Hamilton seemed easily quickest in the final sector of the lap where everyone else was struggling. Obviously fuel loads will play a part in that but the track seems very slippery and with the track breaking up (again), it's only going to get worse.

A few might be gambling with a lot of fuel perhaps with an eye to the weather and thunderstorms in the area.

Kubica was well due a win IMO.He drove flawlessly as he did in Monaco (and indeed as he has done so all season).Shame for Hamilton but these things happen,at least he hit he right car !.Good to see newboys Glock and Piquet going much better then they have done so far and a great job by DC.

It just shows up the inconsistency of the stewards. Raikkonen takes Sutil out of the race in Monaco and gets no punishment. You may well argue that Raikkonen lost control but he was careless.

There are lots of things about this incident that leads me to believe that punishment was harsh. Hamilton was easily the quickest driver so his elimination was the race is harsh punishment enough.

The light is probably not that clearly visible when others cars are stopped. Circuits should look at putting the light high up so it's easier to see. Also, Kubica was out of his pit box first and beat Raikkonen out of the pits. Raikkonen should not have parked side by side to Kubica because the pit lane is single file. It left nowhere for Hamilton to go to avoid an accident.

The crazy thing about the punishments is Rosberg tapped Hamilton, who was already out of the race and then he had to pit for a new nose cone so his race was ruined. How did that justify the same punishment as Hamilton?

I found it funny that Raikkonen managed to call Hamilton stupid for his accident and said Monaco was a different story. You keep telling yourself that Raikkonen if it helps you sleep at night.

Haha! What an entertaining race. I can't believe the reaction in some places, and on some forums. Some serious Lewis lovers about refuse to accept he just made a mistake. Trying to blame the lights etc. Only, there were two stationary cars right infront of him.

What a wally.

Grandprix wrote:
> It just shows up the inconsistency of the stewards. Raikkonen
> takes Sutil out of the race in Monaco and gets no punishment. You
> may well argue that Raikkonen lost control but he was careless.

In Monaco, if Kimi hadn't held onto his slide and had smashed into the barrier in the braking zone, the car behind could well have ploughed into him and ended his race as well. Would Kimi have been held responsible for that? No, probably not. So just because Kimi's accident took out some ahead of him rather than someone behind, it shouldn't make any difference. Kimi had an accident in unknown conditions - it was the first time through there after the safety car had come in.


> There are lots of things about this incident that leads me to
> believe that punishment was harsh. Hamilton was easily the
> quickest driver so his elimination was the race is harsh
> punishment enough.



> The light is probably not that clearly visible when others cars
> are stopped. Circuits should look at putting the light high up so
> it's easier to see. Also, Kubica was out of his pit box first and
> beat Raikkonen out of the pits. Raikkonen should not have parked
> side by side to Kubica because the pit lane is single file. It
> left nowhere for Hamilton to go to avoid an accident.

In Canada the conditions were ideal - dry and clear. This whole thing about lights is a load of tosh. For a start the blue light means that faster cars are coming along the main straight - reminding LH that the snake was still going past. Secondly, and more importantly, there were two cars STATIONARY in front of him. Even if the light was green, he would have had to have stopped as he had no other option - no room to do anything else!

As for Kimi & Kubica being side by side - Ferrari's pit is right at the end of the pitlane - at most of the tracks they never rejoing the proper pitlane as such before they've left the pit. Plus in other races we've seen cars side by side down the pitlane.

Lewis made a mistake. It's as simple as that. He is a bloody good driver, but no matter how good you are, at some point a mistake will be made. It's nothing to be ashamed of - just accept it. When interviewed he should have said "I've been a plank and cocked up. Sorry everyone." But he didn't.


> The crazy thing about the punishments is Rosberg tapped
> Hamilton, who was already out of the race and then he had to pit
> for a new nose cone so his race was ruined. How did that justify
> the same punishment as Hamilton?

He got a penalty for the same reason - having an avoidable accident. If either of them had been paying attention when they were drving down the pitlane none of this would have happened. The pitlane is a dangerous part of the track with all the people and equipment in such close proximity. Extra care should be taken and neither of these drivers did that.


> I found it funny that Raikkonen managed to call Hamilton stupid
> for his accident and said Monaco was a different story. You keep
> telling yourself that Raikkonen if it helps you sleep at night.

In my view it's a completely different set of circumstances. Heh, guess who out of us is the Kimi fan & who the Lewis :-)

So, practice has Ferrari with the fastest time of the day and Alonso fastest in the 2nd session. If no one can get near that Ferrari time (no one was within 4 tenths of it), it could be a Ferrari walk with Hamilton at least in the middle of the pack.

Ferrari were always going to win that one. Good battle between Trulli and Kovalainen for 3rd. The BMW's were poor all weekend and Alonso's mistake cost him a point to Piquet.

The Hamilton penalty incident. I think the stewards were harsh and Hamilton was on the racing line and past or at worst level. They didn't show an angle but there is no way that 2 cars are getting through that chicane so he could have been avoiding an accident. That probably cost him points.

Silverstone in 2 weeks and I'm (hopefully) going to be there. If I don't make it, I'll be posting here that weekend...

From the angle we were shown, Hamilton was at least level or past so Vettel would have had to have given way because Hamilton was on the line. You would think if Hamilton had tried to take the corner, he would have collected Vettel and both would have been out. It's too tight there for 2 cars and as Kovalainen showed, if they both stubbornly refuse to give way, running off the track is inevitable.

On the debate as to whether he gained an advantage, there may well be a case but I just can't see how 2 cars make it through that corner side by side and the 2 drivers in question are young and not going to lift. McLaren were obviously not convinced there was any wrong or they would have asked Hamilton to let Vettel back through.

Awesome job by Hamilton this afternoon,very impressive.Great to see Barrichello on the podium as well.But what happened to the Ferrari's ?,apart from a small stint by Raikkonen just before the first round of pit stops they were rubbish (particularly Massa who was super rubbish !).Great race,just what the championship needed.

El Viking wrote:
> I only saw the highlights (Whilst the race was going on, I think
> I was watching The Damned!), but by the looks of things, Nick
> Heidfeld also had a bloody good race, some impressive overtaking
> moves and a well-deserved second place.

Yeah, 'Quick Nick' (as he was known as a long time ago) was back for sure yesterday.He looked a class above team mate Kubica (for a change ).With contract time looming it won't have done him any harm at all.

Predictably, Vettel replaces Coulthard at Red Bull from 2009. If they put together a half decent car, that's a dangerous driver lineup.

Vettel and Webber in the same team though? I hope Webber forgave him after that Japan collision and the choice words he said live on ITV afterwards...

Yeah, the safety car really brought the race to life. I can understand them not bringing Hamilton in but it was hugely risky. It paid off though thanks to Hamilton's overtaking ability.

Ferrari have a bit of head scratching to do because they didn't turn up. Off the pace and when Massa could make no impression or put any pressure on Piquet, something is not right.

Hungary in a couple of weeks. Usually isn't one of the best races but we'll have to see.

Yup, shame we'll have to wait 15 years for the next wet one there :-)

I remember when I went to Spain, the Spanish TV coverage was actually pretty good, better than ITV's coverage. Probably because they didn't have adverts. I guess things have changed a bit. It has been a while.

I can only think of 2 Hungarian Grand Prix that were exciting. The wet race where Button came through to win and the one where Hill was leading in the Arrows and then developed a throttle problem and lost it to Villeneuve.

Hungary is one of those tracks where you just need a good handling car. Renault seem to have one and could spoil the party and get in the way.

I actually liked it, Massa so cruelly robbed, Alonso had a good drive despite a car that seemed to lack performance, though no-one seemed to comment on the ITV coverage, Glock did a fantastic job and everyone went 'noooooo' when Hamilton's tyre blew.

ITV's coverage is really beginning to grate. I don't mind a bit of chat about Hamilton as it's only natural for a British channel to focus on a British driver but everything is Lewis, Lewis, Lewis.

Even in the pitlane, it's no different. They were speaking to someone down the pitlane, can't remember who it was, but they were discussing something. Then they mentioned Lewis. What does that person in a minor team have anything to do with Lewis? It's obsessive.

Not a great race for overtaking but that's Hungary. Massa drove brilliantly and will be gutted not to win that one. Kovalainen drove steady and Glock did a great job. That Toyota definitely had the edge in the last sector because they put in fastest third sectors for most of the race.

Raikkonen got out of jail with that 3rd place. Never looked much like taking Alonso and with the final pit stop looming, he made an error and lost time. I don't know how he came out of the pits ahead of Alonso.

Valencia next. I've seen a simulator go round it. Looks pretty good and there is certainly a fast section near the end of the lap that looks really good. I just hope the simulation is accurate.

The Spanish never really cared about Formula 1 until Alonso started winning though.

I don't think Hill wants to. Brundle just wasn't around for the Hungarian race.

So, Valencia this weekend.

Predictions? Hard not to think of McLaren starting the weekend as favourites. It'll be interesting to see if Ferrari have caught up at all over the break.

I wonder if the proper Kimi will turn up this weekend?