2008 Belgian GP - Race 13/18

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Right then, FrankJH - got the bit of the tape I wanted. Here's the transcript:

Murray Walker - So what's Schumacher got that the others haven't got, Martin? He's head and shoulders above them here as he was in Spain [in 1996]!
Martin Brundle - Well, Barrichello's keeping pace with him, albeit half a minute behind, but keeping pace laptime-wise. But Schumacher's got this enormous confidence, some people say it's arrogance, I know the guy very well - he's not an arrogant guy.
MW - Hear, hear.
MB - He's a nice guy, straightforward lad and he's just got this supreme confidence. And in these kind of conditions it counts for everything.
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So there you go. From live commentary rather than in a book (which wasn't ghostwritten AFAIK but may well have been written over the course of rather more than 2 hours). Happy now?


***edit***

But hey, if you want to ignore the opinion of a guy who has kicked around F1 for a very long time, driven against and been a team mate to Schumacher, and who has been a pretty reliable and unbiased commentator over the years then go for it. Your prerogative.
 
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IMO F1 has become a farce, how can you be penalised for breaking a rule that deos not exist- thats the same as being arrested for breaking a law that the police made up. F1 is not the sport it used to be, it seems to me that the championship is maniplulated so that it comes down to the last race or races. Why can't it be like the old days and every one just raced each other without having to worry about a rule book so complicated it has invisible rules too.
 
TheStig1 said:
fia were right to not let mclaren appeal or else every one will now appeal stop/go penaltys and the races will be decided in the court room not on the track (or cutting the track) as it should be
mclaren should really know better and hopefully they are paying for the time they have wasted the fia :D
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What a load of tripe. Hamilton had no choice but to cut the chicane. If he did'nt Raikonen would have took him out as he tried to force him off the track. He gave the place back and then re-passed him. That should have been the end of it, but as the FIA is pro Ferrari and hate McLaren they imposed this outrageous penalty. If Hamilton was in a Ferrari it would have been different. The appeal should have been allowed because an identical appeal was allowed last year by Torro Rosso when Vitantonio Liuzzi overtook while Yellow flags were being waved. The penalty was identical yet the appeal was allowed. They did'nt win the appeal but it was allowed which just proves my point.

Now you have the absurd spectacle of drivers questioning if they should overtake or wait until the next corner as in Monza. It's supposed to be a race for crying out loud. There is precious little overtaking as it is!! The only chance Hamilton has now of winning the title is to stop making these stupid mistakes such as being on the wrong tyres etc.
 
My father came out with something in the pub earlier* which made me think about my "the FIA are anti-McLaren, not pro-Ferrari!" stance.

They aren't anti-McLaren. Nor are they pro-Ferrari. They simply want an exceedingly tight championship fight, because it'll vindicate the ridiculous rule changes that they've made in the name of "cost saving" and "competition". Never mind that the argument is complete ********, never mind that the rule changes honestly haven't worked.

I still say that at best/worst (delete as applicable for your stance), the FIA are anti-McLaren rather than pro-Ferrari. But I'm well aware that isn't a popular viewpoint on the internet (or in Real Life™ for that matter) so let us leave it at that.


* - I can highly recommend this method of talking out the news points in F1. It's much better than an internet forum - the conversation is intelligent, the bar stools are comfortable, and there is beer. It's brilliant.
 
pastymuncher said:
Now you have the absurd spectacle of drivers questioning if they should overtake or wait until the next corner as in Monza. It's supposed to be a race for crying out loud. There is precious little overtaking as it is!! The only chance Hamilton has now of winning the title is to stop making these stupid mistakes such as being on the wrong tyres etc.
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The best bit is if they are at a circuit like monza and fluff their breaking point and use the escape road they're pretty much screwed on the nice long straights.

What if they're 7km/h faster than the person they now have to sit behind until after the next corner? Add in the slipstream effect and then what? Sit in the slipstream with their foot off the throttle?

The 'clarified rule' is a piece of poop. It just doesn't work.

By all means, give the place back or face a drive through - but the clarification is a waste of time and effort.

Oh, and for someone who doesn't know whats going on *As Max implued about Charlie Whiting* do the teams still have to follow what he says if he tells them to move over and let the person they just passed back through? Because they're not allowed to ask him his opinion anymore???

Complete pile of .......
 
pastymuncher said:
What a load of tripe .
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you are telling me that the talent of lewis hamilton could not have backed out
stop talking tripe he had every chance to back out he never
he decided to cut the chicane and those are his words
kimi was on the racing line how was he forcing king lewis off the track? lol lewis decided to go off track nothing else
 
Hamilton is clearly the better driver compared to Massa. I think he will still win it considering the Ferrari and McLaren cars themselves are pretty evenly matched now.
 
NathanE said:
Hamilton is clearly the better driver compared to Massa.
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Wins*:
Massa - 5
Hamilton - 4

Podiums (inc wins):
Massa - 8
Hamilton - 8

Number of times they've crashed into stationary cars in the pitlane:
Massa - 0
Hamilton - 1

Not quite clear-cut ;)

Though I do agree - Hamilton is a lot more consistent than Massa. I don't think he's vastly quicker as far as all-out speed on the day goes, but he doesn't vary quite as wildly as Massa does (Bahrain aside, that was pretty much an aberration).

* - rightly or wrongly (wrongly) that's how it stands.

NathanE said:
I think he will still win it considering the Ferrari and McLaren cars themselves are pretty evenly matched now.
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I'm still very torn. I want a British driver to win it, but I want a Ferrari to win it slightly more. I like Massa, and....I'm sorry, but Hamilton has a big problem as far as I'm concerned, and that's the segment of his fanclub that fall under the Bunch Of Hooting Dicks™ (trademark of Yahtzee Croshaw, all rights reserved) section of the population.

I do want him to win a title, even despite the fact that ITV's fawning on such an occasion might well reach critical mass and we'll all get swallowed up by the black hole than the LHC won't create. I'm just not sure I want him to win it this year.

Dave Caraviello wrote an article on NASCAR.com about Kyle "Petulant Twit" Busch (who was leading the Cup championship right up until the Chase started, and now he's practically out of the hunt for the title oh joy of joys) - he talked about the old racing adage that says you've got to lose a title battle before you can win one.....not just spend seasons not winning and then explode on the scene, but actually be involved in a title fight and not win it. Now, Lewis was in a title fight last year, and didn't win it. But he didn't lose it either - McLaren did. They didn't bring him in for tyres in China when the damned canvas was showing on the rears. They didn't build the car right for Brazil or it wouldn't have shut itself off early on in the race (unless Hamilton really did manage to press the wrong button, which I find pretty hard to believe). McLaren did everything to lose that title in the end, and Ferrari were there to pick up the pieces.

Maybe this year is the one he's supposed to lose. If he does, you can bet it'll be a different Hamilton who lines up for the '09 season - no more distractions, no more mistakes. It'll be the real Lewis Hamilton. And I dunno about y'all, but I'd like to see that.
 
JRS said:
Wins*:
Massa - 5
Hamilton - 4

Podiums (inc wins):
Massa - 8
Hamilton - 8

Number of times they've crashed into stationary cars in the pitlane:
Massa - 0
Hamilton - 1

Not quite clear-cut ;)

Though I do agree - Hamilton is a lot more consistent than Massa. I don't think he's vastly quicker as far as all-out speed on the day goes, but he doesn't vary quite as wildly as Massa does (Bahrain aside, that was pretty much an aberration).

* - rightly or wrongly (wrongly) that's how it stands.



I'm still very torn. I want a British driver to win it, but I want a Ferrari to win it slightly more. I like Massa, and....I'm sorry, but Hamilton has a big problem as far as I'm concerned, and that's the segment of his fanclub that fall under the Bunch Of Hooting Dicks™ (trademark of Yahtzee Croshaw, all rights reserved) section of the population.

I do want him to win a title, even despite the fact that ITV's fawning on such an occasion might well reach critical mass and we'll all get swallowed up by the black hole than the LHC won't create. I'm just not sure I want him to win it this year.

Dave Caraviello wrote an article on NASCAR.com about Kyle "Petulant Twit" Busch (who was leading the Cup championship right up until the Chase started, and now he's practically out of the hunt for the title oh joy of joys) - he talked about the old racing adage that says you've got to lose a title battle before you can win one.....not just spend seasons not winning and then explode on the scene, but actually be involved in a title fight and not win it. Now, Lewis was in a title fight last year, and didn't win it. But he didn't lose it either - McLaren did. They didn't bring him in for tyres in China when the damned canvas was showing on the rears. They didn't build the car right for Brazil or it wouldn't have shut itself off early on in the race (unless Hamilton really did manage to press the wrong button, which I find pretty hard to believe). McLaren did everything to lose that title in the end, and Ferrari were there to pick up the pieces.

Maybe this year is the one he's supposed to lose. If he does, you can bet it'll be a different Hamilton who lines up for the '09 season - no more distractions, no more mistakes. It'll be the real Lewis Hamilton. And I dunno about y'all, but I'd like to see that.
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The car malfunction in Brazil was never confirmed to be a car problem. There are two very possible alternatives:

1. Hamilton hit the wrong button and took ages to reprogram it.
2. A darker theory where it was all preplanned by the FIA months before. A deal was struck where LH and FA wouldn't be banned from the rest of the season but they also weren't "allowed" to win it.

I think LH has probably made all his major mistakes this season. I reckon we might see one more yet but also don't forget Massa can make silly mistakes too AND he doesn't have a free engine change anymore on a car that seems to like blowing up its engines...
 
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