Japan 1998Wooo, here we go! Got home and turned the TV on just before the start of it. This'll be good!!
Amazing how close the start got to actually going ahead the first time. Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. MS must've hated Trulli after this race. :P
The commentary from Murray and Martin somehow seemed a bit different at these tense races - no less good than usual, but you could sense their excitement and tension too somehow. It's part of what makes these races so special to look back on.
MS was a
very long way ahead of the field on this 2nd formation lap actually... Not great.
Ouch. The mortally damaging engine stall - at 13:13 local time. I still remember exactly the feelings I felt watching this live, then memories are all coming right back.
Martin: "I wonder if Michael Schumacher's superstitious -
he stalled that car at 13:13, I just noticed that again".
MS - 12th at the end of the first lap, I never get tired of watching his launch off of the grid. Amazing.
Inspired commentary from both commentators as well, really helps bring the race alive.
MS - 7th after 5 laps, then ran up against Hill - not literally but only just. LOL.
Amazing continued progress through the field by MS, funny how it was only Hill proved to be a problem for him to get past. He fried that 2nd set of tyres pretty early on though... cringe! Brilliant lap times but he was pounding the tyres too hard, too soon.
Mika just serene at the front, driving beautifully. Steady, solid and doing a perfect job.
Forgot that by the time of the 2nd stops for the Ferraris Eddie Irvine had a "pit stop in his pocket" ahead of MS. A sign of how well Eddie was driving but also a sign of how knackered MS's tyres were during that stint.
YES! Finally I see the Championship-deciding moment as part of a full recording of the race! Amazing - that ad break could
not have been worse timed, we missed the Championship being decided
and the build up to it live!!
Now the bit I, as an MS fan then, remember as being anticlimactic.
Emotive footage as the camera followed Mika round Turns 1 and 2 and then zoomed in on the trashed Ferrari.
One upside of Mika winning is getting to check out plenty of shots of Erja. Mmmm.
Cracking drive by Mika really, deserving Champ.
Nice touch from MS to shake his hand at the first possible opportunity as well. Was that missed from the live broadcast because of a break too? Ha, think it was!
Japan 2000Woohoo, this will be better still! Possibly
the single biggest race I think of as being from the classic era. This will be awesome.
The Maccas sounded glorious. Impressive start by Eddie Irvine yet again, getting ahead of Rubens.
So many memories associated with this race. I watched it in Austria in my hotel room!
The overcast skies and light rain helped build up the tension beautifully. Incredible excitement levels!
Mika really trying his hardest in this opening stint to try and pull away, got to be impressed with the 110% effort he was putting in.
Mazzacane - you n00b. Typical performance from him there, driving a much longer lap than everyone else.
Impressive drive by Jacques at this stage, hustling Jenson. Loved Jacques' drives this season.
Spectacular blow-up and spin for Alesi, I remember that vaguely but not as well as I usually remember these things. His 2nd straight one too, IIRC.
Amusing-looking off for Fisi as well.
Ooft, such a close near-miss with MS and Zonta! Still suck air through my teeth everytime I see that.
The near-miss with Wurz a few laps later was a bit scary too.
Now, MS staying out longer just as more rain started coming down - this part of the race was sooo exciting!
Brilliant commentary at this stage too, helping build the suspense up.
The exit of MS from the pits after his final stop - so exciting! I was literally in tears as I saw he was going to come out in front.
LOL, bad n00b-up by Ralf. I remember it pretty well.
Brilliant commentary by Martin Brundle, describing graphically how MS's downforce was helping his car grip easily at high speed in 130R despite the ever-increasing level of moisture on the track. This added to the level of excitement and emotion as the race entered its final few laps.
These final laps are incredible... So much tension!
Amazing, amazing result!! I remember being so happy about this.
Really fun to watch this race again.
Japan 2007This is a good watch for completely different reasons: A juicy and interesting time in recent F1 history and a standout race for various "time capsule" reasons if that makes any sense.
Wow, both Maccas got tagged by other cars more or less simultaneously in the middle phase of the race. I don't remember that as such - definitely not the Alonso-Vettel collision. Maybe because so much was going on and I've not seen the full recording of the race since I saw it live...
30-odd laps to go and that's getting pretty wet again likes.
Alonso's crash was even more spectacular than I remember it being - the car really bounced about like a ping pong ball.
How ironic that Vettel and Webber collided
just as James Allen was in the middle of speculating about their possible podiums - a bit of Murray Syndrome there. Obviously at this point neither of the commentators knew it was actually Lewis's fault...
Davidson arrived on lap 55, it seems.
Great driving from Kimi in the final few laps, blatting round the outside of other drivers and even the track itself. Awesome.
Good drive by DC as well in this race, under the radar for most of the race but quietly solid.
Kovy did a really good job as well, better than some of his more recent drives even.
Massa and Kubica on the last lap - genius! One of the most fun battles I've seen in F1 TBH.
Good drive by Lewis altogether.
Edited 45 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2013 01:06AM by EC83.