Should Toyota or the FIA decide Glock is not fit enough to take part in the Japanese Grand Prix – remember, the German is also recovering from a fever – and presuming test and reserve driver Kamui Kobayashi is allowed to stand-in, then he will undoubtedly start from the pitlane.

Just before qualifying started, Force India changed the gearbox in Vitantonio Liuzzi’s car, meaning the Italian would be demoted five places regardless of where he qualified. As it turned out, Liuzzi qualified plum-last anyway, and so will start at the back of the grid, albeit ahead of the two pitlane starters. For reference, drivers starting from the pitlane are not allowed to leave the pits until the final car has passed the pit exit, assuming all cars actually make it that far, that is.

During qualifying, a number of drivers were found to have not backed off enough while passing yellow flags. The waved yellow flag indicates that a driver must slow down as there is a problem ahead, which is usually a car that has spun off into the gravel. For obvious reasons, it isn’t wished upon any following driver that they too spin off and instead of gracefully coming to a stop in the gravel, they instead slam into a stationary car. Double waved yellows indicates that a driver has to slow right down and be prepared to stop. This is shown when marshals are on the track.

Given the high number of incidents during qualifying earlier, there were quite a lot of yellow flags being waved, and some drivers were deemed to have not heeded them as well as they should have. Adrian Sutil, Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button, Sebastien Buemi and Fernando Alonso each fell foul of the rule book and their own telemetry, and each received a five grid place penalty.

After qualifying, McLaren decided to change Heikki Kovalainen’s gearbox, demoting the Finnish driver from his original P9 to a post-penalty P13.

You’ve already asked the question in your head, no doubt… how has Kovalainen received a five grid slot penalty, but only moved down the order by four places? This is because Formula One likes to make it a little bit more complicated, but it is actually quite fair. Penalties are always issued in the order that the offense was committed. Therefore, Mark Webber was initially moved to the pitlane and essentially, P20 before qualifying started. Vitantonio Liuzzi was second to receive the elbow, and therefore definitely starts at the back of the grid. Liuzzi can still opt to start from the pitlane, but all things considered, he is probably better off where he is.

The last of the penalties receivers, so far, is Heikki Kovalainen. Therefore, all the yellow-flag-ignorers have had their demotions applied before Heikki gets his. And therefore, in a hopefully ultimate tone, will start in P13. Unfortunately, we do not yet know the exact order the yellow-flag offenses were committed, and so we do not know the final grid order. This grid is likely to change and is just a guesstimate.

Interestingly, Autosport seem to be under the impression Mark Webber will start behind Timo Glock in the pitlane. Although from my understanding, Glock received his punishment after Webber (and boy, it was more punishment than I think he was bargaining for), and so therefore is penalised after Mark. Which would surely put Timo just behind the Red Bull driver in the pitlane.

Either way, here is my stab at the grid for the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix.

Japan 2009: The Grid Inclusive of penalties given.
1		Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1m32.160s
			Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m32.220s		2
3		Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m32.395s
			Nick Heidfeld BMW 1m32.945s		4
5		Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m32.980s
			Nico Rosberg Williams 1m31.482s		6
7		Robert Kubica BMW 1m32.341s
			Adrian Sutil Force India 1m32.466s		8
9		Rubens Barrichello Brawn 1m32.660s
			Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso No Time		10
11		Jenson Button Brawn 1m32.962s
			Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1m31.704s		12
13		Heikki Kovalainen McLaren No Time
			Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso No Time		14
15		Kazuki Nakajima Williams 1m31.718s
			Romain Grosjean Renault 1m32.073s		16
17		Fernando Alonso Renault 1m31.638s
			Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India 1m32.087s		18
19		PITLANE Mark Webber Red Bull Racing No Time
			PITLANE Timo Glock Toyota No Time		20

Original article by BlogF1.

Japan 2009: The Grid, Maybe

The first penalty of the day went to Vitantonio Liuzzi, the Italian taking an unscheduled gear box change prior to qualifying and therefore accepting a five-grid slot demotion. As it turned out, Liuzzi could only manage last-place anyway, his only consolation being the non-active participant, Mark Webber. The Red Bull pilot was unable to take part in the running after damaging his car earlier in the day. Webber will start tomorrow’s race from the pitlane, therefore leaving Liuzzi at the back of the grid.

And for infringing the rule which states drivers must lift sufficiently when the yellow flags are waving, Fernando Alonso, Adrian Sutil, Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button have all been reprimanded. Sebastien Buemi has landed himself in hot water as well for driving back to the pitlane with a damaged car. Each has been awarded a demotion of five grid slots, meaning a change to the order following qualifying.

• Vitantonio Liuzzi qualified 19th and remains 19th.
• Fernando Alonso qualified 12th but will start 17th.
• Sebastien Buemi qualified 10th but will start 15th.
• Jenson Button qualified 7th but will start 12th.
• Rubens Barrichello qualified 5th but will start 10th.
• Adrian Sutil qualified 4th but will start 9th.

This promotes Nick Heidfeld to fourth, Kimi Raikkonen to fifth and Heikki Kovalainen to sixth. Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica also get promoted up the order. A grid will follow later today.

Original article by BlogF1.

Japan 2009: Penalties Galore

Vitantonio Liuzzi also endured a troubled start to the weekend with a gear box change, prompting a five-grid slot penalty. Although having only qualified ahead of Webber, the punishment will see no change of grid position for the Italian unless he decides to also start from the pitlane.

The first incident during qualifying came from Scuderia Toro Rosso pilot Jaime Alguersuari. Again at the Degner Curves, Alguersuari ran wide on his entry and hit the barriers. Although the Spaniard had to be assisted from the car, it was later announced Jaime was unhurt and cleared to race tomorrow.

The second of the red flags to be posted was in result to Timo Glock having a sizable accident coming out of the final chicane. The Toyota pilot skated of the gravel and smashed into the barriers, causing not only a red flag but the medical car to be in attendance as well. Timo suffered a cut leg and complained of back pain after being extricated from the TF109. As a precaution, Glock has been airlifted to hospital, but scans have apparently shown there is no serious damage to the driver. Toyota have stated they will make a decision early Sunday morning as to whether or not Glock would race (if cleared by the FIA). Test driver Kamui Kobayashi, who stood in for Glock during practice as the German driver is also recovering from a fever, is on stand-by to deputise again but the Japanese driver’s inclusion would require all other teams to unanimously agree to it.

Not escaping moments themselves, Sebastien Buemi also crashed in the second session which meant that although the Swiss pilot had made it through to Q3, could not set a time. Heikki Kovalainen also suffered incident after he too felt the magnetic force of the Degner tyre barrier.

And so after a hectic session at the returning Suzuka circuit, Sebastian Vettel has taken pole position from Jarno Trulli and Lewis Hamilton. Adrian Sutil managed a great fourth place while Rubens Barrichello helps his championship cause by out-qualifying team mate Jenson Button, fifth to seventh respectively. Sebastien Buemi placed his Scuderia Toro Rosso in tenth despite failing to set a lap in Q3 and Nick Heidfeld continues BMW’s renaissance by qualifying in sixth.

Singapore 2009 Qualifying Results		Q1 20 minutes	Q2 15 minutes	Q3 10 minutes
1.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	1m30.883s	1m30.341s	1m32.160s
2.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	1m31.063s	1m30.737s	1m32.220s
3.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	1m30.917s	1m30.627s	1m32.395s
4.	Adrian Sutil Force India	1m31.386s	1m31.222s	1m32.466s
5.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	1m31.272s	1m31.055s	1m32.660s
6.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	1m31.501s	1m31.260s	1m32.945s
7.	Jenson Button Brawn	1m31.041s	1m30.880s	1m32.962s
8.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	1m31.288s	1m31.052s	1m32.980s
9.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	1m31.499s	1m31.223s	No Time
10.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m31.196s	1m31.103s	No Time
11.	Nico Rosberg Williams	1m31.286s	1m31.482s
12.	Fernando Alonso Renault	1m31.401s	1m31.638s
13.	Robert Kubica BMW	1m31.417s	1m32.341s
14.	Timo Glock Toyota	1m31.550s	No Time
15.	Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m31.571s	No Time
16.	Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari	1m31.704s
17.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	1m31.718s
18.	Romain Grosjean Renault	1m32.073s
19.	Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India	1m32.087s
20.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	No Time

Original article by BlogF1.

Japan 2009: Qualifying Result

We are delighted that the Suzuka Circuit will now safeguard one of our most important national sporting events by playing host to the Japanese Grand Prix for the next three years. Hiroshi Oshima.

Suzuka will host the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix as planned in early-October, and then continue to do so in 2010 and 2011. The figure-of-eight track has created some great racing moments over the years, the circuit having hosted the first Japanese Grand Prix in the sport’s history, back in 1963. Although the event was not part of the official championship, it was Formula One cars that were thundering around the corners.

The event was finally integrated into the championship in 1976, but it was Fuji that got the nod. After a couple of years, the race disappeared from the calendar for a decade, but returned in 1986, this time at Suzuka. The Japanese Grand Prix remained at Suzuka and usually placed at or near the end of the year. In 2006 a deal was struck with Fuji for the speedway to take over the reigns of the event and Suzuka received some investment and updates in it facilities. Desperate to return to the calendar, another deal was struck whereby the venues would alternate the grand prix, but in July 2009, Fuji announced it had to relinquish the race in order to survive.

More information on Suzuka and the Japanese Grand Prix can be found on BlogF1’s (developing) sister site, Google Circuits.

Original article by BlogF1.

Suzuka Extends Deal To Host Japanese Grand Prix For Two More Years

They say that the only way to win a Formula One world championship is with gritted determination, outright confidence, a great car and team, and ability to be completely ruthless when confronted with a choice on the track; to go for a pass, or to be sensible and wait for a better opportunity. Lewis Hamilton has clearly been taking the former approach – go for the pass. But this has caused many of his opponents to speak out against the McLaren driver.

In the next driver meeting, Jarno Trulli will ask [Lewis Hamilton] why he blocked him for two laps when he was a lap down. Jarno lost one and a half to two seconds, because Hamilton would not obey the blue flags. Timo Glock.

Of course, Glock has his own experience of Hamilton’s passing technique, the Briton having run the Toyota driver pretty much off-track during the washed-out Italian Grand Prix. And as you can imagine, Kimi Raikkonen isn’t too happy with Hamilton either.

What Hamilton did at the start at Fuji was not clean. He didn’t give me a chance to turn into the corner. You have to learn how to find braking points when you are six years old in go karts. Obviously you should know how it goes at this level. Kimi Raikkonen.

And even one of Hamilton’s most staunchest of supporters – former world champion Sir Jackie Stewart – criticised the McLaren driver following his first-corner incident at Fuji.

This was not his finest hour. His approach in that first corner was slightly arrogant to other drivers. Weaving in and out of other cars, as Lewis did in the run to the first corner, puts other drivers in the position of having to avoid his manoeuvre.

The Japanese race demonstrated that Lewis is still very young, in only his second season, and although he comes across as very cool in interviews, he doesn’t always have the same level of mind management when he’s racing.

Lewis Hamilton can still win the championship, but not if he drives the last two races the way he drove in Japan. Jackie Stewart.

So, is Lewis Hamilton just a determined and ruthless driver, aiming to capitalise on every opportunity in order to win? Or is the young driver behaving arrogantly, hot-headed and without thought to the repercussions of the race or world championship campaign, as well as his own reputation?

Original article by BlogF1.

Lewis Hamilton’s Reading List: ‘How To Make Friends & Influence People’

The opening lap was full of incidents up and down the grid, the most contentious of which involved the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen and the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton. As the lights went out Raikkonen got a good start and pulled ahead of Hamilton. Heikki Kovalainen also made a good start from third and held his line along the inside of the long run down to the first corner. As Hamilton attempted to make up ground and regain the lost position, he out-braked himself and locked the front-right wheel. As the McLaren went straight on at the corner Raikkonen was forced out wide to avoid contact and Kimi took to the run-off area and lost countless places.

As this was happening at the front, David Coulthard and Kazuki Nakajima had a coming together, and although Nakajima was able to continue, Coulthard’s Red Bull clouted a barrier and the Scot vacated the car. And by the time the front-runners had sorted themselves out from all the drama, BMW’s Robert Kubica found himself in the lead of the race.

The third big incident of the race-start involved Lewis Hamilton once again and championship rival Felipe Massa. Hamilton made a move on Massa and as the Ferrari pilot attempted to comeback at the McLaren, Massa ended up taking to the grass. As Felipe rejoined the track he clouted Hamilton, forcing the McLaren into a spin. To say it was a disastrous start for the Briton is an understatement. His over-exuberance had gifted Massa with an opportunity, but he blew it himself by being a little too bold as well.

Timo Glock retired his Toyota and was quickly joined by Adrian Sutil in the Force India. In the race, Raikkonen began to make up some places and passed the remaining Toyota of Jarno Trulli with relative ease. And on lap twelve, the stewards announced their investigations in Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. Five laps later and the stewards returned a verdict of guilty of pushing a car off the track for Hamilton, handing him a drive-thru penalty, and a similar punishment for Massa for his avoidable accident with Lewis.

To make matters, just as the penalty information was being fed through to the teams and viewers, Heikki Kovalainen pulled off the track, smoke coming from the car. The Finn’s hydraulics apparently packed up, putting a premature end to the gearbox and then the engine. As Kovalainen walked back to the pitlane, Lewis Hamilton toured through to serve his penalty, Massa completed his a couple of laps later. Essentially, their races were ruined.

At the front, the lead changed a fair bit as the drivers each came in for their first pitstops. Alonso stopped on lap 18, handing the lead briefly to Jarno Trulli. On lap 22, Trulli pitted, allowing Bourdais to take the top-spot for a couple of laps before pitting himself. Amazingly, when Bourdais pitted he handed the lead to second Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. By lap 28, Piquet pitted himself though and the lead was handed back to Alonso.

At the halfway point, Massa and Hamilton were fighting their way through the slower cars, but as it was for position, the blue flags couldn’t help them. Although the title-contenders were back in twelfth and thirteenth, they each knew there was a point or two up for grabs. At the front, Alonso opened a margin over BMW driver Kubica, the Spaniard well-aware that his rival would be running longer in the middle stint and therefore potentially able to pass him in the pitstops.

Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg and Rubens Barrichello were locked in a heated battle, the Williams driver trying desperately trying to find a way by the Honda. Rosberg eventually passed Barrichello at the time when many were stopping for the second and final time. Once again, the lead changed hands but it looked as though Alonso had done enough to retain the premiere position. Another fastest lap helped Fernando’s cause and when the Spaniard rejoined the track after his final change of tyres, his net lead looked healthy.

Kubica pitted four laps later and it was clear that his worry was no longer the lead, but the challenging Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen who was setting a good pace behind. A fastest lap from Raikkonen put him in good stead with the BMW and after the Finn’s final stop he exited just behind Kubica. The pair were set up for a showdown finish.

Despite the race coming to a close though, it wasn’t the end of the dramas as Felipe Massa collided with Sebastien Bourdais as the French pilot exited the pitlane. Going into the first corner on the inside, Bourdais had no where to go when Massa came charging along. Massa turned into the corner, made contact with the Scuderia Toro Rosso and spun. Fortunately, both drivers were able to continue, although the incident would come under another investigation by the stewards. The result of which was Bourdais being given a 25s penalty.

Fernando Alonso extended his lead a little and Kimi Raikkonen attempted to force Kubica into an error. The Ferrari almost made it by the BMW on a couple of occasions, but the Polish driver defended his line well. The result of this battle allowed Nelson Piquet Jr to close up behind and soon the Renault was looking to have a go at Raikkonen. It didn’t happen and Piquet finished behind the Ferrari, but the battles showed good racing from all three.

In the closing stages Felipe Massa set a barn-storming fastest lap and managed to pass Nick Heidfeld for ninth place and on the penultimate lap, managed to squeeze by Mark Webber for eighth and one important championship point. Piquet finished in fourth place, ahead of Jarno Trulli and Sebastien Bourdais. The Champ Car champion finished ahead of his team mate Sebastian Vettel, and Scuderia Toro Rosso collected another healthy bundle of points, only to have some of them removed following Bourdais’s penalty. Lewis Hamilton finished in twelfth in the end, taking home nothing and letting Massa close the gap in the championship by a couple of points.

Ferrari regain the lead of the constructors’ title and BMW close in on McLaren. Any further mistakes from the Woking-based squad could see the Swiss-German team overhaul them, and Renault now look relatively comfortable in fourth place, 16 points ahead of Toyota. Kimi Raikkonen is now officially out of championship hunt, but Robert Kubica is hanging in, just 12 points behind Hamilton. Alonso has closed in on Heikki Kovalainen and Nick Heidfeld, the three drivers on 48, 51 and 56 points respectively.

With just two races left, McLaren cannot afford to make any more mistakes and Felipe Massa needs to go into China and Brazil with the intent to win. However, despite being told to play it careful, Hamilton is still set on winning the final to events himself, and having admitted to his error at the start, stated that he intends to collect maximum points for the remainder of the season.

But today, all eyes were once again on Alonso as he took his second victory of the season in a car that started the Australian Grand Prix in March well off the pace. Although the double champion is yet to officially make up his mind for 2009, it is likely Fernando will stay with Renault and push the team to give him a decent car next year.

Image Copyright © Charles Coates/LAT.

Original article by BlogF1.

Fuji 2008: Two Wins On The Trot For Fernando Alonso

The incident in question happened as Bourdais exited the pitlane after his final stop on lap 50. Bourdais came out as Massa was hurtling down the long straight, and the STR driver took the natural inside line into the first corner. From the angle of the video, it looked as though Massa just turned in and caught Bourdais’s car, sending the Brazilian driver into a spin.

To be honest, I fail to see where Bourdais could have gone to avoid the incident, but clearly the stewards feel differently. Once again, a result has been changed after a race, which annoys me a lot, particuarly when it looked as though it was a simple racing incident.

For me it’s very clear. Yes, I exit the pits, yes I’m supposed to be careful and I was. I stayed inside and I didn’t push him out, I didn’t overshoot the corner. I did everything I could not to run into him and he just squeezed and turned and behaved like I didn’t exist, like I wasn’t there. What am I supposed to do?

I’ve been in this position many, many times and I never had any incidents. It’s just a little bit of respect, you give each other room and then everything goes right, but if you don’t for sure it’s going to be an incident. Sebastien Bourdais.

The stewards in Japan seemed very much to want to penalise drivers for any infraction, as they have done for the majority of the season. It seems as though racing is no longer allowed in Formula One if you want to avoid penalty.

Original article by BlogF1.

Sebastien Bourdais Handed 25s Penalty

Fuji 2008: Race Results

Original article by BlogF1.

Fuji 2008: Race Result

The incident that got Hamilton into trouble happened at the start of the race when Kimi Raikkonen managed to get ahead off the line. As the pair headed into Turn One, Hamilton attempted to re-pass the Ferrari, but ended up locking his tyres and forced Raikkonen out wide and onto the run-off area. Raikkonen lost a lot of places as he collected his car back together around the outside of the corner, and Hamilton was given a drive-thru penalty as punishment.

Were the penalties fair? Have your say in the comments below.

Original article by BlogF1.

Fuji 2008: Felipe Massa & Lewis Hamilton Receive Penalties

Sunday, 12th October, 2008 – 09:39

I am absolutely shattered. But I’m also angry once again. The stewards have changed a race result after a race, which always riles me, and they’ve achieved this by giving Bourdais a penalty. For what? For driving the only line available to him as he exited the pitlane? Give me a break.

The race report is up but I’m far from happy with it. Unfortunately, it got to a point where my head wasn’t working properly, so I just hit ‘Publish’. I was considering taking a nap before putting the post up, but decided Bourdais-Penalty post will probably attract more attention anyway, and the longer I leave it the more I’m likely to forget.

Sunday, 12th October, 2008 – 04:21

Right, I’m done with code for now. Time to put the bialetti on the hob and make some coffee. Of interest this morning: How the Ecclestone Affair Unfolded – an article on Ecclestone, tobacco advertising bans and Blair’s Labour government.

Sunday, 12th October, 2008 – 00:02

So apparently I’m staying awake for the race after all. I normally do this, but as I’m getting on a bit I took an extended nap yesterday. I must say though, right now I feel really good and energetic. But as there is little news floating around at the moment I’ve diverted my energy to design. The Pink For October look to BlogF1 finally garnered a couple of compliments after I jigged it a little (read: a lot) and now I’m aware that the regular look will need some fiddling as well. So to keep me occupied this morning I’ve been playing with the site on devBF1 – a separate area of BlogF1 where I play with the design away from prying eyes.

Four areas really bug me about the site as it stands:
- Speed
- Footer
- Green colour of links and hovers
- Not being able to cycle through posts on the homepage (‘Previous’ and ‘Next’)

Now I like green, it works with the colour scheme and is reflected in the header image. It’s certainly better than the orange I had last year, although a strong orange would work quite well now I come to think of it. But, the green is too soft and the difference between a and a:hover is too subtle.

To explain, a is the code used for a link. It needs to be different from the text (usually defined as p) so people know there’s a link on the page. a:hover is obviously the change in colour (or whatever) when the cursor hovers over the text.

Me from Sidepodcast said on Identi.ca yesterday that he liked the links in the comments, and from that I presume the young chap means they stand out better and are more contrasting.

So I’m playing with colours this morning and at about 2am I intend to start analysing the database and queries to it. This may help with the speed issue if I can identify anything that I can fix. Of note though, the frontpage is actually smaller in size than 80% of the ten or so F1 sites I checked earlier. So that leads me to believe the speed issue is database related, and that is why I’m gonna be knee deep in stuff I don’t fully understand. Yet. Because the great thing about BlogF1 isn’t necessarily just that I learn about Formula One. I get to learn all kinds of other crap as well.

Helpful Links:

To see what this post is all about, I recommend reading the first one – it contains the whys and whereabouts of this diary. Also, this post will be updated, but the RSS feed to BlogF1 won’t. I will however, Dent each time I update, so my Identi.ca profile and feed address are listed below. Subscribe away…

• The Secret Diary Of A Formula One Blogger: Part I
• Ollie White’s Identi.ca Profile (for updates)
• Ollie White’s Identi.ca RSS Feed (for subscribing to updates)
• BlogF1’s Dodgy Guide to RSS Feeds

And that really is me in the Fisichella cap pulling a Hamilton pose – don’t ask, long story…

Original article by BlogF1.

The Secret Diary Of A Formula One Blogger: Part II

Original article by BlogF1.

Fuji 2008: Race Live Blog

The 2008 Japanese Grand Prix Grid

Inclusive of penalties given – none so far.

Original article by BlogF1.

Fuji 2008: The Grid

Q1

The first qualifying round was its usual predictable self, the drivers all resisting the urge to go out early and instead wait for the track to improve as the temperature rose. Rain had fallen overnight as well, meaning the surface was damp in places. One driver who started as he was meaning to go on was Toyota’s Timo Glock. The young German racer went fastest early on, but the time set was actually quite respectable. Although others would knock him off the top of the tables, Glock showed the paddock that Toyota meant business.

Last year I got into trouble for even suggesting that Toyota like to run corporate laps at the Japanese Grand Prix, but as the first twenty-minute session drew to a close Glock found himself at the top of the timing sheet again with an even faster time of 1m17.945s. Even eventual pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton couldn’t match Timo’s lap, setting a nearest time of 1m18.071s.

Both Force Indias were out of qualifying in Q1, Giancarlo Fisichella lapping some 0.8s shy of his team mate Adrian Sutil in the sister car. Both Hondas were also eliminated early on, Rubens Barrichello interestingly going faster than Jenson Button. And Nick Heidfeld found himself in trouble as well, only managing to set the sixteenth fastest time.

Q2

The second stage of deciding the grid saw Jarno Trulli come to terms with his team mate and the Italian closed up on Glock. Although there was to be no fastest lap in Q2 for the Toyota team, having both drivers together near the top shows improvement. In fact, all the times were close together in Fuji this afternoon, and Q2 was particularly tight. Hamilton went fastest with a 1m17.462s, and Nico Rosberg went slowest with a 1m18.672s. Just 1.2s separated the fastest from the slowest.

Leaving the show early in Q2 were both Williams, although Kazuki Nakajima was having a relatively good weekend until qualifying. The local hero has out-qualified his team mate and will line up in fourteenth position on the grid. Both Red Bulls are suffering as well, Mark Webber only qualifying in thirteenth and David Coulthard a little ahead in eleventh. Nelson Piquet Jr was the fifth and final casualty from the second part of qualifying, leaving it until the final moment before heading out and setting a lap that was only worthy of P12. He really shouldn’t have bothered.

Q3

The final ten-minute top-ten decider was actually closer to a six-minute decider as many drivers left it until quite late before venturing out on to the track. And when the drivers did finally make an appearance on-track, it was Raikkonen who all of a sudden looked ultra-sharp. Setting purple sectors the Finn quickly went to the top of the class with a lap that seemed to come from absolutely no where. Lewis Hamilton followed with a shoddy lap and could only reply with a P3 while both Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers kept out of the mix in ninth and tenth.

The final run was set up then and it was clear that Hamilton had the pace, but his McLaren was a little ragged in places. Felipe Massa should have been somewhere near the top but wasn’t enjoying his Saturday running and Heikki Kovalainen wasn’t too far behind, capitalising on Ferrari’s slight shake-up. Kimi Raikkonen went first and improved his time, compounding his pace and stretching the gauntlet further from Hamilton’s reach. Felipe Massa followed his team mate over the line and improved to second before falling down to fifth, but it was Lewis Hamilton who impressed the most with a final time that cleared the pole position by 0.24s.

Jarno Trulli corrected the order at Toyota by finally beating his team mate; the Italian lines up seventh while Glock is in eighth. Fernando Alonso set a great final lap and will start the race fourth, ahead of Felipe Massa and Robert Kubica.

And so the grid has been decided, and Ferrari need to find a way of getting Felipe Massa up towards the front. Kimi Raikkonen is pretty much out of title-contention – although the Finn can still mathematically win the title, it is highly unlikely – whereas Massa is just seven points behind Hamilton in the championship. With Kovalainen in grid-slot three though, the Scuderia have their work cut out. This could be a comeback race for Raikkonen and his reputation, where we once again see the champion give everybody a driving lesson. Or, Kimi could be light.

And just for the record, I do not believe the Toyotas were running particularly light in Q3, as their final times look fairly representative of their pace this weekend. So all in all, the race looks set to be a battle between Ferrari and McLaren although given the nature of the Fuji circuit, I’m cautious to say it’s going to be an exciting race.

Original article by BlogF1.

Fuji 2008: Hamilton Storms To Japanese Pole Position

Original article by BlogF1.

Fuji 2008: Qualifying Live Blog

Flyaway races are always hard to cover simply because of the time difference, but no matter what Bernie Ecclestone might try and say, I love them. I will admit I would love this particular one more if it were at Suzuka, but hey-ho. And I will also admit, I prefer flyaways at the start of the season because I am full of energy and anticipation. But even towards the close-of-year, waking up at some ungodly hour of the morning to watch twenty cars drive around a track; it still seems special to me.

These two posts (essentially, Saturday and Sunday, ish) will cover qualifying and the grand prix, before, during and after. They will be updated sporadically because obviously, I’m also going to be doing other things. I have no set timetable for updates, but to help you along the way, I’ll Dent everytime I’ve added an entry. For those unfamiliar with Identi.ca, just follow the link and keep it open in a separate window – you may want to refresh it from time to time. Or better yet, subscribe to the RSS feed – details of subscribing to feeds can be found by clicking the Subscribe link at the top of all pages on BlogF1, just skip the site-specific stuff.

I should also mention that the diary will have little in the way of structure. Given the time of the morning and the fact I’m running a semi-popular blog, my entries will probably resemble a hash of comments, one-liners and the occasional naughty-word. But it will be me, it will be BlogF1, and I hope it will be fun.

Saturday, 11th October, 2008 – 19:21

For the last entry of today, I’ve been out and about checking other sites and the backlinks to my own. This evening I’ve been touring the F1-blogosphere and reading other people’s writing on qualifying and news stories of the day. I feel it is important to read other people’s work because often they will take a different view on things and mention something I didn’t even realise. A good example being that I totally forgot about the fumbled pitstop for Massa in qualifying today, but it was mentioned elsewhere on the web. Thankfully, it was brought up in the comments – so yay for comments. They really do add to the posts.

I’ve also added to the comments elsewhere, giving my opinions on things and offering further information where I think I can add it. And I noticed that F1Fanatic linked to couple of my posts in his ‘Links’ article. A welcome return for these posts on F1F, I feel. I always enjoyed them before because with so much online-noise in Formula One, it is easy to miss great and informative posts from lesser known sites. Plus, BlogF1 gets the occasional link as well.

And I noticed earlier that my post-writing speed has increased. The article about Jean Todt and the FIA was churned out in about 15 minutes from start to finish. For a 500 word article that included a few links and sources, I thought that wasn’t too bad. Often, the newsy posts are quite quick to write though; it’s the inbetween posts that delve deeper into either Formula One or my own opinion that can take up to a day (on and off) to write.

I’m also considering what is too much information, and what is not enough. Occasionally I’ll see an article on a popular news site that doesn’t even reference a team or driver name, but other times I see too much extra info in an article and find myself getting confused or bombarded as I read. And also, how many posts is too much for one day? Autosport tend to go over the top and write many articles for essentially one story. But then Grandprix.com only tends to really come alive during a race weekend. GP.com tend to have better writing though, so I can forgive them. But transferring that question to BlogF1, I’m considering next year’s post structure for race weekends. Lots of thinking…

Saturday, 11th October, 2008 – 15:31

So I have a new plan. It was kinda forced upon me by sleep. I took a nap at about 9 o’clock this morning with the intention of waking up at about 11am or so. Instead, I woke up at Midday but still felt tired. So I decided to close my eyes again and sleep ’til whenever I woke up again, and then stay up through to Sunday evening. And now I’ve woken up again at 3pm, I feel totally refreshed, but my body has no clue what time of day it is.

I just skipped through some of the feeds that had updated while I was in dream-land and found the article about Todt and the FIA on Grandprix.com interesting. I always presumed that Todt changed roles at Ferrari in preparation for some kind of FIA ‘promotion’, and it seems with Piccinini’s resignation it may be starting to happen. I’ll blog about it after I’ve put the grid post up. First though, I need to eat breakfast, again.

Saturday, 11th October, 2008 – 08:44

With the qualifying report now up, I intend to scoot around the web for an hour or so, reading what others have had to say about the day’s F1 activities, then go for a nap and get the missing couple hours sleep from earlier. Then mid-afternoon I’ll write the grid post. The grid post normally comes later in the day incase there are any pending issues from qualifying. I don’t think there are any today though because we usually get to hear of them sooner rather than later. Following that it’s just the live blog post to type up for midnight and any interesting news story that deserves a mention.

Wow, it’s not even 9am yet!

Saturday, 11th October, 2008 – 07:15

Now the result post is up, I can relax a bit, get some breakfast and start the report post. Writing the reports is always the hardest thing for me to do, especially the race one. The reason is because there is often so much to talk about I run out of time and space. And I nearly always forget something. I also try to make the posts balanced, but that can be hard sometimes when drivers have anonymous races and others are making all the moves and getting all the attention. A good example from today might be Toyota versus Kubica. Toyota were screaming “look at me” while Kubica quietly popped his BMW into sixth. The Polish driver outperformed both Toyotas, but all I can remember of Kubica qualifying was his final run.

Saturday, 11th October, 2008 – 06:50

During qualifying and race, I always have the text editor open and update the positions/retirements as they happen. So I sort of take part in the live blog, update the positions for the final post, check live timing and also watch the TV. Formula One is all about multi-tasking!

Saturday, 11th October, 2008 – 06:30

So Glock is going for coporate pole and Steve Ryder is nowhere to be seen in the padock. Lots of things to write about for the qualifying report then. The green tyres are just stoopid and half the people in the live couldn’t tell the difference between prime and option. And boy, Fuji is a boring circuit…

Saturday, 11th October, 2008 – 05:10

Morning.

It felt a little like Christmas morning just now; I spent a few moments figuring out why my alarm was going off at some absurd hour, then felt a small rush of excitement. I now have infront of me already the key componants to watch qualifying… Coffee, apple juice, notepad & pen, live timing, ITV. And as my mind wakes up, I’m slowly starting to come round to the idea of getting rest during a flyaway race weekend. In the past, I’ve simply stayed awake, but this time around, maybe old-age wouldn’t let me. But considering the time of day I don’t feel too bad.

I forgot to say yesterday, if there are any questions about F1-blogging, please ask in the comments. I’ll try to answer in the next update or in the comments myself. Brundle’s just doing his track guide at the moment and I should log into the live blog and wake up some more before my stint modding.

Friday, 10th October, 2008 – 20:50

I should just add that I also have completely random conversations on Identi.ca as well, often with many people who comment here on BlogF1. But during qualifying and race, I rarely update Identi.ca, so any updates should stand out a little better. Also, tomorrow I will ensure the post-intro is no more than one paragraph, therefore minimising scrolling and finger-ache. I didn’t really think of that today and had my head been screwed on a little tighter, I would have done an ‘Explanation Post’, followed by the series of entries. But hey, I live and learn.

Friday, 10th October, 2008 – 20:22

I am absolutely shattered. But it is for a good reason. Last night/this morning I watched my very first Free Practice session all the way through. After a decade-and-a-half (near enough) I watched a 90-minute practice session. And of all the races to choose, I picked the one where I have to stay up all night! I’m not going to lie and say it was spectacular, because it wasn’t. But I am pleased I did it. I watched the video on ITV’s site because they won’t show the sessions on the actual TV, and I had the ususal F1 Live Timing whirring away on the monitor. And to be honest, the only reason why I didn’t see the second session was because I had to go to work. I caught the first ten minutes or so, but then the shower beckoned and off to my non-nine-to-five job I went.

But having only got little over an hour’s sleep, I’m feeling pretty crap right now. The plan is to head off to bed at about ten this evening to get some zeds, and then I’ll be up and bright before the sun to catch qualifying. I’ll probably add another update before qualifying, and I’m modding Q1 for Keith’s Live Blog. Then I’ll be off writing and blogging, but I’ll keep you all updated. For now though, I’m just chilling out on the eve of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, sipping a cool glass of Veneto Pinot Grigio, checking out other F1 websites and blogs and wondering if I really know what I’ve let myself in for with these two ‘diary’ posts. I’m also writing the ‘Live Blog’ post, which is always pre-published beforehand to 00:01, just in case I fall asleep and forget. That post is usual easy, the only difficulty is finding a techie image to go-with.

Oh, and BlogF1 is supposedly fixed, by the way (feel free to catch with my dents on Identi.ca). For the past two days it has been even slower than normal. As in, it took about a minute to load and further minutes to do anything else. As of yet, I have no idea why, but I’m fairly certain it was database-related (the whole site pretty much runs off a database) and most importantly, I pretty sure it had nothing to do with me! My host (Media Temple) is normally superb – rarely a falter in the past year -but I’ve submitted a support ticket just to find out why it went weird. But touch wood, it has all returned to its regular lazy self. Fingers crossed it stays that way for the weekend.

Helpful Links:

• Ollie White’s Identi.ca Profile (for updates)
• Ollie White’s Identi.ca RSS Feed (for subscribing to updates)
• BlogF1’s Dodgy Guide to RSS Feeds

And that really is me in the Fisichella cap – don’t ask, long story…

Original article by BlogF1.

The Secret Diary Of A Formula One Blogger: Part I

Not only is Toyota a Japanese motor manufacturer, but the company also owns the very circuit Formula One is tearing up right now, so whether or not Timo’s lap was corporate remains a mystery, but let’s just say it isn’t the first time the squad have fuelled a car light in Japan to please the sponsors. Although, the team have clearly improved this season, and Glock has been driving superbly well recently.

That was a good day. This was the first time I have driven at the Fuji Speedway so I had to learn the track this morning. It didn’t take too long – two or three laps, but it’s not an easy circuit. It’s especially difficult to find the right compromise for the long high speed straight and the last sector which is very technical.

But we sorted out a lot of stuff and we brought everything together for the second practice, which went well. I had a nice lap near the beginning of the session and it’s great for the team to end up quickest on Friday here in Japan.

So far I’m happy and it would be nice to keep the position like this for the whole weekend. That will obviously be difficult but hopefully the local fans will give us an extra boost. Timo Glock.

Team mate Jarno Trulli also improved from his morning practice times, getting his TF108 into tenth. Fernando Alonso in the Renault was second by the close of play, the Singapore Grand Prix winner having bolted on a set of softs and narrowly missed out the top spot by running wide around a corner.

McLaren and Ferrari slipped down the tables, but I imagine this is of little concern to either team. Lewis Hamilton went third, Felipe Massa fourth, Kimi Raikkonen fifth and Heikki Kovalainen mixed it up on the midfield with ninth. Local hero Kazuki Nakajima improved on his morning time, ending his day in seventh and once again ahead of his more experienced team mate Nico Rosberg.

Adrian Sutil has enjoyed a good start to his weekend, the concert pianist finishing in eleventh before lunch, and sixteenth after. Giancarlo Fisichella, on the other hand, went from twentieth to eighteenth. David Coulthard improved, although it was only from nineteenth to seventeenth. Honda also remain towards the rear of the pack.

The difference between Glock’s fastest lap and Fisichella’s fastest lap was 1.616s, showing the field was closer together after lunch. In fact, Mark Webber and Kazuki Nakajima set exactly the same laptime, the Australian getting there first and therefore being awarded the higher position. It isn’t that unusual for two drivers in different teams to set the same time to within a thousandth of a second; qualifying for Jerez in 1997 saw three drivers equal on pace at the front of the grid.

The busiest driver of the afternoon was Jarno Trulli, setting 45 lap times, and least active was Sebastian Vettel, only completing 23 tours of Fuji Speedway. The drivers will reconvene for qualifying tomorrow.

Fuji 2008: Friday Free Practice Two

Original article by BlogF1.

Fuji 2008: Friday Afternoon Practice

The session saw no adverse weather and no real surprises, although David Coulthard found himself towards the bottom of the tables in nineteenth and just ahead of Force India pilot Giancarlo Fisichella. Conversely, Fisichella’s team mate Adrian Sutil ran well and found himself in eleventh after the ninety minutes were up. Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais enjoyed a good start to their weekend’s as well with Vettel getting into seventh and Bourdais in ninth.

All the cars were running the green-striped Bridgestone tyre, designed to promote environmental causes. Of course, they looked terrible on all but the Hondas, the subtle green on the Japanese cars managing to make the tyres look only just bearable. The busiest driver of the morning was Timo Glock, completing 37 laps in his Toyota. The least busiest was Heikki Kovalainen, only feeling the need to tour the Fuji Speedway 20 times.

The difference between the fastest and slowest laps was only 2.104s and the Japanese squads did not make a great impression; Honda in sixteenth and seventeenth and Toyota in fifteenth and eighteenth. Williams driver and local hero Kazuki Nakajima placed himself in tenth, powered by the Toyota engine.

Fuji 2008: Friday Free Practice One

Images Copyright © Williams and HondaF1.

Original article by BlogF1.

Fuji 2008: Friday Morning Practice

Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa have both suffered embarrassment from the system Ferrari have adopted, but essentially, there is little reason why it should not work as well as a lollipop. I do not understand why the use of the technology has incurred so many people to voice either praise or condemnation of it.

At the end of the day, if Ferrari’s lights are manually controlled by a human being in full view of the pitlane, the refueller and the tyre-changers, then there is no reason why the light should be changed early. Which is a nigh-on identical setup to a man standing garage-side of the car with a big stick. The driver is still given the indication to go by a person. The indication is a visible object in front of his face, be it lights or a lollipop. Under these conditions, both systems rely on human decision.

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali said that he wanted some “tranquility” within the team after the issues at Singapore, and from that one can presume he means a hassle-free race at Fuji this weekend. The team’s position in the constructor’s title is under serious threat with McLaren just edging ahead by a point after Lewis Hamilton’s third place at the night race two weeks ago. And if Felipe Massa is to have any chance of challenging Hamilton for the driver’s title, then Ferrari need to iron out the kinks in their pitstops.

Original article by BlogF1.

Ferrari To Use Pitstop-Lollipop In Japan

Before I begin, I would like to be very clear that I am not knocking Fuji International Speedway circuit in the slightest – we are yet to see if the reprofiled and modernised track can produce a decent race, the 2007 return being held under a deluge of rain. Although I feel Suzuka is generally a better circuit, it is not the tracks that have caused this moan; it is Ecclestone’s decision-making, his savage need for a few extra dollars to line his pockets with that has heated my collar.

The news of the legal action today towards Fuji only highlights that some tracks are good at producing races, both on and off the tarmac, while others flounder at the prospect of looking after the fans as well as the corporate executives who only attend to do deals and get their picture in the papers.

Fuji’s problems stem from spectators, who paid a fair amount of money to attend one of the country’s most prestigious sporting events, not having good enough toilet and convenience facilities. Further to causing discomfort to people having to wait a very long time to relieve themselves, the circuit also had problems with poorly designed grandstands. Many spectators claimed that their view of the track was obstructed, and aside from sitting behind someone with a large haircut, it is something you really shouldn’t expect nor have to deal with.

It has also been reported that some visitors to the track were left stranded in the pouring rain due to transportation issues, although this is something I would consider to be common sense when visiting a race track. In fact, waterproof clothing features quite high on my 10 Things You Need For Going To A Grand Prix post. When I visited Goodwood last July for the Festival Of Speed, the heavens opened on Sunday and while it turned the estate into a mudbath, it served as little distraction from the action thanks to a lightweight pacamac (or Kag In A Bag, apparently).

I’m sure Fuji have already sorted out their problems and this year’s Japanese Grand Prix will be a fine event that deserves a place on the Formula One calendar, but this is not the worrying aspect this issue has risen. Instead, my concern lies with Bernie Ecclestone and his narrow-minded view on what makes a decent circuit, one decent enough to host a grand prix.

Currently, Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia is under threat from losing its chance to host the Australian Grand Prix after 2010, and apparently while the negotiations are ongoing, Ecclestone is demanding a night race and more money, or the race will be dropped/moved. However, it would seem that Ecclestone isn’t thinking about what Australia do for Formula One, its image and its fans.

Traditionally, but not exclusively, Australia holds the first race of the year. Being on the other side of the world to Europe, it is nice to watch the race from a cold and dreary UK and see bright, blue skies and the drivers walking around in T-shirts and shorts. It adds to the international-value of the sport, even in this day and age when the world is so seemingly small. The actual circuit in Victoria isn’t all that bad either; the 2007 race was a belter, although perhaps this was more down to the lack of traction control. But despite this, Albert Park has some nice corners, the lap flows well and the drivers rarely grumble about the place.

Spa Francorchamps is another track on the calendar that Bernie Ecclestone doesn’t seem to mind removing at will. It should be noted that in the recent past it has been removed for financial/sponsorship reasons moreso than Ecclestone getting out of the wrong side of the bed on the morning he does the Belgian Grand Prix deal. However, I do feel more could have been done to ensure the future security of one of Europe’s the world’s finest racing circuits.

And so we return to Japan, and the legal action taken by annoyed fans, the very people who keep the sport going, and the problems faced at Fuji last year. Perhaps it would be wise for the FIA to tighten up on the track inspections, and not just consider the tarmac road but also how their customers, both of the circuit and Formula One, will be cared for. After all, it isn’t just Fuji’s reputation that has been tarnished here, it is Formula One as a whole.

Original article by BlogF1.

The Value Of A Decent Racing Circuit Is Lost On Ecclestone

What has become apparent is the view clearly expressed by all drivers and team managers alike that the conditions at Fuji were exceptionally bad and worse than those previously experienced when the race starts behind the safety car. Steward’s Announcement.

I just think it’s a real shame for the sport, Formula One’s supposed to be about hard, fair competition. That’s what I’ve tried to do this year, just be fair.

There’s been some real strange situations this year where I’m made to look the bad person and, by the looks of it, this weekend be given a penalty. If this is the way it’s going to keep going it’s not somewhere I really want to be. Lewis Hamilton.

Formula One, F1, Japanese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren

Original article by BlogF1.

Lewis Hamilton Cleared Of Fuji Mishap

This amateur footage though, could now be the new evidence the the FIA are considering while they investigate the incident.

The post over at Sidepodcast.com asked a couple of pertinent questions: Why was Lewis on the far side of the track and why was he driving so slowly? The comments have flooded in and they make for an interesting debate. Especially given that this isn’t the first time this season Lewis’s driving has been called into question.

So the FIA have launched an investigation into the incident, and in typical FIA style it is the stewards at the following race (along with a couple of full-timers) who get to discuss and decide. A possible sanction, should Lewis be found in violation of the rules, would be a grid-slot penalty for the Chinese event. I’m sure Fernando Alonso is hoping and praying right now…

Formula One, F1, Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, Japanese Grand Prix

Original article by BlogF1.

Lewis Hamilton Under Investigation

On lap nineteen, Whiting allowed Liuzzi to pass the safety and drive around the circuit to catch up with the tail-enders, unlapping himself in essence. This allowed the teams and officials to gauge what the conditions were like at an increased pace, and with Liuzzi safely back at the back, the safety car was told to pit.

When the safety car eventually pulled in, allowing the cars to race in the treacherous conditions, Lewis Hamilton backed up his team mate as the pair jostled around for an advantage. It was Hamilton who held the lead and the McLarens simply scampered off into the mist, leaving the Ferrari’s to look like amateurs and trailing in the background.

The opening laps of anger in Fuji saw Jenson Button suffer incident as well, loosing his front wing as he slid into the back of Nick Heidfeld. However, the Briton continued, refusing to pit for a new assembly, and somehow Button managed to consistent lap only ~4 seconds shy of the McLarens. However, after failing to stop quickly enough for one of the turns, the team pulled him and he eventually lost out while a new nose was fitted to his RA107.

Felipe Massa continued to skate around the outer edges of the corners, struggling with the control of his Ferrari. Conversely, Sebastian Vettel managed to avoid all opening lap disaster and when he made it around the first tour, he was placed in third and leading Mark Webber in the Red Bull.

The conditions, although possibly better than the morning, weren’t letting up. The rain continued to pour and the cars continued to slide around, more often than not while attempting to move in a straight line. Even the reigning world champion wasn’t immune to the standing water, and Alonso briefly dropped his McLaren at the first corner.

On lap 34, Robert Kubica made a move of Lewis Hamilton going through the tight left-hander. With all the spray in the air Hamilton did not see nor did he expect to find a BMW forcing its way up the inside. By the time Robert had been noticed by Lewis, both cars were pointing the wrong way, and both had sustained minor damage. For his part in the unnecessary incident, Kubica was rewarded with a drive-thru penalty, which he served a few laps later at the 39 mark.

The second safety car period came about on lap 41, but not as you would imagine due to the weather. Driving expert Lammers was called out again because Fernando Alonso dropped his McLaren at turn five and spun around, clouting the wall quite hard in the process and coming to a rest in the middle of the corner. His race was effectively over, and a disconsolate Alonso wandered over the side of the track to view the remaining laps.

Due to the position of the McLaren and the amount of silver debris scattered over the tarmac, the safety car was released and the speeds were reduced. However, despite cruising around at reduced pace, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel still managed to retire from their points paying position. Running into the back of Webber, Vettel managed to get his Toro Rosso back to the pits, but the body language from the mechanics just said turn it off, you’re out. The Australian half of the accident was understandably fuming, but Vettel took full blame for the coming together. The only consolation from the retirement was the promotion of Liuzzi into and Coulthard into fourth.

Further retirements came from Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld, and although Button finished, he couldn’t make it back to the pits. And while Hamilton saluted his team as he took the chequered flag, Felipe Massa and Robert Kubica knocked out a blinder of a lap as the pair shared rubber, collected grass and ran each other to the limit the whole way round. Massa eventually crossed the line first, but the competition between the two drivers was immense. Kimi Raikkonen also showed what a determined driver he is, never stopping in his pursuit of Heikki Kovalainen in second. The trailing Finnish driver refused to relent the pressure, but the leading Finnish driver soaked up the pressure to claim his first podium and a deserved eight points for the team.

Leading Fernando Alonso by twelve points now, Lewis Hamilton has a world championship to lose in the two remaining races in China and Brazil. However, the Ferrari drivers have pretty much conceded defeat, Massa explaining that he is mathematically unable to in, and Kimi is just too far for it be a realistic possibility.

The Formula One circus heads to China next weekend and the Shanghai circuit. It is a circuit that Alonso clinched his first title in 2005, but this year the most he can hope for is an extension to his battle.

Formula One, F1, Japanese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren

Original article by BlogF1.

Lewis Races Through The Fog To Fuji Win

9. Adrian Sutil Spyker 10. Rubens Barrichello Honda 11. Jenson Button Honda 12. Sakon Yamamoto Spyker 13. Jarno Trulli Toyota 14. Nick Heidfeld BMW 15. Takuma Sato Super Aguri 16. Ralf Schumacher Toyota Retired 17. Anthony Davidson Super Aguri Retired 18. Nico Rosberg Williams Retired 19. Sebastian Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso Retired 20. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing Retired 21. Fernando Alonso McLaren Retired 22. Alex Wurz Williams Retired

Formula One, F1, Japanese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren

Original article by BlogF1.

Fuji: Race Result

Q1 saw Rubens Barrichello fail to make the cut in the revised Honda RA107, and the Brazilian joined the Spykers, the Super Aguris and Alex Wurz in the Williams. And just prior to the chequered flag, Ralf Schumacher appeared to make a somewhat indecisive move up the inside of Sakon Yamamoto, the Spyker driver not seeing Schumacher until it was too late. The Toyota was thrown into the air, landing back down on terra-firma, missing both wings and pointing the wrong way. Although Ralf had managed to get into Q2, his qualifying adventure ended there as he vacated the car and stalked back to the pits, his facial expression only outclassed by the gloomy weather.

The second session started without Schumacher and most remaining cars were on track early to get in a safe lap. This time however, Hamilton had acclimatised himself to the wet track and immediately laid the gauntlet down with a fast time. However, as the session went on, the rain slowed and the surface began to dry. Ferrari appeared to show signs of under-performance in the changeable conditions, finishing in third and fourth behind the two McLarens, and Nick Heidfeld pipped a charging Jenson Button to fifth.

Failing to make the grade this time around were experienced drivers David Coulthard and Giancarlo Fisichella, qualifying expert Jarno Trulli, second Renault pilot Heikki Kovalainen, Vitantonio Liuzzi and of course Schumacher Jr.

The third round of qualifying showed Lewis Hamilton has settled his approach as he soaked up the pressure to post a last-gasp attempt to snatch pole away from Alonso. The spectacular lap, set in the dying seconds of Q3 demoted his team mate down the grid and will give the Briton the best chance of converting his pole in tomorrows race. The Ferrari’s completed the second row, with Kimi Raikkonen getting the better of his team mate Felipe Massa. BMW driver Nick Heidfeld once again took the best-of-the-rest in fifth, while Nico Rosberg did the best he could for sixth, although the ten grid slot penalty for the engine change from yesterday will undo all the hard work. Jenson Button finished in a season-high seventh, and will start the race in sixth as Rosberg moves back. The second surprise of qualifying was the performance of Sebastian Vettel. Having only completed a handful of races, the German rookie made it into Q3 and posted the ninth quickest lap. Not only a personal career best, but also the highest a Toro Rosso will start a race. Vettel was just a fraction behind Mark Webber, and lying in tenth is Robert Kubica.

Formula One, F1, Japanese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren

Original article by BlogF1.

Hamilton Storms To A Wet Fuji Pole

They will look at it before tomorrow morning. We are all in unanimous agreement that it’s the most difficult corner of the track. David Coulthard.

I don’t know if they will be able to make the changes. It’s definitely something that needs to be addressed for next year, but I’m not too worried about it really. Mark Webber.

It is quite narrow and quick into the pits, so obviously it is not that easy or safe. Maybe we can change the approach so we go straight into the pits like at Monza. Jarno Trulli.

It is a little bit dangerous because when we brake to go into the pitlane we are around 300km/h and it is a bit tricky. It is not safe. We need to put maybe the speed limiter before the corner, but I don’t know if we can do something for tomorrow. Giancarlo Fisichella.

Another piece of interesting news comes from the far end of the pitlane, and from the Spyker garage. Adrian Sutil ran very well in the Friday practice sessions, claiming ninth in the first and sixteenth in the second. It seems as though the German’s prior knowledge of the track coupled with the B-Spec car is doing some wonders. Who knows, maybe even a change of ownership has bolstered the grid-trailing team. Buoyed with enthusiasm, the squad have suggested they are intending to fight for twelfth place in tomorrow’s qualifying sessions. Twelfth?

At the end actually Adrian made quite a big mistake on his new tyre run and I think we are over one lap quicker than we showed, and long run pace looked very competitive. We don’t know what other people have done with fuel levels, but if you look at the long run pace with the first two runs this afternoon, it was very, very competitive.

I think we would be very disappointed if we didn’t make that [Q2]. We seem to be definitely ahead of Super Aguri and matching Honda. He [Sutil] did a 20.5 this morning with a couple of mistakes so he should have done a 20.3, which would have been 12th or 13th, so that is where we are aiming. Mike Gascoyne.

I don’t share Gascoyne’s ambition, but it was an impressive showing from the rookie driver nonetheless. It should also be noted that this isn’t the first time Sutil has troubled the upper echelons of the Friday timing sheet, as the piano-playing driver also ran well at Monaco earlier in the year. Maybe the Spyker can get ahead of a Toro Rosso, possibly even a Super Aguri or Honda. But I think anything higher than 16th is little too much of a fantasy.

Oh, and Nico Rosberg has had to have his engine replaced. Thus, the German driver will forfeit ten grid slots tomorrow after qualifying. On that note, let’s hope team mate Alex Wurz’s morning performance wasn’t just a flash in the pan.

Japanese Grand Prix, Spyker, Adrian Sutil, Mike Gascoyne, Williams, Nico Rosberg

Original article by BlogF1.

Pitlanes, Spykers & Engines

Free Practice One Times

The afternoon session at Fuji Speedway saw a reverse of fortune for Ferrari with McLaren dominating the top of the timing sheets. Hamilton went fastest by 0.2s over his team mate. Interestingly, Felipe Massa went little faster than what he managed before lunch, but still secured third place meaning Raikkonen went slower in his F2007. Kimi actually ended up in fifth before the teams finished for the day, Jarno Trulli getting the better of the Ferrari at his teams home circuit.

Renault improved their lot by claiming sixth and seventh, again Heikki Kovalainen managing to pip his much experienced partner. David Coulthard popped his Red Bull into eighth while Ralf Schumacher completed a good start to the weekend for Toyota by going ninth. Both Williams dropped down the timing sheet, as did the BMWs who appear to be struggling on the new layout.

Adrian Sutil couldn’t equal his morning performance, but still ended up in sixteenth ending a very productive day for the back-of-the-grid squad. Davidson and Sato also dropped down, the Japanese driver finishing in last place while the Briton managing two places higher, finishing in twentieth.

Free Practice Two Times

Formula One, F1, Japanese Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren

Original article by BlogF1.

Fuji: Practice Sessions

This is good news for F1 fans, as the Suzuka circuit is one of the favourites due to its combination of difficult and fast corners. It is the only circuit that modern-day Formula One drivers tackle that is in a figure-8 layout, and of course the famous 130R left turn is considered to be one of the sport’s finest corners.

We have concluded an agreement on the alternation of the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix between Fuji Speedway and Suzuka circuit, to ensure the progress and success of keeping Formula One in Japan over the long term. It also makes me very pleased that we will retain Suzuka as it has supported Formula One for 20 years. Bernie Ecclestone.

We will see how Fuji compares early in October when the circus descends on the speedway. The track has been heavily modified, but skeptics (myself admittedly) are not entirely certain it will produce the same spectacle as Suzuka.

Original article by BlogF1.

Suzuka And Fuji To Share Japanese Grand Prix

Suzuka has been home to the Japanese race since 1987, and is regarded by many fans as one of the best circuits in the world. In last years FIA-sponsored survey, Suzuka was only beaten to the top spot by Spa Francorchamps in Belgium. The circuit boasts some superb corners, such as the Degner corner, 130R, Spoon and the Esses. The circuit has provided some awesome races over the years, not least of which was its last race in 2005. The image of Alonso passing Schumacher Snr around the outside of 130R will be etched on my mind forever.

Fuji has been used before as the circuit of choice for the Japanese Grand Prix at the countries innaugral race in 1976, and again the following year in ‘77. The circuit is quite short and twisty, and in my opinion does not have the same calibre of corners as the Honda-owned Suzuka. But since being bought by Toyota, a reputed $168 million have been ploughed into updating the tracks facilities.

Bernie Ecclestone has apparently suggested that Japan could host two Grands Prix in 2007 in order to ensure that both tracks are used. Although personally, I firmly believe that Suzuka should host the race as it has a far superior track. As a fan, I don’t care if important delegates or team sponsors have to stand to watch the race rather than be seated in luxurious air-conned rooms. I care about the track, and the exciting racing it can produce.

That’s my view, but what do you think? Should Fuji be awarded the Grand Prix, should Japan be allowed to host two races?

Original article by BlogF1.

Suzuka vs. Fuji