Spanish GP - Qual & Race Thread [SPOILERS]

[DooberRoni]

Three races and three winners! Buzz for the upcoming FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPANA TELEFONICA 2008 is building. This will be the 2nd race (I think) with the new corners before the front straight? (New Holland)

So who's it gonna be? Will Ferrari's new holy nose give them some amazing new aero advantage or is it all smoke and mirrors. Will the BMW's continue to show strong? I hope so because having three constructors in the hunt really makes for good, and un-predictable races.

Has LuHam really learned his lesson now and will he be a contender or will he be beat by his teammate again? With three weeks off, who knows what developments have been made to the cars so we're waiting patiently for the weekend to see what's up.

We will turn off the RSS feed on the forum on Friday as not to pee on everyone's party! We'll also be watching qualifying and the race as they are broadcast on SPEED so come join us for some live board posting action.

Here's just one of many previews floating around the web. Make sure to hop on over to DooberVille (http://www.dooberville.com) to catch the latest headlines.

Blundell's view: Spanish Grand Prix.
We've had a good start to the year so far and it's been nice to have three different winners from the opening three events in Australia, Malaysia and Bahrain, with Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa respectively all taking a win apiece.

Now the European season is about to commence with the Spanish Grand Prix and there is a definite possibility that we might see someone else stepping onto the top step of the podium.

At the moment, you would have to say the chances are that BMW Sauber might just pull that off as they are getting closer and closer, but most would probably still go for Ferrari.

A lot of people, though, are going to turn up for the fourth round of the F1 world championship with revised packages and I am looking forward to seeing who has made the most progress in the three-week break.

Almost all of the teams took the chance to test at the Circuit de Catalunya recently and that should help them in terms of perfecting the set-up and gaining valuable data. It will give them a good baseline, but nothing more, as it is always a bit different when you turn up for the race weekend itself, because you just can't simulate in testing the same conditions and the same level of grip.
Source: Crash.net LINK (http://www.crash.net/motorsport/f1/news/162272-0/blundells_view_spanish_grand_prix.html)

I just saw the weather forecast for Barcelona. It is raining today and predicted to be partly cloudy for Friday practice. Could we possibly have a wet race? The "rain in Spain stays mainly in the plains" but isn't that where we're headed? :p

[DooberRoni]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Circuit_Catalunya_2007.png (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Circuit_Catalunya_2007.png)
From Wikipedia:

In the 1960s, Spain made a bid to return to the world of international motor racing - the Royal Automobile Club of Spain commissioned a new circuit north of Madrid at Jarama, and Cataluña refurbished their circuit at Montjuïc circuit in Barcelona. A non-championship Grand Prix took place at Jarama in 1967, which was won by Jim Clark racing in a Lotus.

In 1968, Jarama hosted the Spanish Grand Prix, near the beginning of the F1 season. It was agreed, following this event, that the race would alternate between Jarama and Montjuich.

The 1975 Grand Prix at Montjuich was marked by tragedy (SEE VID). There had been concerns about track safety during practice races, and double-winner Emerson Fittipaldi retired in protest after a single lap. On the 26th lap of the race, Rolf Stommelen's car crashed when the rear wing broke off, killing four spectators. The race was stopped later and won by Jochen Mass, though only half the points were awarded.

The Spanish Grand Prix was confined to Jarama until 1981, after which it was dropped from the racing calendar. In 1985, the Mayor of Jerez commissioned a new racing circuit in his town to promote tourism and sherries. The track, the Circuito Permanente de Jerez, was finished in time for the 1986 championship, which saw a furious battle between Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell, with the two cars finishing side by side. The stewards awarded the win to Senna, by 0.014 seconds - one of F1's closest finishes.
The 1990 Spanish Grand Prix was the last in Jerez (although Jerez did stage the European Grand Prix in 1994 and 1997). During the practice, Martin Donnelly's car was destroyed in a high-speed collision, and Donnelly was severely injured.

Work on the Circuit de Catalunya was underway in Barcelona, and in 1991, the event moved to this new track, where it has remained since. The 1992 event was advertised as the Grand Prix of the Olympic Games.

NUzVC89L128

[ÜberDoober]

Practice is in the books! Lewis Hamilton at the top of the charts - NOT!

What's up with the McLarens and BMWs? Holy crap! :ack2: And what got up Renault'a ass?? This could be very interesting?

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:21.935 38
2. Piquet Renault (B) 1:22.019 + 0.084 38
3. Alonso Renault (B) 1:22.032 + 0.097 26
4. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.172 + 0.237 35
5. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:22.229 + 0.294 32
6. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.238 + 0.303 36
7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.266 + 0.331 33
8. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.289 + 0.354 30
9. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:22.383 + 0.448 38
10. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:22.548 + 0.613 38
11. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.685 + 0.750 33
12. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:22.788 + 0.853 38
13. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:23.130 + 1.195 40
14. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:23.224 + 1.289 34
15. Button Honda (B) 1:23.263 + 1.328 34
16. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:23.264 + 1.329 8
17. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:23.415 + 1.480 31
18. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.661 + 1.726 35
19. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.684 + 1.749 37
20. Glock Toyota (B) 1:23.883 + 1.948 40
21. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:25.110 + 3.175 30
22. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:25.163 + 3.228 31

[ÜberDoober]

5:10 in the AM here in the 'Ville and the first car rolls out in session one! HAHAHAAHA!!! New wings on the front of the Honda look like cartoon bunny ears! :ack2:

Hurry up coffee!

[ÜberDoober]

Whoa! Scott Speed won the Arca/REMAX race yesterday! That is very cool!

New chassis for Fernando? Interesting. Halfway through the first session and LuHam at the top of the board. Commercial time and I'm off to grab some eats and joe.

[DooberRoni]

Damn, I hate that new New Holland chicane.

Kimi to P1 over half a second ahead of Hammy. Checkers out. Hot laps completing now. Fernando to 2nd. DC out. SeaVett out. Now Trulli to 2nd and Hamilton in 4th. The knockout qualifying format was the best things they've done in years. That last lap after the flag and all the bumping is heart racing.

[ÜberDoober]

Massa ended the first session in 11th and Bourdais makes it into Q2. The boys think super best friends may be done without financing?

Track is green but no takers at 12:00 minutes to go. Bah! Commercials :angry-004:

[ÜberDoober]

Bob said $400,000 for one engine? OMG!

Kimi to P1 with a 1:20:784. Times should start dropping with 5 minutes left to go. Kubica hops to the top 2/10s ahead of the Kimster. The pits are a cluster with 2:00 to go!

[DooberRoni]

Rosberg out. Button out. Massa, Kubica. Raikkonen. Alonso. Heidfield at the top.

Time for Q3! Who's it going to be?

[ÜberDoober]

Top 10 cars in Q3 3/10ths of a second apart. That's close. Both Renaults in session three for the first time this year. Hambone finished Q2 behind his teammate in 9th & 10th.

Clock is running-nobody out yet. Piquet in Q3 for the first time. Ok, wheels are rolling. :)

Wow, Trulli sawing at the wheel big time. I must say the cars sound better without traction control kicking in all the time. 4:00 left to go and now the excitement begins!

[DooberRoni]

The run for pole is on!

Purple, purple, purple! Kimi to Pole! ALONSO P2!!! Massa and Kubica on row two followed by the McLarens!

The start is going to be serious business tomorrow!

91/1000ths between Raikkonen and Fred. Simply amazing! Full grid to follow shortly.

[ÜberDoober]

Watching the interviews...did you see that bigass wrist watch Felipe is wearing? You'd think that would be bulky under his gear? Heck, he could gain a tenth if he took it off.

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:20.701 1:20.784 1:21.813 17
2. Alonso Renault 1:21.347 1:20.804 1:21.904 18
3. Massa Ferrari 1:21.528 1:20.584 1:22.058 16
4. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:21.423 1:20.597 1:22.065 13
5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.366 1:20.825 1:22.096 14
6. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.430 1:20.817 1:22.231 15
7. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:21.494 1:20.984 1:22.429 19
8. Trulli Toyota 1:21.158 1:20.907 1:22.529 19
9. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:21.466 1:20.815 1:22.542 20
10. Piquet Renault 1:21.409 1:20.894 1:22.699 18
11. Barrichello Honda 1:21.548 1:21.049 12
12. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:21.690 1:21.117 15
13. Button Honda 1:21.757 1:21.211 12
14. Glock Toyota 1:21.427 1:21.230 16
15. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:21.472 1:21.349 15
16. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:21.540 1:21.724 15
17. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:21.810 6
18. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:22.108 10
19. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:22.516 11
20. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:23.224 8
21. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:23.318 9
22. Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:23.496 9

[ÜberDoober]

We're up at o' dark thirty (4:30) for the pre-race show and on the job.

I can't get over the feeling that the first corner is going to be a major cock up. Peter just interviewed Jackie Stewart - I love that guy.

No mention of Max Mosely at all so far but Ron Dennis thinks he's being funny. Too bad the live camera is messed up but the piece on Rubens was pretty cool.

Coffee pot has finished gurgling, it's six minutes before the top of the hour and we're ready to watch some F1.

Bring it boys but don't turn that first corner runoff into a car park.

[DooberRoni]

Spanish government blocking radio frequencies? Hmmm?

Here come the lights!

First corner not too bad. Vettle out again in the first corner. Safety car on lap one. :ack2: Ferrari's out front and it might be all she wrote.

[ÜberDoober]

BMW meat in a Mercedes sandwich - David Hobbs! :)

Too bad for SeaVett. He won't be in that seat too long at this rate. Wonder if these yellow laps will aid in the Renault's fuel strategy if they're as light as everybody is saying?

Alonso almost crashed on the sighting lap and one of the Macca boys locked up pretty good. Back to green and the red cars are slipping away again.

[ÜberDoober]

Michael Schumacher all dressed in red. How cute!

LuHam getting close to Fred and Kimi running away. The boys are all over Alonso today. Piquet and Bourdais tangle-crap. SeaBass out and both STR's out by lap 8.

Looks like there's no catching Kimi? Even this early in the race, I'll say unless there's a mechanical or he gets screwed up with pit strategy, the win is probably his? Who knows what Massa will do or if Alonso and Hamilton will battle?

[ÜberDoober]

Massa pits before Kimi, only 3 laps after Alonso. Kimi in giving Hammy the lead. Let's see how much fuel the Macca's have on board? They were rumored to have quite a bit. Doh! Only one lap more than Kimi.

[DooberRoni]

Uh Oh! One of the McLarens into the tires. Must be Heikki. Doesn't look good. Car is stuck under the tire wall. Big high speed hit.

[ÜberDoober]

They aren't showing a the accident scene on tv and are now at commercial. I hope Heikki is okay but he went into the wall going really fast.

What the hell happened to Ruebens? His car is toast. Heidfeld gets a stop and go for pitting when the pits weren't open. Barrichello back in for a new nose.

McLaren on the hook and is torn up bad. Kovalanen is probably hurt as the footwell area of the tub was showing daylight. Not good. :(

[DooberRoni]

Heiki waves to the crowd from the stretcher. He's okay but may have a broken foot? On-board from Kovalainen's car saw the wheel just blow up. It was a wicked wreck and the announce crew is saying it might make the engineers wonder about Hamilton's car.

[ÜberDoober]

Fernando done blowed up!

[ÜberDoober]

Nico Rosberg out. That makes 9 cars in the garage.

Hobbs cracking me up with his German accent. Pit stops should be coming up shortly. Looks like a Raikkonen, Massa, Hamilton finish unless Kubica gets by LuHam?

[DooberRoni]

Laps winding down but there was a few brief moments of excitement between DC and Timo Glock. 8 laps to go and Hamilton, in third, making time on Massa.

Word on Kovalainen - possible concussion, banged elbow. Looks like he'll be okay. They just showed the in car again and it's interesting to see Heikki take his hands off the wheel in full passenger mode.

[DooberRoni]

Looks like a Raikkonen, Massa, Hamilton finish unless Kubica gets by LuHam?

You called it!

Finishing order in the points
Raikkonen
Massa
Hamilton
Kubica
Webber
Button
Nakajima
Truli

[ÜberDoober]

Hamilton moves into second in the WDC with Kubica in third. McLaren one point behind BMW in the constuctor's championship.

Ugh! I hate Kimi's interview but I like Felipe more than I use to. He's kind of cute when they show him with his dad. Kimi actually smiles on the podium before the anthems. He's looking a little skinned on top this week.

Two weeks and we're off to Turkey and two weeks after that, Monaco. They'll be back to Spain later in the season at a new street course at Valencia. I don't know too much about that yet so it's time to do some diggin'.

[DooberRoni]

Nice of Kimi to mention Kovalainen in the interview. He's wearing a giant wristwatch too, on his right hand. Is he a lefty? He does seem less nervous and more confident.

Felipe & Kimi are joking around during Hamilton's talk. Kimi looks human when he laughs. His margin of victory was 3.2 seconds, the smallest ever.

So, more good racing to come from other disciplines today and we'll be back to catch the action. Thanks for hanging out in the 'Ville joining in the fun.