McLarens confirmed their strong form from free practice sessions and booked the front row all for themselves. Lewis Hamilton will start the Hungarian GP from pole position for the second time in a row, Heikki Kovalainen will line up next to him.

Felipe Massa blamed traffic on his outlap for the slower pace. But after rather week showing on Friday afternoon and this morning the Ferrari, at least Massa’s, seems to be on the pace. Robert Kubica was only about a tenth slower then Massa. Toyota’s package looks strong in Hungary, both their cars made it to top 10, Glock P5 and Trulli P9. Nelson Piquet was again outqualified by his team mate Alonso, but he made it to Q3 and I suspect he is rather heavily fueled. Mark Webber, te usual member of Q3 club, claimed P8.

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F1Wolf

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With nine races gone it is perhaps good time to look at the surprises and disapointments of the first half of the 2008 Formula 1 season. Here are my picks:

Surprises

Kazuki Nakajima - It is probably fair to say that without Williams’ engine deal with Toyota it would be unlikely for Nakajima to get a race drive alongside Nico Rosberg for 2008 season. Before the start of this season Kazuki Nakajima had only one Grand Prix under his belt. Although he did not do too bad in Brazil last year most F1 fans will remember his race debut for running over his pit crew. The expectations were not too high and few people have expected Kazuki Nakajima to match the pace of his highly rated team mate Nico Rosberg. Well, if we still can consider Nakajima a rookie after racing one race last year, I would rate him as a rookie of the year, I may not be the only one. Although he has been outqualified 7 to 2 by Rosberg and is yet to make it to the podium, he scored points in four races (Rosberg only in 3) and his total after nine races is 8 points, same as his team mate. But it is not only about the points. He seems to be maturing too (if that can be said after only his 10th F1 race) as his drive in the tricky wet Silverstone may suggest.

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F1Wolf

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This is the first 2009 drivers posts that does not have rumours only. One 2009 F1 seat was confirmed last week - Mark Webber’s contract with Red Bull was extended for another year. He will however have new team mate following David Coulthard’s retirement announcement. Sebastian Vettel is everybody’s candidate …

There are reports that Toyota will confirm their current drivers Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock for next season. It hasn’t happened yet though. This would mean that Kazuki Nakajima may stay with Williams for a while longer.

Same as last year a lot seems to depend on the next move by Fernando Alonso. He is not planning to make any announcements before Italian Grand Prix in September and some teams may wait for his situation to clear up before making any moves.

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F1Wolf

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Summer is traditionally time for some changes. I only went back as far as 2004, but there hasn’t been summer without drivers being dropped and replaced.

2004 - After German GP in July Cristiano da Matta was replaced by Ricardo Zonta in Toyota

2005 - After British GP in July Patrick Friesacher was replaced by Robert Doornbos in Minardi

2006 - After US GP in July Juan Pablo Montoya was replaced by Pedro de la Rosa in McLaren, later that month after German GP Jacques Villeneuve had to make way for Robert Kubica in BMW Sauber.

2007 - Early July Christijan Albers lost his seat to Marcus Winkelhock (replaced after one race by Sakon Yamamoto) in Spyker, later the same month Scott Speed got fired by Toro Rosso and Sebastian Vettel came in …

We haven’t seen any changes this year so far. But it is July now, who will be out and who will be in before July ends ?

Photo: Daimler Media

F1Wolf

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Time for the final part of this miniseries - look at title chances of Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton’s season has begun well. Although not going to Australia as a favourite he took full advantage of Ferrari technical issues and driver errors. First race, first win in a bag. He however had to wait till Monaco for his next win. If the races in Australia and Monaco reminded us about Hamilton’s qualities, the Bahrain and Candian GPs brough back memories of Shanghai and Brazil 2007 … Last year this time Hamilton was yet to finish outside top 3, this year he already has 2 pointless races to his name … But still, he is second in the driver’s standings and only 4 points behind. Not too bad position to be after 7 races knowing that the guy ahead may not have faster car.

Current position: shared 2nd
Points: 38 (4 behind the leader)
Results so far this season: 1 - 5 - 13 - 3 - 2 - 1 - DNF

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All we need is 2 weeks break between races and the rumour floodgates open. Let’s have a look what’s new since the second edition.

Robert Kubica has been doing well and so it comes as no surprise his future has been talked about quite a bit. Few innocent remarks to Italian paper La Stampa created two contradictory rumours. First linking Rosberg with BMW Sauber (as Kubica’s team mate) and then linking Kubica with a move to Ferrari. Sounds interesting but whom would Kubica replace ? Massa is under contract till 2010 and doing well right now (after shaky start to the season). There has been lots of talking about Raikkonen’s retirement but if I am not wrong that is part of the post 2009 future. All I can say about Kubica and Ferrari is that Kubica’s helmet matches the Ferrari colour scheme quite well as the picture above shows .

Fernando Alonso has dismissed the rumours about him signing for Ferrari, so now it is time to link him to BMW Sauber, now also a race winning car. It may help that Robert Kubica does not seem to mind having Alonso as a team mate. The question for me however is if Alonso would be OK with Kubica in the other car. At the moment all that is sure about Alonso’s future is that he has not made any decision on it, at least that is what he says.

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Time for part 3 of this miniseries - Kimi Raikkonen. It would be fair to say that before the start of 2008 season Kimi Raikkonen was probably the hottest candidate for 2008 title. The Ferrari car looked strong during the winter testing, the 2007 title took lots of pressure from his shoulders and all the woes of being in the new team were things of the past. His start to the season was a bit shaky with quite a lot of mistakes in Australia. Two race wins and two podiums from next 4 races put him to the top of the championship standings and well back into the contest. Two races later however he finds himself out of top three …

Current position: 4th
Points: 35 (7 behind the leader)
Results so far this season: 8 - 1 - 2 - 1 - 3 - 9 - DNF

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About 2 weeks ago I asked a question if Robert Kubica has become a serious title contender. It looks like the Montreal race gave us the answer. Kubica’s maiden F1 win has not only broken the 24 race McLaren/Ferrari Formula 1 race wins monopoly but also propelled him to the top of the championship standings after 7 races. Whoever can achieve that amongst the competition from Ferrari and McLaren drivers simply has to be taken seriously …

Current position: 1st
Points: 42 (4 ahead of 2nd and 3rd)
Results so far this season: DNF - 2 - 3 - 4 - 4 - 2 - 1

Although his season has began with DNF Kubica made his intentions quite clear right at the start. After a strong qualifying run in Melbourne he barely missed out on pole position at the Australian GP. The maiden pole position came in Bahrain, the maiden win in Canada. Seven races, six top four finishes, 4 podiums, one win, one pole position. This all in a car that at least for now still is only the 3rd best on the grid … The comparison with Alonso and Renault in their 2005 and 2006 title winning seasons comes to mind …

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Although we are yet to reach half the season mark I think it is safe to say that the result of Canadian GP reduced the number of 2008 F1 title contenders to four - Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen. I do take the liberty to count Kovalainen and Heidfeld out of title fight and it will probably not take too long before their teams do the same… Let’s have a quick look at these four and begin with Felipe Massa.

Current position: shared 2nd
Points: 38 (4 behind the leader)
Results so far this season: DNF - DNF - 1 - 2 - 1 - 3 - 5

Massa’s start to 2008 season was a nightmare. His DNF in Melbourne may have been result of a mechanical trouble but it was the spin on lap 2 followed by similar spin a week later in Malaysia (throwing away 2nd place) that prompted media talks about his immiment departure from Ferrari. He however handled the media pressure well and came back with vengeance in Bahrain. Still the Bahrain win did not help him to silence the critics, it was just another win from pole position without having to overtake anybody … The win in Turkey, although thrid in a row for Massa in Istanbul, did not help him much either. After all, it was just a win on his favourite track …

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The race start was little disappointing - all the cars made it and for the first 13 laps the race was rather uneventful. Lewis Hamilton pulled away from Robert Kubica and Kimi Raikkonen. He looked like the man to beat. The only excitement came from Nelson Piquet overtaking every car that got in his way. But then Adrian Sutil spun off and safety car was out on track. Once the pitlane opened pretty much all the cars that were not on one stop strategy dived into pitlane. Raikkonen and Kubica jumped ahead of Hamilton after their pitstops but had to stop at the red light at the pitlane exit. Lewis Hamilton did not look up to check the light, he did not look ahead to check the cars in front him and hit the rear end of Raikkonen’s car. Nico Rosberg joined the party moments later and rammed into Hamilton. Kubica escaped unscathed but Hamilton and Raikkonen were out of the race…

Hamilton’s stupid mistake opened the door for BMW Sauber. It looked first the luck was on Heidfeld’s side. Once the race restarted he pulled away from the field helped by not that quick Barrichello in second place. After his pitstop he still returned ahead of his team mate but the “hint” on team radio about slowing down lighter Kubica made the trick. Kubica passed Heidfeld and never looked back. BMW drivers were definitely helped by misfortune of their main rivals but … they grabbed the opportunity and more importantly made no mistakes in a race that was all about not making any mistakes … Deserved 1-2 finish for BMW and clearly popular win for Kubica just about a year after his scary crash at the same track … Nick Heidfeld now remains the only driver without DNF this season … Did not make him to look too happy on the podium though …

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F1Wolf

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