Good day for Renault in Japan

After the 2007 wash out we had this year an opportunity to see what kind of racing can the new Fuji Speedway offer in dry weather. With “regular” although rather cold conditions few would have expected cars other than McLarens and Ferraris in the front. Even Fernando Alonso said ahead of the race that the race start will be for him more about defending his position then tryin to gain some places. But Raikkonen, Hamilton and Kovalainen had other ideas. Raikkonen had the best start but late breaking into the corner by probably both Hamilton and Kovalainen made the race interesting. Raikkonen went straight instead of turning right, Kubica and Alonso squeezed ahead of Kovalainen. And Hamilton somehow managed to drop back behind Massa. The TV followed the corner 1 chaos for a while and by the time the director switched back to the race Kubica and Alonso were comfortably leading the race with Heikki Kovalainen 3rd.

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Sebastien Bourdais and Felipe Massa, 2008 Japanese GP

Another race, another controversy. And yet again it involved both main title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa.

Incident no 1 - Race start - Hamilton (and Kovalainen) vs Kimi

I watched the video replay of the race start few times (at the moment you can see it here). Raikkonen had quite good start and it looked like he is ahead of both McLarens. Kovalainen was next to him, Hamilton behind. Hamilton however seemed to be quicker and squeezed between Kovalainen and Raikkonen. Watching it from the front it looked like these three are next to each other. Then just before turning into the first corner Hamilton moved in Raikkonen’s direction leaving Raikkonen with nowhere to go but straight. It is hard to say if Hamilton touched Raikkonen or not. Raikkonen says that both McLarens hit him, Hamilton (when commenting on the penalties imposed on himself and Massa) insisted that he did not hit anybody:

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Fernando Alonso Japanese GP 2008

Against all the odds Fernando Alonso won his second race in row after the title contenders got it all wrong. Alonso now has as many wins as Kimi Raikkonen this year … Robert Kubica finished second, Kimi Raikkonen returned to the podium in third place. Kubica keeps himself in the title fight but Kimi is now officially out. Nelson Piquet seems to serious about keeping his Renault F1 drive after finishing 4th. Felipe Massa claimed one point for 8th (pending stewards investigation for the Massa vs Bourdais incident). Lewis Hamilton just aboyt outlapped himself on the last lap and scored zero. As it stands 6 points separate Hamilton and Massa. The drive through penalties for Hamilton and Massa will however probably be the main talking points of this race (videos of the incidents involving Massa and Hamilton at the bottom of this post) …

Update: Sebastien Bourdais was given 25 seconds penalty for his out-of-the-pitlane tussle with Felipe Massa. As a result Bourdais dropped to 10th place, Massa was elevated to 7th and Mark Webber to 8th, Heidfeld to 9th. The gap between Massa and Hamilton is now only 5 points … Yet another talking point …

2008 Japanese F1 GP Result:

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Lewis Hamilton, 2008 Japanese GP

Lewis Hamilton will start the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix from the pole position, well ahead of his main title fight rival Felipe Massa, who only managed P5. Kimi Raikkonen returned to the front row for the first time since French Grand Prix. It does look good for Hamilton with Heikki Kovalainen and Fernando Alonso also ahead of Felipe Massa on the grid.

It was good session for Toyota and Toro Rosso, both teams had 2 cars in Q3. Toro Rossos do seem to be a bit heavier than other cars in top ten. BMW Saubers struggled in Q1 with Kubica only just making it to Q2 and Heidfeld eliminated. Kubica however pulled his act together and qualified solid 6th.

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Mark Webber 2008 Japanese GP Saturday Practice

The last practice session happened on track still wet from earlier rain. Car started the session on extreme wets but moved on to intermediates later. No green tyres this time. Both Massa and Hamilton did rather well but did not get involved in the last minute quick times dash. The fastest lap went to Robert Kubica ahead of Timo Glock and Nelson Piquet. Not much pace on display from Kimi Raikkonen this time. The track was still quite wet at the end of the session so we may be up for at least damp qualifying … Bottom positions for Honda and Force India. Force India cars spent better part of the session in the garage with some technical issues.

Saturday Free Practice Times:

1. R. Kubica - BMW Sauber - 1:25.087
2. T. Glock - Toyota - 1:25.171
3. N. Piquet - Renault - 1:25.415
4. N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber - 1:25.474
5. K. Nakajima - Williams - 1:25.056
6. D. Coulthard - Red Bull - 1:25.614
7. F. Massa - Ferrari - 1:25.709
8. M. Webber - Red Bull - 1:25.785

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Join us for live blog debate covering the Saturday practice session for 2008 Japanese F1 GP:

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7 Eleven Livery for Red Bull again in Japan

It looks like back to business as usual in Japan so far. McLarens and Ferraris easily occupied the top 4 spots on the timesheets in Practice 1. Renaults seem to continue their climb, speed of Toro Rossos is no longer a surprise … Looks like we will have close weekend at the top. Toyota hasnt’s impressed much yet on their own track. Red Bull same as last year added 7 Eleven logo on their cars for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Friday Practice 1 Times:

1. L. Hamilton - McLaren - 1:18.910
2. F. Massa - Ferrari - 1:19.063
3. H. Kovalainen - McLaren - 1:19.279
4. K. Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:19.399
5. F. Alonso - Renault - 1:19.473
6. N. Piquet - Renault - 1:19.743
7. S. Vettel - Toro Rosso - 1:20.121
8. R. Kubica - BMW Sauber - 1:20.160

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Last year Jarno Trulli painted his helmet with sakura flowers for the Japanese Grand Prix. This year the Toyota driver went for another Japanese trade mark - Fuji Mountain. Here is the helmet he will be sporting on his team’s home circuit:

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