Hamilton “Surfs” to Fuji Win
I’m so confused, I went to an F1 race and an F1 Boat race broke out.
Or so it seemed, as torrential rain and dense fog enveloped Fuji Japan dictating the first 19 laps be run under the guidance of the Safety Car. Even running at those reduced speeds didn’t prevent incidents as Ferrari’s Massa did a spin-arama in the wet a minute into the event.
Massa and teammate Raikkonen both started on intermediates vice the wets the remainder of the field started with. Somehow I don’t think we’ve heard the last of that little escapade.
As far as the rest of the race goes, lets just say Victor Prinzi was the Chief Steward.
Alonzo crashed out for his first DNF in a dogs age. Eventual winner Hamilton had a moment of grief as he was tapped and spun by BMW’s Robert Kubica who later received a drive-thru for the hit.
Somewhere Scott Speed is smiling he wasn’t part of the disaster that struck Red Bull in the later stages of the event.
While under the second Safety Car, third placed Sebastien Vettel ran into the back of second placed teammate Mark Webber, putting both cars out of the race. A catastrophe for Red Bull who were on track for a double podium finish. Vettel is devastated as cameras caught him in the paddock with head buried in hands, and Webber is furious,
Both Vettel and Webber may be owned by Mateschitz, but Webber is Red Bull and Vettel is Toro Rosso. A small but important distinction.
And how about poor Felipe called into the pits so that teammate Kimi had a shot at the podium to stay in contention for the driver’s title? Ferrari and sportsmanship, they are mutually exclusive, aren’t they.
True enough George, but as they say money talks, and Mateschitz speaks very loudly for both teams.
Despite Hamilton putting it on pole & not making any mistakes in the extremely tricky conditions to take the win, to my eye Kimi was the man of the day. Buried at the back of the pack & blinded by spray he drove through the field to take third, big balls indeed.
I can’t get over how much of the “Hamilton factor” is taking up space on the varoius F1 news sites. We just had one of the most exciting races of the last few years & yet the media is concentrating on the Alonso/Hamilton who, who’s father, who’s manager said what about who!
special mentions to Kimi, Hiekki, Kubica, Weber & even Vettel - prior to his gaffe.