Formula One 2008 season (F1 motor racing)

A new season begins with The Australia Grand Prix in Melbourne three weeks come Sunday and we're getting a flavour of the potential of the runners and riders in pre-season testing. I'm predicting a title fight with Ferrari and McLaren again for this season, but I'd keep a very close eye on Williams-Toyota too, who seem to have a very good chassis and driveability by all accounts. Sadly, Super Aguri may not make the season opener... or survive, unless Aguri Suzuki can either get some money, and quickly, or allow Honda to take a significant stake. Right now I'm plumping for Hamilton and McLaren for the Drivers and Constructors Championships, but again, in a close run season. Alonso and Renault may also feature strongly on certain tracks. But, I'd be highly surprised if either had a real chance of either championship.

What do you lot think?

Oh wonderful. Round and round we go all in procession, can't overtake so we'll wait for the pit stops. Bunch of arse. 2 wheels too many. And that tit Alonso.

Kovalainen is quick. I don't think Hamilton will have it all his own way within his own team , let alone against Ferarri.

Let's just hope the season is as tight as last year but without the spying nonesense. Of course this is F1 where the show is as important as the race and there will be something for sure.

Not F1 but I see Champcar and Indycar are merging back together again. Hopefully this means open wheel racing will recover some ground in the US.

I reckon BMW will be mixing it with Ferrari and Mclaren this year. They improved dramatically last year and if they can maintain the momentum they could spoil it for the big two. However I still think it will be between Lewis and Ferrari, can't say which Ferrari though, Massa is certainly capable of winning if Ferrari let him.
More importantly Moto GP starts this weekend!

Ooh I nearly missed that, I was thinking the first race was Sepang (even though i know is Melbourne!) but it is buried on my homemade excel calender between Rugby and St Patricks day.

I reckon Renault might get a look in, don't suppose Honda will be much better, but you never know now they have Ross Brawn. Anyone going to any races this year?? we are off to Silverstone again, & my annual pilgramage to see the folks.

I agree that it's likely to be McLaren and Ferrari out front again. I think Hamilton will have the edge, but Kovalainen is likely to push him hard. At Ferrari I expect Raikkonen to show Massa what he's really capable of.

Williams are indeed looking quite promising and clearly have a talented driver in Nico Rosberg, who is maturing well, but competition in the pack is hard and Renault in combination with Alonso as a clear no.1 driver are going to be pushing for the coveted 3rd place behind the top two teams.

My wish is that we can have a bumper F1 year on the track, with no crap off the track like last year. But with Bernie and Max actively stoking it, we're not likely to have a quiet year.

Glad to see that they've put back the start time, I may even consider watching it live for the first time in a few years. Unfortunately I will have to do so on RTL. Still, bring it on.

Kimi & Lewis to fight the title. Kimi will end up with both titles, he's the fastest chappie out there.

What time is it on here, isn't it normally 1 or 2 am? Doubt I will be watching that after a full day of rugby and St Patricks day to boot!

5:30am (Herman Time) is kick off for the Aussie F1

Ok, cheers Timmeh, ITV normally re shows it at a reasonable hour, so can watch it when I recover!

F1 is like watching columbo.

Tune in to see who gets killed (columbo) or how the race starts (F1).

Go make the tea, build a house...

Tune in later to find who did it, why and how (Columbo) or find out what happened and who won (F1).

Pfft! I don't know what columbo is, but irrespective, you should be slapped.

If standing on the side of the track I could be slapped many times by the same driver as he goes round and around and around and around

Anyone going to any of the races here in Europe? I'm debating going to the Euro in Valencia in August...combining it with a Sat night in Ibiza, Sun Grand Prix, and Wed La Tomatina???

Looks like McLaren have got the edge on Ferrari going into the first three non-European rounds in Melbourne, Sepang and Manama. Yesterday at a fully dry Barcelona (a good combination track to test on) we saw teams finally doing race-length stints with the following fastest lap results:

1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.234
2. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.434
3. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:21.722
4. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:22.309
5. Massa Ferrari 1:22.513
6. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:22.516
7. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:22.558
8. Kubica BMW-Sauber 1:22.625
9. Button Honda 1:22.659
10. Liuzzi Force India-Ferrari 1:22.942
11. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:22.977
12. Trulli Toyota 1:23.023
13. Alonso Renault 1:23.112
14. Barrichello Honda 1:23.169
15. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 1:23.284
16. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:23.323
17. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:23.458
18. Piquet Renault 1:23.467
19. Glock Toyota 1:23.561

These represent new cars that have not had the disaster of zero rubber data in the enforced change from Michelin to Bridgestone (especially Renault 2007) and have been specifically designed around the traction control ban enforced from the British GP last season. The first point of note is that the field would appear to have closed up and is covered by 2.3 seconds. The second is how the Williams-Toyota combination, and Mike Gascoyne's Force India-Ferrari have progressed over the winter. I expect Fizzi's experience as a driver in a high-driveability car to get them a podium this season. The BMW-Saubers have not lost any ground, maybe Honda has gained... slightly. The big loser in all of this that I can see is Alonso, concreted by some of his comments on Cadena Ser last night about struggling for a podium in the first half on the season.

Apart from Ferrari and McLaren the times are all over the place though, not a lot of consistency within the other teams two drivers. Makes it difficult to help each other out, either on the track or with tactics, if a teams drivers are nowhere near each other.

Well... drivers are very different. It's all about the confidence you have as a driver with the vehicle to judge the limit between being as quick as the machine can possibly go and falling off the black stuff. I would imagine that there are some very uncomfortable pilots out there at the moment, and this will always skew the results. I'm reading between those lines and seeing what I'm seeing.

Dennis stays on as McLaren chief

McLaren chief Ron Dennis will not be quitting the Formula One team.

Australian GP Grid:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren-Mercedes, 1 minute, 26.714 seconds.
2. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW-Sauber, 1:26.869.
3. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:27.079.
4. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 1:27.178.
5. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW-Sauber, 1:27. 236.
6. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 1:28. 527.
7. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams, 1:28.687.
8. David Coulthard, Britain, Red Bull, 1:29.041.
9. Timo Glock, Germany, Toyota, 1:29.593.
10. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Toro Rosso, did not start final session.
11. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Honda, 1:26.173.
12. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 1:26.188.
13. Jenson Button, Britain, Honda, 1:26.259.
14. Kazuki Nakajima, Japan, Williams, 1:26.413.
15. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, did not finish second session.
16. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari, did not start second session.
17. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Force India, 1:27.207.
18. Sebastien Bourdais, France, Toro Rosso, 1:27.446.
19. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 1;27.859.
20. Takuma Sato, Japan, Super Aguri, 1:28.208.
21. Nelson Piquet Jr., Brazil, Renault, 1:28.330.
22. Anthony Davidson, Britian, Super Aguri, 1:29.059.

And Lewis Hamilton wins the Aussie GP.

Provisional results from Australian Grand Prix:

1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 58 laps one hour 34 minutes 50.616 seconds
2. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber +5.478 secs
3. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota +8.163
4. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault +17.181
5. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes +18.014
DQ Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda +52.453
6. Kazuki Nakajima* (Jpn) Williams-Toyota 1 lap behind
7R Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 55 laps completed
8R Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 53 laps
R Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 47 laps
R Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 43 laps
R Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda 32 laps
R Nelson Piquet Jr (Brz) Renault 30 laps
R Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 29 laps
R David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 25 laps
R Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 19 laps
R Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 8 laps
R Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 0 laps
R Jenson Button (GB) Honda 0 lap
R Anthony Davidson (GB) Super Aguri-Honda 0 lap
R Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 0 laps
R Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 0 laps

* Nakajima handed 10-place grid penalty for next weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix

Todt steps down as Ferrari boss Ferrari have named Amedeo Felisa as the Formula One team's chief executive after the resignation of Jean Todt. Todt, 62, who was a key figure in turning the Italian team into one of F1's most successful teams, will stay on in a senior executive role.

Schumacher gone, Todt gone. It won't get easier for Ferrari.

Don't forget Ross Brawn as well...big loss

Apparently Totd stepped on Montezemola's toes by trying to push Massa as Schumi's successor even after M. had talked Räikkönen into coming on board.

I sure that the fact Todt's son is Massa's manager had nothing whatsever to do with this!

Formula one returns to the BBC next year. Yippe, no more bloody adverts!

Superb news! Wonder who they will line up to do it?

The auntie beeb get the rights for showing for F1 for the next 5 years

yeah bring back Murray Walker! and Fleetwood Mac

Jean-Marie Balestre dies age 86

Very nearly coinciding with Max Mosley's personal scandal.

Didn't know about Balestre's murky past. Aparently you need to be a fascist to get on in F1, Nazi past an advantage, but not required.

BMW cofirms that they are planning to join the fight for the championship and constructor's championhip this year. After arriving 2nd in the 2 previous races (once by Heidfeld once by Kubica) they got the first in the history pole position.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/formula-1/ba...u=1207397774113

This is going to be an interesting season :-)

Barrichello to swap with Marco Andretti. Rubens Barrichello who will become the most experienced F1 driver ever on Sunday, has been offered a drive in Mario Andrettis US race team for next year and could swap his Honda seat with Marco Andretti, Michael Andrettis son and Grandson of the legend that is Mario Andretti.

Let's hope for his sake that he does better than his father did in F1.

Yes, I thought that! Maybe he'll take after his Grandpa.

Well...he's done it the race of races, even if I wanted Massa or Kubica to win, Hamilton deserved it, feel really sorry for Sutil though, bet he's gutted

Yeah, great recovery from Lewis after a potentially race ending error when he clipped the barrier, which ironically helped him out with the pit stop strategy. Sutil should be given a point for drive of the race though, cruelly ended by Raikkonen.

One of the other F1 boards I read suggested that Sutil would have been penalised anyway for jumping places under a yellow? Havent seen it reported elsewhere though...

Great race indeed. I wonder if that drive by Sutil has caught the eye of a big budget team...reckon he'll still be in a Force India next year??

I don't think he was jumping places, rather overtaking backmarkers, still a no no though.

Yeah, the BBC podcast mentioned it, they said it was missed by the cameras, but he got a slap on the wrists from the stewards. Probably didn't have the heart to give him a penalty after being shunted off.

I don't think Raikkonen should be penalised, though. I initially thought he braked too late, but the replay showed he actually braked quite early and got out of control a la Coulthard.

Well a bit early but the calendar for 2009 has been announced:

Provisional calendar:
29 March - Australia (Melbourne)
5 April - Malaysia (Sepang)
19 April - Bahrain (Manama)
10 May - Spain (Barcelona)
24 May - Monaco
7 June - Canada (Montreal)
21 June - Britain (Silverstone)
28 June - France (Magny-Cours)
12 July - Germany (Nuerburgring)
26 July - Hungary (Budapest)
9 August - Turkey (Istanbul)
23 August - Europe (Valencia)
6 September - Italy (Monza)
13 September - Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)
27 September - Singapore
11 October - Japan (Suzuka)
18 October - China (Shanghai)
1 November - Brazil (Interlagos)
15 November - Abu Dhabi

Rain forecast for the British GP

Fingers crossed that it is, love a bit of slippery man on man action.

The British Grand Prix is moving to Donington Park.

They're going to have to make some massive changes to the road system before this happens. I was at the MotoGP race last month at it was pretty bad when we left the circuit, even though a lot of the traffic was only motorbikes. Silverstone has had a lot of work done to it over the years to make getting in and out pretty easy. However, I must say for the spectators this can only be a good thing, the view of the track is really good, you can see far more of the circuit than you can at Silverstone, which is pretty flat,.

Donington has hosted F1 before of couse in 1993 and had one of the best opening laps by Ayton Senna ever.

I was at the practice for the 1993 grand prix. Which idiot decided to run a race so early in the year? My 8 year old brother cried his eyes out he was so cold but really wanted to see the cars so we stayed.

Better circuit I'd say. As Allershausen says the viewing is better. Curious what they will do to the track. The loop at the back of the pits is a joke and was only put in to make the track Grand Prix length.

Is it real or another Ecclestone bargaining chip? Seems hardly the best time to announce this.

Wow, didn't see that one coming. I was expecting the usual manoeuvring from Bernie about Silverstone being shit and the usual whinging from the BDRC that they can't make ends meet. I'm glad, though, that Britain gets to keep its Grand Prix, hopefully Donington will live up to it.

Jordan Force India will be disappointed, their factory is on the edge of Silverstone.

Fabulous start from Lewis !

Absolutely classic drive from Hamilton to win by over a minute !

Yup he was good today.Want to drive a Merc well then get an Englishman

It was a great race, Lewis drove brilliantly, but here was also so much action going on with the other drivers. I have to say though, Lewis Hamilton doesn't drive a Mercedes, he drives a McLaren, which happens to be powered by a Mercedes engine. Mercedes may own a part of McLaren but it is still an independent company, it annoys me to hear the German commentators referring to his car as a Mercedes, they don't call the Williams a Toyota!

I was there for all four miserable days. I took me until August 1994 to dry out... and I was sat in a snatch vehicle. This vehicle had a row of seats in the back. On one of the days, Boutsen fell off the black stuff and landed within grubby paw range for yours truly to snatch his Jordan out of the kitty litter. To which he was most disagreeable, and vented as such. So early on in a wet session too. He kept his helmet on to keep his bonce dry and kept looking lovingly at our nice dry row of rear seats. "Might one perchance enquire if one might rest a while from the weather on one of such seats?" says he. "No!" says I, recalling said venting of 15 minutes previous. That'll learn 'im. So he buggered off a few yards to ask a young marshal who might be in charge of the few furlongs of track (and adjacent falling-off territory). He didn't look too pleased when sprightly young marshal pointed squarely at me. We had a whole load of these chinless driver types visit us with their cars over the four days. It would seem to have been a popular area to choose when one was deciding to have an 'off'.

The 1993 European Grand Prix was a memorable event. The campsite was atrocious. The latrines, disgusting. As for getting in and out of the field know as Donington, I think I made it out by midnight. What didn't help was the local animousity to us BOBs (that's Black and Orange Bastards to the uninitiated). Problem was that it was the Silverstone ES Team who had 99% of the experience, and who ran the circuit that day (this was in the days before we were forced to wear the sickly orange of the lesser British marshal for all GPs). All that having been said, it was a great day for Ayrton Senna... who drove a stormer.

South Northamptonshire Council would do well to have the local constabulary arrest the little shit who goes by the name of "Ecclestone" and demand back all the taxpayers money they ploughed into overhauling the entire road system in the Silverstone area.


Indeed he did. Very... how shall I put this... Sennaesque? Not quite Villeneuvesque, a la Watkins Glen Friday Qualifying 1979, when the little French-Canadian was on another planet altogether with his lap times - NINE seconds faster per lap than anybody else. But still, two blinding drives this season from Hamilton at Monaco and Silverstone. For me he's the best out there by a long way. Put him and Kimi both in the same car and one of them would have to retire to Helsinki... for good.