2008 Gran Premio Santander d'Italia

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With the controversial finish at Spa, things are shaping out in the championship standings. With Lewis being demoted from 1st to 3rd and
Massa and Heidfeld promoted to 1st and 2nd respectively, the driver's championship race couldn't get any tighter.....

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Lewis Hamilton - 76 points
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Felipe Massa - 74 points
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Robert Kubica - 58 points
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Kimi Räikkönen - 57 points
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Nick Heidfeld - 49 points
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Heikki Kovalainen - 43 points

With just 5 races to go, anything can happen now..... :D​
 
Monza... perhaps my favorite Italian circuit of all. It's a track based in (or around) the shopping capital of Italy- Milan/Milano. The course is fast. You can't help but smile when blasting out of Turn 5. The course is technical. While you can enjoy high-speed racing, the corners will certainly test you. Think of them as critical speed bumps. Image Space Incorporated (the makers of Sports car GT and rFactor among others) has this track available for rFactor including the old oval as well as a track combining the current F1 course and the oval. The name of the game is speed here. However, you still need a well-balanced handling package. I've always considered the chicane at Turn 1 as well as Turn 7 as the most crucial corners. Turn 3 is also a decisive corner.

I love Monza. This will be a test of high-speed as well as making sure you don't blow an engine. I'm inclined to pick either Scuderia Ferrari driver, but I'm not real sure they can hold ground here well enough to prevent Lewis Hamilton from trying to pad on to his lead. Maybe the controversey from Spa-Francorchamps could invigorate Lewis Hamilton to want to continually cream the competition to where he has body language that will make him say, "penalize THIS, FIA!"

I mentioned that September was going to be a fun month for me with F1 since they race on three tracks I'm pretty excited to see racing at. We had Spa-Francorchamps. Now, we got Monza on the calendar. Then, F1's first-ever night race in a place famous for those Merlions ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlion )- the Grand Prix of Singapore. But first, I'm excited for Monza. Whether or not I'll get to see this race depends on what Hurricane Ike does around my way. I may start watching knockout qualifying more often because the Speed crew make it very interesting. Like when Sebastien Bourdais was fasted in the first round to the surprise of everyone.

Again, I'm picking one of the Scuderia Ferrari boys, but I'm not counting out Lewis Hamilton. So that's three picks from me. Let's hope we don't see controversy here.
 
Another high speed track for the Ferrari-engined cars to completely wipe the floor again with the Renaults....
I expect the Toro Rossos to qualify ahead of the Red Bulls again here, although Alonso seems to be a wild card for the Renault engines.
Behind the Ferraris, McLarens and BMWs, the race is going to be between Toyota, Toro Rosso and possibly 1 Renault (Alonso) and 1 Red Bull (Webber).

Easy to predict another bad race for Honda, although Williams have another chance to perhaps nab some points.
 
Ferrari's back yard, I think it'll be a 1-2 for them. However you just never know, with the championship being so close and Lewis stripped of his win he might be in the mood to kick some... Now that could make for an interesting race however he could also overcook it and park it in a wall.

Anybody know what the weather might be, rain perhapes?

"Doing a rain dance until Sunday lunch"
 
According Accuweather.com, water can be expected on the track this sunday.

Not sure that will suit the Ferraris so well.:sly:
 
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And this is where the excellent McLaren package will come into play - their superior aerodynamic efficiency will be useful.

Can't bother to comment though.
 
Soundtrack
According Accuweather.com, water can be expected on the track this sunday.

Not sure that will suit the Ferraris so well.:sly:
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Let the rain come 👍
The first turn is a chicane, so it will be interesting to see who cuts it on the first lap and which penalties are given if they do. :)
 
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Racer_LP
Let the rain come 👍
The first turn is a chicane, so it will be interesting to see who cuts it on the first lap and which penalties are given if they do. :)
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Oh god! You had to mention it! Whenever someone mentions chicane cutting and penalties now, I'll always remember what a headache it is, :lol:
Yeah, someone WILL cut it at some point.

I place my bets on Coulthard to do it at least once..
 
I think Ferrari's engines could ruin their race. Force India's constant need to add more and more aerodynamic components to their car could help them. McLaren should do fine, they got a 1-2 last year, and if anything their car much further ahead of Ferrari's speed-wise this year, but I don't think Kovalainen has it in him to achieve 2nd place.
 
PeterJB
I think Ferrari's engines could ruin their race. Force India's constant need to add more and more aerodynamic components to their car could help them. McLaren should do fine, they got a 1-2 last year, and if anything their car much further ahead of Ferrari's speed-wise this year, but I don't think Kovalainen has it in him to achieve 2nd place.
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I don't think it's beyond him, but, yeah, 2nd place is likely going to end up with a Ferrari, BMW or Toyota before Kovalainen sadly.
What are the chances of a Toro Rosso making a podium position by the end of the year? They've been getting pretty close so far 👍
 
I think Toro Rosso need a mighty dose of luck - they're up there, pace-wise, but still not superior to any of the "Battlegroup 4th Place" teams, or even the slipping (pace-wise) BMW. Speaking of which, while they're no longer that close to the top pace-wise, Kubica managed to pass Kimi in the standings thanks to the Hamilton penalty.

Ardius
I place my bets on Coulthard to do it at least once..
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I thought it did that last year.. Or was it Webber? One of the RBRs crashed in the first lap on the chicane last year, I'm pretty sure.
 
Metar
I thought it did that last year.. Or was it Webber? One of the RBRs crashed in the first lap on the chicane last year, I'm pretty sure.
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It was Coulthard. Im making my bet based on his current form this year. Going by this year's form, I think Button is a fair bet too, lol.

I wouldn't say Toro Rosso are that far off the pace, remember, they almost had a podium last race if it wasn't for Heidfeld's last saving pit stop for wet tyres.
It just requires several front runners to have bad form and some to be taken out. If Trulli, Webber and maybe Rosberg had been better last race, the Toro Rosso's probably wouldn't have been in that position.

Still, theres the small chance for it to happen.
 
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Ardius
Oh god! You had to mention it! Whenever someone mentions chicane cutting and penalties now, I'll always remember what a headache it is, :lol:
Yeah, someone WILL cut it at some point.

I place my bets on Coulthard to do it at least once..
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Yeah, couldn't resist :D:sly:
 
Ardius
I wouldn't say Toro Rosso are that far off the pace, remember, they almost had a podium last race if it wasn't for Heidfeld's last saving pit stop for wet tyres.
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Indeed. Sebastien Bourdais managed to get P1 during Qualification 2 session.

I wish him the best for Monza, pity he got that close (half a lap) of what should have been a tremendous week-end for him. No doubt, a podium could have settled his unknown future with the team.
 
Ardius
I wouldn't say Toro Rosso are that far off the pace, remember, they almost had a podium last race if it wasn't for Heidfeld's last saving pit stop for wet tyres.
It just requires several front runners to have bad form and some to be taken out. If Trulli, Webber and maybe Rosberg had been better last race, the Toro Rosso's probably wouldn't have been in that position.
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And if Alonso didn't exist. Except when he himself stopped for wets, he was ahead of Bourdais throughout the race... Trulli and Webber had potential, but Rosberg? The Williams is bottom-midfield material - Nakajima still doesn't get past Q1, and Rosberg struggles too...
 
Metar
And if Alonso didn't exist. Except when he himself stopped for wets, he was ahead of Bourdais throughout the race... Trulli and Webber had potential, but Rosberg? The Williams is bottom-midfield material - Nakajima still doesn't get past Q1, and Rosberg struggles too...
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Rosberg is the guy that seems to stick his nose in the last points paying position, or am I thinking of Nakajima? Whatever, one of the Williams always seems to get their nose in at the end of the race.
If everyone except for Toro Rosso, Honda, Williams, Force India, Piquet and Coulthard got taken out of the race, Williams would be the ones who would challenge Toro Rosso for the podium, though admittedly only because everyone else is absolute rubbish.
 
Coulthard, Piquet and Sutil will take themselves out of the race without any help. And they wouldn't challenge either, because the podium hosts three spots - and the STR crew are only two cars. :p
 
Metar
Coulthard, Piquet and Sutil will take themselves out of the race without any help. And they wouldn't challenge either, because the podium hosts three spots - and the STR crew are only two cars. :p
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Berger would jump in a spare car and grab the 3rd for a laugh :p
 
Ardius
What are the chances of a Toro Rosso making a podium position by the end of the year? They've been getting pretty close so far 👍
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I'm betting on Vettel for either Fuji or Shanghai, he got pretty damn close last year.
 
Free practice 1 is on and it's raining. Only 5 drivers have set a time so far:

The two Rossos both ran wide on their hotlaps.
 
They must've run very wide, stopped by for a cup of coffee, a friendly chat with the marshals, and then completed it. :p
 
Indeed, hardly anyone has even bothered this session.Sutil is still fastest because he went out first and set a lap.
 
Extreme heavy rain, thunder and lightning brought down the ITV live stream....

The reason the times are so odd is because Sutil and co went out on laps early, when the track wasn't as wet. Everyone else went out later, as it got much wetter.
Anyway, session possibly stopped now because the rain is so heavy.
 

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