K. Räikkönen WINS!!
Congratulations To The 2007 Winners
| Driver |
Points |
Team |
Points |
- K. Räikkönen
- L Hamilton
- F. Alonso
|
- 110
- 109*
- 109*
|
- Ferrari*
- Renault
- BMW
|
- 204
- 101
- 52
|
*Lewis Hamilton was tied with Fernando Alonso, but had Hamilton one more second place win than did Alonso. And McLaren would have one team championship if it were not for the spygate scandal.
F1 - Formula One Grand Prix race has a rich history in motorsports. The first planned event was in Paris organized by Le Velocipede in 1887, but only one competitor showed up and the race was cancelled. The first successful event came later in July 22, 1894 from Paris to Rouen with average speeds of 17km/h.
In 1900, New York Herald newspaper owner, Gordon Bennett, established a series of races with different national teams who would show off their top three. This was the start of Formula One racing. From this point on, even during the war years, nations involved in these race series would gather the best of their drivers and cars and pit them against each other on an almost yearly basis in the beginning to a regular yearly schedule after the 1940s. F1 racing continues to be the world's most popular motorsport.
2007 promises to be an interesting new beginning now that Michael Schumacher has called it quits. Now maybe all the rest of the drivers will have a chance...probably not Super Aguri, but can they possibly get any worse than last year when they had a driver's license pulled for reckless driving on the circuit?
Alonso thinks he is hot stuff after his great run of luck the past two years, but he'd better be prepared for a fight from K. Räikkönen who will be driving the more reliable Ferrari this year.
New circuits this year, which sadly include Japan's Suzuka circuit which is being replaced with the Fuji Speedway. I really hope they can update Suzuka so races can take place there again soon.
F1 2007 GRAND PRIX SEASON
The F1 Spying Scandal
The penalty for spying came harsh for McLaren, although the drivers were spared penalties for their hard work all year long, the team itself will not be able to collect points for the remaining year and all the points so far will no longer count. That along with a $100 million dollar fine and having to be approved with their new cars for 2008 before being allowed to race was meant to send a message that they will not tolerate such behaviour among the teams.
The question is, how many other teams may have been doing this knowingly or unknowingly. Mechanics don't always stay with the same team. They bring the knowledge with them from their last job. They may even still have friendly relations with other mechanics from their last job. Mechanics sometimes talk shop among other mechanics. They may not mean to bring up team secrets, but when you have a hot bit of technological news, how can you guarantee that the basics of that new technology and how it can be applied may not come into discussion? On some level, I think there is a bit of that kind of discussion that goes on, but how far is it taken? Obviously McLaren took it a step too far.
Shameful Behaviour
I know there were a lot of critics in the past few years of overly aggressive Michael Schumacher, but that pales in comparison to this season of prima donna, Fernando Alonso.
Granted, when he joined team McLaren, he thought he was going to be the top banana. He came in first last year. He gave Schumacher a run for their money. He was on top of the world. Little did he forsee what would make an appearance in the world of Formula One, Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton, with a good head on his shoulder and the support of a father who has never missed a race since he was a child prodigy, joined team McLaren this year. He was a rising star in the GP2 series, where most of the future F1 drivers get their feet wet. When any team hires on a rookie, they hope they do well, but do not expect them to be championship material in year one. Hamilton amazed everyone.
A good team would not want to pit one driver against another, after all, the goal is supposed to be to make the team come in first for the year. The two drivers of Alonso and Hamilton should have kept that in mind. Hamilton is a rookie and Alonso should have known better. Aggressive driving is expected in the race against other teams, but when pitted against your own team mate out of jealousy, that is shameful.
On more than one occasion, aggressive driving on the part of Alonso to hamper Hamilton has taken place. Even off the track and behind the scenes, Alonso has gone into outright rage mode when he has been one-upped by his team mate who happens to be a very good driver.
Personally, I was rooting for Kimi Räikkönen to win the race and the championship for the year. McLaren has to regroup and think about what it means to play this sport. The team members cannot be any better than the team they are on. Someone should have early on set both drivers aside and formed a proper working alliance to disrupt this problem between the two men which destroyed any chance of this going down in the record books as a shady year for the team.
Goodbye Speed and Other Tidbits of the Year
While this has been some time ago, the only American driver in the race for over two decades was pulled from the Red Bull team and replaced because he failed to meet team expectations. I think it is too bad they came to such a decision because they have been unable to find any driver to meet their expectations. Perhaps they should point the finger at the car and not the drivers.
It's no surprise that in the US, it is NASCAR and not Formula One that captures American audiences attention in car racing. While there is an interest here, it is a big encouragement for more excitement when they do have a driver representing, but when the driver is in an average car and cannot really get on the podium, any potential enthusiasm for the sport is lost on those who would rather watch our own good ol' boys (and other good ol' boys like Montoya and Villeneuve) going around in ovals.
Speaking of bad cars and bad drivers, are they seriously thinking about getting Sato and Yamamoto back? Isn't it time they realize that Ralph Schumacher is not his brother? Has Barrichello admitted his mistake to switch teams and realize it is time to retire?
McLaren would be crazy not to find a loophole in the contract to find a way to get rid of Alonso who would be better off back at Renault. Kubica or Vettel would make a good replacement. They are both good drivers who need a better car to prove their worth.
I do miss the old track, Suzuka in the Japanese race, but the new Fuji Speedway was decent.
2008 Season Schedule And Results
| DATE |
EVENT/LOCATION |
WINNER |
| 16 March |
Australian Grand Prix/Melbourne |
- L Hamilton
- N Heidfeld
- N. Rosberg
|
| 23 March |
Malaysian Grand Prix/Kuala Lumpur |
- K. Räikkönen
- R Kubica
- H Kovalainen
|
| 6 April |
Bahrain Grand Prix/Sakhir |
- F. Massa
- K. Räikkönen
- R Kubica
|
| 27 April |
Spanish Grand Prix/Catalunya |
 |
| 11 May |
Turkish/Istanbul |
|
| 25 May |
Monaco Grand Prix/Monte Carlo |
|
| 8 June |
Canadian Grand Prix/Montréal |
|
| 22 June |
French Grand Prix/Mangy-Cours |
|
| 6 July |
British Grand Prix/Silverstone |
|
| 20 July |
European Grand Prix/Hockenheim |
|
| 3 August |
Hungarian Grand Prix/Budapest |
|
| 24 August |
Spanish/Valencia |
|
| 7 September |
Belgium Grand Prix/Spa-Francochamps |
|
| 14 September |
Italy Grand Prix/Monza |
|
| 28 September |
Singapore/Singapore |
|
| 12 October |
Japanese Grand Prix/Fuji Speedway |
|
| 19 October |
Chinese Grand Prix/Shanghai |
|
| 2 November |
Brazilian Grand Prix/Sao Paulo |
|
|
|
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