Should the 2007 safety car rules be changed?

TTS's ‘Exposing the Hamilton Myths’ post yesterday raised an interesting question over the 2007 safety car rules: do they encourage teams to bring their cars in earlier than expected?

At Monaco, Canada and Indianapolis, Mclaren have felt the need to factor in the safety car in their strategies, bringing their cars in early to avoid a safety car situation. Arguably, this has prevented a straight fight between Alonso and Hamilton making the true performance difference between the two drivers very difficult to assess.

To recap, on the deployment of the safety car the pitlane is declared closed while the cars line-up behind it. Backmarkers will be allowed to unlap themselves by overtaking the safety car (when signalled to do so by its green light) and slowly make their way around the track. Under the safety car no cars are allowed to enter the pits for refuelling until all the cars are lined up behind the safety car in race order (at which point the pitlane is declared open). Doing so will result in a ten second penalty – as Alonso and Rosberg discovered to their detriment at Canada.

The new system has its advantages. It generally makes things fairer. Under the old rules, on deployment of the safety car, whether drivers could make a pit-stop and get out unaffected pretty much depended on chance, i.e. where drivers were on the track and whether or not they been got picked by the car. Indeed some drivers could make huge gains by simply being in the right place at the right time.

Another product of the old system was the inevitable mixing up of front-runners with backmarkers which complicated restarts. Personally I think this is one of the good things about the new rules. It’s great that we now have a proper drag race once the safety car peels off.

However the main weakness to the new rules is the ten second penalty for entering the pitlane even if the driver is forced to stop because he is at risk of running out of fuel.

This combined with the fact that drivers can no longer make a pit stop on the same lap that the safety car is deployed acts as a major incentive to anticipate the safety car and pit a couple of laps early as Mclaren have done.

Of course, Mclaren are in the position where they can afford to bring their cars in early. They haven’t been in a position where they are racing another team and need to utilise the advantage that comes with a light fuel load. But it does seem to contradict the idea that they are genuinely letting their drivers race.

In short, the new safety car rules could promote a culture where pre-empting the deployment of the safety car becomes a norm for Mclaren (or any other team), robbing fans of an honest fight between their drivers. So should the rules be changed in anyway?

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Exposing the myths

I thought I would post this interesting and welcomed criticism from my friend – an avid Coulthard supporter – in a bid to counter the Hamilton bias that pervades this blog. In this post he explores the issue of driver favouritism at Mclaren, assess the true impact of the ‘Hamilton effect’ and looks at the use of team tactics at the US GP.

Alonso vs. Hamilton

You made reference to the fact that Alonso feels that the McLaren team is giving Hamilton preferential treatment (HERE and HERE). You went onto to claim that Alonso’s got a chip on his shoulder (HERE). I argue that Alonso’s claims are justified. [Cont...]

Hamilton has had an association with McLaren for over seven years. He has grown up and is known within the team. It’s only natural for the benefactor and mentor (Dennis) to want to see his investment succeed. Alonso will never be able to replicate that relationship. It’s very similar to the relationship between Ron Dennis and Mika Hakkinen. Mika Hakkinen’s near death experience in the red and white McLaren created a bond that could never be replicated by David Coulthard, even though neither drivers (at the beginning of a season at least) were shown ‘preferential treatment’.

We shouldn’t loose sight of the fact that very few rookies start their career in the ‘best’ car. Alonso started his career in a Minardi. Kimi Raikkonen started his career in a Sauber. Even the great Michael Schumacher started his career in a Jordan. Although he is an amazing driver, he wouldn’t he breaking records if he wasn’t driving the best car. If you want to measure a driver’s success, you should compare him against his teammate. F1 racing recently published an article comparing Hamilton and Alonso’s qualifying times, after factoring in their fuel load. Alonso out qualified Hamilton in the first five races. You won’t have known it given the media coverage. I don’t deny that Hamilton has produced excellent performances, some in which he clearly out performed his two-time world champion teammate. But he’s doing thing with absolutely no pressure. Yes, expectations are not being formed, but he still has relatively little pressure on his shoulder, compared with Alonso. When you are the reigning champion, you are considered to be the best. That brings a mountain of pressure. So I argue that the ‘chip’ on Alonso’s shoulder is actually pressure.

The Hamilton Effect

I refuse to be drawn into this media run hysteria, which has been labelled the ‘Hamilton effect’. Some may say that perception is reality. Well let me roll out a couple of facts:

(1) After the Canadian GP, the ITV website published a pole asking fans to vote for their ‘Driver of the Day’. You’d think Hamilton would have a landslide win, given that he’s just won his first grand prix. But he didn’t. Sato won the pole quite comfortably, because of his unexpected overtaking manoeuvre on Alonso. The ITV published a similar pole after the US grand prix, again asking fans to vote for their Driver of the Day. During the grand prix, Hamilton resisted Alonso and went onto to win his second grand prix. So you’d think he’d win the pole comfortably. You may be surprise to discover that Alonso was voted the Driver of Day.

(2) You’d think Silverstone would be sold out, given the rise of the next British hopeful. Tickets are still available. This may be due to extortionate ticket prices, but there has been a price freeze this year. And the event was sold out last year.

(3) UK viewing figures for the first three races were down ten percent on last year’s figure (an article in F1 Racing). That absolutely amazes me.

All of this paints a very different impression on the effect Hamilton is actually having. Hamilton is great for F1, there is no denying that, but Hamilton is not mustering up the type of support that the media would suggest.

United States Grand Prix

You commented on how Hamilton ‘nailed’ Alonso fair and square (HERE). Really??!! Before the race it was widely thought that Alonso had enough fuel to run three or four laps further than Hamilton. Alonso couldn’t exploit this, after the team called both drivers in just in case a safety car deployed. Have you every heard anything so ridiculous. Why didn’t any of the other teams have the same concerns? You don’t see the Ferrari calling their cars into the pits to put wet weather tyres, because they ‘feel’ it is about to rain. It could be argued that this restricted Alonso, and prevented him from exploiting his fuel strategy that would have seen him pass Hamilton.

You went on to comment how the drag race on Lap 38 was as a result of Alonso exploiting back markers. You wrote it in such a negative sense, as if Alonso drivers shouldn’t exploit every opportunity.

If we are going to identify negatives, one of Hamilton’s major failing has been his ability to negotiate traffic. It can’t have helped him to call back markers ‘monkeys’. If a white driver had made that remark it would have been regarded as racist. And this comment shows his lack of knowledge of what it’s like to be in a ‘middle of the pack’ team. Hamilton did show a lot of maturity and composure as he resisted Alonso’s challenge. But Alonso showed maturity, by seeing the bigger picture. A person with a chip on his shoulder might have taken both cars out of race in pursuit of the lead. But he didn’t.

You commented on how Alonso is used to ‘relying on team-play at Renault to support him’. That’s a very misleading comment. Alonso was regularly two or three positions ahead of Fisichella’s car, which ruled out any team assistance.

I think you were getting quite excited when you wrote, ‘Wake up Alonso.’ I think McLaren do have a preference who comes first and second. That comes from the seven-year relationship and the amazing journey that Hamilton’s currently on. So that comment could be reversed to say, ‘Wake up Chris!’

Some additional comments about Sunday’s race:

I couldn’t believe Ralf Schumacher had the nerve to claim that Coulthard got in his way on the first corner. That’s completely ridiculous.
I’d be very surprise to see Ralf in F1 next year. He has been under-performing at every race.

I can’t get over the record producer/rapper, Martin Brundle interviewed during his grid walk. I couldn’t believe how much crap came out of one person’s mouth. Only in America!

I also shook my head when I watched his reaction in the McLaren pit, after Hamilton maintained position after the first corner. Anthony Hamilton looked very uncomfortable.

I am very impressed with Vettel. You were quite negative about him during one of your blogs. You can’t compare him to Hamilton. The BMW is not the McLaren. A BMW driver has to deal with a lot more challenging issues in the mid field, than a car at the front does. He did a good job and was closer to Heidfeld than you suggested. He didn’t have much time to prepare for his debut. It’s great to see so many young drivers into the sport.

More has to be said about Heidfeld. He was challenging Kimi in the driver’s championship. He is doing an amazing job for BMW. Arguably has been the driver of the season so far, based on the equipment he has.

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Hamilton does it again

Lewis Hamilton stormed to his second career win at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday after a merciless duel with team-mate Fernando Alonso.

“It just keeps getting better and better – what an amazing week this has been. I can’t believe that I have won and am so incredibly grateful to the team who have worked to hard to continue the development which has seen us taking one-two here today,” said Hamilton.

“It’s been a long and hot day, but I have really enjoyed myself and the support from the fans,” he added.

The English language is fast becoming exhausted of superlatives for describing rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton. What an absolutely stunning drive from the 22-year-old. If you thought his victory at Montreal a week ago was special think again. [Cont…]

The challenge this time came not from an intense demand for clear headedness in the face of chaos but from a fired up double world champion with a chip on his shoulders.

And I think this is what will make the victory sweeter for Hamilton. This time he nailed Alonso fair and square.

And boy was it impressive to watch. Lap 38 – in which Alonso, aided by back-markers, got close enough to the gearbox of Hamilton to get in his slipstream and pull up alongside him on the main straight – was breathtaking and instantly invoked that classic image of Mansell and Senna duelling it out on the pit straight at Barcelona.

This was pistols at dawn F1 style. All the sparring in the media this week climaxed at this single pivotal moment. Who would dare to break later?

That Hamilton drove a faultless defence did not seem please Alonso. We still don’t know exactly what he was playing at in the next lap when he swerved towards the pit lane. Some have suggested it was a message to the team along the lines of “I’m quicker let me through.”

But Alonso maintained that he was simply trying to get some fresh air: “I followed the other car for so many laps and my overalls and everything were so black because the carbon breaks were coming into me every breaking point,” he said.

You would have to say that Alonso looked rattled. It is too coincidental that he chose that particular lap, just after he had failed to get past Hamilton, to clean his brakes.

It is complacency pure and simple. He is too used to his experiences at Renault where a) his championship rival was in another team, b) he was faster than his team-mate and c) he could readily rely on team-play to support him.

But he must realise by now that there is no way Mclaren are going to order Hamilton to simply get out of the way for him.

Okay so he was lighter? So what? He must have had a say in the strategy. It was a tactical mistake to put less fuel at the first round of pit-stops on the grounds that Mclaren would simply order Hamilton to get out of the way.

If it had been any other driver he would have still had to pass him on the track to make the strategy work. Indeed, this would have probably influenced him and his mechanics to put more fuel not less at the first stop.

It’s time to wake up Alonso. The team doesn’t care which of its drivers come first and second.

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Comparisons?

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Hamilton seals Indy pole

Lewis Hamilton grabbed pole position for the second time running this afternoon after he edged out team-mate Fernando Alonso by just under two tenths of a second. Once again Mclaren got the better of rivals Ferrari with Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen making up the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s US Grand Prix.

How about that then? Huge psychological blow to Alonso; he really needed to send out a message to Hamilton today reinstating himself as the team’s number one. I have to admit that I thought Hamilton would be lucky to get on the front row of the grid let alone take the front spot. But then maybe I read too much into practice. [Cont...]

Let’s wait until the fuel loads are revealed but Mclaren will be pleased to have pulled one over Ferrari again especially at Indianapolis where a strong showing has been something of a given for the Italian team.

BMW were looking particularly strong with Nick Heidfeld eventually finishing in fifth position – a mistake in the final sector prevented him splitting the Mclarens and Ferraris – and debutant Sebastian Vettel lining up seventh. Past form hints at a possible one stop strategy for the BMW cars which would be no bad thing at Indianapolis with its long pit lane. And who knows, another safety car situation could see the blue and white cars come away with a podium.

Vettel was impressive but not mind blowing. The problem is that Hamilton has set a new benchmark as Vettel himself acknowledged:

“Lewis set the bar high so all the beginners have to do something to get close to him,” he told ITV Sport.

But the young German will have to get closer to Heidfeld than seven tenths of a second if he is to show he deserves a full time race seat at BMW.

Mechanics will be scratching their heads at Maranello. Ferrari have made a number of aerodynamic changes since Spain where they last enjoyed a performance advantage over Mclaren. Most notably a new ‘double curved’ rear wing that was introduced to suit the medium to low downforce demands of Canada and Indianapolis. The changes clearly haven’t been as effective as Mclaren’s for the medium downforce tracks. Rob Jones suggests HERE that Ferrari’s problems may also have something to do with getting to grips with the now standardised Bridgestone tyres.

I think there is another factor to consider: driver competition. It is something that is prevalent at both Mclaren and BMW in abundance. There is no doubt in my mind that the rivalry between Alonso and Hamilton is pushing the team forward with both drivers finding that crucial extra tenth on driving resource alone.

At BMW Nick Heidfeld has been under pressure to retain his seat since last year. And he is a different driver because of it, no question. Would he have achieved the same results as this year if Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel hadn’t come into the scene? I doubt it.

With Ferrari though there just doesn’t seem to be that same sense of rivalry and infighting. I don’t understand what is going on in Raikkonen’s mind at the moment. I still think on a clear day he is quicker than Massa he just needs some kind of hurry up. Maybe he should start accusing Ferrari of favouring the Brazilian.

But perhaps I’m jumping the gun. Ferrari could well be one-stopping which could enable them to mount a challenge on Mclaren. If not it’s going to be seventy three laps of Alonso vs. Hamilton. Game on.

Further down the grid it will be interesting to see if Nico Rosberg and David Coulthard can make their way through the pack. And can Webber and Trulli finally shake off their ‘qualifying only’ images?

Qualifying times

1.  HAMILTON     McLaren       1m12.331s 
2.  ALONSO       McLaren       1m12.500s
3.  MASSA        Ferrari       1m12.703s
4.  RAIKKONEN    Ferrari       1m12.839s
5.  HEIDFELD     BMW           1m12.847s
6.  KOVALAINEN   Renault       1m13.308s
7.  VETTEL       BMW           1m13.513s
8.  TRULLI       Toyota        1m13.789s
9.  WEBBER       Red Bull      1m13.871s
10. FISICHELLA   Renault       1m13.953s
11. COULTHARD    Red Bull      1m12.873s
12. SCHUMACHER   Toyota        1m12.920s
13. BUTTON       Honda         1m12.998s
14. ROSBERG      Williams      1m13.060s
15. BARRICHELLO  Honda         1m13.201s
16. DAVIDSON     Super Aguri   1m13.259s
17. WURZ         Williams      1m13.441s
18. SATO         Super Aguri   1m13.477s
19. LIUZZI       Toro Rosso    1m13.484s
20. SPEED        Toro Rosso    1m13.712s
21. SUTIL        Spyker        1m14.122s
22. ALBERS       Spyker        1m14.597s

Picture Source: BBC Sport

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Vettel shines in practice 3

Sebastien Vettel, the stand in for BMW’s Robert Kubica, put in a strong performance in final practice this afternoon ending the session in second place just over a tenth of a second behind Fernando Alonso.

No time for any analysis I’m afraid but here are the times. [Cont...]

1.  ALONSO       McLaren       1m12.150s
2.  VETTEL       BMW           1m12.321s
3.  HAMILTON     McLaren       1m12.378s
4.  KOVALAINEN   Renault       1m12.574s
5.  HEIDFELD     BMW           1m12.646s
6.  RAIKKONEN    Ferrari       1m12.692s
7.  MASSA        Ferrari       1m12.709s
8.  FISICHELLA   Renault       1m12.710s
9.  COULTHARD    Red Bull      1m12.940s
10. ROSBERG      Williams      1m13.031s
11. TRULLI       Toyota        1m13.057s
12. SCHUMACHER   Toyota        1m13.061s
13. DAVIDSON     Super Aguri   1m13.069s
14. WEBBER       Red Bull      1m13.289s
15. BUTTON       Honda         1m13.318s
16. LIUZZI       Toro Rosso    1m13.415s
17. SATO         Super Aguri   1m13.476s
18. BARRICHELLO  Honda         1m13.573s
19. WURZ         Williams      1m13.626s
20. SPEED        Toro Rosso    1m13.979s
21. SUTIL        Spyker        1m14.142s
22. ALBERS       Spyker        1m14.402s

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Domencicali: Michael is part of our team

What is Michael Schumacher’s role at Ferrari? How much does he get paid? Is he having F1 withdrawl symptoms or is he just lonley?

Stefano Domencicali fuelled further speculation about the seven world champion’s purpose in life with these comments in today's press conference:

"Michael is part of our team. You have seen sometimes that he is at the races but that is not the main role and the main activity that he has. He's working with us and mainly with us and with our engineers in order to give his advice, his contribution to the way that he knows how to work around the car. This is something connected to F1 but he has also an important role on the other side of the factory on the road cars. His experience is very important in tuning up the cars for our customers."
[ENDS]

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Alonso on top after Indy practice

We’ve got a real race on our hands this weekend at Indianapolis if today’s practice times are anything to go by.

Once again its advantage Mclaren after Fernando Alonso finished both sessions at the top of the timesheets closely followed by Lewis Hamilton in second practice.

But the gap over Ferrari was much less than it was at Monaco and Canada. Felipe Massa went third quickest in P2, less than three tenths of a second shy of Alonso, and Kimi Raikkonen followed his Brazilian team-mate a further tenth behind. [Cont...]

You can really look at this in two ways: either Ferrari have made progress and closed the gap to Mclaren since Canada; or the tendency for the team’s cars to go well at the speedway circuit is simply masking a bigger performance gap.

However your glass is filled we are in for a close battle come race day on more than one front.

First we have this fantastic rivalry between Alonso and Hamilton. Alonso will desperately want to re-establish himself in the team and in the championship after a very public row – instigated by both drivers it has to be said – over perceived favouritism at Mclaren. And Hamilton just wants to win again, pure and simple.

For either driver to do achieve this at what is a traditional Ferrari hunting ground would be a huge coup for them and Mclaren.

Ferrari are currently some twenty points adrift in the constructor’s championship and simply have to win on Sunday at all costs. Both Massa and Raikkonen are seriously out of touch in the driver’s championship, fifteen and twenty one points respectively behind the leader.

If Ferrari are going to make any inroads in the driver’s championship they may be forced to start putting their resources behind one driver. So there is an even greater onus on Kimi Raikkoenen to get the measure of his Brazilian team-mate on Sunday.

Practice 2 session times

1.  ALONSO       McLaren       1m12.156s 
2.  HAMILTON     McLaren       1m12.309s
3.  MASSA        Ferrari       1m12.435s
4.  RAIKKONEN    Ferrari       1m12.587s
5.  HEIDFELD     BMW           1m13.026s
6.  COULTHARD    Red Bull      1m13.042s
7.  ROSBERG      Williams      1m13.057s
8.  KOVALAINEN   Renault       1m13.110s
9.  BARRICHELLO  Honda         1m13.144s
10. BUTTON       Honda         1m13.202s
11. VETTEL       BMW           1m13.217s
12. WEBBER       Red Bull      1m13.263s
13. LIUZZI       Toro Rosso    1m13.332s
14. DAVIDSON     Super Aguri   1m13.364s
15. FISICHELLA   Renault       1m13.394s
16. WURZ         Williams      1m13.539s
17. TRULLI       Toyota        1m13.692s
18. SPEED        Toro Rosso    1m13.712s
19. SATO         Super Aguri   1m13.753s
20. SCHUMACHER   Toyota        1m13.765s
21. ALBERS       Spyker        1m14.225s
22. SUTIL        Spyker        1m14.513s

Practice 1 session times:

1.  ALONSO       McLaren       1m11.925s 
2.  HEIDFELD     BMW           1m12.391s
3.  HAMILTON     McLaren       1m12.628s
4.  VETTEL       BMW           1m12.869s
5.  RAIKKONEN    Ferrari       1m12.966s
6.  ROSBERG      Williams      1m13.020s
7.  MASSA        Ferrari       1m13.040s
8.  COULTHARD    Red Bull      1m13.159s
9.  BUTTON       Honda         1m13.597s
10. WEBBER       Red Bull      1m13.682s
11. TRULLI       Toyota        1m13.777s
12. NAKAJIMA     Williams      1m13.786s
13. SCHUMACHER   Toyota        1m13.819s
14. LIUZZI       Toro Rosso    1m13.907s
15. SPEED        Toro Rosso    1m13.990s
16. FISICHELLA   Renault       1m14.000s
17. SATO         Super Aguri   1m14.037s
18. BARRICHELLO  Honda         1m14.052s
19. KOVALAINEN   Renault       1m14.189s
20. DAVIDSON     Super Aguri   1m14.632s
21. ALBERS       Spyker        1m14.636s
22. SUTIL        Spyker        1m14.810s

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Hamilton – bookies’ Indy favourite

Lewis Hamilton heads to Indianapolis this weekend as the favourite to win the US Grand Prix following his spectacular victory at Montreal.

Bookmakers are offering odds no longer than 19/10 for while Fernando Alonso has been priced at 2/1.

The Mclarens are followed in the market by the Ferrari’s of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen who can be found priced - somewhat generously given Ferrari’s form at the speedway - at 5/1 and 11/2 (StanJames.com bookmakers) respectively.

Source: Bettingzone Oddschecker
[ENDS]

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Hamilton to keep Montreal trophy

In a further twist over the row about Mclaren favouritism it has emerged that Lewis Hamilton will become the first Mclaren driver to keep an original trophy following his maiden win at Montreal last week.

As part of a Mclaren tradition that even the likes of Senna and Prost had to adhere to, drivers are contractually obliged to give up their podium trophies so that the originals can be displayed at the Mclaren Technology Centre.

But after the Canadian Grand Prix Ron Dennis hinted that Hamilton would not be asked to relinquish his winner’s cup. [Continued…]

“That wouldn’t be right, would it?” Dennis said with a smile to the German broadcaster Premiere.

The historic trophy, marking Hamilton’s first career win, will be one of only two missing from Mclaren’s infamous display cabinet at Woking.

The only other piece of silver wear to escape the clutches of Ron Dennis is the 1989 constructors trophy that was awarded to him at the Italian Grand Prix following Alain Prost’s victory.

At the podium ceremony Dennis, angered by comments Prost had made earlier in the weekend accusing Mclaren of favouring Senna, tossed the cup down at Prost’s feet in disgust. After which the Frenchman, at the bequest of a chanting tifosi, lowered the cup into the crowds.

Someone ran off with the trophy and it has never been seen since.

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An apology

I owe Fernando Alonso an apology I think. Reflecting my post HERE I think I was a bit too harsh in my analysis of his comments to the Spanish radio station Cadena Ser.

Ron Dennis has since moved to diffuse the row over perceived favouritism at Mclaren after the Spanish press seized on Alonso’s comments. Dennis said:

“It is completely understandable that the results of each Grand Prix are going to provide both the British and Spanish media with an opportunity to hang on every word that the drivers say. And sometimes quotes are taken out of context which can put a completely different spin on an innocent remark. [Continued...]

“The Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes team is made up by extremely passionate and competitive people and there is a healthy competition between the teams working on each car - this is inevitable and there is no issue with that.

“However I can categorically state, once again, that both drivers have equal equipment, equal support and equal opportunity to win within the team and both Fernando and Lewis know and support this.

“Fernando’s comments when read carefully are correct - he has not been with the team long and the relationship can only continue to develop. The team is not going to do anything to jeopardise this positive and growing partnership.”

I still don’t understand what Alonso was hoping to achieve with his comments and I think there is some truth to Kevin Garside’s comments in today’s Daily Telegraph: “Alonso is a clever fellow. He has a surgeon’s precision with language. Only productive incisions are made. He was not misquoted, as has sometimes been the case.”

Misquoted he may not have been but Ron Dennis is absolutely right when he talks about the danger of taking words out of context. Indeed, I think in the heat of the moment I made this fatal error in my post yesterday. In the crunch quote – “I am with a British teammate in a British team – and everyone knows that all of their support and help is for him” – Alonso could well be referring to general support, advice and care rather than technical or mechanical assistance. This is understandable given that Hamilton is a rookie.

I would be interested to look at the whole transcript of the Cadena Ser interview.

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Sidepodcast.com: Canada GP

I just sat down to listen to Sidepodcast.com's Canada Episode and to my amazement they gave me a free plug. I couldn't let this go without returning the favour so please go and listen to their excellent and very funny take on all things Formula One at Sidepodcast.com.

Episode 21 which covers the Canadian Grand Prix can be found HERE. I haven't had the chance to listen to it yet but I'm informed that it will include Marmots.

ENDS

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Alonso uncomfortable at Mclaren

So much for Mclaren’s communications clamp down. Fernando Alonso has gone on record this week with comments that effectively accuse the Woking-based outfit of favouring Lewis Hamilton.

“I am with a British teammate in a British team – and everyone knows that all of their support and their help is for him,” he told the Spanish radio station Cadena Ser.

“But I have always understood this and I do not complain about it,” he added.

Complete trite. Continued…

There is no way you are going to convince me that Alonso joined Mclaren and went into this season believing that he would be anything other than the team’s leader and main championship contender.

I don’t know quite what Alonso is trying to achieve with these comments but it is completely ludicrous – and even insulting to the mechanics – to suggest that Mclaren have been favouring Hamilton, especially after Monaco.

It smacks of the Prost outbursts in the early 90s over favouritism from Mclaren and Honda to Ayrton Senna, when in fact he was just slower than the Brazilian.

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Wurz

And the award for accurately summing the Canadian Grand Prix in the fewest words possible goes to Alexander Wurz:

"It was hell."

ENDS

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Hamilton keeps his cool to win chaotic Canadian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton kept a clear head to take his first ever F1 victory today in a bizarre Canadian Grand Prix which saw the safety car deployed no fewer than four times, including in response to a horrific accident involving BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica.
It’s a bit too late to do a news write up covering all of today’s drama (see HERE and HERE for comprehensive race overviews) but here are some of my thoughts on today’s race. Continued...

If you’d told me just how manic today’s race was going to be I would have put my money on Alonso taking the win. Yet it was Hamilton who kept his cool today while the Spaniard seriously struggled in the face of pressure. Alonso was rattled by his rookie team-mate today. No question about it. We saw it in qualifying yesterday when he made that costly mistake into the final chicane. And again in today’s race; I lost count of the number of times he lost it into turn one. I don’t know why but it reminded me of Australia 1998 when a normally cool calm and collected Mika Hakkinen suddenly turned wild after he was wrongly brought in for his pitstop.

Alonso was unlucky to be caught out by the closure of the pit lane after the first safety car incident and there’s no doubt that his ten second penalty was also playing on his mind.

But Hamilton was simply too good today. I was particularly impressed by the way he defended his position at the start and didn’t feel the need to try and outbreak Alonso which would have undoubtedly ruined both of the Mclarens’ races.

Robert Kubica’s crash on lap 26 was huge and I was seriously concerned for his safety for a while. I hope something is done to prevent that kind of accident again in the future. If he had flown over that barrier god knows what could have happened. Incidentally, invert the track there and the incident, in terms of impact angle, and quite probably speed as well, wasn’t dissimilar to Roland Ratzenberger’s fatal collision at Imola 1994.

The main winners of the safety car deployments were Wurz, who looked chuffed to bits with his third place, and Kovalainen who must have been surprised to finish fourth given his miserable weekend.

Another driver that I think is worth a mention is Nico Rosberg. Despite the fact that he failed to score a point after a ten second penalty and an invisible tangle with Jarno Trulli, I was impressed with the way that he was able to hold on to the pace of the Ferrari’s in the early part of the race. He has looked just as quick as Lewis Hamilton this year I think. And what with the probable promotion of Sebastian Vettel to a race seat following Kubica’s accident, we are certainly going to have an interesting ‘battle of the rookies’ on our hands in coming races.

Sato too has looked good all weekend. Okay so he got a bit lucky with the way the safety cars worked out but stunning overtaking manoeuvres on Schumacher and Alonso in the dying stages of the race reiterated just why he can be so exciting to watch at times.

In terms of the championship, Alonso could end up having nightmares about this race. His seventh place has seriously compromised him putting him eight points adrift of Hamilton.

But it is undoubtedly Ferrari that leave Montreal the biggest losers. Outrageously off the pace all weekend, a disqualification for Massa – he ignored the red light leaving the pit lane under the safety car – and a fifth place for Raikkonen leave the Scuderia 28 points behind Mclaren. I suggested HERE that Kimi Raikkonen would be out of the title hunt if he left Indianapolis 19 points adrift of the championship leader; the deficit is currently 21 points.

There are going to be a lot of drivers with Hamilton on their hit list at Indy. Roll on the brickyard.

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Time to snap up Heidfeld, Mario

When are BMW going to get their act together and sign up Nick Heidfeld for 2008? Its madness. How much more convincing do they need?

Yesterday’s qualifying performance from ‘quick Nick’ – he went third quickest – was absolutely sensational.

His effort in Q2 was particularly special. Having had his hot lap deleted due to cutting the final chicane the German was under serious pressure in the dying stages of the session. He could have easily settled for a conservative lap but instead hanged it all out – no more so at the final chicane where he brushed the wall on the exit – to go third quickest. Continued...

“It was all or nothing. He managed this in an impressive way,” Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber’s technical director explained.

BMW only need six more points to equal their entire 2006 total and Heidfeld has been the main points collector so far.

The threat of losing his seat to BMW’s third driver, the up and coming Sebastian Vettel, has clearly played a role in Heidfeld’s rejuvenation, but surely now is the time to secure his services for next year.

Mario Theissen, BMW Sauber’s team principle has refused to comment on Heidfeld’s future:

“This will be an internal topic for the next weeks and months. It is simply not our first priority, because I see our driver situation as steady,” he has said.

“I can assure you that if we make any decisions, we will make an announcement about it.”

Unfortunately Heidfeld is in a bit of a grim situation because he clearly wants to stay at BMW Sauber, and realistically it his most competitive option for 2008. Had there been potential interest (and space) from the other top teams he might be in a position to use this as a bargaining tool.

And you can’t help but feel Theissen is exploiting this situation somewhat by delaying the decision to renew his contract and keeping the German on his toes. He surely would have snapped his key driver up by now had there Mclaren or Ferrari expressed an interest.

After the Spanish grand prix Theissen publicly announced that no one in the team would be fired after a bodged pit stop cost Heidfeld a possible podium place. Perhaps it’s time to extend this courtesy to your own drivers, Mario.

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News and Analysis: Hamilton grabs Montreal pole

Lewis Hamilton has secured his first career pole position in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix this afternoon after his team-mate and chief rival for the front spot Fernando Alonso made a costly mistake in the final stages of his flying lap.

The Britain stormed to pole going some four tenths faster than Alonso’s existing benchmark lap. Alonso was unable to respond after he got out of shape entering the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve’s final chicane. The Spaniard backed off to avoid being collected by the notorious ‘wall of champions’.

Continued…

The Mclaren duo locked out the front row while BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld – who put in a stunning lap to go third quickest – separated the silver cars from the slightly off-pace Ferraris.

Hats off to Hamilton, this will be a huge psychological bonus after the turmoil of Monaco. Okay, so Alonso looked the quicker of the two Mclarens today. But at the end of the day, Lewis was supreme through the final chicane; Alonso wasn’t.

I sense we are nearing a point where ITV Sport and the rest of the British media will lump the same pressure on the Britain as they did with Button with debates about ‘when is he going to win?’ So it’s good that he’s got this monkey off his back before the media has had time to start getting fed up with Alonso out qualifying him.

I notice that Alonso likes to hold back a bit in Q3 to wait and see what the other drivers can deliver. Elsewhere the Spaniard has enjoyed the advantage of knowing exactly what is required of him. But today he faced the problem of knowing that what was required was more than he was prepared to risk; Hamilton was blinding in the last sector, particularly the last chicane, and I’m sure Alonso would have been told this on the radio.

So far this season Mclaren have tended to run Hamilton with a couple of laps more fuel than Alonso. There is some reason to suggest that this is the case here given that Alonso looked the faster of the two Mclarens in Q3 despite being on par with Hamilton in Q2. So Hamilton should be in good shape come race day.
Incidentally, can anyone explain to me why Alonso was swerving about on the line when he completed his lap?

And where on earth were the Ferraris? It was generally expected that the straight and brake characteristics of Montreal would afford the Italian based outfit with a performance edge over Mclaren. But not even Massa, who we have grown accustomed to springing a last minute surprise, could inflict any damage on Mclaren. Seven tenths of a second is a massive deficit that not even a differing fuel load could account for. Any suggestions for their lack of pace?

Behind the top five lie Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg in sixth and seventh who were as much the stars of qualifying as Lewis Hamilton. Let’s hope Webber’s Red Bull lasts the race – he has retired from the last three races with gearbox related problems. I really want him to shrug of this ‘great qualifier, poor racer’ image that has in my view been wrongly attributed to him. The same goes for Trulli in ninth.

Further down the grid and Sato in eleventh is another driver to have caught my eye in qualifying. Once again he seems to have the advantage over Davidson which is not good news for the Englishman if he is to impress the front end teams.

Once again Honda had a disappointing day with Rubens Barrichello lining up in twelfth and Jenson Button in fifteenth. Button seriously needs to get his act together. Through most of last year he had the advantage over his Brazilian team-mate but recently Barrichello seems to have been gaining an edge. Is this down to a demoralized Button or an improving Barrichello? Discuss.

And finally, there’s Ralf who lines up a disappointing eighteenth. Will he be in Formula One next year? No is the quick answer, not on these performances.

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Practice 2 (Updated): Alonso untouchable but Massa shows his hand

Alonso established himself as the man to beat for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix after he dominated the second 90 minute practice session with a time over half a second quicker than his competitors.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa posted a late flying lap to split the Mclarens but was unable to match the pace of Alonso.

Without reading too much into the times here are a few of my session winners and losers:

Winners

While Alonso was clearly on form today I think the true stars of practice have come from further down the ranks. Nico Rosberg in particular is really starting to blossom in his Williams, a solid sixth place for him. Although I understand he was using the soft tyres.

Mark Webber (9th) was looking impressive in the early part of the session holding the fastest lap at one point. Could he have gone even faster if he had elected to go out towards the end of the session?

And I hope Barrichello’s seventh place is a sign of good things to come from Honda this weekend.

As Sven rightly predicted HERE, BMW are indeed going to be a force to be reckoned with this weekend with Heidfeld showing his hand to go fifth fastest behind the Mclarens and Ferraris.

And Sato’s tenth place suggests that the pace Super Aguri showed in first practice is genuine.

Losers

What happened to Ralf? I notice that Williams Toyota elected to run their protégé Kazuki Nakajima instead of Rosberg in the first session. Perhaps Ralf thought that the Japanese driver’s absence in the second session was a message from management that his seat was safe?

Button cannot afford to let Barrichello get the edge on him. How many times have we seen it before when drivers in a struggling team lose their fight – note the link between paragraphs.

Wurz is another driver that needs to pull one over his team-mate. Though the way Rosberg is driving at the moment I can’t see that happening.

Who have I missed out? Kovalainen. Reports say that he lost it turn 8 but I have yet to see any footage to properly comment.

Quick update: FreshF1.com have posted some nice video footage of some of the off-track moments in today's sessions HERE.

1. ALONSO McLaren 1m16.550s
2. MASSA Ferrari 1m17.090s
3. HAMILTON McLaren 1m17.307s
4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m17.515s
5. HEIDFELD BMW 1m17.827s
6. ROSBERG Williams 1m17.992s
7. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m18.108s
8. FISICHELLA Renault 1m18.130s
9. WEBBER Red Bull 1m18.181s
10. SATO Super Aguri 1m18.309s
11. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m18.316s
12. KUBICA BMW 1m18.399s
13. BUTTON Honda 1m18.474s
14. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m18.493s
15. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m18.545s
16. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m18.602s
17. WURZ Williams 1m18.871s
18. TRULLI Toyota 1m18.895s
19. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m19.331s
20. ALBERS Spyker 1m19.453s
21. SUTIL Spyker 1m19.662s
22. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m20.519s

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Practice 1: Alonso draws first blood

Mclaren led the way in opening practice for the Canadian Grand Prix today after Fernando Alonso topped the timesheets with a lap some two tenths faster than his team-mate Lewis Hamilton and four tenths faster than the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.

It is always notoriously difficult to gauge anything meaningful from practice alone. But a quick glance down the timesheet reveals a couple of noteworthy points.

Winners:

It is certainly a surprise to see the Mclaren’s ahead of the scarlet cars at this stage though you would have to guess that Ferrari have yet to show their true colours. While Alonso and Hamilton don’t appear to have the advantage they enjoyed at Monaco, they clearly have the pace to mount a serious challenge this weekend.

Alonso seems to have the edge on Hamilton given that the Britain was unable to go faster despite enjoying more track time than the Spaniard.

Fissichella (6th) has reinforced pre-race comments from Renault that Monaco was no fluke. Along with Webber (5th), in the ever improving Red Bull, he could pip BMW Sauber to the 'best of the rest' accolade this weekend.

Once again Super Aguri (10th and 11th) have outshone the factory Honda’s (13th and 18th) and could be in on for points come Sunday.

And Ralf Schumacher – who appears to have benefited from Toyota’s wake-up call – is my final winner after going 8th fastest almost four tenths of a second faster than his team mate Jarno Trulli.

Losers:

The Honda’s of Button and Barrichello ended the session languishing down in 13th and 18th place. Button, who took pole here in 2005, has admitted that he loves this track. But I am concerned that he is not going to find himself much higher up the grid. He is usually pretty evenly matched with Barrichello; the fact that his time was almost a second faster than the Brazilian’s, suggests to me that he wasn’t exactly sand bagging in the session.

Williams also seem to be struggling with Wurz finishing the session in 15th place.


1. ALONSO McLaren 1m17.759s
2. HAMILTON McLaren 1m17.967s
3. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m18.136s
4. MASSA Ferrari 1m18.167s
5. WEBBER Red Bull 1m18.301s
6. FISICHELLA Renault 1m18.620s
7. HEIDFELD BMW 1m18.634s
8. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m18.652s
9. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m18.717s
10. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m18.896s
11. SATO Super Aguri 1m18.898s
12. TRULLI Toyota 1m18.925s
13. BUTTON Honda 1m18.932s
14. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m18.997s
15. WURZ Williams 1m19.189s
16. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m19.234s
17. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m19.273s
18. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m19.937s
19. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m20.331s
20. ALBERS Spyker 1m21.251s
21. SUTIL Spyker 1m21.630s
22. KUBICA BMW no time

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ITV choose Hamilton doc over live qualifying

Such is ITV's obsession with Lewis Hamilton that the broadcaster has chosen to air a documentary about about the Britain in place of live qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, my radio times informs me. Live qualifying will instead be shown on ITV4.

This really does take the biscuit. Is this a contractual issue or is the digitial incentive funding too lucrative for ITV to miss?

As I cannot recieve digital television in my area readers should be warned that any reflection on Qualifying will be somewhat belated.

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