It's on this weekend, only 7 days between races.

Quali at 2.00pm Sat, and race at 3.00pm Sun. (Local China time).

More later.....

YAAAAY!

Oh no!!

That means after that it'll be the last race of the year!

Yep..... Brazil is the last, on 2nd Nov .

Nooooooo

Some pics from China....(better late than never)

Shanghai, from the grandstand......

More Of the track........

Securing the fuel lines...(so massa can't take them)

Kimi in Shanghai........

No green tyres here!

More Kimi in China.....

Some F1 fans......

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71427

Raikkonen targets victory in China

By Pablo Elizalde Thursday, October 16th 2008, 09:42 GMT

Kimi Raikkonen says he is still not perfectly happy with his Ferrari despite his return to form at the Japanese Grand Prix.

At Fuji, the Finn qualified on the front row of the grid for the first time since the French Grand Prix and said he could have won the race if not for an incident with Lewis Hamilton at the start.

In the end he finished in third place.

The world champion says he is aiming to win this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, but admits there is still work to be done before he feels comfortable with his car.

"Hopefully I can challenge for a win," said Raikkonen. "The car is definitely improving and it is better for me but we are still not exactly where we want to be.

"But this is a different place from the last circuit. Last year we had a good time and hopefully this year we can again.

He added: "I mean at Fuji I had a pretty okay qualifying but then it didn't work out in the race as well. For sure qualifying for all the teams is going to make a big difference and if you are driving behind cars it is going to be difficult to get past anybody."

Raikkonen was again coy when asked about playing a supporting role to teammate Felipe Massa.

"I always try to win, but hopefully we are in a position this weekend to fight for that.

"I know what the team expects from me and I know what they want, they want both championships so we will see how the race goes and where we are and then maybe there is some different approach we can take. That we will see during the race."

__________________

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71441

Hamilton to face scrutiny over driving

By Jonathan Noble Thursday, October 16th 2008, 12:43 GMT

Lewis Hamilton will face fresh scrutiny from his rivals in Friday's drivers' briefing in China about his on-track behaviour, although fellow racers deny they are ganging up on the world championship leader.

Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) director Mark Webber and Jarno Trulli have both said they will raise Hamilton's conduct with F1 race director Charlie Whiting when they gather for their meeting on Friday evening.

But amid an increased focus on Hamilton's driving etiquette following a controversial Japanese Grand Prix, both deny there is any specific campaign against the Briton.

Trulli is upset about the way Hamilton behaved when the Italian tried to lap him during the Fuji race - claiming he lost valuable seconds that cost him the chance of beating Nelson Piquet's Renault for fourth place.

"I am definitely unhappy," Trulli told autosport.com about his views on Hamilton's driving in Japan. "I was leading the race, he was lapped and for two laps he held me up. This cost me 1.5 seconds, which if we are going to put it back on my second pitstop could have given me the chance to stay ahead of Renault after the stop.

"I am not saying I would have finished in front, but sometimes thing like this can change a lot. Lewis did not even watch the mirrors because he came back on the track right in front of me and he held me up for two laps. And probably he should have paid more attention because he was more or less out of the race. He was dead last and I don't understand why."

Webber has said he wants to raise with Whiting the way that Hamilton approached the first corner in Fuji - even though the Briton was already handed a drive-through penalty for forcing Kimi Raikkonen off the track.

"The braking areas is an issue because you cannot move around in the braking areas like that," said Webber. "We lost a marshal at Monza (in 2000) when there were guys moving around in the braking areas and it is very hard to change your line if you don't know what is going to come. That is the only thing that we need to look at."

Despite their feelings about aspects of Hamilton's driving, both drivers denied that rivals were picking on the Briton amid his challenge for the world championship.

Trulli said: "I don't comment on Lewis' driving because honestly I can comment only on what happened to me. In the end I don't want to get involved in any speculation or discussions. He has done some good things and some bad things, as has every driver. It is difficult to judge.

"I would feel it is unfair to talk about him. It is better to discuss it with him and tell him, as I will do tomorrow.

"I will go in the drivers' briefing and I will say to Charlie, this is what happened and I believe Lewis could have handled it in a different way because it was not fair. But I am not going against anyone.

"I am not the kind of person who, if I don't get on with them, I make it a war of words. I just want an easy life without fighting; I just want to make the sport fair for everyone. I don't care if you are driving a top team car or the last car, I expect everyone to be treated the same."

Webber conceded that there were times when Hamilton's driving had caused him concern but said that such a situation was no different from how he felt about other drivers.

"He is a phenomenal talent," explained Webber. "Everyone has got strengths and weaknesses, and I haven't seen what he did with Jarno in terms of backmarkers.

"Monza was a tough race for him in terms of what he did to me, what he did to (Timo) Glock at the Curva Grande, what he did to Fernando, so in his eyes it is fine.

"And he didn't get a penalty in Monza, so he didn't do anything wrong in Monza in anyone's eyes, so that was fine. But his respected colleagues are sometimes saying, 'mate it doesn't need to be like that all the time'."

Webber added: "The first corner in Fuji was pretty wild. He was having a crack but if someone was sitting on his right rear when he pulled out there then that was a crash.

"There was also no way he was going to make the first corner. But that is not illegal to outbrake yourself. We want to have a bit of a chat about moving around in the braking areas. I am not smashing Hamilton but it is about how you move on. Tiger Woods learns. Roger Federer learns. And Lewis is going through that."

When asked by autosport.com if there were similarities between how rivals viewed Hamilton and how they often focused on Michael Schumacher's driving tactics, Webber said: "Yeah, could be.

"I think he is always going to be under the spotlight, that is the problem with Lewis. He is always under this light, which he would not necessarily want – he just wants to win his first world title. Being under this spotlight for various other reasons – whether they are the politics of the sport, his skin, or whatever it is I don't know.

"I think there have been a few occasions where he has learned. Michael was doing this stuff when he had all this experience under his belt, Lewis is still in only his second year of F1. You go back to Fuji last year in terms of how he handled the safety car, it was ridiculous."

Jenson Button also denied that drivers were specifically targetting Hamilton – and reckoned Fernando Alonso's claims he wants to see Felipe Massa win the title were just a bit of fun.

"If somebody has a problem with someone then they voice their opinion, but no one has targetted another driver," said Button. "There's never any arguments between drivers. There's never really any bad banter.

"Alonso is only saying what he has said because he just wants a reaction from everyone. He is not in the championship, so he just wants a bit of action. It's quite comical really."

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hahaha I like what Button said abt Alonso's comments. Spot on

The rest of it is interesting.... it does look like they're targetting Lewis, but then again, Lewis is kinda the only one driving like a mad man

That's very true, Deezee..he drives like a looney....

Hamilton fastest in first practice sessions....

Grrrrrr

Shanghai GP track briefing from Lisa Lilley.......

Hi everyone!

It’s Lisa Lilley (Shell Technology Manager for Ferrari) here in Shanghai for the penultimate race of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship. Hosting its fifth Grand Prix, this modern circuit is a great place to visit and really has made its mark on the Formula One calendar. I was told recently that the circuit is designed in the shape of the Chinese character “shang”. Not only is it the first half of the name of the city, it also means ‘ascend’ or ‘above’, which was the sentiment that the organisers of the Grand Prix were determined to achieve.

I think that the circuit here in Shanghai is quite similar to the Fuji Speedway in Japan, where we were last weekend. Shanghai’s race track was designed by Hermann Tilke, who was also the brainchild of the Fuji Speedway upgrade in 2005. Both include a long back straight followed by a hairpin corner – a trademark characteristic of tracks designed by him. The only real difference is probably the set-up run by the teams due to the different oxygen levels in the air and their subsequent combustion ratios.

This circuit has always been tough on Formula One cars due to the amount of time they will spend at maximum RPM, and the number of subsequent gear changes around the rest of the lap. Shell V-Power fuel and Shell Helix Ultra motor oil have been designed to maximise the performance of the cars by keeping them cool, protecting them from deposits and lubricating the moving parts to ensure there is as little friction as possible.

As always at Formula One races, we will be here in our Shell Track Lab where we will analyse over 40 samples of Shell V-Power fuel and Shell Helix Ultra motor oil to give Scuderia Ferrari an indication of how the fuels and oils are affecting the internal condition of the engine. This weekend I have Dan Jamieson and Gareth Lowe (Shell Trackside Analysts) with me to complete this process.

After this round in China, we move on to the final race of the season in Brazil on 2nd November.

Speak soon,
Lisa

Lisa Lilley

The grid for the Shanghai GP is.........

1. Hamilton
2. Raikkonnen
3. Massa
4. Alonzo
5. Kovalainen
6. Webber  (who will start 16th due to engine change after Q2)
7. Heidfeld
8. Vettel
9. Trulli
10. Bourdais

I remembered to watch live timing this time..

*focuses on the keyboard*

I'm not looking at the results!! EEEK!

(Ch10 will be showing it soon-ish)

ARRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Dammit Lewis!

Stole pole away from Kimi...

Bet he's running super duper light. grrrrrrrr

Sorry for spoiling your quali results, deezee..

The first corner is gonna be fun, with Hamilton surrounded by Kimi, Massa & Alonzo.

If Hamilton tries any of his reckless crap there, he may find himself on the losing side..

You didn't spoil it at all, as you can see from  my reaction at the closing moments of quali

LOL!! Good point!

Massa should have let Alonso thru to 3rd

Don't forget...10.40pm tonight. in both Syd and Bris..You guys get it an hour earlier than us though.(Bloody daylight saving) (or lack of it)

Ten HD digital has a pre race show starting ai 5.00pm, if you have digital tv, or a set top box..

I must remember to only watch the Ch10 news tonight, as they should warn us to look away when they show the results... as the race starts at 5.00pm AEST, which is only half an hour away.

It's ok to read, no spoilers here...

Ok, I just watched the first four laps on live timing, and can report that when I turned it off there was no change in the quali order,  ie, first four drivers still holding their positions...

No more posts from me till after I've seen it on tv..

For now!

LOL!

It's on now... things ain't going my way yet... that's all I will say

*sigh*

Things didn't go my way again....

Interesting what Kimi said at the post-race conf.

Yeah, things didn't go our way, again.....

But at least the WDC championship has been kept alive until Brazil, but Ferrari look like they have nailed the WCC for this year.

Very strange for Kimi to say what he did post race, wonder if it will cause Ferrari any probs?

Normally you'd expect Ron Dennis to fire off a protest about it. (maybe he's learned his lesson)

The way I see it, Hamilton has pretty much won it. I don't see how Massa will make more than 7 points over Lewis in the last race.

Massa wins, Lewis DNF's. simple.

What Kimi said - Well, given that it is common knowledge, don't think Dennis or anyone else will do anything about it. The only thing that illegal is publicly telling one driver to give way to another. We we know Ferrari won't make that mistake twice

LOL! Yes, but I don't see that happening, short of someone literally slamming into Lewis

There are any number of things that can go wrong with a F1 car, or driver error, or sabotage, or a puncture, etc etc etc......

Look what happened to Massa a few races back, he was winning easily when his engine blew up a few hundred metres from the finish line.

It's time for Hamilton to have some bad luck........

Nah, he's gonna win it...

And frankly, at this stage, I want him to win it. I think he deserves to. More than Massa actually

I think he deserves to. More than Massa actually

You probably do, but then again you've never liked Massa for some reason.

But Hamilton certainly doesn't deserve to win, he is only where he is because of bad luck, and mistakes in the ferrari pits.

If it wasn't fot the engine failure and that fuel hose debacle, then Massa would have already clinched the title..
 

Sure, but the point is that Lewis didn't get there by accident. He's had good races and some convincing wins to consistently keep infront of Massa.

For example, where was Massa in yesterday's race?

It's got nothing with me disliking Massa. As a matter of fact, I don't (dislike him).

Selected comments from Scuderia Ferrari after the race..

Stefano Domenicali: "Today, we did the best we could at the end of a weekend when our main rival proved to be superior to us in terms of performance, both over a single lap and in terms of race pace. These fourteen points are very important for the Constructors' championship, in which we have increased our lead. Felipe has lost a bit of ground but now has nothing to lose, and he will give it his best shot in his home race, where he can count on the warm support of his fans. We will try and give our drivers a car with more performance than we had today. To do that, we need to analyse what did not work on this track, also taking into account that things can change very quickly: at Fuji and in Singapore we were better than our competitors in terms of performance, while here it was the opposite. Felipe passing Kimi? Our drivers are well aware what is in the best interests of the team and they acted accordingly. Indeed, events like this have already happened this season in other teams, which is a normal state of affairs in a sport like Formula 1."

Felipe Massa: "This is a great result for the team, less so for me. Today's race was a difficult one: we were not quick enough to fight against Hamilton. Losing two points does not mean that I have lost hope. I will continue to fight right to the very end and I can't wait to race in Interlagos in front of my home crowd: I will try my luck there - it will be the first time for a Brazilian - which will be a further incentive. There was no specific element that wasn't working on my car. It's just that today it was impossible for me to win. I feel a bit as though I'm in a penalty shoot-out in the football World Cup finals: we have missed the first two shots, while the other team has scored and therefore we cannot make any more mistakes and hope that they make three. It will be very difficult, but not impossible as we saw last year. The team is united and has faith: that is very important and nice too."

Kimi Raikkonen: "Today I had a good car, but it was not quick enough to beat our main competitor. At the start and after every tyre change, Hamilton managed to pull away, while when it got near to the pit stops I was able to go a bit quicker, but it was always too late. On top of that, three times, I came up behind backmarkers who cost me valuable time. We secured a very good result for the Constructors' classification. Now we go to Brazil where we must try and get a one-two finish and then we can see where we stand in both Championships. Felipe passing me? I am part of a team and I am well aware what they expect of me. I am out of the title fight and have to do the maximum because Ferrari can achieve both its objectives. It's a simple as that."

Luca Baldisserri: "Our opponents were better than us today which we must do something about. We suffered from a chronic lack of traction, on both types of tyre. We worked on the car all weekend to try and improve the situation, but evidently our efforts were not enough to fight at the highest level. Therefore, second and third places represent the maximum we could do in these conditions, although it does allow us to make a step forward towards the Constructors' title, which is very important for us. Now we must concentrate on analyzing our performance at this track and on preparing for the Brazilian Grand Prix, where we will do our utmost to pick up maximum points, as in fact we do at every race."

LOL! Its funny how they keep saying 'main competitor'

Dudes, we know who it is... it's ok to say their name...

Yeah, we all know it's......

LOL!!

Terrible