sofaF1

Sofa F1 Championship 2008 - Round 10 Germany

2008-07-24T06:23:00.002+01:00

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?

Germany Pole Poll

2008-07-18T22:08:00.002+01:00

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!

Sofa F1 Championship 2008 - Round 9 Great Britain

2008-07-16T05:43:00.002+01:00

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.

A Silverstone Preview

2008-07-05T20:25:00.001+01:00

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.

British pole poll

2008-07-05T00:16:00.002+01:00

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!

Sofa F1 Championship 2008 - Round 8 France

2008-06-27T22:37:00.001+01:00

Now I have finally seen the GP de France…

We all went for the Ferrari 1-2 with a Ferrari on pole, but only GrifF1 called Raikkonen correctly for the pole and hurtled into a two point head start.

The Massa Raikkonen 1-2 worked great for Fourstar, Nick and Igor with a full six points each, while Alex, GrifF1 and I went for the wrong order which resulted in just 2 points each from the front runners.

Kovalainen was in the mix landing a point for me but two points each for everyone else. Kubica hovering in the background gave me a further point and Nick two.

Webber jumped back into the points again with two for GrifF1 and one for Alex. Igor and GrifF1 were close enough with Alonso to take a further point each. The final point goes to GrifF1 for Piquet giving her, her best result so far.

Everyone seems to be getting the hang of this now … except me Grrrrrrr.

Round 8

1 Nick 10
1 GrifF1 10
3 Igor 9
4 Fourstar 8
5 Alex 5
6 Bearded Stew 4

Still fairly close though in the championship.

1 Fourstar 51
2 Nick 49
3 Igor 41
4 Alex 38
4 GrifF1 38
6 Bearded Stew 36

Maybe not the best race of the season but plenty of close action on track, frustration for Hamilton, heat and relief for Raikkonen, championship leading for Massa and podium holding for Toyota, but more crashing for Button.

At least the lateness of this roundup means only a few days left till Silverstone. Ferrari's again anyone?

The crunch lap

2008-06-22T09:07:00.002+01:00

While it's raining out there in France right now (although it may blow away by race time) there must be at least one man with a personal dark cloud over his head, Stefano Domenicali.

Ferrari have been pretty consistent in one area this year and that has been pit strategy. So far Ferrari seem to have split their fuel strategies by 1 lap. So far so good.

We saw in Qualifying that Kimi was faster than Massa (unusual for qualifying) so he's probably on the lighter of the fuel strategies. We also saw that once Kimi knew he'd got Pole he dived back into the pits saving a lap of fuel. Oooops. Hold on now both him and Massa have the same amount of fuel on board.

So what should they do? In reality they aren't going to want to stack their cars in the pits, so Kimi will probably just have to come in on the same stop.

What would Schumi do?

If you wanted to be really sneaky then the lead driver could, for example, mishear the pit communication and stay out an extra lap. His team mate would be forced to wait behind him in the pit, forcing the win.

This is exactly the kind of thing that would have happened at McLaren last year. I don't think it will happen this year though. Massa is a huge team player. He really believes in Ferrari and so wouldn't mess them around. Kimi has his own kind of morality in this area too. Schumacher would want to win at any cost. Kimi is almost playing his own game. He wouldn't count something like this as "winning". He would want to prove that he was the fastest on the track.

So my guess is that it won't happen. But I wanted to mention it in advance, just in case it does.

While we're at it...

2008-06-20T09:44:00.003+01:00

I've been meaning to post this cartoon for a while...

From Autosport.

France Pole Poll

2008-06-20T06:46:00.002+01:00

So after all the excitement of the season so far we return to France.
This race was cancelled last year because it was just too boring for modern F1 cars. But it's back once again for one more chance.

Some people might grumble about it but whenever this happens I always feel a rather similar feeling to a cricket fan hearing "you mean a game can go on for five days and be a draw" I have a sense of "yes that's the point" to races like France.

France doesn't have much of a funnel of the start so the cars don't tend to bunch up as much as they do in other circuits. So often the start isn't that close. Having said that Kimi took Lewis off the line last year.

That won't be happening this year as Lewis (and Rosberg) will be facing 10 place grid penalties. So Ferrari will be looking to repeat their first and second places from last year. I guess you'll have to decide which one of them is likely to win. Kimi did it last year (Massa was on pole). Kimi has said he's never been so fired up to win a grand prix as he is this week. Massa is wisely keeping his new found cool which has served him so well recently.

So what of world championship leader Robert Kubica? Well obviously we shouldn't count him out. One of the interesting things about France is that it has a pretty short pit lane. This means that a three stopper makes sense. The only problem is that BMW seem to be suffering the same problem that plauged McLaren for many years, they don't seem to often deviate from the optimum strategy the computer tells you. Ross Brawn taught McLaren, the hard way, that mixing the steategy up can often work well.

McLaren have learnt their lesson well as we've seen this season already a few times. Most people will be full of fuel near Lewis perhaps going light might work for him. The only problem is he'd have to overtake. It's not impossible at Magny Cours but it is tough.

Perhaps he will remember the manouver demonstrated by his erstwhile team mate Alonso last year here. Alonso pulled off the overtake of the season going through the chicane. Martin Brundle said he had to hide behind a cushion each time he saw it. It was mega. Expect Alonso to be certainly be pulling a few of those this weekend.

Actually because of the penalty Alonso and Lewis will probably meet on the track again this weekend. Last time out Lewis crashed into him.
Alonso has been giving some fighting talk in the run up to this weekend. He said Lewis was lucky last year rather than skillful. Which is a bit below the belt.

Anyway. France it should be fun in it's own way. It might well be a return to slightly less chaotic races. Which might make it easier to predict (which might be good news for all of us except fourstar).

So as usual we'd love your pole prediction and your top eight for the race.

The qualifying and the race are at 1pm on Saturday and Sunday. (The tv program starts at 12:10 on the Saturday and 12:00 on the Sunday)

Those in favour of Max staying on...

2008-06-20T06:42:00.001+01:00

From Private Eye

Sofa F1 Championship 2008 - Round 7 Canada

2008-06-16T20:39:00.000+01:00

Well that was easily the lowest scoring race for us collectively so far, so this probably won't take long.

Fourstar was doubting his reliance on recent form but actually that played right into his court this week, or was it last week, sorry it might have been quite a while ago now. Ahem.

Fourstar and I launched straight out of the blocks with two each for Hamilton's rather rapid pole position. I did think Igor had it covered with Kubica on pole but unfortunately it wasn't to be. If last years rules were still in place that could still have been a point for second though (but take that up with Alex!)

The rest of the predictions were a bit ropey really as the normal running order was turned around after the safety car and related pit stop incidents!

Massa came good for all of us though, handing Nick, Fourstar and myself two points each and Alex, GrifF1 and Igor one.

Igor's persistence with Kubica did yield a point in the race, but Fourstar was hovering to grab one also.

So Round Canada

1 Fourstar 5
2 Bearded Stew 4
3 Nick 2
3 Igor 2
5 Alex 1
5 GrifF1 1

Fourstar continues unabated…

1 Fourstar 43
2 Nick 39
3 Alex 33
4 Bearded Stew 32
4 Igor 32
6 GrifF1 28

Still a long way to go, but less than when we started.

Well what about the race?

Raikkonen and Kubica looked like they both thought they could get out in the lead after the safety car pit stops and what a race that would have been with Hamilton chasing them both down, but that wasn't to be, but Kubica stayed focussed to take control of the crumbliest track we've seen this year, especially after his massive accident last year. I'd say he was back on the horse ok.

Superb result for the BMW team as a whole, not just a maiden win but a one-two too to break the stranglehold that McLaren and Ferrari have had on the last couple of years. Not sure if they could have managed that if Raikkonen and Hamilton were both still in the race but as Murray probably still says "to finish first in Formula One, first you have to finish!"

Could he actually do it?

2008-06-09T08:00:00.001+01:00

The brilliant thing about Dr Mario Thissenn is that he never seems to oversell this position. Last year they wanted to be solidly in third place. This year they wanted to win a race. And they have. They have been smart at underplaying their position knowing it's better to beat people's expectations. (Ross Brawn has finally stopped Honda serially doing the opposite to this.)

Obviously Robert Kubica didn't get the softly softly message though as he announced he's going for the world championship now. Fair enough I suppose, he is in the lead of the drivers championship. The key questions is, is it achievable?

Obviously Lewis won his first race a Canada last year and he came very close to winning the championship. You'd have to say that McLaren had already won a race with Alonso. Also there was a bit more momentum for Lewis last year.

And most crucially while Robert looked set to do well this weekend he only really stood a chance because Lewis drove into Kimi. (It could easily have been Kubica he crashed into. I wonder if he had time to decide?)

Lewis had this race in the bag. Kimi's tires were just coming into their own though and there could have been a mistake from Lewis under pressure. So one of those two should have won.

But in order to win the race, as we all know, you have to finish the race. Kubica has done well at that. He's also finished high each time.

He's been plugging away at those results. And I'd have to say if ever a season has seemed less predictable I don't remember it.

With Heidfeld suffering a loss of form this year. Massa going very well, and Heikki having more good days than bad you'd have to say Robert is the most comfortably ahead of his team mate.

Perhaps in the topsy turvy world of Formula 1 in 2008, a driver of consistency is what's needed? Perhaps Kubica isn't as unlikely a winner as we first thought.

Candian Pole Poll

2008-06-06T09:01:00.002+01:00

So is Canada like Monaco or not?

A street circuit with walls close to the track and a strong chance of rain it's sounding pretty likely.

Last year's race was the scene of Lewis Hamilton's maiden win and Kubica's scary crash. But was Monaco a one off for Ferrari? They looked to have the speed and then throw it away. But if Canada is as action packed perhaps they will be confused again? Heikki also had one of his best races here last year.

All of this comes together to suggest a storming race that I wouldn't want to try and predict. But it seems like we have to!

We'd love to hear your prediction for Pole and your top eight for the race.

This weekend Qualifying starts at 6pm Saturday (ITV starts 5:15pm), the race starts at 6pm Sunday (ITV starts 5:05pm).

Sofa F1 Championship 2008 - Round 6 Monaco

2008-05-27T22:35:00.001+01:00

Not a big points haul really this week compared to the last couple of races where the form for the season had started to establish itself, but despite the problems of trying to predict the results for a wet Monaco race, we collectively managed our third highest result so far this year. Not that I had much to do with it mind.

Everybody seemed to know something about Hamilton, except me, four points for Igor, GrifF1, Alex, Nick and Fourstar, I did manage to get one though by not counting him out completely.

Kubica was in the mix landing a useful point each for Igor, Alex and Fourstar. Igor and Nick were rewarded for their confidence in Massa making it to the end, taking a point each there too. Nakajima was the final inspired call dishing out a point to myself and two to GrifF1.

So what does all this look like? Well that’s me down the bottom there, should have stuck Webber in again.

1 GrifF1 6
1 Igor 6
3 Alex 5
3 Nick 5
3 Fourstar 5
6 Bearded Stew 2

The championship does start to open up a bit now though into some front runners, a midfield chasing pack and some back markers!

1 Fourstar 38
2 Nick 37
3 Alex 32
4 Igor 30
5 Bearded Stew 28
6 GrifF1 27

Monaco, rain and a long weekend, sounds pretty good to me. As usual at Monaco the pages fell out the form guide and were put hastily back together in a completely different order. Vettel finishing and in the points and Rubens matching Button on points with a 6th place, but the results don't tell the whole story.

Poor Sutil, Hamilton getting lucky with his strategy after he clanged the wall, Alonso in a demolition derby, Webber slipping into the points for a 5th consecutive race, Nakajima with a third points finishing position to take him within a point of his team mate. Coulthard and Bourdais doing some synchronised skating into the barriers, Coulthard demolishing his car twice in 2 days and Rosberg somehow forgetting that it is quite a good plan to avoid the barriers.

Maybe not the race of attrition that Monaco 96 was but pretty eventful nonetheless, and a great result for Hamilton and his championship fight, but I'm left with the feeling that Ferrari probably have the edge in performance terms and McLaren will just be left to pick up an odd win here or there when Ferrari aren't performing. I'd like to see Kovalainen have a race that works out though!

Hmmm I guess we'll find out in Canadia in two weeks time.

A little bit of luck

2008-05-24T11:27:00.002+01:00

Sebastian Vettel has a great future. Everyone assures us. I agree personally. I think he could be the next greatest thing. He's had a bit of an unlucky start to his season this year. There is a bit of an odd thing in Formula 1 where some people just seem to always have the luck (Schumacher) and some don't (Webber).

Vettel didn't finish a race all season until Turkey where he finally made it. The reasons for him failing to finish didn't really seem to be his fault so bad luck.

So he finally finishes a race, outside the points but at least it's something good right? No. Because this weekend Torro Rosso have brought a new car and the gearbox has to be changed because the old one won't work in the new car.

Because of the 5 race gearbox rule Vettel will take a 5 place penalty on the grid. And at Monaco that's bad news.

Meanwhile his teammate who didn't finish will be fine.

This is obviously a very silly rule. But it points to something. Vettel will have to change his luck if he's going to become world champion. I don't know how one does that. Maybe he should ask Michael.

Monaco Pole Poll

2008-05-23T10:04:00.002+01:00

So the long weekend beckons. But slap bang in the middle is the Monaco Grand Prix.

McLaren are usually very good around here and certainly Ron is one of the competitors with heritage enough in F1 to see a win at Monaco to be half a championship.

However it does seem that McLaren might have misjudged it this year. If the twisty sector three at turkey is anything to go by then Ferrari should be faster round the tight corners of Monaco. As Nick said the other day, it's as though McLaren and Ferrari have traded places this year.

But although Kimi topped the time sheets in Practice 1 it was a very disturbed session. In the more representititve Practice 2 Lewis was well ahead with Ferrari complaining about the super soft tires.

The fuel load and tire wear questions from raise another prospect for this weekend: Strategy.

There is, in theory a strategy that a slower team could employ if they could get one of their drivers to take one for the team. Monaco has some big problems for anyone needing to overtake. This normally means that it's a race to the first pit stop.

A bold move would be to fuel one driver very very light, and fuel one driver very very heavy. And then task the leading driver with holding up the pack. If you can stop the front runners from leaving your heavy driver behind then you are in a great situation once the pitstops start. You are guaranteed some flying laps if the front runners are being held back in front of you, once they pit. You need to be a real gamer to risk it. But perhaps McLaren or BMW might.

But all of this might be academic. The weather report says that it is likely to rain on Saturday and Sunday...

Anything can happen in Formula 1 and it usually does. What do you think anything means? Let us know your pole prediction and your top eight for the race.

Sofa F1 Championship 2008 - Round 5 Turkey.

2008-05-17T10:17:00.001+01:00

Sorry about the slight delay with this post, just popped off to the seaside to enjoy the sunshine.

I must say I'm very disappointed with the usually pretty good coverage of F1 on Radio 5 this last week, some football build up program, not even a match, getting in the way of the race commentary, I might have been ok if I could have followed the full coverage on 5 Live Extra or something which I kept being told I could do, but that didn't really help me with my antique portable out in the sticks. Maybe I should stay in more.

Anyway, the trusty VCR did the trick so when returning to civilisation I was able to sit back and watch quite a different race to the one I had been led to believe had happened on the radio bulletins.

Fourstar is really getting going now, landing the third highest result of the year. Cashing in with his confidence in Massa for the pole and win, 6 points in the bag.

Alex, Nick and myself also took 2 points each for Massa on pole, but wavered slightly in the race only managing 1 point each for Massa. Igor and GrifF1 get their points going with Hamilton taking 2 points each for his second place, with Alex and myself just taking one. Raikkonen went cheaply for just one point, which Fourstar swooped on to add to his growing haul.

BMW were a little bit off the pace this weekend, but Kubica did land a point each for Alex, Fourstar, GrifF1 and Igor, while Heidfeld managed one for Alex and two for myself.

Alonso scored pretty well for us this week with GrifF1 taking two and Fourstar, Nick, Alex and myself one more each. Nick and GrifF1 snuck Rosberg into 8th place and were rewarded with 2 points each for the Williams.

I did have to smile when Webber crossed the line in the points again for the fourth time this season, despite Alex's word of caution in the pole poll, landing Fourstar and myself a final point, but Igor played a slightly better hand and added two to his tally.

So how do the cold facts of Turkey look …

Round 5

1 Fourstar 10
2 Bearded Stew 8
3 Alex 7
3 GrifF1 7
5 Nick 6
6 Igor 5

Which shuffles up the championship again

1 Fourstar 33
2 Nick 32
3 Alex 27
4 Bearded Stew 26
5 Igor 24
6 GrifF1 21

Just goes to show, anything can happen in SofaF1 and usually does, just one race can change the outlook of the whole championship.

Great race for Massa, dominating again. Hamilton will have been relieved to come in second and take some points from Raikkonen. Great race from Kovalainen, it really was good to see him carving through the pack time and time again. What could his afternoon have come to if he didn't have that puncture at the start of the race? I'm sure his day will come.

BMW in their familiar position, but a way off the leaders at the end of the race. Webber seems to have settled in at Red Bull now and is delivering some good consistent results.

James Allen kept going on about McLaren having the upper hand again at Monaco, but I'm not so sure. Wasn't Ferrari disadvantaged last year by their longer wheelbase chassis? and this year if my memory is correct its McLaren who has the longer wheelbase. Is that right? or did I just make that up?

Anyway not long till we find out! Keep your ear to the Sofa.

Turning a Corner

2008-05-14T15:47:00.002+01:00

Most predictions for Monaco are that McLaren will be faster than Ferrari - they were last year, and tend to be better in a cool or green track. However, there are some people arguing that because Ferrari have been quicker in the slower parts of Spain and Turkey, they'll be quicker at the twisting Monte Carlo track. On the other hand, Ferrari use the soft tyre better, whereas McLaren have mastered the harder option - which one will suit the track next Sunday afternoon? Alex and I were discussing earlier how the two teams seem to have switched their strengths and weaknesses since last year. The appear to have tried to be better in the areas that they were lacking, but neglected the areas that they had the advantage. Thus, we have two very close cars at the front of the grid once again, with very closely matched drivers. What to know what I think will happen at Monaco? Then you'll have to wait until Alex puts the pole poll up on Friday!

Martin Quote

2008-05-10T16:03:00.002+01:00

In Qualifying I loved Martin talking about how times have changed. After Kovi had his tests to see if he was fit. Martin remembered having had a really bad crash. Ken Tyrrell said, "you've got to go out you've only got 8 minutes left to qualify".

Martin said, "okay, no problem what circuit am I at?"

Awesome. Obviously I'm glad we're not running in that situation anymore, but I'm also glad that Martin is around to tell us what it was like.

Also this is SofaF1's 500th Post! Happy 500th SofaF1!!!

Turkey Pole Poll

2008-05-09T07:40:00.002+01:00

So Ferrari are flying away at the front. McLaren at first were just worried about BMW but have Renault bridged the gap?

Ferrari aren't planning on using their new nose cone with the hole this weekend because it only really seems to help on certain kinds of circuits. In the Ferrari camp Kimi is riding high but Turkey has been a Massa circuit for the last two years - he won both times.

Over at McLaren they will have to keep in front of BMW in qualifying if they are going to get on terms with Ferrari. Will Heikki be right back in the saddle or will he be a bit corner shy? Lewis seems to have lost his way. McLaren seem to be about 6/10ths off the pace this year. What they need is a driver who can personally deliver 6/10ths - whoops.

Further back Williams seem to be drifting off as the manufacturers outspend them during the inseason development. Red Bull seem to be having the same problem. Mark Webber keeps nabbing the odd point or two every so often. He scored some in Spain so he might well bin it this weekend. Coulthard is spending too much time practicing his commentating for his rumored job next year and keeps forgetting to look in his mirrors.

A quick note about a rule clarification. With no Super Aguri now the rules for Qualifying it will be 5 out in Q1 and 5 out in Q2. This means Force India's dream of getting into Q2 is looking more and more tricky (although I wouldn't put it past Fisi in Monaco).

So who's on Pole? And who are your top eight finishers? As always we'd love to know before qualifying starts.

Who are you going to beat?

2008-05-07T07:57:00.002+01:00

Super Aguri have gone bust. Torro Rosso have been put up for sale, and nobody seems to have come forward to buy them. At some point the larger Formula One teams are going to have to ask themselves, "who are we going to beat".

There have always been three levels of Formula One teams. The elete, the mid-field and the backmarkers. For a long time Minardi were the ultimate in backmarkers and now that mantle has been passed to Super Aguri and Torro Rosso.

But there was a difference with these new teams, they were using customer chasis in all but name. It turns out that the FIA were right, customer chasis are a lot cheaper to run than whole teams. We know this because Super Aguri got close to Honda and Torro Rosso got close to Red Bull.

In the time before customer chasis, a time we're rapidly heading back to, the backmarkers seemed to know their place. They knew a point every other season was worth shouting about and all the other teams knew that they wouldn't come last as long as they kept it on the black stuff.

But this new found competitiveness has been their undoing. Suddenly it's embarrassing for everyone else. It was initially just embarrassing for Spyker and Williams. But suddenly it became embarrassing for the people actually paying the cheque (Red Bull and Honda) and so they had to go.

But what will come in their place? The sport has become more and more expensive and it was an attempt to slow this which triggered the introduction of customer cars. If the teams don't come up with a way to make the sport cheaper without upsetting the egos of the other nearby teams that were running already then there will be a hard lesson to learn.

The teams will come to realise that there is something more embarrassing than spending all that money and being beaten by your junior team. It's spending all that money and coming dead last.

Super Aguri A Go Go?

2008-05-06T15:21:00.002+01:00

Super Aguri have allegedly announced their withdrawal from Formula 1. Are you sad about this? Someone more knowledgeable than me about such topics (Alex?) will hopefully help us out here, but wasn't the team created merely because of the backlash Honda received in Japan after they fired Sato? I believe people were refusing to buy Honda road cars in protest. Honda then effectively created a team just for Sato. Is that the kind of team we want in Formula 1? Even if this, or worse, is true, however, I myself can't help loving Super Aguri. They did amazingly well with what they had, and supplied us with one of the greatest moments of last year, if not the last few years, when Sato overtook Alonso in Canada. We have to look now, however, at who might buy the team. Prodrive?

Sofa F1 Championship 2008 - Round 4 Spain

2008-04-28T21:52:00.001+01:00

"Might need a bit of rain tomorrow to liven things up a bit, it will probably be a bit boring" declared Nick on Saturday night or something like that anyway. Maybe because the pole sitter generally wins here in Spain or maybe because as Nick already knew the result, the race had lost some of its appeal!

A fair bit of action though this weekend as the 2008 season trundles into Europe. Not least Kovalainen's massive crash. It seems like he is ok though which is obviously great news.

But what about the action in the SofaF1 Championship?

Raikkonen was bound to win with all the support he had, everyone put him on the top step for 4 points each. Everyone put Raikkonen on pole too for 2 points each except for Igor and GrifF1.

Nick and Alex were really making hay while the sun was shining, each taking another 2 points both for Massa and Hamilton in second and third. Igor also took 2 for Hamilton and myself and Fourstar 1 each. Fourstar kept his toe in with Massa hanging in to 1 point while Nick kept rolling with a further 2 for Kubica, which I also managed to get, while Fourstar and Alex settled for 1 each.

Surprisingly Igor lost out with Button by placing him too low! Who would have thought that on Saturday morning!

Nick is on a roll now, Alex starts to pick up his pace. The old rivalry from 2007 is still alive and well. The points this weekend more than doubled the second highest scoring round so far!

So after Round 4

1 Nick 12
2 Alex 11
3 Bearded Stew 9
3 Fourstar 9
5 Igor 6
6 GrifF1 4

Fourstar is still hanging in there as the points gap widens out leaving the championship looking like this…

1 Nick 26
2 Fourstar 23
3 Alex 20
4 Igor 19
5 Bearded Stew 18
6 GrifF1 14

Interesting race this weekend, the Renaults were much quicker, but Piquet was having a bit of trouble holding on to his. Alonso was hanging on ok but the motor couldn't take it. I'm not sure if Torro Rosso's weekend was worth the effort, especially with Vettel. Whats all that about? The results really aren't showing his supposed potential.

Coulthard again involved in a familiar looking incident but kept going this time. Webber kept it all together to spring into the points with Button, Nakajima and Trulli behind him. Heidfeld ended up out of place when he took the penalty for refuelling under the safety car. Whats going to happen to that rule? How about that for a poll question?

Rosberg disappointingly retired with an engine problem too.

Oh well at least theres only a 2 week gap to Istanbul.

Spain Pole Poll

2008-04-25T20:50:00.000+01:00

Sorry for the delay I was a bit distracted this week.

So off to Spain where Max will launch the race against racism campaign / no-one will mention the war.

It's the begining of the European season and the race which is often the best predictor of the season as a whole. There are some crazily accurate stats about the person who is on pole here winning the world championship.

Ferrari have their new nose cone ready for action and seem to be quite quick with it. They seem to be downplaying it's importance and they wouldn't possibly have a reason to lie about it.

The all important question is will McLaren be able to respond. And if they don't will BMW be able to overtake them?

As usual we would love to hear your pole prediction and your top eight for the race.

Good luck!

Statistically speaking

2008-04-25T13:14:00.003+01:00

I know i've raised this issue before but i have been thinking about it again recently and thought it was worth a mention.

Last year at the Canadian Grand Prix (i think?) Martin Brundle said he was a great one for statistics as Hamilton jumped into the championship lead in that more often than not the championship leader at that point in the year would go on to win the championship. Of course last year this wasn't to be, but actually this upheld another set of statistics.

No European F2, F3000 or GP2 champion has ever won the F1 world championship (except when F1 was run to F2 rules back in the 50's). I know Nick suggested that this was because any really good drivers were snapped up before they had a chance to and went straight to F1 and he may well be right but it is interesting nonetheless. These formulas (F2, F3000 and GP2) were/are supposed to be the feeder series for F1 but no one who won them seemed to have had much of a chance at the F1 Championship at all. Indeed ony 4 F3000/GP2 Champions have even won an F1 race let alone a championship. Alesi (1), Panis (1), Montoya (7) and Hamilton (5 currently).

Maybe it is a bit early to judge the GP2 series, and we do have 5 F3000/GP2 Champions in F1 currently, Heidfeld, Bourdais, Rosberg, Hamilton and Glock, and certainly Hamilton has showed he is more than capable of winning a championship, and last year he could have done, but didn't. Very interesting.

On the flip side using these same statistics, people like Kovalainen and Piquet Jr could be in with a shout of the F1 title at some point, losing the GP2 title could actually be a good thing for their careers.