08/07/2007
NEWS STORY
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This morning's GP2 race was held in bright sunshine, and it looks as though the weather will remain ideal for the remainder of the day, which means that for the second successive weekend the forecasters have got it wrong.
We would say 'England Expects', but that would be entirely wrong because today is the British Grand Prix and the vast crowd here is hoping for a British win, and with rookie sensation having taken pole position with a magnificent late charge, the fans could see their dream come true.
The youngster had been keeping a relatively low profile for much of the weekend, then, in the final moments of qualifying, when it mattered most, he dug deep and produced a time that no-one could beat. We say no-one could beat, but in reality Kimi Raikkonen was looking to do just that until he ran wide on exiting the final corner on to the pit straight.
With the weather not looking to be a problem today, and the McLaren - certainly Hamilton's car - looking bullet-proof, it would seem that today's result is a formality, and that the youngster will further consolidate his World Championship lead this afternoon.
However, there are several other drivers keen to throw a spanner in the works, not least his own teammate, who is thought to be running a little heavier (fuel wise) than the Englishman. Then again, let's not forget that the Ferraris, particularly Magny-Cours winner Kimi Raikkonen, have been the pace setters for much of the weekend, so let's not rule out another victory for the Maranello outfit.
Over the years we have witnessed numerous incidents at the first corner (Copse), and today could well see similar fun and games, especially with some of the faster drivers starting from the back of the grid following poor qualifying performances.
We were thinking last night that it seems ages since the first three (or four) finishers were significantly different from the first three at the end of the first lap - such is the state of contemporary F1. With this in mind, other than the fact that - were we betting people - it might be worth placing a wee wager one weekend. Also, if this proves true again this weekend, we'll know the 'result' around eighty seconds after the field leaves the grid this afternoon.
BMW continues to impress and will surely pick up more points this afternoon, while Toyota looks much improved, certainly based on its practice and qualifying form.
The Renault duo look confident, and the French team claims that it can take the fight to BMW, while Williams looks as though it will have to rely on Alexander Wurz, with Nico Rosberg failing to get through the first phase of qualifying
It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect at least one of the Red Bull drivers to score points, with David Coulthard particularly fired up following the team's decision to re-sign him for 2008.
After an encouraging result in France, Honda appears to have slipped back again, with Button - last year's 'local hero' starting from eighteenth on the grid. As it awaits the arrival of its numerous new signings the Brackley based outfit will need to hope that it can gain positions as the result of others misfortune.
A poor performance from Super Aguri in qualifying, but in the race we expect them to put in a better show, and their reliability could well benefit them.
Finally, as Spyker await the arrival of the new car - scheduled for Istanbul - the Silverstone will just have to rely on its current turkey.
As the cars prepare to head off on the warm-up lap, the air temperature is 22 degrees C, while the track temperature is 43 degrees. Not exactly tropical, but there you go. As we said earlier, the conditions are ideal, with bright sunshine and barely a cloud in the sky. The high wins that dogged the Friday and Saturday sessions appear to have eased off.
The field heads off on the warm-up lap except for Takuma Sato who is starting from the pitlane.
Both McLarens on the harder compound while the Ferraris are on the softer (in reality medium) compound. Indeed a majority of the drivers, certainly at the front end of the grid, appear to be on the harder compound.
As the drivers take their place on the warm-up lap, they try to generate as much heat into their tyres as possible. Hamilton, in particular, is giving it some serious 'welly'.
The yellow flags come out, as Massa waves his hands, his car has stalled. This is bad news for Ferrari, but good news for McLaren, and those starting behind the Brazilian, who will now start from the pitlane.
Hamilton leads the field round on a second parade lap. Again, the drivers generate as much heat into their tyres as possible.
They're away, and as Raikkonen crosses the track to make his move, Hamilton closes the door, almost forcing the Finn on to the grass. They all appear to have got away well except for Davidson.
At the end of lap one, Hamilton leads Raikkonen, Alonso, Kubica, Kovalainen, Fisichella, Heidfeld, Schumacher, Webber and Trulli. Massa is up to nineteenth.
The order remains the same at the end of lap two, as Massa moves up to sixteenth, closing in on Liuzzi. The Brazilian makes quick work on the Italian, who is unable to defend the charging Ferrari.
Behind the top ten, Coulthard leads Rosberg, Speed, Wurz and Massa. The Brazilian lines up Wurz who has lost a heap of positions, while his teammate (Rosberg) has made up a heap of places.
On lap 4, Hamilton posts a new fastest lap (21.898), extending his lead of Raikkonen to
0.8s, Alonso keeps a watching eye as he enjoys 3s advantage over Kubica.
Having despatched Wurz and Speed, Massa closes in on Rosberg who is all over Coulthard. The two Hondas of Barrichello and Button are running in seventeenth and eighteenth. Davidson (nineteenth) is told "you are much faster than Jenson, you are must faster than Jenson". And so he is.
Having nailed Rosberg, Massa makes his move on Coulthard but the Scot is no pushover, and refuses to give way. Moments later, at Abbey, he has no choice, the Ferrari is through. The replay shows that at one stage in the three-way fight Coulthard and Rosberg banged wheels. Great stuff!
It's all over for Webber, who dives into the pits with a technical problem.
A new fastest lap, this time for Raikkonen (21.845), who closes to within 0.9s of the race leader. Elsewhere, Massa is now up to tenth and closing in on Trulli. It's clean and ruthless, the Brazilian makes quick work of the Toyota driver. The Ferrari sets off after Schumacher who is 8.9s up the road.
On lap 11, it's Hamilton that is quickest, the Englishman posting 21.675. However, next time around it second placed Raikkonen who posts a new fastest lap (21.511).
Massa is the quickest man on track, the Brazilian posts a 21.450 as he closes the gap to Schumacher.
Raikkonen is lapping faster than Hamilton and appears to get a tow down the Hangar Straight. The Finn is all over the English driver, particularly through the twisty Luffield complex. Elsewhere, another fastest lap from Massa (21.266).
Raikkonen continues the pressure on Hamilton, who is having to dig deep in order to withstand the onslaught.
At the end of lap 15, Kovalainen is the first driver to pit. Moments later, Rosberg also stops.
At the end of lap 16 Hamilton pits and gets it wrong, pulling away too early. Thankfully the pit crew stops him and the process is completed. Nonetheless, it's proof of the pressure the youngster is under.
Raikkonen, now in clear air, is 2.5s ahead of Alonso. The Finn immediately posts a new fastest lap, crossing the line at 20.638. Hamilton has rejoined in fifth, 29.8s behind the leader.
At the end of lap 18 Raikkonen pits, rejoining in fourth ahead of Hamilton.
Alonso now leads, and we wonder how many more laps he will go before he too pits. The Spaniard is 20.8s ahead of Massa who has made up a heap of positions during the pit stops. Heidfeld pits, one lap after his BMW teammate.
At the end of lap 20, Alonso pits as does Massa. The Spaniard rejoins ahead of Raikkonen, while Hamilton has slipped down to third. Kubica is fourth, ahead of Heidfeld, Fisichella, Massa, Coulthard, Kovalainen and Speed. That said, the Scot and the American still need to stop.
After 22 laps Alonso is lapping around 0.6s than anyone else, extending his lead over Raikkonen to 3.2s. Meanwhile Schumacher slowly heads back to the pits. It's his second stop so we assume he has a problem.
Fisichella gets the traditional 'buck up' message, being told that he's lapping slower than his teammate.
As Albers makes his first stop of the day, Schumacher climbs out of his Toyota, his race over.
At the end of lap 25, Scott Speed finally pits, which leaves Coulthard and Wurz as the only top ten runners that haven't yet pitted.
Alonso leads Raikkonen by 4.3s, with Hamilton a further 4.7s down the road. Kubica is 15.4s behind the Englishman, but 5.8s ahead of his own teammate.
At the end of lap 26, Coulthard and Wurz both pit.
Trulli is unhappy with his tyres. "Front or back?" ask his crew. "All around, all around!" is the response.
As Hamilton falls to 6.4s behind Raikkonen, and 11s behind Alonso, the crowd has to hope that the Englishman has fuel on board for a longer second stint.
Alonso makes his way though the back markers and as they focus on the McLaren Speed and Wurz clash, putting the American out of the race. Elsewhere, Davidson pulls into his garage, his day's work at an end.
After 33 laps, Alonso leads Raikkonen by 4.6s, with Hamilton a further 10.2s behind, but still 17.6s ahead of Kubica. The Englishman is really struggling as he makes his way through the backmarkers.
At the end of lap 34, Button makes what will surely be his sole stop of the race. He is promptly lapped by his fellow Englishman.
Heidfeld is fifth, ahead of Fisichella, Massa, Kovalainen, Coulthard and Barrichello.
Hamilton is lapping over 2s a lap slower than his teammate, who extends his lead to 5.4s.
At the end of lap 35, Fisichella makes his second stop. He fits the softer compound for his final stint.
Next time around it is the race leader that stops. 8.2s later he's heading down the pitlane, rejoining in second. Meanwhile, Davidson rejoins the race, his crew seemingly having fixed his problem - which is thought to be vibration related.
At the end of lap 38 Hamilton pits. The crew fits softs and, more importantly, adjusts his front wing. He rejoins in sixth, behind Kubica, Heidfeld and Massa, who all have to stop.
Raikkonen is posting a string of good laps, running in the 21.2s. He needs a good 'cushion' if he is to pit and rejoin still leading. Elsewhere, Kubica pits, as does Albers.
The Finn is pushing to the limit, building a lead of 26.9s. But will it be enough?
At the end of lap 42, Heidfeld pits, which promotes Hamilton to fourth, behind Massa.
Raikkonen makes his second stop, remaining stationary for just 6.6s. He rejoins the race ahead of Alonso, the Finn appearing to have done what was needed, when it was needed.
Therefore, after 43 laps, it's: Raikkonen, Alonso, Massa (who still has to stop), Hamilton, Kubica, Heidfeld, Kovalainen, Fisichella, Coulthard and Barrichello. Davidson is back in the pits, this time it really is terminal. Trulli also appears to have called it a day.
At the end of lap 45, Massa makes his second ad final stop. He rejoins ahead Heidfeld, but behind Kubica. An excellent example of damage limitation from the Brazilian, who is just 1.7s behind the Pole. Coulthard also pitted.
Massa closes right in on Kubica, the Ferrari driver clearly keen to take home as many points as possible.
Out front, Raikkonen leads Alonso by 6.3s, while Hamilton is a further 29.6s down the road. The Kubica/Massa battle eases the situation as far as the McLaren driver is concerned.
Heidfeld is sixth, ahead of Kovalainen, Fisichella, Barrichello, Button, Coulthard, Rosberg, Wurz, Liuzzi, Sato and Albers.
With seven laps remaining, the only real excitement remains the Kubica/Massa battle, and both drivers appear to be enjoying it.
Wurz is told to "keep pushing". The Austrian replies; "what about saving the engine?", a sad indictment of contemporary F1 when you think about it.
Coulthard closes right up on Button, the Englishman hoping to finish in the top ten at the very least.
Tonio Liuzzi pulls to the side of the track, his race over. The Italian was running fourteenth at the time. Teammate, Rubens Barrichello, is ninth, albeit 27.5s behind Fisichella.
What a difference a year makes, as Fernando Alonso laps one of the Renaults.
Raikkonen takes his second successive win, crossing the line 2.4s clear of reigning World Champion Alonso, while the crowd has to wait a further 36.9s before it can cheer home championship leader Hamilton.
Robert Kubica takes a fine fourth place, while Massa finishes fifth, which is a lot better than he probably hoped for one hour and twenty minutes earlier.
Nick Heidfeld takes sixth, while the Renault duo of Kovalainen and Fisichella takes the remaining points.
With Liuzzi officially classified as a finisher, despite pulling off track, only sixteen cars finished the race, an unusually high attrition rate at the Northamptonshire track.
Speaking moments after the race, McLaren boss Ron Dennis admits that his team probably got it wrong in terms of tyre strategy, particularly with regard Hamilton. As one watches Raikkonen make his way to the podium one cannot help but agree.
If nothing else, they didn't finish in the same order as they ended the first lap, though it was the same three drivers.
Many in the crowd, and of course the partisan media, will be disappointed, but Raikkonen's win sets us up nicely for the European Grand Prix and beyond. Alonso closes the gap to Hamilton, which the English youngster maintain his stupendous record, finishing on the podium for the ninth successive time.
This week the teams head to Spa Francorchamps for a three day test, and while most of us salivate at the prospect of the title fight that is sure to continue throughout the summer, there is also the continuing Stepney Saga to enjoy.
Dull it isn't.
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