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Ok it's on this Sunday 12th October...
Quali is on Sat at 3.00pm
Race is on Sun at 2.30pm (Times are AEST I think, so add 1 hour for AEDT)
Formula One will show its support for the FIA’s Make Cars Green campaign by running on specially prepared green-grooved tyres at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Bridgestone, the global partner for the FIA’s campaign, launched the Make Cars Green tyre at a ceremony in Tokyo today, with support from Formula One teams McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari, as well as their drivers Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen, Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen.
The initiative demonstrates that Formula One’s teams and partners are backing the Make Cars Green campaign’s goal to reduce the impact of motoring on the environment.
Piccies later........
Just green grooves, or are the tyres somehow green too?
...sigh...
look at the piccy dear!! 
That doesn't tell me anything!
Oh wait.. so they're just showing 'support'.. o kay...
Meanwhile, I really like Kimi's jeans
Kimi. (For Deezee)
Ferrari & McLaren.......
The Tyres..(cant wait for James Allen to repeatedly tell us what the different coloured stripes are for)
Kimi eating....(Oranges?)
Take away fuel lines... (I hope not)
Safety Car at Fuji.....
Spectators at Fuji Speedway.....
Mt Fuji.....
That safety car is H O T. And the sound it makes... ooooh
The Tyres..(cant wait for James Allan to repeatedly tell us what the different coloured stripes are for)
I know!!! They must think the viewers are imbeciles...
The starting grid:
01 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:18.404
02 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:18.644
03 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:18.821
04 F. Alonso Renault 1:18.852
05 F. Massa Ferrari 1:18.874
06 R. Kubica BMW 1:18.979
07 J. Trulli Toyota 1:19.026
08 T. Glock Toyota 1:19.118
09 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:19.638
10 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:20.167
11 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:18.187
12 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:18.274
13 M. Webber Red Bull 1:18.354
14 K. Nakajima Williams 1:18.594
15 N. Rosberg Williams 1:18.672
16 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:18.835
17 R. Barrichello Honda 1:18.882
18 J. Button Honda 1:19.100
19 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:19.163
20 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:19.910
I was almost gonna say quali hasn't happened yet.... and then I remembered... Japan is on our side of the world
Bloody hell Kimi.
He's only .24 secs behind Shamilton and that could be the difference of a few extra litres of fuel..
Don't give up yet..
I just know Hamilton will beat him off the start
And what in the world happened to Massa?!
Dunno what happened to Massa, forgot to watch live timing..
Quali is on TV at 1.30 am, Bris and Syd time..
Race is on TV at 10.50 pm " " " "
I will be watching quali!!
So excited for this race.... feels like the last one was 2 months ago... I need my fix!
I'll watch it it too..
As far as I can gather on the net, they are saying that Massa appeared to be very heavy, while Hamilton appeared to be very light..
Maybe ferrari are going for a one stop race, which McLaren can't do because Hamilton is very hard on his tyres.
But then again it might just be more poor tactics. (I bloody hope not).
Massa has to win this one... and kimi has to crash into Hamilton
Shhhhh...........That's the strategy..
LOL!
Massa laments lack of grip
11 October 2008
Felipe Massa saw his chances of overhauling a seven-point gap to title rival Lewis Hamilton take a blow in qualifying as he struggled in final qualifying, ending up fifth on the grid for tomorrow's Japanese Grand Prix.
"In Q1 and Q2 the car was great but in Q3 I didn't have any grip or the same balance as before," Massa said. "Maybe it was the fuel or something else."
"It won't be easy to make it up in the race from fifth but for sure that's something we have to work at tomorrow," he added.
And Kimi said...........
Raikkonen happy to return to front row
By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde Saturday, October 11th 2008, 06:31 GMT
Kimi Raikkonen was happy to return to the front row of the grid following his struggles to show strong pace with his Ferrari in qualifying.
The reigning world champion will start the Japanese Grand Prix from second position after returning to the front row for the first time since the French Grand Prix in June.
Ferrari driver Raikkonen, who hasn't scored in the last four races, admitted he was still frustrated by his problems, but was relieved to be strong again in qualifying.
"It is nice to be back," said Raikkonen. "I'm still not where I want to be. I'm not very happy about how things are going, and not 100 percent happy with the car. It's quite frustrating.
"Usually qualifying has been the worst thing for us so we should be strong in the race. We'll see what we can do tomorrow. We have done a lot of work, and it is good to be in a good place to start tomorrow."
Raikkonen, whose teammate Felipe Massa qualified down in fifth, admitted he does not have much to lose tomorrow, as he is 27 points behind Lewis Hamilton with just 30 left to win.
"I don't have much to lose," the Finn added. "We want to try to win the world championship and it will not be easy against McLaren but we are doing our best I hopefully tomorrow we can fight for the win and if we can get it it would be nice.
"I want to finish with nice results in the last three races of the season."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hahahahaha................
"I don't have much to lose," In ferrari speak doesn't that translate to ''Hamilton better watch out at that first corner''.
Errrm, which team (and driver) is it, that has been penalised the most in recent times for cheating and unfair tactics?..........I don't believe it was either Ferrari or Kimi, so it must be those blokes from that old Kiwi team, that you guys so readily embrace now!!
So believe what you want, and be blind to the rest. Kimi's last words were........
"I want to finish with nice results in the last three races of the season."
hehehehe I tend to agreee with Taki
Look, we all know Kimi will help Massa out, the same as Heikki will help Lewis out, if the situation calls for it.
I don't like it, but I guess it's why teams have 2 drivers?
No no no, I imagine that Ferrari are (now) more focussed on winning the WCC, than the WDC, and as a result won't want one of their cars involved in an incident, but would be looking for maximum points from each one of them.
Kimi's no Nakajima, you know...
You're only saying that to piss me off..
HAHAHAHAHA
Well, when I think of aid, I imagine it'll go along these lines -
Kimi starts well, gets ahead of Lewis in first corner. It's now his job to keep Lewis there till Massa catches up.
More than crashing out... I'm only being ironic when I say that... given that Kimi is more than likely to crash out on his lonesome, than do anything useful when crashing
Yeah maybe, but don't forget that Alphonzo's in the mix as well, and if Kimi get's the lead he won't be able to stuff around waiting for Massa..
But then again Shamilton and Fandango aren't really good buddies, so maybe they could take each other out, as Alphonzo's really got nothing to lose..
And of course Kovalainen has the ability to beat the lot of them on his day..
Yeah....
But i'll be honest - most likely, Lewis will grab the lead, Brundle and his sidekick will ooo and aaah over him the rest of the race, Lewis will end, and it'll be all over
I used to like Lewis, and I still do, but the commentary makes me revolt
I admire Lewis's skills as a driver, but his attitude and big mouth turn me off, and it's exactly the same with Alonzo..
Don't know about that. Honestly
Yep, i reckon that season with Alonzo did Lewis more harm than good, he learned all Alonzo's bad habits of agression etc..
I realise you have to have a certain amount of agression to succeed at anything, but there's no place for it off the field/track etc....
And I don't take their looks into account either..
I dunno... I really don't. I don't keep up with F1 media, other than the news bits to know that. I honestly don't know what you mean when you say Lewis is aggressive off the track
He's always onthe front foot and blaming someone and complaining of unfair treatment and that Ferrari get preferential treatment etc...This, after he was part of a team that were stripped of pionts last season for cheating, and a few races ago was penalised for taking an unfair advantage during a race.
Looks like he gets it from his father, who is always pictured sitting at the track with a sullen look on his face... why can't they enjoy themselves?
I could be a Lewis fan if only he'd grow up....
And the really bad news is....... I was stupidly watching the news when they announced the winner of tonight's GP, but don't worry I won't talk about it till tomorrow..
FUCK
*phew*
I've managed to avoid it all.
Race starts soon!
Oh bummer... just realised we're in different timezones
*Shrieks with Delight* Watching the race - won't say more
Interesting race again (if not remotely exciting). Go to question Hamilton and Massa's decision making ability. Considering they're 1 and 2 in championship neither has exactly shown a cool head in the last 2 races. You'd have to say that if Alonso was driving a Ferrari this year he would've probably won the title by now.
Yeah, agreed. Massa seems to be showing signs of the bad old days.
Meanwhile, I really enjoyed the race! hehehe
I like these topsy turvy races
And good on Alonso for stealing the win away from the rest of the usual suspects.
I agree, Deezee, It was a very enjoyable race to watch, even if Alphonzo did win it. he certainly drove a good race..
It will be good to see what Hamilton's comments were after the race..
I don't know what's wrong with Kimi though, he hasn't appeared really motivated all season..
*sigh*
Tell me about it!!!
The least he could do for me was overtake Kubica!!!
And yes, it is all about me
And yes, it is all about me
Why not, it's got to be about someone..
*grin*
Look what I found......
This is a translation from Autosport Forum.....
«In conferenza stampa mi hanno chiesto: è stata giusta la penalizzazione a Hamilton? Io ho risposto subito di sì. Non so neanche perché lo hanno sanzionato, ma per me è stato giusto, ho risposto sì».
At the press conference they asked me if Hamiltons penalty was fair. I said yes immediately. I do not even know why they penalized him, but for me it was fair, and I said yes.
«Dopo quanto ho passato l’anno scorso in McLaren - spiega - se posso aiuterò Massa»
After everything what happened last year, I will help Massa, if I can.
Maybe Alonzo is keeping his options open for a Ferrari drive in 2010?
LOL! That's thinking a bit far ahead....
Dunno about that?
If Massa and Kimi carry this seasons problems/form into next year you'd have to say Alonso is odds on to join Ferrari. Kimi's been awful this year. Massa is (sans his Ferrari) probably a pretty average F1 pilot and he's been all over Kimi this season... when Kimi hasn't been driving into a barrier, that is.
Some of what you say has merit Taki, but we don't teally know what Kimi's problems are, or indeed what is happening, as most if the information we get is purely conjecture on the part of the journalists.
Ferrari must have faith in him of they wouldn't have signed him for another year..
Well, yeah... but Kimi really has been below par this year, considering he's the reigning World Champ.
Having said that, I tend to think the car has been below par too. They just haven't been as strong this season as they have in the past. It's not like they're visibly slower or anything, but definitely something is wrong with the package as a whole.
I mean, look at the performance of BMW... that's a sign of how much Ferrari have dropped
I mean, look at the performance of BMW... that's a sign of how much Ferrari have dropped
Or that BMW have caught up!
I don't disagree that Ferrari's performance has been below par this year, but I think one one thing that has cost them a lot of wins is their tactics, they are missing Ross Brawn in this respect and I also believe they are missing Schumi, when it comes to setting the cars up.
I didn't mean to take away from BMW's progress, but the Ferrari team of past would have been steadily improving over the season too. This year's team hasn't...
Yeah, they aren't doing too well without the big guns of the old team.
And come slightly related news:
Bring it on......Jean Todt for king!!
It would be a breath of fresh air to have Jean replace mad Max Mosley, and it would allow Max to spend more time with his favourite ladies..
LOL! Would reignite the FerrariIA claims though
Well I expect that most reasonably intelligent people would think that that is a load of bollocks anyway..
Tell me, why would Max and Bernie (two Englishmen) favour an Italian team over an English team?
We all know how parochial the English are regarding their sport. (doesn't make sense to me)
However I'm sure that the (60% Pom, 40%, Aussie and 50% Welsh) Mr Heller would disagree..
And, yes I know it doesnt add up...
LOL!
It's a pretty widely held opinion/complaint from what I can tell from other forums and blog comments
Not on the forums I frequent...
hahaha
I don't buy that Kimi's form has dropped off all that much this season. His championship was largely down to awful McMerc decision making (see; China). And when Kimi was at McLaren he had a quicker car than Alonso, but it was Alonso who won the title.
Sure, it was Lewis' mistake that got Kimi the title last year... but he was there in 2nd place to be able to benefit from the points.
He's no where near that this year
Last season was a very different kettle of fish. Kimi should've won the title at a canter, but eventually picked it up by default. This year has been tougher and closer and he's just faded away.
I'll give you that
