It has been busy few days for me and it took me 2 days to finish the Spanish GP review. Here it comes finally… I apologize for a dull format without pictures this time .

Four races, three Ferrari wins, two 1-2 finishes, red cars leading both championships and Ferrari friendly Turkey track next … Things have turned around a bit since Melbourne …

After Fernando Alonso squeezed in between Raikkonen and Massa in qualifying there was a chance Renault may spoil the race for Ferrari. Massa’s good start put an end to those worries and from then on it was Ferrari’s race. The gap between them and Hamilton and Kubica was not that big but this may be down to the safety car period and Ferrari preserving the machinery towards the end of the race.

Hamilton returned to the podium for the first time since Melbourne. The race of both McLarens has been compromised by their qualifying. Fifth and sixth places on the grid are not the best places from where to launch the attack on the podium. The positive sign for McLaren is that they did not seem to be too much off the pace of Ferrari. The worry must be the BMW Sauber … The talking point of the race however was the heavy crash of Heikki Kovalainen. It looked very scary and to me even worse than the crash of Robert Kubica in Montreal last year. It is amazing to see how much protection the current F1 cars give to drivers. It is hard to believe that somebody can survive an impact like that with pretty much no injuries at all. At the same time crashes like this are a reminder that F1 is still a dangerous sport …

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F1Wolf

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Hi everybody. I am bit more busy today than expected and as a result I will only be able to post the Spanish GP review tomorrow. So come back and have your opinions ready .

F1Wolf

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Kimi Raikkonen won his second race of 2008 season ahead of his team mate Felipe Massa. Lewis Hamilton returned to podium for the first time since Australian GP. Jenson Button scored first points of the season for Honda. Only 13 cars made it to the finish in a race that featured 2 safety car periods and a scary looking Kovalainen’s heavy crash. Fernando Alonso’s hopes for good result were cut short by a spectacular engine failure.

2008 Spanish GP - Race result

1. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:38:19.051
2. Felipe Massa - Ferrari + 3.228
3. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren + 4.187
4. Robert Kubica - BMW Sauber + 5.694
5. Mark Webber - Red Bull + 35.938
6. Jenson Button - Honda + 53.010
7. Kazuki Nakajima - Williams + 58.244
8. Jarno Trulli - Toyota + 59.435

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F1Wolf

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The Live Blog is back with the Race Day coverage ! Follow the updates from the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix and join in the discussion !

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After reading the Button’s comment on qualifying I looked up the Honda cars photos from Barcelona to see what exactly are the visible updates on their cars they actually use this weekend.

“I need a bit more time with the car to understand the new aero properly and find out how to get the most out of it, but I’m happy with our position going into the race and we’ll see what happens and what we can take advantage of.” - Button

Here are the pictures from Barcelona. The “dumbo ears” are obvious on both cars. They make the car look ugly but it seems that they are going stay … The green front wheel covers do not seem to be on Honda cars all the time. Looks like the benefits are still being evaluated …

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F1Wolf

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Kimi Raikkonen will start the Spanish GP from pole position confirming the strength of the Ferrari package in Barcelona. It is also the first pole position of the season for Raikkonen. He will however have an unexpected neighbour on front row - Renault with Fernando Alonso in the cockpit. Felipe Massa missed out on front row and will start from P3.

Robert Kubica qualified well again - P4  ahead of both McLarens. The silver cars have exclusive rights to row 3 in Barcelona and they will not be too happy about that. Mark Webber and Jarno Trulli proved again they are masters of qualifying - P7 and P8 are great results for Red Bull and Toyota. Nick Heidfeld may be heavier than his team mate but still, P9 is hardly a starting position he would have hoped for. Nelson Piquet made it to Q3 adding his bit to what definitelly was a very good day for Renault.

The midfield is extremely even. Only few tenths separate 11th from 15th.

This was a disapointing session for Coulthard (eliminated in Q1), Vettel (beaten by his team mate again), Sutil (7 tenths behind Fisichella and less than a tenth ahead of Davidson in pennyless Super Aguri…).

Is Renault that good all of a sudden or did Alonso only go for home qualifying glory in a lightly fueled car ? We will see tomorrow.

Spanish GP Qualifying Results:
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Now the real fun begins ! Follow the qualifying session here with Live Blog and join the debate !

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Live Blog is back for the final free practice of Spanish F1 GP. Join the live debate !

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As the Live Blog from Bahrain GP proved to be popular feature, it will be back again for the Spanish GP. You can join the live debate also her on F1Wolf. The live debate will be on for Saturday Free Practice, Saturday Qualifying and then for the Sunday Spanish GP Formula 1 race.

F1Wolf

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After 3 weeks spring racing break that included a 4 day test we have another race weekend ahead of us. The first European race of 2008 F1 calendar - Spanish Grand Prix.

The Barcelona test last week did not reveal much about the new found strength of the F1 teams. We can expect the usual suspects to fight it out for the pole position. Depending on their fuel strategy any of the 6 Ferrari, McLaren and BMW Sauber drivers may claim the pole position. I would expect Ferrari to have the edge in the race with Massa (2007 winner) needing the race win more than Raikkonen. But anything can happen, we do have six drivers with a shot at the race win.

It will be interesting to see how the battle of the midfield shapes up. There are not that many places in Q3 left for grabs and even less that offer some points … But there are at least 10 cars aiming for them …

At this moment it is still unclear whether Super Aguri will race in Barcelona. The team will be present and even if they may not be able to take part in the race itself, I would expect them to do at least just enough to formally participate in the race. As long as they hope to survive and find new investor they would not want to forfeit their television money rights… Just a year ago at this race Takuma Sato scored first point for Super Aguri…

There are some reports that it may drizzle on Saturday and Sunday in Barcelona, that would sure bring some degree of unpredictability to the race. Other reports only forecast scattered clouds, so make your pick .

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F1Wolf

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