Formula 1 - sezona 2007/08

Ovde mozemo da se podsetimo proslogodisnjih rezultata. Tabela je jasna jer je pregledno ko je koje mesto zauzeo na kojoj trci. Vidi se i koje su trke vozene. Znamo da je u poslednjoj trci Raikonen sa Ferarijem preuzeo vodjstvo od strane Hamiltona i postao svetski prvak u F1 klasi :)



A ovde imamo ovogodisnju listu. Nju cemo redovno osvezavati.

Prelep tabela gde se mozete podsetiti ko je sve, kada i sa kojim bolidom bio prvak F1.

Nick Heidfeld

Birthplace: Monchengladbach, Germany
DOB: 10/05/1977
F1 Starts: 134
F1 Debut: 2000 Australian GP
F1 Wins: 0
F1 Poles: 1
F1 Points: 148.00
F1 Titles: 0

Eight seasons and 132 grands prix into his Formula 1 career, Nick Heidfeld has never been in a stronger position than at the start of 2008.

The quiet German was a revelation as he spearheaded BMW’s breakthrough 2007 season – relentlessly racking up the points and podiums that took the rising squad to second in the constructors’ table.

Heidfeld has always been respected within F1, but was rarely regarded as a potential superstar and seemed destined to become the archetypal midfield underdog.

Those perceptions began to change as he went wheel-to-wheel with the likes of Fernando Alonso in early 2007.

He maintained his trademark solid consistency, but showed he could be an extremely feisty racer when his machinery allowed.

Heidfeld also comfortably shaded his team-mate Robert Kubica for most of the year, a vital achievement given that Kubica’s explosive F1 debut in mid-2006 had initially left Heidfeld on the ropes.

BMW is aiming for victories in 2008 – a goal that will require both the team and Heidfeld to raise their game further.

With determination in abundance and plenty of momentum from last year, don’t bet against this understated 30-year-old finally becoming an F1 winner this season.


Career log

Last year wasn’t the first time that Heidfeld has revitalised his F1 career.

A dispiriting, point-less, rookie season with the abysmal 2000 Prost-Peugeot would have crushed a lesser driver, but Heidfeld restored his reputation by leading Sauber to a best-ever fourth in the constructors’ standings in 2001.

He was then deeply hurt when McLaren-Mercedes snapped up his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen to replace Mika Hakkinen even though Heidfeld had out-scored the Finn and been a Mercedes protégé in his teens.

After two quieter seasons with Sauber, 2004 saw Heidfeld switch to the ailing Jordan team, where his 'never say die' attitude took him to a couple of unlikely points finishes in an outdated chassis.

At last his achievements in uncompetitive cars began to get noticed, and Heidfeld beat Antonio Pizzonia to a 2005 Williams-BMW drive after a tense testing shoot-out.

Williams was in the middle of a slump, but it was still in better shape than any of Heidfeld's previous squads, and he grabbed the opportunity by taking three podium finishes and his first pole.

Injuries from a cycling accident sidelined Heidfeld in late August, and during his lay-off he signed for BMW's new factory team – which brought his Williams sojourn to an early end.

BMW-Sauber proved to be Heidfeld’s ideal home, and a steady development season paved the way for the breakthrough of 2007.


The early years

Ironically given his current involvement with BMW, Heidfeld’s path to F1 was bankrolled by the company’s arch-rival Mercedes.

He caught the manufacturer’s eye while in Formula Ford, then proceeded to win the 1997 German Formula 3 title while impressing in regular F1 tests for McLaren.

This prompted McLaren-Mercedes to create a junior team in Formula 3000 especially for Heidfeld.

He narrowly lost the title to Juan Pablo Montoya in his rookie season, before crushing the opposition in 1999 and duly earning a shot at F1.

Robert Kubica

Birthplace: Krakow, Poland
DOB: 07/12/1984
F1 Starts: 23
F1 Debut: 2006 Hungarian GP
F1 Wins: 0
F1 Poles: 0
F1 Points: 45.00
F1 Titles: 0

After his sensational Formula 1 debut in mid-2006, Robert Kubica was expected to further enhance his reputation as a champion-in-waiting during 2007.

But things didn’t go according to plan for Poland’s first F1 star.

Often outpaced and comfortably outscored by his BMW team-mate Nick Heidfeld, Kubica admitted at the end of the year that he had underperformed.

Indeed his season will be best remembered for a ferocious accident in Canada – arguably the most violent non-fatal crash in F1’s history, yet Kubica emerged virtually unscathed.

There were mitigating circumstances behind Kubica’s largely anonymous 2007 campaign.

His driving style proved ill-suited to the Bridgestone control tyres, and he bore the brunt of BMW’s reliability problems.

There was almost a sensational breakthrough in China, where a supreme performance in changeable conditions saw Kubica emerge in the race lead – but only for a single lap before his hydraulics failed...

In some ways Kubica was a victim of his own success.

Sixth in the championship, albeit 22 points behind Heidfeld, in his first full season was very respectable, but his stunning late-2006 performances had raised expectations.

Only a technicality had denied Kubica a points finish on his F1 debut in the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, and he finished on the podium in only his third race.

As Kubica hounded Heidfeld on his Suzuka debut that autumn, few would have predicted that the German would turn the tables in 2007.

Now it’s up to Kubica to redress the balance, and to recapture the magic of his debut GPs.


The early years

Kubica’s path to F1 was far from straightforward.

He was picked up by Renault’s young driver scheme on the basis of his impressive karting career, only to be dropped after just a single Formula Renault season, even though he finished runner-up in the Italian Championship.

The Pole rarely had competitive equipment in Formula 3, but he did manage a heroic comeback win on his return to the 2003 Euro Series after a road crash had left him with a badly broken arm, and he also twice finished second in the legendary Macau street race.

A move to the World Series by Renault in 2005 got Kubica’s career on course, as he won the championship and the prize test in a Renault F1 car.

He was also set to drive for Minardi on Chinese GP Friday but was denied a superlicence.

BMW boss Mario Theissen had a hunch about Kubica after watching him at Macau, and decided to snap him up as number three driver for 2006.

This turned out to be a masterstroke.

Kubica was fastest in Bahrain practice – his first official F1 session.

It was just one of a string of superb Friday practice performances and BMW was soon convinced that its unheralded Polish novice was faster than veteran race drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Heidfeld.

When BMW suggested that Villeneuve take part in a ‘shoot-out’ with Kubica to decide who should get a 2007 seat, the former world champion quit F1 in disgust on the eve of the Hungarian GP, clearing the way for Kubica to make his debut.

moj omiljeni tim je scuderia ferrari 8)

I dakle odmah sledeci vikend vozi se druga trka ove godine: Malezija !



Kazu da ce vreme biti stvoreno za ispadanje bolida usled ogromne toplote i vlaznosti vazduha:

A penalty for pitting for needed fuel

Michael Schumacher has slammed F1's new safety car rules, arguing that they punish innocent drivers while unfairly benefiting others.

The former champion derided the mandatory closing of the pitlane upon deployment of the safety car as 'moronic,' in an interview with the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport.

Having watched the Australian Grand Prix from his Swiss home, the Ferrari advisor said: "I saw Kovalainen drive a perfect race but lose a podium because the safety car went onto the track at an unfavourable moment for him."

Another driver notably affected by the rule in Melbourne was Rubens Barrichello, who was out of fuel at the deployment of a SC period and therefore punished when he illegally entered and exited the pitlane.

"In my opinion this is not a good rule," Schumacher said.


The mandatory closing of the pit lane was introduced so that drivers do not unsafely speed around the circuit to rush a pitstop at the beginning of a Safety Car period.

But Schumacher thinks there are better ways to police such speedy drivers.

"For example you could determine with the sector times whether a driver was going too fast," he said.

"With these rules, sheer coincidence plays too big a role for my liking," Schumacher added.

E.A. © CAPSIS International
Source: GMM

Za one koji ne znaju ide info:

Petkom se na stazama voze treninzi. Timovi koriste treninge da eksperimentisu sa bolidima i da pokusaju da nadju najbolje resenje za predstojecu trku. Subotom se voze u prvom delu treca sesija vezbi, a u drugom delu dana konacne kvalifikacije. One odredjuju startne pozicije na trci. Nedeljom se vozi trka.

A evo i malog izvoda iz pravilnika Formule 1:

Practice and qualifying

At each Grand Prix meeting all race drivers may participate in two one and a half-hour practice sessions on Friday (Thursday at Monaco), a one-hour session on Saturday morning and a qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. While individual practice sessions are not compulsory, a driver must take part in at least one Saturday session to be eligible for the race.

Saturday’s one-hour qualifying session is split into three distinct parts, each with multiple drivers on track simultaneously, and each with the drivers running as many laps as they want:

Q1: All 22 cars may run laps at any time during the first 20 minutes of the hour. At the end of the first 20 minutes, the six slowest cars drop out and fill the final six grid places.

Q2: After a seven-minute break, the times will be reset and the 16 remaining cars then will then run in a 15-minute session - again they may complete as many laps as they want at any time during that period. At the end of the 15 minutes, the six slowest cars drop out and fill places 11 to 16 on the grid.

Q3: After a further eight-minute break, the times are reset and a final 10-minute session will feature a shootout between the remaining 10 cars to decide pole position and the starting order for the top 10 grid places. Again, these cars may run as many laps as they wish.

If a driver is deemed by the stewards to have stopped unnecessarily on the circuit or impeded another driver during qualifying, his times may be cancelled.
____________________________________________________________________________________

Practice One - Ferrari one-two in first session

Ferrari set the pace in no uncertain terms in opening practice at Sepang on Friday morning, with Felipe Massa clocking the fastest time of 1m 35.392s and Kimi Raikkonen next up on 1m 36.459s. The Finn’s car stopped in Turn 12 during the course of the session, but only because it ran out of fuel.

Behind the red cars, Nico Rosberg split the McLarens. Heikki Kovalainen lapped his MP4-23 in 1m 36.556s and Lewis Hamilton his in 1m 36.626s, with Rosberg inserting his Williams FW30 between them after a late run of 1m 36.578s. It is still too early to determine whether they were all running similar strategies.

Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet were sixth and seventh for Renault, on 1m 37.022s and 1m 37.034s respectively. Robert Kubica lapped his BMW Sauber in 1m 37.218s, Jenson Button his Honda in 1m 37.282s, and the top 10 was completed by Jarno Trulli on 1m 37.540s for Toyota.

There were a few dramas this morning. The biggest concerned David Coulthard’s Red Bull. The Scot had lapped in 1m 38.232s, which left him an eventual 16th, when his RB4 appeared to suffer a suspension breakage after running hard over a kerb. It was not a good morning for the team, as Mark Webber, having lapped in 1m 38.707s for 17th, suffered an engine failure. He will not get a penalty as it’s Friday and all teams in any case get one free breakage, but the failure will compromise his running this afternoon.

Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima and Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel had off-course moments, as did BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld, and Adrian Sutil suffered an engine change (which will count, as he had his ‘freebie’ in Australia) in his Force India.

Behind Trulli, Heidfeld was 11th on 1m 37.649s, followed by Nakajima (1m 37.649), Honda’s Rubens Barrichello (1m 37.776s), Toyota’s Timo Glock (1m 37.782s), Vettel (1m 38.219s), Coulthard, Webber, Sebastien Bourdais (1m 38.798s) in the second Toro Rosso, Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella (1m 39.046s), the Super Aguris of Takuma Sato (1m 40.178s) and Anthony Davidson (1m 40.351s), and Sutil (1m 41.269s).



Practice two - Hamilton sets the Friday pace at Sepang

His gear selection problems from this morning rectified, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton grabbed the fastest time of the day from Ferrari with 10 minutes left of this afternoon’s Malaysian Grand Prix practice session.

Running the softer Bridgestone compound, the Briton lapped his MP4-23 in 1m 35.055s to duck beneath Felipe Massa’s 1m 35.206s, which had been the benchmark up to that point. The Brazilian tried hard but was unable to match him thereafter. Kimi Raikkonen’s 1m 35.428s lap was sufficient to leave him third in the order in the second F2008.

Right at the end Jenson Button supplanted Sebastian Vettel, the young German having run in the top four for much of the session after lapping his Toro Rosso in 1m 36.474s. That was a fillip for the team, which lost Sebastien Bourdais early on to what appeared to be a transmission problem as he left the pits. Button’s lap of 1m 36.037s was encouraging for Honda, but like several others in the upper echelons, probably owed much to a light fuel load.

Jarno Trulli’s Toyota was sixth on 1m 36.493s, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren on 1m 36.512s, Robert Kubica’s BMW Sauber on 1m 36.671s, Giancarlo Fisichella’s Force India on 1m 36.756s, and Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams on 1m 36.838s.

That completed the top 10, but Rubens Barrichello also took the second Honda round below 1m 37s with 1m 36.879s and Nico Rosberg, who was quick initially, was 12th on 1m 36.908s ahead of Nick Heidfeld (1m 37.106s), the Renaults of Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet (1m 328s and 1m 37.331s), Red Bull’s Mark Webber (1m 37.346s) and Toyota’s Timo Glock (1m 37.512s). At the back, Force India’s Adrian Sutil was 18th on 1m 38.614s from Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson in the Super Aguris (1m 39.021s and 1m 39.361s respectively).

David Coulthard did not participate in the session after his morning accident, as the Red Bull team preferred to analyse its cause and to prepare the car fully for Saturday morning.



Naravno ove rezultate ne treba uzeti zdravo za gotovo jer su u pitanju samo vezbe. Timovi vrse analize i merenja kako bi se sto bolje pripremilio za glavni dogadjaj. Evo kako je BMW doziveo prve dve sesije treninga.

"We concentrated on the race preparation today and collected a lot of data concerning the tyres. We also tested different aerodynamic configurations. Now we will analyse the data. On Robert’s car we measured a gearbox pressure that was too high. There was a risk of damaging the cooling system, therefore we decided to change the rear end to enable Robert to continue the session. Compliments to the mechanics, who did a great job. We had a dry first day of practice, but we expect some rain for the remainder of the weekend."

jedva cekam maleziju

U nedelju u 7 ako se ne varam. Moracu da navijem sat Mozda Takuma Sato uradi nesto... ko zna.

Heidfeld najbolji na trecem treningu





A u konacnim kvalifikacijama je konacno zasijao ferari.

Pol pozicija pripala je Masi.

Posto su se Mclareni isprecili na putu Heidfeldu prilikom njegove brze voznje, sudije su kaznile dva vozaca Mclarena
( Kovalanena i Hamiltona ) sa 5 kaznenih mesta. Tako da sutrasnju trku nece zapoceti sa 3. i 4. mesta , vec sa 8. i 9. mesta. :)

Vozaci BMW samim time startuju sa pozicija 4 i 5. :) a Trulli u Toyoti sa pozicije 3. !

McLaren stresses blocking accidental

Saturday, 22 March 2008 12:37

McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh says the team has accepted the penalties given to Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton in Malaysia, but has stressed that his drivers did not deliberately block Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso.

The two McLarens have been moved five places down the Sepang grid after holding up Heidfeld and Alonso at the end of qualifying.

Having completed their final flying laps earlier than usual due to the possibility of rain, Kovalainen and Hamilton were cruising back to the pits and trying to save fuel when the BMW and Renault came up behind them on fast laps.

"We accept the stewards' decision, but would like to add that neither Lewis nor Heikki impeded any of their competitors deliberately," Whitmarsh said.

"It was an unfortunate incident - nothing more, nothing less.

"We look forward to tomorrow's race."

Heidfeld felt that the time lost avoiding the McLarens on the way into turn four cost him the 0.2s that would have moved him from seventh to third on the grid.

He will now start fifth after Kovalainen and Hamilton's demotion to eighth and ninth, with Jarno Trulli and Robert Kubica moving up to third and fourth.

McLaren pair get five-place penalties

Saturday, 22 March 2008 00:00

The McLaren drivers have both been moved five places down the Malaysian Grand Prix grid as a punishment for impeding Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso in qualifying.

Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton will now start the race from eighth and ninth positions respectively.

The pair had completed their final flying laps of qualifying sooner than usual because the threat of rain encouraged most drivers to take to the track at the earliest opportunity in qualifying.

Keen to conserve fuel for the first stint of the race, they then slowed significantly and cruised back to the pits.

But while they were doing so, other drivers were still on flying laps, and both Heidfeld and Alonso felt they had been obstructed by the cruising McLarens.

After complaints from Heidfeld and Alonso, the stewards summoned Hamilton and Kovalainen to explain their actions, and have now decreed that both should be given a five place penalty.

McLaren does not plan to appeal the decision.

"Car number three (Heidfeld) was impeded in its flying lap due to the fact that car 22 (Hamilton) was travelling at a very slow speed on the racing line," said a stewards' statement, with a second similar statement also issued in respect of Kovalainen.

As a consequence, Jarno Trulli will now start third for Toyota, with both BMWs moving into the top five.

Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso have also been elevated two places to sixth and seventh, ahead of Kovalainen and Hamilton.

With rain a strong possibility for tomorrow's race, the penalty may be less damaging than it would have been in normal circumstances.

It has been raining heavily at Sepang since 3.30pm local time, and the likelihood of changeable weather in the race could give the McLaren drivers more chance to recover than they would have should conditions remain dry.


Revised starting grid:

1. MASSA Ferrari
2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
3. TRULLI Toyota
4. KUBICA BMW
5. HEIDFELD BMW
6. WEBBER Red Bull
7. ALONSO Renault
8. KOVALAINEN McLaren*
9. HAMILTON McLaren*
10. GLOCK Toyota
11. BUTTON Honda
12. COULTHARD Red Bull
13. PIQUET Renault
14. BARRICHELLO Honda
15. VETTEL Toro Rosso
16. ROSBERG Williams
17. FISICHELLA Force India
18. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso
19. SATO Super Aguri
20. SUTIL Force India
21. DAVIDSON Super Aguri
22. NAKAJIMA Williams**

* penalised 5 places for impeding Heidfeld

** penalised 10 places for Melbourne incident

Massa: Pole kick-starts our title bid

Saturday, 22 March 2008 07:45

Felipe Massa says Ferrari's front row sweep in Malaysia marks the real start of the team's 2008 title campaign after its Melbourne disasters.

Driver errors and engine problems plagued the champions in Australia, but Ferrari has commanded most of practice at Sepang and then took a dominant one-two in qualifying.

"Our championship is definitely starting now because what happened in the last race was incredible - we didn't expect that," Massa said.

"We did a very good job during the winter, but coming to the first race and having a lot of problems like we had was not expected.

"Hopefully now we can manage to put everything together to have a very quick, consistent and good championship."

The Brazilian said he raised his game in the final part of qualifying, where he was almost half a second clear of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

"I had to do a fantastic lap in Q3, which is the important one, so I was really pleased," Massa said.

"I did two great laps, on both the first try and the second try, with no mistakes.

"In Q2 I didn't do very good laps, I was struggling a little bit with grip from the tyres, and I didn't do a very good last sector - I was just braking a little bit too early in turn 14, just a stupid lap.

"But then I managed to put everything together in Q3."

Despite threats of rain throughout the weekend, qualifying remained dry, and Massa shrugged off the ominous clouds.

"It didn't affect us so much, you just need to go out straight away and then if it rains at least you've managed to put one lap on the paper," he said.

"It was not a big difference compared to a normal qualifying.

"We had a couple of drops, but it didn't affect the performance on the track so it was no problem at all."

Raikkonen ‘not so happy’ with Q3 run

Saturday, 22 March 2008 07:43

Kimi Raikkonen admits he wasn’t entirely satisfied with his final qualifying run in Malaysia, which saw him finish half a second adrift of team-mate Felipe Massa.

The Finn secured second on the grid to complete a Ferrari lockout of the front row – but said his car wasn’t handling well enough on his final set of soft-compound tyres to challenge Massa for pole.

“I wasn’t so happy with Q3,” said Raikkonen.

“The car is good but I just couldn’t get the grip really and I couldn’t get the best out of it.

“But anyhow, second place is a good place start and we should have a strong race car.

“It’s going to be a long hot race tomorrow and we don’t know about the weather yet, but we are looking forward to it.”

Raikkonen is confident Ferrari can put the debacle of Australia behind it and get its championship campaign up and running at Sepang.

“This is a more traditional, normal circuit [than Albert Park] and the car has been quick all weekend here,” he said.

“I think our car should be pretty fast everywhere but when you start from behind it’s very difficult to use your speed, so tomorrow it should be a bit more clear who is where and what kind of speed everyone has.”

Nor is Raikkonen overly concerned about starting from the dirty side of the grid.

“Hopefully we’ll get a good start – it’s up to us much more now than it was before,” he said.

“In the last race we had a very good start so hopefully we can manage to do it again tomorrow.”

Kimi Raikkonen

Birthplace:
Espoo, Finland
DOB:
17/10/1979
F1 Starts:
122
F1 Debut:
2001 Australian GP
F1 Wins:
15
F1 Poles:
14
F1 Points:
457
F1 Titles:
1
Kimi Raikkonen finally shook off his nearly man tag to become world champion in 2007.

It took seven years, three teams and two near misses to get there, but the Finn now has the crown his superlative talents deserve.

Blindingly fast and devilishly brave – his credentials have never been in doubt.

What has been is his dedication to the job outside of the car, but he admits he rediscovered his desire for F1 during his first year at Ferrari.

To declare over the winter that he is “in love” with the sport again is as close as the ‘Iceman’ is ever likely to come to melting.

And now established as the Scuderia’s team leader, he is determined to add to his title haul.

So expect Raikkonen to be even stronger in 2008.

That he overcame an alarming mid-season slump to take a maiden title demonstrates just how crushingly strong he can be when he and the car are on song.

Seven consecutive podiums at the end of the season allowed him to claw back a seemingly insurmountable 28-point gap to Lewis Hamilton.

A victory in the Brazilian finale ensured he grabbed the crown by a single point.

He may have come up on the rails, but the title wasn’t won by stealth – his tally of six race wins was two more than anyone else managed.

It underlined his status as arguably the fastest man in F1.

Career log

Replacing a retiring world champion was not a new experience for Raikkonen when he stepped into Michael Schumacher’s legendary shoes at Ferrari last year.

He had already been McLaren’s hand-picked successor for countryman Mika Hakkinen in 2002, off the back of a sparkling rookie season at Sauber.

Ron Dennis soon swooped in to sign him up to what turned out to be a five-year stint at Woking.

But despite showing formidable promise, the partnership under-delivered in terms of results.

In 2002 and 2004 the car was no match for Ferrari, while ’03 and ’05 culminated in title heartache for Kimi.

A steady podium-scoring season brought him within two points of beating Schumacher to the 2003 title.

Then in 2005 Raikkonen won seven races – including a breathtaking victory from 17th on the grid in Japan.

But repeated mechanical problems scuppered his challenge, and Fernando Alonso beat him to the title.

A winless 2006 season followed and a frustrated Raikkonen headed off to Maranello.


The early years

A successful junior karter, Raikkonen made his debut in British Formula Renault in 1999.

He initially withdrew from the series due to an uncompetitive car, but came back after six months to decimate all opposition.

A year later he was Formula Renault champion and earned a test with Peter Sauber’s F1 team that winter. Such was his pace that Sauber gambled on Kimi for 2001 – making him one of the least experienced rookies in the history of the sport.

Felipe Massa

Birthplace:
Sao Paulo, Brazil
DOB:
25/04/1981
F1 Starts:
88
F1 Debut:
2002 Australian GP
F1 Wins:
5
F1 Poles:
9
F1 Points:
201
F1 Titles:
0
Felipe Massa’s transformation into an established Formula 1 front-runner continued in 2007; now he wants to take the next step to the very top this year.

Ferrari’s buoyant Brazilian has finally shed the ‘fast but erratic’ tag that dogged the early part of his career, and silenced the detractors who said he wasn’t worthy of a Ferrari seat.

Now a proven race-winner with electric pace few can match, he is confident he’s ready for a full-blown crack at the world title.

Of course his world champion team-mate Kimi Raikkonen stands more firmly than ever in his way – and the pair’s relative form over the second half of 2007 suggests the Finn will be heard to beat.

But Massa proved in spells last year that on his day he has the measure of F1’s new yardstick driver.

Three crushingly dominant lights-to-flag wins in Bahrain, Spain and Turkey showed how unstoppable he can be when leading from the front.

His six pole positions further underlined his exceptional speed.

Questions remain over how he handles less straightforward weekends – with his anonymous Hungarian GP last season after qualifying problems a case in point.

That type of performance must disappear if he is to fulfil his title dreams. 2008 should prove whether he is ready to make that step.

Career log

Massa had been on his current team’s radar long before he eventually joined the Italian squad as a race driver.

It was with Ferrari-powered Sauber that the then 20-year-old made his F1 bow with in 2002.

A turbulent rookie year followed, as he struggled to get close to team-mate Nick Heidfeld – while his wayward driving style drew widespread criticism.

According to Jacques Villeneuve, the young charger “couldn’t even drive in a straight line”.

His technique needed refining and after being dropped by Sauber he was put through a year at Ferrari finishing school as its test driver.

He returned to Hinwil in 2004 a far more rounded driver and fared well alongside Giancarlo Fisichella, before making Villeneuve eat his words a year later.

The clear improvement prompted Ferrari to come calling in 2006 to replace Rubens Barrichello alongside Michael Schumacher.

Massa got off to a shaky start, with costly crashes at the first corner in Melbourne and in Monaco qualifying.

But as the F2007 improved, so did Felipe, and he quickly became a podium regular and a very able wingman for Schumacher.

He also proved he could lead the team’s challenge when the great German stumbled, consummately taking a first pole and victory all in the same weekend in Turkey.

He then brilliantly rounded off his season with an assured lights-to-flag victory on home turf in Brazil.


The early years

Massa made the move to the junior Formula Renault championships in 2000 after coming through the karting ranks in Brazil.

Immediate success followed as he won the Italian and European Formula Renault championships first time out.

He then dominated the 2001 Formula 3000 Euroseries, winning six times in eight races, attracting the attention of Ferrari and earning an F1 seat at Sauber.

Ferrari

Chassis:
F2008
Engine:
Ferrari
Team Principal:
Stefano Domenicali
Technical Director:
Aldo Costa
F1 Debut:
Monaco GP 1950
F1 Points:
4358
Championships Won:
15

Drivers: Felipe Massa | Kimi Raikkonen

Website: www.ferrariworld.com

Those expecting Ferrari to undergo a transitional period following the simultaneous departures of Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn were disappointed in 2007, as the new-look team swept to a double title triumph.

Now, a year in, with a new world champion driver riding high and a restructured technical team proving its quality, F1’s most decorated and evocative team is ready to write a new chapter in the Maranello annals.

Of course the first year post the ‘dream team’ wasn’t without its dramas, as Ferrari went head-to-head both on and off track with arch-rival McLaren in on of the most dramatic seasons ever.

The F2007 car was regularly unstoppable on fast-flowing circuits and nine wins were testament to the machine’s prodigious speed.

But too-frequent reliability glitches ensured its title challenge was much harder than it should have been – and Ferrari has conceded it must tighten up in that area with its latest challenger.

The man charged with overseeing Ferrari’s title defence is Stefano Domenicali, who takes over the head of the race team as Jean Todt takes more of a back seat to concentrate on his wider role within Ferrari.

The new F2008 has proved to be both consistently fast during winter testing, and with Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa at the wheel Ferrari has the only proven multiple race-winning line-up on the grid.

All of which means the Scuderia will be tough to beat once again.

F1 track record

Ferrari’s 2007 success took its overall tally to 15 drivers’ and constructors’ titles apiece – further strengthening its status as the most successful team in F1 history.

Great names like Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio and Mike Hawthorn gave Ferrari four titles in the 1950s, before American Phil Hill and Briton John Surtees joined the elite club in the early 1960s.

Ferrari's fortunes went into a prolonged slump thereafter until ace engineer Mauro Forghieri introduced the ‘T’ series of cars that revitalised the team in the mid-1970s.

Niki Lauda then delivered the results on track, with title doubles following in 1975 and 1977, before Jody Scheckter added another title at the end of the decade.

But Scheckter’s ’79 success gave way to a 21-year title drought.

The team enjoyed some success in the turbo era, taking constructors’ titles in 1982 and 1983, but tragedy struck when the legendary Gilles Villeneuve was killed during practice for the 1982 Belgian GP at Zolder.

In 1988, team founder Enzo Ferrari died, strengthening the FIAT group’s hold over the team.

Alain Prost came close to bringing Ferrari another title in 1990, but this proved to be a brief moment of relief amid years of underachievement and internal politics.

New team boss Jean Todt was hired to stop the rot in 1993 – an appointment which would ultimately prove a masterstroke.

The subsequent signing of reigning double world champion Michael Schumacher in 1996, followed by his former Benetton colleagues Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne a year later, showed Ferrari meant business once again.

After three consecutive runner-up finishes (and a constructors’ title in 1999), Ferrari finally reached the top in 2000 – allowing Schumacher to clinch that elusive drivers’ title.

The floodgates then opened, with another four championships following in subsequent seasons.

But in 2005 the chasing pack finally usurped Ferrari, whose Bridgestone tyres were no match for rivals’ Michelins.

Ferrari was back on form in 2006, and took some crushing wins in mid-season, but what turned out to be both Schumacher and Brawn’s final season ended in narrow defeat to Renault.