Centurion

Interesting strategies used between McLaren and Ferrari. Ferrari definitely favored the softer compound tire for Silverstone. They also had enough juice in Kimi's car to keep him out on the track for two extra laps on the 2nd stint. This translates into less time spent in the pits for refueling for the final stint.

Lewis jumped the gun just a little bit when getting out of the pit and Kimi was turning out some very quick lap times. Both of these factors helped contribute to Ferrari's win today.

Oh, almost forgot...WTF did Felipe eat for breakfast this morning??? The man was on fire! For anyone that didn't see the race, his engine cut out on him at the line-up (the race still has not started). He is pushed in to pit lane by the track marshalls, got his engine restarted by his team, and started from the pit exit in last place (this is due to FIA rules). He went completely ballistic after this. One by one, he gradually made his way up the field. It was fun watching him pick away at every car until he came up to this white car with a little roundel on the body. Robert closed the door on him at every corner especially in the 3rd sector where the BMW was quicker coming out of the apex. However, time was on Robert's side. I would guess that if there was more laps to this race, Felipe would have made his pass. Nevertheless, congrats to Robert on holding his ground and congrats to Felipe Massa who gets the 'Afterburner award' climbing from 22nd position to 5th.

Another great race in the history books.

Here are the results:

1 Kimi R?ikk?nen Ferrari
2 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes
3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
4 Robert Kubica BMW
5 Felipe Massa Ferrari
6 Nick Heidfeld BMW
7 Heikki Kovalainen Renault
8 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault
9 Rubens Barrichello Honda
10 Jenson Button Honda
11 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault
12 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota
13 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota
14 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda
15 Christijan Albers Spyker-Ferrari
16 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari
17 Jarno Trulli Toyota
18 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda
19 Scott Speed STR-Ferrari
20 Ralf Schumacher Toyota
21 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari
22 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault

Centurion

We have just crossed the halfway point of the series and this is the current standings for the top 10 drivers:

Position, Driver, total points
1 Lewis Hamilton 70
2 Fernando Alonso 58
3 Kimi R?ikk?nen 52
4 Felipe Massa 51
5 Nick Heidfeld 33
6 Robert Kubica 22
7 Giancarlo Fisichella 17
8 Heikki Kovalainen 14
9 Alexander Wurz 8
10 Jarno Trulli 7

BetterMakeWay

Agree man, but even with 10 extra laps it would have been very hard to pass him. The BMW was very fast and it had just enough of the disadvantage (performance) to not allow the Ferrari any room to pass. I mean even when Fellipe was pushing it very hard to 110% and was right behind Kubica's car he couldn't take advantage on the straight from the slip stream and in the corners...well...it's hard these days to pass in corners when getting that close to the car ahead and loosing front end push and grip. That's why most of the overtakes we see are being made from slipstream and outbrake. But even so Felippe couldn't pass as Robert closed perfectly all the gaps, and hold him just enough to make the Ferrari engine overheat. That's why we see after an unsuccessful sustained attack, a back-off to 0.7-1 second. Car in the back runs directly in the hot air and exhaust of the car in the front and thus rubber starts to climb in temperature too much, and the engine especially.

As i saw numerous times, Robert really had better lines than Fellipe or at least i liked it more. Especially in Q3 in the last turn Massa was always running to wide. But i guess that's exactly what he searched for the cornering speeds to climb he needed to get out of the slip stream and gain more traction.

Nice race!

Centurion

A very nice race indeed.
Next stop is the European GP at Nurburgring.

Iceman

The Ferarris were perfect in this race. Massa was flying through the field because the car was so good, and Kimi won, not because of Hamiltons little mistake (this only cost him 1-2 seconds), he won because the Ferrais were so damn good.
Now, what did Stepney put in their tank? Was he the reason they had problems? Or was it all psychological, after Stepney got fired...?
Anyways, a great race with superb qualifying!

BetterMakeWay

Agree.
I dunno i heard that they put a powder similar to detergent. At least that's what i've heard they found and his home

Iceman

Yeah, the rumor mill said he put detergent in the tanks... Only he and Ferarri know the truth...

BetterMakeWay

Either way i don't think Ferrari engines can rev to 19000rpm with that. Ariel Powa

Iceman

Detergent kills ANY engine, F1 or not.

BetterMakeWay

I know i know, i was just kidding...