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2008 Calendar
Mar 16 - Australia
Mar 23 - Malaysia
Apr 6 - Bahrain
Apr 27 - Spain
May 11 - Turkey
May 25 - Monaco
June 8 - Canada
June 22 - France
July 6 - Great Britain
July 20 - Germany
Aug 3 - Hungary
Aug 24 - Europe
Sep 7 - Belgium
Sep 14 - Italy
Sep 28 - Singapore*
Oct 12 - Japan
Oct 19 - China
Nov 2 - Brazil
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For all you tifosi, we have something new for you... The Tifosi Blog!
For those of you that are regular in our Tifosi Forum already found out about the great news a few weeks ago... the return of our TC founder: Enrico!
Not only is Enrico back, but he will be managing the Tifosi Blog, updating it with great news as only him can do, as he has done for many years here at Tifosi Club.
Click here to access the Tifosi Blog.
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Australia 2008 - TC Race Report
The Australian Atrocity
 (TC) - After a tumultuous 2007 that left many Tifosi and F1 fans alike in a state of apparent self imposed shock, all the F1 world looked forward to a new beginning, a season of hope for all, a clean slate for a team disgraced, a new reigning World Champion, and most of all a new series of questions to be answered.
Would Ferrari keep their momentum going from their miraculous 2007 Championship Finale?
Would McLaren continue to benefit from the data they stole in the prior campaign?
Who would join Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton in the title fight?
Is Lewis Hamilton for real, or is he just another hot young commodity in the same mold as Jacques Villeneuve? A driver that begins his career on top of the world, only to be discovered as a mediocre pilot with the good fortune to find himself in an exceptional machine.
How would the elimination of Traction Control impact the racing?
While these questions were not all answered in Australia, the hints to the answers were given, and certain drivers and teams have made progress in the right direction, while others are left searching for answers.
2008 marks the 12th year that the Formula One World Championship opened the season in Australia. Generally, Ferrari has been quite successful in the land down under, which makes the venue a welcome sight for the team and Tifosi alike. There was a more than reasonable expectation that 2008 would be no different. Talk of the F2008’s superiority had run rampant during all winter testing, with many expecting the Ferrari to be as much as half a second per lap quicker than the McLaren.
Friday practice started and ended on the right foot with Ferrari topping the timesheets in the first session and ended the day with the quickest overall time of the weekend. In the Saturday morning third practice session, the weekend’s perplexity began to manifest itself. The BMWs, Red Bulls, Williams, Renault and Honda topped the time sheets. The fastest Ferrari or McLaren was Felipe Massa in 11th, followed by Hamilton in 12th, and Kimi mired in 14th. These strange session results almost foreshadowed the race to come.
Qualifying was reasonable for Felipe Massa, who started 4th, but Kimi suffered a fuel pressure problem, which relegated him to 15th on the grid. Given the perceived Ferrari superiority, most assumed they’d get to see Kimi cut through the field like a hot knife through butter. And when the lights went out, it wasn’t that far from reality.
Race day brought record temperatures as the grid lined up in a 38-degree dry heat. Hamilton made good use of his pole position and led cleanly into the first corner, despite what appeared to be significant wheel spin at launch. McLaren have obviously maximized their electronics to work well with the ECU that they now provide the entire field. Kubica in the surprising BMW tucked in behind Hamilton and Massa followed, only to inexplicably spin his Ferrari without any contact from another driver. The elimination of traction control obviously having an impact on Massa, made itself felt in the first corner. Further back in the first corner Vettel tangled his Torro Rosso with Fisichella’s Force India causing the safety car to be deployed.
A silver lining was the brilliant Ferrari decision to start the race on the soft compound tires, which caught the entire field by surprise. This decision and a terrific start vaulted Kimi up through the field. By the time the Safety Car gathered the pack, Kim had gone from 15th to 8th position. Perhaps all was not lost.
As the Safety Car came in Kimi followed the former Ferrari pilot Rubens Barrichello for the restart. It became apparent after a series of laps that the Ferrari was very heavy on fuel as Kimi struggled to get past Rubens. Kimi languished behind Rubens for 15 agonizing laps, only to make a great pass on lap 17. Kimi needed to stay within 25 seconds of Hamilton to have chance of a one-stop strategy victory. Kubica is the first to pit, showing BMW’s hand as running a bit lighter than the rest. Hamilton pits the following lap. Interestingly, the BMW and McLaren could be closer in performance than anyone expected.
Hamilton re-joins the race in 4th, with Raikkonen 12 seconds adrift. The Ferrari one stop strategy might just work. Trulli retires on Lap 20, bringing Kimi up to 5th, followed by the pit stop of Heidfeld’s BMW and Rosberg’s Williams, puts Kimi into P3. Kovalainen’s McLaren pits from the lead and re-joins directly in front of Kimi. Perfect McLaren team orders, as Kovalainen can strategically hinder the pace of his countryman. Kimi must get past Heikki if he is to have a chance of Victory.
Almost as if an omen, Massa and Couthard tangle and bring out the Safety Car. This is just the break Ferrari needs, as the Safety Car will prevent Hamilton from running away into the sunset as his team mate strategically blocks the Ferrari. If Ferrari time Kimi’s pit lap properly, they can rejoin within 20 seconds of Hamilton, who still has a stop to make himself. An almost unthinkable victory could be possible for the Scuderia.
On Lap 30, the race restarted and everything went very, very wrong. Kimi made an aggressive move to the inside of Kovalainen, but the F2007 didn’t stick. It shot off course into the gravel trap. It appeared that Ferrari’s long first stint on the soft tires, combined with Kimi’s aggressiveness may have cost them. Kimi did a good job avoiding the tire wall and was able to re-join the race in last position. Due to the absurd attrition, that meant Kimi was in P11, and points were still possible. Not 10 seconds after Kimi, runs off track, Massa’s Ferrari comes to a halt.
In a matter of 15 seconds, the Ferrari day went from optimistic, to disastrous. Hopefully Kimi could salvage some points, but his Ferrari appeared wounded. On lap 42, Kimi made his second mistake of the day spinning while attempting to follow Timo Glock’s Toyota. With 14 laps remaining, Timo Glock brought out the final Safety Car period of the day with a spectacular crash after running wide and catapulting himself into the air. All as an unfortunate result of his Toyota running over what appeared to be a small bump in the grass. The resulting crash was similar to that which Michael Schumacher had in the 2006 event. Barrichello pitted under the safety car and subsequently ran the red light at pit out, leading to a disqualification for the Brazilian.
The final drama of the day came as Torro Rosso rookie driver Sebastian Bourdais led double World Champion Fernando Alonso in 4th place. Bourdais has shown that he is a tremendous talent winning 4 consecutive American Champ Car titles. Interestingly enough, Bourdais was contracted to Renault prior to leaving for America, and left as a result of Flavio Briatore choosing to give the Renault race seat to the driver he personally represented at the time, the young Fernando Alonso. As Bourdais masterfully held Alonso at bay, one couldn’t help but wonder if had Bourdais gotten the race seat, would he be the double World Champion today.
As the battle between Bourdais and Alonso raged on, Kimi’s Ferrari ground to a halt in the pit entrance. In almost poetic justice, the Ferrari engine in Bourdais’ Torro Rosso subsequently let go with 3 laps remaining. Out of the 6 Ferrari powered cars to start the event, none were remaining in the Australian Grand Prix.
Bourdais retirement left Alonso to battle with Kovalainen for 4th place, while Heidfeld in his BMW and Rosberg in his Williams had driven solid races behind Hamilton to secure the final podium positions. A mistimed pit stop behind the safety car had cost McLaren the opportunity of a 1-2 finish with Hamilton and Kovalainen. The result was Heikki’s McLaren nose buried under Alonso’s Renault gearbox. With 2 laps remaining, Heikki made a brilliant pass of Alonso, only to inexplicably lose the position on the final lap by inadvertently pushing the pit lane speed limiter button on the steering wheel. It was a gift for Renault, and an ulcer for Ron Dennis and McLaren.
Lewis Hamilton crossed the finish line with the 5th win of his young career, all from pole position interestingly. It was the most eventful Formula One race since Fuji 2007, which interestingly enough, Hamilton also won. Rosberg and Heidfeld were deservingly overjoyed at making the podium, and when the final tally of cars was classified, only 6 cars were running at the finish. This is the lowest number since the 2005 USGP, Michelin Tire debacle. The disqualification of Barrichello meant that 2 cars were awarded points, although not running. Bourdais and Raikkonen were the benefactors, so all was not entirely lost for the Scuderia. After all the 2007 championship was won by a solitary point.
It appeared that some questions about the season were answered, and others were simply hinted at, but one thing is certain; the loss of traction control definitely contributed to the lack of finishers. Whether it was a car spinning inexplicably, or an engine failure, I suspect both were a result of the new regulations and the spec McLaren-Microsoft standard ECU. With less than one week to prepare for the Malaysian Grand Prix, I suspect we will see more of the same, only with both Red cars on the top steps of the podium. The winds of change blow frequently in F1, and unfortunately for Ferrari Melbourne 2008 was a disaster, but as Ferrari President Luca Di Montezemolo said post-race:
“I cant wait for Sunday to see the real Ferrari.”
- Tifosi-Club.com
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Click here for the Bahrain 2008 - TC Race Report!
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Click here for the Malaysia 2008 - TC Race Report!
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Click here for a sneak peak of the new Tifosi Club!
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