2008 FORMULA 1™ Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix

[blizzard]

Top ten average qualifying positions in 2008 up to and including Singapore Grand Prix:

1. Felipe Massa 2.9
2. Lewis Hamilton 3.2
3. Heikki Kovalainen 3.8
4. Kimi Raikkonen 4.8
5. Robert Kubica 5.2
6. Fernando Alonso 7.6
7. Jarno Trulli 8.2
8. Mark Webber 8.6
9. Nick Heidfeld 8.7
10. Timo Glock 10.9

2 things surprise me:

1. Kovalainen has a better average grip position than Kimi
2. Heidfeld´s average grip position isn´t as bad as I thought. I felt like he was 9 or 10 times out of the top ten.

[Ali]

This table also shows how Ferrari and Massa spoiled their qualification advantage by reliability and awful tactical decisions. All championship contender did many mistakes so the decisive moments were when reliability and tactical options did their own job.

In Fuji, if it rains, I can't think of any other option but a dominant Hamilton win. If it's dry, in a circuit one half of which consists of sweeping and flat out corners and the other half of which is tight and twisty, it's anyone's game between Ferrari and McLaren 'cause they proved they can be similarly quick on both type of circuits unlike 2007. Kimi and Heikki will be the guys to watch in terms of helping their team mates.

Last year, Hamilton arrived in Fuji with a 2 points advantage over Alonso and now he has 7 points advantage. It's a huge boost both pointwise and confidentwise. Ferrari will use their first engine for Fuji race, while both McLaren drivers will use the same engine with Singapore. That might be a slight advantage for Ferrari if it's dry.

[JoostLamers]

This table also shows how Ferrari and Massa spoiled their qualification advantage by reliability and awful tactical decisions. All championship contender did many mistakes so the decisive moments were when reliability and tactical options did their own job.

Those were my exect thoughts

[etapia]

Questions:
1. Will Hamilton still be in the lead after this race?
2. Will Massa dominate and win this race?
3. Will Raikkonen finish this race (in the points)?
4. Can Alonso get near his season high in Fuji?
5. Will Vettel be beatable if it rains?
6. Can Rosberg repeat his result of Singapore?
7. Will BMW be a threat for the 2 topteams?

1. well not a big fan, I hope not.
2. YES, sure!!!
3. Yes
4. Hope so..
5. yes, depends of tons of detail, McLaren is strong in rain too.
6. No
7. I don't think so[/quote]

[Ollie]

Seen these questions answered by the above member and will answer them myself aswell.

1. Will Hamilton still be in the lead after this race?
Hopefully, I predict a 2nd place finish for him, I think it will be a Ferrari 1 + 3 I hope it isnt but after the poor performance and the last grand prix Ferrari will be doing ANYTHING in their power to get Massa fully back into the race, I expect some dirty tactics from Raikkonen.
2. Will Massa dominate and win this race?
I don't think he will dominate, but what I think will happen is Raikkonen will be forced to yield to him towards lap 40 and sit back and hold Hamilton up, hopefully he will be able to get passed him.
3. Will Raikkonen finish this race (in the points)?
Yes I see him finnishing 3rd and ending his run at the World Chapmionship this year, this will be overshadowed by the impending war between Massa and Hamilton.
4. Can Alonso get near his season high in Fuji?
No, I think renault will be back to 6th-12th this race I think behind red bulls and toyota, I don't think Alonso will hiy as high as he did in Singapore.
5. Will Vettel be beatable if it rains?
If qualifying is unaffected as in the top contenders get the bad luck of the weather, then yes he will be beatable but if he is on Pole and there is rain ahead, I wouldn't be surprised at all.
6. Can Rosberg repeat his result of Singapore?
No, I think that Rosberg has had a real mediocre season and he will return to the mediocrity this race, next season I think that he will shine more, he proved he can do this under the lights of Singapore.
7. Will BMW be a threat for the 2 topteams?
They have fallen away a little, if they had just continued developing their car this year wouldn't have been so 2 teamed. It would have been a much more interesting year with the likes of Kubica throwing spanners in some of the top contenders races like he did at the start of the year.

[darthfury]

really really hoping for a dry race :X

[Zack]

Questions:
1. Will Hamilton still be in the lead after this race?
NO!

2. Will Massa dominate and win this race?
Yeah!

3. Will Raikkonen finish this race (in the points)?
Yeah probably second or third.

4. Can Alonso get near his season high in Fuji?
Singapore was one off .. no chance under circumstances.

5. Will Vettel be beatable if it rains?
yeah ... but will be very strong & probably will finish inside p5
6. Can Rosberg repeat his result of Singapore?
No

7. Will BMW be a threat for the 2 topteams?
20% chances of it!
-=-==-=-==-=-==-=-==-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Ferrari did testing at Fiorano.Completed 110 laps and setting a new record (for the F2008) of 0:59.350.

Some financial news... [AFCA]

In 2007, Ferrari's revenues (turnover) increased from the 1,447 million euro recorded in 2006 to 1,668 million euro, a jump of 1.3%. A total of 6,465 road cars were delivered to their owners, an increase of 14% on 2006. Our trading profit of 266 million euro represented a massive 45.4% increase on the previous year and brought our ROS (Return on Sales) up to 16% compared to 12.6% in 2006.
2008 is another year of growth for Ferrari. In the first half of the year, we took in revenues of 969 million euro, up 20.5% on the same period in 2007. We made a trading profi t of 164 million euro (equal to 16.9% of revenues), a very impressive 62.4% improvement on the first six months of 2007. During the same period, we delivered a total of 3,506 cars to end-clients (+4.2%).

Last June, President Luca di Montezemolo and CEO Amedeo Felisa presented the new phase of the Formula Uomo programme launched by Ferrari in 1997 to encompass such diverse areas as working environment, safety, environmental impact and energy saving, and services for our employees and their families. In terms of working environments, Ferrari also recently celebrated the opening of its new Car Assembly Line building designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, winner of this year's highly prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, as well as the new company restaurant penned by architect Marco Visconti. With regard to the environment and energy-saving, we also presented two new projects: a photovoltaic system and a trigeneration plant which will reduce in the amount of electricity we take from the national grid each year by 25% and will also cut our CO2 emissions by 35%. By the end of the year, we will also have begun work on building the new GES. Overall, since the building in 1997 of Renzo Piano's Wind Tunnel, more than 200 million euro has been invested in Formula Uomo. More than four million euro will also be invested in 2008 in structural and training activities aimed at improving safety in the workplace.

[phil1993]

weather update: showers expected: 95% chance of rain every day

[syncmaster]

Japan and China will be in rain and Safety car or Bad weather can damage plans of Ferrari.

[JoostLamers]

weather update: showers expected: 95% chance of rain every day

Wow or as Hamilton would have said: "Shoot!"

[swca92]

95%??? If that's true we may get one of them extremely wet races,like Barcelona 96,Spa 98 etc.Lewis and Vettel are delighted with that,I think Domenicali will be peeing in his pants at that forecast...

[phil1993]

more likely means a 95% chance of precipitation eg. drizzle/light light shower

[gokul009]

Questions:
1. Will Hamilton still be in the lead after this race - Yes, I expect him to be second or third
2. Will Massa dominate and win this race - I expect him to win, but I don't think he will dominate like in Bahrain, Turkey or Valencia
3. Will Raikkonen finish this race (in the points) -Yes, he will stop that stupid rot with a second or third.
4. Can Alonso get near his season high in Fuji - No, he wont, I still think he can get some points
5. Will Vettel be beatable if it rains - He can beat everyone except Lewis Hamilton
6. Can Rosberg repeat his result of Singapore - No, Singapore result was due to luck
7. Will BMW be a threat for the 2 topteams - No, they are dropping back

[JoostLamers]

Hamilton: "It was no fun to drive for the points, but I understood that it was the best strategy." Besides this, he also said that it was very difficult for him to deny the impulses that he has been developing from the age of 8. But it was a good learning point for me, he said. This is the real driver talking..

[kimi and mika]

Questions:
1. Will Hamilton still be in the lead after this race? I hope not but yep he will.
2. Will Massa dominate and win this race? No.
3. Will Raikkonen finish this race (in the points)? Yes, maybe win.
4. Can Alonso get near his season high in Fuji? No, just forget about it...
5. Will Vettel be beatable if it rains? He was beatable before, so yes.
6. Can Rosberg repeat his result of Singapore? No, he might score a point.
7. Will BMW be a threat for the 2 topteams? No

I was thinking Ferrari might use Kimi to disadvantage Lewis, First corner incident, something so he doesn't get good points. You never know maybe a pit lane incident where Raikkonen gets Lewis back then says "Oh there was a red light, I didn't see that. Sorry IF I ruined your race!"