2008 Chinese Grand Prix

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sureboss
  • 232 comments
  • 9,470 views
yea that was probably the highlight of that race. raikkonen laughing who would have guessed that would be the most entertaining part of the whole race :P
 
SUPER NUMBBER
LAWL!...So true. Hamilton should have wrapped up the Driver's title by now...if it weren't for "them"...
Click to expand...

So could have Massa if he didn't have bad luck at races such as Hungary and Singapore. I understand what you're saying though, Hamilton got "penalized", he didn't have his car fail on him (or pit crew/team fail on him). As far as I'm concerned, it's just bad luck on Hamilton's part. He should consider himself lucky he has what he has. Kimi had car trouble with the McLaren too many times to count.
 
MustangSVT
So could have Massa if he didn't have bad luck at races such as Hungary and Singapore. I understand what you're saying though, Hamilton got "penalized", he didn't have his car fail on him (or pit crew/team fail on him). As far as I'm concerned, it's just bad luck on Hamilton's part. He should consider himself lucky he has what he has. Kimi had car trouble with the McLaren too many times to count.
Click to expand...
And sooner or later, the Curse of the Thirty Million Dollars' Worth of Ballast will strike again. Every year there's a team that seems to forget how to build a racing car; this year it was Honda, last year it was Honda and Renault, the year before, it was Ferrari. Sooner or later, the McLaren designers are going to experience brain fade, and Hamilton is going to have a very frustrating season, which I usually think of as a test of a driver's ability. It's easy to win in a car that can do everything, but to do something with a car that is underperforming from the beginning is truly something special. I can't remember the last time McLaren forgot to build a car, so it must have been a while ago now, which means that their number is going to come up very soon. Once you start dominating, the only way to go is downwards.
 
SUPER NUMBBER
Yeah, he's sooo lucky to always get the raw end of the rules (or non rules, in some cases)...
Click to expand...

Yes, but when he isn't being penalised he gets good results - the car doesn't break on him, the team don't mess him about, etc.

Do you race?
Every year there's a team that seems to forget how to build a racing car; this year it was Honda, last year it was Honda and Renault, the year before, it was Ferrari.
Click to expand...

2005 it was Ferrari. The 2006 Ferrari nearly won.

Do you race?
I can't remember the last time McLaren forgot to build a car, so it must have been a while ago now, which means that their number is going to come up very soon. Once you start dominating, the only way to go is downwards.
Click to expand...

2006 (no wins all season), then 2004 (only 4 podiums), 2002 (no wins, podiums when the car wasn't retiring). The fact they've managed to string 2 competitive seasons together is remarkable in itself.

Do you race?
It's easy to win in a car that can do everything, but to do something with a car that is underperforming from the beginning is truly something special.
Click to expand...

This got me wondering: when was the last time the driver's champion wasn't driving for one of the top 2 teams in the constructors champsionship? Turns out the only two occasions in F1 history are 1982 (Keke Rosberg in the 4th-placed Williams) and 1983 (Nelson Piquet in the 3rd-placed Brabham).
 
TheMoose
If anything was said to Kimi it was probably in a meeting before the race but nothing should need to be said, While Kimi surely does not want Massa to win the championship he knows what needs to be done.

That is no more underhanded or against the rules than Heikki parking the McLaren from 17th place so he can get a fresh engine at the next race with no penalty!
Click to expand...

Aside from the smoking brakes point... I still can't see why McLaren would not want Hekki to score championship points they so badly need to challenge for the constructor's title.

Famine
Well, they don't need to rely on existing rules to punish McLaren. They can invent one after they decided to punish them for... something.
Click to expand...

:lol:

----

McLaren... forgetting how to build a race-car? i think the biggest story this season is that the reliability bug-bears that always seem to plague McLaren have been exorcised... or maybe that pesky poltergeist latched itself onto Kimi's bum as he went out the door and set up shop at Ferrari.

McLaren's modern reliability issues have been so bad that before these past two seasons, it would have been unthinkable for them to win a title. In fact, the start of this stint of bad luck began way back in 2000, after Mikka Hakinnen's last championship. I remember watching that first race vividly, and the disappointment when the new car just couldn't seem to stay in one piece... a theme which lasted till Mikka's retirement, through the Coulthard-Montoya-Raikonnen era... and era in which Schumacher would claim his straight set of championships and Alonso would add his own two.

I was actually pretty happy for Kimi in that first season with Ferrari... thinking that finally he would have a car that would stay in one piece long enough for him to win a championship... well... it did... but only just.
 
Last edited:
the Interceptor
The question (concerning the Chinese race) I'm currently asking myself is: if McLaren had done the swap in positions for the championship, would the FIA impose a penalty?
Click to expand...

Well they did it at the German GP and there was no penalty, so…

Roo
2002 (no wins, podiums when the car wasn't retiring).
Click to expand...

DC won in Monaco.
 
Roo
2005 it was Ferrari. The 2006 Ferrari nearly won.
Click to expand...
Ah, thank you. I lost track of the year.
Roo
2006 (no wins all season), then 2004 (only 4 podiums), 2002 (no wins, podiums when the car wasn't retiring). The fact they've managed to string 2 competitive seasons together is remarkable in itself.
Click to expand...
I'd say that's down to Adrian Newey's departure. He's a good designer - hell, he invented the shark fin - but it often takes him a little while to get his head aroud new rules.
Roo
This got me wondering: when was the last time the driver's champion wasn't driving for one of the top 2 teams in the constructors champsionship? Turns out the only two occasions in F1 history are 1982 (Keke Rosberg in the 4th-placed Williams) and 1983 (Nelson Piquet in the 3rd-placed Brabham).
Click to expand...
It's an unfortunate trend, isn't it?
 
It was an average race, not worthed staying up until 6:30 AM. :p

I think Massa will be able to win the race at Interlagos but Hamilton scoring less than 4 points there is unlikely.
 
FatAssBR
It was an average race, not worthed staying up until 6:30 AM. :p

I think Massa will be able to win the race at Interlagos but Hamilton scoring less than 4 points there is unlikely.
Click to expand...


Agreed, it was a boring race, I woke up sunday at 7:00 AM to watch it and, apart from the brief battle between Alonso and Kovalainen, it soon became clear that Hamilton and his car were clearly much faster than both Ferraris. So ... I fell asleep again. :D

About Massa winning at Interlagos, I also guess that's probable (last year he conceded the win to Kimi for the sake of the championship, wasn't it?), but Hamilton will probably finish at least 3rd, so the championship is probably decided already.
 
Do you race?
And sooner or later, the Curse of the Thirty Million Dollars' Worth of Ballast will strike again. Every year there's a team that seems to forget how to build a racing car; this year it was Honda, last year it was Honda and Renault, the year before, it was Ferrari. Sooner or later, the McLaren designers are going to experience brain fade, and Hamilton is going to have a very frustrating season, which I usually think of as a test of a driver's ability. It's easy to win in a car that can do everything, but to do something with a car that is underperforming from the beginning is truly something special. I can't remember the last time McLaren forgot to build a car, so it must have been a while ago now, which means that their number is going to come up very soon. Once you start dominating, the only way to go is downwards.
Click to expand...

Well in 2006 the McLaren wasn't exactly upfront, in 2004 it had huge reliability issues (without being very fast), and I think it had reliability issues in 2002 as well( without being very fast). In 2003 and 2005, it was the fastest car in F1, but it would blow up like 25% of the time. The Ferrari was a dog in 2005, not 2006. If you recall, in 2005 for some reason Ferrari kept using their 2004 car in the early part of the season, and they had also banned tyre changes at the pit stops, so that was bad for Ferrari (or something like that).
 
As I recall, it was a simple task for Hamilton to win the title last season.

This simply isn't over until it's over. (That's post Stewards as well of course)

As for Massa, I see him dominating the next race as long as Ferrari have the kind of advantage that they had last season at this track.
 
So, its been a few days since the end of the race. Is it now safe to say that there won't be any changes due to the stewards, or do they want to see how the next race goes before deciding who actually won?
 
Sureshot
And that's related to the Chinese GP how?
Click to expand...

Its formula one related like the chinese GP. Plus, I don't know a better place to put this news
 

Latest Posts

Back