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After nearly completing season one of The F1 Game, I have realised that the points scoring system was not working correctly with additional points being added where they were not earned. No one has lost out since the extra points added have been even across the board and have affected everyone equally but, that said, I feel it only fair to modify the system now the error has been spotted.
The next race will see the new points scoring system fully in place and I have also taken this opportunity to slightly modify the points awarded meaning that those at the back of the field have a better chance of catching up with those at the front. Too late really to have any impact on the 2008 F1 season, these changes should mean a more even spread during the 2009 season. The new points system is now on show on the rules page if you would like to see it for yourself.
Source:Magus Perde
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Ferrari’s Felipe Massa has been declared the winner of Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix after McLaren’ Lewis Hamilton was handed a 25-second time penalty following the race. Hamilton drops to third place as a result, with BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld moving up to second. McLaren plan to appeal the decision.
Hamilton was penalised after stewards decided he had gained an advantage by cutting the final chicane in his late-race battle with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. Raikkonen crashed out shortly after the incident, having the led the bulk of the race up to that point.
"I have often said that the race is not over until the official results are published and that was the case today," said Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali. "As usual, Ferrari will not comment on the stewards' decision. After the race, we were called to the stewards and we explained our position.
"We are very disappointed for Kimi, who had driven a great race and deserved the win, especially at this rather difficult time. This result is obviously very important for our championship hopes: now we must maintain maximum concentration and prepare as well as possible for the forthcoming races."
McLaren insisted they had little choice but to appeal the stewards' decision, given that Hamilton had immediately surrendered the lead back to Raikkonen on the start-finish straight, before then passing the Finn going into the La Source hairpin.
"We looked at all our data and also made it available to the FIA stewards," said the team. "It showed that, having lifted, Lewis was 6km/h slower than Kimi as they crossed the start-finish line. Having passed the lead back to Kimi, Lewis repositioned his car, moving across and behind Kimi to the right-hand line and then out-braked him into the hairpin. Based on this data, we have no option other than to register our intention to appeal."
The revised result means that rather than extending his championship lead over Massa, Hamilton now sees it cut, with the Briton heading the Brazilian by just two points, 76 to 74, with five races remaining.
Assuming their right to appeal is accepted, McLaren's case against Hamilton's penalty will be heard by the FIA's International Court of Appeal at a date to be determined.
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On a personal note I am stunned by this decision. Whether you support Hamilton, Raikkonen, both or neither, Hamilton had clearly given back the place he gained as a result of going through the corner. It was then only a question of chasing down the slow Raikkonen as the wet track made progress difficult for him. According to this decision by the FIA, any driver who overtook any other driver during this race should have also had a 25 second penalty - a ridiculous decision!
Source:formula1.com & Magus Perde
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Ferrari’s Felipe Massa celebrated his 100th Grand Prix and made up for his late-race disappointment in Hungary by dominating Sunday’s European Grand Prix at Valencia from start to finish.
However, his victory was only confirmed once stewards had investigated his second pit stop on lap 37, in which he was deemed to have been released unsafely into the path of Force India’s Adrian Sutil. It resulted in a reprimand for the Brazilian and a hefty €10,000 fine.
It became clear almost immediately that McLaren and Lewis Hamilton would not be able to challenge the Ferrari this time, but he boosted his world championship points lead to 70 with a solid second-place finish, 5.6 seconds in arrears. Robert Kubica failed to get by Hamilton’s McLaren at the start, but brought his BMW Sauber home third ahead of Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren, Jarno Trulli’s Toyota and Sebastian Vettel, who continued Toro Rosso’s strong practice form with a good sixth place.
In a race remarkable for the dearth of serious overtaking, two incidents stood out: the first came on the 43rd lap when Kimi Raikkonen was released from his pit stop before the refuelling hose had been detached from his F2008. A mechanic was struck by the red car’s rear wing in the melee, and as he was being stretchered to the medical centre, the second incident occurred when Raikkonen’s engine apparently exploded as he went into his 46th lap.
That leaves Massa back in second place in the title chase with 64 points, while Kubica is back in the hunt, on Raikkonen’s tail, with 55 points to the Finn’s 57.
The final points went to Toyota’s Timo Glock and Williams’ Nico Rosberg, who led home BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld, Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais and Renault’s Nelson Piquet, with Red Bull’s Mark Webber, Honda’s Jenson Button, Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella, William’s Kazuki Nakajima, Honda’s Rubens Barrichello and Red Bull’s David Coulthard a lap down.
Nakajima was not popular with the Spanish fans after colliding with local hero Fernando Alonso’s Renault on the opening lap and wiping off its rear wing. To the intense chagrin of the crowd, the Spaniard’s car was too badly damaged to continue.
Besides Raikkonen, the only other non-finisher was Sutil, who crashed on lap 42.
Source:formula1.com
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McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen may have benefitted from others’ misfortune in Hungary on Sunday, but some would say it was merely payback for the poor luck he has previously suffered this season. It was a race that saw McLaren move into second place in the constructors’ standings, taking a sizeable chunk out of Ferrari’s lead in the process. The only consolation for the Italian team after that late engine failure was their revived race pace, which saw Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa score the two fastest laps of the race.
More upbeat were Toyota and Renault, who both got two cars home in the points after displaying genuine progress in Budapest. Seemingly going in the other direction were former 2008 race winners BMW Sauber, who left with only a single point after a highly disappointing weekend. We take a team-by-team look at the Hungarian Grand Prix…
McLaren
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 21.753s, P1
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 21.493s, P5
If McLaren had made the most of their front row positions in Hungary, they would have won from the front. As it was, Kovalainen won when Massa and Hamilton met trouble. Such are the vagaries of Formula One racing right now, especially at a place like the Hungaroring. The Finn played his usual second fiddle to the Englishman as Hamilton kicked himself and took the fight to Massa until his tyres began to suffer. But when Hamilton’s left front Bridgestone picked up the puncture that dropped him to his eventual fifth place finish, and Massa’s engine failed, Kovalainen was there to pick up the pieces. Sure he was lucky, but many times this season he hasn’t been. What goes around, comes around.
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 21.195s, P3
Felipe Massa, 1m 21.355s, P17, retired, engine failure, lap 68
How unlucky can you get? Massa had this one covered after grabbing his chance at the start, and would thoroughly have deserved a fourth 2008 victory that would have put him back in the lead of the world championship. Instead, fate had other ideas as his engine scattered. Raikkonen was off the pace for most of the race, but came alive on the softer Bridgestone rubber in the closing stages to chase Glock home for the final podium place. But even he admitted that this was his lucky day.
Toyota
Timo Glock, 1m 21.671s, P2
Jarno Trulli, 1m 21.638s, P7
Once upon a time Toyota’s strong qualifying performances were down to low fuel loads, but their joint best result (Glock’s second place) was a genuine achievement that bodes well for the progress the team are making. The young German was well in the fight for points all afternoon after beating Kubica to the first corner, while Trulli brought his car home seventh to bring the points haul up to 10. Only McLaren did better, with 14.
Renault
Fernando Alonso, 1m 21.793s, P4
Nelson Piquet, 1m 21.537s, P6
Yet again Renault scored good points, with Alonso fourth and Piquet continuing his recent upward trend with sixth place. The eight points put them ahead of Red Bull and into fifth place overall, one place off their target for the season, but the downside was Toyota’s 10 points for Glock’s second place and Trulli’s seventh which kept the Japanese manufacturer in fourth.
BMW Sauber
Robert Kubica, 1m 21.941s, P8
Nick Heidfeld, 1m 22.183s, P10
By BMW Sauber’s standard from earlier in the season, eighth place was a disaster, especially as Kubica started fourth on the grid. They were slow, and the Pole struggled for grip all the way through as he fought ‘massive oversteer’. Heidfeld’s decision to run with a single stop helped him pass three cars but otherwise condemned him to nurse the tyres on a fuel-heavy car all afternoon. To make things worse, they also lost second place in the constructors’ championship standings to McLaren.
Red Bull
Mark Webber, 1m 22.125s, P9
David Coulthard, 1m 22.732s, P11
For a while Webber looked a possible points contender, but Red Bull lacked pace this weekend. Coulthard did himself no favours after running wide in Turn Two at the start, climbed into the points before his fuel stop, and struggled throughout with oversteer.
Honda
Jenson Button, 1m 22.397s, P12
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 22.436s, P16
Button left the site of his sole Grand Prix victory (two years ago) bucked that Honda made some progress, even though he started and finished 12th. He made a poor start, got boxed in with too much wheelspin in Turn One, and then had to fight back. Barrichello made a good start, but then suffered from the team’s decision to start him on used front tyres and new rears which naturally affected the balance. Then a fuel rig problem led to a brief fire and a delay as the second rig was called into use.
Williams
Kazuki Nakajima, 1m 23.307s, P13
Nico Rosberg, 1m 22.397s, P14
This was another bitterly frustrating race for Williams. Rosberg lost ground at the start, then had a fuel rig problem which delayed him during his pit stop. Nakajima’s crew switched him to a single-stop race which did not pay off, and later he lost ground after a clash with Fisichella.
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Bourdais, 1m 23.220s, P18
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 24.222s, retired, overheating, lap 23
Bourdais’ race fell apart when back pressure in the fuel tank, due to the high ambient temperature, caused a fire. The extinguishant got on to his visor, and in the second stop when exactly the same thing happened it also got inside it. He needed a third stop to have the offending item cleaned up, and lost all chance of a decent placing. Vettel had an off-course adventure in the final corner early in the race and lost many places, and subsequently retired with overheating while leading his team mate.
Force India
Giancarlo Fisichella, 1m 22.641s, P15
Adrian Sutil, 1m 23.650s, retired, brakes, lap 63
Fisichella thought he extracted the most from his car all through the race and was encouraged by Force India’s pace compared to Williams, but Sutil had several off-course moments which were prompted by overheating brakes. The fronts were locking up regularly, promoting understeer, and he was eventually forced into retirement by a front right tyre puncturing and the brakes giving up.
Source:formula1.com
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Lewis Hamilton’s complete domination of Sunday’s Hockenheim race gave McLaren their first victory in Germany since 1998 and left championship rivals Ferrari scratching their heads. And for the first time this season Renault left a Grand Prix with something to celebrate, courtesy of rookie driver Nelson Piquet’s second-place finish. We take a team-by-team look at how the Hockenheim race played out...
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 16.039s, P1
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 16.495s, P5
Hamilton was simply irresistible, both in the early stages and then when he fought back from his safety-car hiatus. Nobody could stand in his way and he won virtually as he pleased. Kovalainen, however, had an unhappy time and just couldn’t get his tyres working properly when it mattered.
Ferrari
Felipe Massa, 1m 16.502s, P3
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 16.342s, P6
Ferrari had a bruising day but nevertheless came away with third and sixth place for Massa and Raikkonen. Initially Massa could not hold Hamilton’s pace, but in the middle of the race there wasn’t much to choose between them. Later, however, his Ferrari lost grip and suffered a brake problem, so he counted himself lucky to earn six points. Raikkonen was very unhappy with his car’s grip throughout, and finished glumly with only three points.
Renault
Nelson Piquet, 1m 16.910s, P2
Fernando Alonso, 1m 17.115s, P11
Prior to the race Alonso suggested it was about time that Piquet started earning points for Renault, and the young Brazilian proved the French team’s sole scorer as the Spaniard spun away his chances. A single-stop strategy lifted Piquet from a lowly initial placing to the lead thanks to the deployment of the safety car after Timo Glock’s shunt in the Toyota, and he hung on to second place once the irresistible Hamilton had retaken the initiative. Interestingly, Piquet also had a faster lap than Alonso this time.
BMW Sauber
Nick Heidfeld, 1m 15.987s, P4
Robert Kubica, 1m 16.610s, P7
Heidfeld was very happy when a long opening stint left him in a position to lead as others refuelled again when the safety car came out. Subsequently he dropped to fourth after refuelling again, but was quite satisfied after that, having started 12th. By contrast Kubica was very unhappy that his initial McLaren and Ferrari-matching pace gradually disappeared, leaving him powerless to fend off Raikkonen.
Toro Rosso
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 16.772s, P8
Sebastien Bourdais, 1m 16.969s, P12
Vettel was always a strong contender for the final point after a feisty performance that left both Jarno Trulli and Alonso in his wheel tracks. Bourdais got left behind initially, but was coming back at Alonso by the end.
Toyota
Jarno Trulli, 1m 17.023s, P9
Timo Glock, 1m 16.712s, retired lap 35, accident
Trulli ran strongly up until his second pit stop, whereupon his Toyota’s balance steadily deteriorated and he slipped out of the points. Glock ran as high as third thanks to a long first stint, but then his right rear suspension broke and pitched him backwards into the pit wall on the 35th lap, bringing out the safety car. It was a big hit, but the young German was unharmed beyond a nasty bruising.
Williams
Nico Rosberg, 1m 17.380s, P10
Kazuki Nakajima, 1m 17.691s, P14
Not a happy race for Williams, although Rosberg said he quite enjoyed his run to 10th and was in the hunt for eighth as he hounded Trulli in Vettel’s wake. Nakajima spun twice, and never looked impressive.
Red Bull
David Coulthard, 1m 16.994s, P13
Mark Webber, 1m 17.206s, retired lap 41, debris damage
Coulthard made a terrible start and lost five places, got trapped behind Honda’s Jenson Button for a long time, and later collided with Rubens Barrichello and spun. Webber was a lower points contender but sustained debris damage in Glock’s accident which split an oil cooler, prompting his retirement.
Force India
Adrian Sutil, 1m 17.889s, P15
Giancarlo Fisichella, 1m 18.208s, P16
Sutil spun but still managed to catch and pass Fisichella, who pitted at the wrong time and was given a 25-second penalty to his race time which dropped him from 14th to 16th.
Honda
Jenson Button, 1m 17.636s, P17
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 17.986s, retired lap 51, accident damage
Button struggled with a dire lack of grip on the hard Bridgestone tyre, and was never competitive, while Barrichello’s similarly unhappy race ultimately came to an end with significant damage to the Honda’s bargeboards following its collision with Coulthard and a stop for a replacement nose and front wing.
Source:formula1.com
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