2008 European Formula 1 Grand Prix

I am pleased i decided to watch the bulk of the Olympics Closing Ceremony than this thing. I could see from qualifying on Saturday (my first look at the track) that there was nothing in the way of overtaking possibilities, even compared to Monaco. The track, whilst wide, is really dull. Nothing to look at and the highlight of driving through the docks really reminds me of some PS3 Japanese street racing game, not the pinacle level of motorsport.

I flicked over from time to time just to catch the placings then watched the 5-min highlights at the end and it told me everything i needed to know.

I am an avid F1 fan, watching since Mansell drove for Lotus but i have to say if races are ever as dull as this one it takes a great deal of effort to persuade others what is fun and interesting about watching the sport. I really hope now that Singapore will not be just a case of teh same.......but at night.

I think there is one, maybe two spots for overtaking in Singapore but i'll have to see how the cars attack the course first so an reserving judgement. I know there will be better scenic value to it but will it be all show and no bite. If there is no passing then this might be the dullest lineups of circuits, ever.
 
A fantastic drive by Massa. Strange penalty, but its all the stewards could do without ruining Ferrari's championship effort. Nevermind if it was a McLaren in the same situation. I wouldn't have liked to see Massa lose the race because of the incident, coz it wasnt his fault really, but at the same time it's an inconsistent penalty. As for Kimi, well I dont know. He certainly isnt performing as one would expect of him and if I was the manager of the Ferrari team I'd be asking him some serious questions because he isnt paid to sit in the pack, screw the pitstops up, and generally act like it doesnt matter. A phone call to Mr Alonso might even be on the cards about a possible drive in '09 if this keeps up, because it can't.

Driver of the race is most definitely Massa. Showing some real class and that result should just about see the Ferrari effort swing his way. It doesnt matter how much your star driver is paid, you back the guy that will bring home the goods, and Massa is looking every bit like that man at the moment. Well, at least until he does another Silverstone on us, which isnt entirely unlikely either!
 
Scooby5 said:
I could see from qualifying on Saturday (my first look at the track) that there was nothing in the way of overtaking possibilities, even compared to Monaco. The track, whilst wide, is really dull. Nothing to look at and the highlight of driving through the docks really reminds me of some PS3 Japanese street racing game, not the pinacle level of motorsport....

....If there is no passing then this might be the dullest lineups of circuits, ever.
Click to expand...

You really thought it was that boring? I've only been watching for a few years but I though it was great race. 25 corners + 3odd miles = great track to me. Sure there wasn't much overtaking but just the beautiful venue and watching the drivers make there way through despite the stress on the car and on them (especially at this track) was enough for me.

Anyways, it seems to be that ever since Schumi's engine blowup in the last couple races of his last season that Ferrari's reliability has took a bit of a plunge. Maybe last race was a 1 in a million and this week Kimi just overheated the engine in the pitlane but I think it's all too coincidental. On the SPEED presentation they did mention some adjustments being made to the frozen spec engines in the name of safety but others have been tinkering with performance so maybe the added performance which can be hard to see some races with Ferrari is causing there unreliability.
 
Well that was a bit of a let-down. I was hoping for some close quarters street fighting but it turned out to be a snorefest like most of the new tracks. I think a lot of the dullness came from the runoff areas being so big and making the track too forgiving. At Monaco even the smallest mistake can end a driver's race but at Valencia if they mess up they just turn around and keep on going. To me this isn't a street circuit, it's a normal circuit that just happens to have the walls closer to the track. They had a perfectly good boring track here in the US so why was there a need to set up yet another circuit in Spain with the same result?

I was glad to see Massa take the win after having it snatched away in Hungary. He faced some tough criticism at the start of the season but since then he's just keep his head down and his mouth shut and got on with the job of being competitive.
 
Disappointing race for me, I think Raikkonnen needs a miracle to get back in the title fight. The circuit is nice, but I think it can needs to improve overtaking.

We have to wait and see the overtaking problem still exists in 2009 with the new cars. If not, this my proposed idea for improving Valencia.

Unmodified:
Circuit_Valensia_street.png


Modified:
http://img440.imageshack.**/img440/3050/35247684qi3.jpg

This is possible, the current track goes of the main street and in front of some building. My modify would just make the cars continue going in the main street. Then the cars can pass each other under heavy braking. The run off should be increased and more tire protection added with the increased speed.
 
imho...One of the most boring races at least this year...The track is pretty lame and judging by the work of Tilke (don't care if its spelled wrong) in the last tracks he designed i would be very happy if he didn't get another project. Massa did a great race and kimi (apart from the incident in the pits) was unlucky...once more. Hamilton tried but couldn't and Kova had a good race. Kubica was invisible during the race (nobody bothered him, aside from 4 laps when he had the problem, and he bothered nobody) and a job well done for the STR boys (i think their superiority over RB is due to the more powerful engine provided by Ferrari). But my concern is...should there be some head-dropping at Ferrari? First stop of Massa and he is BEHIND Kova and IN FRONT of Kimi who was pushing at the time. WTF?!?!?! Not to mention other "questionable" strategic moves at other races...What is going on? and of last thing...i think Schumi's presence in the pits is doing no good at kimi...only at massa. Sorry for the long post.
 
About Ferrari's recent reliability problems, I've just realized something. Up until Hungary they had had no real issues with the car until something changed a few weeks ago: they've had engines fail in the last two races and they've been running the anvil engine cover for those events. :hmm:
 
The race was spoiled for good for me in Turn 4-5 of the first lap. Once again... DAMN YOU, NAKAJIMA!!!!!

Overall, the most excitement in the race was the pair of misdemeanors commited by the Ferrari pit crew, and then Kimi's engine detonation just 2-3 laps later. The drivers were TOO well-mannered, resulting in a strange absence of mr. Bernd Maylander at the top of the field in his silver SL63.

I wonder what would have happened if there had been no refuelling allowed. It might have resulted in shambles equal to the end of the GP2 feature race, where 4 cars ran out of fuel, including the two major championship contenders (Pantano and Senna).


Let's just say I hope Spa will be more than soaking wet all the way from Friday morning to Sunday evening.
 
Kimi is a douche. If you look at the video from his POV in that pit incident, he wasn't cleared to go (unless 2/3 red lights lit up means go??!).

Great drive by Massa and well-deserved after getting screwed in Hungary. Standard affair from Lewis. Good to see Kubica back up the front. Other than that it was a pretty boring race (incidents in the last 15 laps excluded). The track itself had potential and seems great with so many corners, but it's just so tight that there's nowhere to overtake and it seems to spread the field too easily.
 
And (you guessed it) Nakajima's overtaking manouvre near the end at the last corner...Kind of a kamikaze move but worked.
 
and to think i was seriously thinking of stumping up the cash on flights and tickets to go see this race. i'd of been livid if i'd of paid money for that. complete lack of value.
 
I guess I'm the only one who liked it. :whistle:

Edit: And I can't wait till Singapore.
 
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Meh, I think it's too early to judge. We've seen the sort of races this track can produce from GP2, whether this is just a fluke, or all European Grand Prix are destined to be boring from now on we'll see next year.
 
I think it's fair Massa didn't receive a penalty because he didn't benefit from the move. Regarding the ferrari engines, I think the added stress from driver input (due to the removal of electronic aids) + the already hot weather has proved too much.

Of course I know nothing about all this, and just repeating what I read elsewhere.

*edit*

and Kimi has some egg on his face. He was pointing at the lights when Hamilton hit him....and after he jumped in the pit lane, he was pointing at his own lights
 
Next year there will be different conditions. Slicks, reduction in aerodynamics...Hopefully the next season as a whole will be more exciting (aka will provide more overtaking as long as the drivers are more courageous)
 
I think they should have removed all of Ferrari's constructor points from the race. The small fine is not really a proper punishment. It would, however, have been unfair to remove points from Massa.
 
Firecat said:
I think it's fair Massa didn't receive a penalty because he didn't benefit from the move.
Click to expand...

It wasn't about benefitting from the move, it was a question of safety. You're not allowed to release a driver into the path of another car, and the way the two fought over the position suggested to me that it was a highly dangerous situation. It's difficult to see what sort of penalty could be given because it wasn't entirely Massa's fault, but a 10 000 euro fine wont cause Ferrari to lose too much sleep. Maybe dock some championship points or something, because a severe warning and a small fine sets an uncomfortable precedent if you ask me.

^ yup, beat me to it peter3hg! :cool:
 
It didn't even seem like that big of a deal to me. I've often seen close situations like that in the pit lane in other races.
 
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