[Paul B]

I know there are some petrol heads on this forum, so has anyone else been following F1 this season?

It's been a pretty interesting year so far, even more so than last with the top 5 being separated by such a small margin.  I was lucky enough to be at Silverstone a month or so ago to watch LH lap almost everybody but from what I'm watching now (recorded) it seems like it's going to be another frustrating race for Mercedes/Mclaren.

(Edit: or maybe Massa will have some kind of mechanical problem with 3 laps remaining)
At the start of the season Ferrari seemed to have the better car, then Mclaren developed the Dumbo ears and seemed to have the edge but now it seems Ferrari aren't so far behind. Anybody care to make a prediction for the end of the season?

Driver Standings:

01     Lewis Hamilton     62
02    Kimi Räikkönen    57
03    Felipe Massa            54
04    Robert Kubica            49
05    Nick Heidfeld            41
06    Heikki Kovalainen    38
07    Jarno Trulli            22
08    Fernando Alonso    18
09    Mark Webber            18
10    Timo Glock            13

[philo]

yeah i watch it when i can and the first one of the season was the most dramatic but i like how its more even this year.

[neil h]

personaly i recon hamilton will never be world champion, I am not againsed him, but i just dont think it will happen.

I vote for massa to be champion this year


oh and some one should put a fucking smile on Räikkönen's face


Still i think its going to be agood seconf half of the season, bring it on

[Nibile]

oh i was so disappointed. massa did great and showed some big balls straight at the first turn. dammit he deserved to win.

[Paul B]

oh i was so disappointed. massa did great and showed some big balls straight at the first turn. dammit he deserved to win.

He certainly did but that plume of smoke put a big smile on my face, I felt a little sorry for him later.

Neil, he's very young so thats a bold statement to make but I get what you mean under extreme pressure the Mclaren team seem to make all of the wrong decisions and LH seems to get a bit worked up in these circumstances, did anyone else see the twitch after Massa went through. Seriously I thought his race was over at around turn 3!

[Norton Sharley]

I know there are some petrol heads on this forum, so has anyone else been following F1 this season?



It's been a pretty interesting year so far ...

I watched this race last night and with absolutely no disrespect to either you F1 heads or to the F1 racers could I suggest you watch the next MotoGP.   

[squeek]

I watched the race yesterday, 1 overtaking maneuver on the first corner, puncture ages after that, engine failure 3 laps from finish.  Not very interesting at all to be honest, it's far to much of a procession, in which the most 'exciting' bits of the race were two mechanical problems.

I'm not against it and watch it from time to time, but I enjoyed watching touring cars more the other week.

I went to Silverstone about 3 years ago, good to go once, but I wouldn't go again.

[Paul B]

I watched the race yesterday, 1 overtaking maneuver on the first corner, puncture ages after that, engine failure 3 laps from finish.  Not very interesting at all to be honest, it's far to much of a procession, in which the most 'exciting' bits of the race were two mechanical problems.

I'm not against it and watch it from time to time, but I enjoyed watching touring cars more the other week.

I went to Silverstone about 3 years ago, good to go once, but I wouldn't go again.

Watched the Moto GP as well. I admit that yesterdays race wasn't the best but a lot of the others have been interesting right until the end.

I wouldnt go again either, I'd go somewhere that has a better chance of sun.

[Houdini]

I know there are some petrol heads on this forum, so has anyone else been following F1 this season?



It's been a pretty interesting year so far ...

I watched this race last night and with absolutely no disrespect to either you F1 heads or to the F1 racers could I suggest you watch the next MotoGP.   

Definitely.  Or superbikes...  Infact I like them best.  F1 hasn't inspired me since , well, Mansell.

[Falling Down]

What are all these stories about Raikonen being a piss head?

[Paul B]

http://ezinearticles.com/?Kimi-Raikkonen-About-His-Scandals-In-Media&id=378881

[Houdini]

What?  A Finn?  A pisshead?

Surely some mistake?   ???

[Zods Beard]

Touring Cars rule! Full contact racing!

[SamT]

That

could I suggest you watch the next MotoGP.   

Absolutely agree - the Laguna Seca round this year was some of the best racing I've ever seen, full on.

I find the 'characters' in MotoGP far more interesting too, more like the proper F1 playboys of the 1970's . I bet Rossi knows how to party hard.

[Paul B]

I take back what I initially said, this season is turning into a Mclaren vs. Ferrari political farce.

[andy_e]

Touring Cars rule! Full contact racing!

I concur. Rallying wins it for me though. Those guys must have huge conkers to drive that fast on those tracks!

[neil h]

What?  A Finn?  A pisshead?

Surely some mistake?   ???

sure your not thinking about yourself there

[Bubba]

I concur. Rallying wins it for me though. Those guys must have huge conkers to drive that fast on those tracks!

Moto GP star Rossi is a dab hand a rallying

[tlr]

French Downhill Mountain Biker Nicolas Vouilloz started rallying a few years ago after a successful DH carreer too.

Brave buggers.

[Falling Down]

I take back what I initially said, this season is turning into a Mclaren vs. Ferrari political farce.

Yep - shame really. Also, thanks for posting that link about Raikkonen.

[Nibile]

someone please tell hamilton that he's not allowed to try and push out everyone who tries to overtake him. at least twice in this gp.

[Paul B]

watching it now, unfortunately I've already heard the result!

Can't really comment on your post yet Nibile but i'm sure you're WRONG!

I've watched the incident from the last race over again and sill I thought it all seemed fair although now they're saying that after overtaking off the track and surrendering the place back you have to leave at least one corner until you try another move? Does anyone know what happened with the appeal? I'm guessing not a lot.

[butters]

Does anyone know what happened with the appeal? I'm guessing not a lot.

Nothing much will happen till the 22nd September.

As for whether it was right or wrong - I am probably not the best person to comment because Lewis Hamilton bugs the living bejeezus out of me but don't let that get in the way of an opinion. 

The argument as I understand it was that he gained an advantage by cutting the chicane in that he was closer to the back of Kimi's car than he would have been had he had to negotiate the corner in a "normal" manner after having pulled out of overtaking at the chicane. This allowed him to jump into the slipstream of Kimi's car following the manoeuvre to "give" the lead back and pass at the next corner - something he would not have been able to do otherwise. As for McLarens defence that he was something like 6mph slower over the line than Kimi well I would give it some credence had they both been on bicycles but in F1 it equates to a whole bucket of hogwash in my opinion.

Personally I think it was naivety on LH's behalf - he was by all accounts faster and so should have had a bit more patience and not given the officials enough rope to hang him with but he didn't and now we end up with the latest exciting episode of the ongoing F1 soap opera being played out before our very eyes and me sat there wondering why I am getting more and more disillusioned with the whole F1 circus.   

bluebrad

[Kingy]

I don't know the ins and outs of it and only rarely watch F1 but it seems pretty obvious to me. If you don't race on the approved racetrack and cut off corners, even if 'forced' to do so, you will be penalised. I agree with Bluebrad he should have toughed it out, gone around the corner proper and taken Kimi down at a later turn.

[Paul B]

Thanks for the update, I can understand it a bit better with that description. It is a shame like you say that he didn't just play it safe.

The appeal of course will be squished rightly or wrongly.

It's just so frustrating to watch when I've enjoyed the season so much up until now. Thankfully I missed the previous race, no doubt there was something questionable in that as well?  

Kingy - they would have crashed has he stayed on the race track as the overtake failed, he had to abandon that maneuver and run wide. He then gave back the wrongly gained place and overtook again at the next corner which he has been deemed to still have an unfair advantage due to his maneuver. Your post makes it sound a whole deal more simplistic than it actually is/was. Blatantly if he cut the corner and had gained an advantage and failed to surrender it (as previously done this season, whoops) then it would be a clear cut case.