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October 22 Finally, after two near-misses, Kimi Raikkonen has his very own world championship. It may have been a long time coming but what a one to win. By bettering double world champion Fernando Alonso and the sport’s newest superstar, Lewis Hamilton, Raikkonen has secured Ferrari their first driver title of the post-Schumacher era and denied former team McLaren their only compensation from a difficult season.
Back at the season-opener in Australia, Raikkonen was already looking like a champion-in waiting. Taking pole, victory and fastest lap to boot, he dominated the Melbourne race weekend. Of course, the McLaren duo were also in the mix, as was Raikkonen’s team mate Felipe Massa, but it was the Finn who looked to have the advantage.
Fast forward to mid-season, however, and it was different story. As Hamilton, Massa and Alonso traded wins, Raikkonen seemed to slip by the wayside. Struggling to adapt to the new Bridgestone tyres, the 28-year-old went six races without a victory. With less than half the points of championship leader Hamilton, his title chances looked decidedly bleak.
For one thing, luck seemed to have deserted him. An electrical failure in Spain and an accident during qualifying in Monaco were just two of the mishaps which seriously dented Raikkonen’s mid-season challenge. A faulty wind tunnel back at the factory was also wreaking minor havoc on Ferrari’s programme of development.
But just as matters looked to be irretrievable, fate moved in his favour. In France, whether down to clever strategy, hard work or just plain good fortune, Raikkonen began to look at ease in the F2007. Backing up his victory at Magny-Cours with another in Silverstone, a revival was on the cards. Even the hydraulics failure at the Nurburgring did little to dent Raikkonen’s resurgence. With the impetus on his side, the quietly determined Finn hauled in valuable points to close on leader Hamilton.
Although reliability problems continued to plague the Italian squad, it was Massa who seemed to bear the brunt of their effects with the Brazilian’s title fight eventually petering out after his suspension strife in Monza. Raikkonen’s charge, meanwhile, was unrelenting. With his title hopes further strengthened by dominant victories in Belgium and China, the Finn arrived in Brazil for the final race of the season still in the running.
Seven points adrift of Hamilton, and three shy of Alonso - he needed a victory to seal the deal. He had history on his side, however. Back in 1986 - the last time three men were still in contention at the season finale - outsider Alain Prost had taken the championship in Adelaide after a sterling drive for McLaren, pushing out Williams team mates Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet. In Sao Paulo, Raikkonen was favourite to win the race, but his title hopes would rest just as heavily on the performance of his rivals. But as with Prost, it all came together. He won the race, with team mate Massa protecting him in second. Alonso had no answer to the Ferraris’ pace and gearbox gremlins demoted Hamilton to seventh.
Despite Raikkonen’s title challenge taking some severe knocks in the early stages, the ‘Iceman’ has fought back with admirable determination. Against the odds, he has done it. By outstripping team mate Massa, taking on the might of the McLaren duo and muscling his way into the title showdown in Brazil, Raikkonen has shown himself not only to be a worthy replacement for Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, he has also proved himself a worthy world champion. Congratulations Kimi!
 
Source: formula1.com
Taimur Asad
(my new blog: The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)
September 13 McLaren have been booted out of this year's Constructors' Championship, however, their drivers are free to race for the World title.
That was the verdict handed down by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council following today's Stepneygate hearing in Paris.
McLaren were called to appear before the WMSC for the second time after new evidence came to light, suggesting that McLaren had made use of the Ferrari documents they were previously found guilty of being in possession of.
After hours of deliberation, the WMSC ruled that McLaren were to be stripped off their 2007 Constructors' Championship points as well as fined $100m - a record amount in F1.
The final part of the ruling is that the team's 2008 cars will be subject to examinations before racing next season.
"The WMSC has stripped Vodafone McLaren Mercedes of all constructor points in the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship and the team can score no points for the remainder of the season," the FIA said in a statement.
"Furthermore, the team will pay a fine equal to $100m, less the FOM income lost as a result of the points deduction."
However, on the upside, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso will face no points-penalties and will be allowed to fight for this year's Drivers' Championship title.
Hamilton is leading the battle on 92 points, three ahead of Alonso.
Taimur Asad
(my new blog: The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!) August 27 Championship leader Lewis Hamilton was well aware that starting on the ‘dirty side’ of the circuit would not be beneficial at the start of the race and his fears were realised as Kimi Raikkonen blasted passed and into second position behind team-mate and pole-sitter Felipe Massa at the first turn.
That was pretty much it for Hamilton in reality, but out front the race for the win was an all Ferrari affair as they traded fast laps. Massa, starting from the pole position for the eighth time of his career, did not put a foot wrong and with Raikkonen basically on the same strategy in the sister F2007, there was no real opportunity for the Finn to make gains through strategy.
Massa took the chequered flag after 58-laps, just over two seconds clear of Raikkonen. The Ferrari duo battled hard until the second and final stop, but Raikkonen was keen to make his point on the penultimate lap as he set the fastest lap of the race.
Behind, Hamilton seemed set for a fairly safe third position but a puncture and subsequent tyre failure just ahead of his second and final stop dropped him from third position to fifth. This was a very welcome result for Fernando Alonso who scooped up the final podium position.
Alonso started in fourth position on the grid, but like Hamilton, made a poor getaway. Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld moved fourth and fifth, with Alonso demoted to sixth.
The McLaren driver would later regain the positions in the first round of stops, but by the, Hamilton and the race leaders were over 15 seconds up the road.
Nick Heidfeld drove a solid race to finish fourth in the BMW Sauber, running a logical two-stop strategy. Team-mate Kubica however qualified with a very light fuel load and pitted on lap 13 and then lap 38 of 58. The strategy did not pay off and he lost positions in each round of stops and finished a disappointing eighth.
Heikki Kovalainen drove a strong race in his Renault, chasing fifth placed Hamilton across the line, having gained position over Kubica due to strategy. It was a similar situation for Nico Rosberg who picked up position from Kubica over the race distance to finish a solid seventh in his Williams Toyota, a second ahead of Kubica.
It was an eventful race for Giancarlo Fisichella. The Italian veteran started tenth with country man Jarno Trulli ninth. Heading to the first turn Fisichella struck the back of Trulli sending the Toyota driver into a spin. Fisichella would continue, eventually taking the flag in ninth position.
David Coulthard finished in tenth position in his Red Bull Renault. Team-mate Mark Webber held the same position early on before another hydraulics failure sent him back to the pits and into retirement. Webber was the only retirement from the event.
Alex Wurz made up ground at the start in his Williams Toyota and finished in 11th position ahead of Ralf Schumacher who used a one stop strategy to good effect to move up from 16th on the grid to 12th at the end. Toyota team-mate Jarno Trulli never really recovered from his lap one incident and was 16th.
Jenson Button started 21st following a Honda engine change and drove a good race to finish 13th ahead of Anthony Davidson in the Super Aguri Honda. Davidson made a poor start from 11th position on the grid and was unable to make up the ground again.
Tonio Liuzzi drove a good race for Toro Rosso Ferrari to finish in 15th position, a second ahead of Trulli. The team have very much pinned their future hopes on Sebastian Vettel, but so far in his short time with the team, the young German has yet to show the much anticipated speed. Vettel finished a distant 19th.
Rubens Barrichello finished 17th in the second Honda 20 seconds ahead of Takuma Sato in the second Super Aguri who in turn was ten seconds ahead of Vettel. Sakon Yamamoto had a lonely race to 20th, two laps down, in his Spyker while Adrian Sutil lost several laps in the pits with an issue before rejoining to br classified 21st.
Lewis Hamilton still leads the championship from Fernando Alonso, but the gap is now down to five points. Hamilton has 84 points, Alonso 79, Massa 69 and Raikkonen 68. The championship is far from over…
Source: GMM
Taimur Asad
(my new blog: The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!) July 23 McLaren’s Fernando Alonso won a humdinger of a European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring on Sunday afternoon, in a contest that at the start was almost rendered farcical by rain.
But it was only when more precipitation fell on parts of the track in the closing laps that the Spaniard was able to pounce on erstwhile leader Felipe Massa, and to snatch the triumph from the Brazilian in the Ferrari.
It was a great day for Alonso, for team mate Lewis Hamilton had an up and down race which ultimately brought him no points and ended his nine-race string of podium visits. Alonso thus has 68 points to Hamilton’s 70, and with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen failing to finish, Massa lies third on 59 to the Finn’s 52.
To begin with there was total confusion as a deluge, which arrived earlier than expected, flooded the track during the opening lap. That then prompted the extraordinary sight of rookie Markus Winkelhock leading on his debut by the second lap, thanks to Spyker presciently putting him on full wets after the parade lap. As everyone else headed for the pits (well, not leader Raikkonen, who tried to, but then slid over the pit lane entry line and back on to the track!), the first corner claimed Honda’s Jenson Button (who had risen to third but got slightly short-braked in the appalling conditions behind Massa and Alonso), Spyker’s Adrian Sutil and Toro Rosso team mates Scott Speed and Tonio Liuzzi (whose STR07 had broken its rear suspension after being rear-ended on the opening lap). Hamilton also went off there, but was rescued by a crane that Liuzzi nearly struck.
The race was wisely red flagged on the fourth lap as everything was tidied up, then restarted behind the safety car in better conditions half an hour later. Everyone who could run was allowed to, and after three more laps behind the safety car (in which Hamilton was allowed to unlap himself), the racing resumed on Lap Eight. Massa quickly asserted himself over Alonso, but another flurry of pit stops as people switched from wet Bridgestones to dry tyres as conditions improved, enabled the canny Raikkonen to jump up to a challenging third by Lap 14 as Massa and Alonso continued their duel.
The Finn stopped later with an intermittent problem that crippled his Ferrari on the 35th lap, and as the race went into its second half Massa pulled away from Alonso. Then the rain came back with 10 laps to run, prompting another rash of stops. Massa and Alonso came in together on Lap 53. Later the Brazilian complained of a set of tyres that vibrated badly, and soon Alonso was able to reel him in before grabbing the lead on the 56th lap, the sides of their respective cars briefly making contact in the process. Massa clung on to second, while behind them Red Bull’s Mark Webber just managed to keep hold of the third place he had held for much of the race, as a similarly vibrating set of tyres on the Red Bull enabled Alex Wurz to mount a late challenge for Williams. They finished nose to tail.
Further back, David Coulthard made it a great day for Red Bull with fifth, ahead of the duelling BMW Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica. They had tangled on the opening lap when the Pole tried a move in Turn Two that spun the German, and it was only at the very end that Heidfeld moved back ahead. He faced a post-race investigation after pushing Toyota's Ralf Schumacher off the track in the final corner on Lap 19, but the stewards ultimately deemed it a racing incident.
Poor Hamilton! He had made a brilliant start to run fourth by Turn Two, only to sustain a puncture that crippled his car. No sooner had he pitted for a replacement than he slid off the road in the lake in Turn One, from whence he was lucky to be rescued by the mobile crane. A lap behind now, he was allowed under the new rules to make up that lap behind the safety car, but a premature switch to dry tyres put him off the road again briefly. He then launched a great comeback as he traded fastest laps with Massa while trying to get back on the lead lap. After a dogged drive he got back into the points in eighth place on Lap 53, but then the need to pit for wets dropped him back. In the final laps he passed Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella (for the second time, having overtaken him earlier round the outside in Turn 12), but he just ran out of time to deprive Heikki Kovalainen in the second R27 of the final point, even though he was at that stage lapping three seconds faster than the Renaults.
Behind Fisichella, Rubens Barrichello brought the surviving Honda home 11th, having been given a hard time for much of the race by Anthony Davidson’s Super Aguri, and Jarno Trulli brought his Toyota home 13th.
Besides Raikkonen, Schumacher, Button, Sutil, Speed and Liuzzi, Nico Rosberg was taken out when he was hit from behind shortly after doing likewise to Barrichello on the second lap, Super Aguri’s Takuma Sato retired after 19 laps, and so did Winkelhock after 13, following his moments of glory in the Spyker early on.
It was one of those races with a thousand moments, many of which are still being unravelled. But three things stood out: the superb performances by Alonso, Massa and Hamilton; the wisdom of the FIA in stopping the race initially but later leaving it to run its course (when conditions were nothing like as severe) and Red Bull’s best day in Formula One racing.
Source: F1
Taimur Asad
(my new blog: The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!) July 19
Following two excellent victories, Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari start as clear favourites for this weekend’s European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.
Since Silverstone, Ferrari have tested strongly at Spa-Francorchamps and come to Germany with their tail up and on the hunt for more points to reduce the gap to McLaren. The latter, however, believe that they made improvements to their MP4-22 at Spa, where Lewis Hamilton was fastest on the only day that he ran.
“Despite having a mixed weekend at Silverstone, we still came away from the track with a good haul of points and I am now really looking forward to getting back to the Nurburgring,” Hamilton said. “I had a great weekend there last year, taking my first double win of the year, and I enjoy driving the track. In 2005, I also won one race there in F3; my team ASM was powered by Mercedes-Benz, and as a result the support from the crowd was fantastic.
“It will be great to race in front of them again, this time in the McLaren. I am sure the grandstands are going to be packed. The track has a very mixed layout, probably with more slow corners than anything else, so you need good traction for the acceleration on the exit. Through the first sector of the track you can really make up time, the corners are very slow so with good balance and under braking you can find the time.”
The new Nurburgring is a relatively high downforce track, and there is plenty of grip from the surface itself. As a result, Bridgestone are bringing medium and soft compound tyres for the weekend.
Besides being their home race, Mercedes-Benz also have another reason to celebrate here, as it is the 80th anniversary of their first win at Nurburgring.
Considerations of racing at home also make this an important weekend for both BMW Sauber, fighting hard with Renault to stay clear in third place overall in the constructors’ world championship, and Toyota, who are based in Cologne.
It is also going to be crucial to the career of young German Markus Winkelhock, who will be bringing a famous name back to Formula One racing this weekend as he joins fellow countryman Adrian Sutil at Spyker. The son of former Formula One and sportscar racer, the late Manfred, Winkelhock replaces the departed Christijan Albers in the team.
“Obviously it's a dream come true,” the 27-year-old from Stuttgart said. “I haven't had much time in the car this year but I'm physically and mentally prepared. It's a one-off opportunity at the moment and I will make the most of it.”
Team principal Colin Kolles said: “I am pleased to be able to reward Markus for his patience and loyalty to the team over the last 18 months with his F1 debut at the Nurburgring. It's very much a one-off race at the moment as we need some more time to decide who will be Adrian's partner for the rest of the year.”
Though the race is taking place two months later than usual, it is unlikely that it will experience better weather than is the norm in May; the weather forecast suggests there will be showers in the region each day.
source: formula1.com
Taimur Asad
(my new blog: The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!) May 15 Felipe Massa took a dominant win in the Spanish Grand Prix after a firm dealing with Fernando Alonso in the first corner while Lewis Hamilton finished the race in second. Alonso brought his McLaren home in third meaning that Hamilton takes the lead of the drivers' championship by two points.
The start was aborted after Jarno Trulli stalled with a fuel pressure problem in sixth. While the Toyota was wheeled into the pit lane the field set off on a second formation lap. Massa makes a good start but Alonso goes round the outside only to be pushed wide onto the gravel in turn one by the Ferrari. Alonso scrambled back on track in fourth behind Massa, Hamilton and Raikkonen.
Alonso looked determined to make headway and tried to put one down the outside of Raikkonen in the final sector, but couldn't make it stick. Massa started to pull away from Hamilton and by lap three had a 2.5s advantage while Alonso stayed in touch with the second Ferrari.
Alonso caught a break on lap nine when Raikkonen's Ferrari slowed suddenly with an electrical failure. As the Finn limped back to the pit lane to retire, Alonso swooped into third and set about closing in on Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa.
Massa pitted on lap 19 and almost got cooked as a splash of fuel leaked out and ignited on the exhaust covering the rear of the Ferrari with a lick of orange flames as he steamed off down the pit lane. Massa seemed to escape without serious damage as Alonso threw a gamble and took the harder compound tyres for the middle stint.
Hamilton kept the lead until lap 22 when he dived into the pits releasing Heidfeld into the lead temporarily. Hamilton rejoined eight seconds behind behind Massa while Alonso was a further eight seconds adrift. Heidfeld pitted from the lead on lap 24 but his race was shot after he drove off before his right front wheel nut had been fully affixed.
By Lap 26 Massa had a 9.8s lead over Hamilton and Alonso had slipped a further 10.5s behind on the harder tyres. Ten laps later Massa had extended his lead to 16s over Hamilton with Alonso another 13s behind.
Massa made his second pit stop on lap 42 and rejoined in a train of traffic as Hamilton took the lead. The leading McLaren refuelled on lap 47 and Alonso filed in the next lap around for a final dash to the flag on soft tyres - Alonso's only hope that the softer tyre advantage would give him something to play with.
In the final fifteen laps Alonso was consistently half a second a lap faster than the leading duo but it was too late to do anything about the gap. Giancarlo Fisichella had to make an unscheduled third pit stop after the fuel rig malfunctioned in the second pit stop. The Italian pitted on lap 59 but rejoined in ninth, just behind Super Aguri's Takuma Sato.
Felipe Massa cruised home to his second win of the season, the fourth of his career. Lewis Hamilton kept a cool head to bring home a fourth podium from four races and another second place finish to take the lead of the drivers' championship. Fernando Alonso recovered to third.
Behind them Robert Kubica finally managed to shake off the bad luck that has plagued him so much this year to finish fourth for BMW. David Coulthard drove another incredibly competitive race to bring the Red Bull home in fifth place despite losing third gear in the final five laps. Coulthard did enough to keep Rosberg at bay and the Williams driver brought his car home in a strong sixth place.
Kovalainen finished the weekend with two points for Renault after a much stronger weekend for the Finn while Takuma Sato scored Super Aguri's first ever championship point in eighth place.
Taimur Asad
(my new blog: The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!) April 28 I would like to share my first Windows Mobile platform program. RazorGPA is a little handy tool for Windows Mobile PocketPC devices which lets students calculate GPA (Grade Point Average) on the go. This program is a freeware (a copyrighted computer software which is made available for use free of charge, for an unlimited period of time). Any thoughts are welcome!
Release Notes:
Product: RazorGPA
Version: 1.2
License: Freeware
Company: Razor Studios
Requirements:
Windows Mobile 5.0 for PocketPC
Windows XP, Windows Vista (for experience on PCs only)
Screenshots:
Download:
Setup type: Cabinet File (.CAB)
Size: 99kb
Taimur Asad
(my new blog: The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!) April 16 Bahrain GP: Pole Position, the fastest lap of the race and the Bahrain Grand Prix win for Felipe Massa vaults the Brazilian back into the title battle after a flawless drive this afternoon at the Sakhir circuit. Lewis Hamilton finished his third Grand Prix in second position ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Nick Heidfeld, while Fernando Alonso had to be content on this occasion with fifth position.
The championship standings make interesting reading with Alonso, Raikkonen and Hamilton all tied on 22 points while Massa get the full ten points today and is now on 17 after three Grand Prix.
Taimur Asad
(my new blog: The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!) April 08 Malaysian GP: It has to be said that McLaren today really outclassed Ferrari in each and every department of motor racing. After Alonso and Hamilton passed the two Ferrari's at start, the Ferrari duo then never looked like having any impression whatsoever on McLaren's. To everyone's surprise, McLaren's package at Sepang was almost equal if not faster then the F2007 Ferrari. The Ferrari pair especially Massa looked out of sorts and didnt really made any progress through middle and final parts of the race. Kimi's race on the other hand was compromised by some problems with his engine. I for one really missed the so called "Michael Magic!" and as James Allen said during the race that had Schumacher been there in place of Massa he surely would have done something with the genius of Ross Brawn to pull something spectacular out of the bag.
With just one week before the next race at Sakhir(Bahrain), Ferrari will now have to dig really deep to come back at McLaren's of Alonso and Hamilton. Game on!
Taimur Asad
(my new blog: The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!) March 27 Michael Schumacher is reportedly on the brink of a multi-million-pound buy-out of the Scuderia Toro Rosso team. According to the Gulf News, the seven-time World Champion is keen to own a F1 team and has targeted Toro Rosso as the outfit he'd like to purchase. The report continues claiming that 'he wants to link up with Ross Brawn, the mastermind behind all his World titles, to form F1's dream team. 'The ex-Ferrari driver and team technical wizard Brawn, now enjoying a world-wandering sabbatical, have already formulated a plan to re-enter F1 as big-time bosses.' "Formula One has given me everything - and I'd like to give something back," the newspaper reported Schumacher as having said. The German's manager Willi Weber added fuel to the reports by saying: "It is only one thought - but I can see the sense in Michael buying out an existing operation." One person who would love to see Schumacher step into the role of team owner is Bernie Ecclestone. The F1 supremo said: "Michael has been such a fantastic figure, a real legend, he would be welcome back to the scene in any capacity. He could count on my help anytime."
Taimur Asad
(my new blog: The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)
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