Formula 1

[Gooner]

Well, Heikki went to McLaren after all.
Awesome.


I hope they keep their tradition of treating the drivers as equals even though Lewis is the Brits' golden boy.
Really looking forward to the season now.
Hopefully Kimi, Lewis, Heikki and Alonso could all be fighting for the title, but I would settle for just three of them.

[opsy]

when does it start?

[Gooner]

Mid-March methinks...


So now that the driver positions in the big teams have been revealed, there's really no need to think about F1 for a couple months imo.

Yeah, no need to think about anything...
*passes joint to opsy*

Except for footy and porn and guys bashing each others' heads in and...

[daval]

McLaren sure does love the Finns. I also hope that they keep the equality at McLaren and give Heikki a chance to shine.

[AikaImmortal]

Mid-March methinks...


So now that the driver positions in the big teams have been revealed, there's really no need to think about F1 for a couple months imo.

Yeah, no need to think about anything...
*passes joint to opsy*

Except for footy and porn and guys bashing each others' heads in and...

I dunno, new car rollouts in January.

[AikaImmortal]

New cars so far:


Ferrari F2008
The Official Formula 1 Website

Toyota TF108
The Official Formula 1 Website

McLaren MP4-23
The Official Formula 1 Website

Formula1.com has some tech info.. will skip that for now because I am sure gooner and raconteur8 already know

[Gooner]

I think the new Ferrari looks bitchin'. And I'm not exactly a car enthusiast (maybe I will be once I have some money to buy me a decent one).


McLaren's not too bad either.
Their decision to go back to the "Silver Arrow" from the red and white design all those years ago was truly a good one.

[raconteur8]

From the glitz and glamour of F1 to this..behold the new Juan Pablo Montoya!!

[YOUTUBE]cXqkK4CbsMw[/YOUTUBE]

[AikaImmortal]

Wow, I thought driving for ASSCAR was the lowest point in his career but boy was I wrong.

[Gooner]

Lolz.
That's sad.


That steel chair looked pretty heavy btw...

[AikaImmortal]

The Official Formula 1 Website

Lewis Hamilton takes pole, with Robert Kubica second, and Heikki Kovalainen third. Defending champion Raikkonen did well in round 1 of qualifying but had gearbox issues and could not complete q2 or q3, knocking him down to grid position 16. Again in Saturday practice and qualifying there were lots of spinouts. Early prediction, Nelson Piquet Jr will not last at Renault past mid-season, he has spun out and/or stalled each time. Could this be the year that BMW Sauber takes the next step up? Round 1 practice leader Mark Webber will start at grid pos. 15.. aren't you guys glad you didn't take my erroneous prediction of a suprize red bull?

The Official Formula 1 Website Full starting grid (requires free registration, and is spam-free. Have been registered for quite some time)

[AikaImmortal]

Wow. What a crazy race. Will report more on it tmw. Raconteur8, what didja think about this one? Kovalainen pitted right when a safety car came out, going from a podium position down to 7th; working back to 5th by the end of the race but yeah. Raikkonen had a forgettable day today as did Massa. Double DNF. Ferarri today looked like, dare I say, Honda.

Barrichellos leaving under red sure took a long time for the FIA to notice eh? Shame to see Bourdais give such a strong effort and crap out with 3 laps left. So disappointing.

All finishing drivers won a point, with only 8 total finishing the race. On lap 2 Alonso almost ran into Kovalainen but managed to pass him with 1 lap remaining. Wow. To see Kovalainen have the hot lap of the day and hold a podium position for so long end up near the back of the pack (keep in mind how many cars finished!) is amazing.

Lewis Hamilton took Austrailla. What a chaotic open for the 2008 season. Heidfeld 2nd, Rosberg 3rd.

[raconteur8]

Alonso-Kova duel at the end is sick!! Yeah..pity Bourdais. I miss what happen to Kova when he pitted (was watching Baroni/Hose which was crazy too)

Massa-DC not giving each other an inch is awesome.

Glock's crash - sight to behold. Damn that bump!

3 diff winners..Nice. Great start to new season.

[AikaImmortal]

First time I ever saw a kerb with a pothole in it! Glad to see Glock walk away from it in the end, the delayed response had me quite worried at first.

Correction: 7 classified finishers at the end of the race, not my earlier number. Lowest since the 2005 USA GP ****fest.. which made F-1 popularity over here nosedive and I am sure contributed to us losing our Grand Prix

With that said, I am going to bed. I wish all of the GP races were from Australia, much rather stay up late than wake up at 6am on a Sunday to catch the race.. those days I record it and watch it when I get up

[Gooner]

Man, that was disappointing. Looked good in the beginning, but both Kimi and Heikki were unlucky AND made mistakes too.
Can't believe Heikki pushed the speed limit button after overtaking Alonso...

Pretty much the worst possible start for Kimi. 10 points for Hamilton, 1 for him.
Can't afford to drop that many points too often.

[opsy]

Race is starting, BS penalty for hamilton. Hope he comes back.

[AikaImmortal]

I dunno, he was clearly on cooldown on the racing line impeding other drivers trying to get a good qualifying time on hot-lap

[opsy]

From the glitz and glamour of F1 to this..behold the new Juan Pablo Montoya!!

hmm... nothing on wiki about him wrestling. He just won NASCAR rookie of the year.

[opsy]

I dunno, he was clearly on cooldown on the racing line impeding other drivers trying to get a good qualifying time on hot-lap

Aika I just watch the pretty cars go fast around the track You are probably right.

edit: and root against teh finn

[Gooner]

Aika I just watch the pretty cars go fast around the track You are probably right.

edit: and root against teh finn

Aahaa!
2 Finns on the podium, nah nah!


The Ferraris went pretty much as expected (except for Massa driving out).
Kimi challenged Massa in the start already but had to wait until the pit stops to overtake.
Heikki's start wasn't that great, but Hamilton's problems came in handy for him.