sofaF1

During this season I have noticed a lot of people saying "that's it now, that's the way it will go for the rest of the season". At one point it was Ferrari to win and McLaren nowhere. Now maybe it's perceived as the other way around.

It's always amazing to me how quickly history his forgotten. I have composed a table showing the difference between the current drivers current points in the current season, and their points at the end of race 10.

Driver	2008	2007	Diff
Robert Kubica	48	24	24
H.Kovalainen	28	15	13
Jarno Trulli	20	7	13
R.Barrichello	11	0	11
Mark Webber	18	8	10
Nelsinho Piquet	10	0	10
Kazuki Nakajima	8	0	8
Nick Heidfeld	41	36	5
Sebastian Vettel	6	1	5
Timo Glock	5	0	5
Nico Rosberg	8	5	3
Jenson Button	3	1	2
S.Bourdais	2	0	2
Anthony Davidson	0	0	0
Adrian Sutil	0	0	0
Kimi Räikkönen	51	52	-1
David Coulthard	6	8	-2
Takuma Sato	0	4	-4
Felipe Massa	54	59	-5
Lewis Hamilton	58	70	-12
G.Fisichella	0	17	-17
Fernando Alonso	13	68	-55

Maybe Kimi doesn't seem to care this year? But on the other hand he's hardly down on last year. I'm not saying Kimi is going to win but he's only one point down on his position last year, whereas Lewis and Massa have dropped a significant chunk from last year's position. Remember anything can happen in Formula 1 - and it usually does.

This has been a close season, and it 'aint over until Bernie sings. And there is one more race this year than last year.

I've long been against the two tyre rule for Formula One which forces teams to run for at least part of the race on a sub-optimal tyre.

It was brought in ostensibly to improve the racing but it was pretty obvious right from the beginning that Bridgestone just wanted publicity. They were worried that with the withdrawal of Michelan that nobody would talk about them.

Well it's pretty much failed on both counts. Now that the teams are used to the tyres you often see teams leaving their least good tyres until the end of the race when the drivers are, usually, further apart on the track.

On the publicity front it has worked even less well. I said before this whole thing happened that all that would happen was that people would just refer to the things as "tyres" rather than "Bridgestones".

This has happened, and actually this has been pretty lucky for Bridgestone as the only time the tyres are mentioned when the driver says that things were much more difficult on the sub optimal tyres.

It seems that drivers now only say negative things about tyres. This is because when the tyre is good it is only as good as your opponents.
It is never better, but when it's bad it's worse than the one you had on a moment ago.

But don't worry Bridgestone have a plan. They are going to make the difference between the tyres at each race more pronounced. This, they reckon will make the tyres much more important during the race weekend. But hold on didn't we just discover that drivers will only ever talk negatively about tyres if their tyre can't be faster than the one everyone else has? Oh yes we did. And so this will cause even more negative talk.

The only thing they could do worse would be to rename the prime and option tyres as Bridgestone and Firestone. That way people would have to mention their brand when they were dissing them. So my guess is that Bridgestone will be doing this shortly.

And if anyone can work out how to paint a white stripe on to a slick tyre without it rubbing off within a few laps please let them know.

As the summer really gets underway, Hamilton continues his recent run of dominant form. It looked like there was going to be a great battle between Massa and Hamilton after the qualifying sessions, but when the race started Hamilton just scampered away leaving Ferrari scratching their heads.

Here in the world of SofaF1 the results have started to pick up again, this was actually our second highest scoring race collectively so far, after Spain.

We all benefited from the 6 point Hamilton pole and win combo except Alex who just went for the 2 point pole option with just 1 in the race and GrifF1 who just took the 4 points for the win.

Massa was good for us all, giving Nick, Fourstar, Igor, GrifF1 and myself 1 point each and Alex two.

A lower than usual finish for Kubica gave Nick 2 points and Fourstar 1. Kovalainen finishing lower than his grid slot would have suggested too gave Alex, Fourstar and Igor a further point each. Heidfeld was looking good for a podium for a while but still gave Alex another point. Which just leaves Alex and Nick, who hung around till the end to hoover up a further two points each for Vettel in eighth.


Guest competitor Bigotez this week put forward a top ten prediction, but no pole option, so within the competition rules the top eight prediction scored 7 points, 4 for Hamiltons win, 1 for Massa and two for Kovalainen. Great start, might have a job to overhaul Fourstar by the end of the season though!


So Round 10, Nick gets into his strides

1 Nick 11
2 Alex 9
2 Fourstar 9
4 Igor 8
5 Bearded Stew 7
6 GrifF1 5


Championship

1 Fourstar 67
2 Nick 63
3 Igor 53
4 Alex 50
5 Bearded Stew 46
6 GrifF1 45

It was great to see Hamilton on a charge this weekend, he really has been very quick over the last couple of races. Piquet with a quirk of strategy did amazingly well to hold on to a second place. Even though he admitted he got lucky it must help with his confidence to be standing up there on the podium, it could be a turning point for him.

Massa was disappointing, not really having the speed in the race after his qualifying battle but not even fighting to hold onto second place, this wasn't just for a couple of points this was for the championship lead!

Raikkonen couldn't keep up the pace and slips into third in the championship, his job to win it again this year will be looking tough if Hamilton continues this searing pace.

Coulthard got in a tangle again, a touch reminiscent of his rearview visibility problem from earlier in the year. For Webber this year, retiring has not been the norm, but he was caught out by a mechanical problem. Talking of Webber, it will be interesting to see how he gets on with Vettel next year, he was very vocal with his opinions last year when Vettel took him out in the rain, hopefully he will think that Vettel has grown up a bit since then and they will get on fine. Vettel could be in a good place for a championship challenge in a year or two if the Red Bull car keeps developing like it has.

Other interesting news this week, Santander going to sponsor Ferrari in 2010, where will Alonso be then do you reckon? Could he be heading into the red?

Anyway, whatever happens stay on the Sofa. Anybody Hungary?

Hello all,

I have to go out early doors tomorrow so I am putting my pole poll thoughts here for now in the comments; feel free to move into the right place as and when!

Thanks
fourstar

---

Alex here now...

Sorry for the delay. This being on holiday causes all kinds of problems...

So, we haven't been to Hockenheim for a few years which might confuse a few people. Hamilton, for example, hasn't been there before. But nobody seems to have mentioned that to him - he's been fastest in both practice sessions so far. But there is a chance that Ferrari are holding back.

There is a high possibility of rain during Qualifying today which may well cause a topsy turvy grid. And if we do get a new grand prix winner this weekend they would be the 100th different driver to win the race.

Good luck!

Labels: Pole Poll

I like Silverstone, a classic high speed track, loads of history, loads of British only just hanging in there year after year. As long as the safety stuff is up to scratch, what's the problem if the pits are a bit ropey? Anyway this year the speculation was over, Silverstone will be giving up the British Grand Prix. Almost as a final protest we are treated to a great race, which closes up the championship again. Halfway through and it's all square at the top of the table for Massa, Raikkonen and Hamilton.

That’s all well and good but what about here at SofaF1?

Well, I reckon it was a hard one to call anyway but then the rain really mixed it all up, maybe that’s because I didn't do so well again, Fourstar might disagree!

Nick had some clear inside information on the track, which gave him the edge in Qualifying! Kovalainen taking his first pole position gives Nick 2 points.

In the race Hamilton's great win gives Fourstar 4 points and Alex, Igor and myself one each. Igor and Alex took two each with Kovalainen and Fourstar one.

Alonso gave GrifF1 her only two points of the race, two for me and one each for Igor and Fourstar. Fourstar had a final point for Rosberg and Nick one for Trulli.

Not the worst scoring race ever, but joint second worst with Australia and Malaysia.


Round 9

1 Fourstar 7
2 Igor 4
3 Bearded Stew 3
3 Alex 3
3 Nick 3
6 GrifF1 2


Championship


1 Fourstar 58
2 Nick 52
3 Igor 45
4 Alex 41
5 GrifF1 40
6 Bearded Stew 39

The rain always serves up a bit of extra excitement, and this weekend was no exception. Ironically Silverstone gave us a great classic race just a few days after it's confirmed to be heading for the back of the dusty F1 cupboard, for the moment anyway!

Great win for Hamilton, he really did show he has got superb driving skills, especially in the wet where many big name drivers were heading for the grass time and time again.

To win a championship, or a race even, you do need a lot of skill and a good car, Hamilton has both but some things also need to go your way and I don't want to take anything away from Hamiltons brilliant win, but there were a few things I thought that worked out rather handily for him.

Firstly his collision with Kovalainen right at the start could have worked out differently and he could have taken them both out at the start, which would not have been good. Also the tyre strategy worked out exactly right for him but crucially went really wrong for Raikkonen, which obviously helped. I think Hamilton did spin too somewhere and got away with it unlike Kubica. Clearly Hamilton was fast in the race and I don't want to put him down at all but I do think he had the rub of the cloth this weekend and it's important to take all these other factors into consideration too. Next time it might go the other way.

Next time….next time….oh that’s basically tomorrow.

I went to Silverstone for the practice sessions on Friday. As Alex informed you, this will be the penultimate British Grand Prix at the track, and the last one for David Coulthard. I personally am excited about the race going to Donnington (a circuit with much more dramatic changes in elevation), and have only since Coulthard's move to Red Bull come to really like him, but it will be sad to see both go.

It's hard to replicate the sensation of hearing the cars as they come out for their first laps - the noise far off at first, like a swarm of bees, out of sight but slowly increasing. You catch a glimpse of one, on the other side of the track, a dash of colour between grandstands, and then it arrives, screaming towards you, wavering as it brakes, punching down through the gears, a flick of the steering wheel and then it's gone, over the next hill, towards the next corner. The gear changes sound like gunshots, the acceleration like an aeroplane's.

The first thing you notice is the sturdiness of the Mclaren and Ferrari, how fixed they are to the track, and the uneasiness of the Force India and Honda (Button especially coming out of Vale, although it seems he was doing quick lap-times). The television tends to flatten things; you miss the dips and rises through Becketts, how steep the climb up to Stowe is, and the hundred different approaches to and through a corner that the drivers use. Kovalainen did look hooked-up, not making a single mistake, where we saw Lewis go off at least once - but then that perhaps is his style, always stretching the limits. Vettell looked very quick in the fast corners, and I'm regretting not putting him in my prediction.

We walked around the whole track during the two sessions. It's fascinating seeing from different angles and elevations the corners and the way the cars take them. The Becketts complex looks different from every direction. The best cars go out wide and flick it in suddenly, keeping as straight a line as possible, where the Williams had to swoop around the corners, understeering all the way. We saw a hare run across the track at Becketts (fast, but not as fast as what almost hit him), and Trulli crash into the barriers right in front of us, then get out and wave to the crowd. Hopefully I'll get some pictures uploaded to show you soon.

Sorry this is so late we had a very surprising new technology roll out at work on Friday. We decided to roll it out about 10 minutes before it went live.

This was quite in contrast to the telegraphing of Coulthard's retirement. But it was much more in sync with the sudden dumping of Silverstone. It will be at donnington from 2010.

So as we savour one of the last Silverstone grand prix for a few years we have to ask you dear reader what is going to happen.

The Ferraris always seem to go well here. But at the test last week the McLarens did seem to have made a step forward. Perhaps Lewis will make it on pole but will doing so raise the expectations to untenable heights? And during the race will they be able to keep things together?

At Ferrari Massa seems to have been turning quite a few people's heads. But Kimi was faster than him in both of the last two races (only losing out because of being crashed into by Lewis or his exhaust falling off).

Remember: if you do ask Lewis to win the British Grand Prix for you he might say, straight away, that he wants to do it. But he will have to ask his Dad first.

Almost as an afterthought I might mention that there is a chance of rain.

We would like your top eight drivers and the pole sitter. And if you were present at Friday practice we would like a full report - you know who you are.

I'm afraid I don't know the times because I am on the train and it will take too long to look up. Good luck!

Labels: Pole Poll