Formula 1 2007 Discussion Thread

Lets up this one too. KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN IS OUR NEW FORMULA ONE CHAMPION!

I TOLD YOU SO!

 

I'm so pleased it was Raikkonen and not Alonso.

Still, I'd have rather it had been Hamilton. Gah, he has had the worst luck recently.

Ah well, it's still the best rookie season ever... just a shame he couldn't go all the way.

So that's neither the Rugby or F1. Damn.

 

Come on don't tell me Hamilton didn't his own mistakes as well. Bad luck? yeah right more like rookie mistakes id say...

 

or the football

 

Today will be long remembered. What a powerful performance by Massa and Kimi. And Hamilton couldn't have timed his bad luck any worse, could he? Too bad, but that's motor racing. Kimi had a poor first half of the season, with Monaco being an absolute downer. But he really impressed me with his second half.

I thought Lewis was too eager. He should've shown some restraint and just keep close to Alonso. Alonso actually did the same last year and today he again drove a anonymous race. Of course, it became clear quite quickly that Ferrari was in full control and bringing Kimi in front of Massa was only a matter of time.

Hopefully we'll have an equally exciting 2008 season, without the awful espionage affairs and what not.

And where will Alonso go? Renault? Toyota?

 

Kimi Raikkonen's world title has been thrown into doubt following an inquiry into the cars of BMW Sauber and Williams at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Race stewards are investigating alleged irregularites with the cars' fuel.

Williams's Nico Rosberg was fourth in the race, followed by BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld.

If they were disqualified, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton would be promoted to fourth, giving him enough points to displace Raikkonen as world champion.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7055644.stm

There's a link with some more info.

God. I'd feel really bad for Raikkonen.

Sure, I'd have loved to have seen Hamilton win his rookie season, but still....

I didn't.

With the botched early takeover? Yeah, sure.

Was it his fault that the gearbox went to poodoo though? Not really.

Considering how brilliantly he had been doing over the rest of the season, I'd say it was unlucky to start making mistakes in the final stretch - yeah.

 

Update

(though I think it's in the link above now anyway)

Teams escape punishment over fuel

BMW's cars held up Hamilton during the race but were not excluded
Kimi Raikkonen has been confirmed as world champion following an inquiry into the cars of BMW Sauber and Williams at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Race stewards investigated alleged irregularites with the cars' fuel, but decided to impose no penalty.

Williams's Nico Rosberg was fourth, ahead of the two BMW Sauber cars.

Had they been disqualified, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton would have been promoted to fourth, giving him enough points to become world champion.

The problem that could have seen Hamilton installed as the first man to win the title in his first season was a fuel-temperature irregularity on the Williams and BMW Sauber cars.

A statement from the sport's governing body, the FIA, said the fuel in the cars was "more than [the permitted] 10 degrees below the ambient temperature".

But the stewards said in a later statement, issued more than six hours after the end of the race, that there was sufficient doubt about the fuel temperatures "as to render it inappropriate to impose a penalty".

 

Good

I'm still wondering what's gonna hapen with Alonso, cause i would think he's gonna leave, but i dont dare say it for sure

 

Well I guess you didn't bother to consider how unlucky Kimi was in the middle of the season. Two races that he failed to finish because the car broke down and then Monaco. And he STILL managed to get two wins more than Alonso and Hamilton. So excuse me if I see Raikkonen as the one who earned the championship. If they would have used the old point-counting system, Raikkonen would have won with an even clearer margin.

 

Gah!!!

I didn't say anything about Kimi at all.

I'm just saying that Hamilton's luck changed.

That's all.

Jeez.

Point out the bit where I said Kimi didn't deserve it? For the Maker's sake, you're putting words into my mouth.

 

OK sorry maybe i read a little too much into what you were saying. I just don't want people undermining Kimi's accomplishment by saying that he won only because lewis was unlucky. Cause that is total ****. Again I'm sorry. YOu're right i put words into your mouth but I'm just human. aight? shake hands?

 

S'all good.

Lewis being unlucky did contribute to Kimi's win but Kimi's bad luck earlier in the season contributed to Hamilton's lead. It more-or-less balances out in the end.

I like Kimi a lot, he's raced brilliantly this season and I'm pleased for him, but I'll remain disappointed because I really wanted to see a rookie driver win the championship. That'd have been awesome.

I'm still peeved Hamilton couldn't get it done in China.

Still, I imagine he'll win every season until his retirement now

Or maybe not.

 

Well, it's apparently not over yet, because McLaren have appealed the decision regarding BMW and Williams. If the steward's decision is overturned, Hamilton wins.

 

The drama of this season just never ends

In my opinion Lewis wasnt unlucky, he just lost his cool and that caused him the championship. Had he just stayed 4th behind Alonso he would have won it. Instead he got reckless and fell to 8th, then the misterious gear box issue happened. I think everyone had their fair share of technical issues (Ferrari included), so i guess it did balance out in the end.

Not surprised : http://www.planetf1.com/story/0,18954,3213_2817516,00.html

Alonso hopes McLaren`s appeal fails
Monday 22nd October 2007

In a strange move - although maybe not that strange - Fernando Alonso has revealed that he hopes McLaren's Brazilian GP appeal fails.

Kimi Raikkonen's World Championship triumph is up for debate after McLaren informed the FIA they would be appealing the results of Sunday's race, which handed Raikkonen the title after Lewis Hamilton could only manage seventh place.

However, following the race it was discovered that three cars that finished ahead of Hamilton, both BMWs and the Williams of Nico Rosberg, had fuel temperature irregularities.

The race stewards didn't penalise the two teams, claiming insufficient evidence, and the ruled that the race result should stand. McLaren, though, intend appealing the stewards' ruling, which, should they be successful, would hand the World title to Hamilton.

Alonso, however, is hoping McLaren aren't successful in their appeal - although he says it's because the title shouldn't be decided in the courts rather than the fact that it would mean his rookie team-mate, who he has a frosty relationship with, would be crowned Champion.

"It would be a joke, and we've had too many already," he told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser. "If something like that happened, it would end up burying the sport."

The Spaniard also took the time to have what could be his final dig at McLaren as a McLaren driver.

"It doesn't seem like the season has been managed very well," Alonso said.

"The result speaks for itself. McLaren lost the Championship probably because of some of the decisions they took, especially in the second half of the season. It's no secret that they haven't helped me a lot.

"What my team boss stated in China, saying that they weren't racing against Raikkonen but against me, was a declaration of intent. So McLaren did their part in losing the title, but also Ferrari did a better job than the rest.

"In the last races both my hands and feet have been tied. I didn't have any power. I had to do it all the way they said and that made it harder to close the gap."

 

I will agree 100% that he lost his cool and that this was a mistake (why he felt he had to get out in front again so early is beyond me) - but I think it was the gearbox issue that cost him the championship.

But yes, you're right, everyone has had technical problems throughout the season - and if nothing ever went wrong with the cars we'd be looking at a completely different table by the end of things. Kimi had some bad luck at the start, Lewis had some bad luck towards the end. If Lewis had won the championship, you could have said that Kimi's misfortune cost him the championship. It's just the way it goes.

I don't think even Lewis would be pleased to get the title this way. In fact, I think he'd be more embarrassed than anyone else. I know I would be.

That said, Alonso has proven to be a complete and utter **** this season.

"It's no secret that they haven't helped me a lot"

No mate, it's no secret that you have thrown hissy fits non-stop throughout the season because the No.2 driver turned out to have just as much - if not more - talent than you.

He tried to blackmail his team. He may be a great driver, but he disgusts me.

 

I sorta understand how Alonso feels but then again he just might have driven better had he just swallowed his pride and done what Ron Dennis told him to. But for a spanish 2-time champion that's a lot to ask for I guess. If he moves to Renault, he should be happier there. That is unless Kovalainen then does the same to him what Hamilton did to him this season. Although to my knowledge Alonso and Kovalainen are good friends off the track so it just might be the perfect place for him. If he does go there, Fisichella is out.

 

Indeed, Hamilton said he doesnt want to win that way: http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/071022212558.shtml

Neither McLaren driver wants an appeal

Lewis Hamilton on Monday said he does not want to be declared world champion if it means stripping Kimi Raikkonen of his title on appeal.

"It would be wrong," Reuters quotes the 22-year-old British rookie as saying in his Sao Paulo hotel room.

McLaren has lodged an appeal against what has become known as the 'cool fuel' issue at the very end of a highly controversial 2007 season.

But it is not clear if Hamilton's comments will have an effect on whether the Woking based outfit ultimately goes ahead with the Court of Appeal proceedings.

McLaren Chief Executive Martin Whitmarsh said on Monday that the decision to appeal was made in deference to the hypothetical criticism of 'fans and Formula One insiders.'

Hamilton continued: "For me, I want to win it on the track. Being promoted after some people have been thrown out is not the way I want to do it."

After finishing seventh in a disastrous outing at Interlagos on Sunday, Hamilton said Ferrari's Raikkonen deserves the title.

He said winning on appeal "would feel weird after Kimi did such a fantastic job in the last two races."

"He won yesterday and to have it taken away is a bit cruel and probably not good for the sport," Hamilton added.

The thing is, who said that they would strip the other drivers of their points as individuals? if any penalty with points must be applied it should be to the constructor's points they acumulated... even with the McLaren scandal the FIA didnt punish the drivers, wich allowed them to complete as individuals, they only punished McLaren. That's what i think anyways

Oh and regarding Alonso the weird thing is that he says even if McLaren released him from his contract, Renault isnt his first choice... what the heck is he up to?

 

Turns out the gearbox thing was human error on Hamilton's part too. So, yeah, he just ****** up the race basically.

 

Ok, it's probably old but I just found this and it cracked me up:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WpK2t3gh2Co

 

Yeah you don't want to match us Finns in the sauna. Leave that to us.

 

While Hamilton have been unlucky at times, he also made a number of mistakes, especially last Sunday.

And glad to see he came out against the appeal.

 

I must say that I have a lot of respect for Hamilton admitting that it was his failure, not the gearbox's. He could have easily said nothing and everybody would have believed it to be the car's fault. Let's hope he can display that type of character for the rest of his career. People expect big things from him now.

 

It still isnt confirmed, it's something that he allegedly admitted to. If true, it's bad though

http://www.planetf1.com/story/0,18954,3213_2819717,00.html
`Hamilton accidentally turned off his car`
Tuesday 23rd October 2007

Lewis Hamilton has allegedly confessed to accidentally shutting down his MP4-22 during the Brazilian GP, which McLaren later claimed was a gearbox failure.

Going into the eighth lap of the grand prix, Hamilton's McLaren lost power for roughly 30 seconds dropping him down from fourth to 18th place.

The team later reported that the rookie had suffered a temporary gearbox failure.

Hamilton, though, has now allegedly confessed that it wasn't a failure but he had in fact accidentally turned off his car.

"My finger slipped on the steering wheel and I accidentally pressed the button used for the starting sequence," he reportedly told French-language daily newspaper La Presse.

"The car went into neutral and I had to reinitialise the system, that is, reload the gearbox management program."

McLaren have offered no comment on the story. But it is worth reminding readers that only yesterday Ron Dennis spoke out angrily about the amount of inaccurate reports appearing on the internet...

 

Yeah I just read somewhere that Dennis claimed that it indeed was a car failure and not at all Hamilton's fault. I guess it's one guy's word against another. I can understand if he wants to protect Hamilton, it's basically what he's done the whole season, but i don't understand why Hamilton might lie about something like that. So I'm leaning into believing Hamilton rather than Dennis. Dennis just wants to emphasize the idea that they lost the championship only because of a gearbox problem so much.