2007 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix

[boyRacer]

Just a heads up, race starts in 45 mins unless delayed. Looks like a full wet race, similar in conditions to Spain 1996. Finishing order might actually be different from starting order which doesn't usually happen during a dry race. Can't wait.

 

[Colt45]

i <3 F1

 

[andylawcc]

omg, BR is back? !

 

[dug777]

I hope that little twit Hamilton gets his ass handed to him

 

[boyRacer]

Originally posted by: andylawcc
omg, BR is back? !

Somebody noticed I was gone? lol

Yes, I still owe you a BM video

 

[boyRacer]

Originally posted by: dug777
I hope that little twit Hamilton gets his ass handed to him

You'll be disappointed.

*SEMI-SPOILER*

Crappy start... I don't know why they had them go around the safety car that long when they let them race in worse conditions later on in the race.

Great battles at the end though!

 

[The Boston Dangler]

towards the end, i was hoping hamilton would get hit by lightning.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
towards the end, i was hoping hamilton would get hit by lightning.

bah

 

[DivideBYZero]

Hamilton showed Alonso in this race. He had the race in the bag before he sat in a car. He was mentally strong. Alonso made tons of mistakes and eventually ended up in the wall, pushing too hard, see the red mist.

Alonso. I hate that prick. If he could drive like a current world champion I'd respect him. In fact, I was rooting for him like nothing else when he was driving with Renault, but he's lost my respect, big time, this season.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Alonso. I hate that prick. If he could drive like a current world champion I'd respect him. In fact, I was rooting for him like nothing else when he was driving with Renault, but he's lost my respect, big time, this season.

as a ferrari fan, i must say alonso is a fantastic driver. he posseses every skill you could ask for: top notch speed and car control, strategic thinking, technical know-how, leadership, and balls of brass. he's on the level of the greats: schumacher, prost, sennaand few others.

mclaren pulled the rug out from under him, i'd be furious too. once he was immune to penalty, it makes perfect sense to spill the beans on mclaren. despite his obvious talent, i'm sure hamilton's nationality contributed to his status as mclaren's #1. notice how hamilton struggled, if that's the right word, once alonso withdrew his driver coaching, car setup info, and on-track assistance.

the reigning back-to-back champion does not play second fiddle to a rookie.

 

[JulesMaximus]

That was an amazing race. Hamilton did not put a wheel wrong and took a very well deserved win.

:thumbsup:

 

[GoatMonkey]

I've thought that Alonso was an ass long before he started butting heads with Hamilton. Of course, I was a Schumacher fan, so it's easy to see the flaws in your favorite's rivals. No question that Alonso is a great driver, but he's still an ass.

Hamilton did have a few rough races there, but it was more due to things like blown tires than a lack of help from Alonso. How much coaching do you really think he needed when he walked into F1 and finished on the podium his first 9 races.

Look at his results so far this season.

AUS 3
MAL 2
BHR 2
ESP 2
MON 2
CAN 1
USA 1
FRA 3
GBR 3
EUR 9
HUN 1
TUR 5
ITA 2
BEL 4
JPN 1

You've gotta admit that he's got some real talent to do that his first season. The European GP was a little rough for Hamilton, but he never gave up after a wreck in qualifying, and a nasty trip to the gravel trap when it was raining (along with about 5 other cars). And he also had a flat tire in that race, but still finished 9th.

I really doubt that Alonso is doing anything at this point to help him. And now in Japan we saw him get the pole over Alonso straight up, no excuses, he was just faster. And Alonso was in no position to overtake Hamilton to win the race even if he hadn't put it in the wall.

Don't get me started on the Hungarian GP.

Alonso deserves to lose the world champion title.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

there's no doubting hamilton's talent- GP2 istanbul 2006, spins out to 18th, then goes mad and finishes 2nd, in spec cars! but, i still take alonso's side.

2008 is shaping up to be another great season- hamilton for mclaren, alonso for ???, raikonnen and massa, maybe strong 3rd and 4th teams.

did anyone else think ferrari bungled the race badly? starting on intermediate tires, excessive pit stops, just general sloppiness. my team in red really threw this race away.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: GoatMonkey
I've thought that Alonso was an ass long before he started butting heads with Hamilton. Of course, I was a Schumacher fan, so it's easy to see the flaws in your favorite's rivals. No question that Alonso is a great driver, but he's still an ass.

Hamilton did have a few rough races there, but it was more due to things like blown tires than a lack of help from Alonso. How much coaching do you really think he needed when he walked into F1 and finished on the podium his first 9 races.

Look at his results so far this season.

AUS 3
MAL 2
BHR 2
ESP 2
MON 2
CAN 1
USA 1
FRA 3
GBR 3
EUR 9
HUN 1
TUR 5
ITA 2
BEL 4
JPN 1

You've gotta admit that he's got some real talent to do that his first season. The European GP was a little rough for Hamilton, but he never gave up after a wreck in qualifying, and a nasty trip to the gravel trap when it was raining (along with about 5 other cars). And he also had a flat tire in that race, but still finished 9th.

I really doubt that Alonso is doing anything at this point to help him. And now in Japan we saw him get the pole over Alonso straight up, no excuses, he was just faster. And Alonso was in no position to overtake Hamilton to win the race even if he hadn't put it in the wall.

Don't get me started on the Hungarian GP.

Alonso deserves to lose the world champion title.

Nothing short of amazing if you ask me. The European GP is the only race this season where he failed to score any points. Which is why he's leading the World Driver's Championship.

BTW-I'm a Kimi Raikkonen fan, he amazes me with his car control and gutsy moves (Suzuka 2005 anyone? Possibly the greatest come from the back victory in F1 history?), but between Alonso and Hamilton I'd rather see Hamilton win. Of course, Hamilton is also personable in the post race interviews too. Kimi is a horrible interview although I think he's improved a bit. Mika Hakkinen was just horrible at first too.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
there's no doubting hamilton's talent- GP2 istanbul 2006, spins out to 18th, then goes mad and finishes 2nd, in spec cars! but, i still take alonso's side.

2008 is shaping up to be another great season- hamilton for mclaren, alonso for ???, raikonnen and massa, maybe strong 3rd and 4th teams.

did anyone else think ferrari bungled the race badly? starting on intermediate tires, excessive pit stops, just general sloppiness. my team in red really threw this race away.

:thumbsup: I can only guess that the reason they started on inters over extreme wets was that they were hoping the track would dry out...of course that never happened.

And what was with that last pit stop for Massa? Was that an underhanded way of implementing team orders? Since they don't need the team points anymore and Massa is out of the hunt for the Driver's Championship was that stop simply to allow Raikkonen past?

 

[The Boston Dangler]

exactly. it would be "ugly", and technically against the rules (not that it stops them) to let it go down on the track. starting on inters looked bad from my couch, hindsight only makes it worse.

ferrari drivers already had 3 stops apiece, to 1 or 2 for the field. poor race management. this never would have happened 2000-2006 with schumi and braun.

 

[andylawcc]

Originally posted by: boyRacer

Originally posted by: andylawcc
omg, BR is back? !

Somebody noticed I was gone? lol

Yes, I still owe you a BM video

come on now, the BM vcd thing cost less than a happy meal. you HATED lambos! ;p

 

[GoatMonkey]

ilikeraikkonensinterviewsthey'realwaysinsightfulandentertaininglymonotonestringsofunseparatedwords.

plus, you never know what he's going to say...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLaPKWxKXxc

 

[The Boston Dangler]

funny thing is, he's a wild animal away from the track.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
funny thing is, he's a wild animal away from the track.

I know. He's probably a fun guy to hang around with so long as you know him and speak Finnish.

 

[GoatMonkey]

Or if you have a gorilla suit.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Alonso. I hate that prick. If he could drive like a current world champion I'd respect him. In fact, I was rooting for him like nothing else when he was driving with Renault, but he's lost my respect, big time, this season.

as a ferrari fan, i must say alonso is a fantastic driver. he posseses every skill you could ask for: top notch speed and car control, strategic thinking, technical know-how, leadership, and balls of brass. he's on the level of the greats: schumacher, prost, sennaand few others.

mclaren pulled the rug out from under him, i'd be furious too. once he was immune to penalty, it makes perfect sense to spill the beans on mclaren. despite his obvious talent, i'm sure hamilton's nationality contributed to his status as mclaren's #1. notice how hamilton struggled, if that's the right word, once alonso withdrew his driver coaching, car setup info, and on-track assistance.

the reigning back-to-back champion does not play second fiddle to a rookie.

How so? He clearly has a car that is exactly the same as Hamiltons. The quali times say it all. the only person pulling rugs was Alonso himself. He forgot it takes 1000 people to make a McLaren run round a track, not one. He alienated his own engineers long before the spat with Hamilton.

As for him being up there with Senna, Prost and Shcumacher I have to say I'm not going to put him in that bracket just yet. It's activities such as this that can let a man down no matter how good he can be on race day. Hamilton has been by far the bigger man with regard to the off track comments. I watched the Spa GP in Spain and you should hear him talk to the Spanish press. He uses terms such as 'my enemy' for Hamilton. This is not how to build a team and a good #1 driver is all about building a team, not himself. Alonso needs to learn that, then he may be in line for greatness.

 

[GoatMonkey]

http://www.f1-live.com/f1/en/h...ail/071001161804.shtml

I'm just hoping that Alonso goes nowhere near Ferrari. Back to Renault would be great, especially if their cars suck next year.

I don't see why he's complaining about not being the clear number one on the team. If you want to be number one on a team you should consistently finish ahead of your teammate. I don't see how it's Hamilton's fault that Alonso can't beat him.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

i don't think he's going to ferrari. of the 3, massa is who i would bump, but then pick a no. 1 between kimi and alonso? not a good recipe, methinks. he's going back to flavio.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: GoatMonkey
http://www.f1-live.com/f1/en/h...ail/071001161804.shtml

I'm just hoping that Alonso goes nowhere near Ferrari. Back to Renault would be great, especially if their cars suck next year.

I don't see why he's complaining about not being the clear number one on the team. If you want to be number one on a team you should consistently finish ahead of your teammate. I don't see how it's Hamilton's fault that Alonso can't beat him.

Agreed. He never had to deal with this type of pressure at Renault. He was clearly leaps and bounds ahead of Fisichella but now he's gone to a team that has been grooming Hamilton for success since he was 9 years old.

I don't know if he'd be so happy back at Renault with the way Kovalainen has been driving. He might be in for a similar type of pressure there...and he sure hasn't handled the pressure very well at McLaren this year.