Monaco GP: Hamilton Wins Chaotic Monte Carlo Street Battle.

Hamilton wins dramatic rain hit Monaco GP

from F1-Live.com

The Monaco Grand Prix did not quite go the full distance as it hit the two hour time limit with Lewis Hamilton taking the chequered flag and his sixth career win around the streets of Monte Carlo. It was a fantastic drive from Hamilton who now takes over the championship lead from Kimi Raikkonen who failed to score today.

Rain at the Principality made it a very tricky race for the 20 starters and while Hamilton celebrates his second win of the season, it was a far from easy Sunday afternoon drive. An error on lap seven saw him returning to the pits after brushing the barriers at the swimming pool, slashing his right rear tyre in the process.

Ironically, Hamilton’s early stop allowed him to take extra fuel on board and he was then able to time his switch from the rain tyre to dry tyre to perfection. Hamilton was not the only driver to make errors however as Felipe Massa made one and Kimi Raikkonen made two...

Massa started from the pole position and controlled the pace in the early laps despite Hamilton slotting into second position. However, a mid-race error saw him run off track at Sainte Devote and lose position to Robert Kubica. The Brazilian would never recover the lost ground and took the chequered flag two seconds behind the BMW Sauber driver who put in a flawless drive to claim the runner up position.

Adrian Sutil was on target to take a sensational fourth position in his Force India Ferrari. A late race safety car bunched up the field and Kimi Raikkonen lost control of his Ferrari under braking exiting the tunnel.

The Ferrari struck the back of the VJM01 forcing Sutil to return slowly to the pit and retire. It was an awful end to a fantastic race from the German racer.

Mark Webber recovered to finish in fourth position, losing ground mid-race after pitting too early to take the slick tyres and losing position to Sutil. Still it was a good solid run from the Red Bull racer who picks up five points for the Milton Keynes-based team.

Sebastian Vettel kept out of trouble and like Webber used a one-stop strategy well to take fifth position in the Toro Rosso Ferrari ahead of Rubens Barrichello who finally gets back in the points with the Honda team. Kazuki Nakajima brought home two points for Williams with his seventh place finish ahead of Heikki Kovalainen who should have finished so much higher.

Kovalainen stalled his McLaren Mercedes on the dummy grid and was forced to start the Grand Prix from the pit lane. The Finn battled on but a mistake behind the safety car saw him slow to unlap himself and therefore dropped some 20 seconds to Nakajima. A late race charge saw him take eighth position and the final championship point just three seconds behind the Japanese racer.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080525163210.shtml

FINAL RESULTS:

1) Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - Mercedes

2) Robert Kubica - BMW

3) Felipe Massa - Ferrari

4) Mark Webber - Red Bull - Renault

5) Sebastian Vettel - Scuderia Toro Rosso - Ferrari

6) Rubens Barichello - Honda

7) Kazuki Nakajima - Williams - Toyota

8) Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren - Mercedes

New York Yankees Update

BAMBINO: Well, the Yanks are where their supposed to be this early in the season. Under .500 like the last 5 seasons. Only one thing is different. The Yankees don't have the calm and cool of Joe Torre to lead them to victory. Joe Girardi has done a good job thus far with a very depleted Yankee team. The Yanks just dropped two to the cross town Mets in interleague play. The Bombers had bad outings by Pettitte and Wang.

In defense of Girardi, he is missing the best hitter in the game in A-Rod (DL - Quad) and arguably the best catcher in the game in Jorge Posada (DL - Shoulder). Key injuries also occured to Phil Highes and Brian Bruney. The rotation outside of Chien-Ming Wang and Mike Mussina has struggled. Andy Pettitte has been inconsistent and the pecking order of Darrell Rasner, Ian Kennedy, and Kei Igawa have not got it done. Face it, they suck right now.

The good news is that it's not Memorial Day yet. The Bronx Bombers need to get some key players back and get on a roll. They have the talent to compete in the AL. They need all their pieces though. They still have plenty O' time.

AL STANDINGS: (Yanks 20-24, last place 5/19/08)

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/mlb/standings/index.jsp

Turkish GP: Massa Takes the Win for Ferrari!

Felipe Massa takes Turkish Grand Prix hat trick

From Shell-Ferrari.com

Felipe Massa took his third consecutive Turkish Grand Prix victory today, after a tense and thrilling race in Istanbul. Despite several lead changes as McLaren-Mercedes tried to outwit Scuderia Ferrari during the pit stops, the pole-sitter kept his nerve magnificently, relegating Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) to second, with team-mate and defending World Champion, Kimi Räikkönen, in third place.

"Four wins from the first five races for Scuderia Ferrari, what a great start to the season!" said Lisa Lilley, Shell Technology Manager for Ferrari. "We are very pleased with the performance of our fuel and lubricants this weekend, particularly our Shell Spirax gearbox oil. Under the new regulations, the gearbox must now last four consecutive races. We have just reached the end of our first lifecycle, which neatly coincides with Ferrari's four-race winning streak. The oil is key to gearbox reliability."

Today's result sees Räikkönen retain his lead in the Drivers' Championship on 35 points, with Massa jumping from fourth to second on 28 points. The Brazilian is now ahead of Hamilton, also on 28, by merit of having won two races so far this season, compared to Hamilton's one victory. Across in the Constructors' Championship, Scuderia Ferrari stretched its lead, reaching 63 points, 19 points ahead of its nearest challenger, BMW Sauber, on 44, with McLaren-Mercedes just behind on 42 points.

Monte Carlo, Monaco, will host the next round of the season on Sunday 25 May, 2008.

RACE VIDEO:
http://www.formula1.com/services/play_video.html

INTERACTIVE TRACK MAP:
http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/turkey_791/circuit_diagram.html

FINAL RESULTS:

1) Felipe Massa - Ferrari

2) Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - Mercedes

3) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari

4) Robert Kubica - BMW

5) Nick Heidfeld - BMW

6) Fernando Alonso - Renault

7) Mark Webber - Red Bull - Renault

8) Nico Rosberg - Williams - Toyota

Spanish GP: Kimi, Ferrari, Reign in Spain with an easy 1-2!!!

Doppietta Ferrari al Catalunya!

From F1-Live.com

Le due Ferrari di Kimi Raikkonen e Felipe Massa hanno ampiamente dominato sul tracciato di Barcellona. Autore della pole e del miglior giro in gara, Raikkonen ha conquistato la sua 17° vittoria nei Gran Premi. Quella di oggi è la 78° doppietta Ferrari ed il 204° successo di una monoposto di Maranello.

"Kimi Raikkonen ha utilizzato molto bene le sue gomme per vincere una corsa perturbata da due interventi della safety car. Le medie hanno funzionato meglio oggi, con un netto vantaggio nei tempi sul giro ed una migliore aderenza. La maggior parte dei piloti ha utilizzato due volte le medie e le dure per terminare. Era la strategia giusta.In termini di usura la prestazione è stata buona, ma ce lo aspettavamo dopo averle testate qui in passato," ha spiegato Hirohide Hamashima, direttore dello sviluppo presso la Bridgestone Motorsport.

"Per quanto riguarda l’incidente di Kovalainen, non pensiamo che sia stato un cedimento della gomma. Per precauzione stiamo svolgendo un’inchiesta approfondita con la squadra e siamo felici perché non sembra essersi ferito," ha concluso il giapponese.

http://it.f1-live.com/f1/it/attualita/notizie/detail/080427192553.shtml

FINAL RESULTS:

1) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
2) Felipe Massa - Ferrari
3) Louis Hamilton - McLaren - Mercedes
4) Robert Kubica - BMW

5) Mark Webber - Red Bull - Renault

6) Jenson Button - Honda
7) Kazuki Nakajima - Williams - Toyota

8) Jarno Trulli - Toyota

Bahrain GP: Massa Leads Home Ferrari 1-2 at Sakhir!

Massa gets the job done for Ferrari

Bahrain GP - Race from F1-Live.com


There were no mistakes this afternoon in the 57-lap Bahrain Grand Prix from Felipe Massa who put in a flawless performance to kick-start his championship campaign. Starting second behind pole-sitter Robert Kubica, Massa breezed past the BMW Sauber driver to take the lead on the first lap, a lead he would never relinquish.

While Massa had the pace off the line to take the lead, he was kept under pressure throughout the race by Malaysian Grand Prix winner and team-mate Raikkonen. The pace was furious at the front with the duo trading best laps ahead of the second and final pitstops.

Massa took the chequered flag three seconds clear of Raikkonen, who was also able to make short-work of pole-sitter in the opening laps of the race, while Kubica took the flag in third position, less than two seconds behind Raikkonen.

For Kubica, the gap at the end of the Grand Prix does not tell the full picture as Ferrari utterly dominated the third round of the championship and it was only in the final stint that the team went into car conservation mode and controlled the gap to the flag.

The ten points for Massa is a much needed boost after failing to finish in Australia and Malaysia while Raikkonen’s second position moves him to the head of the championship table heading to Barcelona in three weeks time.

With Kubica finishing third, Nick Heidfeld made best of a good getaway at the start of the race to bring home the second F1.08 in fourth position and in doing so the Hinwil-based team leave Bahrain leading the constructors’ championship for the first time.

Bahrain would prove to be something of a reality check for the McLaren Mercedes team. Starting the race with Hamilton third and Kovalainen fifth, the team had hoped to challenge the front-runners from the outset.

Lewis Hamilton made a mess of his race start dropping to tenth position but his race really came unstuck next time around as he inexplicably ran into the back of Fernando Alonso Renault. The McLaren took to the air shedding its front wing forcing Hamilton to creep back to the pits for repairs. The Australian Grand Prix winner made little impression from that point, despite switching to a one stop strategy and would finish a lapped 13th.

Heikki Kovalainen steered clear of trouble and fended off advances from behind to take the chequered flag in fifth position, almost 30 seconds behind race winner Massa.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080406153126.shtml

FINAL RESULTS:

1) Felipe Massa - Ferrari

2) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari

3) Robert Kubica - BMW

4) Nick Heidfeld - BMW

5) Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren - Mercedes

6) Jarno Trulli - Toyota

7) Mark Webber - Red Bull - Renault

8) Nico Rosberg - Williams - Toyota

A New Era, the Last Opening Day at the Old Stadium

BAMBINO: Well, here we go with another baseball season. A marathon of titanic proportions. 162 games over 6 months. Can the Yanks get back on top with a new skipper at the helm? Will the young arms be a factor? Will the veterans remain great? Joba Rules? We shall see. I love Opening Day. I went once in 1993 vs KC, and it was a blast.

Watching Opening Day on TV has been my mainstay. I always manage to have a "day off" and watch the game with a few beers. The New York Yankees host the Toronto Blue Jays in the final opening game in the Old Yankee Stadium.

Next season, the Bombers will move into their new digs next door, but one more WS Title in the House that Ruth Built, would be the cherry on top. I already saw computer generated pics of the House That Jeter Built, and it looks like the Yanks will spare no expense to make the baseball experience in the Bronx, one to remember.

PLAY BALL!!

SEASON PREVIEW:

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080324&content_id=2456102&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy

Malaysian GP: Kimi Brings Ferrari Back to the Winner's Circle!

RAIKKONEN SHINES FOR FERRARI

FROM F1-LIVE.COM

It may not have been the most entertaining of races for the fans, but for Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari his dominant Malaysian Grand Prix victory is just what he needed following the disappointment in Melbourne a week ago.

Starting second, the defending champion was happy to shadow pole-sitter and team-mate Felipe Massa until the first round of pit stops and then put in a quick lap to ensure that he exited the pit just ahead. With the race lead in his hands, Raikkonen quickly pulled a four second advantage on Massa who then spun his Ferrari into retirement.

Starting fourth, Robert Kubica made best of Jarno Trulli’s bad start to run a comfortable third for the first half of the race before taking over second position when Massa retired. The BMW Sauber driver took the chequered flag just under 20 seconds behind Raikkonen and a similar margin ahead of third placed finisher Heikki Kovalainen in the McLaren Mercedes.

Kovalainen drove an error free race but to take the chequered flag 40 seconds behind the winner. After their Melbourne performance, the result will be a shock for McLaren who by their own admission have struggled this weekend.

Jarno Trulli started third but he and Nick Heidfeld found themselves squeezed out of the pack through turns one and two at the start of the race. The Toyota driver recovered and took a comfortable fourth in the much-improved TF108, despite late race pressure from Lewis Hamilton.

For Hamilton, the race was always going to be about damage limitation but surprisingly he opted to run the softer type in both the first and second stint. In the third and final sting when it was effectively too late to make any further progress, the Melbourne winner was much faster as he chased Trulli across the line, just 0.7 seconds adrift.

Hamilton also lost ground in his first stop when his front right wheel insert slowed the wheel change by an additional ten seconds, so it was a case of lost opportunity for the championship leader who heads to Bahrain with a three point advantage over his nearest rival.

After losing out at the start of the race as Trulli pushed him wide, Nick Heidfeld was unable to regain the lost ground as he took the chequered flag in sixth position ahead of Mark Webber who will feel he and the team deserved more than two points from this event. The second round of stops saw the Red Bull Renault driver lose out to both Hamilton and Heidfeld but the Australian battled hard to keep Fernando Alonso behind to the flag.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080323100122_1.shtml

FINAL RESULTS:

1) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari

2) Robert Kubica - BMW

3) Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren - Mercedes

4) Jarno Trulli - Toyota

5) Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - Mercedes

6) Nick Heidfeld - BMW

7) Mark Webber - Red Bull - Renault

8) Fernando Alonso - Renault