Another delayed review and my second review for the day. This time its for the Japanese Grand Prix 2007. This year, the race was not held at the usual Suzuka circuit. Instead, it took place at Fuji Speedway in the midst of lovely mountains. The weather was always going to play a crucial part in this race and so it did, in a big way. In the process, it left the F1 fans with non-stop entertainment in what could easily be described as the best race so far this season.
The Turkish Grand Prix 2007 was held after a break of three weeks. With both the championships delicately poised for the championship rivals, it was indeed an impatient period of F1 inactivity for the fans. The 5.3km long Istanbul Park is considered by many to be a masterpiece in modern F1 era and the awesome Turn 8 presents a delightful spectacle for the sport lovers. Its a true test for the drivers and their machinery alike.
The Hungarian Grand Prix 2007 was more in news due to its qualifying incidents than the race itself. The race, as expected, was a boring affair. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren lead the procession from first to last and ended up with another victory for him and his team. What happened before that was simply unimaginable and McLaren boss Ron Dennis got more than he had bargained for.
I’m here again with a short review of European Grand Prix 2007. The race in Britain was strategically the best race of the season so far. However, it has to be said that this year’s European Grand Prix was undoubtedly the better one purely from entertainment aspect. If I may add, even better than the chaotic race we witnessed in Canada. Incidentally, this was also the first time this season when rain played spoilsport. If you’re an optimist, you’d like to believe it raised the entertainment quotient a tad higher than expected. It was a win-win situation for the spectators.
Firstly, apologies for another delayed review! Kimi Raikkonen stunned the British fans by clinching his second consecutive win for Ferrari while they were expecting their local hero, Lewis to triumph. On Saturday, everything seemed to be on plan for the young Brit when he secured another pole in his short career. As the race unfolded on Sunday, it was an entirely different story, obviously, not scripted by Hamilton or McLaren. He finished the race in 3rd, his 9th consecutive podium of this season.
The French Grand Prix 2007 marked the resurgence of Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen. The flying Finn scored his first victory since Australia. Ferrari scored their first 1-2 finish after almost a year with Felipe Massa taking the second place. It throws the championship wide open yet again. The race saw both McLaren drivers struggle to match the speeds generated by Ferrari cars. Both Ferraris finished the race about 30 seconds ahead of the 3rd placed McLaren of Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton, the McLaren rookie has done it yet again. He takes the first back to back win of his career which, impressively, is just 7 races old. On his way to victory, he soaked up immense amount of pressure from his team mate and two times world champion, Fernando Alonso. Alonso crossed the finishing line in 2nd place, just one and a half seconds off Lewis’s time. The United States Grand Prix 2007 witnessed many highlights and turned out to be one of the best races this season. Sebastian Vettel replaced Robert Kubica for this race.
The Grand Prix of Canada could easily be described as the best race so far this season. Agreed, it was chaotic but it provided all of us with much needed fun. An incident packed race finally saw the emergence of a new winner in Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton. Amongst all the drama that was going on, he drove a flawless race! There was not a single moment of boredom during the one and half hours which was extended a bit by the inclusion of as many as four safety car periods. In between all the chaos, BMW’s Robert Kubica survived a near fatal crash, the most horrific in recent memory.
Yet another race and yet another delayed review. Well, I apologize once again but I’m really very busy with my study schedules. Anyways, I thought this is the right time to push this one through before the start of next Grand Prix which by the way, will take place tonight! Fernando Alonso capitalized on his expertise and registered another race victory to his name. His young rookie team mate, Lewis Hamilton finished a close second as the entire racing fraternity witnessed McLaren decimating their opposition ruthlessly.
A different race but the same winner. Felipe Massa secured his third consecutive pole position and back to back win to firmly establish himself as a serious title contender. Felipe hardly put a foot wrong as he crossed the finishing line about 7 seconds clear of second place man, Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari still retains 100% success rate in all 2007 qualifying events.
Fernando Alonso threw away his superb start when he decided to take a shortcut across the gravel traps after a minor collision with Massa at the start of the Grand Prix. Alonso, however recovered from the mishap and was able to rejoin the race at 4th place. An electrical failure for Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen after 7 laps into the race ensured Alonso the final podium place.