Japanese GP - Could Webber or Vettel have won it?
The Japanese Grand Prix returned to the Fuji circuit for the first time in a long time and you can see why there hasn’t been a grand prix there for that long - the weather and conditions are terrible for Formula One racing. Old footage of previous races show a common problem - a tendency for low fog and terrible visibility (even without rain).
What this meant was we had an extremely boring grand prix with lap-after-lap behind the pace car. But once the race finally started it quickly became one of the most exciting GPs this season.
Lewis Hamilton - Brilliant. His previous racing in the wet in F1 left question marks, but at Fuji he showed what a talent he is in both qualifying and the race. He’s almost guaranteed the title now.
Fernando Alonso - It’s been surprising to see Alonso crack so much under pressure this year given that he handled the pressure from Michael Schumacher in the previous two seasons so well. You have to say Alonso’s biggest rival is himself - the most damage to his championship has come because he’s lost his cool so many times this year. It will be interesting to see if he drives a lot better in the final round if Lewis manages to clinch the title in the next race (ie. once the pressure is off).
Heikki Kovalainen - What a super drive! The way he handled the pressure from Kimi Raikkonen at the end of the race shows just how far Heikki has come. He really could be as good as people said he was before the season started.
Mark Webber - Seemed quicker than Lewis Hamilton before he got hit by Sebastian Vettel behind the pace car.. Could he have won?
Sebastian Vettel - Despite making a terrible mistake by crashing into Mark Webber behind the pace car, Sebastian Vettel was definitely the driver of the weekend. He qualified his “Minardi” in the top 10 and would almost have certainly got a podium if he kept going. It was quite sad seeing him crying in the pits after crashing. Let’s hope it doesn’t hurt him too much psychologically because this guy is definitely on the cards for “driver of the future”.
Ferrari - Even if they weren’t told about the requirement to start the race on the extreme wet tyres, where was their common sense? This really screwed the race and the championship for their drivers.
Kimi Raikkonen - An inspired fightback, but it probably won’t count for much in terms of the championship.
Robert Kubica & Felipe Massa - Very exciting to watch and I’m happy Felipe managed to bring it home ahead in the end because Robert certainly seemed to pull more “questionable” moves out of the two (not to mention almost taking Lewis Hamilton out of the race earlier)…
Date: Monday, October 1st, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Category: Formula 1 Races
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Kimi has brought his bad luck with him to Ferrari… What a disaster… Lewis made 1 pit stop and Kimi 3… And the tyre drama… :/
I should be over the moon because of 2 Finns on the podium but the order should have been Kimi, Heikki, Lewis. Heikki was great but it still was bittersweet.
It really wasn’t Fernando’s day… I still hope he could be the champion as Kimi has practically lost his chances.
Poor Sebastian! I felt so sorry for him when I saw him crying… And poor Mark too. Formula 1 is unfair.
The fight between Felipe and Robert really made my day! We need more of these! Fair battles not fair battles where you get the penalty out of nothing, or what do you think of the incident between Robert and Lewis?
Great race (eventually). Hearing Webber use the ‘F’ Word on TV before 7:00am is a new first, although you would be annoyed if you were taken out under the pace car by a ’sister’ car!
Given my previous comments about Mclaren having a score to settle with Alonso look at what happened. The Ferrari’s are at the back of the field, Kimi’s title threat is receding. The Mclarens are 3 second a lap quicker than the field and have (apparently) 4-5 more laps of fuel in the cars. Yet they pit Alonso and when the dust settles he is FOUR cars behind Hamilton. Pitting one lap later (or in reverse order) and he would still have been on Hamilton’s tail, subtle but effective?
wtf? Kubica did nothing wrong when he was passing Hamilton, Hamilton went wide and Kubica was ahead of him when Lewis didn’t give him any space to Kubica. The incident was competely Hamilton’s fault and Robert was punished because of blind stewards. F1 is totally shameful sport
I definitely agree with all that “Alonso is his own worst enemy”….I mean, what happened to this guy…he could keep a cool head againt Schumi with no problem, but now he seems to be losing it way too often. I think the battle for championship is officially over, even though I hate to admit it.
:)
I am not a fan of Lewis, but if he continues to drive the way he did on Sunday, he will win the title this year and it will be well deserved.
Fernando really needs to straighten out his priorities and start racing like he used to when Michael was on track….maybe he just misses him too much.
What ever happened to the statement “I’ll do my talking on the track?”
Alonso had major damage from when Vettel hit him earlier. The side of his car was practically ripped off. Its not surprising he couldn’t keep it on track. As for Lewis, I see no reason to praise him, he had it easy, being the only one who could actually see.
Why do u guys give so little credit to Raikkonen?? some one said earliter that he brought his bad luck to ferrari…. what an idiotic comment.
Why don’t u see the positive side, he brought the podium for ferrari after being relegated to P22 during the race..
Hamilton had a good race and seems like he is also good in race which i had in doubt after the race in nurgbugring, but still i doubt he could come recover from the back of the grid the way kimi did. Webber was good and vettel too until that mistake.. Sutil was brilliant … Once he stops making mistakes ( when u r in a bottom car, it is easier to make mistakes as u try to push hard to cover for the car deficit), he is the guy to watch.
I still feel hamilton got lucky with the stewards, they always seem to support him…
I said that Kimi brought his bad luck to Ferrari meaning that when Michael was driving there everything went perfect while Kimi suffered with McLaren. Now it’s pretty much the opposite. I have been Kimi’s number fan ever since he first came to F1 and I respect him more than any other driver. Kimi himself was disappointed with his 3rd place because without the problems he could have won. It pisses me off that again the car/team destroys his champion dreams. I admit that he’s done mistakes too but still.
Steve, thank you!! Sometimes it’s just the way it goes I guess, very disappointed though!
Lewis Hamilton in the words of David Coulthard
“If there were any doubts about him being the real deal this race should have banished them. He absolutely deserves the championship after that.
Okay, he had it a wee bit easier than the rest of us in that he could see where he was going, but he’d earned the right to be there.”
i have to admit i was so mad about kubica’s penalty (and bored with looking at the pace car) that i turned off the live feed during the second pace car session. i just had a feeling webber was going to fall foul again…and he did. i’m not sure which of these drivers breaks my heart more, webber or kimi. safe bet they’ll never find themselves as teammates, who could risk it?
Luca di Montezemolo believes that “when Lewis Hamilton will win the title this season he should thank Ferrari for its technology”. I think Luca should quit while he’s ahead before someone smacks him a good one. It’s on par with O.J. Simpson tormenting the Goldman family after getting off scott free!
Verasaki, you’re so right about Kimi&Webber team mate thing!
Does anyone know the latest on where Alonso is moving to, or if he is moving…or is he going to retire…surely he won’t stay at Mclaren for another season after this !! I really hope he ends this season on a high, although I have pretty much accepted on the fact that “golden boy” is going to take the championship (damn, damn, damn !!)
@Paula: I think he’ll stay with McLaren but I don’t know for sure. He wants to win and they can offer him a proper car for that. Although MCL has been good one year and bad next year… Ferrari is out of option, Renault possible choice but are they good enough. He said he’ll definitely drive next year, thank God. Fernando is my second choice to be the champion, after Kimi, but like you said, “golden boy” is pretty close…
i hate hamilton is so lukcy!
Hello again people!!!
Here in Spain we have heard too many different possibilities.
The first option moves Alonso to Renault because of Briatore conversations with ING Direct. ING Direct is the principal sponsor of Renault with a contribution of 30 millions (I’m not sure if I’m talking in dollars or euros). Recently Briatore talked with ING directives to increase this amount in 10 millions to bring Alonso to his team. Alonso is in good terms with Briatore so this is a probably possibility.
The second option talks about Alonso driving a Ferrari. This could be possible only if Jean Todt leaves the team next year (As he said time ago Alonso only could drive a Ferrari if he is not in, and what a surprise, Jean Todt is living Ferrari next year. In addition of this, this week we have read for the first time Todt speaking well of Alonso an the possibility of watch him driving a Cavallino Rampante). This second options has a problem because places Alonso in Ferrari in 2009 but what is he doing next year then??? Spanish press talks about a year’s sabbatical.
The third option, and maybe the final choice, locates Alonso in McLaren again because he still have a contract with them for the next season. Today I’ve read a new which talked about the future of McLaren. They’re planing to create two different teams: Prodrive and Mercedes. The first of them with Hamilton (Jaimito for spanish people) and Dennis together and the second team with Alonso and De La Rosa. It seems to be a good option for everybody but it’s still in process.
One last question. What do you think about Vettel and Webber crash? Do you think Jaimito “caused” it? FIA is investigating it. You could check the video in Youtube but now it’s not available!!!!
Well, I don’t doubt Hamilton is a good driver, but he is very UNFAIR. Have you seen the video the FIA was investigating?. But he is “the boy”, the untouchable…
Anyway, winning with tricks is worse than loosing.
I’m agree with you. Hamilton, with help, is not playing fair. It’s a shame. Do you know what is FIA doing about that??? Probably nothing.
I have to say that having followed F! for over 30 years, Mark Webber is a very bad loser for his comment about Hamilton today.
C’mon- tp be perfectly honest,the guy is a second-tier driver as it is and everyone knows it,lol-that’s why he’s in a go-fast energy car!
And Vettel…?-
Go back to driving school,mate-by your own admission you took your eye’s off Webber…
and our jury said…UH UH..??!!
Cheers n Ciao
Here is a link to the video that is still available….
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2007/10/04/video-japanese-gp-highlights/
It is obvious that Hamilton slowed down considerably, but if he didn’t the whole group would have been into the back of the safety car. Hamilton commented that that Webber was not giving him enough space and kept popping up at his side in the poor visibility.
Regardless, Hamilton and Webber were no where near each other with a wide open gap between them. With Vettel coming in so quickly, Hamilton was probably expecting him to pull around Webber and into the open spot. Vettel obviously wasn’t paying attention to Webber in front of him(and admitted to this).
I think that the bottom line is that when there is that much water on the track all the cars need to compensate for it and give some room….just look how much water the safety car was pushing.
Anyway I can it being argued both ways based on the limited information that we have seen.
BTW does anyone else think that the FIA should be a little embarrassed having to open an investigation based on amateur video from YOUTUBE???? Where was their video coverage? They missed Alonso’s crash also….its not like they operate on a tight budget!! Maybe they should open a MYSPACE page and let the readers vote for the outcome
Good idea Jason!!!!
…”Maybe they should open a MYSPACE page and let the readers vote for the outcome”…
I think FIA had suspicions about what happened when Vettel and Webber crashed but if they look to another place everytime Hamilton is involved in a controversial situation there’s nothing to do. Maybe next time!
I feel sorry for Red-Bull team..they deserves more..
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