2008 F1 Podium Picker Challenge: Brazilian Grand Prix: Rd 18

[Kurt Rahn]

Massa
Hamilton
Kubica

[Mako Koiwai]

I believe Senna said that that Monaco qualifying lap was the most perfect lap that he ever did.

[Don Salyers]

1. Hamlton
2. Alonso
3. Kubica

Don

[Larry Andrews]

Looks like they're going to run this one down to the wire. Cool.

Anybody want to take side bets on whether or not Alonso crashes Hamilton out?

[Bob Beamesderfer]

Looks like they're going to run this one down to the wire. Cool.

Anybody want to take side bets on whether or not Alonso crashes Hamilton out?

If he does that, they should yank his Superlicense.

Rain predicted for tomorrow. Which Massa will be there--the one that knows how to drive in the rain or the one that doesn't? Hamilton in the rain is pretty dominant, but is the car setup right?

[Larry Andrews]

If he does that, they should yank his Superlicense.

Please. Ferrari International Assistance would be highly pleased to see Mclaren marginalized through no fault of their own. I'd even be willing to predict that language along the lines of 'shame the same thing happened to him that he caused to Kimi earlier this year' would be proffered.

[Steve Ekstrand]

Got back from rainy teeball and watched the TIVO'd quali...

Good stuff!
Nice run by Trulli. Amazing how close the field is on time.

Then a fun watch after... A tape of the Toyota Legends race from Laguna. I got it just because I add an hour to my F1 recording.

[Bob Beamesderfer]

If he does that, they should yank his Superlicense.

Please. Ferrari International Assistance would be highly pleased to see Mclaren marginalized through no fault of their own. I'd even be willing to predict that language along the lines of 'shame the same thing happened to him that he caused to Kimi earlier this year' would be proffered.

I stated what they SHOULD do. Not what the FIA would do. I'm certain that any incident that leads to Driver and Constructor Championships for Ferrari will be handled with the UTMOST [nudge-nudge, wink-wink] in even-handed application of the rules.

[Giovanni Jaramillo]

Then a fun watch after... A tape of the Toyota Legends race from Laguna. I got it just because I add an hour to my F1 recording.

Haha! Same here. I always add an hour to all F1 events (prac,quali,race).

And for qualifying, the results:

• 1. Felipa Massa - Ferrari
• 2. Jarno Trulli - Toyota
• 3. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari

[Larry Andrews]

Without regard to our game or how anyone is doing...

WHAT AN AMAZING RACE!!!!!!!

Haven't been that into a race in a long, long time. So freakin cool.

Don't want to spoil a thing for anyone - just, please, watch this race. All the way to the end.

EDIT: Link is a *great* joy - depending of course on your perspective. I think it's absolutely hilarious...

http://fotos.subefotos.com/a984babe3db3 ... 197cfo.gif" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Bob Beamesderfer]

Without regard to our game or how anyone is doing...

WHAT AN AMAZING RACE!!!!!!!

Haven't been that into a race in a long, long time. So freakin cool.

Don't want to spoil a thing for anyone - just, please, watch this race. All the way to the end.

Absolutely the kind of dramatic racing that is exciting to watch.

[Will Kalman]

Are the F1 races re-aired?

[Tom Denham]

Are the F1 races re-aired?

Nov 5, 2008 10:30AM PT Speed

[Mako Koiwai]

WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW ... so cool !!!! Two (actually Three) fabulous drivers !!! What a great year ... Can't wait for next year ....

[Jeff Shyu]

WOW. now THAT was a race worth watching.. not a dull moment.

[Steve Ekstrand]

Even Robert and Stacey were screaming on the last 2 laps. Pretty amazing.....
Robert wanted a detailed explanation of the situation. ANd he understood who the world champion was with the result, I thought that was pretty cool for a 4yo.

[Jeff Shyu]

i was really really hoping for a massa win (driver's champ), but all the drivers did what they needed to.. glock f'd massa

next year..

i think having massa and kimi on the same team is going to be a problem though.

[Giovanni Jaramillo]

I just watched the race on TiVo (just before midnight) and all I can say is....HOLY S***!!! Mike Simanyi called me earlier in the morning asking if I saw the race. I screamed "don't tell me anything!!!" He responds by saying.....just watch the race......the WHOLE race til the very end at the chequered flag. Now I'm nervous. So I wait til the end of the day as I catch up on my NFL football as I'm more likely to hear about scores about NFL on TV than about F1 on ESPN.

For the F1 season to be decided by 1 point:

• On The Final Race
• On The Final Lap
• On The Final Corner

is INSANE!!

Mother Nature has an f'd up sense of humor as she figuratively and LITERALLY RAINED/pissed on Ferrari's parade (not only before the warm up lap of the start of the race, but on the LAST LAP of the race) as Timo Glock of Toyota, stayed on the dry tyres even with light drizzle only for it to rain harder, thus he slows down in 5th place for Lewis Hamilton to overtake him in from 6th (after being passed by Vettel earlier in the lap in 5th putting Lewis back to 6th), which gave him 5 points for 4th place, while Massa takes 10 and that total was 1 point shy of Lewis for the Formula 1 Driver's championshiop.

98 - 97 points.

Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes (2008 Formula 1 Champion)
And yes..lest not forget
Congrats to Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (2008 Formula 1 Constructor's Champion).

What a great way to end the season and again playing this game.

[Giovanni Jaramillo]

And without further adieu...the winner of 2008 F1 Podium Picker Challenge is......

The originator of this game with 120 points....Larry Andrews! A great game and a great season watching the races and playing the game. Here are the podium finishers.

• 1. Larry Andrews
• 2. William Chen (retaking the lead from me)
• 3. (tied) Bob Plante, myself

As well as the entire field http://www.solo2.com/MiscDocuments/F1Ga ... tants.html

And contestant picks: http://www.solo2.com/MiscDocuments/F1Ga ... picks.html Make sure they are correct and if any errors let me know. Found a few in my typing so I had to re-calculate the points but it's all there now.

And race results: http://www.solo2.com/MiscDocuments/F1Ga ... sults.html

Look forward to next season where I have some suggestions on the points (may include qualifying, and may change points structure). And to make it interesting....let's make a little pot of money into this game.

Enjoy the off-season and look forward to 2009!

And p.s. - in a bit of irony....I come ahead of Schenker by just 2 points!! The thrill of victory....and the agony of defeat (as the Ferrari garage and Massa family celebrate a bit PRE-MATURELY before Lewis crossed the line). And when he did...girlfriend Nicole of the Pussycat Dolls got all excited. My boy Lewis is gonna get some tonight!!

[Steve Ekstrand]

I know a lot of people don't think much of Massa, but I've always liked the guy. Seems to me like a great contrast to the wasted talent of Kimi. The performance that Massa put in all weekend was just extraordinary. He did all he could do.

And try to imagine the pressure Hamilton faced on those last laps under changing weather conditions and with yapping lap dog Vettel barking it up and nipping at his ankles for several laps then passing. Seb V. has major talent. Imagine him in a Ferrari or McLaren. But again, the pressure Hamilton faced... Must have been tough to breathe.

Last third of season. Wow, did Alonso get reinvigorated. Again, imagine what he could do in a better car.

And then lastly, the field bunched at the end of the season. Whether it was through phenomenal drives or improvements in the car or both. The field definitely got tighter the last few races in 2008. Wouldn't it be fun for that to continue in to 2009.

Fitting for Larry to take a year!

And thanks to Gio for running things this year. Not so hot about him beating me and Billy though..... I was going to pick Massa, Alonso, Kimi in the last race, but dumped Kimi at the last minute as I thought he'd throw a tantrum at Massa's party and checkout. Would have been fun to nail one at the end. So close.

[Deyan Ninov]

I haven't been active on here, since I moved to Europe, but I decided to make a quick pitstop for the final race.

Well, what a thrilling end of the season. For sure the last lap could give you a hard attack. The whole race in general was just full of excitement. Actually the whole season has been absolutely fantastic.

Congrats to Hamilton for winning the championship. He has a bright future ahead of him, even though I don't think either Massa or Hamilton were worthy champions this year.
The fact that they both were out scored by a driver in a 3rd rate car in the last 8 races that goes by the name of Fernando Alonso just goes to prove that...

In the last 5 races Alonso scored 43 points, while Massa scored 33, and Hamilton managed only 28... In the last 8 races, Alonso scored 48 points, while Massa scored 43, and Hamilton 40.

I still find it interesting, and the stats don't lie... Alonso goes to Renault... Renault win 2 championships... Alonso goes to McLaren, and all the sudden McLaren is the team to beat... Renault could barely score points... Alonso goes back to Renault and in half a season, the team starts competing with both McLaren and Ferrari (and outscoring their drivers).... hmmzz... take it for whatever its worth.

But at the end of the day the driver with most points wins it, and since that was Hamilton, for sure, well done to him.. but I still don't think he has learned anything from last season, if anything he is making even more mistakes.

Next season should be equally exciting, if not more exciting... yay to slick tires!

[Bob Beamesderfer]

i was really really hoping for a massa win (driver's champ), but all the drivers did what they needed to.. glock f'd massa

How do figure that? He's on dry tires, rain is falling harder and he can't keep up the pace.

[Steve Ekstrand]

Glock gambled and it almost paid off. If he'd come in for wets, he wouldn't have been in front of Hamilton.

[Jeff Shyu]

i was really really hoping for a massa win (driver's champ), but all the drivers did what they needed to.. glock f'd massa

How do figure that? He's on dry tires, rain is falling harder and he can't keep up the pace.

i wasn't being serious. glock was doing great, and props for staying out as long as he did.

I was so excited when vettle overtook Hamilton..

[Bob Beamesderfer]

I still find it interesting, and the stats don't lie... Alonso goes to Renault... Renault win 2 championships... Alonso goes to McLaren, and all the sudden McLaren is the team to beat... Renault could barely score points... Alonso goes back to Renault and in half a season, the team starts competing with both McLaren and Ferrari (and outscoring their drivers).... hmmzz... take it for whatever its worth.

Alonso is a great driver and part of why that is lies in his ability to help improve the car. Renault, Toro Rosso, Toyota, Ferrari and McLaren kept up a furious pace of car development. Renault engineers made great strides; TR did also, as well as Vettel. Toyota finally saw some results for all the money they spend. Red Bull and Webber had some moments.

Massa worked hard this season to improve and managed to overcome mistakes--his and the team's. Same for Hamilton, although his mistakes were more obvious than pit strategy errors.

BMW, surprisingly, did not keep up with the development of the top two teams, so their performance was eclipsed by Renault, Toro Rosso and Toyota. Only a few years ago, it was Ferrari, McLaren and nobody. The last part of the season saw five teams with cars and drivers vying for the top 3 qualifying spots.

Next year, the cars will be very different.