http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/10/23/hamilton.massa.car.concerns/ Neale Graham For CNN LONDON, England (CNN) -- The two Formula One world championship contenders, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa, have car concerns ahead of their final-race showdown in Brazil. Lewis Hamilton leads Felipe Massa -- but neither can be totally at ease with their cars for the Brazil showdown. Hamilton's McLaren will be running its engine for the second race of two, whereas the Ferrari pair of Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, along with Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, will have new engines for the race. Massa's worry is the lack of speed he had in China, where he was outpaced by race-winner Hamilton and Raikkonen throughout the weekend, only finishing second after team orders slowed the Finn. Massa trails Hamilton by seven points. McLaren are conscious of the need to manage Hamilton's one-race old engine, which will give away perhaps a one-tenth of a second per lap to a new motor. Read more about F1 at The Circuit. "Of course, we are keenly aware that the world championship could be won or lost by a mechanical failure," said McLaren chief executive officer Martin Whitmarsh. "As a result, we are leaving no stone unturned in our efforts to minimize this possibility. For example, that meant consciously turning down Lewis's engine on the run to the flag in China in order to give him plenty of engine life for Brazil." McLaren could have given Hamilton a new engine for the last race if they had not played their 'joker' -- the one free engine change each driver has per season -- earlier in the year. The Englishman would be punished with a 10-place grid drop if his engine was changed before the Sao Paulo race. But despite Hamilton suffering a reliability glitch during last year's Brazilian Grand Prix that effectively cost him the title, Whitmarsh is confident of being able to push for victory in a race where fifth place would suffice. He added: "Clearly, we can afford to be more conservative than normal in our approach to Lewis's race, [but] there's no reason why we can't take forward the pace and form we showed in China to achieve a one-two in Brazil. "We do have a number of minor aerodynamic upgrades in the pipeline that we are evaluating for inclusion on our Brazil-spec car." Meanwhile Ferrari are looking into where their performance advantage over McLaren, which was clear in the Singapore and Japanese races, went in China. "We cannot be fighting for the titles in the condition where our car is less competitive, with such a big gap to McLaren," said Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali, ahead of a race Massa won in 2006 and dominated in 2007 before moving aside for Raikkonen. "We need to understand why there was this kind of change on the performance side. I don't believe that in one week all the others have made a step which we haven't, so it's something connected to our performance. "This is why we must work hard because we need to make sure that we do everything in order to have a good car for the last grand prix." Can you say "Kaboomski!" Lets see if Hambone was running a "Flash Cube" motor.
McLaren hasn't had any problems with their engines this year. This is just Fluff when nothing else is going on.
Besides being "fluff", this article is just inaccurate. Hamilton hasn't used his free engine change, but Mclaren are not sure of the legality of using it for the last race. They don't want to risk a gray area penalty with the championship on the line. The rule in question So from Mclaren's perspective, they should be able to change the engine before "The Event" starts. Which according to rule 28.4 consists of P3, Qualifying, and the race. However, this seems a fine line to tread. The smart thing would have been to change engines before Japan, giving him a new engine for Japan, 2nd engine for China, and then another new engine for Brazil.
If McLaren has any legitimate concerns, they should change the engine, qualify top-3 and accept the 10-spot bump. Then they can play with their race strategy. Hamilton has a 7-point advantage to protect--he may even consider a non-quali and start from the pit lane. He'll easily work his way into the top 6, and that way he avoids any potential first-corner calamity.
If it is true that Lewis has not used his joker engine change and they dont use it then something is going on and we may see a surprise in Brazil.
I agree... it says they can't use the joker for the last race of the season... if they changed it after the last race, but before the race weekend in Brazil, it would be in violation of that rule - since they would have changed it "for the last race..."
No I wasn't cocky 07, and I never am, I mean how can I be with the FIA!! But's that's what I mean, in the real world where folk realise that Porno MAX and Hecklestone script it!, bogus penalty's ect (which even you admit to that!) Lewis has already won it...
The way everything has been going in the last 2 years in F1.....we are all losers. I dont think I will be following much more F1 after this season.
+1 I don't understand why they didn't do this; they had the "engine change card" and didn't play it. Of course, they may feel there is little advantage for them to change engines. We'll see what happens in Brazil.
I know what you mean.. I'm at logger heads myself with it, I just hate the fact that Max thinks folk that watch it, are muppets and will accept anything he say's, I feel for the drivers doing there best and getting shafted for it as well. All in a lame attempt to cover his hate for Ron D and Mclaren. We all end up loser's...
I actually disagree with that. F1 Sporting Regs 28.4 f Except during the last Event of the Championship season, each driver will be permitted to use a replacement engine without incurring a penalty the first time this becomes necessary during the season. The way I read it if you've already used your joker engine you can swap out the motor for this final event because you won't get a penalty for doing so. It doesn't really say what you can or can't do during the last event.
Lost a few connecting rods here in the last two races.. Those same Pankl rods that got Felipe earlier in the year and guess what.. Hami's engine was built with the same batch of rods...
You see that's the way Max likes it, so as fans, even racing director's CW don't know there arse from there elbow as regards the rules, consequently that leaves the way for open for PornoMax to fix the results in his twisted way.
+1. Just somebody trying to create hype. I bet they run Hamilton light in quali and in the race. Look for a 3 stopper.
