The Formula One 2008 Season Thread
- Thread starter Zulu Romeo
- Start date
I somehow managed to be awake for qualifying yesterday, even though I wasn't going to try to be. It was strange, I woke up just as it was starting. Anyway, it proved to be very entertaining.
Then when I actually set my alarm for the race proper, I'm even more entertained. Okay, in fairness the race was one of those odd results that you get from time to time due to the high rate of attrition, but it still proved to be worth watching. Here's the result from the Australian Grand Prix:
1. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes 1h 34m 50.616
2. Nick Heidfeld - BMW Sauber + 5.478s
3. Nico Rosberg - Williams + 8.163s
4. Fernando Alonso - Renault+ 17.181s
5. Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren Mercedes + 18.014s
6. Kazuki Nakajima - Williams+ 1 lap
7. Sebastien Bourdais - Scuderia Toro Rosso + 3 laps
8. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari + 5 laps
9. Robert Kubica - BMW Sauber + 11 laps
10. Timo Glock - Toyota + 15 laps
11. Takuma Sato - Super Aguri F1 + 26 laps
12. Nelson Piquet Jr - Renault + 28 laps
13. Felipe Massa - Ferrari + 29 laps
14. David Coulthard Red Bull Racing + 33 laps
15. Jarno Trulli - Toyota + 39 laps
16. Adrian Sutil - Force India + 50 laps
17. Sebastian Vettel - Scuderia Toro Rosso + 58 laps
18. Jenson Button - Honda Racing + 58 laps
19. Mark Webber - Red Bull Racing + 58 laps
20. Giancarlo Fisichella - Force India + 58 laps
21. Anthony Davidson - Super Aguri F1 + 58 laps
Disq. Rubens Barrichello - Honda Racing
'Interesting' bits from the race:
Then when I actually set my alarm for the race proper, I'm even more entertained. Okay, in fairness the race was one of those odd results that you get from time to time due to the high rate of attrition, but it still proved to be worth watching. Here's the result from the Australian Grand Prix:
1. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes 1h 34m 50.616
2. Nick Heidfeld - BMW Sauber + 5.478s
3. Nico Rosberg - Williams + 8.163s
4. Fernando Alonso - Renault+ 17.181s
5. Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren Mercedes + 18.014s
6. Kazuki Nakajima - Williams+ 1 lap
7. Sebastien Bourdais - Scuderia Toro Rosso + 3 laps
8. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari + 5 laps
9. Robert Kubica - BMW Sauber + 11 laps
10. Timo Glock - Toyota + 15 laps
11. Takuma Sato - Super Aguri F1 + 26 laps
12. Nelson Piquet Jr - Renault + 28 laps
13. Felipe Massa - Ferrari + 29 laps
14. David Coulthard Red Bull Racing + 33 laps
15. Jarno Trulli - Toyota + 39 laps
16. Adrian Sutil - Force India + 50 laps
17. Sebastian Vettel - Scuderia Toro Rosso + 58 laps
18. Jenson Button - Honda Racing + 58 laps
19. Mark Webber - Red Bull Racing + 58 laps
20. Giancarlo Fisichella - Force India + 58 laps
21. Anthony Davidson - Super Aguri F1 + 58 laps
Disq. Rubens Barrichello - Honda Racing
'Interesting' bits from the race:
- Hamilton strolled the race whilst the rest of the field fell off the track around him
- Raikonnen somehow managed to steal a point at the end of the day (due to Rubens' disqualification) despite starting from a shit grid spot and throwing himself off the track twice
- 3 safety car periods eventually messed up Kovalainen's first McLaren race; he easliy would have been 2nd
- Webber is so unlucky - Red Bull finally have a reasonable car and then not only does he qualify poorly but is out on the first lap!
- Also feel sorry for Barrichello and Honda - they had such a crap year and winter testing didn't seem to have much hope. Rubens had a good result wiped out due to stupd safety car technicalities
Great start Down Under!
Indeed, a great race. And it is brilliant to see tha back of traction & launch control. The drivers are actually having to drive again!
:thumbsup: Hope this race is the sign of things to come.
Hamilton was faultless, a perfectly controled race. I was also impressed with Rosberg, who really deserves a race-winning car to fight with. Alonso looked like a champion today, dragging that Renault to 4th was a great display. And Bourdais, poor in quali, but great racecraft saw him holding an easy 4th until his engine blew at the death, unlucky.
Kimi, what was with him today? As fast as ever, but he threw it off the road twice!
He was lucky not to spear it into the wall, then even luckier that Rubens DQ handed him an undeserved point.
And Massa was jut poor. He dropped it at the start and lost his nose, then took a Dan Dare up the inside of Coulthard when he had no chance, and took them both out.
Ferarri look as fast as McLaren, but they look fragile.
Two funny moments in the race.
Kovalainen, who was indeed robbed of 2nd by the SC, pulled a brilliant move on Alonso just as they started the last lap. Then he goes and hits the pit-lane limiter on the main straight, cutting his speed to 50mph, while Alonso flew by at 150mph!
And Crazy Dave Coulthard's interview with an unsuspecting Louise Goodman after Massa punted him off. After blaming Massa for an overly ambitious move, and saying he fully expects him to accept he was at fault, the cheeky Scot then said on live TV- " If he does not, then I'll kick lumps of shit out of the little bastard!"
Aye, he has certainly let his hair down since joining Red Bull.
BRG
Indeed, a great race. And it is brilliant to see tha back of traction & launch control. The drivers are actually having to drive again!
:thumbsup: Hope this race is the sign of things to come.Hamilton was faultless, a perfectly controled race. I was also impressed with Rosberg, who really deserves a race-winning car to fight with. Alonso looked like a champion today, dragging that Renault to 4th was a great display. And Bourdais, poor in quali, but great racecraft saw him holding an easy 4th until his engine blew at the death, unlucky.
Kimi, what was with him today? As fast as ever, but he threw it off the road twice!
He was lucky not to spear it into the wall, then even luckier that Rubens DQ handed him an undeserved point. And Massa was jut poor. He dropped it at the start and lost his nose, then took a Dan Dare up the inside of Coulthard when he had no chance, and took them both out.
Ferarri look as fast as McLaren, but they look fragile.
Two funny moments in the race.
Kovalainen, who was indeed robbed of 2nd by the SC, pulled a brilliant move on Alonso just as they started the last lap. Then he goes and hits the pit-lane limiter on the main straight, cutting his speed to 50mph, while Alonso flew by at 150mph!
And Crazy Dave Coulthard's interview with an unsuspecting Louise Goodman after Massa punted him off. After blaming Massa for an overly ambitious move, and saying he fully expects him to accept he was at fault, the cheeky Scot then said on live TV- " If he does not, then I'll kick lumps of shit out of the little bastard!"
Aye, he has certainly let his hair down since joining Red Bull.BRG
Re: Great start Down Under!
I love the interviews after Coulthard falls off the track, you occasionally get a good comment off him. And yes, seeing Rosberg on the podium was excellent. Felt a little sorry for Bourdais - nearly 4th in his first race, until his engine gave up.
NEWS: Eccleston wants the driver who wins the most races to win the championship:
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=42020
I'm not sure what I think of this. Surely the man who is the most consistent should to be champion? Although having said that, the man who wins the most races usually is the most consistent driver by default.
Like it said in the news story, it's been a while since someone who won the most races didn't win the title, (Mansell wuz robbed!!!1) but they had other stupid rules (best 10 results?) way back then.
I love the interviews after Coulthard falls off the track, you occasionally get a good comment off him. And yes, seeing Rosberg on the podium was excellent. Felt a little sorry for Bourdais - nearly 4th in his first race, until his engine gave up.
NEWS: Eccleston wants the driver who wins the most races to win the championship:
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=42020
I'm not sure what I think of this. Surely the man who is the most consistent should to be champion? Although having said that, the man who wins the most races usually is the most consistent driver by default.
Like it said in the news story, it's been a while since someone who won the most races didn't win the title, (Mansell wuz robbed!!!1) but they had other stupid rules (best 10 results?) way back then.
Re: Great start Down Under!
Caught the race eventually on Sunday morning. A very promising start for the season, with the lack of traction control very telling in places.
Of course I'm glad that Lewis Hamilton won the race. Even more glad that Nico Rosberg got his first podium, and good to see Sébastien Bourdais impressing in the Former Minardi team right until his engine went. Sadly it seemed the last Safety Car moment scuppered Heikki Kovalainen's chances of a podium / win this weekend... just unlucky, I guess. As for DC... proof positive that with he and MW in the same team, there should be no shortage of interesting quotes from the Red Bull garage.
And it's Malaysia this weekend!
Caught the race eventually on Sunday morning. A very promising start for the season, with the lack of traction control very telling in places.
Of course I'm glad that Lewis Hamilton won the race. Even more glad that Nico Rosberg got his first podium, and good to see Sébastien Bourdais impressing in the Former Minardi team right until his engine went. Sadly it seemed the last Safety Car moment scuppered Heikki Kovalainen's chances of a podium / win this weekend... just unlucky, I guess. As for DC... proof positive that with he and MW in the same team, there should be no shortage of interesting quotes from the Red Bull garage.
And it's Malaysia this weekend!
Lonemagpie;1432740/ said:
I'm afraid they are.
Another year of Steve Rider loitering outside the McLaren garage gazing lovingly at Lewis Hamilton.
Another year of Mark Blundell stating the bloody obvious.
Another year of the pointless Ted Kravitz.
Another year of 95% fanboy coverage of Lewis Hamilton, 4% Jenson Button, and 1% everybody else.
Another year of James Allen, with his obsession with pitstop strategy, and his dodgy Murry Walker impression- GOOOooo...!
And another year of cutting to an ad break just as THE critical part of the race unfolds!
But still, beggars can't be choosers. It is free, and we have the brilliant Martin Brundle.:thumbsup:
BRG
I have some very good news for you two then....
F1 returns to the Beeb next year!
Looks like it's not only TV, but also online and radio. Plus we digital viewers might be able to listen to David, Maurice and Holly on Five Live while we watch (without switching on another radio)!
Let's hope they can poach Martin Brundle back...
Excellent news.
F1 on the BBC.
They better bring back the classic F1 theme by Fleetwood Mac.
F1 on the BBC.
They better bring back the classic F1 theme by Fleetwood Mac.
Yay! I'll actually be able to watch it again next year!
Yep, that is good news. And we want The Brundle! Yes!
I just wish that the local TV directors that are used for the races would stop cutting to shots of the mechanics in the garages as they sit watching a monitor...there's a BLOODY RACE going on, and they cut away from it. Usually when something interesting is happening.
Grr.
I just wish that the local TV directors that are used for the races would stop cutting to shots of the mechanics in the garages as they sit watching a monitor...there's a BLOODY RACE going on, and they cut away from it. Usually when something interesting is happening.
Grr.
I'm glad about the news too. Even more glad that we haven't lost Five Live's coverage too, so I can enjoy my F1 while washing the car or something on a Sunday afternoon...
Well, the Malaysia race was a bit uneventful. It was obvious Ferrari had this one in the bag since qualifying. Nice to see a BMW and a Toyata up near the front to mix things up, and McClaren did some decent damage limitation.
BTW - When a driver was shown with an icebag on his helmet pre-race, Blundell siad something along the lines of: "He's got an icebag on his helmet - that's to cool him down so that he doesn't get too hot". No shit, Sherlock! Wow! Ice cools you down - who knew?
BTW - When a driver was shown with an icebag on his helmet pre-race, Blundell siad something along the lines of: "He's got an icebag on his helmet - that's to cool him down so that he doesn't get too hot". No shit, Sherlock! Wow! Ice cools you down - who knew?
I think Toyota were particularly lucky to do well, thanks partly to Jarno "One-Lap King" Trulli.
Ferrari were particularly unlucky not to have two cars finish, but winner Kimi Raikonnen read the race very well today - Felipe Massa has the passion but somehow I feel isn't as disciplined or as tactically astute, and in the end he had a lapse and paid the price.
McLaren were a bit careless, but did well to make up for Saturday's disappointment overall, both in the end scoring points AND ironically beating the very drivers (Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso) who had complained about their warm-down in qualifying yesterday, leading to their grid demotion. Good work by Mark Webber, though, in fending off an admittedly off-pace Lewis Hamilton, and given a good weekend Heikki Kovalainen will surely score a win this year. As will Robert Kubica of BMW, if he can keep his pace consistently good.
The podium winners looked absolutely shagged out at the end of the race, though.
Ferrari were particularly unlucky not to have two cars finish, but winner Kimi Raikonnen read the race very well today - Felipe Massa has the passion but somehow I feel isn't as disciplined or as tactically astute, and in the end he had a lapse and paid the price.
McLaren were a bit careless, but did well to make up for Saturday's disappointment overall, both in the end scoring points AND ironically beating the very drivers (Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso) who had complained about their warm-down in qualifying yesterday, leading to their grid demotion.
Good work by Mark Webber, though, in fending off an admittedly off-pace Lewis Hamilton, and given a good weekend Heikki Kovalainen will surely score a win this year. As will Robert Kubica of BMW, if he can keep his pace consistently good.The podium winners looked absolutely shagged out at the end of the race, though.
An interesting article about Rubens Barrichello's record-breaking run as the driver with the most races in F1:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7358605.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7358605.stm
Most number of races, perhaps. But longest?! Methinks these drivers need a ruler...