The Holy Pasty?

After last year we cannot help but speculate about the outcome of the 2008 Formua 1 World Drivers Championship. Last year it was all in Lewis Hamilton’s pocket, with a 7 point advantage going into the final race! He didn’t win it!

This year, his second chance, ironically with 7 points heading into the final race once again, but some things are different this year. For a start, he’s a year older and hopefully wiser. He says that he’s coming into this race in a better mental condition this year and that can be no surprise when you consider the difficulties Lewis and the team had last year. A team-mate that was contesting for the title and not generally a good relationship all around and then the red car behind closing on the championship, but supposedly a long way off and looking out of it in Kimi. Of course we can’t forget the whole scandal that hung over the team and the massive penalty handed down from the powers that be, and the extra levels of scrutiny on the team.

Hamilton didn’t get pole, but I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. I think Massa is fuelled light, it’s probably the same for the other surprises in the top few cars like Trulli. Unfortunately this means that Hamilton is starting further back than McLaren wouold have expected and this could bring them some problems down into the first corner. If he can start fourth and stay there he will have the championship wrapped up nicely. If Massa is too short on fuel Hamilton may find he is back in contention with a heavier car coming light as Massa has to stop. I don’t know if Massa will be able to pull away into the distance at the start but I do hope that there isn’t a “Trulli Train” that Hamilton gets stuck behind.

All these things can happen, but we seem to overlook that this, regardless of outcome, is quite an acheivement for someone of Hamilton’s age, to be fighting for the championship for the second year in a row (and only his second year in F1) with a 7 point advantage. OK so he got into one of the best cars on the grid, true, but he also has to face the immanse pressures and PR responsibilities that go with that other drivers don’t face. Also Heikki, considered a prodigious talent, is in the same car, but rarely matches Hamilton for pace and result. So yeah there was some advantage, but there’s also a supreme skill that has brought him to this point again. It would be good to have a British World Champion and in my completely biased opinion he totally deserves it. Massa has been gifted a number of the points, but he has fought hard, he has become a worthy competitor and lasted a championship distance in sight of the lead – all credit to him, but Lewis has my vote!

Tags: Felipe Massa, Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Motorsport, Trulli

Well surprise, surprise the FIA Court of Appeal threw out McLaren’s case on grounds that a drive through penalty cannot be appealed which saved them having to clarify anything and admit that there are grey areas in the rules! Even though there was a similar situation last year where a 25 second post-race penalty (which also should have been a drive through) was appealed.

So now we have the spectacle of Singapore, but will it be a spectacle, or will it be a boring parade as Valencia turned out to be? A number of people have come out and criticised the idea of Street Circuits recently including Fezza’s Luca DiMontezemalo and that shrinking violet Jackie Stewart. However I have high hopes for Singapore, as a night race it could mean that F1 fans in the UK never again have to get up at 2am to watch a race live!

While F1 has a nice tight race at the front for the Driver’s championship MotoGP has the exact opposite with Valentino Rossi 3 whole race wins ahead of the opposition in the championship. His nearest rival Casey Stoner hasn’t had a great time recently having come off the race track 3 times in 3 races! The last race at Indy really was a problem too as they ended up racing through the tail-end of hurricane Ike. However it will be an early start on Sunday morning for MotoGP fans as the race starts at 6am GMT. However if you are a fan you’re not going to miss the chance to watch Rossi win the championship (which is possible even with a finish on the podium) so it’s worth tuning in and particularly making the most of the excellent Eurosport coverage before the BBC take exclusive broadcast rights next year.

Tags: F1, Hamilton, MotoGP, Motorsport, Rossi

The sound of 3.5 litre engines filled the Northampton countryside on Saturday and Sunday as the World Series by Renault rolled into Silverstone for the first time. As a motorsport fan this is an opportunity to get to an event that is a series racing series without costing the earth. The Renault event is totally free! What is even better for me (and my dad who came with me, because he was driving) is that we are kindly given full press access, which means that we can stroll down the pits and get into areas where spectators aren’t normally allowed, of course this is at our own risk because motorsport can be dangerous!

What made our weekend even more special was not the direct access that being part of “the media” allowed, but something that happened because we went to a press conference. Renault Sport and Motorland Aragon chose to use the Silverstone Event to present details of a new track in Spain. Following the press conference there were sandwiches which, with extortionate food prices at the track, would be much appreciated. We went and the track and idea that was presented looked absolutely fantastic! Not just a race track but a whole load more including hotels, technology centre and all sorts of facilities. Not just one race track either as there are multiple possible configurations. The idea is that this will be like living city where people will work, stay and also watch races. It’s a huge project with multi-million euro investment. The announcement being made was of an official link and commitment to the project by Renault World Series who will be racing there at the end of the 2009 series, givng Motorland roughly 18 months to finish everything off. To find out more about motorland then head to their website at www.motorlandaragon.com. With all this announced it was tme for the sandwiches and coffee! What I haven’t mentioned is where the press conference took place, in the Stadium Suite in the Brooklands hospitality building. If you haven’t been to Silverstone then this won’t mean much to you, but it looks out over Bridge, Brooklands and Luffield bends the last corner complex before the pit straight, offering a fabulous view – the kind of view that costs a lot of money on a racing weekend. Whilst there the Press officer for Renault World Series said we would be welcome to stay, so we did enjoying the hospitality and a view we could never afford! As the afternoon went on we got chatting to the hospitality hosts and the our actual hosts from Motorland (who gave us some very posh Olive Oil as a present) and we were invited back the next day.

The next day we arrived early as the roads were going to get busy around the circuit very early on, thankfully parking wasn’t a problem for us as we were able to park in the centre of the circuit. We went into the pits, but there wasn’t much happening as the first race was for Formula Renault 2.0 UK and they don’t use the pit lane for anything other than stops, they don’t have garages and the cars are brought onto the circuit at Brooklands. So we went to the Media Centre but it was busy up there, so we headed around to Brooklands by the track to watch the racing from right behind the barriers in front of the BRDC, catching some nice photo’s. (you can see all the photo’s on facebook here and here)

After this we went across and joined one of the Marshal’s for the Renault Clio race (which got very spread out due to the nature of the circuit and was actually probably the most dull race all weekend) at Maggots. Then there was a break in proceedings while they paraded the Histoire et Collection so we had a wander and ended up back at Brooklands suites, so we headed inside and were greeted warmly.

What struck me as funny in that afternoon in the suite was the first time the Spanish guys got really excited about motorsport was when they were watching the MotoGP on TV. The World Series cars were getting ready outside, but Dani Pedrosa was on the front row for the Spanish Grand Prix and our new friends were incredibly happy that he took off into the lead. After it was clear that, failing any major problems, Dani would win there was a lot of concentration on Rossi. I watched the race with them and despite a huge difference in language we shared the international language of Motorsport! Sharp winces and inhalations as farings almost touch, we all knew what we were talking about!

So thanks to Motorland for giving me an excellent Birthday present and all their hospitality was really appreciated – and if you want to fly me to Spain and put me up for a few nights at your new complex in 2009 for the Spanish leg of World Series By Renault then I’m open to offers!

Tags: Motorsport, racing, renault, silverstone, world series by renault