Hamilton's 1st Title Within Reach

Rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton continued his trek to the championship with another impressive win.

Round 15 at the Fuji circuit was one of the wettest on record - just the 4th ever to be started behind the safety car.

For nearly 20 laps Hamilton showed supreme skill by following behind the Mercedes CLK 63 AMG safety car and boy was it... boring. Once the pack was finally allowed out on its own the race was kept under control by Hamilton who led his teammate by 2 points in the standings.

When teammate Alonso violently crashed his McLaren into a lovely white wall Hamilton was gifted the luxury of a guarunteed lead no matter what his result.

The rain allows for strange things to happen including a wonderful performance by rookie Renault talent Heikki Kovalainen who took his first F1 podium position with a stunning second place.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen made it two Finnish drivers on the podium for the first time in the sports' history. His podium finish keeps him in third place for the championship but a distant 17 points behind Hamilton.

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Heikki Kovalainen
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. David Coulthard
5. Giancarlo Fisichella
6. Felipe Massa
7. Robert Kubica
8. Vitantonio Liuzzi *

*Liuzzi was found to have passed another car under yellow and penalized 25 seconds on his final time. The penalty bumped Spyker's Adrian Sutil to 8th gifting both team and driver with their first ever points scored. Scuderia Toro Rosso plan to appeal the decision.

Hamilton Puts His Money Where His Mouth Is - Gross!

Saturday qualifying for the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix began in a haze - literally. Rain and fog descended upon the Fuji circuit strong enough to cancel Saturday free practice. Initially, the pit lane light shone red and the cars stayed dry and toasty under the cover of the paddock.

A short wait and the drivers were released to begin Q1. The rain became merely a drizzle and as the cars zipped around the dense fog shod in Intermediate weather tires. The fog began to clear, a dry line began to form, and the lap times began dropping.

By the beginning of Q3 the cars qued up at the end of pit lane in typical fashion to begin the repetitive procession of fuel burning laps. The often exciting build up to pole position lacked its regular enthusiasm. The drivers had less need to change the intermediate tires which are better suited to long term runs without the usual degradation suffered by the full dry weather rubber.

As the last man on track, McLaren rookie Lewis Hamilton pipped his teammate for pole and will start at the front for tomorrow's race.

During the unilateral interviews that follow qualifying, the mood of the three drivers varied vastly when questioned about the session.

Lewis Hamilton displayed a smug confidence that seemed to boast his aggressive pre-race comments directed at his teammate and main title rival, Fernando Alonso.

Seated next to Hamilton, Alonso's closed body language suggested a defeated attitude after being unable to best his younger nemesis. Alonso's focus appeared shaken and his eyes tired.

Third place qualifier Kimi Raikkonen put his Ferrari on the second row and remained indifferent about the entire affair - perhaps even indifferent about the entire event in remarkable Raikkonen style.

Weather is likely to play a large role in the outcome of tomorrow's race and anything can happen in a race to the end of the season. Just three races to go!

Fuji Cancelled after 1977 Race

Formula 1 returns to Fuji this year after a 30 year absence.

Following a deadly crash by Gilles Villenueve the Japanese GP at Fuji was cancelled. It wasn't until 10 years later F1 returned to Japan - this time at the Suzuka Circuit.

This video is pretty graphic.

Don't Anger the Volcano

Just two weeks after McLaren and Ferrari traded 1 - 2 finishes the F1 world heads to the big island of Japan - Honshu - to the newly remodled Fuji Circuit.

Round 15 is the first of the 3 final fly-away rounds of the 2007 Formula 1 season. McLaren's rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton leads double reigning world champion Fernando Alonso by just two points and they're headed to a track that neither driver has ever driven.

The tension is palpable at the foot of Mt Fuji this weekend.

The Empty Seat Saga

Rumors continue to swell throughout the media about the fate of Fernando Alonso at the end of his first season at McLaren.

Alonso, just 2 points back in the points from teammate Lewis Hamilton, has been linked with a number of race seats next year outside of McLaren after just one season with the British team.

Leading theories involve Alonso's return to his former team of 6 years, Renault, or possibly a switch to sit beside Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari. The Ferrari move certainly spells bad news for current driver Felipe Massa. Following the Belgian GP where Massa was spotted hanging around the Toyota camp speculation began growing of the likelyhood of Alonso joining the Italian team and Massa getting bumped.

The point that everyone seems to be overlooking is what will become of the vacant seat at McLaren?

Does McLaren put test driver Pedro De La Rosa in for a season before singing new talent?

It would be unlikely for anyone to be brought up from a lack-luster GP2 season. McLaren could field a veteran and wait until the market for 2009 opens up with names like Kubica, Heidfeld and Sutil are all on the table. Regardless of their decision we must first wait to see what becomes of Alonso.

Cool Spa Video

Listen to how the drivers work the corners differently. Taken from the 07 Belgian GP:


Nice camera work, Dabeuss

Sweet!

Thanks for wasting my typing time, McLaren

Contrary to previous reports, the Mercedes powered McLaren F1 team will not be headed to appeal court in Paris on Wednesday.

The team have opted to skip the appeal of the punishment handed down following the qualifying debaucle at the Hungarian GP.

McLaren's constructors' point were stripped in the judgement by the stewards just weeks before the English team was penalized by the World Motor Sports Council for it's spying actions against Ferrari.

The later penalty finds McLaren dis-allowed from scoring constructor points for the remainder of 2007 in addition to a staggering $100 million fine.

Indian Food For Everyone in 2010

The contract has yet to be signed, but India is well on its way to hosting a GP by 2010.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) must secure a $30 million deposit, build a circuit, and find room on the calendar to move the GP along.

Last week Vijay Mallya announced his plans to invest in saving the Spyker F1 team to become part owner. His announcement immediately sparked commercial interest from other Indian business moguls.

Modern track designer Herman Tilke recently visited the city of Dehli and began viewing sites for the track which have been narrowed down to two potential locations.

The Indian GP, which could be on the schedule for an amazing 9 season long deal, looks likely to be held near the opening of the season in the first travel races of the year. The organizers and promoter have at least until the end of September to finalize the deal.

McLaren Back To Court

Following exclusion from the 2007 Constructors' Championship and a shocking $100 million fine, McLaren management return to Paris to settle an appeal stemming from round 12 in Hungary.

The stewards at the Hungaroring stripped McLaren of any points following a bizarre intrateam battle shaped up in the final qualifying session.

McLaren rookie Lewis Hamilton refused to concede his track position to teammate and reigning world champion Fernando Alonso as the two cars left the pits to begin Q3 - the final shoot-out for pole position.

Following Hamilton's failure to cooperate, Alonso struck back. With limited time left in the session the drivers headed to pit lane for a new set of tires and a final run at pole.

Alonso stopped first. Following an unusually long wait for the purpose of sending Alonso onto a track free of traffic the man set to cue the Spanish driver lifted his lollipop pit sign and watched as Alonso - remained still for an additional 10 seconds. The extra 10 seconds effectively squashed Hamilton's chances of putting in a final fast lap.

These actions at the beginning and end of the session led the stewards at the track to believe that McLaren team management had influenced the outcome of qualifying.

McLaren now face the task of proving the track officials wrong in Parisian court.

The twist:
Following the conclusion of the season long spy scandal, McLaren will score no constructors' points and thus the battle this week in court seems futile.

The key is that McLaren can still appeal the decision over the spying and thus the 15 points they lost in Hungary could still prove valuable in besting current leaders, Ferrari.

CEO of Ferrari Jean Todt isn't resting until the window for appeal is closed at which time the Ferrari team can let out a sigh of relief and relish a 15th crown.

Breaking: McLaren Stripped Of All Constructor Points

Word has just broken that championship leaders McLaren have been stripped of all their constructor points for the 2007 season and handed a $100 million fine for their actions in the "spygate" affair according to bbc.com.

Though the woking based team have lost their constructor points, neither driver will be penalized and will still battle for the 2007 World Driver Championship.

The whole affair stems from a 780 page technical dossier of Ferrari technical drawings and data was found in the possesion of senior McLaren designer Mike Coughlan.

Initially the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) ruled that although McLaren were guilty of breaking sporting code article 151 by possesing the document that no proof of McLaren gaining an advantage had been presented.

Unsatisfied with the outcome, Ferrari were granted the opportunity to gather proof and make an appeal which they secured before the Italian GP. Upon their findings, an emergency meeting of the WMSC was called for this morning.

Full discloser of the events of today's meeting have yet to be announced.

The Return of Spa

Ferrari have no time to pout about the whooping they took in front of home fans by the hand of McLaren last Sunday.

The entire F1 paddock scrambled to disassemble motorhomes and pack away their equipment in order to make the trek across Europe to Belgium. Numerous trucks in multiple caravans arrive at Spa-Francorchamps prepared to unpack that equipment and reassemble those same motorhomes just days after departing from Italy for the return of the Belgian GP.

Ferrari look to improve their form after failing to bring both cars home in the Italian GP. Felipe Massa's car had rear suspension problems that forced him to retire just laps into the race.

Massa's teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, took the bottom step on the podium. In Saturday practice, Raikkonen had a major crash that left the Finn brusied and suffering from neck pain for qualifying and the race.

McLaren had an apparently flawless weekend that brought the team valuable constructors points for finishing 1st and 2nd and Alonso reeled in points leader and teammate Lewis Hamilton narrowing the margin to just 3 points with four races remaining.

Cram It!

The season is closing out with just five more rounds remaining. The battle heads to Monza, Italy for round 13 - the Italian GP.

Chris has the full scoop on the race and we talk about the musical chair game that is the driver's market for 2008.

Schmacher, Fisichella, and Wurz all have the pressure on to prove why they deserve a seat for 08 while some of the younger drivers shoot to move up on the F1 totem pole.

 Click here...

McLaren Fined Chump Change

Word came down from the stewads in Monza today that the McLaren team has been fined $50,000(USD) following a breach in the sporting regulations article 16.

The article requires teams that make a significant change to the crash structure of a contesting car to pass the strict safety crash tests in order to be legal for racing.

McLaren introduced a new ultra light weight gear box for the Hungarian GP without first testing for safety with the FIA. Following the Hungarian race, McLaren took care of the tests and were found to be within the set limits for safety and thus were not penalized further than monetarily.

$50,000 seems like a fortune, but for a team that spends upward of $200 million per season... jerks!

Spyker Update

Despite driving the slowest car in the field, Spyker F1's Adrian Sutil looks set to have a secure future for at least one more year. Spyker announced that it hopes to retain the young German for 2008, but it swings on the availability of other rides on pitlane and his own commitment to the Spyker team.

Sutil still has time to wait for potential rides forward in the field. Williams have yet to corfirm the status of Alexander Wurz who has under-performed his much younger teammate, Nico Rosberg. Japenese financial powerhouse Toyota have a seat in question. 32 year old Ralf Shumacher hopes to keep his job after an up and down season and questionable mega-salary. If Ralf gets a ride in '08 expect it to come at a big paycut.

A Cow Friendly GP?

Modern F1 circuit designer German Tilke journeyed this week to India in an attempt to lock down the location for an Indian GP. The site will likely be held outside of the capital city New Dehli.

Indian wealth mogul Vijay Mallya joined forces with Michiel Mol this week in an attempt to save/buy out the Spyker F1 team. With an Indian team in mind, Mallya expects a supporting GP to be appropriate.

An Indian F1 team also spells potential good news for Nahrain Karthakeyan who spent one season driving for Jordan and is now test driver at Williams F1. Karthakeyan holds the honor of being the first Indian to compete in Formula 1.

Spyker B-Spec Ready For Monza

Spyker F1 have debuted their heavily updated version of their 2007 car last week in testing at Monza. The team brought the car to last round's Turkish GP but failed an important rear crash safety test and were forced to revert back to their standard 2007 challenger.

Spyker were happy to pass the saftey test after installing improved parts and got to put valuable time into shaking down the car ahead of the Italian GP also held at the Monza circuit.

The B-spec car is a major update spear headed by the work of chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne who joined the Dutch team following the completion of the car that has thus far contested the 2007 season.