Luckily Lewis escaped a penalty for using two sets of wet tires in the first practice session (you’re only allowed one set), but the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team was fined €15,000, that’s approx. £10,000.
That’s good news for Hamilton as he’s fighting for the Formula 1 Drivers World Championship - and it was a team error, as admitted by Ron Dennis. That seems fair enough.
1. HAMILTON McLaren 1m12.767s 2. ALONSO McLaren 1m12.889s 3. MASSA Ferrari 1m13.075s 4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m13.112s 5. FISICHELLA Renault 1m13.549s 6. KUBICA BMW 1m13.587s 7. ROSBERG Williams 1m13.655s 8. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m13.664s 9. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m13.706s 10. HEIDFELD BMW 1m13.785s 11. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m13.829s 12. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m13.879s 13. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m13.892s 14. BUTTON Honda 1m14.095s 15. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m14.152s 16. TRULLI Toyota 1m14.179s 17. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m14.409s 18. SATO Super Aguri 1m14.431s 19. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m14.477s 20. WEBBER Red Bull 1m14.543s 21. SUTIL Spyker 1m15.095s 22. YAMAMOTO Spyker 1m15.715s
1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m19.580s 2. MASSA Ferrari 1m20.062s 3. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m20.829s 4. ROSBERG Williams 1m21.064s 5. HAMILTON McLaren 1m21.121s 6. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m21.243s 7. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m21.598s 8. WEBBER Red Bull 1m22.104s 9. TRULLI Toyota 1m22.104s 10. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m22.250s 11. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m22.434s 12. BUTTON Honda 1m22.477s 13. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m22.667s 14. SATO Super Aguri 1m22.929s 15. SUTIL Spyker 1m23.248s 16. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m23.261s 17. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m23.551s 18. YAMAMOTO Spyker 1m24.366s 19. HEIDFELD BMW no time 20. KUBICA BMW no time 21. ALONSO McLaren no time 22. FISICHELLA Renault no time
F1 superstar Lewis Hamilton says that he’s ready to race for the Formula 1 Championship in Brazil, and the past is in the past.
Here’s what Hamilton had to say:
China was another valuable lesson for me this season, and an incident I will take from and try to develop as a driver, I moved on from the disappointment pretty quickly and since leaving Shanghai, my sole focus has been on Brazil.
Whilst I might be ahead by four points, this championship is still very open. I will do what I can to score the points I need, and the rest is out of our hands. Interlagos is one of those circuits that everybody talks about, I understand it has a fantastic atmosphere, the fans are crazy for the sport, and the track lends itself to great racing.
It is another new circuit for me, and there has been a lot of talk by other people about how it is tricky to drive. That’s why I see it as a special challenge and when I arrive at the track on Wednesday I will study it hard with my engineers and start to get an understanding of it.
I’ve had some great races with the team this year, and I hope to have another one in Interlagos.
The FIA are taking measures to monitor the McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team in Interlagos, Brazil - the deciding and final race for the Formula One Driver World Championship.
The McLaren team issued a statement, once again, that Alonso and Hamilton will have equal driver status.
We can confirm that the FIA is in the process of appointing a special scrutineer for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Looking forward to the final showdown next weekend. 
Well this is probably not what Lewis Hamilton or any Formula 1 fan would have predicted. With a a damp track the race got underway with Hamilton leading the field, Kimi Raikkonen following close behind with Massa and Alonso in third and fourth position. During the race the track dried out and most drivers went onto the dry tire, then suddenly it started raining again and people were sliding all over the place on their dry tires.
Before Lewis had his last stop his tires were degrading quickly and he was loosing a few seconds a lap for around 3 laps. There were even white patches becoming visible on the rear tires. When Lewis finally was on his way to the pit-stop he approached the pit lane too fast for his ruined tires, with practically no tread, and went off into the gravel, where he was stuck. This left Alonso to gain 8 points on Lewis leaving only a gap of 4 points for the final race in Brazil. And Raikkonen is seven points behind Hamilton, also leaving him with a chance of the Formula 1 World Championship Crown.
Here’s what Hamilton had to say:
We were having a great race, we didn’t know whether it was going to rain or not and the tyres that I was on were just getting worse and worse. At the end I could almost see the canvas underneath. I was coming into the pits and it was like ice. I couldn’t do anything about it. The thing is, my mirrors were completely dirty so I couldn’t see through them, so I couldn’t see my tyres but it just felt like they were completely finished, and I was coming in that lap, so it could have worked out perfectly.
I think we had the pace in the dry. It’s unfortunate, I’m sorry for the team, they did a fantastic job as always. We’ve still got one more race to go, and don’t worry we can still do it. Obviously when I got out of the car I was just gutted, because I haven’t made a mistake all year and to do it on the way into the pits is not something I usually do. But you can’t go through life without making mistakes, and I’m over it.
Now I’m looking on to Brazil and I know the team will be working hard to make sure the car’s quick enough there. We’ve still got the points in the bag.
It’s certainly what Bernie Ecclestone wanted a chance of three drivers winning the Formula 1 World Championship. I’m certainly looking forward to it, it’s going to be the race of the year!
1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 2. ALONSO McLaren +9.8s 3. MASSA Ferrari +12.8s 4. VETTEL Toro Rosso +53.5s 5. BUTTON Honda +1m08.6s 6. LIUZZI Toro Rosso +1m13.6s 7. HEIDFELD BMW +1m14.2s 8. COULTHARD Red Bull +1m20.7s 9. KOVALAINEN Renault +1m21.1s 10. WEBBER Red Bull +1m24.6s 11. FISICHELLA Renault +1m26.6s 12. WURZ Williams +1 lap 13. TRULLI Toyota +1 lap 14. SATO Super Aguri +1 lap 15. BARRICHELLO Honda +1 lap 16. ROSBERG Williams +2 laps 17. YAMAMOTO Spyker +3 laps R. KUBICA BMW +23 laps R. HAMILTON McLaren +26 laps R. SCHUMACHER Toyota +31 laps R. SUTIL Spyker +32 laps R. DAVIDSON Super Aguri +45 laps
One small step for Lewis - one large step for Hamilton’s first Formula 1 World Championship!
Lewis Hamilton is on pole in Shanghai, China!
What an incredible lap Lewis pulled out of the bag in China’s final qualifying session. A perfect lap put him ahead of the Ferrari’s who were fastest all weekend. Alonso is starting from fourth, and an honorable mention has to go to David Coulthard and Ralph Schumacher who managed to get up to fifth and sixth, respectively.
It looks like it’s going to be another very interesting race on Sunday where Lewis Hamilton can become Formula One World Champion, and with a 90% chance of a wet race it’s certainly going to be a nail-biter.
1. HAMILTON McLaren 2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 3. MASSA Ferrari 4. ALONSO McLaren 5. COULTHARD Red Bull 6. SCHUMACHER Toyota 7. WEBBER Red Bull 8. HEIDFELD BMW 9. KUBICA BMW 10. BUTTON Honda 11. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 12. VETTEL Toro Rosso 13. TRULLI Toyota 14. KOVALAINEN Renault 15. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 16. ROSBERG Williams 17. BARRICHELLO Honda 18. FISICHELLA Renault 19. WURZ Williams 20. SATO Super Aguri 21. SUTIL Spyker 22. YAMAMOTO Spyker
Lewis Hamilton ended up in fourth position in the second Chinese free practice after going off the track while exploring the limits of the car.
1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m36.607s 2. ALONSO McLaren 1m36.613s 3. MASSA Ferrari 1m36.630s 4. HAMILTON McLaren 1m36.876s 5. TRULLI Toyota 1m37.151s 6. WEBBER Red Bull 1m37.450s 7. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m37.524s 8. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m37.617s 9. ROSBERG Williams 1m37.646s 10. FISICHELLA Renault 1m37.970s 11. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m38.062s 12. BUTTON Honda 1m38.205s 13. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m38.304s 14. KUBICA BMW 1m38.379s 15. HEIDFELD BMW 1m38.388s 16. WURZ Williams 1m38.531s 17. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m38.975s 18. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m39.065s 19. SUTIL Spyker 1m39.224s 20. SATO Super Aguri 1m39.360s 21. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m39.404s 22. YAMAMOTO Spyker 1m40.051s
No penalty has been given to Lewis Hamilton’s “not being 10 car lengths behind the safety car”. Which some people think, mainly Vettel & Webber, caused the two Red Bull sponsored cars to collide together behind the safety car.
I’m glad the F1 authorities didn’t overreact as it’s a fairly minor incident and people are trying to make a big thing out of it. If Lewis was supposed to stay 10 car lengths behind, why didn’t the car behind Hamilton also keep some more distance! I mean - it’s common sense! The car’s behind couldn’t see much anyway and the safety car wasn’t on it’s way in, so there’s no reason to be so close together.
Ok, enough of the politics - let’s have some awesome racing, please!
F1 Hamilton.net