Ferrari's Felipe Massa has closed the gap separating him from F1 World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton to just two points, after being gifted an unexpected and unlikely victory in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
Felipe Massa has described the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend as 'a very strange race', after the Brazilian inherited a victory that has propelled him to within just two points of the Formula 1 World Championship lead.
Despite starting up on the front row of the grid, the tricky conditions around the challenging Ardennes circuit did not seem to suit Massa as well as they did his defending world champion Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen or McLaren-Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, who left the #2 scarlet machine trailing in their wheeltracks for much of the race, never closer than about four seconds to the leading pair.
Though the 27-year-old - arguably the sport's current in-form driver having consummately dominated proceedings in both Budapest and Valencia in recent weeks - did briefly threaten to join the party following the second round of pit-stops, the late onset of rain and Raikkonen's accident just two laps from home seemed to dissuade his charge somewhat, as he elected instead to settle for a safe second place, just over 14 seconds adrift of on-the-road winner Hamilton at the chequered flag.
"This was a very strange race," Massa acknowledged after being gifted the tenth win of his F1 career, "with the start and finish taking place in rather difficult conditions. After the start I thought Eau Rouge might be wetter and so I was a bit cautious. Kimi attacked and managed to get by. From then on I realised it would be hard to pass the two guys ahead of me, even if the lap times were quite similar.
"I tried to manage the situation, especially towards the end. When it started to rain, I had a pretty good margin over my closest pursuers and I preferred not to take any risks, especially given what was going on in front of me.
"Today the car wasn't perfectly balanced. On Saturday morning, we had slightly reduced the aerodynamic downforce, as you usually do for the race here, but today's track conditions definitely did not suit this choice. The hard tyres? They were definitely slower than the soft ones and lacked grip, which made the car a bit inconsistent in terms of balance."
Massa's success was also praised by both the Scuderia's team principal Stefano Domenicali and technical director Luca Baldisserri as a potentially pivotal moment in the title chase, with the battle for both drivers' and constructors' glory inexorably closing in.
"This result is obviously very important for our championship hopes," underlined Domenicali. "Now we must maintain maximum concentration and prepare as well as possible for the forthcoming races, starting at Monza where we will be racing in front of our home fans. We will also need their support at such a delicate point in the season."
"Felipe drove in a very calculating fashion," added Baldisserri, "without taking unnecessary risks when the conditions were really critical. The soft tyres worked very well, while the hard ones struggled a bit - we need to establish what caused this.
"As for the rest, the F2008 proved to be very competitive and the team worked in impeccable fashion throughout the race. Now we must continue to push, because we absolutely want to reach our objectives."
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FIA = Faggets In Action
Favouritism? Robbed? Unfair? What are you talking about? LH was only penalised 25 seconds and enjoyed third position while Kimi lost everything, points, podium and pride.
Was it fairer to disqualify LH for such a dangerous drive and suffer as what Kimi did.
if Massa is satisfied with this winn? do not ask like yuo did not ask Kowalainen about the win in Hungary is not his problem. L.H. was way in to an to argesiv behaviour. Probably the marshalls did better if thei bring in the safety car ( like in the USA ) when rain started.
If you don't want to watch, just don't do it.. plenty of fans are keen to watch... No harm to this sport!
The sport is now a sham, it was best race on the season by far, have watched every race for 20 od years, will not bother watching another, Lewis has no chance of winnining the title, as another bad decision will go agaist him and mclarlen, you watch.
arshad_iceman2 said= "If Massa is satisfied with this win he is characterless. Sometimes I think he is this good because he is in a Ferrari"
to arshad_iceman2
your post has nothing to do with the issue. Massa drove a careful and fair race. It's just that he happened to be on the 2nd place so demoting hamilton and giving him the victory is not his fault. Even if he doesn't accept the victory, he can't do it because that is the rule. let's focus on the issue, should hamilton be penalized or not?
I am not a big McLaren fan nor am I a big Ferrari fan - so no bias here. I am just an F1 fan. If this penalty holds up against Lewis Hamilton, I have to say farewell to F1 and the Speed Channel. I watched the initial broadcast of the SPA race and recorded it, and I can find no incident of blatant misconduct on Lewis Hamilton's part. After this, I can say [type] with a straight face that something is amiss here - either bias in favor of Ferrari / against Mclaren or [I hate to say it] racism or BOTH! The FIA's actions REEK.
What are the rules? If a driver relinquishes the gained position back to the passed driver after cutting the chicane, how far in front should he allow a driver to pass proceed? 1 - 2 seconds? 5 - 10 meters? Or the very same temporal lead before cutting the chicane? Is the 25 second chicane cutting penalty ubiquitous and obligatory?
I am sure you will all agree, there is no clear answer nor is there any uniformity to the way the FIA issues penalties. Wait. I take that back. There is uniformity; the penalties always go against McLaren.
I challenge anyone to cite an example of an FIA penalty against Ferrari when it involved a dispute against another team/manufacturer.
Tread carefully FIA and Mr. Ecklestone - the fans might just impose a multi-million dollar penalty on you!!!
It will all come out in the wash. The system is unfair if your team is getting thrashed by it. The system is fair enough for other forms of FIA racing so why pick on F1, people?
If Ferrari is favored, they sure didn't win the championship by much in the last season. I wouldn't go so far as to condemn the whole nation as one person did, good lord.
People, its just a frickin' car race. Check your perspective.
Don't like Lewis BUT he did the right thing gave the advantage back to Kimi.
Up to Kimi if he couldn't hold off Lewis not FIA.
On aggressive driving Kimi did well himself not only on lewis in the corner (he pushed lewis of the track) but clashed with his own team mate earlier in the race.
Well done FIA another great decision!!
Give the race back to lewis not your pay masters
I LOVE the Ferrari team but Hamilton did everything right to win the race. He even immediately gave up his position after cutting the corner. This decision is terribled for the sport.
F.I.A = Ferrari International Assistance.
Congratulations to the stewards for penalizing Hamilton, it was the right thing to do.
Hamilton drives way to aggressively, posing a hazard to others. Let's see, this year he has already crashed into the back of Alonso and Raikonnen, and also been penalized for cutting corners twice. None of the other drivers in top cars have such an awful record.
It is time to force Hamilton to follow the rules like everybody else does.
Jay
I don't know Massa personaly, although I've met him a number of times, but I would guess he will gladly take the win, but it will not be his proudest moment, and will cringe if asked about it. He seems a good and decent guy, and will be a worthy champion if luck is with him, but this was Hamiltons race, regardless of what anyone says. LH will win many more, but will no doubt remember this one with more than a litte anger.
See below on how to cut corners in a ferrari and FIA turn a blind eye to it!
Do a search in youtube for these-
Pedro De La Rosa overtakes Michael Schumacher Hungary 2006
& again
Magyar Nagydij-M.Schumacher vs De la rosa (See @5min:12)
See how Ferrari gets away it in the same situation
sagittarius1958, I think you may be right. I was involved in motor racing as a fire marshall a few years ago. We were concerned then that some of the rules being made could eventually stagnate the sport. I hope I am wrong, but motor racing is motor racing, and if you shackle it with too many "safety rules" you are in danger of turning what still is an exciting sport into a bore. In my opinion, what Hamilton did was not wrong. He conceded to Raikkonen then overtook him straight afterwards. If Kimi was not quick enough in those conditions to keep in the lead then so be it. Lewis is good in wet weather just as Senna was. Remeber some of his races. I've marshalled for him. But times have changed, I know. But I don't think they're all for the best. I hope common sense in this matter will prevail. Personally, I would give the race to Hamilton. Kind regards.
If these are rules, as stated by sagittarius1958, then I've got some more suggestions for the FIA. Why not have an indicator system fitted to the cars as well, a speed limiter, headlights, baby seats and a safety grille at the back for the pet dog. Better still, with these rules, why not go back to the days when someone walked in front of a car with red flag! For Christ sake can't we let them race!
I ask you so please tell me - what's in it for FIA to favor Ferrari? What reason would Mosley and/or Bernie have for favoring Ferrari? 'Cause they like the color red? They like Italy? Why would the governing body favor any team? I'd sure like to know.
If Massa is satisfied with this win he is characterless. Sometimes I think he is this good because he is in a Ferrari
Ferrari have brought motor sport into disrepute. But then what do expect from a team spawned in a country that's corrupt through and through. If they can't win fair and square then they shouldn't be in the sport. But then what do expect with people like Max Moseley in charge. I wonder what some of the drivers of yesteryear would think of it all. I agree with what's being said. Give the all the trophies to Ferrari now 'cos that's the way it's going. Corruption? They invented the word and the tactics.
And still nothing from Ferrari or their drivers about this ridiculous decision! People keep criticising Hamilton for being arrogant, but surely even the most Anti-Hamilton person can see that the arrogance of Ferrari and the FIA is killing F1
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