OK first off sorry this thread wasn't created in time for qualifying, I was in Bristol this afernoon when it was. I haven't seen the qualifying yet (I have it on tape), so I don't have a clue what went on, so I'm feeling pretty detached from the race weekend so far. I only know a few people's qualifying positions and I have no idea of the form book, so if people get this thread up and running so I have an idea of what went on, and with the help of the ITV F1 website, I'll be up to speed with the race weekend.

All I know is that Hamilton qualified fifth, which is not the start he wanted, as he needed to be up the front. He just seems to be gradually losing momentum right now, and his form has even prompted Niki Lauda to say he has actually gotten worse this season. I'm not so sure about this, as I believe the reason is that the McLaren car is not fast enough. Both BMWs are faster, and even Alonso got onto the front row which is bloody brilliant for him.

I also know that there was a brilliant lap by Raikkonen to deny Alonso the pole, and I still think Raikkonen is the favourite for the title and if he's good on fuel, he's got a good chance for the race. Did Massa qualify third? Still good for him.

OK guys and girls, post away, I've still got a lot to say about F1 in the Motorsport section. I haven't checked up on the ITV site for ages as I've been really busy so I'll be on there for ages.

No worries Benny. If it's not made, it can be posted in the Pre-GP's. It's understandable that you have a life. :D

I think alot of people will expect Alonso to get overtaken straight away. But will he. Considering if hes low on fuel, he'll still be faster come race time. Not only that, I'm pretty damn sure he'll push Kimi of the start if hes very light.
Who knows, maybe alonso's 3 stopping

Aha, it's so exciting, Alonso's certainly not easy to overtake...low fuel is probably a big advantage for him..as you say, he will be lighter than the majority of others, so yeah, it's kinda too close to call!

Renaults have always been very fast at taking off the line. I don't know if it's still the case without Tc, but I wouldn't put it beyond Alonso. It's gonna be a good race, Fernando will give it his best for his fans!

Hamilton is gonna want to get some momentum back, whilst Raikonen, Massa, Kubica & Heidfeld are all very thirsty for victories.

I'm excited!

Fifth for Hammie. Will he drive like a rookie again from that far back? We shall see...

I'm really excited for Webber. His got a good grid position and assuming his bad luck syndrome doesn't strike again I can foresee some big points. I'd love to see a podium but that doesn't look likely.

That was a terrible crash by Heikki Kovalainen. He just speared right under that tire barrier. I hope he's alright.

Good race, I enjoyed it, shame for Alonso, but he was in 4th and wasn't that light so it's a great achievement for the Renault team! Good race for Kimi, didn't really put a foot wrong, pretty strong race from Massa too. Hammy got a good start and I guess he did the best he could.

Kovi's crash was shocking, I hope he's OK. Over all an intresting weekend which hopefully shows the progress of Honda..{Button came 6th!!!!} and, of course Red Bull..and shockingly Renault!

All in all, I enjoyed it. It shows again how close it is now. The Ferrari's are the fastest, but are not uncatchable. Mclaren appears to have caught up to BMW, and shockingly, renault are right back in it too !!!

Button, sort of good race, sort of lucky. Remember the massive amount of retirees.

Heikki's crash was, as cheeky aptly put it, shocking. But if anything is a testament to the massive safety of F1 cars as a whole.

Plus, listening to a podcast, I heard this, and I swear I nearly wet myself.


http://www.mondotees.com/ProductImages/bangonicons/count.jpg

ROBERT KUBICA




http://images.sportinglife.com/06/12/330/70884_154834.jpg

THE COUNT: SESAME STREET

So Kimi won :D !!!!!!


What about Alonso qualifying second ????? I was surprised but overall I do think Renault have made a step forward which no doubt helped Alonso qualify second.


I gotta admit I wasn't that impressed wth BMW, sure they got a fourth place finish but overall I reckon Kubica should have finished third instead of 'wonder kid' but hey I would say that anyway :D.


The Kovi crash looked bad, they said on ITV he his ok, but jeez you could see the tractor through the cockpit of the McLaren. That was a bad crash.


Overall I enjoyed the race, some good action at both end of the grids which is what I like to see :).

Raikkonen did have a fairly controlling race in all. In all honesty, even though it's so early in the season, I'd say Kimi is looking fairly ominous unless BMW, Mclaren, or Renault step up their game. That Ferrari is just so fast.

Yeah, totally agree..it's Kimi's year right now...Kimi & Alonso started at the same GP {Aus. 2001} and if Kimi wins for the second year running, then in a way, they have achieved the same thing...weird..huh?

Ahh, i liked this race.

The Ferrari team did a really nice race (and maybe an easy one with not so much pressure) and they did the 1-2. Kudos to Kimi for holding the 1st place.

Hami did a really nice overpass at the beginning and i must say that it was a good think. Kovi was really unlucky and i don't know from what his front right tire blew off. It was a pretty bad accident.

Kubica did a good race. He kept the 4th place and he collected some valuable points for him and for the team. Heidfeld was really unlucky and i mean that. He did 3 stops (the 1 stop was unnecessary in my opinion but the FIA rules are a bit strict sometimes.) Also i was clapping Heidfeld's overpass to Fisichella.

Webber did a great race too! Also Button was the big surprise. Kudos to him. He gained about 7 positions.

Also in this GP we had a lot of accidents.

KIMI FTW!!!!
:D:D

Massa 2nd, Kubi 4th (although should've been 3rd), Button, Webber and Trulli score, and ALONSO EXPLODED (not literally lol). I wasn't too pleased with Hamilton's race, although he drove quite hard. Fisi did a good job in the Force India, and Taku Sato did a good job as well. It'd be a damn shame to lose Super Aguri this early in the season (losing them at all would be a disappointment). They're a young team, but they've had some exciting moments (Sato PWNING Alonso for position in Montreal)

This race was filled with many accidents/engine failures. It's good to see, though, that Heikki is OK, because I was worried when I saw the replay of the impact that he could've broken his foot.

Good race! Was obvious Massa would pass Alonso (even being light on fuel) off the line, then it was just a case of how many people can i keep behind me for Alonso. Hammy did very well off the start, great pass to get 4th from Kubica, Kovy almost pulled off a pass round him too. It was bound to happen and after the first pit stops it didnt surprise me that Alonso was in 5th after being jumped by both Hammy and Kubica. I know Renaut have obviously made good progress, but he was never on for a podium here. What i did admire was Alonso going up to meet his fans after he retired from the race, he went up a notch in my book for that.

Kimi. Well, not much to say really, drove a great race, never looked in doubt for the win.

Massa. Didnt ever seem to be on terms with Kimi here, no matter how much he tried Kimi just was faster.

Hammy. Great drive from him, great pass on Kubica off the start, put in the good laps to get infront of Fernando in the pit stops, never let the Ferrari's get too far ahead and kept pushing to the last lap which was great to see.

Kubica. Good race from him too, didnt let Hammy rest all day, very solid performance.

Bad race for Kovy, was never on terms with Hammy and couldnt really keep up with Kubica, then an awfull crash which still amazes me that he is totally fine after an impact like that. A testemony to the amazing safety of modern F1.

Bad luck for Rosberg, its such a shame he isnt getting the results he deserves, hes one of the best drivers in the field imo and it frustrates me so much that hes not fighting for poduims like he was in Australia.

Great drives from Webber, Button and Nakajima. Looks like the dumbo wings do make some difference!

Think Fisichella drove brilliantly also, 10th is a great finish for Force India team after doing pretty miserably in qualifying.

Overall a good race, lots of drama and action. Kimi has a strong advantage over the others and to be honest its his season to loose from here on in. Only thing i dont like is his new hair cut, makes him look like a thug! Grow it back Kimi!!!!

^The haircut aint that great in my opinion either. Liked the medium-length blonde more, now it's just a simple skinhead. :p

Anyway he drove a brilliant race, not really much to say about his race because it was pretty much lights to flag and that's about it. Nobody could really touch him this weekend and I feel as though it's going to be like that for the rest of the season....anybody with me? I tipped Ferrari to be the strongest force this season at the end of winter testing and it seems as though I have it right, as they're just looking totally dominant.

Last season Kimi was awesome, there or thereabouts, bad and then awesome near the end of the season. This season he has been near-awesome, and I can see that continuing throughout. Right now to be honest I cannot see Hamilton challenging him for the simple reason that the McLaren is not fast enough. Also sometimes he needs to play the perecentage game and not try so hard to be the best; sometimes you cannot win the race or finish on the podium and there is NOTHING you can do about it and Hamilton needs to accept that fact.

Anyway, Ferrari dominance this weekend secured the pretty much inevitable 1-2, as I couldn't see the Renault of Alonso, any McLaren or any BMW beating those two. Massa had a low key weekend compared to Raikkonen, but setting the fastest lap whilst on a scooter in a tutu would be low key compared to Raikko's brilliance. All in all, a great weekend for Ferrari.

McLaren, again, still not fast enough. You've gotta hand it to Hamilton though, drove a very strong race to finish 3rd after a poor qualifying. I had a feeling he would have one of those frustrating weekends where he only ends up 4th or 5th and he loses his momentum or something, but pass on Kubica at the start, which was great by the way, was the key to the weekend.

_

I can't finish this right now as I have to go, if I don't have time to come back and edit it, the main points of my post are/were going to be:

-Ferrari dominance

-Hamilton stopping the mini-rot

-BMW further improvements

-Best day of 2008 WITH BUTTON IN 6TH PLACE, GET IN THERE!

-Extreme bad luck for Renault with Alonso (I actually want Alonso to do well this season, I like him)

-Force India, great with 10th place.

Just watched my recording of the Spanish GP, a lot of drivers didn't finish, almost made me laugh at how so many drivers fell. Maybe the temperature was a bit hot?

I wanted Kubica to get into the podium, but it didn't work out so well. And I thought that Kovi was badly hurt, but it seems not, according to what I saw on the recording.....