lap, Button has a one-second lead over his teammate, and a three-second lead over Raikkonen.  By the end of the third lap, it was a nine second lead over the Ferrari.  The Ferrari thinking had to be let them run, when their tires go off around lap 9 we'll catch 'em. 

But they didn't go off until lap 13 or so.  When Button's lap times started to climb precipitously around lap 15, he pitted and got on the hards... and only a couple of laps later, the Ferraris came in, out of fuel.  Race REALLY over.

*REBIRTH:  For all that the Brawns made it look simple, Ferrari got everything right today and found themselves on the podium for the first time all season, and both cars earned points for the first time all season as well.  We won't know if they're really back until Turkey in two weeks (Monaco isn't a fair judge of car pace), but they're at least pointed in the right direction.

*REGRET:  The BMW and McLaren freefall continued.  Kubica DNF'd with brake failure, Kovaleininninninnie crunched the barriers near the Swimming Pool, Hamilton finished 12th, and Nick Heidfeld was probably thrilled to finish 11th.  No points, and may St Fangio the Quick have mercy on your soul.

*DRIVER OF THE RACE:  Jenson Button.  What can be said about his drive?  On a track that punishes even the slightest mistake with a ride on the crane, Button was perfect, and was never threatened as a result.  Except for the end of the race, when he turned his car off in Parc Ferme instead of the traditional Monaco location of in front of the Royal Box.  He then had to jog the entire length of the pit lane to get to his podium.  Oops.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 01:32 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 1197 words, total size 8 kb.

A return to the Old World... will it be a return to the old guard in F1, or will the new breed continue their rise to glory?  THIS is your F1 Update! for the 2009 Grand Prix of Spain!

*THEIR MOTHERS WOULD BE SO PROUD:  Another race, another dominating win for BrawnGP.  Rubens Barrichello led until the first round of pitstops, though not without some yelling and exhorting from the pit wall.  Surprisingly enough, both drivers were on three-stop strategies, though Jensen Button was switched to a two-stopper after the first... um... stop.  That turned out to be the correct strategy, as Button inherited the lead when Barrichello made his stops, then ran away and hid.  Afterwards the first cracks appeared in the happy smiles of the team when Rubens began complaining that he didn't intend to play second fiddle to anybody.  Unfortunately that's exactly what his career has been, first to Michael Schumacher, now to Button.  We'll see how that plays out down the road, but for now Brawn is just as dominating as ever.

*FACES ONLY A MOTHER COULD LOVE:  Another disasterous day for the so-called Big Three.  Felipe Massa got into the points for the first time this season, true, but Ferrari quite nearly threw his 6th place away when they screwed up on their fuel calculations and didn't put enough gas in his car to finish the race at normal levels.  With six laps to go, Massa was in fourth when the team told him to dial down the fuel mixtures and the revs to conserve fuel.  The Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel, with no such restrictions, blew past the limping Ferrari like it was standing still.  With four laps to go, Massa was 16 seconds ahead of the Renault of HWMNBN.  On the backside of the track on the final lap, HWMNBN zipped past Massa to drop him to sixth.  At the finish line, Massa was only 1.5 seconds ahead of 7th and fading fast, and it was all self-inflicted by the team.  He eventually ran out of fuel on the cool-down lap.  Meanwhile, Massa's teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, had a hydraulics-based throttle problem that stopped the car after 17 laps, but only after the car's KERS unit had failed.  Again. 

Meanwhile, BMW was 7th and 11th.  That may sound pretty pathetic, but it's an improvement over their previous results.  McLaren nearly got Lewis Hamilton into the points, but had to settle for 9th place from the reigning world driver's champion.  His teammate, Heikki Kovaleinninninnie, had a broken gearbox that forced him to retire to the pits on lap seven.  Bizarro Season continues.

*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Jensen Button drove another flawless race to win, which against his teammate he had to do.  He could have fought Barrichello at the start but refrained.  He could have thrown it away by a slip or a bobble, but there wasn't one to be seen.  When he needed to increase the size of his lead, he poured on fast lap on top of fast lap.  It was, dare I say it, a Schumacher-esque performance.

*TEAM OF THE RACE:  BrawnGP is dominating the series right now, but without becoming the unlikeable-800lb-gorilla team (see Ferrari).  While some teams have gambled needlessly in previous races (see Ferrari, rain tires, Kimi Raikkonen), BrawnGP made sure they'd win the race by switching their drivers onto differing fuel strategies early.  They ended up 1-2 on the podium, no mistakes by the team anywhere.

*MOVE OF THE RACE:  At the beginning of the race, a vicious crash took out both Toro Rossos, the Farce India of Adrian Sutil, and the Toyota of Jarno Trulli.  Almost immediately a Safety Car was called out while the track workers cleaned up the immense debris field left on the track afterwards.  On lap 7, the SC came in and the race was back on.  HWMNBN got a great tow behind the Red Bull of (eventual third-place finisher) Mark Webber down the straightaway, then dove to the inside near the pit out.  Webber forced him even farther inside until HWMNBN was actually on the grass, but he still powered past the Red Bull.  A very nice pass, but not the reason we're talking here.  As the Renault cut in front of Webber to gain the line for the fast approaching Turn 1, Webber swooped behind HWMNBN for an instant, then set up on the inside, just off the Renault's starboard quarter.  As HWMNBN braked for the turn, Webber somehow held off the brakes and streaked past, tires screaming in protest as he threw himself through the bend.  The Renault tried to do a "reverse under-over" in counter-attack, but couldn't pull it off as the Red Bull stayed glued to the track and kept the power on.  WHAT reduction in downforce?

*MOOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE:  Adrian Sutil's attempt to avoid the coming first turn schmozzle that put him in the perfect place to be speared by the spinning Toyota of Jarno Trulli would at any other time earn him the Moooooo-ooove (he never even bothered to try to make the first couple of turns, instead just diving into the run-off area.  Trulli, having been punted by Nico Rosberg's Williams, spun and lanced across the track, ending up exactly where Sutil was re-entering the circuit)  However, since it happened on the first lap, it is ineligible by rule for the award.  Instead, we're giving the coveted award to Scuderia Ferrari for screwing up their sums and not putting enough fuel to finish the race into Felipe Massa's car and costing them a fourth-place finish.  First they screw up in Quals with Kimi Raikkonen, now this?  And Ferrari is supposed to be the premiere team in F1???

*DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 08:09 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 1363 words, total size 9 kb.

For the diehard F1 fan, this was an interesting race.  For the casual fan, it would have been dull as dishwater.  For the F1 writer, it was a practically-impossible-to-write-about race.  THIS is your F1 Update! for the Grand Prix of Bahrain!

*RIGHT ON THE BUTTON:  On a day where his pit wall was imploring him to baby the engine due to the intense heat, dialing back the revs and finding clean air whenever possible, Jenson Button still managed to blow the rest of the field off the track, winning by 7.1 seconds over the RB5 of Sebastian Vettel.  That gap halved from nearly 15 seconds over the last few laps, not because Vettel was driving so much better than the BrawnGP car, but because Button knew he had the race locked up unless he had a breakdown, so he dialed it back even farther.  After the first handful of laps, however, there was very little drama to be found in Button's win.  At a race where everybody expected the KERS-enhanced cars to be dominant, Jenson made it three wins out of four.

*LEFT AT THE STATION:  Toyota had at least a passing chance for their maiden victory today, both cars starting on the front row and the TF109 looking quick all weekend.  Things would have to break their way, yes, particularly when it was announced that they were running light on fuel, but the capability was there.  To give the team credit, they tried an interesting strategy, using the less-capable medium compound tire in the middle stint while everybody else was using the supersofts.  While the harder tire was about a second per lap slower, they'd be able to use the softer tire at the end when everybody else was on the worse rubber and make up the time.  Except it didn't work out that way.  Timo Glock couldn't pass anybody, finishing seventh, and Jarno Trulli couldn't catch up to the Big Two on his way to a third-place podium finish.  Certainly not a horrible end result, but it could have been so much better...

*UP, UP, AND AWAY:  Kimi Raikkonen finished sixth, 42 seconds behind the winner.  Why this is being mentioned is because the three points earned were Ferrari's first of the season.  The tifosi must be partying in the streets of Maranello tonight.

*DOWN ON THE CORNER:  Kazoo Nakajima retired from the race on lap 48 with problems with his oil pressure.  That was the only car the BMW-Sauber tandem of Robert Kubica (18th) and Grizzly Nick Heidfeld (19th) beat today.  What has happened with this team?  From legitimate contenders to red-headed stepchildren in one off-season... simply unbelievable.

*DRIVER OF THE RACE:  Other than having to worry about his car failing him, Jenson Button drove a completely worry-free race.  It was worry-free because he also drove what could be called a perfect race, never a wheel wrong.  It made for dull viewing, but it was quite deserving of the DotR award.

*TEAM OF THE RACE:  While we're giving this one to BrawnGP for their 1st/5th outcome, it's with the caveat that switching Rubens Barrichello from a two-stop to a three-stop strategy in the middle of the race may have cost him a couple of places at the end.  While doing so got him out of traffic and got him into an empty section of track where he could rip off some blistering laps, one gets the feeling that it was the first time they've shown a lack of confidence all season, either in the car or the driver.

*MOVE OF THE RACE:  At the start of the race, Lewis Hamilton served notice that in his hands, the McLaren was going to be a force to be reckoned with the rest of the season by moving from fifth on the grid to third and challenging Jarno Trulli for second.  While that gamble didn't succeed, it left him in a position to decide exactly what he wanted to do and when he wanted to do it.  It also left Jenson Button behind a decidedly slower car that was equipped with the ultimate pass defense mechanism (KERS) and driven by a world champion that really hates being passed for any reason.  Button didn't have a whole bunch of time before the two Toyotas would rocket off into the desert, leaving him stuck behind the Glare With Wheels.  Just as lap 1 ended, Button was tucked behind Hamilton and stayed there until the two reached the braking zone for Turn 1, when he zipped inside, held off on braking as late as he could, then seemingly threw an anchor out of the cockpit.  He practically slammed to a halt, made the turn cleanly, then accelerated off after the Toyotas, leaving a stunned Hamilton behind like he was driving a Minardi, not a McLaren.  Button may very well have won the race right there, making this the clear MotR.

*MOOOOOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE:  Instead of going to a driver this week, the Moooooooo-ooove will be going to a team.  Toyota decided to go all-in on their gamble with tire strategy, sending both cars out on their second stints on the harder, slower, rubber.  Both cars immediately tumbled down the running order as teams on the softer tires ran away and hid from them, an outcome that was as unfortunate as it was predictable.  Would it have been SO hard, Toyota, to put one car on Hards and the other on Softs, thereby keeping one of them in touch with the frontrunners?  You might have thrown a win away with that move... but, in consolation, you did earn a Moooooooooo-ooove!

*DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 05:48 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 1467 words, total size 10 kb.

We shouldn't be surprised that it was raining in Shanghai today.  After all, this is Bizarro Season, and the forecast was for sunny skies: of course it was raining!  THIS is your F1 Update! for the 2009 Grand Prix of China!

*CLICHE TIME:  "Rain is the great equalizer."  Cliches get to be cliches because they're usually true.  In F1, this particular cliche really is true.  Throw in the new aero rules and nobody knows just what's going to happen when it rains... and that goes double for the newly-dominant BrawnGP team.  After all, they only had a month's worth of testing before Australia, and none of it was in the wet. Oh, don't get us wrong, a good car is still going to be better than Farce India's entries, but the gap between the two is going to be very much reduced, and a driver's skill level becomes the main factor in where the two will end up in the final standings (which explains why FA's Adrian Sutil was running in sixth place until very late in the race: he's good in the wet).

So when the skies opened up above the Shanghai International Circuit sometime before the tv cameras were turned on, two things became very clear: 1) it was going to be an interesting race, and 2) polesitter Sebastian Vettel was the happiest man in the world.  Last year, he had a dominant win from pole at Monza in the wet, laying claim to the title of "Der Regenmeister" in the process.

Today, Vettel repeated his Monza performance with a twist: he was even more dominant.  At one point, he was over five seconds a lap faster than Jenson Button.  He finished nearly 45 seconds ahead of the Brawn driver, and it would have been a lot more if his team hadn't have reined him in.

*GIVES YOU WIINS:  Today's win by Vettel was the very first for Red Bull, a team now in its fifth season.  Last year, he also earned Toro Rosso, Red Bull's unofficial junior team, their first win at Monza, also in the wet.  Vettel is no longer a future star... he's a star now. 

*DRIVER OF THE RACE:  Should be obvious by now, shouldn't it?  Sebastian Vettel not only blew the rest of the field off the track today, he made it look ridiculously easy in the process.  At one point, he came out of the pits, with a full tank of fuel and green tires, some seconds behind the previously unassailable Jenson Button, who was low on fuel and therefore should have been faster.  He caught up to the Brawn racer in no time flat, then blew his doors off.  After that, he wasn't ever challenged.  Probably the most dominant performance we're likely to see this season... unless it rains again.

*TEAM OF THE RACE:  Again, should be obvious by now.  Red Bull not only got their maiden victory today, but Mark Webber, their other driver, finished second, 30 seconds ahead of his nearest competition.  When everything is going right, you get results like this.  Now to see them do it in the dry....  Honorable mention goes to McLaren for their fifth-sixth finish.. with Lewis Hamilton, their best runner in the rain, following Heikki Kovaleininninnie, who had yet to finish a lap this season.  Baby steps, baby steps.

*MOVE OF THE RACE: On lap 31, Mark Webber goofed on the final turn (like many, many drivers did today), letting Jenson Button go by for 2nd place in the process.  Seven turns later, on a slippery track, Webbo went around the outside of the Brawn and made it stick hard.  The way the day had gone, the Red Bull driver probably could have passed Button later if he had waited, but it was still a gutsy move, earning a well-deserved MotR.

Honorable mention goes to the Toyota crewmember that came up with the idea of the "nose trolly," a device to make a nose cone change go quicker:

Previously, a nose change required two people to position the new nose, then a third to fasten the quickclips, and usually took about 15 seconds or so to perform.  Toyota's new cart, though, took the place of two people, and took about 10 seconds off the process.  Brilliant!

*MOOO-OOVE OF THE RACE:   When the best drivers in the world get stupid, they sometimes look like cows on the field... and thus, the Moooo-oove was born.  Toyota's Jarno Trulli was not having a good day.  From the moment the safety car left the grid and racing really began, he had been slipping farther and farther down the grid, looking like he'd never driven in the rain before.  Maybe the car just isn't good in the wet, maybe he's not good in the wet, whatever.  BMW's Robert Kubica wasn't having much better of a day, but he was, at least, competitive.  It was on lap 18 that the two of them conspired to turn both of their days miserable.  Trulli slowed down precipitously into the final turn, and Kubica, storming down the short straightaway either didn't see him due to the rain and spray, or couldn't get whoa'd up in time.  The result?

Surprisingly, Kubica only needed a new nose (as opposed to the new suspension it looked like he should have needed), and was able to go right into the pits to get it.  Trulli, though, was knocked away from the pit entry and had to do a lap like this:

Looks almost naked, doesn't it?  We just wish we could figure out which one of these two worthies to give the award to... so we'll give it to both of 'em.  Nice job, boys.

*SELECTED DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 03:54 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
Post contains 1292 words, total size 9 kb.

1 I think we can be pretty sure it won't be raining in Bahrain.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 19, 2009 05:17 PM (+rSRq)

2 You wouldn't think so, but Astro assures us differently.  Who knew?

Posted by: Wonderduck at April 19, 2009 06:37 PM (2+BgR)

3

Yeah, sure, it has been known to rain there. There's no where on the planet where it never rains. (Or snow.)

But it doesn't rain much there, or often.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 19, 2009 09:06 PM (+rSRq)

4 Hey, I'm not disagreeing with you, Steven... I'M not expecting rain either.

Posted by: Wonderduck at April 19, 2009 11:36 PM (2+BgR)

5

Bravo!  great recap!  I especially loved that "Gives you wiins" line.  :-)  

 

 

 

 

Posted by: Mallory at April 20, 2009 05:41 AM (WJ2qy)

6 Lewis Hamilton should check his math, Ferrari currently has 0 points

I could not be happier.

Posted by: buttons at April 21, 2009 12:04 AM (uWWbe)

7 Rain's not a problem. Snow, now that's a problem.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 21, 2009 10:01 AM (+rSRq)

8 Nah, snow's not a problem.  Dry?  Now THAT'S a problem.

Posted by: Wonderduck at April 21, 2009 06:14 PM (/nYBT)

9

How in hell do you spin out when driving straight on a straight track segment? Sheesh.

I'm guessing that he broke away the driving tire on one side before he did the other side, so temporarily one had more traction and that's what made the car spin.

I looked it up, and apparently the driver was unhurt. That's a relief.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 21, 2009 06:50 PM (+rSRq)

10 Yeah.  He'd never driven a F1 car before (he is a champion rallycar driver, though), and he just goosed it a little too hard, or moved the steering wheel a little too energetically.

Nearly collected the Ford GT, too... yeesh!

Posted by: Wonderduck at April 21, 2009 08:42 PM (/nYBT)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

An unique race to say the least!  THIS is your F1 Update! for the Malaysian Grand Prix!

*A DAY AT THE (SWIM) RACES:  If anybody at the FIA had bothered to ask a local, they would have been informed that, in Kuala Lumpur, every afternoon around 6pm there is usually a heavy downpour that lasts for some time.  They also would have been informed that the sun tends to set around the time the race would be coming to an end.

The FIA asked neither of these questions and started the race at 5pm local time, so as to give the European audience a chance to wake up at a half-way decent time and still be able to watch live.  So what happened?

The heavens opened up, the rains bucketed down, and the track began to flood.  As reader The Wondering Brit said, "There's rain, and then there's rain."

You'll note the red circle in the picture above.  That circle is highlighting the Rain Light of the car in front of the Brawn, which might give you an idea of how hard it was coming down.  Here's another example:

Note the way the water is spewing up around the sides of the car.  On lap 31, the Race Directors called out the safety car, and one lap later they red-flagged the race.  They then sat for about an hour, hoping for the weather to break.  Instead, it just got worse, and for the first time since 1991, a Formula 1 race was stopped due to inclement weather.

As the race did not reach the 75% lap mark, all points scored are halved.  Therefore, first place was worth 5, instead of 10, points, second is worth 4, third is worth 3, fourth is worth 2.5 points, fifth is 2, sixth is worth 1.5 points, seventh is worth 1, and 8th is worth one-half of one point.  The full results list is here.

*DRIVER OF THE RACE:  Jenson Button.  He's just won his second race in a row behind the safety car, but it's not like either was lucky.  Today, Button had to make four pitstops for tires as the weather vacillated between good, awful, and frogswallower.  Meanwhile, 2nd place finisher Nick Heidfeld only stopped once.  Despite that, Button was still 22 seconds in front at the end of the last completed lap.

*TEAM OF THE RACE: Toyota.  Third and fourth place, and if there had been another lap finished it would have been second and fourth.  Great job for a team that needs results now.

*MOVE OF THE RACE: On lap 13, Renault's HWMNBN and Red Bull's Mark Webber engaged in an amazing duel that lasted nearly two entire circuits of the track.  The Renault was heavy on fuel but had KERS.  The Red Bull was lighter, but had no boost button.  The result was a back-and-forth battle where Webber would pass HWMNBN in one turn, and in the next the Renault would catch the Red Bull.  It was only when the heavy Renault staggered wide under braking that Webber finally finished off one of the best fights in recent memory.

*MOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE:  While a bovine lurks just under the surface of every driver in F1, this week they all get a pass: while everybody was sliding, spinning and generally pirouetting their high-tech cars around the circuit, the track conditions were more to blame.  No, today's Mooooo-ooove goes to Team Ferrari for bringing Kimi Raikkonen in for full-wet tires five laps too early.  By the time the rain DID start, he had already shredded his monsoons, even though Kimi was a full 30 seconds a lap slower than everybody else as he tried to keep some tread on them.  To be fair, this was a calculated gamble by a team that had nothing to lose, and we don't disagree with the call... we just had to give it to someone, and this gamble is the only "mistake" bad enough to be remembered.

There's only one Driver Quote Of The Race, yet it encapsulates the entire Malaysian Grand Prix:
"What a crazy race!" - Jenson Button (note: real quote)

That's it for the rain-shortened Malaysian Grand Prix.  Two weeks from now we'll be in Shanghai, China... see you then!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 02:55 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 713 words, total size 5 kb.

Welcome to the new season of Formula 1, and the new season of F1 Update!  It's been a wild offseason, full of rules changes and political manueverings, but that's all over with.  Now it's time to go racing, and there's no better place to start than the more-or-less traditional place to begin a season, Australia!

*A DAY AT THE RACES:  With the two Toyotas relegated to the back row for technical infringements (and choosing to start from the pit lane) and Lewis Hamilton's McLaren nursing a gearbox change, the field took to the grid and we got our first taste of the sun shining right into the driver's eyes due to the 5pm local start time.  When the lights went out, the polesitter Jenson Button made a good getaway, but his teammate Rubens Barrichello did not.  His BrawnGP lurched forward, then freewheeled before accelerating again.  By that time, though, he had already dropped five places and jammed the entire field together as those behind him scrambled to avoid rear-ending the 'mobile chicane'.  The first six cars made it through the first turn unscathed, but Barrichello proved to be a catalyst for danger.  The Brawn, Mark Webber's Red Bull, and the BMW of Grizzly Nick Heidfeld all tried to be on the same racing line at once, which never works.  When Rubens' car was bumped from behind by Heikki Kovaleininninnie's McLaren, a chain reaction occurred, sending the BMW spinning with a rear puncture, the Red Bull needing a new nose, the McLaren to the garage with a snapped front suspension, and the Brawn with a damaged front wing... which still managed to hold together long enough for Rubens to break off the damaged bits on Kimi Raikkonen's right rear tire 10 laps later in an ill-considered manuever.

By the end of the first lap, Button had a nearly-four-second lead over Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull... and that's about where it stayed for the first stint.  Vettel couldn't get closer, Button couldn't (or wouldn't) get farther ahead.

On lap 17, Vettel pitted from second and the Williams of Nico Rosberg pitted from third while Button turned in fast lap of the race, making one wonder if this was going to be a complete runaway for the Brawn.  It was then, however, that Kazoo Nakajima got a little too much curbing under his Williams, sending him careening nose-first into the wall at the exit of turn four with the remains of the car ending up dead on the racing line.  The safety car took forever to be called out, allowing Button to pit beforehand. 

It then took forever for the SC to go away, with the front of the field being Button, Vettel, Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica, and Kimi Raikkonen, with Rubens Barrichello 10th.  It was during this round of stops, though, that the lowering sun first began to play hob with the drivers, as the Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella completely missed his pit box, having to be pushed into the correct position.  It was obvious that he simply couldn't see which was his until he was nearly past it.

Once the SC dove back to the pits on lap 24, the Renault of Nelson Piquet Jr and Nico Rosberg's Williams were dicing for position into turn one when the Renault suddenly snapped into a spin and sailed off into the kittylitter for no reason that anyone could see.  While the cars had been close to touching, there was still daylight between them.  Local yellow only, and the race continued.  Again, Button opened up a 3.9 second advantage, but Vettel again hung with the Brawn at that point.

The final round of pitstops was nearly a disaster for Button, and he couldn't get the car out of second gear, preventing the fuel rig from being installed until after the tirechange was done.  This reduced his lead over Vettel to less than two seconds, and made the race very close.  Felipe Massa's Ferrari retired at this time with an unexplained problem, while his teammate brushes a wall and has to retire with one would expect to be suspension damage a few laps later.

With four laps to go came the defining moment of this race.  Button and Vettel were on the super-soft tires which worked well... for a couple of laps, then would go off.  Third-place Robert Kubica in the BMW, on the other hand, was on the medium compound tires and making up gobs of time on both cars.  In the space of one lap, the Pole managed to make up nearly three seconds on Vettel and began to harry the Red Bull driver badly.  On lap 56, Kubica makes his move, but the two collide and tie up with each other.  Vettel loses his entire front wing and ends up in the grass, Kubica loses half his nose and steams onwards.  A few hundred yards later, the two of them lose their cars at the same time, the lack of downforce sending them skittering into the wall.  The BMW is a total loss, the Red Bull somehow keeps moving, though with one tire at right angles to the direction of travel.  Vettel eventually has to park the car, though not until he turns nearly a half-lap in a dangerous state (he is later fined $50000 for this transgression). 

The race essentially ends at this point... and Rubens Barrichello, who had been steadily working his way back from the disasterous start, is in second place, for a Brawn One-Two.  Jarno Trulli is in third after starting from the pit lane, and Lewis Hamilton is fourth after starting from the back of the grid.

*CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN:  At this point, it looks as if all the changes to the technical regulations accomplished exactly what the FIA intended, that of allowing cars to be able to close up to one another more easily, so as to be able to pass.  We saw a lot of nose-to-tail racing, and a plethora of passes.  For once, the FIA got it right.


more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 08:33 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
Post contains 1934 words, total size 13 kb.

A couple of weeks ago, Official First Reader Mallory asked me what I'd heard about the possibility of a new F1 team being started up here in the States.  I shrugged it off, to be honest, saying that there's been a lot of rumors over the past few years, and until I heard something concrete, I wouldn't put too much faith in this one.

Well, today the concrete was poured.

At a press conference on SPEED Channel this afternoon, the two men responsible for this bit of groundbreaking news, Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor, went over their concept.  Describing the plans as "lean, mean, Skunk Works-style", they don't intend to follow the usual model of F1 teams, i.e. "throw money at it."

"The recession actually helped us out," said Anderson.  "A few years ago when companies were frantic to be involved with F1, and were willing to pay out a $40 million bond just to enter, our plan would have been laughed off the table.  Now however, with the new regulations aimed at cutting costs, it's almost like they were designed for our plans."

The concept was first floated to Bernie Ecclestone in 2006 by Windsor.  "In typical Ecclestone fashion, he said 'Great, make it happen'," said Windsor.  "Both the FIA and (Ecclestone's F1 management company) FOM have been very supportive."

The team will be based in Charlotte, NC.  The home of NASCAR, Charlotte is for all intents and purposes the heart of American autosports.  Most of the NASCAR teams are based within 50 miles of Charlotte, and it's the home of what is generally acknowledged to be the best automotive wind tunnel in the world, "Wind Shear", a full-scale rolling road-style tunnel designed by Anderson.

The two principles have great backgrounds for an endeavor of this kind.  Anderson was the technical director for the Ligier and Onyx Grand Prix F1 teams, has designed a number of Indycar racers, and has five Indianapolis 500 wins under his belt with teams he's worked with. 

Windsor, who readers of F1U! know better as "Smarmy", the track-borne member of SPEED's "Legendary Announce Team", was the team manager for Williams during their 1992 championship season, oversaw Ferrari's F1 chassis and suspension departments, and has been invoved with F1 for decades.

The catch-phrase for the team is "Made In America."  According to the duo, this means potentially everything about the team will be sourced in the US.  One thing that is sure is that USF1's drivers will both be American.  Names already being bandied about are Marco Andretti (who tested for Honda in 2006 and 2007), Graham Rahal, Danica Patrick, and about a dozen NASCAR and IRL drivers.  Foremost amongst those is the name Kyle Busch, though others that immediately leap to mind are AJ Allmendinger, Jeff Gordon (who once swapped cars with Juan Pablo Montoya in a legendary episode of SPEED's "Tradin' Paint"), and American Scott Speed (though, to be frank, Windsor's reaction to that was tepid at best).

Just about the only thing on the car that probably won't be American-made is the engine.  With the new rules in place freezing engine development, there are only a few FIA-approved engine makers; Cosworth is an American possibility, however.

St Fangio the Quick only knows if the team really will make the grid as announced for the 2010 season, but we here at F1U! are taking this one very seriously.  It seems to be the best design concept for a team to come down the pike in a long, long time.  If it happens, there's no question that we'll have a new favorite team, replacing the late lamented SuperAguri and Minardi.

We have a feeling, though, that the car is going to be festooned with sponsor logos, just like a NASCAR racer.  If it gets them on the grid, we're all for it.  We'll keep you abreast of all the developments as they happen... see you in a month for Australia!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:47 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 664 words, total size 5 kb.

One champion crowned, one challenger disappointed.  But who was who?  This is your extended format F1 UPDATE! for the Brazilian Grand Prix!

*SO IT BEGINS: The crowd at Interlagos was in good voice today when the cameras went live for today’s Grand Prix of Brazil, and fervently behind their favorite son, Felipe Massa.  Seven points behind in the Driver’s Championship and needing to win, the Ferrari driver was on pole and protected nicely by his teammate, Kimi Raikkonen. 

His opponent, Lewis Hamilton, was fourth on the grid, on the dirty side of the track, with his biggest threat, HWMNBN, right behind him.  The McLaren driver didn’t need to win the race, however, or even be on the podium.  He just needed to finish 5^th or better and it wouldn’t matter what Massa did: he’d be the Driver’s Champion.  He’d been in this position before, though.  In 2007, he held a seven point lead over Kimi Raikkonen… and peed it down the leg of his firesuit.

On this day, for the premiere Championship in motor sports, nobody else on the grid mattered except how they’d hinder the progress of the two challengers on their way to the checkered flag.

The Gods of Auto Racing, though… they mattered.

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 08:38 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 2504 words, total size 20 kb.

The penultimate race!  Two championships up for grabs!  Did either get settled?  Let's find out... THIS is your F1 UPDATE! for the Grand Prix of China!

*DULL:  Once the lights went out, the actual race was actually pretty boring.  Lewis Hamilton had a good start, led by one second at the end of the first lap, and was never even slightly challenged.  Kimi Raikkonen tried to hang with him and stayed close enough that the McLaren couldn't really relax, but the result was never in doubt.

*TEAM ORDERS?  IN MY F1 RACE?:  It's more likely than you think.  Article 39.1 of the sporting regulations state that "Team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited."  The rule was instituted after a hideously blatant incident in the Austrian Grand Prix in 2002, where (surprise!) Ferrari ordered Rubens Barrichello to relinquish the lead to Michael Schumacher.  He did, on the final straightaway of the final lap, in an obvious manner.  To be blunt, Ferrari did the same thing today, just without the orders being broadcast over the radio.  Felipe Massa went past Kimi Raikkonen with seven laps left for second place, giving Massa an additional two standing points.  This means that Hamilton's win gives him only a seven point lead going into the final race of the season... just like last year.

*DRIVER OF THE RACE:  Robert Kubica, BMW.  From 11th to 6th in a car that was squirrelly all weekend isn't too shabby at all.  Unfortunately, he needed to actually win the race to have any chance at winning the Drivers' Championship, so he's been eliminated.   Still, a very solid drive under challenging conditions.

*TEAM OF THE RACE:  Ferrari.  Both drivers on the podium, and almost locking up the Constructor's Championship against their hated rival?  AND they didn't run over any pitcrew this race to boot?  Yeah, good job all around for the Red Cars.

*MOVE OF THE RACE:  Felipe Massa had been slowly reeling in his teammate Kimi Raikkonen for five or six laps, coming from three seconds behind.  Massa slotted in behind Kimi's car as they raced down the back straight, getting a nice tow.  Then in a flash of red, he swung out and blew the doors off his teammate's car, breezing by like Raikkonen wasn't even trying.  *ahem*

*MOOOOOOO-OOVE OF THE RACE:  On lap 25, BMW's Robert Kubica swept into the pit lane for his first stop for fuel and shoes.  The stop went perfectly, no hangups... except that the team for whatever reason decided not to change his front tires.  There is no good reason to NOT change tires during a regular pit stop that we at F1U! can think of, so in lieu of a driving incident, we'll give the Moooooo-oove to BMW's race engineers for making their man race for his championship life on worn tires.  Nice job!

*DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:


more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 07:04 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 658 words, total size 5 kb.

A wacky race, and another wacky steward's decision have made the Driver's Championship closer than ever... THIS is your F1 UPDATE! for the 2008 Grand Prix of Japan!

^{Pole Position screenshots never get old...}

*SELF-INFLICTED:  The situation was exactly what McLaren and Lewis Hamilton would have asked for going into the race.  Lewis on pole, Massa a few rows back, Hamilton's teammate in between them both.  All Hamilton had to do was get a good start and keep Kimi Raikkonen from wrecking the McLaren into turn one, and Lewis would be a near lock for the Driver's Championship.  Hamilton then proceeded to empty his bladder down the leg of his firesuit, spinning his tires as the lights went out, allowing Kimi Raikkonen and Heikki Koveleininninnie to get past him off the grid.  Even this wasn't truly a disaster, as Hamilton didn't need to actually race either of those worthies.  He just needed to stay ahead of Felipe Massa and increase his lead in the Driver's Championship.

So of course, Hamilton raced down the straightaway in a banzai move inside of Kimi, locked his brakes so badly that he put huge flatspots on his front tires.  He is later given a drive-through penalty for forcing Kimi off-track because of this move.  Hamilton wound up losing the car going into turn two, going waaaaaay offline and letting HWMNBN and Robert Kubica get by.  Somehow in the course of the next lap, Hamilton slips down to fifth... behind Massa, probably because of his ruined front tires.  An attempt to pass the Ferrari into the Hairpin looks to be successful, but Massa aggressively rams the McLaren, sending it into a spin and letting the entire field go by before Lewis can get the pointy end of his car facing the right way and rejoining the race.  He limps into the pits, and even though Massa is given a drive-through penalty for causing the spin, the damage is done and Lewis is never a threat for the rest of the day.  He scores no points, and may God have mercy on his soul.

*SELF-GRATIFICATION:  Massa finishes the race in eighth, despite his drive-through penalty for spearing Lewis Hamilton.  To be blunt, he shouldn't have been there.  On lap 50, SeaBass made his last pitstop and rejoined the race, ahead of Massa by about half a carlength, more or less, but with a lower speed.  Going into turn one, SeaBass didn't give an inch, and had the inside line to boot.  Massa, apparently expecting the Toro Rosso to roll out a (Ferrari) red carpet and let him by despite the fact that they were racing for position, clumps into the side of SeaBass and spins.  A few laps later, it's announced that the the incident will be reviewed after the race, and the Legendary Announce Team says that it's a sure thing that if a penalty is given, it'll be on Massa for running into the Toro Rosso.  More cynical, the F1U! staff knew that the penalty would go the other way... and they were right.  Instead of being given a 10-grid-spot penalty for the next race, Massa instead was given seventh place, as SeaBass was given a 25-second penalty for causing the accident.  Does anybody need more proof that the stewards are in Ferrari's hip pocket... or someplace else a little closer to the centerline of the body?

*DRIVER OF THE RACE:  HWMNBN.  In Singapore, the safety car came out at just the right time and put HWMNBN in first place, giving him the chance to win which he did not relinquish.  Today, however, there was no safety car.  HWMNBN, for all his personality issues, is an outstanding driver in a Renault that has (finally) come alive.  Staying out of the mess at the first series of turns, he found himself in second place, and eventually took over during the pitstop sequences.  After that, he drove a near-perfect race and earned a well deserved victory.  We at F1U! still don't like him much, but he certainly was the Driver of the Race.

*TEAM OF THE RACE:  Renault.  First-fourth, and they've probably locked up fourth in the constructor's championship.  The resurgent French team is looking to make it a four team fight next year.

*MOVE OF THE RACE: On lap 60, Massa was drafting behind the RedBull of Mark Webber as they came down the main straight.  Generally, Webber is a hard man to get by, but he was on a one-stop strategy and his tires were completely shot; Massa had come from seven seconds behind Webber in three laps.  Always game for a fight, the Aussie slid to the inside to make the Brazillian try to pass him on the outside of turn one.  Massa, though, decided that he didn't want to do that and dipped inside of Webber, who kept moving over.  Both cars kept drifting farther and farther inside until the Ferrari was racing in the pit-out area.

Eventually, the better tires on the Ferrari forced the RedBull to brake earlier, completing the pass.  The Ferrari International Assistance program may be trying to give The Red Cars the titles, but this was a pretty gutsy pass, worthy of the MotR.

*MOOOOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE:  Celebrating the bovine in the best drivers in the world, the Mooooooo-ooove is given to the worst driving job in any particular grand prix.  Today, the prize is given to the man who is arguably the best driver in the sport, Lewis Hamilton.  Blowing the start, then toasting his tires, then forcing a less-than-solid (but still valid) pass on Massa, resulting in the McLaren pointing the wrong way in traffic?  Nice job, kiddo, if you wanted to give up the championship again, you've just gone a long way in doing so.  Here's your Mooooooo-oove.

*DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:

Posted by: Wonderduck at 03:15 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 1395 words, total size 10 kb.

A nice night for a drive, eh?  THIS is your F1 UPDATE! for the Grand Prix of Singapore!

*GOOD NEWS:  There are two things that the crew at F1U! dislike intensely... Ferrari and He Who Must Not Be Named.  Well, and mushrooms, but that doesn't have any bearing on the race.  So the sort of day (night?) experienced by Ferrari put a grim, satisfied smile on our faces.  First, there was Massa's disaster of a pitstop, driving away with his fuel hose still attached (and sending one of his mechanics sprawling).  This eventually turned into a drive-through penalty for the Brazillian, for "unsafe release into the pit lane".  Then there was Kimi Raikkonen's unforced error late in the race, catching just a smidge too much curb in the Turn 10 left-right-left complex, sending him arrowing into the wall and throwing away a solid fifth place finish. 

*BAD NEWS:  To counter the smile on F1U!'s face, HWMNBN won the race, his first in over a year, his 20th overall, and his 50th career podium.  Even this win for Renault had a slight bit of grimness to it, however, as it was handed to HWMNBN when his teammate, Nelson Piquet Jr, slammed hard into a wall.  This brought out the Safety Car... one lap after HWMNBN had made his first pitstop.  He was also the first driver to pit, giving him a huge boost in position when everybody else stopped a couple of laps later.  Make no mistake, he was the right driver in the right car today, but jumping from 15th to a win needs help and luck, and he got it.

*SINGAPORE SWING:  Hey, Valencia, were you watching?  THAT'S how you do a new track.

*DRIVER OF THE RACE:  Nico Rosberg.  No, he didn't win, and no, he didn't pick up 14 places like HWMNBN did.  He started 8th and couldn't seem to catch a break back there in the pack.  To make matters worse, when the Safety Car came out, he was very low on fuel and had to pit before the pitlane was open, incurring a 10sec stop-and-go penalty.  But a funny thing happened: his car came alive.  He wound up in the lead by the time the safety car went back into the pits and started ripping off blisteringly fast laps.  When he finally served his stop-and-go penalty, he had opened up such a gap that he only lost a small number of places.  Good driving in the last few laps, particularly with Lewis Hamilton filling his mirrors, solidified his career-best second-place finish.  Nicely done, Wonderboy!

*TEAM OF THE RACE: Williams.  The only team with both cars in the points, and a surprise 2nd place to boot?  On a night when most of the other teams didn't exactly cover themselves with glory, Williams turned in a very solid performance and earned themselves a TotR.

*MOVE OF THE RACE:  On lap 42, Lewis Hamilton was trailing David Coulthard's Chin down the front straight.  Out of the pits came HWMNBN, rejoining the race right in front of the two.  The Chin had to slow down a bit, letting the McLaren pull right up behind the Red Bull.  Heading down the short straight to Turn 7, Hamilton swung to the left side of the track and began to charge.  The Chin edged left to give Lewis less room, but Hamilton just clenched his teeth and bulled through, pulling off a beautiful pass.

*MOOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE:  While in general, we here at F1U! prefer to give these awards to the actual drivers, there are moments that are so egregious that they must be honored.  Today's winners are the Ferrari engineering staff, for creating the stupid "automatic lollypop" that led to this:

If Felipe Massa loses the Driver's Championship by a couple of points, this is why.  Bravo, Ferrari, here's your Moo.

*DRIVER COMMENTS OF THE RACE:

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:53 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 1069 words, total size 7 kb.

The FIA's International Court of Appeals has thrown out Lewis Hamilton's appeal of his 25 second penalty, applied post-race at Spa, on the grounds that the appeal was "inadmissible".

In their decision, the International Court of Appeals cited Paragraph 5 of Article 152 of the International Sporting Code, which states: “Penalties of driving through or stopping in pit lanes together with certain penalties specified in FIA Championship regulations where this is expressly stated, are not susceptible to appeal.”

Even if they were applied in error.

Color me shocked.

So Felipe Massa is now officially the winner of the 2008 Grand Prix of Belgium, Hamilton is dropped officially to third, and the FIA has taken yet another step towards complete irrelevance. 

The person that crossed the line first at Spa, having done nothing wrong, has had his victory taken away... and I'll going to go so far as to say that it was taken away because he was driving the wrong color car. 

We here at F1 UPDATE! will finish this season, but then we'll be taking a long look at whether we want to be associated with this sport any more.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:02 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 195 words, total size 1 kb.

It never rains at Monza.  Never.  Never ever.  But it did in practice.  It did in Quals.  Did it during the race?  THIS is your F1 UPDATE!

*WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS:  The last time there was a wet race at Monza was 1985.  By coincidence, that was also the first year in F1 for a little independent team from Italy named Minardi.  There have only been four rainy races in the 59 year history of the Italian Grand Prix.  Make it five, as it was so wet today that the race started behind the safety car.  It appeared that Toro Rosso's gamble on a wet-weather setup had paid off, but would Sebastian Vettel be able to hold off the McLaren of Heikki Koveleaninninnie, starting right behind him?  Very quickly it became obvious that the answer had a seriously good chance of being "Yes", as Vettel ran away from the rest of the field when the safety car went in on lap two.  By the end of the first flying lap, the Toro Rosso driver had a two second lead on Koveleinaninninnie, and it was growing every lap.  Then the question became "how much fuel does Vettel have?"  He must be light, how else could he fly away so quickly?  Well, yes, he did have less fuel, but only by a couple of laps... after his pitstop on lap 18, he fell back to fourth, but everybody else still had to stop.  After the leaders had all stopped... Vettel was leading again, by a good 15 seconds.  Lewis Hamilton, who started 15th, was on a one-stop strategy and had closed up on the Toro Rosso, getting as close as one second behind, but he had to stop and disappeared.  Vettel was never challenged again, and cruised to a 12 second win for his first victory, his team's first victory, and becoming the youngest winner in F1 history.

In 2005, Minardi was sold to Dieter Maeterschitz, founder of the Red Bull empire, to become Toro Rosso. 

*YOUTH IS WASTED ON THE YOUNG:  Not only did Vettel win the race to become the youngest winner in F1 history, but with Heikki Koveleaininninnie finishing second and Robert Kubica third, this was the youngest podium in F1 history.  When Michael Schumacher retired after the 2006 season, people said that F1 was doomed.  Then some kid named Lewis Hamilton appeared, and now Vettel, Kubica and Heikki have all won their first races this season.  Michael who?

*DRIVER OF THE RACE:  Duh.  Sebastian Vettel made a grand total of zero mistakes on a slick, slippery track and never had to worry about a serious challenge as a result.  Yes, he had the advantage of driving at the front of the thundering herd, meaning he was the only person to actually be able to see all day, but at any second he could have skidded into a graveltrap or a wall.  He didn't, and completely earned this victory.

*TEAM OF THE RACE:  Double Duh.  Minardi Toro Rosso had the perfect strategy for the race, executed it perfectly, and timed their pitstops to perfection.  Those two stops went flawlessly, and as a result, they were rewarded with a dominant victory.  Toro Rosso has about 1/10th the number of employees of McLaren, and are considered the "junior team" of the two Red Bulls.  Yet Minardi Toro Rosso has entirely crushed their more senior teammates.  Embarrassing for Red Bull, great for F1.  Bravissimo, signores!  Now do it again and we'll start talking about a fourth "big team".  Darn shame SeaBass stalled his car on the grid, otherwise we might be talking about a double podium for y'all.

*MOVE OF THE RACE:  On lap 36, Lewis Hamilton had to go back into the pits to switch from full-wet tires to intermediates.  He was still getting the speed from the heavy weather rubber, but they were quickly going away on him; it wasn't wet enough for them.  Into the pits he went, and on cold tires he was forced to watch Mark Webber steam past him in the first chicane.  Immediately thereafter, the McLaren went ripping off after the Red Bull, and with a grand total of one turn's worth of experience on the Intermediates (which couldn't've been heated to race levels yet), Hamilton outbraked Webber into the second chicane.  Nothing more than a driver at the top of his profession showing what could be done, and how to do it.

*MOOOOOO-OOVE OF THE RACE:  What happens when you take the best drivers in the world... and you remove their brain for a second or two?  You get the Mooooo-oove of the Race.  Today's Mooo-oove goes to Giancarlo Fisichella (again).  On lap 13, he somehow managed to run his Farce India into the back of David Coulthard's Chin's Red Bull in the first chicane (top speed: 45mph) with enough speed to damage his front wing.  The wing, wobbling as he went, stayed on the car just long enough to fall off in Parabolica, sending Fisi straight off into the wall... where his entire car got borked, thereby becoming the first and only car to retire from the Italian Grand Prix.  At his home race, too!  Bravo, Giancarlo, Qui è il vostro premio della mucca!

*DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 02:12 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
Post contains 1440 words, total size 10 kb.

1 Vettel won this race fair and square -- in the quals yesterday.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at September 14, 2008 03:12 PM (+rSRq)

2 Well, I don't know that I'd go quite that far, but it sure didn't hurt that he didn't have to deal with the spray.  He still had to keep the car on the track, and by all rights Kovaleinninnie should have been able to give him a race, and... and...

Posted by: Wonderduck at September 14, 2008 03:52 PM (AW3EJ)

3

YAY!!!! 

Vettel did an awesome job today.  Plus the anthems on the podium were a trip down memory lane.  (Can't help it, I'm still a Schumey fan.)

 

Posted by: Mallory at September 14, 2008 04:15 PM (WJ2qy)

4 Just to make things clear (i hate doing that Kubica had only ONE pit stop and that was on lap 34 from 53. And along with perfect timing for  inters that was the key to finish 3rd starting 11 

Posted by: Stefan at September 14, 2008 05:19 PM (TH8lm)

5

Well, it's always really nice when someone other than Ferrari or McLaren wins it. It's particularly nice when it's a no-hoper like Toro Rosso, showing everyone that there's always hope.

Now it's time for Force-India to win one.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at September 14, 2008 07:55 PM (+rSRq)

6 If either Farce India or Honda wins a race this year, I'll have to designate this as Bizarro Season. 

It's interesting that this is the first time ever that a Ferrari-engine customer team has won a race.

Posted by: Wonderduck at September 14, 2008 09:30 PM (AW3EJ)

7 Actually, Vettel said in the FIA Post-race Quote that the team gambled on running a dry setup. Apparently everyone else was running a wet setup, as they should. But a wet setup carries generally more wing, which is disadvantageous in Monza.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at September 15, 2008 10:25 AM (/ppBw)

8 I think if we'd gone a whole year without highly-disputed penalties for drivers, then it would be bizarro season.

Fantastic race, so happy for Toro Rosso, so good seeing how much the whole team enjoyed that.

Posted by: flotsky at September 15, 2008 11:38 AM (cnPFe)

9 I was so glad to see Vettel pull this off! When can anyone remember having such a wave of new talent as we have in F1 today?

Posted by: madmike at September 15, 2008 11:43 AM (mV2q+)

10 Jeez, if Vettel was running a dry setup in that weather, the win is even bigger news!

Posted by: Wonderduck at September 15, 2008 03:38 PM (DcSb+)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

(UPDATED WITH PHOTOS OF THE INCIDENT)

At Spa, the rain giveth, the rain taketh away... but to whom was giveth, and to whom was taketh?  And what the h*ll is the FIA thinking???  THIS is your disgusted F1 UPDATE!  We've thrown away the usual format of F1U! due to the events of the race and immediately following...

*NOW THAT'S WHAT WE CALL RACIN':  The skies over the Ardennes Forest were dark and leaden when the race began, with the torrential downpour of 45 minutes earlier ample testament of what could happen.  As it was, the track was pretty much dry when the lights went out... except for the start/finish straight and La Source.  That stretch of track, which might be considered somewhat important to the start of a race, was still sodden, and that promised an exciting start.  Sure enough, one of the more confused beginnings ensued.  Lewis Hamilton stayed in front through the first turn but Massa, starting alongside Hamilton, wound up getting shuffled down to fifth or sixth.  11th place-starting Jarno Trulli was touched by the hand of St. Fangio the Quick and rocketed up to fourth, passing other cars as if they were standing still... which they nearly were, as all the other cars were braking for La Source.  Trulli, who held off braking until it was very nearly too late, wound up being rear-ended by SeaBass, who broke a chunk off his nose.  Trulli, even though he continued on gamely, was never seen again.  It seriously appeared as if half the field ended up having to use the runoff area in that first turn.  Hamilton then began to gallop off into the distance, opening nearly a five second lead in one lap.

Then La Source, still damp and slick as whale snot, sent his McLaren skidding and flumphing off-track.  While he recovered, Kimi Raikkonen zipped past, with Hamilton rejoining the race in second.  And that's how it stayed until three laps to go in the race.

*HERE COMES THE RAIN:  With 20 laps remaining, the FIA announced that rain "was expected in 20 minutes", putting the weather on track about lap 36 of 44.  As usual, the FIA's forecasters were wrong... by about five laps.  In the meantime, the Lewis/Kimi battle was shaping up to be one of the best of the season.  The Ferrari of Raikkonen managed to pull out to as much as a six second lead, but after the second round of pitstops both Hamilton and Kimi put on hard tires.  Neither car ran particularly well on hards during practice and quals, but the McLaren had run better than the Ferrari.  The same was true during the race, as Hamilton began to carve great chunks off the lead.  With three laps remaining, the two were separated by less than a second.  Then it began to rain, and that's when the race really began.

*RAINING ON THE PARADE:  Into the final chicane, Hamilton made his move on the outside of Raikkonen.  Kimi was having none of it and refused to budge.  The two cars touched slightly, which had the effect of causing Lewis to cut the chicane.  Coming right back onto the course, Hamilton had the lead, but he had to immediately back off and let Kimi take the lead back due to the sporting regulations.  By cutting a corner like that, one cannot gain a competitive advantage.  Slowing down, he let Kimi by on the start/finish straight, then immediately tucked himself down under the gearbox of the Ferrari.  The two cars scissored back and forth approaching La Source, each driver trying to figure out where the other was going to dive.  Hamilton made his move to the inside into La Source, just barely getting by.  How close was the pass?

Yes, that's Raikkonen's front wing rubbing on the right-rear of Hamilton's McLaren.  It was a clean move, and about as daring in the rain as one can get.  But it wasn't over yet!  Down the Kemmel straight, both cars were twitching slightly.  Into Les Combes, Kimi had a big twitch, the rain playing hob with traction.  Both drivers tip-toed through the upper part of the track, with Kimi close aboard the McLaren.  What they didn't realize is that a Williams had spun and was retaking the track just ahead of them, under yellow flags (though that isn't visible in this shot):

Both drivers wound up having to dodge to the outside of the turn (and the mobile chicane of the Williams), with Raikkonen taking the lead (under yellow, a no-no) as Hamilton wound up having to take to the grass.  The lead was short-lived, though, as Kimi, suffering from the rain, wound up spinning in the next turn.  Hamilton, still accelerating, passed Raikkonen, who never left the track but lost a ton of momentum.  At this point, sixty seconds back or more, the BMW of Nick Heidfeld, who was ninth, had pitted for Intermediate tires.  The two leaders, however, couldn't dare to do so.  Two turns later, Hamilton slid out wide over the curb, but Raikkonen lost it completely, pirouetting into the wall just short of the final chicane.  This put Felipe Massa into second place.  Neither Hamilton or Massa went for the Inters, knowing that either could win if they just kept the car on track and the other spun, but that stopping for wets would throw the race away.  What followed was one of the slowest four miles in F1 history, as both drivers may as well have been on ice.  The final lap was nearly 45 seconds slower than laps being turned when it was dry!  Even so, Hamilton was 10 seconds or more faster than Massa on the last lap and "cruised" home for the most exciting finish in years.

*MEANWHILE...:   SeaBass and Toro Rosso was in line for the last step on the podium.  Not stopping for Intermediate tires, he gamely plunged ahead like the two leaders, just trying to keep it on the track.  Behind him, however, HWMNBN , Robert Kubica and SeaBass' teammate in Toro Rosso Sebastian Vettel did stop for wet tires and were charging like mad, running SeaBass down like he was standing still.  All three of them passed the French Fish in or near the final chicane, dropping him all the way down to seventh.  But wait, if those three cars passed him, shouldn't he have been sixth?  Remember when we mentioned that Grizzly Nick Heidfeld had pitted from ninth a couple of laps earlier?  He blew past everybody, picking up six spots in the final two laps to earn the final spot on the podium, putting paid to a fantastic Belgian Grand Prix.

*LATER...:  And then, the FIA had to louse it all up.



more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 03:21 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
Post contains 2020 words, total size 13 kb.

New track, new street course in fact, but did it bring us excitement?  THIS is your F1 UPDATE!

*STOP US IF YOU'VE HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE:  During the Ross Brawn/Slappy Schumacher era, Ferrari was known for many things, but one huge reason for their success was that their cars were practically bulletproof.  They practically never broke down, and when they did, it wasn't the engine.  In the post-Slappy era, Ferrari hasn't been quite as invunerable, but they've been pretty solid.  Today, Felipe Massa had a brilliant start from pole, then ran away from everybody.  Lewis Hamilton managed to stay in contact with the Ferrari, but couldn't manage to close an ever-widening gap.  With that gift, Massa had the race in the bag.  And then...

Kimi Raikkonen's engine went splat.  Massa, untroubled, finished up the race by increasing his lead every lap, and eventually won an easy victory.

*MORE PITLANE PROBLEMS:  Last race it was a rash of fires stemming from refuelling rig problems.  This time around, it was Ferrari's newfangled system of lights connected to sensors on the fuel hose.  First, in autonomous mode, it let Massa out of his second pitstop just as a Force India car was pulling by... resulting in a $10000euro fine.  Then on his second stop, Kimi left before the lights told him to, knocking over three mechanics (fortunately, only one of them was injured, and that only slightly despite the reports of him being stretchered off).  Neither incident would likely have happened if there had been a "lollipop man" controlling the stop.  Ferrari might want to reconsider this whole lighting scheme...

*...AND YET, THERE'S NO AMERICAN SPOT ON THE CALENDAR:  Spanish fans packed the grandstands at the new circuit today... until the first lap incident that knocked Spaniard HWMNBN out of the race.  10 laps later, there were visible blue seats.  20 laps after that, whole sections of the bleachers were empty.  What will happen when their hero isn't racing anymore?  Darth Bernie, please note that the USGP routinely had the largest turnout of the year, even though there wasn't an American driver to root for (except for Scott Speed, which doesn't count, because nobody rooted for him).  Just something to keep in mind...

*DRIVER OF THE RACE:  Felipe Massa.  The only way anybody was going to catch him today was if he screwed up somehow.  He didn't.  Not once (until the post-race interviews).  End of story. 

*TEAM OF THE RACE:  Toro Rosso.  Sixth and 10th doesn't sound like the usual TotR performance, but when it's one of the usual backmarkers, one begins to understand the award.  Nice job, guys, but you should have kept the Minardi name going.

*MOVE OF THE RACE:  We hate to say it, but none.  There was no passing to speak of today... in fact, this was actually a pretty dull race on-track.  Nice layout, though.

*MOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE:  By all rights, Kazoo Nakajima deserves this for running into the back of HWMNBN on the first lap, but we here at F1 UPDATE! were all too amused by the shadenfreude.  So instead, this award goes to Ferrari for their travails in the second round of pitstops.  Not only did they let Massa nearly get his car ruined by a Force India, but they also had Kimi run over a couple of their pitcrew, THEN he blew his engine in the next lap.  Niiiiiiiiiice.  Here's your Moooo-ooove!

*DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:25 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 1069 words, total size 8 kb.

We find ourselves in the middle of the F1 Circus' Summer Vacation, and there's nothing going on to write about.  So we've gotten together, argued over everything, and finally came to a consensus on a bunch of categories, both serious and... um... not so serious.  Let's get right to F1 UPDATE!'s inaugural edition of our Mid-Season Awards!

*MOVE OF THE SEASON SO FAR: Grizzly Nick Heidfeld, Britain.  Twice in seven laps, on a very wet track, Heidfeld passed two cars in one turn.  First it was Glock (to the outside) and HWMNBN (to the inside), then later it was Koveleinninninnie and Raikkonen.  He went from sixth to second in these two passes, in nigh impossible conditions.  Bravo, Grizzly!

*MOOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE SEASON TO DATE:  Lewis Hamilton, Canada. 

IN THE FREAKIN' PITLANE!!!


more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:58 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 651 words, total size 5 kb.

Well, that doesn't happen every day!  This is your F1 UPDATE! for the Hungarian Grand Prix!

*RUNAWAY VICTO... OOPS:  During the Ross Brawn/Slappy Schumacher era, Ferrari was known for many things, but one huge reason for their success was that their cars were practically bulletproof.  They practically never broke down, and when they did, it wasn't the engine.  In the post-Slappy era, Ferrari hasn't been quite as invunerable, but they've been pretty solid.  Today, Felipe Massa had a brilliant start from third on the grid, leaping over both McLarens by the first turn, then ran away from everybody.  Lewis Hamilton managed to stay in contact with the Ferrari for a while, but a blown tire put paid to any chance he had of winning, and actually placed him outside the points at the time.  With that gift, Massa had the race in the bag.  And then...

...Massa's engine went splat.  It rolled to a stop just past the start/finish line with three laps to go, leaving a puddle of various fluids under its carcass.  Seventeen seconds later, McLaren's Heikki Kovaleinninninnie swept past to take the lead and a few minutes later, his first ever victory.  Longtime readers know that the F1 UPDATE! crew have very little love for Ferrari, but even we feel a little bad for the Brazillian.

*SMOKE ON THE WATER, FIRE IN THE... PIT LANE:  Major problems with the refueling rigs at Hungary, as three separate teams (Toro Rosso, Honda and Williams) all had fires during their pit stops.  If it was just one team, you could chalk it up to ineptitude.  Three means there was something wrong.  The supposition is that the rigs had problems dealing with the high ambient air temps today, the thermometer reaching 95F.  Fortunately there were no injuries, and indeed no damage other than some lightly scorched paint jobs.  You'd best bet, though, that the incidents added another layer of stress to an already tough job.

*DRIVER OF THE RACE:  Two weeks ago in Germany, Toyota's Timo Glock had a nasty accident when his suspension let go, sending him spinning backwards into a wall.  He spent a couple of nights in a hospital with back pains as a result.  In Hungary, though, he qualified fourth on the grid and drove a practically error-free race to set himself up for his first career podium on the third step.  Then Massa's engine went splat, and suddenly Der Glockenspiel found himself with eight standing points and the second step on podium... and a huge grin.

*TEAM OF THE RACE:  McLaren.  A win for Heikki, a fifth for Hamilton (and lucky to get it), and Ferrari losing a sure win?  Yep, McLaren gets the team of the race for their performance, their third win in a row, and jumping past BMW in the Constructors' Championship.  Sometimes luck is as important as skill.

*MOVE OF THE RACE:  Vaucaunson's Duck suggested Massa's pass on Hamilton at the start of the race for the MotR, and considering the paucity of passing today, we were seriously considering it, despite the general prohibition on 'off-the-grid' moves earning the award.  Instead, we're giving it to what is, essentially, a non-move.  On lap 54, Nelson Piquet Jr went into the pits.  Upon exiting, he found Jarno Trulli rocketing down on him.  The Renault was at a horrible disadvantage: slow out of the pits, heavy with fuel and on cold tires.  The Toyota, on the other hand, was in the exact opposite situation: momentum, grippy tires, and a fuel load that wasn't new.  Piquet, not wanting to relinquish the position to the Italian, went on the offensive, forcing Trulli to take an outside line (the long way 'round the turn), then hip-checked the Toyota even farther outside with a tire bump.  Trulli slipped back, and Piquet kept the spot... a very nice bit of driving indeed.

*MOOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE:  Usually there's a miserable performance of some sort in a race that points out the mere humanity of the drivers, but today?  Not so much.  So, instead, we're giving the Moooo-oove to Lewis Hamilton.  First he drives too defensively and lets Massa get ahead of him at the start, then his aggressive braking style causes his tire to blow, costing him a win?  Yep, that's a Mooo-oove, but a wimpy one.  Sorry, Lewis, but we've gotta give it to someone.

*DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:


more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:03 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 1209 words, total size 8 kb.