It's on Sunday 7th Sept, (that's only five days away)
The race starts at 2.00pm local Belgian time = 10pm AEST.
Don't have fta tv times at the moment....
Woo hoo!
I desperately need some good racing
Have a look at some of the letters in the Planet F1 letters section...![]()
Site wouldn't load![]()
It loads ok for me, just tried it again..
This is a sample of the letters..............
There is an unwritten rule in F1 which goes along the lines of 'do not compare yourself to Michael Schumacher unless you wish to be mocked'. Sadly Lewis Hamilton doesn't appear to have read that one...
Send us your views to: letters@planet-f1.com
The Ego Has Landed
Ron Dennis should step up like a qualified boss should be and have his "employee" put a sock in it.
Lewis seems to have a problem with "foot in mouth disease", I hope Ferrari continue to make him look silly like the start of the Hungarian GP... what was it you said about you and your opponents abilities?
How quickly he forgets or perhaps he is a "slow" learner (remember who lost the championship last year). Do us all a favor and do what they pay you to do... shut up and drive.
Gary Wagner, Washington, USA
...Another race weekend, and yet another stupid comment from the witless wonder that is Lewis Hamilton.
"I'm no No 2, whoever you put me next to - even Michael Schumacher."
Lets see... 7 times world champion that broke more records than any other driver, scored more points, more wins, more podiums and more pole positions.
Hamilton has problems driving his car without destroying his tyres in the process, to the extent that earlier this season Bridgestone advised McLaren / Hamilton to make an extra pit stop because they didn't think the tyres would last due to his driving style. I don't remember Schumacher having to do this. Similarly I don't remember Schumacher driving into someone in the pit lane either.
I have no doubt in my mind that Schumacher would beat Hamilton on the track, just a shame Hammy / plastic boy isn't racing at the race of champions this year then we would know for sure who is better - mind you... Race of "Champions" says it all.... Grow up Lewis... and shave those damn sideburns too..
Jason Garbutt, Romford, UK
...Who does Lewis Hamilton thin he is?? How dare he compare himself to Michael Schumacher! Let him win something first before mouthing off, there are far better drivers on the grid than him!!!
Christopher Williams
...Just when LH draws some sympathy in Valencia after accepting defeat, he has to open his mouth again to say something stupid.
Funnily enough, Lewis could have raced Schumi on the last GPs of 2006, but Ron Dennis thought it could break Lewis' confidence.
Felipe Massa HAS raced Michael Schumacher and got the better of him in few occasions, even while having the Number 2 label.
And he has remained humble, that is something for LH to learn.
Tulio, London
...Michael! Please come out of retirement and shut this arrogant, bigheaded boy up, for the sake of all of us who have to listen to this rubbish everyday!
Chetna Vara
..."I'm no No 2, whoever you put me next to - even Michael Schumacher."
Seriously; this guy has an ego of a mountain that'll take him to lowest of lows. In my humble opinion, he's no way near to be Schumi's no 2 or 3 or even a million.
I am not discounting his efforts, but history only remembers champions, and he is not because he just doesn't fit the bill of a one.
A champion would be rather modest, humble while pulling out the heroics in the circuit and won't copy he team-mate settings in his rookie season and comes out and say "'Hang on, I'm no No 2". Of-course you're No 2 for Alonso dude.
Personal advice for Hamilton: "Get a life".
Mahmood, NY
Oh Kimi
We had a bet on before the European GP for which lap Kimi would wake up and start putting in hot-laps far too late to have any impact, but to save him from a thorough slagging off in the post-race review.
As James Allen put it, "Sixteen laps to go here at Valencia, and Kimi Raikkonen has woken up...".
I'm just getting a little bit tired of Kimi being so disappointing - the man is meant to be defending a World title and supposedly is the fastest raw driver on the grid.
Wake up, Kimi!
Stuart Taylor, London, UK
Move On And Let Go
Alright that's enough. If I hear one more person whinge about Massa's pit lane penalty (or lack thereof) I think I might puke.
First of all can anyone provide any occasion when cars being released side by side had ever been an issue before? Cars have been being released like that ever since pit lanes were made wide enough allow it. I cannot blame people for feeling there is a slight Ferrari bias in F1 as during the Schumi/Todt/Brawn days it was pretty blatant, such as Michael exiting pit lane in Canada and slotting in at the head of the queue and that BS Silverstone win from the pits - I could go on. But in this case I can't see anything but anti-Ferrari sentiment if anything. There should have been no investigation and no fine.
As for those mentioning racism it is time to grow up. Hamilton is a superstar and whether or not he likes to admit it being black and being so successful has drawn in a whole new audience to F1. In a time when the FIA is trying to take the sport more global with races in Bahrain, China etc Hamilton is a godsend for them. They will help him all they possibly can - although he is in a McLaren.
But while we are on the subject of favouritism does it seem slightly odd to anyone else that during an engine freeze all of a sudden Ferrari have more horsepower and worse reliability? That suggests an engine modification to me. Maybe the FIA should forget this pit lane rubbish and have a good hard look at some engine specs...
Edward Foster
LOL!
The fans can be so.... bitchy
Ok here we go with some pics from Belguim.........
Lovely Ferrari................

Kimi in white..(for Deezee)![]()

Schumi Playing Soccer........

Luizzi bit the dust.......

Kimi answers questions on why he has no neck.....![]()

Hamilton meeting the media......

That's all for now, don't forget to watch the race.........
Hey! Don't think I've ever seen Kimi in white!
Looks better than red at any rate...![]()
Oh, I better check what time quali is tomorrow night before I go home this evening!
Quali is at 1.50am Sun morn,
The race is at 11.20pm Sunday night..
Oh yay! Thank you andro!
Oh I do hope it pisses down
hahahahah
It is here in Sydney... *grumble grumble*
The starting grid:
01 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:47.338
02 F. Massa Ferrari 1:47.678
03 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:47.815
04 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:47.992
05 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:48.315
06 F. Alonso Renault 1:48.504
07 M. Webber Red Bull 1:48.736
08 R. Kubica BMW 1:48.763
09 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:48.951
10 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:50.319
11 J. Trulli Toyota 1:46.949
12 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:46.965
13 T. Glock Toyota 1:46.995
14 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:47.018
15 N. Rosberg Williams 1:47.429
16 R. Barrichello Honda 1:48.153
17 J. Button Honda 1:48.211
18 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:48.226
19 K. Nakajima Williams 1:48.268
20 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:48.447
Dammit KIMI! ![]()
This is it.... this race is where he bows out of the championship if he doesn't win it
I see the FIA (sponsored by Ferrari) have managed to do a number on McMerc, again. One rule for Ferrari (usually overlooked and ignored in light of some half arsed explanation), different set of far more zealously applied rules for every other team (usually after a complaint from Ferrari).
^ ^ ^ ^ couldn't agree more...it is so embarrassingly obvious ![]()
^^^^^HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA^^^^^
Listen to the McCheats supporters..
There's an old saying that goes.. "Cheats never prosper" .. and it's as true today as it was when I first heard it years ago..
Congratulations on your win Filipe, and commiserations on your bad luck Kimi, but shame on you Hamilton for once again bringing more shame to the already shameful behaviour of Mc Laren.
There was a time when British teams such as Cooper Climax, Lotus Climax, Vanwall, BRM, etc, proudly represented British motor sport....... but what do we have representing Britain in F1 today??? Well I'll tell you what we have, we have a shameful bunch of cheats (both team and driver) with a win at any cost mentality and devoid of any morals whatsoever, and to top it off, it is an old ex Kiwi outfit........ Shame McLaren, shame...
Ok, I'm obviously missing something here....
What the hell happened?
Meanwhile, it brought a tear to my eyes when Kimi crashed out.
I don't understand why they didn't bring him in for intermediates!
Well Hamilton (who crossed the line first) was awarded a penalty for running off the track and gaining an unfair advantage over Kimi (which he did) ,, anyway the race was awarded to Massa, with Hamilton relegated ti third..
OH!
![]()
And here I was wishing he'd have crashed out as well....
Yeah, it was a bad moment when the rain started and Kimi crashed..![]()
I still maintain they should have changed his tyres.
Well Ferrari seem to still be lacking a decent tactician.... Since Ross Brawn left..![]()
yeah... sucks
I always thought the rule for gaining an advantage by running off track was to allow any driver overtaken back through. Kimi was clearly back through as he swerved in front of Hamilton -- thus indicating he was one full car length in front. I also don't see how Hamilton gained an advantage. He was level with Kimi through the corner where HE WAS RUN WIDE. I really don't see what the FIA wanted Hamilton to do. I suppose he could've held position on track and caused an accident (probably picked up a 10 place penalty for Monza), but it seems the suggestion is that Hamilton should've backed off to the point he was at BEFORE running off track...er... which was alongside. Madness and Ferrari bias. Would not and does not happen in the far superior and far more fairly run MotoGP.
Yes yes, MotoGP is great...
And yes, I actually do think it was an unfair decision.
Completely don't understand it
It's hypocrisy. Ferrari didn't cause a pit lane accident, so they get no penalty. Hamilton did not gain 25 seconds by being run off track, and in light of Kimi's accident (who was leading at that point) did not gain track position. Oddly, I saw Kimi run off the track and gain a significant advantage (in speed) later on the same lap as Hamilton picked up his penalty... has he been penalised for the next race? Has he bollocks.
Yep, exactly right.
It was surprising to see that the two cars were gonna be investigated (when announced after the race) but finding out that they gave out a penalty was just beyond belief.
The reaction across the web is pretty much like yours too Taki. I'd like to see FIA offer an explanation
BTW, If you want to talk about cheating and unsporting behaviour. Most -- and by most I mean everyone except Ferrari -- teams had an agreement a few seasons ago to limit testing in order to keep costs down and ease the financial burden on the smaller teams. So whilst everyone else had limited testing Ferrari did as much as they saw fit. Maybe not cheating, but hugely unsporting and certainly it gave them a huge advantage at the time. I tell you, if Ferrari had lost the championship by a couple of points last season and two cars that placed ahead of Ferrar's driver were found to have fuel on board that contravened the rules they would have been DQ'd.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Your bias blinds you to the truth of the situation... then again not everyone is as universally objective and astonishingly fair minded as I am. ![]()
Of course not Taki! You are indeed someone to be respected and admired..(there's not many of us left) ![]()
I'm usually very modest, but you are right. I'm a prince among men. ![]()
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You know what, I remember thinking 'hey, it's he supposed to wait?' when watching it.... Then I thought its cos I was biased....
But it kinda makes sense now
Yes it does make sense.....
McLarceny have been circulating a petition asking peaple to sign up and say that what Hamilton did was correct, Apparently they have had the media in the UK supporting it also.
All this is a far cry from the British F1 teams that I loved and respected during the 60's.![]()
If only McLaren would cut out the crap and get on with the racing (for a change) then maybe I could support them again.
We've heard bugger all from Ferrari or Kimi on this..![]()
I think they're smart to stay out of it... let the heat fall on the stewards
Yep. you're right....
Sending ...