The first Friday practice session was declared wet but drying during the session. Few drivers - Heidfeld, Kubica, Alonso and Fisichella did not record any times. The quickest cars were Ferraris, ahead of Kovalainen, Rosberg, Hamilton and Schumacher. Vettel had impressive session too with 7th fastest time.

1st Practice Session Times:

1. K. Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:19.580
2. F. Massa - Ferrari - 1:20.062
3. H. Kovalainen - Renault - 1:20.829
4. N. Rosberg - Williams - 1:21.064
5. L. Hamilton - McLaren - 1:21.121
6. R. Schumacher - Toyota - 1:21.243
7. S. Vettel - Toro Rosso - 1:21.598
8. M. Webber - Red Bull - 1:22.104
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No matter who is your personal favourite for the title, there are now 1:18 scale die cast models available of all 3 title contenders for F1 fans and memorabilia collectors.

Newly released are Mattel’s 1:18 replicas of Lewis Hamilton’s and Fernando Alonso’s McLaren MP4/22’s. The models are diecast in metal and measure some 25cm in length. The McLaren diecast with its great looking chrome paintwork is allegedly selling fast, so if you are fan of either Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton, you may better pick yours fast.

Mattel has also commissioned a special 1:18 replica of Kimi Raikkonen’s car from Australian GP that features the Finn with arms aloft at the end of the race, celebrating his Australian GP hattrick. It should be coming in the weeks before Christmas. Kimi Raikkonen’s ’standard’ race car from the 2007 season is available already.

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To better recognize the new Williams boy on track, here is the helmet of Kazuki Nakajima:

And this is how the helmet looked in action 2 weeks ago in Shanghai during Friday practice:

Check here for all the 2007 Driver Helmets

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Year 1986. After round 15 in Mexico City there were still 3 drivers left to fight out for the title in the last race of the season, in Australian GP in Adelaide. Nigel Mansell stood at 70 pts, Alain Prost at 64 pts and Nelson Piquet at 63 pts. The points system was a bit more complicated that time, but basically any of these 3 drivers could win the title with favourable result in the last race.

Each of drivers was a “champion” at certain stages of the race. Nigel Mansell had the title pretty much in the bag when his left rear tyre exploded spectacularly. He displayed some amazing car control and safely “parked” his car by the wall. He was fine but out of the title race. That meant Piquet took the lead not only of the race, but also of the championship… But for a short while only… He had to go for a precautionary pit stop following some vibrations from the rear of his car. He changed tyres, Prost took the lead. No further mishaps for Prost (he had to pit and to change punctured tyre early on in the race) and so he won the race and the title. It was his second Championship trophy in the row, Mansell had to wait six more years till 1992 for his first and only one …

Here is the video review of 1986 Australian F1 Grand Prix

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The last race of 2007 season, 35th Brazilian GP is here. For 25th time the race will be held at Interlagos, near Sao Paulo.

The first F1 race (non-championship) on this track was held in 1972 (won by Reutemann ahead of Peterson and Wilson Fittipaldi). From the following season it became a proper part of the Formula 1 Championship. In 1981 the Brazilian GP moved to Jacarepagua near Rio de Janeiro. It returned back to revised and shortened Interlagos track in 1990.

The track is one of only few anticlockwise circuits on the F1 calendar putting some extra strain on the neck muscles of the drivers. The track has 13 turns (9 left and 4 right) and combines 2 long straights with corners of different nature. The other famous feature of this track is the bumpy surface. However the track was resurfaced recently with same compound as used at Spa and allegedly the bumps mostly disappeared. This means the driver can expect slippery track and the set up requirements may be different than in previous years.
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The Polish portal www.f1.v10.pl brought images of the new helmet design that Robert Kubica will use in the final race of 2007 season - Brazilian GP. The new helmet is a work of the Italian house LuckyDesign. Gone is the red and white color scheme reminescent of the Polish flag. The new design is a combination of black and shades of grey (silver), with red lines. It all comes in matt finish.

Robert Kubica used another special helmet design earlier this year in Monza at the Italian Grand Prix.

Here are all 2007 Driver Helmets and several Test Driver Helmets

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Will Kimi be this relaxed also before the Brazilian race? Probably yes…

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It looks like we can now fill some more blanks in the 2008 line up. With Raikkonen never really in any doubt and Felipe Massa extending his contract, we have another team all set for 2008 season. So it is Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa again in Ferrari next year. This I believe puts an end to all the “Alonso to Ferrari” rumours.

You can download photos of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen here (right click on the link and save):
Felipe Massa
Kimi Raikkonen

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April 6, 2003 - one of craziest races in the recent memory. Few 2007 GPs came close (Canada, Europe, Japan) but not close enough.

All started in October 2002 when the all team bosses came up with a “wise” cost cutting idea and voted to change the rules to limit the use of wet tyres to just one spec per event. Looks like Max Mosley has not always enjoyed monopoly on creating stupid rules. So fast forward to April 6, 2003 Interlagos circuit. Torrential rain turned the track into free flowing river at some parts but all that the teams had for their disposal that weekend were intermediate tyres. They for sure saved on the tyres, but the high speed Turn 3 became one of the most expensive car wreck centres - by the time the race finished (will come to that), there were Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari, Juan Pablo Montoya’s Williams, Jenson Button’s BAR, Antonio Pizzonia’s Jaguar and both Minardis piled up behind the tyre wall. (videos inside the article)

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Finally a week after the race and I managed to process all the photos from Chinese Grand Prix. Please click here to see the photogallery. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the photos.

Here are few high resolution photos of Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa for download (right click on the link and save):

Kimi Raikkonen
Lewis Hamilton
Felipe Massa
Fernando Alonso

See also the Chinese Formula 1 Grand Prix Babe Review and Chinese GP - An Alternative Report

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