2008 Japanese GP - Race 16/18

rpstewart

rpstewart

rpstewart

Man of Honour
Joined
11 Mar 2003
Posts
10,706
Location
Greenock, Scotland
After a solid week of 15 hour days I can't think of a witty opening so it's stats only I'm afraid.

Friday practice : 0200 - 0330 & 0600 - 0730
Saturday practice : 0300 - 0400
Saturday Qualifying : 0600 - 0700, ITV 0600 - 0715, repeated at 1400
Sunday Race : 0530 - 0730, ITV from 0430. Rerun at 1500, highlights at 2315 (ITV) & Monday 1800 (ITV4)



Drivers
Code: 
Pos Driver           Nationality   Team              Points 
1  Lewis Hamilton       British    McLaren-Mercedes   84
2  Felipe Massa		Brazilian  Ferrari	      77
3  Robert Kubica	Polish     BMW                64      
4  Kimi Raikkonen       Finnish    Ferrari            57
5  Nick Heidfeld        German     BMW                56
6  Heikki Kovelainen    Finnish    McLaren-Mercedes   51
7  Fernando Alonso      Spanish    Renault            38
8  Sebastian Vettel	German	   STR-Ferrari	      27
9  Jarno Trulli         Italian    Toyota             26
10 Timo Glock           German     Toyota             20	
11 Mark Webber          Australian RBR-Renault        20
12 Nico Rosberg         German     Williams-Toyota    17
13 Nelsinho Piquet	Brazilian  Renault	      13
14 Rubens Barrichello   Brazilian  Honda              11
15 Kazuki Nakajima   	Japanese   Williams-Toyota    9
16 David Coulthard	British	   RBR-Renault        8
17 Sebastien Bourdais   Italian    STR-Ferrari        4
18 Jenson Button	British	   Honda              3

Constructors
Code: 
Pos Team              Points    
1  McLaren-Mercedes   135       
2  Ferrari            134        
3  BMW                120       
4  Renault            51
5  Toyota             41
6  STR-Ferrari        31        
7  RBR-Renault        28       
8  Williams-Toyota    26        
9  Honda	      14

Calendar
Code: 
01 2008 FORMULA 1 ING AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX (Melbourne) 		14 - 16 Mar 
02 2008 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX (Kuala Lumpur) 		21 - 23 Mar 
03 2008 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX (Bahrain) 		04 - 06 Apr 
04 FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPANA TELEFONICA 2008 (Catalunya) 		25 - 27 Apr 
05 2008 FORMULA 1 PETROL OFISI TURKISH GRAND PRIX (Istanbul) 		09 - 11 May 
06 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2008 (Monte Carlo) 			22 - 25 May 
07 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2008 (Montreal) 			06 - 08 Jun 
08 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2008 (Magny-Cours) 			20 - 22 Jun 
09 2008 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX (Silverstone) 		04 - 06 Jul 
10 FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2008 (Hockenheim) 	18 - 20 Jul 
11 FORMULA 1 ING MAGYAR NAGYDIJ 2008 (Budapest) 			01 - 03 Aug 
12 2008 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE (Valencia) 			22 - 24 Aug 
13 2008 FORMULA 1 ING BELGIAN GRAND PRIX (Spa-Francorchamps) 		05 - 07 Sep 
14 FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D'ITALIA 2008 (Monza) 		12 - 14 Sep 
15 2008 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX (Singapore) 		26 - 28 Sep 
16 2008 FORMULA 1 FUJI TELEVISION JAPANESE GRAND PRIX (Fuji Speedway) 	10 - 12 Oct 
17 2008 FORMULA 1 SINOPEC CHINESE GRAND PRIX (Shanghai) 		17 - 19 Oct 
18 FORMULA 1 GRANDE PREMIO DO BRASIL 2008 (Sao Paulo) 			31 Oct - 02 Nov





If you're interested in seeing what the tracks look like I've updated my Google Earth links and flyovers. Unfortunately it's still not perfect, although Fuji is now high res thanks to the April update but the imagery for Valencia is a fair age so the purpose built bridge isn't visible. To play the flyovers select the flyover folder and press the play button at the bottom of the Places pane.

Some links for Fuji

Official GP Site
Wikipedia
Circuit details on the official F1 page
 
Agree that it's a shame about Canada but the problems with the surface this year have probably prompted it's demise. There also seems to be an unpublicised policy to remove tracks which break cars - the shortening of Hockenheim is a prime example - and Canada's heavy braking and lack of runoff has claimed it's fair share of victims over the years.
 
autosport said:
FIA Deputy President for Sport Marco Piccinini will leave his position at the end of his term, the governing body announced on Tuesday.

Piccinini will step down in order to focus on "his other professional commitments."

His resignation will take effect in the next FIA General Assembly on 7 November, when his successor will be elected.
Click to expand...
If that successor is anyone other than Jean Todt then I'll die of shock.
 
I wonder if this is yet another move towards having all the races at 1pm European time, American (north & south) races are useless for the middle and far east audience.
 
P1 times

Code: 
Pos  Driver        Team                     Time              Laps
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes    (B)   1:18.910 +         23
 2.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)   1:19.063 + 0.153   24
 3.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes    (B)   1:19.279 + 0.369   20
 4.  Raikkonen     Ferrari             (B)   1:19.399 + 0.489   31
 5.  Alonso        Renault             (B)   1:19.473 + 0.563   30
 6.  Piquet        Renault             (B)   1:19.743 + 0.833   35
 7.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)   1:20.121 + 1.211   30
 8.  Kubica        BMW Sauber          (B)   1:20.160 + 1.250   26
 9.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)   1:20.182 + 1.272   34
10.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota     (B)   1:20.217 + 1.307   25
11.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari (B)   1:20.288 + 1.378   26
12.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota     (B)   1:20.350 + 1.440   28
13.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault    (B)   1:20.620 + 1.710   24
14.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber          (B)   1:20.628 + 1.718   23
15.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)   1:20.657 + 1.747   33
16.  Barrichello   Honda               (B)   1:20.753 + 1.843   32
17.  Button        Honda               (B)   1:20.769 + 1.859   27
18.  Glock         Toyota              (B)   1:20.823 + 1.913   37
19.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault    (B)   1:20.905 + 1.995   24
20.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari (B)   1:21.014 + 2.104   28
 
P2 Times
Code: 
Pos  Driver        Team                     Time              Laps
 1.  Glock         Toyota              (B)  1:18.383            44
 2.  Alonso        Renault             (B)  1:18.426  + 0.043   41
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:18.463  + 0.080   40
 4.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:18.491  + 0.108   40
 5.  Raikkonen     Ferrari             (B)  1:18.725  + 0.342   39
 6.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:18.734  + 0.351   39
 7.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:18.734  + 0.351   36
 8.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:18.761  + 0.378   23
 9.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:18.803  + 0.420   32
10.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:18.863  + 0.480   45
11.  Kubica        BMW Sauber          (B)  1:18.865  + 0.482   39
12.  Piquet        Renault             (B)  1:18.888  + 0.505   43
13.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:18.981  + 0.598   41
14.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:19.040  + 0.657   41
15.  Barrichello   Honda               (B)  1:19.258  + 0.875   42
16.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:19.287  + 0.904   41
17.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:19.327  + 0.944   36
18.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:19.482  + 1.099   44
19.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber          (B)  1:19.894  + 1.511   37
20.  Button        Honda               (B)  1:19.999  + 1.616   42
 
I've said it before....

  • Ban refuelling
  • Use a single compound of slick tyre which will, if you're careful, just last a race distance
  • Le Mans style pitstops - only 4 people in the pit lane. If you want more then use the garage.

That gives you three possible options

1) The Alain Prost approach. Look after the tyres until 60% distance, change them and then go hell for leather to the finish

2) The Senna approach. Go hell for leather and need new tyres before half distance. Try and keep the second set in one piece whilst charging on a lighter fuel load

3) The "what the heck is Ivan Capelli doing in the lead" approach. Tiptoe around on the one set of tyres and hope that you can keep a decent place while the really quick charge back after their stops.
 
NathanE said:
I just don't think it will happen, for safety if nothing else. They'd need to put much larger fuel tanks in. Probably multiple tanks to balance the weight.
Click to expand...
The regs say the tank has to be in the safety cell so it'll be the same as during the early 90s - a large tank behind the driver just where it is now. Tanks at the moment are good for ~60% of race distance so it's not a huge increase.

NathanE said:
What would happen if someone had a crash along the severity of Robert Kubica's in Canada 2007? A fireball would be quite likely.
Click to expand...
No more likely than a fireball was in Kubica's crash. The tank would still be in the tub and would still be the explosion proof bag type, the fact that it's a bit bigger doesn't have much bearing on things.
 
Ascari won it in his third season, it was Guiseppe Farina who won the first F1 WC so he doesn't really count. You could actually argue that Fangio won the WC in his first season at the top level because he didn't compete in any of the pre F1 GPs.

Emmerson Fittipaldi almost falls into the same category, his first WC was has second full season of F1 although he did do 5 races in 1970.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom