2008 Italian Grand Prix Revie

2008 Italian Grand Prix Revie

Sebastian Vettel has taken his first ever win at Monza this afternoon.  The 21 year old from Germany takes the record as the youngest ever grand prix winner (previously Alonso), and also makes Toro Rosso's first ever win.

Race Review

The race started under the safety car as conditions were very wet, and the FIA wanted the drivers to have a "taster" of the circuit before they went racing.  Sebastien Bourdais luck was out before he started, the Toro Rosso wouldn't go anywhere, and being under safety car there is no formation lap and he had to be wheeled to the pits to try and get him started.

In the beginning everyone was ambling around, but when the safety car came in it all kicked off.  Vettel was tenths of a second faster on every lap than anyone else, he showed great courage and probably luck in the fact he had no spray to deal with!

Further back drivers were trading places, but everyone was paranoid about driving over chicanes after "Chicane gate".  Massa had to give a place back, as did many others.

Lewis Hamilton pushed his way through the field, passing Raikkonen like he was stood still despite having much more fuel than the Finn.

Both he and Raikkonen had previously dispatched Giancarlo Fisichella, but when the Italian tried to defend against David Coulthard he knocked his nosecone.  coming down to the parabolica, Fisichella's nose completely disintegrated and he went straight into the barriers.

Hamilton was going fast still while most of the other drivers were struggling to make overtakes stick. The track was growing drier and drier, and while most made a stop and put Extreme wets on, Hamilton continued and stopped on lap 27, a clear 1 stop strategy.  Intellegence was coming frmo the radars that rain was coming so Hamilton put extreme wets on his car, it would prove to be a mistake.

No rain was coming, and the track was getting drier all the time.  David Coulthard then Fernando Alonso came in and gambled on the wets.  It worked for Alonso who was lapping well faster than everyone else.  Felipe Massa changed too at his scheduled stop, as did most of the rest of the field.  Robert Kubica's stop was perfectly timed to take the intermediate tyres, and this paid dividends turning a quite race into a podium finish.

This meant that Hamilton was losing time on the wrong tyres, and his strategy of 1 stop was thrown out of the window as McLaren acknowledged his need to change to inermediates.  He did so, but ruined his chances of winning.  Webber was catching Hamilton very easily as the Brit wasn't getting them up to temperature.  Webber tried to outbrake Hamilton round the outside into the first chicane, but Hamilton bumped wheels with the Australian forcing him across the grass.

From there, Massa kept Hamilton behind easily, it never really looked like the McLaren would gain enough advantage to pass.

Towards the end there was more incident.  Jenson Button crossed the chicane into turn 1 and clean scraped the side of Nelson Piquet, not really sure what was going on but there was carbon fibre all over the place.  A lap later Piquet would powerslide his Renault across the grass, just a couple of incidents the driver had there.

Kimi Raikkonen came right through, passing laods of people and getting the fastest lap time, bringing it down 4 times in a row, this will anger many Ferrari fans who will be left feeling "why didn't he do it sooner?" once again, 3 races in a row without points for the Finn.

Rubens Barrichello pitted late to put extreme wets on, but it was a stupid gamble as no rain ever came.  Late stops for Intermediates from Toyota and Williams drivers left them nowhere near any points.

Author: Bob

2008 Italian GP facts and stats

Sebastien Vettel broke a couple of Fernando Alonso's records for being the youngest driver to win a race and start from pole position.

The Italian Grand Prix also saw the youngest ever podium and one of Michael Schumacher's records was equalled as well. See the stats and facts round-up in full below.

Record-breaking Vettel

Sebastian Vettel was in record-smashing form over the weekend as covered in these two articles:

• Sebastian Vettel is youngest F1 winner
• Sebastian Vettel is youngest F1 pole man

That makes Vettel F1's youngest points scorer, pole sitter and race winner. He's also the 101st Grand Prix winner.

Five youngest F1 race winners

1. Sebastian Vettel, 21 years, two months and 11 days - 2008 Italian Grand Prix
2. Fernando Alonso, 22 years and 26 days - 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix
3. Troy Ruttman, 22 years, two months, 19 days -1952 Indianapolis 500
4. Bruce McLaren, 22 years, three months, 12 days - 1959 United States Grand Prix
5. Lewis Hamilton, 22 years, five months, three days - 2007 Canadian Grand Prix

Alongside Vettel on the podium were Heikki Kovalainen and Robert Kubica - the two other drivers to have scored their first wins this year. The podium is the youngest ever, with the drivers having an average age of 23 years, 11 months and 16 days. They have only 96 Grand Prix starts between them.

It beats the lowest mark set four races ago in Germany. Emphasising the youth of the F1 grid, there Germany podium featured a different trio: Lewis Hamilton, Nelson Piquet Jnr and Felipe Massa, with an average age of 24 years, seven months and one day.

Toro Rosso scored their first ever Grand Prix win in the 49th race started by one of their cars. It was the 209th win for a car powered by a Ferrari engine - but the first time that engine was not in a Ferrari chassis.

Toro Rosso was formed from Minardi in 2006, the Italian team which started 340 Grands Prix without a win, podium or pole position, all of which Toro Rosso achieved for the first time this weekend.

More facts and stats from Italy

Robert Kubica were a special helmet to commemorate his first F1 podium, which he scored at Monza two years ago. He repeated that result in this race, finishing third. Kubica spent much of his junior racing career in Italy.

Lewis Hamilton recorded his worst starting position in F1 with 15th.

Nick Heidfeld finished his 24th consecutive race. His finishing streak, which stretches back to the 2007 French Grand Prix, matches the longest ever seen in F1. Michael Schumacher completed 24 races in a row from the 2001 Hungarian Grand Prix to the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix. Can Heidfeld break Schumacher's record at Singapore?

Kimi Raikkonen added another fastest lap to his tally, giving him 34. Seven more will give him as many as Alain Prost, who is second on the list of most fastest laps, behind Michael Schumacher.

There have been six different winners this year. The last time a season saw more different winners was 2003, when Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Giancarlo Fisichella and David Coulthard all won races. The 1982 season had the largest number of different winners - 11

Over to you: How many starts has Williams made?

Williams made their 500th Grand Prix appearance, apparently. In other places I've seen them quoted as having 513 and 525 starts. What's the real figure? Should the starts Frank Williams' team prior to the creation of Williams Grand prix Engineering Ltd be counted? What about races like Indianapolis 2005?

How Raikkonen, Hamilton and Massa's lap times compared at Monza

The three championship rivals had varying fortunes in the mixed weather at Monza. At one time or another each was substantially faster than the other.

Here's a look at how their lap times compared during the Italian Grand Prix:

Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton lap times

The important thing to remember when looking at this graph is that the gap between each line is one second. So the swings in performance between each of the drivers were quite large.

Lewis Hamilton's lap times suddenly improved once he got past Raikkonen, but what was particularly impressive was he kept his lap times very quick despite having to pass cars on several laps.

Massa's lap times improved considerably after he hit clean air having passed Nico Rosberg on lap 15. Massa's pit stop on lap 22 coincided with Hamilton getting his first proper clear laps in prior to his stop on lap 27.

Through all of this Raikkonen was oddly quiet. He began putting in some quick laps after his first pit stop but it wasn't until he switched from extreme wets to standard wets that he really sped up.

Over the final laps he was taking up to two seconds per lap off Massa and Hamilton, who were running nose to tail. Just as at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps, Raikkonen seemed to thrive when the track was moving from damp to dry conditions.

Here's two graphs showing how the gap from Raikkonen to Massa and Hamilton fluctuated:

Italian Grand Prix: Gap between Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa

Italian Grand Prix: Gap between Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton

keith

F1 Power Rankings

The Italian Grand Prix is in the books and what a race. Loads of overtaking and great drives especially by Formula One's newest star, Sebatian Vettel. So what to make of it all going into the final four races of the year? Dan Brunell goes into detail in the latest edition of the F1 Power Rankings.

The Contenders

1: McLaren (2): Positive things to take from this weekend for McLaren: Both drivers got into the points. They closed the gap on Ferrari in the constructors' championship. Hamilton showed his brilliance once again in the wet to get into the points from that far back in the grid. Heikki got second place.

Things for McLaren to quickly forget: Heikki looked ordinary next to the extraordinary Vettel, looking embarrassed and upset to finish only second. The Swiss clock known as the McLaren strategy team broke by putting the wrong tires on Lewis in both qualifying and the race. Hamilton cost himself several positions and a potential podium by burning through his intermediate wets in the closing stages of the race. Also, it looks more and more likely that he and McLaren will lose their appeal since not a driver, team, or F1 official on the grid has came to the defense of Hamilton for the stupid Spa penalty.

Yet, the good outweighed the bad this week for McLaren and they are looking very strong going into the homestretch of the season. Ferrari keeps on dropping points and, despite all the trouble and controversy this year, they are in a strong position for the double.

2: Ferrari (1): How embarrassing must it be for Ferrari that one of their engine customers with maybe 10% of their budget took them at their home track and absolutely blitzed them? Well, at least Massa finished in the points in a wet race this year. He did OK, seeing that it wasn't his track or optimal conditions for the Ferrari. Also, he finished in front of Lewis and has closed to within a point of the Briton. Finally, who would have thought that Massa would outqualify both Hamilton and Kimi in the wet?

Kimi Ah... Kimi He has a new contract so all that silly nonsense of retiring is past us. He looked racy at the beginning and end, but just didn't seem to put an entire race together this weekend. Like I have said previously; the F2008 has to be a real monster to drive if it is not in optimal conditions. If anything, the Red Team are happy that Lewis didn't win and they have two tracks which they are strong on (Shanghai and Brazil) coming up. For Ferrari, this is where they could finally put their foot down on this championship that should have been theirs so long ago.

Best of the Rest

3: Toro Rosso (3): Wow. Just Wow. Vettel took this race by the horns and made it his. It was a dominating performance that we haven't seen this season since Hamilton at Silverstone. Bravo to Vettel and everyone at Toro Rosso for showing that in a world of $100 million fines, PR-controlled puppet race drivers, and half billion dollar budgets, anyone can win on a given Sunday. I am just absolutely chuffed by their win.

The one downer this week has to be the other part of the Toro Rosso driving team, Sebastien Bourdais. He qualified amazingly well to get fourth, only to have the car stall on the grid. Poor guy. I really hope he gets the drive again next year. I don't think we have seen the best of what "Le Seb" can do.

The Midfield

4: BMW (4): BMW had one of their strongest weekends since the glory of Montreal. Both Kubica and Heidfeld started in the midfield and worked their way up through smart driving and good pit strategy. Third for Kubica and fifth for Heidfeld is a quality result.

I have to give a little love to the BMW pit strategy team. Almost every single race, they have called it right on. They are one of the secrets to BMW's success this year. Bravo to Dr. Mario and the rest.

5: Renault (5): Alonso reminded us once again why he is one of the best (if not the best) drivers on the grid. Getting fourth, for the fourth time this year! When will he get a podium? Anyhow, it is a great achievement for a car that is underpowered on a track like Monza.

Piquet Jr... well... at least he finished the race. I know getting second was an achievement in Germany and that he has looked decent in a few races here and there, but I have to ask: has he really earned his seat next year? The talk has died down since Germany but I am still not sure.

6: Red Bull (7): How much egg must be on their face that their junior team beat them to a first pole and win? Webber looked strong in qualifying and during the early stages of the race. However, once he had his little skirmish with Lewis, he seemed to fade away. DC had his usual invisible race.

Red Bull must be chuffed that they are getting Vettel next year. Now if they can produce a car to suit his obvious talent...

7: Toyota (6): One thing that is interesting is that everyone seems to complain how underpowered the Renaults are when the biggest team that has dropped off the last few weeks has been Toyota. Up till Valencia, they look sporting to take BMW's role as the best of the rest. Now with each race they seem to fall further and further behind the rest of the pack. During the race, they really didn't do much other than race the Toyota-powered Williams. Seeing that they are now on level terms with Renault for fourth place, will they be able to beat them?

Wait Till Next Year

8: Williams (8): They celebrated their 500th grand prix at Monza. Unfortunately the race didn't do anything to enhance their reputation.

I am already casting my vote for the most disappointing driver this year: Nico Roseberg. Outside of a lucky podium in Australia, has this man done anything all year? For all the hype put into Williams in the pre-season regarding him and the rumors of the McLaren transfer, what has he done to justify it? Am I the only one who just doesn't see what the big deal is? He has been in the sport for almost three years and what does he have to show? How can his job not be on the line?

9: Honda (10): Honda for weeks have said that the only way they could be competitive is if the rain was wet. Well, it really didn't turn out that way. I still can't believe that the car is this bad. Barichello and Button deserve something a lot better than they have.

10: Force India (9): The hidden story of the weekend was Force India. They achieved the goal that VJ set out in Australia of getting into the second round of qualifying. Fisichella looked racy till he ended up with a crumpled front wing and in the gravel.

The one who really disappointed this weekend was Sutil. As crazy as things were at Monza, this was the time for him to shine. Frankly, he didn't. It is amazing that we have not had a driver change all season long. I know the team has all but confirmed him for next year, but I just get the feeling that people are running out of patience with the guy. He has been in the sport for two years. What can he prove that he hasn't already shown us?

Minardi:

With Minardi shaking off their image as the lovable losers in Formula One I need to figure out what to call the bottom of the scale... I'll get back to you on that one.

DNF: Super Aguri: Dan's Rant about "Mad" Max calling us stupid

Lost in all the action at Monza (thank god) was Max. One quote has really set me off. Wonder what Max really thinks of Formula One fans and the media. Here is a taste:

"Any suggestion there is a bias for or against any team or driver is completely untrue, absolutely not," Mosley told Reuters today at Monza. "I think it's a reflection, and I'm sorry to say this, of the stupidity of the people who say it because they haven't really thought the thing through and put themselves in the position of the people who have to take these very difficult decisions."

Ferrari must have whipped that out of him... ah ewww.

In all seriousness regardless of who you support in the sport; for the adjudicator of the Formula One to state that you are "stupid" for questioning the integrity of the governing body is disturbing. If Max really cared, he would have given evidence and proof of how the FIA works with all the teams and manufactures to satisfy everyone. Instead he is just calling people names.

How can we trust anyone who says 'trust me' but every time you ask them for reasons to trust them, they ridicule you. This isn't about the ladies of the night, Ferrari, the McLaren fine, or even Max himself. This is about making the FIA a ruling body again, instead of an abstract, incoherent arbitrator.

Max - I don't look good in stiletto heels, a whip and a bustier, so I know you wouldn't listen to me. However, you will earn more respect by showing us your integrity by opening up the decision making of the FIA and making a system that is truly equal to all with malice towards none.

Finding people that can say with a straight face we have that now is becoming harder to find. The closed door and inconsistent rulings that are done by your organization makes the statement above sound more like the whining of a recessing intelligence that is ready for the retirement home than a man who will lead motorsports into the 21st century.

I am asked all the time if F1 will ever work (again) in America. I am starting to realize Americans will never take to F1 while it resembles a soap opera and one man's vendetta rather than an actual motorsport. It's a shame because there is so much good, like Vettel's victory at Monza, that reminds me why I love this sport... and so many people like you who make me wonder why I still follow it.

Author : Dan Brunell

Cast your mind back to The 2000 Belgian Grand Prix When people talk of classic Grands Prix at Spa, they usually talk first of the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix. But for its legendary battle between Schumi and the Hakk, both title chasing, I choose to look back on the 2000 Belgian Grand Prix instead.

Indeed Qualifying was fairly interesting in itself. It turned up a second place gridspot for Jarno Trulli in his Jordan, and a personal best third place for promising Williams rookie, Jenson Button. How times have changed for him. Hakkinen however was on pole in his superior McLaren, imperiously setting the best time by .77 of a second! Schumacher was fourth, with DC right behind. Rubens was a spectacularly disappointing 10th, and it looked poor all in all for Ferrari and Schumacher. But the upside for him was that rain had bucketed down on the circuit with not long to go before the race, making it very wet indeed at parts.

So, to avoid chaos into La Source on the opening lap, the race was started behind the safety car, one of only four Grands Prix in F1 history (alongside the 1997 Belgian, 2003 Brazilian and 2007 Japanese GPs) to be started in this manner. It seemed to work: the opening section up La Source was exciting, with Schumi challenging Button, DC challenging Schumi and Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Jordan slotting past Jacques Villeneuve's BAR, but no accident or incident occured. At the front, the order remained the same at the front, with the Hakk surging away, and Trulli and Button somewhat holding Schumacher up behind, before amazingly gaining some ground on him. That is until they started fighting, which allowed Schumi back onto Jenson Button's tail after Button had got past Trulli and got repassed by Trulli respectively into and out of La Source. The track was drying out slightly already, and it looked to be soon that dry tyres would be going on. Schumi got his act together at this point. He passed Button at the old left-right Bus Stop, and just two corners later was by Trulli into La Source with a superb dive down the inside from deep. Trulli turned in, and was shamelessly punted out of a good result by Jenson.

Jean Alesi was the first to change to slicks, and very quickly became the fastest man on track, which prompted others to make the change. The McLarens were some of the last in the field to change to slicks, which closed the gap between Hakkinen and Schumacher to around 10 seconds. Then, a crucial moment. A lurid slide for the Hakk allowed Schumi past, and meant Schumacher had a healty lead of around 10 seconds himself, and was pulling away. Both pitted, both fueled to the end. But the track was now basically dry, and Schumacher had a wet setup and poor straightline speed.

This set the scene for a classic battle between Schumacher and Hakkinen. By lap 35, Hakkinen was 1.5 seconds behind Schumacher. With 5 laps to go, Hakkinen was inside Schumacher heading up to Les Combes, but in a contraversial moment, Hakkinen was rudely forced to the side of the track and had to get out of it. Hakkinen, privately, would later, in well chosen but mild English tell Schumacher exactly what he thought of this.

Next time round however, Mika got creative. As Schumacher approached backmarker Ricardo Zonta on the Kemmel straight, he was faced with a dilemma Go inside for the tiny gap between Zonta and the grass, or go outside and give Mika the opportunity to pass? He chose outside, and Mika took his opportunity. The move was simply amazing. With a speed difference of maybe 40 or 50 miles an hour to the BAR, the Ferrari and the Mac dived either side of him lunging for the apex of Les Combes. Schumacher was second into the corner and Mika had the lead moving across to take the apex, causing Michael to react twitchily, and Mika thus got revenge for the previous lap. He did the last 3 and a half laps flawlessly, went on to win by just over a second. It had been a superb drive by Michael, but Mika was too strong. Ralf Schumacher's Williams came a distant third, 37 seconds behind his brother. DC, Button and HHF rounded out the points, but the day had been all about the two title aspirants, and their amazing battle.

Author : Twistedarmco

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Drivers in danger - Who will not be back in 2009 ?

McLaren will keep both their drivers, Ferrari semiofficially stated that both Massa and Raikkonen will race for them next year, "sources" also say that BMW Sauber took up their option on Kubica and will keep him for another year.

There however have been some summer developments and several drivers may be in danger of loosing their current Formula 1 seats.

The most talked about is Nick Heidfeld as his departure would create a vacancy in currently the 3rd best team on the grid. It looked for a while like he might be getting over his difficulties in qualifying that often destroy his weekends. But then it went wrong for him again in the last couple of races. While Kubica returned BMW Sauber to the podium the only positive on Heidfelds perfomances is his 100% race finishing record this season. But that was something even Tiago Monteiro managed with Jordan in his rookie season few years back (until he retired in the last race of the season). Mario Theissen seems to have enough and sent out an open warning to Heidfeld. With the team ready to announce their 2009 drivers anytime between now and end of the season Nick Heidfeld can't afford any more failures. It does not look like he will get 6 races to prove himself. If he looses his seat it will not be easy to find a new one . Comparisons with Ralf Schumacher are springing to mind. I have been wondering if this is not a case of Kubica overachieving rather than Heidfeld underperforming. But even if it was the case, how would that help Heidfeld .

Rubens Barrichello may have scored Honda's only podium in about 18 months but he does not have his F1 future in his own hands anymore. Unfortunately for Rubens Ross Brawn and Nick Fry have their eyes set on Fernando Alonso and perhaps would even consider one year deal. Ferrari likely will not have room for Alonso till 2010 at least and so the double world champion may choose to do the one year waiting in Brackley instead of Enstone .

Force India seems to be in some sort of mess right now. I predicted some change in this team already in July. The difference between July and now is that I see both the drivers being in danger now.

Sebastien Bourdais Bourdais won several consecutive Champ Car champoinships. STR expected he would be competitive in F1 and at least be on par with his team mate. But he hasn't done that. His experience has not shown in F1,The team wants results .some sites confirmed Buemi at STR for next year the driver, who is part of the Red Bull young driver programme and been a tester in F1 for a few years, admitted that he isn't convinced he will be the driver despite a good test day with the team at Jerez.

The Swiss man is coming up against tough competition for the drive from Takuma Sato and Bruno Senna.

"I am a bit excited, but I try to stay calm," Buemi said about the talk regarding his future. "I did my best, but maybe I will test again before they take a decision. So I have to wait and see."

Nelson Piquet jr. has been in danger more less since the race 1. There was not any dramatic improvement on his side (if we do not count the lucky podium) but with Alonso not performing too well either Piquet's recent races did not look that bad. Unlike Heidfeld I think that Piquet still has 6 races to prove himself and unlike Barrichello Nelsinho still may have his future in his own hands. Renault however are not afraid to go into new season with 2 new drivers (see their disposal of Fisi and Heikki last winter) so even if Alonso moves on may not make Piquet's future with Renault any safer.

Kazuki Nakajima hasn't been on Nico Rosberg's pace but he has at least been consistent enough to score eight points - only one fewer than his team mate. But it will be his Toyota connections that keep him at Williams for another year.

Is inexperience the cause of Williams' ills?

By Scott

During Alex Wurz's two years at Williams, the team moved from eight to fourth in the constructors' championship. In 2007, when racing - rather than testing - he had a solid, if unspectacular, season, scoring a total of 13 points.

We're not talking about a driver who was ever going to be out-qualifying team-mate Nico Rosberg on a regular basis, yet he made a vital contribution to the team. Well respected for his technical contributions, the input Wurz made to Williams' development programme proved highly valuable.

Before the season got underway, it looked like 2008 was going to be a successful year for Williams. They were on the pace in testing, and some even speculated that the team had a chance of returning to the top step of the podium.

The team enjoyed a strong start to 2008, with Nico Rosberg on the rostrum in Australia. But despite this positive result, during the course of the season Williams have slipped back so far that they're now fighting with the Force India cars for last position.

At Williams' disposal are two young, quick drivers. But both lack experience, and the FW30 hasn't been successfully developed throughout the course of the season.

During Damon Hill's time with Williams, a number of journalists would point out that he was in the best car. This was meant to be somewhat disparaging, but as Hill often retorted, having worked with the engineers at Williams over a number of years (initially as a test driver), the team's successful development programme was obviously influenced by his own contributions.

Williams have engineers who are well respected with the paddock, although their budget doesn't match that of the manufacturer teams. With testing millage heavily restricted these days, and given the team's current lack of competitiveness, attracting an experienced, respected driver to the role of test driver would be difficult.

There can be no denying that Williams has failed to developed their car throughout the season. Employing a more experience race driver, even if he doesn't have the ultimate pace of Rosberg, may be what's needed to ensure the Grove-based outfit can fight with the well financed manufacturer teams.

Alonso On Verge Of BMW Deal?

Reports from the paddock at the weekend suggest that Spaniard and 2 time world champion Fernando Alonso is on the verge of a deal with BMW Sauber F1 Team.

Alonso, who rejoined Renault after a tortuous season with McLaren has been looking for an escape route from the French team who are chronically underperforming. Ferrari has been ruled out for 2009 with both drivers confirmed, as is Red Bull and his only 2 routes left appear to be with either Honda or BMW Sauber.

Honda boss Ross Brawn has previously stated his desire to bring Alonso to his team, but admits he is waiting in a decision which is unlikely to be yes from the 27 year old.

Italian sport channel Sky Sports Italia reckons that Alonso has indeed signed a 3 year deal with BMW Sauber, and will take over from Nick Heidfeld who has recently fallen out of favour with the Hinwil team.

"For weeks I have said I will only consider my future at the end of September. My priority at the moment is to help Renault to fourth place in the constructors' championship," Alonso is quoted as saying by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

Robert Kubica has openly admitted he would welcome Fernando Alonso as his team mate at BMW Sauber.

The polish driver and Alonso are close friends, and are often seen in the paddock together - more than once playing poker!

Kubica admits Alonso would bring a lot to the team.

Alonso has been seen talking to BMW already and is said to be considering a contract offer (we reported this a week ago), and he seems to favour the German team.

"I think I will not have any problems," Kubica, currently partnering Nick Heidfeld, said.

"Especially because we know quite well. Fernando and me have the same view on racing, and quite similar driving styles.

"I think there are no real downsides to have him, but as I said I never have a problem with my teammate. Whether it is him or Nick, my approach is always the same."

Is Kimi losing his grip?

Kimi Räikkönen won the championship last season by one point with an impressive comeback. He won three of the last four races and when there were only 2 races to go he was still 17 points behind.

Wonderful start of the season

2008 started out nicely, excluding the disaster of Australian GP, as Räikkönen was leading the championship with a nine point margin after four races. Then it all seemed to fall apart. He hasn't won a race since the Spanish GP and he's constantly losing to his teammate. Is it all over for Kimi or can he strike back as he did last year? Let's evaluate Kimi's season so far and try to see if we can figure out what is going on.

The Australian GP was a failure for Ferrari which was haunted by reliability problems during the whole weekend. After that their success started, however. Kimi lost to Massa in Malaysian GP's
qualifying by almost half of a second. In the race he showed his speed and Massa could do nothing to hold Kimi back. Spanish GP saw Kimi dominating again by taking the pole position, winning the race and making the fastest lap. Everything was working perfectly for him there.

In the next races Kimi didn't get good results due to bad circumstances and strategic decisions. His pace was quite fine, though, as he showed it by making six fastest laps in a row. Kimi had some minor problems in qualifyings, but he still made it to top four.

Problems start to rise

It wasn't until the German GP that Räikkönen's real qualifying problems started. Qualifying has been an issue for him during his whole time at Ferrari even though he used to be fast in qualifyings when driving for McLaren. Things have changed since then as the tyre competition has ended and the tyres aren't the same anymore. Kimi has blamed the tyres for being the primary reason of his woes, but the other championship contenders don't seem to have any problems with them.

Bad qualifying is hard to recover from in today's F1. Qualifying has for the most of the time become even more important than the race itself as the starting position gives the decisive advantage on the tracks where overtaking is practically impossible. You don't win races
from 6th on the grid and to even think about chances to win, you'd had to be at least third. That means a perfect lap and also a relatively light fuel strategy as the heavy fuel is useless when you're driving behind other cars and not being able to the strategy how you want.

Räikkonen's driving style is quite gentle. He also requires an oversteering car and by now Schumacher and Massa have been using understeering cars which is how the current cars have been built as well. That's why it's odd that nothing would have been changed from last year when the problems were already known. Ferrari's new front nose for instance is surprisingly too soft for Kimi while it suits Massa perfectly.

Basically Kimi needs a car that responds to him aggressively while Massa steers his car aggressively himself. That gives Massa the advantage in one lap performance. Kimi's problems are evident in slow corners where the car doesn't turn how he wants.

Is it more than just the car?

Has Kimi Räikkonen lost his touch? In Formula One the drivers are mainly judged by their last few races which doesn't really give a clear picture of the situation. Ferrari's development was suffering to some extent, but it seems to have got to the right track, for Massa that is. Kimi is still struggling and he doesn't seem to match Massa's pace during the race anymore either. Ferrari are working hard with Kimi to find out the cause of his problems and fix them so that he can get back to the
title fight. It's been a while since Kimi's last win, but it must be remembered that Magny Cours would have been his to conquer if the exhaust pipe hadn't broken.

Räikkonen has rubbished the reports that suggest he's losing his motivation. All of the championship contenders have had their share of mocking from the press this season and now it's Kimi's turn. It is quite too premature to talk about him getting replaced for the next season or retiring earlier than expected. The problems aren't solved by escaping the situation but by trying harder and harder.

Spa was said to be Kimi's last stand. He fought superbly until the rain hit at the last laps of the race. The race was crucial in terms of championship and Kimi's fighting form. His championship hopes are pretty slim now, but as last year showed us, anything can still happen.

Author : Azshadow .