Hamilton Just Blew Raikonen Off! - Benzworld.org

JimSmith · 09-09-2007, 07:13 AM

Watching the Monza GP. Alonso is way out in front, and Hamilton dropped to 3rd behind Raikonen after his last pit stop, then blew by Raikonen heading into a series of turns while Raikonen was doing something other than watching out. Awesome driving. That kid is pretty exciting to watch - makes F1 more interesting than it has been for quite a while with Schu-baby running away with every race for nearly a decade. Jim

**Bruce R.** · 09-09-2007, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimSmith

Watching the Monza GP. Alonso is way out in front, and Hamilton dropped to 3rd behind Raikonen after his last pit stop, then blew by Raikonen heading into a series of turns while Raikonen was doing something other than watching out. Awesome driving. That kid is pretty exciting to watch - makes F1 more interesting than it has been for quite a while with Schu-baby running away with every race for nearly a decade. Jim

There is no doubt that Hamilton is one hell of a driver, but keep in mind that Kimi was in quite a wreck the day before. They pulled the engine out of that wreck and stuck it in a new car to keep from losing 10 spots on the grid.
It appears to me that Alonso can't take the fact that Hamilton is as good, if not better than he is, and is doing all he can to screw over him. Alonso appears to be even screwing the entire team just to try and keep his "Champion" status alive. That seems a bit sad really.
At this point I tend to like Massa, Kimi, and Hamilton, in that order, but still like Mercedes over Ferrari even thiugh that doesn't seem to make much sense.....

gerkebi · 09-09-2007, 07:44 AM

Yeah, that was a great move. I was watching as well. Going to be an interesting week with all this spy-gate stuff going on. Ron Dennis sure looked relieved after the race!

JimSmith · 09-09-2007, 08:11 AM

I don't get the spy-gate stuff at all. Is anyone suggesting the various teams do not try to spy on and understand what the other ones do? And the pretty small group of really talented car designers seem to circulate between the well financed teams pretty freely throughout their careers. So what is the significance of the passing of trade secrets from one team to another when the secrets were not used in the design of the presently competing model? If there is a legal concern that violates a legally binding employment contract provision, well, the individuals should be fired or fined or dealt with as the employers see fit and is allowed by the law. But I fail to see a reason to let this spill into the goings on on the track, especially on race day. Jim

gerkebi · 09-09-2007, 09:48 AM

McLaren suspect timing of police probe
(GMM) McLaren has hit out at the "nature and timing" of the Italian police's visit to the Monza paddock on Saturday.

Ron Dennis and other team chiefs were served with notices of pending criminal prosecutions relating to the spy saga just prior to qualifying, but the Woking based outfit insisted in a statement on Sunday that no-one was "charged with anything".

"We strongly suspect that the nature and timing of this wholly unnecessary contact, just before the start of qualifying, was to disrupt our preparation for this important session and Thursday's World Motor Sport Council hearing," the statement added.

The British team also found a paddock ally on Sunday in the form of 1994 McLaren driver Martin Brundle.

He wrote in his column for The Times that the saga seems to have turned into a "witch-hunt", and pointed a critical finger at F1's governing body.

"Inside the paddock we can't fathom how, previously, two Toyota F1 employees can be handed prison sentences for industrial espionage using Ferrari software, yet the FIA was not interested in getting involved, and how Colin Kolles from Spyker could walk down the pit lane with a drawing from rival Toro Rosso presented as evidence of cloned cars, yet the FIA took no action," he wrote.

Brundle said his sense is of a wider struggle, possibly relating back to Dennis' stance against the FIA in past years, including the touted 'breakaway' world championship.

"Is the FIA looking for McLaren heads to roll?" he wondered.

Bernie Ecclestone, however, insists that if McLaren is found guilty of espionage, the team must be punished -- irrespective of the possible ramifications for the title battle and also things like disaffected sponsors.

F1's chief executive said: "If you let someone get away with that, what's next? Then after that you let them get away because you've let that get away, what comes after that?

Jakarta Expat · 09-09-2007, 09:52 AM

Hey Jim it was not that big a move considering the wreck of a car that Kimi was driving by the end of the race, he finished a full 20 seconds behind Hamilton so it was not that hard to catch him and pass him. Let's see what happens by the end of the week with this spygate, end the end McLaren lied about the info they got illegally and now they are caught.

JimSmith · 09-09-2007, 10:03 AM

Jak-
Seems the post race interview gave the real details. Raikonen's neck was too sore from his wreck the day before to hold his head up in hard braking so he wasn't doing much of it and when he did his head bobbed down. He wasn't looking when Hamilton took him, because he was unable to. It was still a pretty gutsy move, as Hamilton didn't know of the neck injury's effect.

As for spygate, well, lets see what happens. Seems to me the individuals responsible have been identified and are being punished. I doubt anyone was operating under orders from McLaren's management team when they stole whatever it is they stole. Also I doubt the whole theft was injurious to Ferrari in any way. They are losing because they have reliablity issues and are being challenged with new McLaren capabilities that were developed before the theft took place. And now Ferrari is attempting to use it to gain an advantage over the McLaren team. I guess all is fair here. Just seems like bullshit to bring to the track. If a crime has been committed, let the courts sort it out. I am not particularly impressed with the FI organization's ethics so hearing them spout off is almost offensive. Jim

Jakarta Expat · 09-09-2007, 10:08 AM

Sorry Jim seems you are more informed than I as I missed the post race interview talking to the wife before she was going back to the apartment while I am laid up here in the hospital.

As for Spygate I hear you but if McLaren did not get anything out of it and if they were innocent then why lie?

JimSmith · 09-09-2007, 10:11 AM

Not sure what the lie was. The inspection of their cars showed nothing from the stolen technical data has been used to modifiy the machines or the software. And, since the eruption of the scandal, the McLaren team continues to dominate. I think it is the drivers who are doing the work, and where was Alonso last year anyway? Jim

Jakarta Expat · 09-09-2007, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimSmith

Not sure what the lie was. The inspection of their cars showed nothing from the stolen technical data has been used to modifiy the machines or the software. And, since the eruption of the scandal, the McLaren team continues to dominate. I think it is the drivers who are doing the work, and where was Alonso last year anyway? Jim

I think it would be interesting to see the emails and the shared info in those emails from De La Rosa to Alonso only then would we really know what McLaren got out of this spygate but if they got nothing then why hide the email traffic in the first place, I think that was the lie. Let's see what comes of the investigation but if they got anything out of the Ferrari data may God help them.