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2008 Season - Silverstone
Posted by
Quiet One
,
15 February 2009
·
100 views
Here comes the tricky part.... 
In case you don't know me, I will begin right from the start by telling you a couple of very important things about me:
1) I hate Lewis guts.
2) I never found anything too special about Silverstone. I find it highly unremarkable from a spectator's point of view. I admit is a blast to race it on some video game for its fast corners, but it's no Montreal, or Monaco, or Monza.
Good news is that Silverstone has rain which makes it a lot better on the average like borefests a la Magny Cours or Hungaroring. And last year it was actually very fun to watch due to rain in biblical proportions. Also, it was one of Lewis finest moments.
Bad news is that after watching the review, it was nothing as I recalled it. And the results aren't too flattering for Lewis so I hesitated a lot on how to write this entry...
Practice: Alonso's car spilled some oil on the track. Massa's car passed over it resulting in a crash which damaged the car's rear. It was only the beginning for one of Massa's most embarrassing moments in his career...
Qualy: Heikki on pole? You gotta be kidding. Well, actually, Kovy was kidding as we soon found out when the race started. Webber was second, just to keep up our hopes than he will be someday a serious contender. Much like christians await the imminent second coming...
Kimi 3rd after his usual mistake at qualy, Lewis 4th after his usual mistake at qualy....then came Heidfeld, Alonso, Piquet and Massa, whose chances were ruined after his team took too much time to change his tires and couldn't make a second lap...it WOULD get worse...much worse...Kubica was tenth due to car woes.
Race: Green lights! On a still soaked track after a morning shower, Heikki has alousy start. Kimi gets trapped behind him as Webber moves behind him god knows why. That left Lewis ample space to overtake both Kimi and Webbo before the first corner. Heikki finally gets some grip and does not seem too willing to give his position to Lewis without a fight. A fight that almost ends up in tragedy for Macca when hi starts to weave frantically his car in front of the much smoother Lewis.
Webber spins and he slowly start to work his way down to the usual positions for him. It's last place for him...until Massa has his first spin, that is. Stay tuned, there's more of those to come!
Coulthard and Vettel practice their choreography skills with a synchronized spin, which is always fun to watch but not too useful to earn any points.
Massa spins again on a straight...
Lewis finally overtakes a fatalist Heikki who assumes he is holding Lewis up. This is a better scheme: Lewis with a free track ahead making a big gap while Heikki contains any other cars (mainly Kimi which was still considered a threat back then...can you believe it?). A scheme that was ruined only moments after when Heikki tries the 360° dance and allows Kimi trhough. Sutil tries some rally racing with his Force India. Bad idea. British authorities, mindful that the Queen might be watching the event, decide not to transmit Sutil's movements when he gets out of the car so as not to offend Her Royal Majesty which such blatant camp movements
Kimi closes the gap on Lewis until they get to the pitlane. Hammy does a flawless stop. So does Kimi except he does not change his tires, thinking that weather will improve. The only other car to try such a surprising strategy is Nando, who was so far doing a good race...
Rain came back...and things started slowly to get ugly. Nando was the first to show that his strategy sucked. Heidfeld making an easy prey of him. Even Piquet overtook a struggling Nando, again...d'oh!
Kimi? He lost 17 seconds to Lewis in just 4 laps thanks to the used tires strategy. Heikki and Nick catched up fast. Heikki overtakes Kimi but don't get too carried away about Kovy's skills. Nick overtake them both in a beautiful manoeuvre and it's second place for him. Rubinho was poised for some points for his team, but problems with the refuelling rig costed him dearly. No luck for poor old Rubinho! But wait...
With a track already saturated, you wouldn't think things could be worse...but it was just the beggining! Race REALLY started to pour down now... and chaos broke lose:
Lewis goes off track for a moment, Piquet slides out of the race, Massa spins, so does Rubens...and Massa again...the drivers cry on their radios "safety car, please! Safety car!" but to no avail. Glock spins, and Heikki, and Kubica, Nakakima crashes against the back of a Toyota, Button goes off track, Webber spins, Jarno spins, been a while since I last typed "Massa spins", right? Well...Massa spins. Heikki spins again...
Alonso was still 4th despite the awful conditions, the awful car and the awful strategy. TV does not show how he managed such a heroic feat. They do show how he ruins it, though. As rain slows down a bit, Kimi easily overtakes Nando which by the time is driving as if he is on some sort of drifting competition with the car sliding all over the track. Heikki also overtakes Nando for 5th, the only thing Kovy did right in the whole afternoon. Naka was eyeing Alonso's position too, but he was saved when Trulli came from behind and made a wonderful pass on Naki.
It's end of the race and the hero of the day was Lewis without a doubt. He ended up a minute ahead of second place Nick and a surprising Rubinho on 3rd place of the podium (this is for you Jenson lovers...)
Everybody else was a lap down...
So...err...yes, it was a wonderful display of driving in the wet for Lewis. It was also proof that if you get early on at the lead on a wet race, then you have a huge advantage over everybody else. I am not trying to diminish Lewis skills here. It was certainly a great drive but...it was no Donnington 1993!!!! It was more like Monza 2008. Except he did it on a Macca and Vettel on a Red Bull. So no legendary points for Lewis on this race, sorry.
Don't worry, good Lewis fans, he will have better races to come, only not as overhyped as this one.
See you next time!
In case you don't know me, I will begin right from the start by telling you a couple of very important things about me:
1) I hate Lewis guts.
2) I never found anything too special about Silverstone. I find it highly unremarkable from a spectator's point of view. I admit is a blast to race it on some video game for its fast corners, but it's no Montreal, or Monaco, or Monza.
Good news is that Silverstone has rain which makes it a lot better on the average like borefests a la Magny Cours or Hungaroring. And last year it was actually very fun to watch due to rain in biblical proportions. Also, it was one of Lewis finest moments.
Bad news is that after watching the review, it was nothing as I recalled it. And the results aren't too flattering for Lewis so I hesitated a lot on how to write this entry...
Practice: Alonso's car spilled some oil on the track. Massa's car passed over it resulting in a crash which damaged the car's rear. It was only the beginning for one of Massa's most embarrassing moments in his career...
Qualy: Heikki on pole? You gotta be kidding. Well, actually, Kovy was kidding as we soon found out when the race started. Webber was second, just to keep up our hopes than he will be someday a serious contender. Much like christians await the imminent second coming...
Kimi 3rd after his usual mistake at qualy, Lewis 4th after his usual mistake at qualy....then came Heidfeld, Alonso, Piquet and Massa, whose chances were ruined after his team took too much time to change his tires and couldn't make a second lap...it WOULD get worse...much worse...Kubica was tenth due to car woes.
Race: Green lights! On a still soaked track after a morning shower, Heikki has alousy start. Kimi gets trapped behind him as Webber moves behind him god knows why. That left Lewis ample space to overtake both Kimi and Webbo before the first corner. Heikki finally gets some grip and does not seem too willing to give his position to Lewis without a fight. A fight that almost ends up in tragedy for Macca when hi starts to weave frantically his car in front of the much smoother Lewis.
Webber spins and he slowly start to work his way down to the usual positions for him. It's last place for him...until Massa has his first spin, that is. Stay tuned, there's more of those to come!
Coulthard and Vettel practice their choreography skills with a synchronized spin, which is always fun to watch but not too useful to earn any points.
Massa spins again on a straight...
Lewis finally overtakes a fatalist Heikki who assumes he is holding Lewis up. This is a better scheme: Lewis with a free track ahead making a big gap while Heikki contains any other cars (mainly Kimi which was still considered a threat back then...can you believe it?). A scheme that was ruined only moments after when Heikki tries the 360° dance and allows Kimi trhough. Sutil tries some rally racing with his Force India. Bad idea. British authorities, mindful that the Queen might be watching the event, decide not to transmit Sutil's movements when he gets out of the car so as not to offend Her Royal Majesty which such blatant camp movements
Kimi closes the gap on Lewis until they get to the pitlane. Hammy does a flawless stop. So does Kimi except he does not change his tires, thinking that weather will improve. The only other car to try such a surprising strategy is Nando, who was so far doing a good race...
Rain came back...and things started slowly to get ugly. Nando was the first to show that his strategy sucked. Heidfeld making an easy prey of him. Even Piquet overtook a struggling Nando, again...d'oh!
Kimi? He lost 17 seconds to Lewis in just 4 laps thanks to the used tires strategy. Heikki and Nick catched up fast. Heikki overtakes Kimi but don't get too carried away about Kovy's skills. Nick overtake them both in a beautiful manoeuvre and it's second place for him. Rubinho was poised for some points for his team, but problems with the refuelling rig costed him dearly. No luck for poor old Rubinho! But wait...
With a track already saturated, you wouldn't think things could be worse...but it was just the beggining! Race REALLY started to pour down now... and chaos broke lose:
Lewis goes off track for a moment, Piquet slides out of the race, Massa spins, so does Rubens...and Massa again...the drivers cry on their radios "safety car, please! Safety car!" but to no avail. Glock spins, and Heikki, and Kubica, Nakakima crashes against the back of a Toyota, Button goes off track, Webber spins, Jarno spins, been a while since I last typed "Massa spins", right? Well...Massa spins. Heikki spins again...
Alonso was still 4th despite the awful conditions, the awful car and the awful strategy. TV does not show how he managed such a heroic feat. They do show how he ruins it, though. As rain slows down a bit, Kimi easily overtakes Nando which by the time is driving as if he is on some sort of drifting competition with the car sliding all over the track. Heikki also overtakes Nando for 5th, the only thing Kovy did right in the whole afternoon. Naka was eyeing Alonso's position too, but he was saved when Trulli came from behind and made a wonderful pass on Naki.
It's end of the race and the hero of the day was Lewis without a doubt. He ended up a minute ahead of second place Nick and a surprising Rubinho on 3rd place of the podium (this is for you Jenson lovers...)
Everybody else was a lap down...
So...err...yes, it was a wonderful display of driving in the wet for Lewis. It was also proof that if you get early on at the lead on a wet race, then you have a huge advantage over everybody else. I am not trying to diminish Lewis skills here. It was certainly a great drive but...it was no Donnington 1993!!!! It was more like Monza 2008. Except he did it on a Macca and Vettel on a Red Bull. So no legendary points for Lewis on this race, sorry.
Don't worry, good Lewis fans, he will have better races to come, only not as overhyped as this one.
See you next time!
). Remember Heidfeld too, nice move there. Also a whole lot of spins all around... I might watch it and have a good laugh out of the pinnacle of motorsport and its amazing drivers 
