Yesterday didn’t really give us too much concrete information to work on. It looked as though Ferrari had the edge, slightly, which is surprising considering the cold conditions. Hamilton appeared to be on top form, but his afternoon times didn’t seem to reflect that. Alonso managed to put the boot in, by topping the timesheets at the very last second, which has no doubt set some minds whirling.
Going into Saturday in Brazil, early weather forecasts look like the rain has cleared up for the moment. We saw some very light rain yesterday, but it appears today will be dry. The wind may be a factor, a couple of drivers complained that things were tricky for them during the first two practice sessions.
For today, we will still need to be keeping an eye on the Massa and Hamilton battle, but there are plenty of other drivers to look out for. Kubica was running quite far down the order for a lot of Friday, and although improvements came for both BMW drivers by the end of the day, it’s worth watching. BMW are notorious for not worrying about speed during practice, however, so I’m sure they will prove me wrong.
Free Practice 3 should be all about the tyres, as well. With the damp track yesterday, we saw a couple of spins, and a lot of drivers were concerned about getting the most out of the tyres, especially the soft compound. Graining seemed to be a problem, but thankfully the dreaded bumps appear to not have resurfaced… yet.
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It was a quiet start to the weekend, with Massa and Alonso getting the first chance at glory. Hamilton wasn’t far behind though, and the damp track sets things up nicely for qualifying.
Free Practice 1
It was all about Massa and Hamilton as they duked it out for the first taste of headlines. Massa won this round, whilst Kimi found himself spinning round.
Free Practice 2
Alonso took some of the heat off the two championship rivals by stealing the top spot, and Trulli also finished well up the order, despite not feeling too well yesterday.
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With the track declared wet, it wasn’t as slow a session as I was expecting. Although, having said that, it wasn’t as wet as I was expecting either. We saw some light rain throughout the session, which made things a little bit slippery, but no one was particularly harmed. Weather predictions still have rain at about 60%, so we will have to wait and see whether this comes true or not.
Raikkonen waited much too long to come out of the garage, and was rewarded with a bit of a spin, however he recovered enough to finish 3rd fastest. In fact, the Ferrari’s sandwiched Hamilton, with Massa ahead, but all three are only split by two tenths of a second.
Both Honda boys were doing pretty well, although they were gradually pushed down the order and finished in 14th and 15th. However, they were higher up the order than Nakajima, Vettel, and Coulthard, which is good for them and not so for the drivers listed. Coulthard will no doubt be especially disappointed, as his new white and brown livery needs as much exposure as possible. He did only complete 19 laps though, compared to hardest working man Piquet’s 39.
What should we look out for in FP2 then? Depending on the weather, of course, Hamilton will probably want to finish the day with his name at the top of at least one timesheet. I imagine, and hope, that Kimi will want to run some more laps, as the Ferrari looked like it would take some getting used to out in the damp conditions.
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Please don’t forget to update your Fantasy Racers team.
Here we go then, the last chance to change your Fantasy Racers lineup and get maximum points in this season finale race. I honestly considered giving this race some proper thought, and picking my drivers based on what I’ve seen out on track. Then I thought: naaah. I promise, wholeheartedly, that next year I will actually try.
This week, I’ve taken the Brazilian theme and run with it, picking all three drivers for whom it is a home race. I’ve also picked Bourdais, just because, and Sutil because he’s all I could afford with the money I had left.
| Name |
Price (£m) |
| Adrian Sutil |
3.90 |
| Felipe Massa |
12.50 |
| Nelsinho Piquet |
6.90 |
| Rubens Barrichello |
6.50 |
| Sébastien Bourdais |
5.10 |
| Total |
34.90 |
That may actually be the closest I’ve ever managed to come to the 35m limit, so I’m secretly quite impressed. I’ve no idea how Sidepodcast Racers will fare this week, but let’s be honest, it’s not going to make much difference.
The cutoff point is 5pm GMT, which will be two thirds of the way through FP2, so don’t wait until the end thinking you can be all clever and change it then. As ever, visit Fantasy Racers and select your team, but more importantly, come back and let us know who you’re running and why.
It’s the 31st October, and Halloween, meaning everyone should be thinking about pumpkins, trick or treating, and fancy dress. Not us! Today is all about Interlagos and what’s going to happen this weekend. Free Practice has never been more important, as we try to gain the slightest inkling of who’s going to have the upper hand over the weekend.
If it rains, however, which is looking more and more likely (60% chance at the time of writing), we will probably not see an awful lot of action. Therefore, we will just have to make assumptions based on what we already know.
We know that Hamilton and McLaren are feeling quietly confident, but aware that no race weekend is entirely straight forward. Word on the street is that the team are bringing a new rear wing and other aerodynamic bits and pieces, even at this late stage of the game. It could be a risky business, as rear wings are integral to the performance of the car. However, I can’t believe they would jump in without whole-heartedly believing it will make them faster, so that will be something to look out for.
Meanwhile, in the Ferrari camp, Massa says he’s completely optimistic that he can win the title. I suppose you’d have to be, wouldn’t you? We’ve made a lot of the fact that he knows his only job is to win, and the rest is up to fate. Raikkonen seems a little bit more realistic about the fact, saying that Massa will need a complete miracle to clinch the title from seven points behind. Presumably he’d prefer that lightning doesn’t strike twice, and he remains the comeback king in championship showdowns.
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And so it is, the final race of the 2008 season. This championship has simply flown by and now it all comes down to this final weekend in Brazil.
Autódromo José Carlos Pace is the destination as Sidepodcast takes a flying lap around the track that will host the deciding race on Sunday. Both trophies are still up for grabs, so join Christine as she looks at the current state of play and looks back upon the dramatic events that took place here in ‘07.
Toyota have little to gain and little to lose this weekend, so it’ll come as no surprise that their attention is already wandering into preparations for next year. The Formula 1 circus never rests, so please enjoy the very last Sidepodcast preview for this year.
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This is it, the big 2008 season showdown between Ferrari and McLaren. It’s all to play for, so F1 Digest is here to preview the event and catch up with how all the teams are preparing for the final race of the year.
Vital Statistics
- Date: 2nd November
- Circuit: Interlagos
- Length: 4.3km
- Laps: 71
- 2007 Winner: Kimi Raikkonen
Preview
We’ve got three drivers gearing up for their home race, and all wanting to do well. Only two drivers are battling for the championship, but many others want to consolidate their positions or rise up if they can. Plus, David Coulthard and Sebastian Vettel will both be racing for the last time in their teams.
The second edition of the popular Sidepodpanel, and our inaugural episode with a guest host. Alex Andronov takes the helm and discusses the upcoming championship decider, plus green F1 and Kovi’s future.
Joining us on tonight’s panel:
There are plenty of topics up for grabs this week, including a throw in question from Scott Woodwiss, and there’s even an impromptu engine impersonation competition. It would be a shame to miss out on our panelists fine efforts.
A whistle-stop tour through all the news and feedback that’s occurred following on from China and ahead of the season finale Brazilian Grand Prix.
Intro
There’s no such thing as an off-season in the Sidepodcast World.
Good Week / Bad Week
Good week for circuits, as Portugal will be hosting a test in December, and the Montreal officials believe they may be back on track to getting on the 2009 calendar. Bad week for Nigel Stepney as he’s in the news again, and for Ferrari because who likes bikes anyway?
News and Views
The FIA and FOTA got together to make lots of decisions and came up with two. We discuss the promise and pitfalls of all that engine business. We also take a look at what seats are left for the many drivers that want to get into Formula 1 next season, and whether Bourdais might have his seat for certain.
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It feels like a long time since we recorded a podcast without having a race to talk about, but that’s exactly what’s on the cards this evening. There’s still plenty of news to discuss, and a Sidepodpanel scheduled directly after the Debrief recording is finished.
Here at Sidepodcast Towers, we are struggling to work out what time it is, as Daylight Savings came to an end during Saturday night, and we got an hour back. I think. We streamed an Inside Track recording yesterday and were on time, so if that happens again today, you’ll know we’ve got it sussed.
There were so many buffering problems last week, that we took the initiative and set up our own Sidepodcast video server. It’s something that had been intended as an off-season project, but the need became too great, and many late nights followed.
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