FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

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Who will the 2008 Chinese Grand Prix?

Poll ended at 18 Oct 2008, 18:50

Lewis Hamilton
24
33%
Felipe Massa
25
35%
Robert Kubica
9
13%
Kimi Räikkönen
9
13%
Nick Heidfeld
0
No votes
Heikki Kovalainen
0
No votes
Fernando Alonso
5
7%
Sebastian Vettel
0
No votes
Jarno Trulli
0
No votes
Timo Glock
0
No votes
Nico Rosberg
0
No votes
Nelsinho Piquet
0
No votes
Kazuki Nakajima
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 72

Fergie1
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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Fergie1 » 17 Oct 2008, 18:17

Zack wrote:
Fergie1 wrote:Same for all is a c**p argument, it still the entry to the pits even on the other track. And for the record I am not moaning about it because Hamilton went in it last year, its more unsafe than safe.
Lets just talk about something else because this will go backwards and forwards.
If it was unsafe ...we would have heard Weber/GPDA members whining about it! :O
lol true. Webber moans about everything possible. :p

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by iceman1 » 17 Oct 2008, 18:23

Briatore: Hamilton will throw it away
“In my opinion Hamilton will try again to throw away the title,” Briatore was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport. “He and McLaren were good last year already: to lose it with a 17-point advantage with two races to go is worthy of the Guinness World Records.
“If someone gets in the Guinness like that, he can really repeat himself with just five points of advantage. In my opinion Massa will win the title.”
Ed Gorman provides a good insight into the pressure being stoked up against Hamilton by his rival drivers, rival team managers and FIA - and half of the media and blogging universe of course:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 958066.ece

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Zack » 17 Oct 2008, 18:59

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by phil1993 » 17 Oct 2008, 19:09

looks like an exciting party. I'm sure I know where the cake is going (Ferrari guy that cheered when FM hit LH in Japan)

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Ali » 17 Oct 2008, 19:10

iceman1 wrote: Ed Gorman provides a good insight into the pressure being stoked up against Hamilton by his rival drivers, rival team managers and FIA - and half of the media and blogging universe of course:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 958066.ece
Yes Iceman, that was so obvious in the press conference. I'd very much like to watch press conference video [is it possible btw?] as it may reveal much more than an excerpt. Such that:
For example, the other three drivers were asked towards the end of the session whether it was true that they and Hamilton's other rivals on the grid are envious because Hamilton is leading the championship and because “wherever you go, he seems to be the biggest star”. This could have been an opportunity for some to say, perhaps, that they have nothing against Hamilton, that he is a good guy who has done a lot for the sport and so on. But after a long gap during which none of the drivers said anything, they each conspicuously passed up the opportunity.

“I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing, so I'm fine,” Kubica said, smugly. “I'm very happy,” Alonso said, with heavy emphasis on the “very”. Then Raikkonen rounded it off: “I'm very happy with my life - I wouldn't change it.”
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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by shailf1 » 17 Oct 2008, 19:12

Steve Slater wrote: Just as in Japan, the weather was wet in Shanghai last year, but is likely to be fine for this weekend's race. It could give Felipe Massa his best chance yet of closing Lewis Hamilton's six-point advantage in the World Championship title chase.

Shanghai has, since it opened in 2004 been a track that suits the Ferrari chassis. It demands a combination of straight-line aerodynamic efficiency on its 1km-long main straight, along with high levels of downforce on the fast sweeping section between turns 6 and 9 in the first half of the lap. McLaren have caught up in some respects, but the formbook shows the Ferraris to be the cars to beat.

In 2004, a Ferrari won the inaugural Grand Prix of China with Rubens Barrichello at the wheel. (His now team-mate Jenson Button claimed second, how long ago that must seem for the two Honda drivers today!). In 2006, Ferrari won again giving Michael Schumacher his final victory and last year Kimi Raikkonen scored Ferrari's 200th Grand Prix win.

Last year's race will of course also be remembered as the one in which Lewis Hamilton slid into the gravel trap at the pit lane entrance on the 31st lap. It really wasn't his fault.

In a race of rapidly changing track conditions, the McLaren team miscalculated when to bring him in for new tyres and the rear treads had worn right though. Areas of the tyre carcass were flailing as he approached the tight bend in the pit lane before losing control and beaching the McLaren.

To retire from likely victory in any race is heartbreaking, but to lose a race and as it transpired the world title, by slithering off the road into the pits is cruel beyond words.

Yet Hamilton's conduct in defeat was exemplary. He returned to the pits to shake hands and commiserate with every one of his pits crew. He refused to blame his team, despite continually being asked who was responsible for the mistake.

One wonders whether Lewis would respond in the same way today. The pressures of this year's world championship battle do seem to be getting to him. His driving in Japan showed signs of a more ragged, over-aggressive, even arrogant Hamilton, which were not exhibited a year ago.

Lewis would I am sure, never admit to have been the paragon of perfection that some people try to build around him. ‘Saint Lewis' he is not.

No Grand Prix driver has ever got even as far as sitting in an F1 car merely by being nice. You need a killer, winner-takes-all, instinct to be successful in the face of such competition. Previously Lewis has maintained a balance between that and his amiable public persona. Currently he is showing a little more of the hard edge.

Perhaps it's not too surprising. He is a 23 year-old guy. A winner, and one of the great talents. However I suspect that the almost unanimous criticism of his driving in Japan will come as a well needed reality check. I hope so.

Equally, Felipe Massa has taken a new harder edge - and it suits him. His much publicised contact with Hamilton in Japan and subsequent drive-through penalty were one sign. His unrelenting and aggressive fightback to claim championship points was, well, Hamilton-esque. More of that please Felipe!

The biggest enigma in the past few races has been Fernando Alonso. Victory in Singapore was a surprise, but his performance in Japan proved it was not a fluke. Renault engineering boss Bob Bell insists that there is no great secret, putting it down simply to the team's better understanding of the cars chassis - and a lot of hard work by the boys back home at Enstone in England.

The double world-champion's driving credentials speak for themselves. His experience and intuition at the first corner in Japan, when he slipped through into the lead, was a masterstroke. But there is much more to Alonso than that. The Spaniard is a driver who provokes wildly differing views on his personality. To some he is arrogant and aloof, over-keen to criticise when things aren't going his way.

To others, Alonso is a very straight guy, with a great sense of humour and a strong sense of loyalty. My co-commentator Alex Yoong who was his team-mate when they both started out at Minardi, rates him as one of the best.

Fernando stays close to those he knows and trusts. Many people don't realise that Alonso spends a lot of time at the Force India motor home. Nothing to do with racing, he's playing poker with his best buddy Giancarlo Fisichella!

Alonso is also the only non-Ferrari driver to win the Grand Prix of China. He dominated the 2005 race to crown his championship-winning season with pole position and victory. In 2006, he claimed pole position and second place for Renault and last year, second again for McLaren.

This year as Hamilton and Massa will undoubtedly slug it out in Shanghai with the title at stake, I won't rule out Alonso for another trip to the podium!

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by sejtur » 17 Oct 2008, 19:20

Happy B-Day to Kimi
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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by phil1993 » 17 Oct 2008, 19:43

Yeah and Its his fellow finn Kovalainen's b-day on Sunday :D

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Intermediate07 » 17 Oct 2008, 20:17

phil1993 wrote:Yeah and Its his fellow finn Kovalainen's b-day on Sunday :D
So let`s hope for KOV (P1), HAM (P2) and Massa out of the points. :pray:

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by AzShadow » 17 Oct 2008, 21:31

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Kimi's biggest fans are in China. :O

TS reporter wrote that even he was recognized by the fans and they wanted to have a photograph with him, just because he's written so many stories about Kimi. :)
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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by TwistedArmco » 17 Oct 2008, 22:15

phil1993 wrote:looks like an exciting party. I'm sure I know where the cake is going (Ferrari guy that cheered when FM hit LH in Japan)
Fattist!! :)

No, I think Jean Todt got a fair few slices of cake too. :O However, Ferrari don't do team orders anymore, so it could just have been a messy free-for-all, in which case Ginge would have got the most, yes.
No, I'm not calmer. Just more jaded.

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Fergie1 » 17 Oct 2008, 22:21

TwistedArmco wrote:
phil1993 wrote:looks like an exciting party. I'm sure I know where the cake is going (Ferrari guy that cheered when FM hit LH in Japan)
Fattist!! :)

No, I think Jean Todt got a fair few slices of cake too. :O However, Ferrari don't do team orders anymore, so it could just have been a messy free-for-all, in which case Ginge would have got the most, yes.
lol! :p

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Fergie1 » 17 Oct 2008, 22:29

Steve Ryder has just been on ITV news about Lewis Hamilton's chances. If i'm honest it sounded like he'd actually been w*****g over Lewis for the past hour. :p

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by scermat » 17 Oct 2008, 23:06

they're doing him more harm than good. (the comments, not the w<star>king :p )
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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by scermat » 17 Oct 2008, 23:09

Zack wrote:Image
Jean seems like he's doing the best Kimi impression ever there.

either that or he's on a diet lol.
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