Lewis Hamilton, McLaren Mercedes

The verdict is out, the penalty stands, Hamilton still leads the championship, but still only by a point. I have been expecting no other result but my feelings about the whole issue are rather mixed. On one hand I do agree with the actual penalty. But the way FIA swept the appeal off the table raises fresh questions about the integrity of the body that among other things also rules Formula 1.

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2008 Belgian GP - The podium

As many predicted, FIA rejected McLaren’s appeal against Lewis Hamilton’s 25 sec penalty for the chicane cutting back in Spa. The FIA’s reasoning - drive-through penalties could not be appealed:

“Article 152 of the International Sporting Code states that drive-through penalties are ‘not susceptible to appeal. The competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes appealed the Steward’s decision before the International Court of Appeal in a hearing in Paris on September 22nd. Having heard the explanations of the parties the Court has concluded that the appeal is inadmissible.”

That means the result of Belgian GP remains unchanged. Felipe Massa keeps the win and Nick Heidfeld the 2nd place they inherited following Hamilton’s penalty. That also means that the gap between Championship leader Hamilton and 2nd Massa remains 1 point.

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Full text of the FIA decision inside this post:

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Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso

When the FIA first announced the plans to freeze the engine development back in 2006 the first thing that came to my mind was - “How can that be ?” The logic of saving huge money by not having to spend millions only to gain few horsepowers more than the theguys in the next garage made some sense. But, if some engine was superior in 2006 that would mean the same engine being superior for the whole of 2007 … Hm … Well, somehow the teams managed to get their powerplants on sort of equal level, the 19,000 rpm limit probably also having something to do with that. But how about if someone has reliability issues ? Will they be for a year(s) stuck with engines that blow up in every race ? No, they wwould not. For this reason there was a provison made allowing manufacturers to change parts at the FIA’s discretion if it reduces costs or improves reliability (creating the future loophole).

Then however came end of the 2007 season and FIA announced that the engine freeze would last for 10 years. What ? The pinnacle of motorsport stuck with the same engines for the entire decade ? That did not make much sense to me and I think few believed this would seriously happen. It is not happening, the freeze has been to reduced to 5 years only. Now it looks that the freeze is not really a freeze …

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Kimi Raikkonen, 2008 Italian GP

Kimi Raikkonen is still in the title fight. With 4 races to go and 40 points still to fight for he can still in theory make up the 21 points gap that at this moment separates him from the championship lead. His team mate Felipe Massa however is only 1 point behind the leader Lewis Hamilton and Stefano Domenicali is now making it clear what this means:

“I’ve always said that our main interest is the team. Of course, that’s the most important thing and the drivers know it. At this moment, at this stage, you can see that we haven’t, in our situation, taken away points from one or the other, and for sure, considering from now up to the end of the season, in the way that it’s possible to do, of course Kimi will do his best to be as aggressive as possible but also consider the fact that Felipe is much closer to the leader, Lewis.”

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Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari

Ferrari again had an annoucement to make during their home race weekend in Monza. The team confirmed yesterday the extension of Kimi Raikkonen’s contract to the end of 2010 season ending the speculations about Raikkonen’s retirement. With Felipe Massa already having his contract for 2009 and 2010 it is rather safe to assume that Ferrari driver line up Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen will remain the same for the next 2 seasons. That is also what the team’s statement says:
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Fernando Alonso

Is that possible ? If the words in F1 paddock and speculations are to be believed it is not only possible but dead certain.

Word in Monaco paddock back in May was that Fernando Alonso inked a deal with Ferrari that would see the double world champion racing in the red car from 2010. Whom would he replace was not said that time. Just for the record, Felipe Massa will still be under contract with Ferrari in 2010, Kimi Raikkonen will not, unless he signs some extension.

The speculations that emerged shortly after the Belgian GP claim that Fernando Alonso just signed three years deal with BMW Sauber and would partner his buddy Robert Kubica from 2009. (There were almost immediately also speculations sending Nick Heidfeld to Renault but that is another story). Official announcement is to come after Monza race.

So, it is BMW Sauber in 2009 and then both BMW Sauber and Ferrari from 2010 for Fernando Alonso. Who would have predicted that .

Photo: Renault/LAT

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Felipe Massa, 2008 Belgian GP

So, we finally had a race that went to the wire. It actually went even further and the final result was amended about 2 hours after the race with 25 second penalties to Timo Glock (overtaking Webber under yellow flags) and the controversial one to Lewis Hamilton for cutting the chicane. The debate on that Hamilton’s penalty has already begun below another article. I wil focus this review more on the race action itself and later today post my take on the whole controversy.

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2008 Belgian F1 GP - Podium

Lewis Hamilton was handed 25 secs penalty for cutting the chicane in the wheel to wheel fight with Kimi Raikkonen in dying stages of Belgian GP. This move, following Massa’s no penalty in Valencia, will no doubt spark new hot debates about the stewards’ decision making.

The penalty means Felipe Massa was handed the race win, Nick Heidfeld moved up to 2nd, Lewis Hamilton dropped to 3rd. Only 2 points now separate Hamilton and Massa …

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FIA cinfirmed McLaren have lodged an appeal against Hamilton’s penalty that demoted him to third place in the Belgian Grand Prix.

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2008 Belgian F1 GP - Podium

Kimi Raikkonen lead most of the race but the rain in the closing stages changed the fortunes for several drivers. After some wheel to wheel racing Lewis Hamilton took the win, Raikkonen crashed out and Felipe Massa collected 8 points for 2nd place. The incident between Raikkonen and Hamilton is however still under investigation… The gamble on intermediate tyres paid off for Nick Heidfeld who took the final podium place. Great result for Fernando Alonso in 4th (although it for a while looked like he and the team threw it away with the last minute tyre change) and another strong result for Toro Rosso. Both Bourdais and Vettel were in 3rd place for a while on the last lap but at the end the wet tyre gamblers Heidfeld and Alonso prevailed… Timo Glock overtook Mark Webber for the final point on the last lap. He however did so under yellow flags. He was hit with 25s penalty and and Mark Webber took that last point from this race.

It is fair to say this race is a candidate for the race of the season. Full race report to follow tomorrow.

2008 Belgian F1 GP result: (provisional)

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Fernando Alonso Friday Practice Spa 2008

Felipe Massa continued showing his back to the rest of the field and finished the practice 1 on top, 3 tenths ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. Both Ferraris ran this session without the shark fin engine cover. McLarens took 3rd and 4th further 3 tenths back. Toro Rosso cars continue to impress although this time both Alonso and Webber were a bit faster. It was difficult session for Robert Kubica who complained about the handling of his BMW Sauber throughout the session. Hondas were the slowest cars on the track in this session.

Friday Practice 1 times:

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