Off day for Ferrari...
F1 is back with a bang... and the changes for the 2008 season have had a dramatic affect on today's Australian GP...
Just 7 cars finished the race which saw plenty of driver mistakes. Both Ferrari drivers had bad days with both Massa and Raikkonen making mistakes which saw them in the gravel pit. Indeed, Massa's demise was probably related to the collision which put Coulthard out on lap 26. Raikkonen missed breaking zones, spun his Ferrari while trying to take Timo Glock.
The pundit's conclusion on the Massa / Coulthard collision is that Coulthard should have left Massa more room... I disagree! Coulthard was quite right to keep his position and Massa probably overcooked it just a tiny bit. He definitely didn't deserve to be taken out as he was having a good race.
Timo Glock's spectacular spin on lap 44 robbed Kovalainen of 2nd place but resulted in Raikkonen, Kovalainen and Alonso being line astern after the 3rd safety car. This resulted in some good overtaking... Kovalainen on Raikkonen and then Alonso on both of them (pretty much in the same corner) before Raikkonen retired with engine trouble.. Kovalainen almost took 4th at the end after overtaking Alonso in the last corner before slowing on the pit straight (he recovered to take 5th behind Alonso).
Hamilton was driver of the day, encountering no issues and looking supreme at the front... Kubica did great in qualifying but failed to live up to expectations in the race (retiring late on).
All in all, the new changes have changed the focus back to driver skill and it will be interesting to see who shines this season... I suspect Ferrari will struggle a little in the next couple of the races as they adjust to having fewer driver aids (my impression was that they invested more than anyone else in this area in previous seasons).
looking forward to the next race in a week's time...
Just 7 cars finished the race which saw plenty of driver mistakes. Both Ferrari drivers had bad days with both Massa and Raikkonen making mistakes which saw them in the gravel pit. Indeed, Massa's demise was probably related to the collision which put Coulthard out on lap 26. Raikkonen missed breaking zones, spun his Ferrari while trying to take Timo Glock.
The pundit's conclusion on the Massa / Coulthard collision is that Coulthard should have left Massa more room... I disagree! Coulthard was quite right to keep his position and Massa probably overcooked it just a tiny bit. He definitely didn't deserve to be taken out as he was having a good race.
Timo Glock's spectacular spin on lap 44 robbed Kovalainen of 2nd place but resulted in Raikkonen, Kovalainen and Alonso being line astern after the 3rd safety car. This resulted in some good overtaking... Kovalainen on Raikkonen and then Alonso on both of them (pretty much in the same corner) before Raikkonen retired with engine trouble.. Kovalainen almost took 4th at the end after overtaking Alonso in the last corner before slowing on the pit straight (he recovered to take 5th behind Alonso).
Hamilton was driver of the day, encountering no issues and looking supreme at the front... Kubica did great in qualifying but failed to live up to expectations in the race (retiring late on).
All in all, the new changes have changed the focus back to driver skill and it will be interesting to see who shines this season... I suspect Ferrari will struggle a little in the next couple of the races as they adjust to having fewer driver aids (my impression was that they invested more than anyone else in this area in previous seasons).
looking forward to the next race in a week's time...
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