European GP 2007

[FLC]

No, I think he's just whining. Maybe manipulating, but in a very childish way. He also tends to whine when he finishes on lower steps of the podium, if at all. Ask LH and the Mclaren pitwall, they will tell you .

Although I must say that he's prob. the best rain driver out there, and he sure deserves this win.
I wish he was clever enough to mark this win differently than blaming Massa for deliberately trying to take him out. Made a fool of himself with that right-away sorry in the press conference, just goes to show you that he actually was under immense pressure, even though he kept denying it.
So at the end of the day - what's stronger? The fact that we now know that his rookie team mate got him way out of balance or the little trash talk with Massa that's supposed to make him feel bad with his 2nd place?

[jddh1]

First of all, if it hadn't rained, Ferrari had a 1-2 going for them. Lewis made a fantastic start up to fourth -- what a driver this fella -- only to puncture his tire. But it did rain and the fun began. A Spyker leading the race was perhaps the best feel good story of this race, in my book, and it would've been great if they had gotten a point. Oh well, better luck next time.
Then you get Lewis unlap himself. I don't know what the rules are about that, but he was at the end of the pack so I have no clue why they let him pass. Fisico must be fuming since Lewis passed him for 9th at the end. The FIA has some explaining to do about this.
Next, Kimi -- what the hell happened? His bad luck continues in Germany.
Then, as far as Alonso goes, he made a good pass on Massa, but honestly, Ferrari was a bit unlucky on this race today, because they had the win almost in the bag, but the clouds had other ideas. The fact that they were fighting in the weigh-in room shows that they both wanted to win bad, but at the end of the day it was just a hardcore pass and it's all part of the racing.

And finally, the podium. Schumi must have had some quick-changing lessons from those beautiful German supermodels because he was out of the Ferrari shirt pretty fast. Him handing out the trophy to Dennis is being overhyped a little because these guys are professionals and I don't see anything wrong with that. Yeah sure, Dennis might cherish that moment but I don't really think so; he's got other things to worry about and/or celebrate for.


That was my 2 cents

[pRo]

First of all, if it hadn't rained, Ferrari had a 1-2 going for them.

honestly, Ferrari was a bit unlucky on this race today, because they had the win almost in the bag

Honestly, Ferrari was a bit lucky on the qualifying, because Alonso made a mistake and Hamilton had the issue.

If none got lucky or onlucky during the weekend and it didn't rain, we might've seen a very different race, with McLarens starting from the first row. Ifs and maybies are fun, but kinda pointless. I'm glad we had all these ifs happen, cause it made the race very interesting. Even when my favs gamble didn't pay off.

[DaveKillens]

Nothing like a little chaos to spice things up a bit. Those rain races sure make for memorable events worth discussion.
Well, experience sure does carry a lot when things go crazy. Hamilton found himself immediately in trouble, while his three competitors managed to maintain their plans. And as the race progressed, Hamilton's situation worsened while the top three all had their opportunities to grab a win. And in the end, it was an on-track pass that gave Alonso his win. Poor pit strategy could have cost position, but it was driving that determine the outcome.
Many months ago when Bridgestone was named the sole tire supplier, it was a hot topic of debate what the outcome would be. Well, those intermediate tires just plain suck, and big time. They were made hard enough to survive if the track dried, but they have terrible rain adhesion, especially when cold.
In the end, Kimi got a kick in the groin as far as his title chances. Massa got passed on the track and ruined Todt's glorious opportunity to receive the manufacturer's trophy from Michael Schumacher. Trust me, that is a trophy Dennis will have mounted in a place of honor in his office. Hamilton's obvious lack of experience in F1 really showed today, and it cost him. And Alonso, well, he just did what he was supposed to do, and not only stuck to a good strategy, but actually passed for the lead in the end.
But the story isn't just about the big four guys, there's also great showings by Winkelhock, Webber, DC, Wurtz, Kovalanien, and even Ant.

[hatchet man]

I have a question regarding Hamilton's off during the race.

Why was he allowed to continue? His car was beached and the marshals helped him back onto the track. Shouldn't that have lead to an automatic disqualification? Or is it that the marshals have to "push" the car back onto the track instead of lifting it with a tractor?

[pRo]

Why was he allowed to continue? His car was beached and the marshals helped him back onto the track. Shouldn't that have lead to an automatic disqualification? Or is it that the marshals have to "push" the car back onto the track instead of lifting it with a tractor?

Pushing or using a tractor or alikes makes no difference.

I believe the rules say something along the lines, that if a car is in dangerous place and could continue the race, it can be helped to get back on track.


Obviously it was on a dangerous place, with the amount of cars ending up there. I don't think Hamilton was the only one who got help and continued the race, he just got the most attention.

[naknak_56]

Sorry but I cant see how his position was dangerous , he was in the gravel trap! What i believe to be more dangerous was his sitting in the car as he was putting himself in unnecessary danger and the marshals who were attending to the incident.

[mx_tifoso]

Was Raikkonen's hydraulic failure caused by the rain? or a simple reliability fualt?

Very sad to see these results from Raikkonen, his weekend was going really well. It seems to be that poor reliability is following him wherever he goes. Better luck next round.
Ferrari really have to work on their complete reliability and not just on winning the development race.

And Felipe proved not to be useless in the wet. Congrats to him for his second place (although he could have won ).

At least the gap to Hamilton was closed down a bit by the Fernando and Felipe. I'd rather see Alonso take the title this year over Hamilton (if the Ferrari's don't step up).

Bring on Hungary!

[Giblet]

There was an incar view through a Ferarri front wing. I had trouble seeing the wing flexing down gradually, but it definately rebounded up as it slowed under braking.

[wazojugs]

excellent race had me right on my seat during the whole race.

the best bit was this advert in the tv breaks not sure if this has already been posted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-AQGohc3zI

[wazojugs]

excellent race had me right on my seat during the whole race.

the best bit was this advert in the tv breaks not sure if this has already been posted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-AQGohc3zI

sorry tomba you already did it.

[JamesS]

I've only been following F1 for this season, partially due to the Lewis factor but also because I was able to bag hospitality tickets for Silverstone from a client, so it's kept up my interest seeing it all for real.

By far today's race was the most riveting but also insightful of the season, with all the rain, pit stops and enforcement of rules that played a major factor to its outcome. The mass spin off on one of the corners when all the rain started was almost comical to watch, with one car after another spinning off.

Hamilton could have been well into the points and possibly on the podium if he did not make the mistake of putting dry tyres on too soon.

We've not seen a great deal of what Hamilton can do when in trouble, because he's always done the job in qualifying. But I think this weekend he'll have gained an immense amount of experience and showed everyone he has real hunger and passion to see it through to the end.

More of the same please, but with Hamilton winning

[West]

excellent race had me right on my seat during the whole race.

the best bit was this advert in the tv breaks not sure if this has already been posted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-AQGohc3zI

sorry tomba you already did it.

I wish we got commercials like that in the states

[jddh1]

Honestly, Ferrari was a bit lucky on the qualifying, because Alonso made a mistake and Hamilton had the issue.

You are right, ifs and maybies are pointless. But also, when somebody makes an error like Fernando did yesterday is also an indication that one is pushing the car way over the limit. That way you don't win poles or races. So Ferrari was not lucky on Qualifying, but rather Fernando decided that he would go a little bit faster than the car actually could go, and we all saw the result.

Still though, I'd take this race any day over a Ferrari/McLaren 1-2 -- and I'm a Ferrari fan.

Also, Heike's team ruined his race with that gamble. What the heck was that?

[JamesS]

excellent race had me right on my seat during the whole race.

the best bit was this advert in the tv breaks not sure if this has already been posted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-AQGohc3zI

sorry tomba you already did it.

I wish we got commercials like that in the states

I bet you don't have topless page three girls every day in your national papers either over the pond :p