Archive for October, 2007

I’ve been an F1 fan for nearly 20 years, have barely missed a race etc, but have recently read on various internet forums that ppl think this years championship was fixed and Kimi Raikkonen doesn’t deserve the championship!

Come on ..give me a break!!!

Raikkonen scored far more points in the latter half of the season, if it wasn’t for his strange 3-4 race dip in form early on he would have won the championship several races earlier than he did! He thoroughly deserves it.

Hamiltons inexperience let him down in the last few races. He was stupid to drive for the win in China when he didn’t need to… he could have wrapped the champ up with a much lesser result, but ended up buggering his tyres and sliding off the track. He was also stupid to battle so fiercely with Alonso in Brazil once it was clear he was past. He only needed 4th place and already had it. Clearly a champion of the future ..but not yet experienced enough when it counts.

Alonso did a great job all season despite his relationship with the team hitting the rocks ..he was sensible enough in Brazil to hold station in 3rd place when it was clear the Ferraris were so quick … unlike lewis in China, he knew there was no point in fighting and risking his car, 3rd was the maximum he could achieve and the rest would have to come to him ..which sadly it didn’t.

The FIA fuel thing is also laughable (BMW and Williams were investigated for running fuel more than 10 degrees below the ambient temperature). How can they say the fuel in the car was below ambient temperature when they measured the fuel in the rig and not in the car? …the fuel would have immediately raised in temperature as soon as it entered the car.

My understanding of this rule is that the fuel must not be more than 10 degrees below ambient temperature IN the car, not the rig. But it is never measured in the car, and that this was one of the reasons why they decided not to penalise BMW and Williams. They couldn’t prove that the fuel in the car was below ambient temperature despite measuring it in the rig. It’s a grey area …a technicality/loophole that I am sure will be closed next year.

But it’s all academic as they were measuring it against the FIA ambient temperature readings which were apparently completely wrong! Bridgestone have reported that the readings they took were much lower, and suggested that the FIA’s sensors must have had a shadow over them or were faulty!

Anyway, it was a great season, with a great end result. It wasn’t a fix .. there was no conspiracy.

Roll on 2008!

Well it seems that Kimi Raikkonens World Championship is already being called into question as there were a few cars in the field that were ‘possibly’ running fuel that was 4 degrees below ambient temperature. This could theoretically have enabled these cars to higher horsepower for about 3 laps after their pitstops as cooler fuel has performance benefits.

The stewards in Brazil have already declared that no penalty will be applied as there is no way of proving what temperature the fuel used in the car was or if the fuel was even used. Mclaren however have decided to appeal the decision via the motorsport world council.

The cars in question, the BMW’s of Heidfeld & Kubica and the Williams of Nico Rosberg, finished in the points ahead of Lewis Hamilton. If their drivers points are removed then the championship would go to Hamilton. I’m not sure any driver would want to win the championship that way, and it’s hardly fair on poor Kimi who won the race fair and square and was crowned champion on the day.

So it seems the actual outcome of the 2007 World Championship could be decided in some courtroom in a few weeks time. Makes F1 look so professional doesn’t it?

If they are going to give out any penalty, I really hope they penalise the teams, not the drivers.

F1 – should be a new term in the dictionary under ‘farce’.