> Brazilian Grand Prix 2007

Well, it's here. One of the most exciting title races in recent history.

Any one of 3 contenders can win it. Crybaby Alonso doesnt deserve it (apart from his driving). He is a total wuss.

Hamilton has driven and behaved like a total pro this whole season and it is all the more commendable when he has a teammate who keeps whining and it is Hamilton;s rookie year.

Kimi Raikonnen has come close twice before (in 2003 and 2005), but in 2003, the title race went down to the final race.

Who will win ?

Stay tuned to FE for regular updates. Friday practice is tomorrow and I'll keep you guys informed and updated.

None of the three!!! Sandeep will win

rofl..... Let's see

Alonso: No need for fair play tsar

Fernando Alonso says there is no need for an FIA official to be stationed in the McLaren garage to ensure fair play between himself and Lewis Hamilton in this weekend’s world championship showdown.

The governing body announced last week that it would appoint a ‘special scrutineer’ to monitor McLaren’s actions at the title-deciding race, after the Spanish motorsport federation raised concerns that Alonso might not be given the same treatment as Hamilton due to his strained relationship with the team.

But the Spaniard, who is bidding to win a hat-trick of titles, said in Thursday’s press conference at Interlagos that the FIA’s intervention was unnecessary.

“I don’t agree with the decision but it’s not up to us,” he said.

Sir Jackie Stewart said earlier this week that he did not see why the FIA needed to involve itself in the way in which a team, which has purchased a licence to compete at considerable expense, chooses to conduct its business.

Alonso appeared to agree, saying: “We don’t need anything like that in the garage.”

It is understood that Alonso’s outspoken concerns about his tyre pressures in both Japan and China was the catalyst for the FIA’s decision.

But in Brazil he played down the idea that there was anything untoward involved.

“In China I was disappointed with my qualifying performance, especially since I was quick in Q1 and Q2 but not in Q3,” he said.

“I have realised that the tyre pressures were a bit high and I just want to think that it was a coincidence and a bit of bad luck.”

Raikkonen going all out for race win

Kimi Raikkonen believes he can take a more straightforward approach to the title-deciding Brazilian Grand Prix weekend than his two rivals – as he knows only a win is likely to give him any hope of claiming the championship.

The Finn must finish in the top two at Interlagos to have any chance of overhauling Lewis Hamilton’s seven-point advantage over him, but the title leader can still end the Ferrari driver’s hopes with a fifth place finish.

Hamilton has already said he will not take any unnecessary risks and simply ensure he picks up enough points to wrap up the championship.

However Raikkonen believes this is easier said than done and draws parallels with his only previous title-decider experience in 2003, when Michael Schumacher struggled to secure the single point he needed to beat him to the crown.

“I will treat the final race the same as the last two,” he said on his personal website.

“My aim is to win and the rest is not up to me.

“For me it is a similar position to 2003.

“Then I lost the title to Michael, but looking back it was a close call and at one point during the race it looked possible.

“Hamilton has seven points more than us. It is not easy to go to the last race just to get a couple of points more.

“We cannot calculate. We have to win. For us it is a straightforward race.”

The Ferrari driver’s situation in the title battle is complicated by Fernando Alonso, who sits three points closer to Hamilton in the points standings.

It means Raikkonen has to outscore Hamilton by seven points and Alonso by three.

But he hopes his chances might be increased if they leave the door open for him by fighting amongst themselves.

“There is a lot of pressure on both sides,” he said.

“They are the favourites and they fight against each other, too.

“Hopefully we benefit from that.”

Source: itv-f1

Lewis refocused and ready for Brazil

Lewis Hamilton insists he has put his China nightmare out of his mind and is now focused on making sure he takes his second chance to wrap up the world title in Brazil this weekend.

The championship leader heads into the three-way title decider under more pressure to clinch the drivers’ crown than was the case in Shanghai, with Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen now just four and seven points respectively adrift of him in the standings.

Hamilton has already talked about his agonising exit in Shanghai, when he slid into retirement after staying out too long on worn tyres, making him “mentally stronger” for the showdown.

And at the start of the biggest week of his career so far, he says he has learnt from his mistake and has spent the last week purely focusing on Interlagos.

"China was another valuable lesson for me this season, and an incident I will take from and try to develop as a driver,” he said.

“I moved on from the disappointment pretty quickly and since leaving Shanghai, my sole focus has been on Brazil.

“Whilst I might be ahead by four points, this championship is still very open.

“I will do what I can to score the points I need, and the rest is out of our hands."

For the fifth time in his rookie season, the 22-year-old will face an unfamiliar track when he starts free practice on Friday.

He acknowledges that the notoriously bumpy, anti-clockwise, circuit will take some getting used to, but says he is looking forward to the challenge and ending his unparalleled Formula 1 debut season on the ultimate high.

“Interlagos is one of those circuits that everybody talks about,” he said.

“I understand it has a fantastic atmosphere, the fans are crazy for the sport, and the track lends itself to great racing.

“It is another new circuit for me, and there has been a lot of talk by other people about how it is tricky to drive.

“That’s why I see it as a special challenge and when I arrive at the track on Wednesday I will study it hard with my engineers and start to get an understanding of it.

“I’ve had some great races with the team this year, and I hope to have another one in Interlagos.”

Source: itv-f1

Will go for xtrarisk this time
nothing to lose

_______________________________________
Safin's Signature:

Practice 1: Kimi heads Ferrari 1-2

Kimi Raikkonen’s title game plan for the Brazilian Grand Prix is simple: drive flat-out, win the race and hope the McLaren drivers fall by the wayside.

The Finn got straight down to business in first practice at Interlagos on Friday, topping the times by half a second from Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa.

Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen wound up an impressive third fastest despite ahead of Williams standard-bearer Nico Rosberg.

World championship leader Lewis Hamilton played himself in gently on his first acquaintance with the twisty 2.7-mile circuit, completing 10 laps and setting the fifth quickest time, while his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso only ventured out for an installation lap.

Track conditions were damp and greasy throughout, with rain falling in the first half of the session before easing again to allow the usual flurry of late improvements on the timing charts.

The leading contenders stayed in the garage until the closing minutes, giving the likes of Honda, Toyota and Williams the opportunity to trade fastest laps.

Ralf Schumacher and Rosberg had an entertaining see-saw duel for several laps before Ralf spun and Nico got the upper hand with a 1m21.064s.

That time took a hammering as the Ferrari drivers got into their stride, with Raikkonen eventually posting a best lap of 1m19.580s and Massa a 1m20.062s.

Schumacher eventually slipped to sixth behind Hamilton, but it was a strong performance at what is his final race meeting for Toyota and possibly also his Formula 1 swansong.

Sebastian Vettel again showed well in inclement conditions to take seventh for Toro Rosso ahead of Red Bull stable-mate Mark Webber, Jarno Trulli in the second Toyota and his own team-mate Tonio Liuzzi.

Honda duo Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button were next up ahead of David Coulthard (Red Bull), Takuma Sato (Super Aguri) and Adrian Sutil, who had two off-course excursions at the Senna S when the track was particularly damp.

Williams debutant Kazuki Nakajima did a creditable job to finish 16th ahead of Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri) and Sakon Yamamoto (Spyker).

In addition to Alonso, both BMW drivers and Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella didn’t complete timed laps.



Brazilian Grand Prix free practice session 1 times

1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m19.580s
2. MASSA Ferrari 1m20.062s
3. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m20.829s
4. ROSBERG Williams 1m21.064s
5. HAMILTON McLaren 1m21.121s
6. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m21.243s
7. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m21.598s
8. WEBBER Red Bull 1m22.104s
9. TRULLI Toyota 1m22.104s
10. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m22.250s
11. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m22.434s
12. BUTTON Honda 1m22.477s
13. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m22.667s
14. SATO Super Aguri 1m22.929s
15. SUTIL Spyker 1m23.248s
16. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m23.261s
17. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m23.551s
18. YAMAMOTO Spyker 1m24.366s
19. HEIDFELD BMW no time
20. KUBICA BMW no time
21. ALONSO McLaren no time
22. FISICHELLA Renault no time

Practice 2: Lewis outpaces Alonso

Lewis Hamilton proved, irrespective of what penalty may, or may not, be handed out to him ahead of qualifying, he has the pace he needs to wrap up the world title at Interlagos by topping the charts in second practice.

The title leader, who is currently under investigation by the stewards for using one more set of wet weather tyres than permitted in the morning, outpaced McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso by over a tenth of a second.

Both drivers used the super-soft Bridgestones in the closing stages of the session and it was Hamilton who got the most out of them with a best time of 1m12.767s.

Alonso tried to retaliate, and got close, but still ended up 0.122s behind despite clocking the fastest times in sectors two and three.

Nevertheless it seems the Woking squad has the early edge over Ferrari, with neither Felipe Massa nor the third title contender Kimi Raikkonen able to lap within 0.3s of their McLaren rivals.

Massa got closest in third, while the morning-pacesetter Raikkonen ended up fourth after languishing down in 15th at the start of his final flying run.

The Italian squad now has to work overnight to find more speed to take the fight to McLaren in qualifying.

With the track still damp in parts following the morning’s rain, the early drivers to venture out onto the circuit continued to try out Bridgestone’s wet weather rubber.

However the newly-resurfaced track soon became ripe for dry tyres – promoting a fierce battle for the top spot as the times tumbled.

Both BMW drivers, Massa and Alonso all took turns at the head of the field over the next hour before Hamilton’s final effort proved too good for his closest rivals.

Behind the top four, Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella took a strong fifth place, to edge out the first BMW of Robert Kubica.

The Williams duo rounded out the top eight, with Alex Wurz’s replacement Kazuki Nakajima finishing the first day of his debut grand prix weekend just 0.009s shy of team leader Nico Rosberg.

David Coulthard continued his fine end-of-season form with ninth place for Red Bull, with BMW’s Nick Heidfeld 10th and Ralf Schumacher 11th for Toyota.

Behind Heikki Kovalainen (Renault), were the Hondas of, home hero, Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button.

Tonio Liuzzi in the Toro Rosso was snapping at their heels, while his Red Bull stable-mate Mark Webber was down amongst the Super Aguris and Spykers in the second RBR car.



Brazilian Grand Prix free practice session 2 times

1. HAMILTON McLaren 1m12.767s
2. ALONSO McLaren 1m12.889s
3. MASSA Ferrari 1m13.075s
4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m13.112s
5. FISICHELLA Renault 1m13.549s
6. KUBICA BMW 1m13.587s
7. ROSBERG Williams 1m13.655s
8. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m13.664s
9. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m13.706s
10. HEIDFELD BMW 1m13.785s
11. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m13.829s
12. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m13.879s
13. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m13.892s
14. BUTTON Honda 1m14.095s
15. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m14.152s
16. TRULLI Toyota 1m14.179s
17. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m14.409s
18. SATO Super Aguri 1m14.431s
19. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m14.477s
20. WEBBER Red Bull 1m14.543s
21. SUTIL Spyker 1m15.095s
22. YAMAMOTO Spyker 1m15.715s