O Lewis, where did you get your driving license from?

In a surprising Canadian Grand Prix, the BMWs came in 1-2, with David Coulthard 3rd. Now wait. Where are the McLarens and the Ferraris?

Basically, to keep a long story short, during a busy pitlane session after the safety period, Raikonnen and Kubica lined up at pit exit due to a red light.

Soon after, Hamilton comes cruising along at pit lane speed limit, and crashes unceremoniously into the back of the Ferrari. End of race for both drivers. Kubica was not bothered by the circus of events going on 2 metres from him, and went on to win the race.

From left to right: Kimi (car underneath), Lewis (car in mid air), Kubica (laughing in the car)

Interestingly, Hamilton was facing 2 cars side by side, and when he realised too late that the lights were red, he 'manouevred' to the left, where the red car was. No further suggestions necessary.

Quote by Kubica: "Last year Fisichella and Massa went by, I stopped as the first car. This time I stopped side by side with Kimi and after a few seconds Lewis came flat out and crashed into him. I have to thank him that he chose Kimi and not me."

Quote by Kimi: "Obviously, anyone can make mistakes, as I did two weeks ago in Monaco, but it's one thing to make a mistake at two hundred per hour but another to hit a car stopped at a red light. I am not angry because that doesn't achieve anything and does not change my result.
I am unhappy, because I had a great chance of winning."

To be fair, Hamilton knew he was in the wrong and he did apologise. Its just one of these things that crack me up -- F1 driver trying to beat a red light with 2 stationary cars in front of him. This already reminds me of the incident in Shanghai where Lewis parked his million dollar McLaren in the world's most expensive carpark (read: gravel)

Having said that, I still cannot understand why the pitlane has to be closed during pitstops, or why the exit is closed when the entrance is opened. I believe the former is due to not letting any driver gain an advantage of the safety car by pitting in, although this would be negated easily if everyone did the same. I presume it would benefit backrunners the most, but hey, safety car sessions always benefits backrunners.

I think we should see some new rules coming out in the next few weeks.

What a finish!

The F1 season is finally over! And what a great finale it was. Stayed up late in the wee hours to watch the Brazilian GP ... Hamilton went into the race with 4 pts over Alonso and 7 over Raikonnen. It was his race to lose.

Remember Shanghai? When he parked his car in the world's most expensive parking lot ie the pit lane gravel pit?!?! What was he thinking of? A decent finish and the title was his. But that moment of sillyness, losing his head when he could have slowed down more going into the pits, showed a weakness mentally. Can he handle the pressure.

Going into Brazil, I was telling some friends that I expect Alonso to finish strongly in the top three. That's because he has a really cool and mature head on his shoulders, winning 2 championships already. Hamilton will be too eager, and it will be interesting to see if he crumbles under pressure. Raikonnen... 7 pts behind, nah no choice unless the Mclaren blows up. Thus I think Alonso would win, even though I was rooting for Hamilton.

Guess what. He did lose his head once again. Start of race was frantic, Raikonnen got up to 2nd, Hamilton got caught behind a little and let Alonso past. 2-3-4. finish in that order and we have the world's 1st ever rookie F1 champion. but NOOOOO. Turn 4 and you know he wasn't thinking properly again. He's a racer no doubt, wanting to win the title with a victory, but it was barely 1% of the entire race and he didn't need to go on the outside of turn 4. Not very likely. I would say give any driver the chance to finish 4th and win the title and they will snap it up. Perhaps some youthful exuberance from Hamilton? In any case, he ended up 7th I think in the 1st lap.

Of course the electronics problem later didn't help and when he got to the back of the field I knew the title was lost. A brilliant attempt to get into the points got him into 7th , but he was hoping for a miracle (ie a crash from the front runners) to get any chance to win. Ferrari 1-2, so obviously Raikonnen would get no. 1 . Alonso would finish a strong 3, but 1 point short of the title... Raikonnen world champion! Wow. I think the crowd was quite stunned. in the end, the top 3 drivers were separated by 1 point only! Very very close.

In any case, we can judge the drivers by comparing them to their teammates. Hamilton has had a wonderfully successful season and should take heart from his rookie year. Same points as previous world champion is a remarkable achievement. Alonso won't stay in Mclaren, I don't see that happening. Racing is rather pro british if you look at all the key players. he's probably better off joining a non-british team.

Anyway well done to them. a juicy season indeed .... =) next year! (n the night race !!!)

Racing at its best !

Wow, what a fantastic Nurburgring race! Many things which I want to say, but its all very well-expressed in the report here. If the Singapore race next year is half as good, that's enough for me!

Highlights of the race:
- Rain in after 40 seconds into the 1st lap. And its a heavy downpour
- Spyker's Winkelhock, in his race decut in his home race, with a especially shrewd change to wet tyres after warm-up lap, led in his 1st F1 race for 1 full lap! That's everything a rookie can ask for.
- In turn 1 of the 3rd lap, in the space of about 30 seconds, 5 cars, 1 by 1, slid, no, aquaplaned off the hairpin into the gravel and tyrewall. It was simply hilarious (well I don't think the drivers would agree haha)
-pit stop frenzy to get wets
-Kimi missing the pit entry. Well he tried, but slid off and ended up on the track! Meaning he would have to go 1 more round on grooved slicks
- red flag. very sensible given the conditions
- Hamilton joins from the back! Saved from the gravel-yard!

Race restart in bright sunshine
-Kimi had a engine problem. So did Winkelhock. Definitely memorable for the German...
-A rather routine 50 laps until ....
- Rain predicted in 7 mins, with 12 laps to go!!!!
-The rain came, the pits were open and busy, and race on!
- After much probing, Alonso managed to edge past Massa on the track. There was contact, and it seemed rather agressive, but Alonso was way faster and would have gotten past some how.
- Last 3 laps to go... and in the last corner of final, Webber nearly threw away his podium 3rd on a slide that had Wurz inches away, but managed to hold on....
- Post race, in the holding area before prize presentation.... WAR OF WORDS between Alonso and Massa. A slur of Spanish flying around. Very tense moments, but very watchable! Even Ron Dennis just stood and shut up.
- Presentation ... Schumacher presented the trophy to Ron Dennis for winning constructor. hohoho. the agony, man.

Racing needs this kind of excitement, this kind of tension, this kind of drama. I love racing.