[suman]

Originally Posted by im_srini

Ferrari's hands were tied...

Originally Posted by SilentEngine

Absolutely. Ferrari didn't really have an option.

Guys, guys, if they didn't have an option, the least they could have done was to stay cool & handle it right. Whatever happened to the Ferrari Pit stops of yore during MS & RB's time when many a race was won in the pit lane???

Originally Posted by kuttapan

If you failed to notice, McLaren queued Heikki behind Lewis.

When the SC was deployed, do you remember what Heiki's track position was & how many seconds behind the leaders he was? He wasn't right up Hamilton's tail like Kimi was on Massa's.

Originally Posted by kuttapan

Another thing someone wrongly mentioned was that Massa was released prematurely because Raikkonnen was in queue - while that might be a reason, the more important one was that he had to be release before Lewis, hence the pit stop manager became trigger happy.

They were the Pit crew of the Team that was leading the Constructors Championship & had no business becoming "trigger happy" as you call it. They are supposed to be handling pressure cooker situations like this & the lapse was just not acceptable. Lets not oversimplify this, the Ferrari team needs to take a long hard look at their pit lane performance in recent times - it may have well cost them the Constructors Championship.

[im_srini]

Originally Posted by suman

Whatever happened to the Ferrari Pit stops of yore during MS & RB's time when many a race was won in the pit lane???

Have to agree with you there - remembering the 1998 British GP where the race was won in the pit-lane ! Talk about thinking on your feet - the Schumi, Brawn combination was simply awesome (Sigh !)...

Couldn't they rig something up that engages the clutch (neutral) while the fuel rig's still fueling up the car, i.e. as long as the car's mechanically connected to the fuel rig ? Even if the lolly-pop man makes a mistake, the lights go green prematurely, or the driver jumps the gun, it would prevent accidents such as these. Each of the "incidents" we've had so far have resulted in injury & they could've easily been more horrendous...

[RacingForIndia]

Given the fact that two out of the final 3 tracks are Ferrari tracks, it bodes well for them. Brazil is Massa's home race, so he will be on it all weekend.
But with rains expected at Fuji, and given Hamiltons domination of that track last year and this years performance advantage which McLaren enjoys in wet weather, I think Lewis might pull out a double digits lead over Flippe after Fuji.

[tifosikrishna]

Six of Singapore Grand Prix Top 10 to Be Disqualified Due to Plank Wear

Jo Bauer, the FIA F1 technical delegate, is rumored to be set to announce official disqualifications on six of the top 10 at the Singapore Grand Prix due to excessive plank wear.

On Oct. 2, the following drivers/teams are rumored to be disqualified:



Nico Rosberg: AT&T Williams

Lewis Hamilton: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

Timo Glock: Panasonic Toyota Racing

Sebastian Vettel: Scuderia Toro Rosso

Nick Heidfeld: BMW Sauber F1 Team

Jenson Button: Honda Racing F1 Team

source: Six of Singapore Grand Prix Top 10 to Be Disqualified Due to Plank Wear | Bleacher Report

[suman]

Boy, that's sensational but wonder if it is actually going to happen. Nothing on any of the other sites so far.......

[sujaylahiri]

Meanwhile Rosberg and Nakajima have been confirmed by Williams for the 2009 season. Nothing unexpected, but worth the extra post on team-bhp.

The Official Formula 1 Website

[anachronix]

Sorry about the Offtopic

F1 : McLaren vow not to repeat 2007 mistakes - MCLAREN - F1-Live.com

McLaren has admitted it will take a 'strategic' approach to the final races of 2008 for fear of again squandering the chance of winning the championship.

Team boss Ron Dennis said in Singapore last weekend, where championship leader Lewis Hamilton finished third, that neither team nor driver will take undue risks in order to protect their advantage in the drivers' classification.

Last year, Hamilton had a 17-point advantage with two races to go, but key errors allowed Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen to bridge the gap.

"I think an inherent weakness in the team and Lewis last year was the overwhelming desire to win the races at almost any risk," Chief Executive Martin Whitmarsh is quoted as saying by The Guardian.

"That is more forgivable in Lewis - you would like to have that in a young racing driver. We as a team should have been more disciplined than we were," he added.

Indeed, in the closing laps of the Singapore Grand Prix, Hamilton was instructed by the pitwall to settle for third place rather than try to pass Nico Rosberg.



In 2007, the British driver slid into the pitlane gravel in Shanghai, before further mistakes in Brazil cost him the title.

"We wanted to win and pushed too hard when we didn't need to," Whitmarsh said, recalling the last races a year ago.

"Championships aren't won like that," he added.

Hamilton, meanwhile, is this week the subject of criticism in the German press, with the broadcaster RTL pronouncing him a "megalomaniac" for comparing himself with the legendary late triple world champion Ayrton Senna.

"I know that I am as good as Ayrton Senna was," the 23-year-old is quoted as saying.

Is he talking about Bruno Senna

[Dippy]

Did Hamilton actually say that? Not surprising if he has really.

[im_srini]

Originally Posted by tifosikrishna

Six of Singapore Grand Prix Top 10 to Be Disqualified Due to Plank Wear.
Jo Bauer, the FIA F1 technical delegate, is rumored to be set to announce official disqualifications on six of the top 10 at the Singapore Grand Prix due to excessive plank wear.
On Oct. 2, the following drivers/teams are rumored to be disqualified:
Nico Rosberg: AT&T Williams
Lewis Hamilton: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
Timo Glock: Panasonic Toyota Racing
Sebastian Vettel: Scuderia Toro Rosso
Nick Heidfeld: BMW Sauber F1 Team
Jenson Button: Honda Racing F1 Team
source: Six of Singapore Grand Prix Top 10 to Be Disqualified Due to Plank Wear | Bleacher Report

What the... ? Just how controversial can 2008 get ?!?

If these 6 are indeed disqualified, the top 8 would be - Alonso, Coulthard, Nakajima, Heikki, Kubica, Bourdais, Massa, & Fisichella ! So does this mean Force-India have finally scored a point () & more importantly, Massa now leads the F1 DC ?

The skid-block regulations are quite strict (allowing for a variation of just 1 mm) - but disqualifying so many cars could cause an uproar !

[suman]

Originally Posted by anachronix

Is he talking about Bruno Senna

ROTFLMAO; but this arrogance is so typical of Lewis, its not surprising.

Amidst all this talk about restraint etc in Singapore, to be honest, I must confess that I was hoping that Coulthard would close the door on him & take both of them out. DC kept him behind for a long time & I'm sure he missed the exact moment when Lewis made a move on him - else, knowing him, he'd have closed the door on him in typical Coulthard style!

[anachronix]

Originally Posted by suman

ROTFLMAO; but this arrogance is so typical of Lewis, its not surprising.

Amidst all this talk about restraint etc in Singapore, to be honest, I must confess that I was hoping that Coulthard would close the door on him & take both of them out. DC kept him behind for a long time & I'm sure he missed the exact moment when Lewis made a move on him - else, knowing him, he'd have closed the door on him in typical Coulthard style!

Those funny and good old DC days are over!

I simply hope Lewis fills his fellow brits shoes in F1

[akrish01]

Originally Posted by suman

ROTFLMAO; but this arrogance is so typical of Lewis, its not surprising.

Amidst all this talk about restraint etc in Singapore, to be honest, I must confess that I was hoping that Coulthard would close the door on him & take both of them out. DC kept him behind for a long time & I'm sure he missed the exact moment when Lewis made a move on him - else, knowing him, he'd have closed the door on him in typical Coulthard style!

Yes, I was hoping for that too but in the end, the overtaking move was really a soft one with DC offering no resistance. Was that because he didn't want to ruin a fellow Brit's chance of becoming a champion? Might also be due to the fact that he didn't want his farewell season to be remembered for the wrong reasons....

On Lewis' comments, he definitely is a megalomaniac. I hope he never wins a driver's title all his life.

I'm also quite interested in knowing how long Heikki wants to play 2nd fiddle to this loudmouth. As long as Heikki's in McLaren, he's unlikely to realize his full potential as he's always likely to be overshadowed by a brit in a brit team.

Krishnan

[ajmat]

On Lewis' comments, he definitely is a megalomaniac. I hope he never wins a driver's title all his life.

I'm also quite interested in knowing how long Heikki wants to play 2nd fiddle to this loudmouth. As long as Heikki's in McLaren, he's unlikely to realize his full potential as he's always likely to be overshadowed by a brit in a brit team.

I would give press comments a wide berth, there must have been some quote out of context. IT would be stupid to say he is better than Senna before winning a world championshion. MAybe at this stage of his life, he is as good as Senna was at 23!

Heiki is consistent and good, he did well at Monza climbing from 15th. Again, Lewis is the better driver but Heiki gets a better car compared to staying at Renault.

Lewis showed a lot more rationality by sticking to thrid. It was a win-win-win

Lewis gets a lead on the world champion,

His mate Nico gets a podium finish (am sure, if Massa was running 4th, he might have made an error to let Lewis through!)

Alonso does not self destruct along with Lewis if Lewis was on his tail

Lewis is good if over aggressive, needs to hold back and learn about consistency. He needs to take up golf!

[Aditya]

Originally Posted by akrish01

As long as Heikki's in McLaren, he's unlikely to realize his full potential as he's always likely to be overshadowed

Where were you when the same was happening with Barrichello?

[akrish01]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Where were you when the same was happening with Barrichello?

I wasn't a member of Team BHP when that happened.....