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.