What Must Be Done

Lewis Hamilton heads into Brazil this weekend on the cusp of his first world championship. The McLaren driver has a seven point lead over Massa, with a maximum of ten points on offer at Interlargos. Either way, we will have a first time world champion come Sunday evening. So, what do the championship contenders need to do to secure the title?

Hamilton will be champion if:

• He finishes in fifth position or higher.

• He finishes in sixth position and Massa finishes second or lower.

• He finishes in seventh position and Massa finishes second or lower.

• He finishes in eighth position and Massa finishes third or lower.

• He finishes outside of the points and Massa finishes third or lower.
  
  

Massa will be champion if:

• He wins the race and Hamilton finishes sixth or lower.

• He finishes in second position and Hamilton finishes eight or lower.
  
  

If both drivers are deadlocked in points:

• Massa will be champion on a count back. Currently both drivers are tied with five wins and two second places. To be in with a chance of winning the championship, Massa must either place first or second. Hence, if Massa satisfy one of the title winning conditions, he would beat Hamilton on the count back.
  
  

It is a tall order for the Brazilian, but if last year’s finale is anything to go by, the race for the title is anything but over.

Catch Me If You Can

Jimmie Johnson took a massive step towards his third Sprint Cup title – and he didn’t even need to win at Atlanta.

That honour went to Carl Edwards, who put behind recently disappointments to get his title bid back on track. At one point, it looked like Cousin Carl would take a serious bite in the lead of Johnson. But the two time champion had other ideas.

With a big lead in the Chase, Johnson didn’t need to take a massive risk. Yet, crew chief Chad Knaus called his driver in for four fresh tires for the final sprint to the flag. With fresh rubber, Johnson was like a rocket ship has he scythed his way up the field, taking second position on the final lap from Denny Hamlin. In short, a masterstroke from the #48 team, who could’ve finished in the lower regions of the top ten had the call not been made.

It ended an eventful day for Johnson, when at times it seemed that his luck was finally running out. He lost a lap after been caught speeding on pit entry. In a time for cool heads, they kept theirs and with some slick pit, the team put the #48 in the ‘Lucky Dog’ position. The rest is self explanatory.

On a day where it could easily have gone so wrong for Johnson, he came out the winner. One wonders if Jimmie carries a four leaf clover on his race suit somewhere. With three races to go, he holds a commanding lead over his pressures. The race isn’t over yet, but one would be mad to bet against the #48.

Lewis Wins a Snoozer

Lewis Hamilton took one step closer to the world title with victory at China on Sunday.

You’re expecting more? Sorry, I actually ended up nodding off during the race, it was that boring. It can be summed up in one line really. Hamilton was dominant while the Ferrari’s were disappointing. Not much more to say than that really.
It was an extremely boring race, where the result was known after the first pit-stop. Raikkonen and Massa were no match for Hamilton. The Brit requires at least finishing fifth in Brazil to wrap up the title. After last year’s finale, anything is possible – but lightning rarely strikes twice.

PC’s Driver of the Day: Lewis Hamilton. Immaculate driving with a lights to flag victory. It is his to lose at Brazil.

Foot in Mouth Syndrome

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any bigger, Lewis Hamilton’s ego landed ground troops to expand the perimeter of it.

The championship leader, quoted in The Independent, accuses Massa of purposely nailing him. I mean, seriously, come on. What are you smoking Lewis? Once more you are showing signs of the pressure getting to you. You screwed up, man up and just get on with it.

What would Massa have to gain from trying to punt him off? He entered the race seven points behind Hamilton. Given the point the impact, Massa was more at risk at damaging his car than the Brit. Instead, Hamilton has decided to throw the toys out of his pram, blaming stewards, Massa and whomever else he could. He absconded the track, only to return. My thinking is that McLaren hauled him back under strict orders more than anything else.

The situation reeks of the pot calling the kettle black. Here he is accusing Massa of trying to punt him off, while he has been cheerfully defending his own driving. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching people who race balls to the walls and are always up for it. But, I’ve cited on numerous occasions the dangerous style of Hamilton. It was only a matter of time before it caught up with him.

Maybe it is something to do with the changing of the seasons. As the summer rumbles towards the autumn, the arrogance of Hamilton grows ten-fold. He’s tolerable at the start of the year. Heck, he seems downright likable and the main source of pain is the ITV boys smooching up to him like a teenager in the back of a cinema. As the season progresses, the situation deteriorates.

Self confidence is one thing; all drivers need it some degree. But there is a line, and the media is right, no matter how he tries to spin it, as being arrogant. Hamilton claims that he has said things in the heat of the moment that can give people that impression. You mean those relaxing chats with ITV that you have on a race weekend? Oh yeah, we can see the pressure on there.

Sorry lad, I don’t buy it. Your demeanour screams of an arrogant hypocrite, who’s only saving grace is that ITV are too busy trying to sell you as the greatest thing since sliced bread. Just shut up, and concentrate on what you do best – driving.

For the love of...

Once more, the final race results have been changed AGAIN after the race. Seriously, is there any credibility left in this sport at all?

The bad luck of Sebastien Bourdais continues. After driving a solid race, which saw the Frenchman outscore his team-mate, has now been scuppered by a 25-second penalty for, well, I’m not exactly sure what. The incident was with Massa as Bourdais exited the pit. The Brazilian made a run down the outside and connected with the Toro Rosso, spinning the Ferrari.

Massa lost about five seconds and continued on his merry way. There wasn’t much in it and I didn’t see it for much more than a racing incident. Race stewards – how do you expect for people to see you as impartial if you make silly calls like this. You just feed the hatred and the conspiracy theories that have people cooked up in their parent’s basement, spamming forums with to get their attention.

The result moves Bourdais to tenth, propping Massa up to seventh and Webber to eight. The extra point reduces the championship gap to five points.

Lightning Strikes Twice!

I thought about sleep, especially after staying up for the Nascar race. I tried, missing most of the pre-race show, which usually isn't a loss, but Martin had control of the show today and from what I saw, it was actually more balanced! Maybe Martin is practising for the Beeb next year. But sleep wasn’t coming so I decided to continue the epic night of motorsport, even if I’m going to feel it later on today. The first few laps at least made it worth tuning in live.

Lightning never strikes twice, they say? Fernando Alonso will raise a point against that. He drove through the Ferrari – McLaren melee at turn one and hooked up behind Kubica. The Spaniard was short-fuelled and was dutifully asked to pound in the lap times to make up the gap. ITV spend all their time making up words for Hamilton and saying how he is doing stuff comparable with Schumacher, Senna et al. What Alonso did, what was asked of him – was exactly what the greats did.

Robert Kubica held off Raikkonen for the second step on the podium. The result leaves him just twelve points off Hamilton. Should a freaky set of results occur in the last two races, the Pole could still be in with an outside shot of the title. It was a day for the underdogs, with Piquet coming home fourth, Trulli in fifth. The Toro Rosso’s coming home in sixth and seventh, with Bourdais out-racing his much vaulted team-mate on this occasion. For Piquet and Bourdais, the results are important towards saving their drives.

It was a disastrous race for Massa and Hamilton. Both were reckless, silly and lacking the composure that the media continue to spew that both have in unequal measure. Schumacher must be kicking himself for not sticking around a few extra years because the way these young pups are driving, it would have been an easy two championships.

On a week where Robert Kubica highlighted his and other drivers opinions to Hamilton’s dangerous driving (which of course was fobbed off by the aforementioned and Ron Dennis), he gets a penalty for such driving. It was only a matter of time before he got penalised for his reckless acts on the track.

Funny how the same people who bitched and moaned about Schumacher’s driving style are the same people now defending Hamilton. Oh lads, get your noses out of Hamilton’s arse, clear off the brown stuff and start calling the race with impartiality!

As for Massa’s penalty, well, for sim-racing, we always say the racing track is the white lines, plus the kerbs. But in real racing, that’s different. I don’t agree with the excess that the ITV chaps were lambasting Massa for it, but he did nerf him off, so a penalty was deserved.

For the first time, I used the Formula1.com telemetry, which is great to have with the amount of breaks ITV insist on forcing on us. Not to mention, when ITV go all quiet on peoples lap times, at least I can keep track. For example, we never heard anything about Hamilton’s horrid middle run which composed of 1m21’s, 1m22’s. That sort of stuff is HELPFUL to us, the viewer!

At the end of the day, the result suits McLaren to the ground. They come out of it smelling of roses despite the dodgy driving. James Allen's dodgy maths aside (claiming that even if Lewis had a seven point lead, he would still win by finishing behind a Ferrari one-two - a Ferrari one two would be four point gain per race), Hamilton enters the final two races with a six point gap and can wrap up the title in China if he outscores Massa by more than four points. On the flip side, a Ferrari one-two in the final pair of races would see Massa the champion.

Personally, I’m getting sick of his paranoia over penalties. A driver sneezes and the ITV guys are calling for heads or there is an incident to be investigated. It is getting pretty sickening at this stage. Maybe for 2009, we should have everyone drive in bubble cars.

PC’s Driver of the Day: Fernando Alonso. Like any great driver, he meticulously drilled in the laps to make his strategy worked. That is why Alonso is a double world champion and the best racer in the sport at the moment.

Mister Consistency Takes Victory

October 12th is turning out to be a motorsport epic morning. Nascar, live from Charlotte was my first stop of the night. The night race in the US started at 1am Irish time.

It’s the first time I’ve pulled an all nighter for Nascar. Usually I’ve taped them, because staying up without sleep for a race, it’s quiet difficult. It goes to show how things have changed, that I‘m happy to stay up till five am.

Charlotte didn’t disappoint either. The five hundred mile race had its thrills and spills before Jeff Burton ignited his title challenge with victory. The #31, who is a model for consistency, took fuel only on his final stop to maintain track position. The clear track was all important at Charlotte. On multiple times during the race, he who was out front, legged it.

Jimmie Johnson came home in sixth position after running up front all day. The #48 faded in the latter stages, but finished in front of Biffle. Carl Edwards had a torrid day. A pit under green to change tires due to a vibration but him a lap down before his car lost power. By the time the crew got the #99 restarted, he was 16 laps down.

The Coke 600 winner, Kasey Kahne finished second with Kurt Busch coming home in third. Kyle Busch put his nightmare start to the Chase behind him with fourth. The younger Busch bounced back from a lap down due to a drive through penalty is finally showing the sort of competitiveness that we saw for the first 26 races.

It was a day of what might of been for many, with the likes of Gordon, Stewart, Ragan, Vickers all running close to the front at some stage. All ended up running into difficulties, with Stewart and Ragan picking up pit lane speeding penalties. Gordon and Vickers both smacked the wall, damaging their cars. Recent performances by Vickers and Ragan show that both are due for a trip to victory lane sooner rather than later.

With his victory, Burton now moves into second spot. The question to be asked is – can he sustain a championship challenge. Consistency usually isn’t a problem for the #31, but he needs to raise his game to beat a driver of Johnson’s calibre.

Pictures from Indy

Huzzah!

Okay, this is totally overdue, but I finally got my Brickyard pictures I promised and the special reports from July! To make a long story short, I thought they were lost from where they were stored and only recently managed to recover them. There are a few that didn't come through, but I got 98% of the pictures back - which is the important thing. Better than none at all!

So enjoy!

The pre-race parade done by big-ass US trucks for each driver. Think of the carbon emissions!


The calm before the storm at Casy Mears pit stall.


Driver Parade - Sam Hornish Junior


Driver Parade - Michael Waltrip


Driver Parade - Bobby Labonte


Driver Parade - Jeff Burton


Driver Parade - Denny Hamlin


Driver Parade - Kyle Busch


Driver Parade - Kevin Harvick


Driver Parade - Dale Earnhardt Junior


Driver Parade - Tony Stewart


Driver Parade - Carl Edwards


Driver Parade - Jeff Gordon


Driver Parade - Mark Martin


The beasts await to be let off the leash


Tony Stewart, Juan Montoya, David Ragan & Patrick Carpentier


Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne & Jeff Gordon


Marcos Ambrose, Martin Truex Junior, AJ Allmendinger & Bobby Labonte


Revving Up For The Start


Paul Menard makes his way to the pits with damage


Terry Labonte on pit road for an early stop under yellow


Michael Waltrip after his tangle on track, limps back to the pits


Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin & Carl Edwards lead the way to the pits


Jamie McMurray & Reed Sorenson


Casey Mears, Travis Kvapil and Terry Labonte


Matt Kenseth after his tyre let go - he was a little too fast for my camera!


A familiar sight at Indy - everyone to pit road


Busy Times


The pit crews definitely earned their wage on the day

Salut Gilles; BMW Retain Pair

The Canadian Grand Prix has been scrubbed off the provisional 2009 calendar, released today. Once again, Formula One fans bear the scars of losing yet another track etched in history and provided great races

This isn’t the first time that we have lost a classic circuit. First Spa, then Hockenheim was butchered, followed by the loss of Suzuka. Earlier this year we found out that Silverstone was been axed in favour of Donington. Thankfully, Spa was rescued, although one must wonder for how long. And for what?! Don’t get me wrong, some of the new circuits are great, but they lack soul. Circuits like Valencia and Singapore – didn’t exactly offer a great racing spectacle.

The whole thing reminds me of the overused movie plot – after being given a home and a place to grow saw them flourish and became successful. Soon enough, they got too big for their boots, happy to cut off ties with those who had helped them in the early days as they make the grab for the almighty dollar. Well, if it can be called that.

Unlike the movies though, I doubt we will receive the happy ever after ending, where they learn of their mistakes and remember their roots.

In other F1 news, BMW announced that they will retain their current driver lineup. Despite constant criticism of Heidfeld, people show their ignorance with not looking over the stats that count the most – points gained. Quick Nick sits eight points behind his headline grabbing team-mate. Raikkonen is 20 points behind Massa. Kovalainen 33 behind his team-mate.

Not a bad job by Heidfeld at all. The decision does narrow down the list of possibilities for Alonso. Although, with rumours persisting that Raikkonen’s ’10 drive with Ferrari isn’t all that secure despite the new contract.

It's Talladega

Those were the words most commonly said in the paddock through the race. It was nothing short of a nail biting, pulsating afternoon of racing that had me on the edge of my seat. 68 lead changes amongst 28 drivers, a record - and that was only the officially timed ones at the line.

Tony Stewart snapped a winless streak stretching back to Watkins Glen last season, after Nascar cancelled out Regan Smiths below the yellow line move. It was an unfortunate end to a great race that caused some confusion. As far as I was concerned, racing below the yellow line is a no-no for all the race, so why should the last lap be any different.

During the first half of the race, it looked like there could have been another Indy on our hands. A succession of tire blows out, accumulating in the first ‘Big One’ of the afternoon, had me thinking were we going to see another set of sprints coupled with competition yellows. Whether the issues were with the tires themselves, debris, rubbing or high pressures, they at least disappeared into the second half of the race to let them run for it.

The day saw a mix of strategy, with some of the Chasers sticking to the back to avoid any entanglements. It cost Jimmie Johnson early. The reigning champion lost the draft and fell a lap down. Johnson regained his lap later on via the Lucky Dog. Biffle and Edwards adopted a similar strategy, the latter even employing a unique pit stop strategy to keep himself out of trouble.

When the time to come forward came, it all went sour for the Roush cars. Edwards tipped into the back of Biffle, causing the catalyst for the second ‘Big One’ of the afternoon. Unlike Big One #1, which the Chasers avoided, #2 saw more than half the Chase field receive damage.

Watching Talladega is always a treat. Forget two wide, we had three wide racing for the majority of the race. Four and five when guys felt gutsy. The day saw a number of young guns, like Ragan, Smith, Almirola giving solid drives on the day. The track easily lived up to its tag as the wildcard in the Chase.

That, was pure racing enjoyment.

Common Sense Please!

Ah Luca, your timing is impeccable. Like last year, when F1 was trying to remove the afterthoughts of spy-gate, you put your foot in it, bringing it up for no reason. Once more, your shoddy timing has only helped galvanize the distain for Ferrari that the likes of ITV fed in its infancy.

Luca di Montezemolo came out and said that the Singapore race was humiliating for Formula One. Of course, people only see what they want to see and have been quick to link it to simply because Ferrari had an abysmal race. Seriously, Luca, if you are going to complain about the state of things, don’t do it after a disaster for your own team.

Looking past the Ferrari aspect, he is right. If it wasn’t for the safety car period, it was looking to be nothing short of a snore-bore race, and not the first this year. The most interesting races this year have come via wet weather or safety car been called into action. So is the situation humiliating for Formula One? I say yes.

Formula One is quickly becoming a boring sport. Take out the external factors and there hasn’t been any memorable races, with most decided by the time the first pit-stop comes around. There is nothing there to keep fans on tenterhooks from start to finish, unless you are a diehard fan.

I’ve watched Formula One since 1994. Sitting down on Sunday to watch a race is as close to religion as I figure I’ll ever get. Whether it meant waking up in the dead of the night or hurrying home early from Dublin after a night of drinking for lunch time, I’d do it. Watching it live was the way to go. Even after my favourite driver, Michael Schumacher retired, I moved on with the sport, finding new people to follow. This is the first year I’ve really questioned why I should bother to keep watching.

Having the ability to watch Nascar this year has opened my eyes more to it. Of course, people will slander Nascar, claiming it isn’t good racing and what skills do you need to go around in circles. Unfortunately, the world is full of ignorance and motorsport is no different. At least when I watch a Nascar race, as I commented in my previous piece, I’m likely to get a good race. I don’t get that with Formula One anymore. We can only hope that the changes next year will inspire better racing.

The sport is in need of a major overhaul, not just in the technical department – or it stands even to lose its diehard fans. Unfortunately, I worry that when people try to point out the failings of the sport, those with no common sense will drone it in favour of shouts for their favourite driver.