Japanese Grand Prix Practice
#1
10-10-2008 | 03:32 AM
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Posts: 23,875
From: Orange County
Japanese Grand Prix Practice
Now that my Angels are out of the playoffs (don't even mention it Boston fans) I can turn my full attention back to the "comdey of errors" that if FORMULA 1 RACING in 2008!
Lewis draws first blood in Japan. He can put away the title with a win and another Ferrari meltdown.
Here is some nice press on the practice - from Autosport
Lewis draws first blood in Japan. He can put away the title with a win and another Ferrari meltdown.
Here is some nice press on the practice - from Autosport
Hamilton tops first practice in Japan
By Matt Beer Friday, October 10th 2008, 02:33 GMT
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton led the way at the end of a quiet first practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix.
In dry and sunny conditions at Fuji, Hamilton beat title rival Felipe Massa (Ferrari) to first position by 0.153 seconds, with their respective teammates Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen completing the top four.
The session got off to a leisurely start, with only home team Toyota coming out to entertain the fans early on.
Raikkonen was the first of the major contenders to emerge, setting his first flying lap half an hour into the session, although a lock-up and the need to get around Rubens Barrichello's Honda on his first lap meant he needed two attempts to claim first place.
The Finn briefly relinquished the top spot to Hamilton shortly afterwards, but moved back ahead before the end of his run as the McLaren lost time with a trip over the Turn 1 run-off area.
Hamilton took charge when he rejoined 20 minutes later, lapping in 1:19.062 to beat Raikkonen by three tenths of a second.
Massa then leapt to second, just 0.001 seconds behind Hamilton, but that remarkably close situation only lasted a few moments before Hamilton improved to a 1:18.910 - which would stand as the best lap of the morning as no-one gained time on the final runs.
Kovalainen improved to third on his second run, with Raikkonen falling to fourth as his early time proved to be his best of the session.
Fernando Alonso (Renault) was the main challenger to McLaren and Ferrari all morning and duly ended up fifth, ahead of his teammate Nelson Piquet.
Toro Rosso continued their recent strong form with Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais in seventh and ninth positions, split by Robert Kubica's BMW.
Local favourite Kazuki Nakajima languished at the foot of the times until the closing moments, when he leapt up to 10th for Williams.
His improvement edged Adrian Sutil's Force India out of the top ten, as the German showed promising form at the track where he scored his only point to date last year.
Circuit owners Toyota had a disappointing start to the weekend, with early pace-setters Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock ultimately dropping to 15th and 18th respectively.
The session saw very little incident bar a few trips across the ample asphalt run-off areas and a half spin at Turn 10 by BMW's Nick Heidfeld.
By Matt Beer Friday, October 10th 2008, 02:33 GMT
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton led the way at the end of a quiet first practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix.
In dry and sunny conditions at Fuji, Hamilton beat title rival Felipe Massa (Ferrari) to first position by 0.153 seconds, with their respective teammates Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen completing the top four.
The session got off to a leisurely start, with only home team Toyota coming out to entertain the fans early on.
Raikkonen was the first of the major contenders to emerge, setting his first flying lap half an hour into the session, although a lock-up and the need to get around Rubens Barrichello's Honda on his first lap meant he needed two attempts to claim first place.
The Finn briefly relinquished the top spot to Hamilton shortly afterwards, but moved back ahead before the end of his run as the McLaren lost time with a trip over the Turn 1 run-off area.
Hamilton took charge when he rejoined 20 minutes later, lapping in 1:19.062 to beat Raikkonen by three tenths of a second.
Massa then leapt to second, just 0.001 seconds behind Hamilton, but that remarkably close situation only lasted a few moments before Hamilton improved to a 1:18.910 - which would stand as the best lap of the morning as no-one gained time on the final runs.
Kovalainen improved to third on his second run, with Raikkonen falling to fourth as his early time proved to be his best of the session.
Fernando Alonso (Renault) was the main challenger to McLaren and Ferrari all morning and duly ended up fifth, ahead of his teammate Nelson Piquet.
Toro Rosso continued their recent strong form with Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais in seventh and ninth positions, split by Robert Kubica's BMW.
Local favourite Kazuki Nakajima languished at the foot of the times until the closing moments, when he leapt up to 10th for Williams.
His improvement edged Adrian Sutil's Force India out of the top ten, as the German showed promising form at the track where he scored his only point to date last year.
Circuit owners Toyota had a disappointing start to the weekend, with early pace-setters Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock ultimately dropping to 15th and 18th respectively.
The session saw very little incident bar a few trips across the ample asphalt run-off areas and a half spin at Turn 10 by BMW's Nick Heidfeld.
#2
10-10-2008 | 02:43 PM
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 31,976
From: Minnesota
Not completely related to the practice this morning, but when I was watching coverage on Speed this morning, the announcers were discussing how Kimi would never be the team player Shumi was (or Massa is, for that matter). One of the announcers said something to the effect that Raikkonen was probably hoping for Hamilton to win, just so he might stand a better chance at keeping his seat at Ferrari for a bit longer. Seems as if Alonso is vying for a spot on the Ferrari team (although I doubt he'd be any better of a team player compared to Kimi). Then again, both Kimi and Felipe's contracts were extended for another year IIRC.
Either way, Kimi needs to change something before he becomes obsolete.
Either way, Kimi needs to change something before he becomes obsolete.
#4
10-10-2008 | 10:01 PM
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 23,875
From: Orange County
Typical tifosi banter. Lewis has lead the entire year. How could they "lose" it? They got beaten in part because Lewis is the best driver in the world and in part due to terrible reliability issues.
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