5 posts tagged “nick heidfeld”
The remarkable win of Robert Kubica at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve gave me a bit of a shock. It wasn’t as if I wasn’t expecting him to win. I know he can win but not at the first one to finish the race. The two Formula 1 drivers that I wished to win on the Canadian GP was no where to be found on the top three and when I looked down at the list, there they were. Next to their names was the word accident and I was like, “No way! The two of them had an accident?” I think I was just expecting the two ace drivers of F1 to battle head to head in Montreal. The race as Raikkonen said could’ve been his if Hamilton didn’t crash onto his car on the pit lane. And that accident happened because the McLaren driver didn’t see the red light up. Oh well. Accidents happen and sad to say, the top two drivers of F1 have experienced it in a race that radically altered their stand in the competition.
And even with Kubica’s win in Montreal, Mario Theissen – boss of the BMW team, says the status of their two drivers stays the same. Nick Heidfeld won’t be called the number two and Kubica won’t be given the number one status. I think the idea is good! Treating everybody fairly will definitely make the relationship between the two drivers better.
As I’ve written on one of my previous posts, expect the unexpected. And so, the unexpected occurred in Montreal. Well, it’s not that I’m not expecting BMW’s Robert Kubica to perform so well, given that he’s the third in the grid. It’s just that, well, I was kind of wanting McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen to execute well during the Canadian GP. I guess luck was way out of reach from the two ace drivers of Formula 1. Kubica stood holding the first place trophy at the podium, standing right next to him was teammate Nick Heidfeld, who was unexpectedly followed by Red Bull's David Coulthard. Where were Hamilton and Raikkonen? Well, they were no where to be found due to an accident, which I’m going to talk about that later on.
Kubica’s maiden win in Circuit Gilles Villeneuve positions him on top of the driver’s standings. Only four behind him are Hamilton and Felipe Massa, who was also followed by Raikkonen. Heidfeld, though he won second in Montreal still fell short in fifth place but that also puts him in a secure place right on top of Heikki Kovalainen. The constructor’s standings showed a lot of change maybe not in position but in points. The McLaren team has remarkably fallen way behind Ferrari and BMW. And despite the red team staying on top, the blue team remains to be a threat with only three points behind.
The BMW team has been very consistent on the previous races and with this they could win the world championship. But Willy Rampf, the team’s technical director, said that his team doesn’t really think much about the odds of achieving the championship and said that he’s proud of what the team has achieved in Montreal. Now, BMW is starting to concentrate on the upcoming Grand Prix de France that’ll take place in Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. The humility that the team and its drivers are showing are beginning to pay off and it’s happening at the right time. I say my cheers to the BMW team for their Canadian GP victory.
The qualifying race is about to start very soon and the result will determine who has a shot in being number one. So, does Ferrari feel any pressure at all? Team Ferrari finished at the top during the Spanish GP. That was quite expected since Felipe Massa already won in Barcelona last season. Plus, Ferrari’s triumph in Barcelona gave them the lead on both the driver’s and the constructor’s standings. But does the team feel pressure now that the midseason is about to start? I don’t think so. Ferrari is as confident as ever in winning the next GP, which will take place on one of their favorite circuits - the Istanbul Park Circuit. This confidence is probably brought by the team’s success during in Turkey for the past three seasons. “It’s a terrific circuit, demanding on the cars, but great fun to drive,” said Kimi Raikkonen.
But Ferrari is not the only team that is confident about their cars for the Turkish GP. McLaren and BMW are some of the persistent teams that are also confident in racing well in Istanbul. For the McLaren team, there is Lewis Hamilton, who is just nine points behind the Ferrari team. Hamilton’s teammate, Heikki Kovalainen, has never been so ready to race which is a bit scary because of his determination after a terrible race crash in Barcelona. As for the BMW team, you have the talented Robert Kubica. However, I don’t think BMW teammate Nick Heidfeld shares the same enthusiasm his team has. He actually thinks that Ferrari will remain at the forefront of the pack after the Turkish GP. I guess he’s referring to the numbers because no matter how you try to add 10 points to the BMW team and to their two drivers, Ferrari will still have the lead. But if both Ferrari cars failed to finish the race that is the time when the standings will drastically change.
Honestly, when you watch a F1 race, every team is almost equal when it comes to speed. Ferrari simply tried to protect their lead from championship-thirsty teams and just tried to stay ahead of the pack. If Ferrari continues to stay on top, the world championship isn’t going to be that hard to reach.
I noticed that I’m really anticipating about Ferrari totally recovering at the Bahrain GP and taking the top spot away from their toughest rival the McLaren-Mercedes. I almost forgot that there are other tough teams that deserve a place here in my blog. I’m talking about the BMW team. They weren’t really silent about what they’ve been doing with their cars. We were just focused on the two Formula 1 titans. So, here’s the BMW story I got for you. The entire team is actually determined on working harder to challenge McLaren and Ferrari. BMW currently sits between the two dominant teams. They’re just 5 points behind McLaren and 8 points ahead of Ferrari. That’s not bad at all. But since the entire Ferrari has been showing signs of an upcoming domination, the entire BMW team is gearing up for the next race. Present BMW drivers are Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica.
We’ll be able to find out about what happens to the BMW team and if changes are going to take place at the driver’s standing and at the constructor’s table after the race on Sunday.
Yes, the qualifying round is over and the final lineup for tomorrow’s race is set. I really thought Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes would battle it out during the qualifying round, I was wrong. McLaren-Mercedes dominated the Albert Park getting pole position. This is the final lineup in tomorrow’s race, the driver’s name and his corresponding team:
1 Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes
2 Robert Kubica - BMW
3 Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren-Mercedes
4 Felipe Massa - Ferrari
5 Nick Heidfeld - BMW
6 Jarno Trulli - Toyota
7 Nico Rosberg - Williams-Toyota
8 David Coulthard - Red Bull-Renault
9 Timo Glock - Toyota
10 Sebastian Vettel - STR-Ferrari
11 Rubens Barrichello - Honda
12 Fernando Alonso - Renault
13 Jenson Button - Honda
14 Kazuki Nakajima - Williams-Toyota
15 Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault
16 Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
17 Giancarlo Fisichella - Force India-Ferrari
18 Sebastien Bourdais - STR-Ferrari
19 Adrian Sutil - Force India-Ferrari
20 Takuma Sato - Super Aguri-Honda
21 Nelsinho Piquet - Renault
22 Anthony Davidson - Super Aguri-Honda
I really thought Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes will battle it out for pole position during the qualifying round. I was wrong. The only Ferrari that I see near the top spot is Felipe Massa. Kimi Raikkonen is nowhere to be found at the top. I am a K Raikkonen fan, so, I was a bit frustrated to see him at the 16th spot. But like MotoGP, being on the pole position does secure a win. The win would still depend on the driver’s skills and the team’s strategy. So, I really expect Ferrari to kick some butt as soon as the race starts.
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