2008 Gran Premio Santander d'Italia

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hummm ... if it rains this will probably be a very interesting race.

Points of interest regarding championship contenders:


1 - Lewis Hamilton starting a race in the midfield, with Massa far ahead. He has something to prove tomorrow

2 - Does Massa really suck in the rain? Was this quali just luck? He has something to prove tomorrow

3 - Does Kimi have the balls needed to do well in a Monza wet race? He has something to prove tomorrow.
 
Hun200kmh
3 - Does Kimi have the balls needed to do well in a Monza wet race? He has something to prove tomorrow.
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Yes he does. The question here is. Will that evil black cloud of bad luck strike him again as it did in years passed?
 
Im very impressed with Vettel, He deserves that pole! lol Hamilton will have something to proove tomorrow against Massa and Raikkonen we'll see!
 
VashTheStampede
Next, I have a bit of an idea on Ferrari's and Lewis Hamilton's lack of pace. The SPEED commentators mentioned that the race tomorrow has a good chance of being dry. If that is the case, then I believe Ferrari and McLaren have set the cars up to be better in dry conditions and thought that the setup would be good enough to get their drivers in a good position for tomorrow's race.
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I think pretty much all the cars were set up for the dry. It was pretty impressive that nobody crashed.

Hun200kmh
Points of interest regarding championship contenders:

1 - Lewis Hamilton starting a race in the midfield, with Massa far ahead. He has something to prove tomorrow

2 - Does Massa really suck in the rain? Was this quali just luck? He has something to prove tomorrow

3 - Does Kimi have the balls needed to do well in a Monza wet race? He has something to prove tomorrow.
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It will be interesting to see how Massa does if it does rain tomorrow. As for Kimi, I think his championship chances are over. He seems to be hibernating. I think in every interview I heard him say that there's something wrong and the car is not completely to his liking.


Anyway, I just finished watching the qualifying. Like the SPEED commentators or at least one of them, I thought Alonso would do better. But if you look at Piquet, he did pretty good. :grumpy: Good job to the top three. I would like Kovalainen to do well tomorrow. And I'm hoping for an exciting race tomorrow, whether it's wet or dry.
 
Bram Turismo
Heikki gets my bet for the win tomorrow 👍
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It's a big race for him. If he wins it could kick-start his career. I am not alone in thinking that his performances this season haven't been good enough for a McLaren driver. It's set to be a cracker though.
 
Yep all the ingredients for a great race tomorrrow, be good to see Heikki get a result and Webber. 👍

Ron seems pretty confident its going to be dry... Link

"Many drivers drove today with a lot of downforce," Dennis suggested after the session. "That will not do them much good tomorrow."
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We'll see.
 
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Come on Ron, not for the first time this season, you and your little bit of special cocked up.
 
Bee
Come on Ron, not for the first time this season, you and your little bit of special cocked up.
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I'll second that. Lewis Hamilton isn't Senna incarnate as some would like to think; going out on the intermediates was a stupid idea. Hamilton has made quite a few mistakes both this season and last - crashing in pit lane in China, folding under pressure in Brazil, slamming into Raikkonen in Canada, re-passing Raikkonen too soon in Belgium, making a bad tyre choice here in Italy, and probably plenty of things I've forgotten to mention - and I have to ask, if it were any other driver, would he still be in F1? Some of these incidents, like the one in Canada, are akin to Albers driving out of pit lane in France with the fuelling rig attached.

I think that this race more than any other will define Hamilton as a driver. Unlike the other top drivers, he's never had a poor qualifying session. On the occasion where he hasn't been able to be in a position where he can control the race from the start - namely the Baby 'Ring and Interlagos last year - he's been mediocre at best.
 
Do you race?
I'll second that. Lewis Hamilton isn't Senna incarnate as some would like to think; going out on the intermediates was a stupid idea. Hamilton has made quite a few mistakes both this season and last - crashing in pit lane in China, folding under pressure in Brazil, slamming into Raikkonen in Canada, re-passing Raikkonen too soon in Belgium, making a bad tyre choice here in Italy, and probably plenty of things I've forgotten to mention - and I have to ask, if it were any other driver, would he still be in F1? Some of these incidents, like the one in Canada, are akin to Albers driving out of pit lane in France with the fuelling rig attached.
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Well, he's still on top of the standings, so can't argue with the results.

Also remember how he bailed out his team after they left him out too long in Hockenheim.
 
Do you race?
I'll second that. Lewis Hamilton isn't Senna incarnate as some would like to think; going out on the intermediates was a stupid idea. Hamilton has made quite a few mistakes both this season and last - crashing in pit lane in China, folding under pressure in Brazil, slamming into Raikkonen in Canada, re-passing Raikkonen too soon in Belgium, making a bad tyre choice here in Italy, and probably plenty of things I've forgotten to mention - and I have to ask, if it were any other driver, would he still be in F1? Some of these incidents, like the one in Canada, are akin to Albers driving out of pit lane in France with the fuelling rig attached.

I think that this race more than any other will define Hamilton as a driver. Unlike the other top drivers, he's never had a poor qualifying session. On the occasion where he hasn't been able to be in a position where he can control the race from the start - namely the Baby 'Ring and Interlagos last year - he's been mediocre at best.
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These are the same questions that people were asking of Felipe Massa when he used to spin all the time, and were revived recently after Silverstone. And the fact is, that despite both of their flaws, they're hugely quick. They both have their off days(Silverstone for Felipe, Brazil for Lewis), but when they're on the pace they're amazing. You can't honestly expect every driver to be perfect every single day. Lewis deserves to be in Formula One, but until he irons out his tendancy to get mired in the midfield and crack under pressure, I'll reserve judgement on whether he deserves to be a world champion.

Though I'll admit, I don't think I've ever seen Felipe crash into the back of a driver stopped at a red light in the pitlane.:sly:

SUPER NUMBBER
You mean as in last year, when he won the championship? :lol:
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That's just about the only lucky thing that's ever happened to Kimi. Apart from getting signed directly from Formula Renault anyway.
 
Tobias123
These are the same questions that people were asking of Felipe Massa when he used to spin all the time, and were revived recently after Silverstone. And the fact is, that despite both of their flaws, they're hugely quick. They both have their off days(Silverstone for Felipe, Brazil for Lewis), but when they're on the pace they're amazing. You can't honestly expect every driver to be perfect every single day. Lewis deserves to be in Formula One, but until he irons out his tendancy to get mired in the midfield and crack under pressure, I'll reserve judgement on whether he deserves to be a world champion.

Though I'll admit, I don't think I've ever seen Felipe crash into the back of a driver stopped at a red light in the pitlane.:sly:
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Massa has carved his way through the field before; he did it in Melbourne that one time. Hamilton has languished in the tail end of the points every time he's started down the order. He basically finishes where he starts, plus or minus a place or three.
 
Do you race?
Massa has carved his way through the field before; he did it in Melbourne that one time. Hamilton has languished in the tail end of the points every time he's started down the order. He basically finishes where he starts, plus or minus a place or three.
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To be fair, Hamilton also carved his way from 19th to 7th in Brazil last year. But he wouldn't have been there at all if he had kept his cool. And I personally believe that Felipe is a very good overtaker(look at Montreal from this year for proof of that.)

But either way, nothing that either of them ever do will match Kimi's excellence in Japan 2005.
 
Tobias123
To be fair, Hamilton also carved his way from 19th to 7th in Brazil last year. But he wouldn't have been there at all if he had kept his cool. And I personally believe that Felipe is a very good overtaker(look at Montreal from this year for proof of that.)

But either way, nothing that either of them ever do will match Kimi's excellence in Japan 2005.
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Which is kind of my point. Lewis Hamilton is not the best thing since sliced bread when he's not a position to control the race from the start. If the rain holds out, I seriously doubt he's going to be able to do it, and even if it's dry, it's not like the of the fourteen or fifteen drivers in front of him are going to move over as soon as they seem him in their wing mirrors.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Lewis Hamilton is one of the msot over-rated drivers in the sport.
 
All i would like to add is that this year has been one of the best Formula1 seasons in a very long time. The drama and the "what if" effect has been a constant at every GP. Tomorrow's race will be no exception, will Ferrari save face? how will Lewis react to starting from mid-pack? Can Vettel capitalize on his P1 start? and most importantly, will it rain? i for one cannot wait to find out!
 
There personal view on yesterday's qualifying session

Hamilton
"It was a joint decision to go out on wet-weather tyres at the start of Q2 - partly mine and partly my engineers',” Hamilton explained. “We thought it was the right way to go at the time because it was getting dryer but the grip level was poor so I came in and switched to extremes.

"By the time I got out, it had begun to rain and I just missed the window when the track was at its fastest; it was also very hard to pick out the braking points. It's the first time this has happened to me in Formula One, so I can't really complain - tomorrow's another day and we still have a fighting chance to make our way up the grid. I'll be doing the best job I can."
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Kimi
"I was unable to do a time in Q2 when the conditions would still have made it possible and then it was impossible to catch up,” he explained. “On that lap, I went off at Ascari where there was a lot of water on the track, which meant I didn't make it through to the next session.

“Now we must try and make the best of this situation which is definitely not ideal. Starting from the seventh row of the grid could be a bit tricky at the start, because the entry to the first chicane is very tight and it is easy to touch other cars. In the dry, the car is working very well but obviously, if it were to rain, it could give some chances to those who are starting further back like me."
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Kubica
“We were a bit unlucky today as the gap to position 10 and the third qualifying session was very narrow,” said the BMW Sauber driver. “We put a new set of tyres on the car for the second qualifying session, as we planned not to make a pit stop in the session. You need two or three laps to make the tyres work. The track dried up after the first laps, but then it started to rain heavily so unfortunately I was not able to improve the lap times.”
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I can only be jealous at all of the STR fans for the pole and a fourth spot for Bourdais, since it's not my team that performed that well. Oh well, 7th and 9th is more than a good position to score points today, who knows what outcome this race might have if the conditions are wet...

If it's going to be dry, I think Heikki is going to take this one, if not Massa comes up out of nowhere, he isn't too far behind either... However, if conditions return to wet, I'm not placing my bet on anyone, the STRs really seem fast as lightning in wet conditions...

Go Trulli, go!
 
we are coming towards the end of two consecutive seasons of really good Formula One where no one actually knows who is going to win each race.

The only fly in the ointment is the FIA pushing it's weight around to artificially change the results, and changing its own rules on the fly to excuse itself for its own mistakes.

There needs to be a new organising body that does its job properly. Max and his cronies must go.
 
orimarc
I don't know why, but when I read that part, the only thing that comes to my mind is "it could kick-start his ass"
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Heeeeeee~

If he does win, Vettel is gonna earn my respect for the rest of existence. Just like Hungaroring '03, he might be leading a horrible team up to the real fight in two or three years...
 

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