Category: F1

F1 2007

Hamilton wins Championship after Williams and BWM disqualified?

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Hamilton wins Championship after Williams and BWM disqualified?
I’ve seen the report tonight on the news that fuel irregularities might get Williams and BWM Sauber disqualified from today’s Brazilian F1 Grand Prix.  If that happens, Lewis Hamilton will be promoted to fourth and gain the Drivers’ World Championship title.
 
I don’t think Hamilton will want to win like this.  Much as I’m completely gutted by him not winning, I hope Williams and BMW don’t get DQ’ed.  I want to see Hamilton win the Championship on the track.
F1 2007

Idiots!

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Idiots!
Lewis Hamilton should have been brought into the pits one or two laps before he did attempt to come in.  He was two seconds a lap slower, two laps earlier.  They tried to be clever keeping him out in case it rained so they could put him on the right tyres.  If he had gone out on the right tyres he would have won the race, but if he had come in earlier and they had made the wrong tyre choice, he could have come in again and the extra pit stop would have cost him just 23 seconds and got him out in fourth place.
 
Hamilton needed just nine points from the last two races to win the Championship, so a 4th and 5th would have done the job, even if Alonso had won both races.  When Hamilton went out of the race, Alonso was 2nd or 3rd.  Hamilton’s tyres were finished at least two laps before he tried to came into the pits.  I think he actually had a puncture on his last lap.  Keeping Hamilton out was completely unnecessary.
 
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, you might say, but I was watching the lap and sector times and had worked this out as it was happening live.  With all the extra data the teams have, it should have been obvious to McLaren too.  Instead, they were going for the glory of getting the Drivers’ Championship a race early.  It could cost Hamilton the Championship if there are any problems in the last race.
 
An excellent drive from Vettel, Button, and Coulthard who also gets in the points.
 
Now I’ve got that off my chest, I can look forward to karting this afternoon.
F1 2007

Hamilton P1, Alonso 4th behind the Ferraris

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Hamilton P1, Alonso 4th behind the Ferraris
I know I only posted a few minutes ago, but it’s hard to contain my excitement at the qualifying results.  Hamilton starts in pole, Raikkonen 2nd, Massa 3rd, and Alonso in 4th.
 
If Hamilton finishes the race ahead of Alonso tomorrow, Hamilton will be World Champion.  These qualifying results are almost as good as a win for Hamilton.
 
Raikkonen (Ferrari) mathematically can still win the Championship, but only if he wins and the McLarens of Hamilton and Alonso fail to get many points from the last two races.  With that in mind, Massa’s job will be to keep Alonso from passing him and threatening Raikkonen’s 2nd place.  Ferrari will also be hoping that Hamilton will crash out.
 
With Ferrari’s ongoing dirty tricks campaign, it wouldn’t surprise me if Massa crashes into Alonso to take him out of the race, leaving Raikkonen to try to push Hamilton hard.
 
The dirty tricks I talk of are the spying scandal where a Ferrari employee leaked their technical specifications to a McLaren employee, then Ferrari complained about McLaren’s possession of the specs and court battles ensued.  Despite there being absolutely no evidence that the leaked information had been used on McLaren’s cars, the FIA disqualified McLaren from the Constructors’ Championship which McLaren were sure to win.  The result was that Ferrari were given the Championship.
 
Further, Ferrari supply engines to the Red Bull and Toro Rosso teams.  Following the incident last week where Toro Rosso driver Vettel crashed into the back of Webber’s car while everyone was following the safety car, those Ferrari-powered teams tried to convince the FIA that Hamilton was to blame, with the obvious intention to get Hamilton penalised to affect his Driver Championship winning position.  The FIA decided not to penalise Hamilton, rightly so.  As Hamilton said “I’m not driving the other cars”.
 
So, imagine the situation:  Raikkonen is chasing Hamilton during the race.  Hamilton is lapping cars and approaches Toro Rosso or Red Bull cars to lap them.  No doubt the Ferrari powered cars will block Hamilton as much as they’re allowed, but let Raikkonen through easily.  Wouldn’t it be convenient if a Toro Rosso or Red Bull car crashed into Hamilton as he tries to lap them, allowing Raikkonen to take full advantage of any points on offer.  Frankly, I think Coulthard is above that sort of thing, and so is Webber under normal circumstances, but Webber is probably still upset at losing a points finish in the crash last week; a crash he blames on Hamilton.  We’ll have to wait and see.
 
What I really want is a fair race, with no retirements or mechanical failures, and no excuse for any more politics.
 
Go Lewis!
F1 2007

Ron Dennis drops McLaren in it – the penalty is justified – but why no Ferrari penalty?

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Ron Dennis drops McLaren in it – the penalty is justified – but why no Ferrari penalty?
Now, I’m a Mclaren fan and therefore biased, but I believe that Mclaren deserved the $100m fine and the disqualification from the Constructors’ Championship this year (but not from next year).  There were emails between Pedro de la Rosa and Fernando Alonso discussing Ferrari’s weight distribution, flexible wing settings, the gas used in their tyres, and their braking system.
 
ITV’s website sets out in detail why the FIA changed its mind and imposed the penalty (http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=40662), and confirms that it was Ron Dennis himself that gave the FIA the evidence that lead them to impose the penalty (http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=40673), so in that at least, Ron Dennis’s reputation and integrity should be intact.
 
What gets me is that Ferrari have not been penalised.  I smell a rat.  Why on earth would a Ferrari employee give another team details of their specs?  If McLaren are guilty of possessing confidential information, then Ferrari are guilty of disclosing such information.  Ferrari should be penalised for allowing its information to be leaked, to the detriment of the sport. 
 
Whether a spy is a hero or a villain depends on your point of view; if a British agent gets information on a hostile power, he’s a hero and so is the foreign agent who gave us the secrets.  On the other hand, if it’s a British agent that discloses the information to a foreign power, then that’s a bad thing.  It seems to me that the FIA are on Ferrari’s side and have completely overlooked the Ferrari employee’s dishonourable actions.
 
It’s just so suspicious that Ferrari’s agent gave McLaren the information.  How convenient it is, with just a few races left this year and McLaren in such a strong position to win both the Constructors’ and Drviers’ Championship, that Ferrari are able to get McLaren’s points taken away.  Perhaps McLaren should leak some information to Ferrari now, as an insurance policy against Ferrari doing well next year, knowing the FIA will turn a blind eye to such entrapment.
F1 2007

Was that a bit optimistic?

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Was that a bit optimistic?
Okay, so I didn’t realise that other drivers would be on one-stops too.  Good race though.
 
I hope the FIA don’t side with Ferrari and their dirty tricks campaign.  Be a shame to ruin a good season.
F1 2007

Button leads the race

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Button leads the race
Just a quick line, as the quali ends for Italy, to make a prediction for the race.  I think Button will lead the race at some point; he seems to be on a one-stop strategy, so when everyone else comes into the pits for the first time, Button will be left leading.
 
No news on the F1 Drivers’ Challenge Round 1 yet.  I’ll email them soon.
 
No other racing news for me at the moment.  Baby is taking a lot of our time (she’s doing very well at the moment).  Hope to be karting at the end of Sept.
F1 2007

Outstanding Hamilton

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Outstanding Hamilton

I know the quali has just started for USA, but I wanted to get a quick post in to say how impressed I am with Hamilton's maiden win in Canada.

Even four safety cars couldn't give the other drivers a chance to beat him. Simply a brilliant drive.

Another amazing thing was the strength of Kubica's car. His 50g crash left him without injury.

Senna and Roland Ratzenberger has similar accidents in Italy in the 90s and both died.

It's a fantastic achievement for the people responsible for F1 safety. Without their outstanding work, maybe Kubica would be dead too.

Adverts have finished, so back to Canada quali.

BowenRacing is sponsored by ik Software at www.ik.com

F1 2007

Canadian GP TV schedule

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Canadian GP TV schedule

According to the ITV website, this the TV schedule for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix. Check your digital listing nearer the day for any changes, as ITV are prone to mess us around.

Live Quali, Sat 9th, 1730 – 1930 on ITV4 (not ITV1)
Quali re-run, Sat 9th, 2340 – 0110 on
ITV1
Race, Sun 10th, 1700 – 2000 on ITV1
Highlights, Sun 10th, 2345 – 0045 on ITV1
Highlights re-run, Mon 11th, 1800 – 1900 on ITV4.

BowenRacing is sponsored by ik Software at www.ik.com

F1 2007

David Coulthard shares my view of his penalty for blocking Wurz at Monaco

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on David Coulthard shares my view of his penalty for blocking Wurz at Monaco

David Coulthard shares my view of his penalty for blocking Wurz at Monaco.

You can read his comments here.

F1 2007

Hamilton told not to race to win at Monaco

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Hamilton told not to race to win at Monaco

Mclaren have admitted that Lewis Hamilton was told during the race that he should follow Fernando Alonso to the flag.

Norbert Haug confirmed that there are no team orders, and that the drivers are free to race most of the time, but Monaco is not one of those times.

I agree. Alsonso was clearly faster than Hamilton, and there was no point in risking both drivers' races with an accident. Had Hamilton been ahead of Alonso, he would have been allowed to win.

This is not the same as the team orders debacles of the past (Ferrari et al), where a winning driver was told to slow to allow his team-mate to pass.

The FIA said that what happened at Monaco was "entirely legitimate and no further action is necessary".

F1 is a business. The team's performance is more important than the individual driver. That, arguably, is bad for the sport and that's why the rules were changed in 2002 to prevent 'result-altering team orders'.

No-one would have been more happy then me to see Hamilton win at Monaco, but McLaren made the right decision.

BowenRacing is sponsored by ik Software at www.ik.com