GP3 Career Thread
Posted by Diax F1
That's right. I also hate them for bouncing me off while passing me after getting advantage from my slipstream. This is why I use the rule "eye for an eye". You do this to me - I'll do it to you. Hammurabi's Code at full throttle 
you say you use low downforce setups to pull away at straights. I use another way. I set up my car according to the track. If I lack power on straights and I'm afraid of the guy from behind using slipstreaming, I always clinch to the inside of the track. If the next curve is a right hander I stay on the right side of the straight. Even if he passes me from the left (as he doesn't have any other way) I usually brake later than normally so that to close the gate on the bend. This way I easily keep positions. I slow down a bit more than usually while he actually has to stop his car. The thing is even more pleasant when the curve is a tight one. The guy has no other way but to plunge into a gravel trap or barriers.
Round 8 - Magny Cours, French GP
The weekend was going to be fully wet as the forecasts were not promising. I started the qualifyings with a set of hard wets on but I soon had to pit again to change for monsoons after a series of swerves and experiencing a lot of twitchiness. After the change I felt much more confident and made the fastest lap. Throughout the whole qualifying session I was the fastest one but some 3 minutes from finish all the major drivers made their best which resulted in my 7th starting position. Quite disappointing but considering the weather, not so bad at all. Alonso took pole position with amazing Kovalainen behind followed by Nick Heidfeld who once again proved that he's a bit better than Kubica this year. However, Robert made a great result reaching 5th position.
Sunday was as wet as Saturday. Judging by my experiences from Saturday, I chose two stops and a set of monsoons for the first stint. At the start I didn't gain much as I first let Fisichella pass me only to regain position within the following two laps. Heidfeld and Kubica also were not big rivals to me. Then I swallowed Hamilton and Alonso. Finally I got stuck in 2nd position behind Massa who had already pulled away after an amazing start at which he passed Alonso, Kovalainen and Heidfeld. I knew that 2nd position wasn't a bad result at this stage but I was also aware of the fact that I chose the two-stop strategy while most of the rivals opted only for one stop. In lap 23 I arrived at the pits and I was hesitating on the choice of tyres. I was extremely confident with my monsoons but, obviously, at the end of the stint I started noticing a rapidly growing deterioration of my tyres. Well, I decided to put my car at risk and chose hard wets on which I had lots of problems on the day before the race. To my enormous surprise, I improved my best result and set the fastest lap of the race. Unfortunately, after I passed Sato and was approaching Button, I lost traction on turn 1 which sent me into the barriers. I hit them with a terrible rumble...but my car was intact. I managed to dig myself out of the gravel trap and rejoined the race in 11h position. Luckily, the rivals in front were not the big names and I soon grabbed 5th position. A couple of drivers retired meanwhile, while Kubica and Heidfeld started having problems with pace. Willy-nilly I found myself in 2nd place 13 seconds behind Hamilton. Thanks to the light fuel load onboard and relatively fresh hard wets I soon tightened the gap and finally passed Lewis in lap 38. From now on I kept extending the lead. I soon passed lots of backmarkers and started enjoying the race as I didn't have to push hard anymore and could save tyres. While in the pits for the second time I was already 48 seconds in front of Hamilton who took viceleadership after Massa retired after spinning off on the same turn 1 as I did some time before. Kovalainen also retired from he race after a fight with Heidfeld. The latter dropped lots of positions in result of this incident. The bad thing about the race is the transmission failure of my teammate - Rosberg. Luckily, my FW29 was doing extremely well. A great surprise was Button who finally pulled his Honda together and claimed 4th position. Barrichello was right behind him but he had some problems at turn 1 and dropped to 10th position. It would have been the race in which both Hondas would have scored. What a pity. Some 20 laps from finish Hamilton was around 34 seconds behind me and for a couple of laps it was a constant value but then he started losing pace. He was 2, 3, 7, 10 seconds slower per lap. Two laps from finish I managed to lap him and claimed an appealing victory. Third straight win this season
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Hamilton, 3rd - Alonso
Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2010 10:56AM by abdelkader.
you say you use low downforce setups to pull away at straights. I use another way. I set up my car according to the track. If I lack power on straights and I'm afraid of the guy from behind using slipstreaming, I always clinch to the inside of the track. If the next curve is a right hander I stay on the right side of the straight. Even if he passes me from the left (as he doesn't have any other way) I usually brake later than normally so that to close the gate on the bend. This way I easily keep positions. I slow down a bit more than usually while he actually has to stop his car. The thing is even more pleasant when the curve is a tight one. The guy has no other way but to plunge into a gravel trap or barriers.
Round 8 - Magny Cours, French GP
The weekend was going to be fully wet as the forecasts were not promising. I started the qualifyings with a set of hard wets on but I soon had to pit again to change for monsoons after a series of swerves and experiencing a lot of twitchiness. After the change I felt much more confident and made the fastest lap. Throughout the whole qualifying session I was the fastest one but some 3 minutes from finish all the major drivers made their best which resulted in my 7th starting position. Quite disappointing but considering the weather, not so bad at all. Alonso took pole position with amazing Kovalainen behind followed by Nick Heidfeld who once again proved that he's a bit better than Kubica this year. However, Robert made a great result reaching 5th position.
Sunday was as wet as Saturday. Judging by my experiences from Saturday, I chose two stops and a set of monsoons for the first stint. At the start I didn't gain much as I first let Fisichella pass me only to regain position within the following two laps. Heidfeld and Kubica also were not big rivals to me. Then I swallowed Hamilton and Alonso. Finally I got stuck in 2nd position behind Massa who had already pulled away after an amazing start at which he passed Alonso, Kovalainen and Heidfeld. I knew that 2nd position wasn't a bad result at this stage but I was also aware of the fact that I chose the two-stop strategy while most of the rivals opted only for one stop. In lap 23 I arrived at the pits and I was hesitating on the choice of tyres. I was extremely confident with my monsoons but, obviously, at the end of the stint I started noticing a rapidly growing deterioration of my tyres. Well, I decided to put my car at risk and chose hard wets on which I had lots of problems on the day before the race. To my enormous surprise, I improved my best result and set the fastest lap of the race. Unfortunately, after I passed Sato and was approaching Button, I lost traction on turn 1 which sent me into the barriers. I hit them with a terrible rumble...but my car was intact. I managed to dig myself out of the gravel trap and rejoined the race in 11h position. Luckily, the rivals in front were not the big names and I soon grabbed 5th position. A couple of drivers retired meanwhile, while Kubica and Heidfeld started having problems with pace. Willy-nilly I found myself in 2nd place 13 seconds behind Hamilton. Thanks to the light fuel load onboard and relatively fresh hard wets I soon tightened the gap and finally passed Lewis in lap 38. From now on I kept extending the lead. I soon passed lots of backmarkers and started enjoying the race as I didn't have to push hard anymore and could save tyres. While in the pits for the second time I was already 48 seconds in front of Hamilton who took viceleadership after Massa retired after spinning off on the same turn 1 as I did some time before. Kovalainen also retired from he race after a fight with Heidfeld. The latter dropped lots of positions in result of this incident. The bad thing about the race is the transmission failure of my teammate - Rosberg. Luckily, my FW29 was doing extremely well. A great surprise was Button who finally pulled his Honda together and claimed 4th position. Barrichello was right behind him but he had some problems at turn 1 and dropped to 10th position. It would have been the race in which both Hondas would have scored. What a pity. Some 20 laps from finish Hamilton was around 34 seconds behind me and for a couple of laps it was a constant value but then he started losing pace. He was 2, 3, 7, 10 seconds slower per lap. Two laps from finish I managed to lap him and claimed an appealing victory. Third straight win this season
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Hamilton, 3rd - Alonso
Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2010 10:56AM by abdelkader.
Situation after 14 races
After Singapore everything has been decided for the championships. Button proven to be consitent but also a lucky basterd when needed.
Monza has been the most critic race of the second part of the season. After a cloudy qualy, the race started too under heavy clouds covering the track menacing some rain in the first hour. The rain came indeed after 25 minutes into the race. What nobody could imagine was that in few time it could become a so heavy storm to force the race direction to impose the red flag!
Trulli anticipated the pit by a couple of laps than expected at lap 13 from P4 to mount inters as half track was wet and half was almost dry. Then Jenson pitted 1 lap later from P6 with the same strategy. Just the time to complete 1 lap and the track was completely wet. Both gambles turned against the two drivers which finished down when pitting again for full wet tyres while everyone else had the chance to mount at first shot the right tyres. Race went on for other 20 laps with the constant fear to spin off, and many drivers payed with errors the hard conditions the track was. Between lap 38 and 40 the situation became really critic. In this order Hamilton (from P3), Trulli, Barrichello (from P1), Raikkonen (from P2), Kovalainen and Sato lost control of the car creating major issues. Nothing to do: race over. Button Luckily climbed the standing by others' mistakes while Hamilton unluckily resulted off track at the moment the race was stopped and standing freezed.
Singapore has been another lucky race for Button. Clearly overpaced by Vettel, Barrichello and Hamilton he capitalized the good qualy to take the lead for the entire race without any chance to make overtakes for any of the followers, finishing all packed in a long train.
Toyota has been the worst performer of the lot, at least Trulli got so much badluck to punish him more than necessary. After a great pole at Nurburgfing with the concrete chance to win also by a splendid setup, the engine blown after 4 laps from P2 with Vettel overpacing him at start but again betrayed by his car. At Valencia the italian payed a bad qualy with a driver error trying to recover.
3 races remaining in this season to decide the final standings positions left apart the fight for the title
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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2010 04:06PM by R_Scandura.
After Singapore everything has been decided for the championships. Button proven to be consitent but also a lucky basterd when needed.
Monza has been the most critic race of the second part of the season. After a cloudy qualy, the race started too under heavy clouds covering the track menacing some rain in the first hour. The rain came indeed after 25 minutes into the race. What nobody could imagine was that in few time it could become a so heavy storm to force the race direction to impose the red flag!
Trulli anticipated the pit by a couple of laps than expected at lap 13 from P4 to mount inters as half track was wet and half was almost dry. Then Jenson pitted 1 lap later from P6 with the same strategy. Just the time to complete 1 lap and the track was completely wet. Both gambles turned against the two drivers which finished down when pitting again for full wet tyres while everyone else had the chance to mount at first shot the right tyres. Race went on for other 20 laps with the constant fear to spin off, and many drivers payed with errors the hard conditions the track was. Between lap 38 and 40 the situation became really critic. In this order Hamilton (from P3), Trulli, Barrichello (from P1), Raikkonen (from P2), Kovalainen and Sato lost control of the car creating major issues. Nothing to do: race over. Button Luckily climbed the standing by others' mistakes while Hamilton unluckily resulted off track at the moment the race was stopped and standing freezed.
Singapore has been another lucky race for Button. Clearly overpaced by Vettel, Barrichello and Hamilton he capitalized the good qualy to take the lead for the entire race without any chance to make overtakes for any of the followers, finishing all packed in a long train.
Toyota has been the worst performer of the lot, at least Trulli got so much badluck to punish him more than necessary. After a great pole at Nurburgfing with the concrete chance to win also by a splendid setup, the engine blown after 4 laps from P2 with Vettel overpacing him at start but again betrayed by his car. At Valencia the italian payed a bad qualy with a driver error trying to recover.
3 races remaining in this season to decide the final standings positions left apart the fight for the title
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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2010 04:06PM by R_Scandura.
That's a pity that Jenson dominated the season so severely. You still have real chance to considerably improve your position anyway. Good luck in the remaining rounds.
Suzuka has been an interesting and funny race. Again the lucky of the day is Button. 5th at lap 49. Finished 3rd because Hamilton retired by engine at lap 50 and Kimi had to pit at lap 51. Vettel lost the win by a driver error finishing 2nd behind Barrichello. A good 4th place for me. Got benefit of the issues.
About Interlagos, the pic says it all :|
great setup, good start, fast 3 stops strategy and all finished at lap12
Even in virtual life Barrichello is jinxed in his homerace. Had a terrible qually which forced him to make a furious climbing. Vettel and Webber set the pace for all the race while Hamilton gave the show with his ambitious 3 stops. Only some traffic stopping Lewis allowed the aussie to complete the RBR 1-2
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2010 05:32PM by R_Scandura.
About Interlagos, the pic says it all :|
great setup, good start, fast 3 stops strategy and all finished at lap12
Even in virtual life Barrichello is jinxed in his homerace. Had a terrible qually which forced him to make a furious climbing. Vettel and Webber set the pace for all the race while Hamilton gave the show with his ambitious 3 stops. Only some traffic stopping Lewis allowed the aussie to complete the RBR 1-2
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2010 05:32PM by R_Scandura.
Round 9 - Silverstone, British GP
The weekend started in a typically Britihs way - before the qualifyings started it had been raining for around 40 minutes while dark clouds completely covered the skies. The rain wasn't particularly dense but long-lasting which made the tarmac extremely slippery. This time I chose hard wets - not monsoons and headed to the track. I was quite confident and after three laps I made it to the pits to observe the development of the session. All in all, only Alonso turned out to be slightly faster than me as he outperformed me by 0.343 sec. Third place was taken by Hamilton I was actually happy with the rain at Silverstone as I never felt confident at Maggotts, Becketts and Chapels. I would always lose lots of time at this section of the track. Raining conditions made my weakness less visible. This is why I wasn't particularly happy with 2nd starting position knowing that it was only due to the rain. The race day was clear. There was not much sun but dark clouds where not there, either. I didn't make a great start as I got passed by Hamilton and dropped to third position with two McLarens in front. Rosberg who was 6th along with Fisichella who was 7th in the qualy had a serious fight which resulted in both spinning off the track. Luckily they didn't retire while the only punishment for them was dropping down in the classification. This was used by the Ferrari as Massa and Kimi could take their positions and speed up with nobody in front. After five laps I managed to pass Alonso who made a mistake at Maggotts and I had no problems passing him. Hamilton soon lost his pace after 10 laps and from now on I was in the lead and constantly extending the gap. After 15 laps I was 15 seconds ahead and with great prospect of keeping it up as the tyres were working perfectly and didn't show a sign of deterioration. In the middle of the race I went for my first and only pit-stop. To my suprise I was still first after exiting the pit-lane. Now I felt extremely confident and started saving tyres. Hamilton was still getting slower and slower. I really would like to shake hands with Kubica, who starting from 22nd position climbed up to 7th position after a series of retirements and due to his abilities. He was right behind Heidfeld but I suppose that 'team orders' were the only reason for which the Pole didn't pass Nick. In lap 52 I found myself in a really dangerous situation. I was about to lap Sato at Abbey. He even gave me free way on the right of the track. However, when we were next to each other, he started turning to the right and almost pushed me off the track. Needless to say, all my wheels where on the gravel and only due to my abilities I managed to deccelerate and get back to the track. I was around 45 seconds ahead of Hamilton so such small incident didn't influence the results of the race. From here nothing changed during the race and I brought it home. Another win this year. I'm still climbing in the World Drivers' Championship
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Hamilton, 3rd - Raikkonen
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2010 06:23PM by abdelkader.
The weekend started in a typically Britihs way - before the qualifyings started it had been raining for around 40 minutes while dark clouds completely covered the skies. The rain wasn't particularly dense but long-lasting which made the tarmac extremely slippery. This time I chose hard wets - not monsoons and headed to the track. I was quite confident and after three laps I made it to the pits to observe the development of the session. All in all, only Alonso turned out to be slightly faster than me as he outperformed me by 0.343 sec. Third place was taken by Hamilton I was actually happy with the rain at Silverstone as I never felt confident at Maggotts, Becketts and Chapels. I would always lose lots of time at this section of the track. Raining conditions made my weakness less visible. This is why I wasn't particularly happy with 2nd starting position knowing that it was only due to the rain. The race day was clear. There was not much sun but dark clouds where not there, either. I didn't make a great start as I got passed by Hamilton and dropped to third position with two McLarens in front. Rosberg who was 6th along with Fisichella who was 7th in the qualy had a serious fight which resulted in both spinning off the track. Luckily they didn't retire while the only punishment for them was dropping down in the classification. This was used by the Ferrari as Massa and Kimi could take their positions and speed up with nobody in front. After five laps I managed to pass Alonso who made a mistake at Maggotts and I had no problems passing him. Hamilton soon lost his pace after 10 laps and from now on I was in the lead and constantly extending the gap. After 15 laps I was 15 seconds ahead and with great prospect of keeping it up as the tyres were working perfectly and didn't show a sign of deterioration. In the middle of the race I went for my first and only pit-stop. To my suprise I was still first after exiting the pit-lane. Now I felt extremely confident and started saving tyres. Hamilton was still getting slower and slower. I really would like to shake hands with Kubica, who starting from 22nd position climbed up to 7th position after a series of retirements and due to his abilities. He was right behind Heidfeld but I suppose that 'team orders' were the only reason for which the Pole didn't pass Nick. In lap 52 I found myself in a really dangerous situation. I was about to lap Sato at Abbey. He even gave me free way on the right of the track. However, when we were next to each other, he started turning to the right and almost pushed me off the track. Needless to say, all my wheels where on the gravel and only due to my abilities I managed to deccelerate and get back to the track. I was around 45 seconds ahead of Hamilton so such small incident didn't influence the results of the race. From here nothing changed during the race and I brought it home. Another win this year. I'm still climbing in the World Drivers' Championship
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Hamilton, 3rd - Raikkonen
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2010 06:23PM by abdelkader.
Round 10 - Nurburgring, European GP
Unlike the real-life race, we had sunny conditions at Nurburgring only with some prospect of a small shower expected two hours after the session. As a result, it was dry throoughout the qualifyings. I once again, felt extremely confident and set a very fast lap. Nobody was able to get close to my lap time. To underline this fact I have to say that 2nd place holder, Massa, was slower by 1.198 sec. Third place for Kimi.
As for the race, there's only one word which may be called a 'hero of the day'. It is S-T-R-A-T-E-G-Y !!!. I chose a two-stop strategy just as most of my rivals. I pulled away at the start which winessed an incident making Hamilton and Webber retire in lap 1. I had Massa, Raikkonen and Alonso on my back. After first 3 calm laps I noticed that Massa started tightening the gap and I had to push harder than before. Luckily, he didn't keep his pace up and I started extending the lead again. However, the margin wasn't growing rapidly. I was gaining only about 0.1 per lap. While racing I kept thinking about Massa and his strategy. I didn't know if he's so fast despite/thanks to being loaded with petrol. It was huge weight off my heart when I saw him pit at the same lap I was going to pit. Now I knew that he had the same fuel load as me. I wanted to pit in the very next lap but here happened something unexpected. Shortly afterwards I saw a red cross on my pit-stop status LED. it turned out that Rosberg had some problems and was crowling to the pits for one lap while the repairing took another lap. Then I had to wait another three laps for my team mechanics to get ready for my arrival. I was finally admitted to the pits. Meanwhile, Massa was flying around the circuit with his brand new tyres while I was waiting for pit-lane permission. Luckily, my advantage after Massa pit-stop was at 20 sec something level and when I left the pits after my stop I was ahead of him, but only by 2 seconds. I kept pulling away from Massa and now I decided that if I saw the Brazilian pit, I'd do the same on the spot not to give him an opportunity to take advantage of his tyres. Meanwhile, I was 7 seconds ahead of him and knew that I shouldn't lose unnecessary seconds now as it might be crucial for the result of the race. Finally, he pitted. So did I in the next lap. When I left the pits I was 10 seconds ahead of Massa but suddenly I looked at the fuel consumption display. It said 16.5 while I still had 17.5 laps to cover. I was devastated. From now on I started saving fuel as never before. Luckily I started noticing that I was saving some 0.1 of fuel per lap. Some 5 laps from finish I was almost sure I'd make it. When I crossed the finish line as the winner, my fuel display said '0.5'. I was lucky as hell. Now I'm third in WDC losing 6 points to Kimi and three points to Felipe. I'm right there ready for the fight for the title ...Who would expect that after first 5 races?
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Massa, 3rd - Alonso
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2010 06:01PM by abdelkader.
Unlike the real-life race, we had sunny conditions at Nurburgring only with some prospect of a small shower expected two hours after the session. As a result, it was dry throoughout the qualifyings. I once again, felt extremely confident and set a very fast lap. Nobody was able to get close to my lap time. To underline this fact I have to say that 2nd place holder, Massa, was slower by 1.198 sec. Third place for Kimi.
As for the race, there's only one word which may be called a 'hero of the day'. It is S-T-R-A-T-E-G-Y !!!. I chose a two-stop strategy just as most of my rivals. I pulled away at the start which winessed an incident making Hamilton and Webber retire in lap 1. I had Massa, Raikkonen and Alonso on my back. After first 3 calm laps I noticed that Massa started tightening the gap and I had to push harder than before. Luckily, he didn't keep his pace up and I started extending the lead again. However, the margin wasn't growing rapidly. I was gaining only about 0.1 per lap. While racing I kept thinking about Massa and his strategy. I didn't know if he's so fast despite/thanks to being loaded with petrol. It was huge weight off my heart when I saw him pit at the same lap I was going to pit. Now I knew that he had the same fuel load as me. I wanted to pit in the very next lap but here happened something unexpected. Shortly afterwards I saw a red cross on my pit-stop status LED. it turned out that Rosberg had some problems and was crowling to the pits for one lap while the repairing took another lap. Then I had to wait another three laps for my team mechanics to get ready for my arrival. I was finally admitted to the pits. Meanwhile, Massa was flying around the circuit with his brand new tyres while I was waiting for pit-lane permission. Luckily, my advantage after Massa pit-stop was at 20 sec something level and when I left the pits after my stop I was ahead of him, but only by 2 seconds. I kept pulling away from Massa and now I decided that if I saw the Brazilian pit, I'd do the same on the spot not to give him an opportunity to take advantage of his tyres. Meanwhile, I was 7 seconds ahead of him and knew that I shouldn't lose unnecessary seconds now as it might be crucial for the result of the race. Finally, he pitted. So did I in the next lap. When I left the pits I was 10 seconds ahead of Massa but suddenly I looked at the fuel consumption display. It said 16.5 while I still had 17.5 laps to cover. I was devastated. From now on I started saving fuel as never before. Luckily I started noticing that I was saving some 0.1 of fuel per lap. Some 5 laps from finish I was almost sure I'd make it. When I crossed the finish line as the winner, my fuel display said '0.5'. I was lucky as hell. Now I'm third in WDC losing 6 points to Kimi and three points to Felipe. I'm right there ready for the fight for the title
...Who would expect that after first 5 races?The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Massa, 3rd - Alonso
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2010 06:01PM by abdelkader.
I certainly didnt Even after the hint to adjust the perf to rosberg's perf i still didnt think you could win races :p Good luck !
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"If in doubt, Flat out."
Even after the hint to adjust the perf to rosberg's perf i still didnt think you could win races :p Good luck !--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"If in doubt, Flat out."
I also didn't expect it. I've made a great improvement.
BTW. I have just made a small sum-up and it turned out that the 2007 European GP was my 74th race in F-1 (I excluded races in WTCC, GP2 and IRL series). There are only 16 races to reach the 100th race I still have 'a bit' fewer of them than Barrichello, anyway :P
BTW. I have just made a small sum-up and it turned out that the 2007 European GP was my 74th race in F-1 (I excluded races in WTCC, GP2 and IRL series). There are only 16 races to reach the 100th race
I still have 'a bit' fewer of them than Barrichello, anyway :PSorry. I've always sucked at maths :P
26 races to go :D
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2010 06:08PM by abdelkader.
26 races to go :D
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2010 06:08PM by abdelkader.
F1 1982 Season - Round 1 - Sakhir Qualifying
So here we are for thr first round of this exciting season!
QP started under an intermittent rain , a strange situation for an hot place like Bahrain. This situation led most of the team to make silly mistakes attempting to choose the right moment to go out on track. After spending most of the hour trying to improve the race setup , I had only 10 minutes at the end of the session to post a fast time , but unfortunately it turn out to be the worst possible moment as rain intensifyed just at the end of the session. 13th place was the best result possible under these conditions ; anyway I managed to beat my teammate who was down in 16th. Race should be better , with warm weather and a clean race we should be able to gain some position , even if reliability is a concern on this circuit for us!
Villeneuve took a dominant pole position , leading a Ferrari front row ; stunning time for Giacomelli in 6th for Alfa Romeo.
Race
Warm and sunny as expected in Bahrain for today's race. Eddie Cheveer makes his debut in F1 starting from 13th place ,not bad for a rookie indeed.
As the race started , I made up some place in the field turning right down the straight in 9th place. As the race unfolded I gained another 3 positions , entering in the points zone in 6th place. Then I speed up the pace , running around 1 second off the leaders. With a good strategy , pitting one of the first , then going longer on the second stop , I gained another place to reach 5th on lap 36.
This situation was good for us , so I decided to slow down a little bit , to not stress too much the car and the tyres. With a margin of 15 seconds on the sixth on the standings , everything was running fine , till something broke up , the car lost all power as the engine blew up , leaving me with everything but regrets.
In the end , it was a good occasion to score the first points of my career but simply luck wasn't on my side at all today!
Pironi won the race with a dominant performance heading Villeneuve back home , taking also the additional point for the fastest lap!
Well , this is all for this first race , next step will be TT Aida , for the Pacific Grand Prix!
Here is the results and the standings:
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2010 05:17PM by Manofdestiny.
So here we are for thr first round of this exciting season!
QP started under an intermittent rain , a strange situation for an hot place like Bahrain. This situation led most of the team to make silly mistakes attempting to choose the right moment to go out on track. After spending most of the hour trying to improve the race setup , I had only 10 minutes at the end of the session to post a fast time , but unfortunately it turn out to be the worst possible moment as rain intensifyed just at the end of the session. 13th place was the best result possible under these conditions ; anyway I managed to beat my teammate who was down in 16th. Race should be better , with warm weather and a clean race we should be able to gain some position , even if reliability is a concern on this circuit for us!
Villeneuve took a dominant pole position , leading a Ferrari front row ; stunning time for Giacomelli in 6th for Alfa Romeo.
Warm and sunny as expected in Bahrain for today's race. Eddie Cheveer makes his debut in F1 starting from 13th place ,not bad for a rookie indeed.
As the race started , I made up some place in the field turning right down the straight in 9th place. As the race unfolded I gained another 3 positions , entering in the points zone in 6th place. Then I speed up the pace , running around 1 second off the leaders. With a good strategy , pitting one of the first , then going longer on the second stop , I gained another place to reach 5th on lap 36.
This situation was good for us , so I decided to slow down a little bit , to not stress too much the car and the tyres. With a margin of 15 seconds on the sixth on the standings , everything was running fine , till something broke up , the car lost all power as the engine blew up , leaving me with everything but regrets.
In the end , it was a good occasion to score the first points of my career but simply luck wasn't on my side at all today!
Pironi won the race with a dominant performance heading Villeneuve back home , taking also the additional point for the fastest lap!
Well , this is all for this first race , next step will be TT Aida , for the Pacific Grand Prix!
Here is the results and the standings:
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2010 05:17PM by Manofdestiny.
Nice to see somebody else trying to do a full season. I wonder if Gilles Villeneuve ever thought he'll race in Bahrain
I've finished my Rouen race but I'm still furious about the outcome, so I'll post my review later...
I've finished my Rouen race but I'm still furious about the outcome, so I'll post my review later...
Round 8: French Grand Prix - Rouen-les-Essarts
Qual:
My low-downforce setup wasn't really doing any favours but the session ended in a real misery. I was stuck down in 15th place following a couple of off-track excursions when on my final run I got a tow behind Carlos Reutemann into the main straight but he slowed down and was coming into the pits and I got caught unaware of this and crashed into the back of him at full-speed. I managed to cross the finish line on three wheels but that was all she wrote for my BRM in this session. Back at the sharp end of the field Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti locked the front row with Jacky Ickx and Denny Hulme on row two.
Race:
At the start Fittipaldi got jumped by Andretti and Ickx whereas I got up to 12th place and then passed Ronnie Peterson on lap two to move into 11th. Meanwhile Carlos Reutemann was out on the first lap already having been squeezed into the barriers in The Esses after wheel-banging moment with Andrea de Adamich. Last time at Nivelles all four BRMs escaped mechanical trouble but Rouen was a totally different story as Howden Ganley and Peter Gethin retired after just a handful of laps with mechanical gremlins.
On lap 6 I passed Francois Cevert at the end of the back straight and was running 10th. Then two laps later as I was just about to make a run on Dave Walker for ninth, Chris Amon's Ferrari blew up just ahead of us in The Esses (Amon was running 8th). I had to lift off since Walker moved to the inside and Amon was coasting along on the outside. As a result I completely lost the drive and got passed by Cevert again. It took me three more laps to regain that place which was 9th now that Amon has retired.
While I was making some progress in the midfield Andretti and Ickx left Fittipaldi behind and looked on course for a Ferrari 1-2 but on lap 13 Andretti suddenly pulled off from the lead with a loose wheel. I was up to 8th then but on lap 17 I finally nailed Walker at the hairpin and was 7th.
Fittipaldi found some burst of speed whereas Ickx got stuck in traffic behind de Adamich and Carlos Pace and on lap 20 the Brazilian got a run on the Belgian at the end of back straight and passed him fairly easy. So at 1/3 distance the order was Fittipaldi, Ickx, Hulme, Revson, Stewart, Regazzoni and Beltoise.
In the second half of the race I was reducing the gap back to Regazzoni and the rest as I'd lost over 20 secs. to them in the early stages. On lap 38 second placed Ickx developed an electrical failure and made an extra stop which dropped him to 9th. I was sixth but two laps later I finally caught Regazzoni and passed him at the hairpin. Four laps later Regazzoni suffered a loose wheel and also pitted which promoted Dave Walker into sixth but Ickx was charging back having passed Reine Wisell and Ronnie Peterson already.
Hulme, Revson and Stewart were covered by mere four secs. after 47 laps but for once I didn't have any tyre wear problems and I picked them one by one to claim second place on lap 50. At this stage Fittipaldi was 45 secs. in the lead, so his place was beyond any challenge, but I was happy with my afternoon's job considering poor grid position. And then it was the Jarama deja vu however this time it robbed me of 6 points. When I crossed the line to start lap 52 suddenly my BRM developed a water leak and I was oly hoping to make it round to the pits. Yet, with Rouen lap being 6,5 kms it was almost an impossible task. Indeed, as I turned onto the backstraight the engine quit dead and I rolled off before the final corner...
Fittipaldi claimed the win with Hulme and Revson holding off Stewart for the other podium places. Jacky Ickx charged back up to fifth following his extra stop and thanks to my late retirement Dave Walker scored his first point of the season and saved his Lotus spot for the time being.
Next on the schedule is Brands Hatch which doesn't really suit my style as it wears tires quite badly. But my title challenge isn't quite over just yet with six races remaining.
Jean-Pierre Beltoise (BRM) navigates the Rouen hairpin
Championship: 1.Fittipaldi 36, 2.Andretti 32, 3.Hulme 31, 4.Beltoise 20, 5.Revson 17, 6.Ickx 12, 7.Stewart 8, 8.Regazzoni 7, 9.Cevert 6, 10.Amon 3, 11.Peterson 2, 12.Walker 1
Next up: British Grand Prix @ Brands Hatch
Qual:
My low-downforce setup wasn't really doing any favours but the session ended in a real misery. I was stuck down in 15th place following a couple of off-track excursions when on my final run I got a tow behind Carlos Reutemann into the main straight but he slowed down and was coming into the pits and I got caught unaware of this and crashed into the back of him at full-speed. I managed to cross the finish line on three wheels but that was all she wrote for my BRM in this session. Back at the sharp end of the field Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti locked the front row with Jacky Ickx and Denny Hulme on row two.
Race:
At the start Fittipaldi got jumped by Andretti and Ickx whereas I got up to 12th place and then passed Ronnie Peterson on lap two to move into 11th. Meanwhile Carlos Reutemann was out on the first lap already having been squeezed into the barriers in The Esses after wheel-banging moment with Andrea de Adamich. Last time at Nivelles all four BRMs escaped mechanical trouble but Rouen was a totally different story as Howden Ganley and Peter Gethin retired after just a handful of laps with mechanical gremlins.
On lap 6 I passed Francois Cevert at the end of the back straight and was running 10th. Then two laps later as I was just about to make a run on Dave Walker for ninth, Chris Amon's Ferrari blew up just ahead of us in The Esses (Amon was running 8th). I had to lift off since Walker moved to the inside and Amon was coasting along on the outside. As a result I completely lost the drive and got passed by Cevert again. It took me three more laps to regain that place which was 9th now that Amon has retired.
While I was making some progress in the midfield Andretti and Ickx left Fittipaldi behind and looked on course for a Ferrari 1-2 but on lap 13 Andretti suddenly pulled off from the lead with a loose wheel. I was up to 8th then but on lap 17 I finally nailed Walker at the hairpin and was 7th.
Fittipaldi found some burst of speed whereas Ickx got stuck in traffic behind de Adamich and Carlos Pace and on lap 20 the Brazilian got a run on the Belgian at the end of back straight and passed him fairly easy. So at 1/3 distance the order was Fittipaldi, Ickx, Hulme, Revson, Stewart, Regazzoni and Beltoise.
In the second half of the race I was reducing the gap back to Regazzoni and the rest as I'd lost over 20 secs. to them in the early stages. On lap 38 second placed Ickx developed an electrical failure and made an extra stop which dropped him to 9th. I was sixth but two laps later I finally caught Regazzoni and passed him at the hairpin. Four laps later Regazzoni suffered a loose wheel and also pitted which promoted Dave Walker into sixth but Ickx was charging back having passed Reine Wisell and Ronnie Peterson already.
Hulme, Revson and Stewart were covered by mere four secs. after 47 laps but for once I didn't have any tyre wear problems and I picked them one by one to claim second place on lap 50. At this stage Fittipaldi was 45 secs. in the lead, so his place was beyond any challenge, but I was happy with my afternoon's job considering poor grid position. And then it was the Jarama deja vu however this time it robbed me of 6 points. When I crossed the line to start lap 52 suddenly my BRM developed a water leak and I was oly hoping to make it round to the pits. Yet, with Rouen lap being 6,5 kms it was almost an impossible task. Indeed, as I turned onto the backstraight the engine quit dead and I rolled off before the final corner...
Fittipaldi claimed the win with Hulme and Revson holding off Stewart for the other podium places. Jacky Ickx charged back up to fifth following his extra stop and thanks to my late retirement Dave Walker scored his first point of the season and saved his Lotus spot for the time being.
Next on the schedule is Brands Hatch which doesn't really suit my style as it wears tires quite badly. But my title challenge isn't quite over just yet with six races remaining.
Jean-Pierre Beltoise (BRM) navigates the Rouen hairpin
Championship: 1.Fittipaldi 36, 2.Andretti 32, 3.Hulme 31, 4.Beltoise 20, 5.Revson 17, 6.Ickx 12, 7.Stewart 8, 8.Regazzoni 7, 9.Cevert 6, 10.Amon 3, 11.Peterson 2, 12.Walker 1
Next up: British Grand Prix @ Brands Hatch
Hey guys, fimally im able to play GP3 again. I decided to take part in the 1973 campaign. I joined the Lotus team, taking the wheel out of Fittipaldi's hands. Im planning to drive for the team and get Peterson to the championship. Time will show if this could work out.
The first race at Argentina wasnt a good one. I qualified 8th. Peterson qualified 2nd behind Stewart. The start of the race was quite hectic, Arturo Merzario took the lead in his Ferrari. While Peterson did overtake Stewart so he kept his 2nd position. I jumped from 8th with a carefull approach to turn one and ended up in 5th. Soon i passed the number 4 (im sorry i cant remember who drove there i belive it was a yardley mclaren.) 2 laps later i closed the gap to Stewart. I passed him 1 lap later. After that i helped my teammate in the hunt of Merzario. We overtook him simultaniously in the 2nd to last corner (Buenos Aires). Unfortenately in lap 5 already i crashed !
only 5 drivers made it to the finish. Francois Cevert won the race in front of Ickx and Peterson musty have had problems because he finished 'only' 3rd. Im sorry for this short overview. Soon i'll post good race reviews
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"If in doubt, Flat out."
The first race at Argentina wasnt a good one. I qualified 8th. Peterson qualified 2nd behind Stewart. The start of the race was quite hectic, Arturo Merzario took the lead in his Ferrari. While Peterson did overtake Stewart so he kept his 2nd position. I jumped from 8th with a carefull approach to turn one and ended up in 5th. Soon i passed the number 4 (im sorry i cant remember who drove there i belive it was a yardley mclaren.) 2 laps later i closed the gap to Stewart. I passed him 1 lap later. After that i helped my teammate in the hunt of Merzario. We overtook him simultaniously in the 2nd to last corner (Buenos Aires). Unfortenately in lap 5 already i crashed !
only 5 drivers made it to the finish. Francois Cevert won the race in front of Ickx and Peterson musty have had problems because he finished 'only' 3rd. Im sorry for this short overview. Soon i'll post good race reviews
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"If in doubt, Flat out."
@ Mr. Lee
What a pity. That water leak must have been a devastating one.
@Rico
I see you haven't enjoyed the race for too long :P
I only hope I can make it once again in Hungary. I'm just about to start the 2007 Hungarian GP.
What a pity. That water leak must have been a devastating one.
@Rico
I see you haven't enjoyed the race for too long :P
I only hope I can make it once again in Hungary. I'm just about to start the 2007 Hungarian GP.
@abdelkader,
Yes, unfortunately I'm in a position where every point is important if I'm going to make any challenge on Fittipaldi whose Lotus is almost bulletproof, having suffered just one DNF all year (admittedly he did have a torrid race in Jarama too). I can swallow my Kyalami DNF since that was fairly early in the race but those six points from Rouen could yet make some difference.
Well, I tried to gain some ground as soon as possible, so here's my Brands Hatch review
Round 9: British Grand Prix - Brands Hatch
Qual:
Ferrari dominated practice with Jacky Ickx on pole position (1:10.832 Min.) and Mario Andretti alongside him. Emerson Fittipaldi and Jackie Stewart shared row two and Peter Revson and Denny Hulme on row three. I clocked a time of 1:12.095 which was good enough for only 13th on the grid sandwiching the two Surtees cars of de Adamich and Schenken. Weather was fine during the session but that would change on race day.
Race:
Weather forecast suggested a dry start of the race but the rain was about to come after just an hour of racing. Ferrari failed to make any advantage of their front row lock-out and allowed Fittipaldi to sneak under Ickx at Paddock Hill Bend and then outmuscle Andretti into Druids. Jackie Stewart also got ahead of Ickx on the first lap and needed only two more to pass Andretti as well.
Meanwhile I got a great start and moved up to ninth through Druids and powered passed Amon and Regazzoni on the Pilgrim's Drop straight. On lap two I passed Cevert at Druids and four laps later I completed my charge by overtaking Denny Hulme before Dingle Dell after I got a great run off Westfield. However by this stage fourth placed Ickx had a 8 secs. advantage over me and was lapping faster. Indeed after seven laps I was left with a clear road ahead but a number of cars close in my mirrors because I wasn't able to pull away from them. As a result something like 10 car train developed behind me and I was forced to concentrate on defending my positon rather then chasing the leading quarter.
Looking at the lap times, Fittipaldi & co. were three seconds faster then me and after just 20 laps they've lapped the backmarkers (both Williamses and Hill's Brabham) and were slicing through that train of cars too. On lap 31 I got lapped and had a good look how close Fittipaldi and Stewart were running to each other Three laps later I got away with a close call when Denny Hulme tried to pass me at Dingle Dell but only bounced off my sidepod and spun across the track. Behind him there was a chain reaction as Chris Amon rammed into the back of Ronnie Peterson taking them both out on the spot while Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx were also slowed down in the proccess. Hulme rejoined down in 14th but lost a lot of ground.
After this incident I got a quick breather but not quite as Francois Cevert breezed through the melee and was now my main opponent in the fight for fifth place. On lap 39 I got over the kerbs at Westfield and lost drive on the run down to Dingle Dell and was forced to let Cevert passed. Unsurprisingly he began to pull away and I was in a lonely sixth place with Clay Regazzoni about eight secs. behind in seventh.
Then on lap 45 it began to rain as predicted. Firsty there was only a brief shower and not until lap 54 it was wet enough to consider pitting for wet tyres. Indeed a made a gamble and together with Reine Wisell I was the first man to pit on lap 54. I chose hard wet tires knowing that the rain will increase and won't go away before the finish. Two laps later almost everyone followed into the pits and once it all cycled around I realized Clay Regazzoni jumped me in the pits and Denny Hulme was right behind me again. In fact he was leading a train of cars which included Andrea de Adamich, Carlos Reutemann, Niki Lauda and Tim Schenken all running within six secs. of each other.
After 65 laps I was still in seventh place and looking for some attrition to move into the top six, but it looked like this race wasn't going to be a repeat of the Rouen destruction derby. Apart from Peterson/Amon crash only three other cars retired and when somebody finally dropped out it was Reine Wisell who had been running 14th and way behind me.
In the meantime I got lapped for the second time by Fittipaldi who continued to lead and had stretched the gap over Stewart to nine seconds. Andretti and Ickx also maintained their positions with Cevert a lap down in fifth and Regazzoni in sixth some 13 secs. ahead of me. But then on lap 68 the rain heavily increased and I found myself struggling for grip and under severe attacks from Hulme. On lap 69 (only eight before the flag) I finally blew it. I run too deep into Druids, locked the brakes and made a trip across the gravel which cost me three places as Hulme, Reutemann and de Adamich all breezed through. I tried to make some sort of a comeback but on the very next lap I spun off at Surtees corner and lost further two places to Lauda and Schenken. At this stage I was of course out of any contention for good result and went back to the pits for monsoon tires which seemed the way to go because the consitions were really horrible in the closing laps. During my stop Peter Gethin and Carlos Pace passed me, so I emerged back in 14th with only Hill and Pescarolo behind me. As I was exiting the pits Fittipaldi lapped me for the third time just for the fun of it.
In the closing five laps I was lapping five secs. faster then Pace and passed him on lap 74 and just before that Francois Cevert retired from 5th place with a suspension failure so I gained another spot and eventually wound up 12th in the final results. Emerson Fittipaldi won the race ahead of Stewart, Andretti and Ickx so that order remained effectively unchanged since the first lap. Cevert's late retirement vaulted Carlos Reutemann up to fifth spot, the Argentine having gone passed Regazzoni in the dying laps to score both his & Brabham's first points of the season. Denny Hulme recovered to seventh only two secs. behind Regazzoni at the line and Tim Schenken was only half a car lenght behind the McLaren and just four secs. behind Regazzoni in Surtees' team most competitive showing of the season.
BRM left Brands Hatch pointless, Howden Ganley suffered another mechanical problem and even I lost count how many he's had already while after my antics Peter Gethin was set to be the best BRM man and he indeed was despite an engine failure on the last lap which forced him to pull off at Westfield.
In the championship standings Fittipaldi now leads Andretti by 9 points with Hulme 14 behind. I'm 25 points off the pace and almost surely out of the title hunt unless Fittipaldi strikes some major reliability issues which seems very unlikely.
Championship: 1.Fittipaldi 45, 2.Andretti 36, 3.Hulme 31, 4.Beltoise 20, 5.Revson 17, 6.Ickx 15, 7.Stewart 14, 8.Regazzoni 8, 9.Cevert 6, 10.Amon 3, 11.Reutemann 2, 12.Peterson 2, 13.Walker 1
Next up: German Grand Prix @ Hockenheim
Yes, unfortunately I'm in a position where every point is important if I'm going to make any challenge on Fittipaldi whose Lotus is almost bulletproof, having suffered just one DNF all year (admittedly he did have a torrid race in Jarama too). I can swallow my Kyalami DNF since that was fairly early in the race but those six points from Rouen could yet make some difference.
Well, I tried to gain some ground as soon as possible, so here's my Brands Hatch review
Round 9: British Grand Prix - Brands Hatch
Qual:
Ferrari dominated practice with Jacky Ickx on pole position (1:10.832 Min.) and Mario Andretti alongside him. Emerson Fittipaldi and Jackie Stewart shared row two and Peter Revson and Denny Hulme on row three. I clocked a time of 1:12.095 which was good enough for only 13th on the grid sandwiching the two Surtees cars of de Adamich and Schenken. Weather was fine during the session but that would change on race day.
Race:
Weather forecast suggested a dry start of the race but the rain was about to come after just an hour of racing. Ferrari failed to make any advantage of their front row lock-out and allowed Fittipaldi to sneak under Ickx at Paddock Hill Bend and then outmuscle Andretti into Druids. Jackie Stewart also got ahead of Ickx on the first lap and needed only two more to pass Andretti as well.
Meanwhile I got a great start and moved up to ninth through Druids and powered passed Amon and Regazzoni on the Pilgrim's Drop straight. On lap two I passed Cevert at Druids and four laps later I completed my charge by overtaking Denny Hulme before Dingle Dell after I got a great run off Westfield. However by this stage fourth placed Ickx had a 8 secs. advantage over me and was lapping faster. Indeed after seven laps I was left with a clear road ahead but a number of cars close in my mirrors because I wasn't able to pull away from them. As a result something like 10 car train developed behind me and I was forced to concentrate on defending my positon rather then chasing the leading quarter.
Looking at the lap times, Fittipaldi & co. were three seconds faster then me and after just 20 laps they've lapped the backmarkers (both Williamses and Hill's Brabham) and were slicing through that train of cars too. On lap 31 I got lapped and had a good look how close Fittipaldi and Stewart were running to each other
Three laps later I got away with a close call when Denny Hulme tried to pass me at Dingle Dell but only bounced off my sidepod and spun across the track. Behind him there was a chain reaction as Chris Amon rammed into the back of Ronnie Peterson taking them both out on the spot while Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx were also slowed down in the proccess. Hulme rejoined down in 14th but lost a lot of ground.After this incident I got a quick breather but not quite as Francois Cevert breezed through the melee and was now my main opponent in the fight for fifth place. On lap 39 I got over the kerbs at Westfield and lost drive on the run down to Dingle Dell and was forced to let Cevert passed. Unsurprisingly he began to pull away and I was in a lonely sixth place with Clay Regazzoni about eight secs. behind in seventh.
Then on lap 45 it began to rain as predicted. Firsty there was only a brief shower and not until lap 54 it was wet enough to consider pitting for wet tyres. Indeed a made a gamble and together with Reine Wisell I was the first man to pit on lap 54. I chose hard wet tires knowing that the rain will increase and won't go away before the finish. Two laps later almost everyone followed into the pits and once it all cycled around I realized Clay Regazzoni jumped me in the pits and Denny Hulme was right behind me again. In fact he was leading a train of cars which included Andrea de Adamich, Carlos Reutemann, Niki Lauda and Tim Schenken all running within six secs. of each other.
After 65 laps I was still in seventh place and looking for some attrition to move into the top six, but it looked like this race wasn't going to be a repeat of the Rouen destruction derby. Apart from Peterson/Amon crash only three other cars retired and when somebody finally dropped out it was Reine Wisell who had been running 14th and way behind me.
In the meantime I got lapped for the second time by Fittipaldi who continued to lead and had stretched the gap over Stewart to nine seconds. Andretti and Ickx also maintained their positions with Cevert a lap down in fifth and Regazzoni in sixth some 13 secs. ahead of me. But then on lap 68 the rain heavily increased and I found myself struggling for grip and under severe attacks from Hulme. On lap 69 (only eight before the flag) I finally blew it. I run too deep into Druids, locked the brakes and made a trip across the gravel which cost me three places as Hulme, Reutemann and de Adamich all breezed through. I tried to make some sort of a comeback but on the very next lap I spun off at Surtees corner and lost further two places to Lauda and Schenken. At this stage I was of course out of any contention for good result and went back to the pits for monsoon tires which seemed the way to go because the consitions were really horrible in the closing laps. During my stop Peter Gethin and Carlos Pace passed me, so I emerged back in 14th with only Hill and Pescarolo behind me. As I was exiting the pits Fittipaldi lapped me for the third time just for the fun of it.
In the closing five laps I was lapping five secs. faster then Pace and passed him on lap 74 and just before that Francois Cevert retired from 5th place with a suspension failure so I gained another spot and eventually wound up 12th in the final results. Emerson Fittipaldi won the race ahead of Stewart, Andretti and Ickx so that order remained effectively unchanged since the first lap. Cevert's late retirement vaulted Carlos Reutemann up to fifth spot, the Argentine having gone passed Regazzoni in the dying laps to score both his & Brabham's first points of the season. Denny Hulme recovered to seventh only two secs. behind Regazzoni at the line and Tim Schenken was only half a car lenght behind the McLaren and just four secs. behind Regazzoni in Surtees' team most competitive showing of the season.
BRM left Brands Hatch pointless, Howden Ganley suffered another mechanical problem and even I lost count how many he's had already while after my antics Peter Gethin was set to be the best BRM man and he indeed was despite an engine failure on the last lap which forced him to pull off at Westfield.
In the championship standings Fittipaldi now leads Andretti by 9 points with Hulme 14 behind. I'm 25 points off the pace and almost surely out of the title hunt unless Fittipaldi strikes some major reliability issues which seems very unlikely.
Championship: 1.Fittipaldi 45, 2.Andretti 36, 3.Hulme 31, 4.Beltoise 20, 5.Revson 17, 6.Ickx 15, 7.Stewart 14, 8.Regazzoni 8, 9.Cevert 6, 10.Amon 3, 11.Reutemann 2, 12.Peterson 2, 13.Walker 1
Next up: German Grand Prix @ Hockenheim
That's pretty bad about your performance in the second half of the race. I also hate those trains behind my back. It happens mainly at Suzuka in my case as I never could pull away and show off in Japan.
Anyway, here's my report:
Round 11 - Hungaroring, Hungarian GP
The qualifiers took place in clear conditions which turned me on as I've never had any problems in Hungary. I can fly around this circuit with hands down and eyes closed :P. Indeed I clocked the best time outpacing Alonso and Hamilton by 2.5 seconds. I knew I'd be the race winner if nothing wrong happens.
Luckily for the drivers, the race day was as clear as the qualifying's day. I kept pulling away for the first 3 laps and developed a 3-second advantage over Alonso. I thought that saving tyres would be a good thing to do but then Alonso started closing the gap so I had to give up on this idea and got back to my usual offensive driving style. After 15 laps I was around 7 seconds ahead of Fernando who was battling Fisichella who managed to pass Hamilton who once again didn't withstand the pressure and dropped back to the tail of the grid. Suddenly, in lap 27 I received the info that it's Fisichella who was behind me from now on, about 30 seconds slower. I wondered what happened to Alonso but it soon turned out that he had a contact with Liuzzi who was leaving the pits. Alonso didn't brake out and smashed his nosecone into pieces. I almost crashed into him in the very next lap. Luckily, I passed him leaving both of us without any harm. Alonso managed to repair his car and rejoined the race but he couldn't regain his pace. Meanwhile, Hamilton started pushing very hard gaining positions and setting faster and faster lap times. Then, in lap 57 I was more than sure that Alonso was, willy-nilly, hunting for me during this race. He suddenly hit the brakes when I was just behind trying to lap him. This time I had to get through the gravel trap but luckily, I was going flat out so I didn't get stuck in it. From now on I was safe as 2nd position was taken by Massa who was some 50 seconds behind three laps from finish. I was in the final lap thinking about another victory but here I got something which I'd never expect - a suspension failure!!! Luckily, I had already covered 3/4 of the final lap while it was rear right suspension which was damaged. I drastically slowed down not to lose grip and crossed the finish line swerving and bouncing to the left and right. This way quite a boring race turned into a potential nightmare at its final stage.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Massa, 3rd - Fisichella
I'm now one point behind Massa and two points clear of Kimi. Six straight victories...not bad, I suppose
Round 12 - Istanbul Park, Turkish GP
There is no language and no vocabulary which can express how much I f@$@#%@$ hate this track. I hate it just as much as I hate Mr. Tilke. I couldn't find the right racing line and the right setup. I ended up in 22nd position in the qualifyings. Pole position went to Raikkonen with Alonso and Massa behind.
The start of the race was extremely hectic. I managed to grab 4 positions but I soon rammed into Takuma Sato. As a result, we both retired...maybe it's better for me. I would have suffered a lot during the race. In this way I spared myself humiliation. Amazingly good performance was made by BMW Sauber drivers. Heidfeld who qualified in 4th place finished in 2nd position while Kubica came 4th in the race. Raikkonen was in the lead from start to finish while Massa was 3rd all the way down to the flag. McLarens are still having an unlucky streak as Hamilton suffered from a puncture while Alonso crashed out shortly after his 1st pit-stop. As for the Williams, at least Rosberg came 5th and claimed points for the team.
The winner - Raikkonen, 2nd - Heidfeld, 3rd - Massa
Round 13 - Monza, Italian GP
I came to Italy with lots of hope as I love tifosi and the Monza circuit itself. The weather was perfectly Italian - not a single cloud visible on the skies while sun was glaring down on the track from the very beginning of the qualifying session. My first lap was a bit twitchy but I decided to push harder despite my grip problems. Indeed, I made the fastest time and was calmly observing the development of the session. All in all, I took another pole position with Raikkonen and Massa behind.
The weather conditions on the race day were similar to those from Saturday. I knew there was no stopping me now as I was way faster than the rest. With every lap I was pulling away from the rivals. Raikkonen established himself in 2nd position and was a firm candidate for the podium. Fisichella dropped down a few positions and couldn't keep his pace from the qualifying session. Meanwhile, Alonso started pushing forward and soon reached 3rd position starting from 7th. He kept swapping places with Massa who was right behind. However, after the first round of pit-stops Massa lost pace and was now much slower. Hamilton made use of this situation and took 4th position. Massa was driving in 6th position but here he was surprised by an unexpected rival - Sato. The Japanese passed him and started pulling away to keep 6th position and important points for Super Aguri team. The pit-stops were not particularly successful for BMW Sauber drivers. Heidfeld who started from 4th position and Kubica who was two positions behind his teammate lost lots of time in the pits and with heavy fuel load were not as competitive as before. They got stuck in 8th and 9th positions with no prospect to improve. The race was quite boring to me and I was happy to cross the finish line with another 10-point reward.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Raikkonen, 3rd - Alonso
Round 14 - Spa-Francorchamps, Belgian GP
I didn't know what to expect from the new Spa layout but after only a few laps I knew I liked this track more than the previous one. It's now a bit easier. It all helped me to claim another pole position by 0.191 in front of Massa and Alonso.
The race started just as I expected. First I was passed by Massa but I soon regained leadership in the same lap. From now on I kept extending the lead having the Brazilian and his Finnish teammate right on my back. Raikkonen made a fantastic effort by passing Alonso and Hamilton at the start. The race was rather a calm one for me. I held my breath in lap 7 when I had a serious spin at Eau Rouge which might have finished in a tragedy. Luckily I rejoined the race and continued to extend the gap. However, from now on while approaching Eau Rouge, I'd slow down a bit not to push my luck anymore. I pitted early in the race, in lap 11. I soon noticed that Raikkonen, Hamilton and Massa have the same strategy which calmed me down a little bit. After second pit-stop I was more than happy when I saw that Massa was out. It was one major rival down. It was sure that he wouldn't tighten the gap in the Drivers' Championship classification. A couple of laps later I couldn't be more happy when I saw Kimi retire too. Now I knew that I'd be the championship leader if I bring it on home. From this moment the race was a pure pleasure and I enjoyed it to the full extent. Some 8 laps from finish Hamilton started pushing extremely hard and was faster by around 1.9 second per lap. Luckily, my advantage was big enough to claim another victory. As for the other drivers, Heidfeld impressed me one more time reaching 4th position while Takuma Sato has woken up in the final stage of the season by finishing 6th for the second time in a row. Both RBR drivers finished in point-awarding positions as Coulthard came 5th and Webber 7th, sandwiching Sato. Kubica had a bit of bad luck as he was driving in great 5th position at some stage but he suffered from a water leak 12 laps from the flag.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Hamilton, 3rd - Alonso
Round 15 - Fuji, Japanese GP
Thank God, the Japanese Grand Prix was moved from Suzuka to Fuji circuit. If it had been held at Suzuka, I would have retired from the race as I wouldn't have any hope for scoring points :P.
Anyway, the qualifying session was hectic. I made a very quick lap but Hamilton was even faster and he eventually claimed pole position. I took 2nd place while Alonso was third.
The start of the race was the only moment at which Hamilton was in the lead. I passed him easily and started pulling away. However, the advantage wasn't rising significantly as after 10 laps Lewis was just 2.8 seconds behind. He even clocked the fastest lap and I got really scared that within next two, three laps I'd get passed by him. To my surprise, the next few laps were marked with Hamilton's loss of pace and my fastest lap. I calmed down and continued the race. After the first round of pit-stops Massa took viceleadership but he wasn't as competitive as Hamilton and he wasn't a challenge to me. In the second round of pit-stops Hamilton regained his 2nd position in the race after an epic battle with Massa. Alonso wasn't pushing too hard which resulted in his dropping a few positions at the initial part of the race. After second pit-stop he established himself in 10th position which didn't change until the end. In lap 51 I had serious problems with Liuzzi. I was trying to lap him but he seemed not to have seen the blue flag signal. When I was to pass him, he hit me in the left rear wheel. We both spun off the track. Luckily, none of us developed a damage. Unfortunately, I saw Albers and Sutil pass me before I recovered and rejoined the race. Now I had two Spykers in front and Hamilton charging 10 seconds behind. Luckily for me, both Spykers were not as persistent as Liuzzi and let me lap them without any problems. From now on my advantage over Hamilton was rising until it reached the safe level of 20 seconds 5 laps from the flag. Massa took the last frantic attempt at passing Hamilton and he succeeded. He outbraked him in the first corner. I wasn't quite happy about it as Massa is the major rival in the battle for the championship. Worth noting is that BMW made another great race as Heidfeld came 4th while Kubica was 5th.
I brought it all home, won another 10 points and now I'm 13 points ahead of Massa and 14 in front of Raikkonen. Only two races to go and I think that championship is within my hands' reach...However, judging by the facts from real-life 2007 F-1 season, I know that there's no advantage which can't be wasted. Lewis has proven it way too explicitly.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Massa, 3rd - Hamilton
Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2010 07:58PM by abdelkader.
Anyway, here's my report:
Round 11 - Hungaroring, Hungarian GP
The qualifiers took place in clear conditions which turned me on as I've never had any problems in Hungary. I can fly around this circuit with hands down and eyes closed :P. Indeed I clocked the best time outpacing Alonso and Hamilton by 2.5 seconds. I knew I'd be the race winner if nothing wrong happens.
Luckily for the drivers, the race day was as clear as the qualifying's day. I kept pulling away for the first 3 laps and developed a 3-second advantage over Alonso. I thought that saving tyres would be a good thing to do but then Alonso started closing the gap so I had to give up on this idea and got back to my usual offensive driving style. After 15 laps I was around 7 seconds ahead of Fernando who was battling Fisichella who managed to pass Hamilton who once again didn't withstand the pressure and dropped back to the tail of the grid. Suddenly, in lap 27 I received the info that it's Fisichella who was behind me from now on, about 30 seconds slower. I wondered what happened to Alonso but it soon turned out that he had a contact with Liuzzi who was leaving the pits. Alonso didn't brake out and smashed his nosecone into pieces. I almost crashed into him in the very next lap. Luckily, I passed him leaving both of us without any harm. Alonso managed to repair his car and rejoined the race but he couldn't regain his pace. Meanwhile, Hamilton started pushing very hard gaining positions and setting faster and faster lap times. Then, in lap 57 I was more than sure that Alonso was, willy-nilly, hunting for me during this race. He suddenly hit the brakes when I was just behind trying to lap him. This time I had to get through the gravel trap but luckily, I was going flat out so I didn't get stuck in it. From now on I was safe as 2nd position was taken by Massa who was some 50 seconds behind three laps from finish. I was in the final lap thinking about another victory but here I got something which I'd never expect - a suspension failure!!! Luckily, I had already covered 3/4 of the final lap while it was rear right suspension which was damaged. I drastically slowed down not to lose grip and crossed the finish line swerving and bouncing to the left and right. This way quite a boring race turned into a potential nightmare at its final stage.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Massa, 3rd - Fisichella
I'm now one point behind Massa and two points clear of Kimi. Six straight victories...not bad, I suppose
Round 12 - Istanbul Park, Turkish GP
There is no language and no vocabulary which can express how much I f@$@#%@$ hate this track. I hate it just as much as I hate Mr. Tilke. I couldn't find the right racing line and the right setup. I ended up in 22nd position in the qualifyings. Pole position went to Raikkonen with Alonso and Massa behind.
The start of the race was extremely hectic. I managed to grab 4 positions but I soon rammed into Takuma Sato. As a result, we both retired...maybe it's better for me. I would have suffered a lot during the race. In this way I spared myself humiliation. Amazingly good performance was made by BMW Sauber drivers. Heidfeld who qualified in 4th place finished in 2nd position while Kubica came 4th in the race. Raikkonen was in the lead from start to finish while Massa was 3rd all the way down to the flag. McLarens are still having an unlucky streak as Hamilton suffered from a puncture while Alonso crashed out shortly after his 1st pit-stop. As for the Williams, at least Rosberg came 5th and claimed points for the team.
The winner - Raikkonen, 2nd - Heidfeld, 3rd - Massa
Round 13 - Monza, Italian GP
I came to Italy with lots of hope as I love tifosi and the Monza circuit itself. The weather was perfectly Italian - not a single cloud visible on the skies while sun was glaring down on the track from the very beginning of the qualifying session. My first lap was a bit twitchy but I decided to push harder despite my grip problems. Indeed, I made the fastest time and was calmly observing the development of the session. All in all, I took another pole position with Raikkonen and Massa behind.
The weather conditions on the race day were similar to those from Saturday. I knew there was no stopping me now as I was way faster than the rest. With every lap I was pulling away from the rivals. Raikkonen established himself in 2nd position and was a firm candidate for the podium. Fisichella dropped down a few positions and couldn't keep his pace from the qualifying session. Meanwhile, Alonso started pushing forward and soon reached 3rd position starting from 7th. He kept swapping places with Massa who was right behind. However, after the first round of pit-stops Massa lost pace and was now much slower. Hamilton made use of this situation and took 4th position. Massa was driving in 6th position but here he was surprised by an unexpected rival - Sato. The Japanese passed him and started pulling away to keep 6th position and important points for Super Aguri team. The pit-stops were not particularly successful for BMW Sauber drivers. Heidfeld who started from 4th position and Kubica who was two positions behind his teammate lost lots of time in the pits and with heavy fuel load were not as competitive as before. They got stuck in 8th and 9th positions with no prospect to improve. The race was quite boring to me and I was happy to cross the finish line with another 10-point reward.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Raikkonen, 3rd - Alonso
Round 14 - Spa-Francorchamps, Belgian GP
I didn't know what to expect from the new Spa layout but after only a few laps I knew I liked this track more than the previous one. It's now a bit easier. It all helped me to claim another pole position by 0.191 in front of Massa and Alonso.
The race started just as I expected. First I was passed by Massa but I soon regained leadership in the same lap. From now on I kept extending the lead having the Brazilian and his Finnish teammate right on my back. Raikkonen made a fantastic effort by passing Alonso and Hamilton at the start. The race was rather a calm one for me. I held my breath in lap 7 when I had a serious spin at Eau Rouge which might have finished in a tragedy. Luckily I rejoined the race and continued to extend the gap. However, from now on while approaching Eau Rouge, I'd slow down a bit not to push my luck anymore. I pitted early in the race, in lap 11. I soon noticed that Raikkonen, Hamilton and Massa have the same strategy which calmed me down a little bit. After second pit-stop I was more than happy when I saw that Massa was out. It was one major rival down. It was sure that he wouldn't tighten the gap in the Drivers' Championship classification. A couple of laps later I couldn't be more happy when I saw Kimi retire too. Now I knew that I'd be the championship leader if I bring it on home. From this moment the race was a pure pleasure and I enjoyed it to the full extent. Some 8 laps from finish Hamilton started pushing extremely hard and was faster by around 1.9 second per lap. Luckily, my advantage was big enough to claim another victory. As for the other drivers, Heidfeld impressed me one more time reaching 4th position while Takuma Sato has woken up in the final stage of the season by finishing 6th for the second time in a row. Both RBR drivers finished in point-awarding positions as Coulthard came 5th and Webber 7th, sandwiching Sato. Kubica had a bit of bad luck as he was driving in great 5th position at some stage but he suffered from a water leak 12 laps from the flag.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Hamilton, 3rd - Alonso
Round 15 - Fuji, Japanese GP
Thank God, the Japanese Grand Prix was moved from Suzuka to Fuji circuit. If it had been held at Suzuka, I would have retired from the race as I wouldn't have any hope for scoring points :P.
Anyway, the qualifying session was hectic. I made a very quick lap but Hamilton was even faster and he eventually claimed pole position. I took 2nd place while Alonso was third.
The start of the race was the only moment at which Hamilton was in the lead. I passed him easily and started pulling away. However, the advantage wasn't rising significantly as after 10 laps Lewis was just 2.8 seconds behind. He even clocked the fastest lap and I got really scared that within next two, three laps I'd get passed by him. To my surprise, the next few laps were marked with Hamilton's loss of pace and my fastest lap. I calmed down and continued the race. After the first round of pit-stops Massa took viceleadership but he wasn't as competitive as Hamilton and he wasn't a challenge to me. In the second round of pit-stops Hamilton regained his 2nd position in the race after an epic battle with Massa. Alonso wasn't pushing too hard which resulted in his dropping a few positions at the initial part of the race. After second pit-stop he established himself in 10th position which didn't change until the end. In lap 51 I had serious problems with Liuzzi. I was trying to lap him but he seemed not to have seen the blue flag signal. When I was to pass him, he hit me in the left rear wheel. We both spun off the track. Luckily, none of us developed a damage. Unfortunately, I saw Albers and Sutil pass me before I recovered and rejoined the race. Now I had two Spykers in front and Hamilton charging 10 seconds behind. Luckily for me, both Spykers were not as persistent as Liuzzi and let me lap them without any problems. From now on my advantage over Hamilton was rising until it reached the safe level of 20 seconds 5 laps from the flag. Massa took the last frantic attempt at passing Hamilton and he succeeded. He outbraked him in the first corner. I wasn't quite happy about it as Massa is the major rival in the battle for the championship. Worth noting is that BMW made another great race as Heidfeld came 4th while Kubica was 5th.
I brought it all home, won another 10 points and now I'm 13 points ahead of Massa and 14 in front of Raikkonen. Only two races to go and I think that championship is within my hands' reach...However, judging by the facts from real-life 2007 F-1 season, I know that there's no advantage which can't be wasted. Lewis has proven it way too explicitly.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Massa, 3rd - Hamilton
Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2010 07:58PM by abdelkader.
Round 16 - Shanghai, Cinese GP
Saturday qualifyings opened in heavy rain conditions. I went to the track with mixed feelings. I made a reasonable lap but I wasn't fully satisfied. However, nobody was even close to my results and I won the pole hands down. Hamilton took 2nd position while my teammate, Rosberg ended up in fantastic 3rd position. Heidfeld was in 4th. This time Kubica's performance was totally dissapointing as he reached 14th position.
Sunday was sunny from the very beginning. I didn't know what to expect. If it was rainy, I'd know I was the best. Fortunately, my setup for the track was the right one and I soon lost eye contact with the rivals behind. After first round of pit-stops I decided to change strategy from 3 to 2 stops. I was quick enough to make that change. Hamilton was in 2nd position battling with Raikkonen and Massa who were really close to each other. Heidfeld and Rosberg lost pace immediately, losing their fantastic starting positions. Alonso started climbing but was soon stopped by Massa-Kimi cluster. Kubica was in 9th position as he passed some rivals but he got a transmission failure in lap 42 and retired. I kept extending the lead and was counting down the remaining laps - the laps which separated me from another victory and, what is the most important, the F-1 drivers' championship. I finally crossed the line as a winner.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Hamilton, 3rd - Massa
There's only one race remaining and the situation is as follows
World Drivers' Championship:
1. Kosewski 100pts
2. Massa 83
3. Raikkonen 81
4. Hamilton 71
5. Heidfeld 56
6. Alonso 55
7. R.Schumacher 27
8. Kovalainen 26
Constructors' Championship:
1. Ferrari 164
2. McLaren 126
3. Williams 122
4. BMW 77
5. Renault 48
I'd never think that after first 5 races I'd be so much dominant throughout the remaining races. It was so unexpected that I still can't talk about it.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2010 04:49PM by abdelkader.
Saturday qualifyings opened in heavy rain conditions. I went to the track with mixed feelings. I made a reasonable lap but I wasn't fully satisfied. However, nobody was even close to my results and I won the pole hands down. Hamilton took 2nd position while my teammate, Rosberg ended up in fantastic 3rd position. Heidfeld was in 4th. This time Kubica's performance was totally dissapointing as he reached 14th position.
Sunday was sunny from the very beginning. I didn't know what to expect. If it was rainy, I'd know I was the best. Fortunately, my setup for the track was the right one and I soon lost eye contact with the rivals behind. After first round of pit-stops I decided to change strategy from 3 to 2 stops. I was quick enough to make that change. Hamilton was in 2nd position battling with Raikkonen and Massa who were really close to each other. Heidfeld and Rosberg lost pace immediately, losing their fantastic starting positions. Alonso started climbing but was soon stopped by Massa-Kimi cluster. Kubica was in 9th position as he passed some rivals but he got a transmission failure in lap 42 and retired. I kept extending the lead and was counting down the remaining laps - the laps which separated me from another victory and, what is the most important, the F-1 drivers' championship. I finally crossed the line as a winner.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Hamilton, 3rd - Massa
There's only one race remaining and the situation is as follows
World Drivers' Championship:
1. Kosewski 100pts
2. Massa 83
3. Raikkonen 81
4. Hamilton 71
5. Heidfeld 56
6. Alonso 55
7. R.Schumacher 27
8. Kovalainen 26
Constructors' Championship:
1. Ferrari 164
2. McLaren 126
3. Williams 122
4. BMW 77
5. Renault 48
I'd never think that after first 5 races I'd be so much dominant throughout the remaining races. It was so unexpected that I still can't talk about it.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2010 04:49PM by abdelkader.
Well done, mate. Very impressive second half of the season 
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