Hamilton-Alonzo, Ferrari-McLaren…lest we forget that as of now and almost certainly, the winner of this years F1 championship is Kimi Raikkonen. I know, I know, everyone loves a controversy and it wasn’t Raikkonen. The quiet shadowy figure of Kimi Raikkonen did steal the show however and deservedly so.
In a season full of controversy, and absurdity where we all read and watched so closely the race between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonzo we failed to watch the hunter in action. With the spotlight having swung away from Kimi after the first 2 or three races and the media swarming McLaren, Kimi Raikkonen went about his business of hunting down his rivals. Infighting, team squabbles, poor race decisions on the part of his rivals at McLaren and Kimi’s quiet but fierce determination gave the fin his avenue to exploit. Right up his ally.
Mathematical chances were all he was given for the remaining few races and that kept prying eyes away until suddenly in Brazil, the red colours of Raikkonen’s Ferrari sped across the finish line and only a minute later it was clear that he had done it.
Usually in sports we say to ourselves a year later….who came second? Familiar isn’t it. This year could be disappointingly different in that if you read the blogs, this one included, read all the F1 news you can find, how many stories are written about the real champion of this season. I’m sure you won’t find many. Always, always, always, the media with their saliva stained tunics run run run for controversy and inevitably grab our attention. Next year those over hyped controversy seekers may just be saying to themselves…who came first.
Digging through all the garbage of this season, did anyone follow what really was happening? I wonder!
Drink your Champagne Kimi, and don’t ever let that rare smile get away from you.

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Wow, Lewis Hamilton moves to Switzerland, stop the press! Has backlash towards anyone been anymore dumb than it has been on Lewis moving to Switzerland? Good for him! He gave reasons for making this move and automatically the drooling Lewis haters who dance around their gloomy rooms jump for joy. Life is grand again, we get to bash him even more. Look everyone, he even did it right after a street was named for him in his own town. Let’s go and denounce his British citizenship for him.

Yes, Lewis Hamilton has decided to move to Switzerland for privacy as he states.

'I have decided to move to Switzerland, otherwise I cannot go out anymore and find it difficult to lead a normal life,' he said. 'Over there they don't bother you, you can have your own space. This has been a very though year. I could not spend time with my friends, with my family. You come home and everybody knows you. It gets difficult to do normal things. I cannot go to the cinema, I cannot go to the toilet in a service station because everyone wants your autograph, it is hard but I knew it would be like that.'

Now this is certainly true and some people who rocket into the spotlight are able to handle all this attention and actually thrive on it. If you are part of the majority who don’t, does this mean you are contracted to a life of money hungry paparazzi looking for a buck watching you pee or fans who feel they have a right to harass you? I say no. Good for Lewis for taking care of his own life. We are all entitled to that and no one, not even those who spin these tabloid type stories. Get a life people!

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Sebastien Bourdais is determined to be competitive in Formula One next season - and admits new regulations might work in his favour.

The four-time Champ Car series winner will make the switch across the Atlantic for the second time next season and race for Toro Rosso.
In 2002, Bourdais got his first F1 test with the Arrows team, but the team were on the verge of bankruptcy. In December he tested for Renault at Jerez but fellow Frenchman Franck Montagny secured the test drive instead of Bourdais.

Bourdais although maybe not a household name yet in Europe has been racing very successfully in the Champ Car Racing Series in the US and Canada. He is Originally from Le mas France but now resides in Florida. When I say successful, I mean he has won 4 consecutive Champ Car Titles from 2003 through to 2007..

When asked about the challenge of Champ Car vs F1, Bourdais said..

"In F1, it's a bigger scale. You need the best design, you need the best engineering team to use the car at its max when it's on the track, and it's more people involved, so it's a little more complicated.

"But, you know, it's still a car which has an engine and four wheels, and you've got to make it around that racetrack as quick as you can."

On expectations?

"I never said I wanted to get into F1 just to get into F1. I want to be competitive and do the best I can. Now is the beginning of a new adventure that's coming to me, and we'll see how it shakes out.

"But, right now, I'm just going to give my very best - like I did in 2003 - and we'll see what happens really."

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Fernando Alonso may have settled on his ideal plans for the 2008 season. The Spaniard, who thanked his countrymen for their support in his home town of Oviedo at the weekend, told local media that he is still waiting to know if he is going to honour his McLaren contract next year or switch to a rival team.

“I know what I want to do, but I do not know if it will be possible,” he said, according to the Spanish broadcaster Telecinco.

The latest rumour is that Alonso, who spent an acrimonious season at McLaren in 2007, could be negotiating with Williams about a single-year contract. Renault is pushing for a three year deal, and Flavio Briatore is reported to have travelled to Brazil recently for talks with a major potential Hispanic sponsor who could help bankroll Alonso’s return to the team. “The options are open and everything is to be negotiated,” Alonso is quoted as saying, presumably referring to the need to end his ongoing contractual ties to Ron Dennis’ outfit. “I have an idea, a desire, about what I want to do. We will have to find out,” the 26-year-old added.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, meanwhile, continued to downplay suggestions that Alonso could be part of the Italian team’s plans for the future. Asked about Alonso’s plans for next season, Montezemolo said at a team event in Mugello: “I do not have the faintest idea and I am certainly not going to comment.”

Kimi Räikkönen also seemed uninterested in the topic, despite McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton telling reporters at the weekend that the Finn would be a “cool” teammate for the future. “Whether Alonso stays at McLaren or leaves, we do not care too much about it,” he said.

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For Formula 1 motor sports, the impending appeal on behalf of McLaren is something they really must do. It sounds fruitless and it really is, but in competition you have to cover all your angles even if it means a board room championship. What makes this appeal so controversial lies in what I wrote in my previous post which alluded to ‘the world against McLaren’ and that on paper, rules were broken that may or may not have altered the outcome. The fact that nothing was done seals the deal for McLaren.

I have watched this race on video twice and concentrated on the two points I consider the real reason for the collapse of Lewis Hamilton. One is his transmission glitch and the other, the third pit stop. As I watched, Lewis may have been able to reach the 5th position needed to win but not with the third stop.

In brief, here’s how I see it however muddy it may be. The transmission glitch cost Lewis around about 30 seconds. Given this, and his pace after the correction, and that he still had 63 laps to go, the possibility for 5th was there. Read on… At lap 22 at his first pit stop, he had moved up to 10th place and 5th was still possible or was it.

I see his original plan was for a long middle stint on soft compound tires and a short finishing stint on the super soft tires (just like Alonzo) having possibilities, but here’s where things changed in my mind. Instead of this, he received the super soft tires and was sent out for a short middle stint of only 14 laps. These tires were predictably slower so putting him on a short stint with them would free up a long finishing stint on the faster tires. Sounds good on the surface, but there are just too many variables that always come into play and this is what happened.

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Back from holidays now and ready to go again. I managed to collect as much news as I could about the final race and I do love a race where I spend a good amount of time pacing around the room, however this race has offered so much news and speculation I cannot even begin to put it all together a full week later. I will however, touch on one topic that has angered me for most of the season and maybe made me ( here’s those words) a bit of a ‘conspiracy theorist’.

What I have been reading and hearing for a couple of days is a resurrection of the ‘rules for Ferrari and rules for everyone else.’

Ferrari fans be angry, but at least finish reading.

This issue consistently rears it’s ugly head and far too many times makes me think twice and shake my head. The latest on this touchy issue is what Damon Hill had to say on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“Rules are rules,” Damon said. “The FIA have found some teams are in breach of the regulations. If this had been something McLaren had done during the season, do you think the FIA would have insisted that their cars were legal or illegal? I think on past performance they’re prepared to persecute McLaren for any infringement that they’ve made this season.”

One could see that he may have a point. McLaren have been attacked left and right from the get go and punished for any irregularity whereas others just blow away with fresh F1 news.

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I will start by saying that I am going on vacation tomorrow and will be gone until the 26th of October. Although I will be enjoying every minute of this vacation, I will be missing the final race in Brazil. Yes, I will miss seeing the crowning of the 2007 Formula 1 champion in a hotly contested race. From where I will be, it will even be hard to find out any information for a few days and I will be vigorously searching it out.
My wish for the race is that it is a clean competitive race and that the champion is decided on the track and not in the board room with appeals, penalties, or whining and crying.

When I return, I will get right back into writing and am sure will have a lot to catch up on and write about.

Until then, enjoy the race!

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An old Track, Interlagos has been around since 1973 and is built on undulating terrain which is always a favorite for drivers and fans alike. It was drastically modified in 1990 when it was shortened from it’s original length of 7.829m ti 4.397m to comply with the newest FIA track length regulations. Interestingly enough, Interlagos is one of the few tracks that is driven counter clockwise.
The redevelopment of the track consisted of major changes effecting speed and making it a much safer track. Three long straight sections were removed as well as two high speed corners. The track has become more technical and still has high speed sections, but is very bumpy throughout. It also features one of the longest pit-lanes in F1. The pit-lane starts just before the start line and merges back onto the track after the S do Senna section and just before Curva do Sol.

Race Weekend

Thursday 18 October
15h00: FIA press conference

Friday 19 October
10h00 - 11h30: First free practice
14h00 - 15h30: Second free practice
16h00: FIA press conference

Saturday 20 October

11h00 - 12h00: Third free practice
14h00 - 15h00: Qualifying
15h00: FIA post qualifying press conference

Sunday 21 October

14h00 - 16h00: Brazilian GP
16h00: FIA post race press conference

Brazilian GP Info

No of Laps: 71
Race Distance: 305.909 km
Lap Record: 1:11.473 - JP Montoya (2004)
2006 Winner:Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
Track Lenght: 4.309 km
Corners: 13 (left:9) (right:4)
Top Speed: 325 Km
Downforce: high

[tags]Brazilian Grand Prix, Interlagos[/tags]

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We now have a poll for F1-ToGo on the right sidebar. The poll will be a regular feature of F1-ToGo and we hope you will participate so we can get a great idea of what readers are interested in.

The first poll is ‘The best F1 team of 2007′. The poll isn’t who you think will win the constructors championship, but who you believe the best overall team of 2007 is. Is it the most improved? Is it the most consistent? Whatever. We want to know what you think?
[tags]F1 poll, poll[/tags]

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In only it's second year as an F1 manufacturers team, BMW has quietly and under the radar made more gains than any other team on the circuit. Last year BMW achieved more than they expected by finishing 4th in the constructors championship and laid a great foundation for this 2007 season and didn't disappoint. While controversy swirled around McLaren, Fernando Alonzo and Lewis Hamilton's Feud, Ferrari, and the tight drivers title, BMW continued to make great gains without much fanfare.
BMW outperformed every team but McLaren and Ferrari and more times than not finished right behind them. Both Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica have improved with the help of competitive cars and are very happy as BMW drivers. Under the direction of Mario Theissen, the winter development program and race program have gone very well and BMW have achieved their lofty goals.

"For BMW this has been a successful season. We can be proud of what we have achieved, both in terms of our development work over the winter and the pace of development during the season. In our two start-up years we have reached our target each time," Theissen said.

"It was very gratifying to be able to see ourselves as the third-strongest team right from the start and to shore up that position in virtually every race.

In the true spirit of competition, Mario Theissen and BMW have continually maintained that the BMW's are the third fasted team in the constructors championship regardless of the expulsion of McLaren. I don't know if Ferrari or McLaren would be that modest.

"An administrative decision even handed us second place on a plate, but that really doesn't mean anything to us as we know there are still four cars that are faster than ours. Our aim is to beat them out on the race track."

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