My Favorite Driver Photos

Kimi Raikkonen looks his usual self - by far the grumpiest looking photo of the group I saw on autosport.com which makes me wonder if they intentionally picked this photo to villainify the Iceman.

Rubens has the best facial expression of them all. He looks like F1's only pirate!

Let the Post Season Begin

Less than a week into the post season and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen is champion... for now. A stunning start in Brazil combined with ill timed malfunctions in his title competitor's car and Raikkonen smiled like the Formula 1 world had never seen.

In fitting form the season ends with a question mark following another legal appeal to change the outcome of events. Banned British team McLaren Mercedes has voiced their desire to appeal on a fuel temperature issue.

Meanwhile, the forces that be in the FIA, World Motorsports Council and Manufacturers have agreed that F1 will freeze all engine development in the years to come.

20 weeks until Melbourne.

Find out the latest in the latest edition of the Rampage Racing Report

Raikkonen Takes Victory and Surpise Title in Brazil

Kimi Raikkonen is the best driver in the world. Fact.

Raikkonen took the world driver's title by surprise after heading into the final round of the season with a seven point deficit behind rookie Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton's hopes all but dissolved after an electrical glitch crippled his car dropping him to 18th position. The McLaren driver managed to claw back to seventh place but it wasn't enough to stop Raikkonen's charge to his first ever title. Raikkonen's teammate and home crowd favorite Felipe Massa made it another Ferrari 1-2 finish.

Spanish double world champion Fernando Alonso who came into the weekend just 4 points back of the title did not challenge the Ferraris after the third lap and ended the season behind Raikkonen and Hamilton in 3rd place.

This may have been the fianl race for Alonso at McLaren at the close of this tumultuous season.

Brazilian Fans Erupt In Joy For Massa

As Lewis Hamilton crossed the line just a tenth of a second off of Felipe Massa's pole qualifying time the Brazilian fans joyously roared their support for their fellow Brazilian.

Massa, now out of championship contention, has only the pride of his nation to race for on Sunday. By contrast Hamilton races to become the first ever rookie world champion in Formula 1 history.

Starting from third is Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen who enters into the race seven points behind Hamilton. Raikkonen got held up in qualifying behind Hamilton as the rookie left the pitlane and wasn't sufficiently clear of Raikkonen who flew by on his hot lap.

Final contender for the championship is Fernando Alonso who could not get his car further than fourth in qualifying and will start the race from the dirty side of the second row.

Australian Marc Webber put his Reb Bull team on the third row ahead of both BMW's.

1. F. Massa - Ferrari
2. L. Hamilton - McLaren
3. K. Raikkonen - Ferrari
4. F. Alonso - McLaren
5. M. Webber - Red Bull Racing
6. N. Heidfeld - BWM
7. R. Kubica - BMW
8. J. Trulli - Toyota

The Ultimate Round of the Season

The 2007 Formula One World Drivers Championship concludes this long year by treating its fans to a three way show down for the title this weekend in Brazil.

This round determines which driver has earned the right to call himself the best in the world.

Lewis Hamilton landed in Brazil with a seven point lead over teammate and reigning double world champion Fernando Alonso. Fierce intra-team battle awaits the McLaren duo with the pressure on Alonso to defend his titles against the rookie sensation with just 3 points separating the two.

Kimi Raikkonen on the other hand rides the victory momentum of China in a sport where momentum is the name of the game.

The Final Race.

 RRR 26 - Click here to listen...

Raikkonen Wins On Hamilton Error

A beet red Kimi Raikkonen took his fifth win of the 2007 season for Ferrari at the Shanghai International Circuit after a costly pitlane error by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton shot into the wet pit lane carrying too much speed for a badly damaged rear tire to handle, cut the turn-in and parked the car in the gravel pit-side. The rookie had a 12 point lead over teammate Fernando Alonso; 17 over Raikkonen.

Raikkonen's win brings him within seven points of Hamilton while Alonso closes the gap to four with his second place finish.

Felipe Massa filled out the rest of the podium in third place.

Scuderia Toro Rosso triumphed as 20 year-old Sebastien Vettel brought the team its best finish ever with a fourth place drive. Teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi slotted in at 6 making it another first for the team; first time both cars finished in the points.

The mild rain did its job as equalizer with great finishes for normally slow teams. STR did a great job. Honda brought Jenson Button home with his best finish of the season in fifth.

The most interesting part of the race was witnessing rookie Lewis Hamilton make a driver error. The McLaren driver over-used his tires exposing the inner bands and hit the pit lane too quickly.

Hamilton's impatience gifted Alonso and Raikkonen the chance to do battle for the championship in the final round at Brazil.

Fittingly, the title fight has ended in Brazil in the previous two seasons and will do so again in 2007.

1. K. Raikkonen
2. F. Alonso
3. F. Massa
4. S. Vettel
5. J. Button
6. V. Liuzzi
7. N. Heidfeld
8. D. Coulthard

6th Pole Of The Season

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton added another pole position to his resume in Shanghai.

The Britain narrowly edged out the two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.

Teammate Fernando Alonso made his 12 point battle even more difficult by failing to out qualify Hamilton. Alonso needs to score at least two points more than Hamilton this weekend to keep his title hopes alive.

Qualifying took place in dry conditions but the forecast calls for a 90% chance of rain in the afternoon. Teams like Renault and Williams appeared to be good in the corners but slow in a straight line. Results like those suggest the teams are set up with rain in mind and could be kick if it pours like it did in Japan!

1. L. Hamilton
2. K. Raikkonen
3. F. Massa
4. F. Alonso
5. D. Coulthard
6. R. Schumacher
7. M Webber
8. N. Heidfeld
9. R. Kubica
10. J. Button

Operation Egg Roll Is A Go

Imagine trying to get a good night of sleep when you know that the $450 million investment of the entire team is in the air.

Lewis Hamilton awaits the decision by the stewards at the Chinese Grand Prix about his involvement in a collision in the rain last week.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen looks too far back to be a contender for the title - a 5th place finish for Hamilton takes care of the Finn.

If Hamilton wins the Chinese GP he becomes the youngest world champion in the 57 year history of Formula 1. Oh, and watch out for imminent dragon attacks!

Listen to the podcast - always free!

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!

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.

To Monza They Go

McLaren rookie Lewis Hamilton took to the Italian track on the first day of testing and was able to set the fastest time of the day. Monza is the track where Hamilton secured his GP2 championship last season before joining the silver arrows of McLaren.

Hamilton just edged out Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and BMW's Nick Heidfeld in a slightly short session that ended in afternoon rain showers.

The teams intend to pick back up tomorrow for more running barring potential day long storms. This year the F1 has introduced much tighter limits to testing and if rain is in the forecast the teams may choose to stay an additional day so as not to waste test time on wet weather runs.

Preceding this weeks test and following race, Monza track officials resonded to long time driver requests to replace the gravel run off areas at the second chicane with ashphalt runoff zones.

The Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA) pleded for changes to accomodate safety concerns associated with chance of lift off in the gravel areas. Monza is the fastest circuit of the season and with the guard rails so close to the track great attention to safety detail must be taken.

Efforts of the such help to ensure comfort among the drivers whilst traveling so quickly and with minimal aerodynamic downforce.

Massa Does it Again!

History repeated itself this weekend as Ferrari's Felipe Massa took his second consecutive win in Turkey leading from pole to checkered flag.

Bad luck struck rookie championship leader Lewis Hamilton blew a tire just before his second pitstop dropping him from 3rd to 5th. The tire incident benefited Hamilton's teammate Fernando Alonso who now is just 5 points out of the lead with 5 races remaining in the season.

Massa usurps 3rd place from his teammate Kimi Raikkonen by one point but still lies 15 points back. Raikkonen brought home his second consecutive P2 finish in another boring race for the Finn.

Points scorers:
1. Massa
2. Raikkonen
3. Alonso
4. Heidfeld
5. Hamilton
6. Kovalainen
7. Rosberg
8. Kubica

British GP Review - Rampage Racing Report 17

After a long weekend in France the teams packed up and rushed off to Great Britain for round 9 of the championship at Silverstone Circuit. Last weekend Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari proved he had better come to terms with the Ferrari and quickly passed Lewis Hamilton off of the starting line. Raikkonen later passed Hamilton's teammate Fernando Alonso for P1 and took home his second win of the season.

This week the teams have to get right back at it and apply what they learned by testing at the English track two weeks ago. Expect a full house as rookie Lewis Hamilton races at home for the first time in an F1 car!

Check out the full report below:

 Click here to listen...

Ferrari Fastest of Friday

More than just fun alliteration, the Maranello Ferrari squad appeared to have great speed at Silverstone Circuit. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton took best time honors for free practice 1, but the the Ferrari's didn't try out the faster, softer Bridgestone compound. Free practice 2 saw Kimi Raikkonen light up the time sheets as the fastest driver thus far putting up a 1:20.6 besting Hamilton's earlier time by .6 seconds.

Free practice 3 and Qualifying are tomorrow and the competition should be thick. England is the home race for 4 drivers on grid: David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Anthony Davidson, and rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton of McLaren who hopes to fight for his third victory this season.

Finally, Congratulations to the Uncle David (Coulthard) who scored a contract extention with Red Bull Racing for 2008!

More info - click here to listen!

Raikkonen Wins in France!

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen led teammate Felipe Massa to a dominating Ferrari 1-2 finish at the French Grand Prix. It marked the final appearance of the Circuit de Nevers on the F1 calendar.

The race was also the first that rookie, and points leader, Lewis Hamilton finished lower in the field than where he started scoring 6 points in third place. Raikkonen finally had a clutch to his liking and made his best start of the season passing Hamilton off of the starting line.

Congrats to Jenson Button from Honda F1 on his first point of the season!

Results:
1. Raikkonen
2. Massa
3. Hamilton
4. Kubica
5. Heidfeld
6. Fisichella
7. Alonso
8. Button

Blazingly fast Massa scores Pole!

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa turned in the fastest time in final qualifying to capture his fourth pole of the season from Magny-Cours, France.

Rookie Lewis Hamilton managed to put his McLaren on the front row next to Massa. Hamilton's teammate Fernando Alonso will start from a distant 10th after being hit by gearbox problems.

Pole sitter Massa's teammate Kimi Raikkonen made costly mistakes in qualifying earning him 3rd on the grid. The Ferrari team appear to be bouncing back after 3 rough performances in a row.