Australian Grandprix: Live Blogging.

lewis-kiss3.jpg

The Australian Grandprix is about to start. Here in Yanqui country we have a long preamble going on right now. There is no traction control people!

Peter Windsor as usual works around the tracks and grabs which ever driver would talk to him. He already got Lewis to blabber some obvious stuff.

And now Red Bull gives us a pre-packaged preamble about how awesome their car is.

A special mention: Always watch out for Bob Varsha and David Hobbs (sp.). On any given race, they are bound to mess things up. Many times. For instance, during qualifying David twice blurted out “Fenari” instead of Ferrari. Me and my friends strongly believe that he is perennially drunk. How fun!.

This is quite startling! Alonso has already given up on the race. He just said he will try next week again.

Raikkonen looks ice cool. Talk about living up to your nic name.

 

There are five drivers racing for the first time. I expect some spectacular crashes. Please don’t disappoint boys.

Bob Varsha talks through a testosterone charging video montage. Where the hell is Russell Crowe?

Oh goodness, it’s March in New York and trees are without leaves, the skies are always grey and it’s kinda chilly still. But Melbourne look wonderful.

Yikes! Speed has a “Failure to Launch” reference and the race hasn’t even started. Bravo Varsha!

 

Race is on. Lewis leads. Kimi is on 8th already. AUSSIE Webber is out. Massa got clipped and back in the pit lane.

Raikkonen is on seventh. Button is gone.

 

Ferrari went on soft. Brilliant! Kimi gained 8 spots in one lap! I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up in the podium and drinks that yellow stuff that they give during interviews.

Lap 9: Kimi is hounding Rubens. It’s a dogfight.

Comment of the night: “When I meant slightly slower, I mean slightly quicker.” The commentators does rule!

 

Lewis is running away with the race. He is already 6.7 seconds ahead and it’s only the 11th lap.

 

Apparently, the Aussies lost a lot of money last year and Bernie does his usual shtick and threatens the race for next year.

Commercial Break. And Lewis is faster than ever! Could this be his year?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kimi is hounding Rubens. And they track the radio from Kucia’s car and lose the freaking satellite. Appropriately, there is a promo for a program titled “Living the low life”

 

Kubica pits…is he running on a three-stop strategy? If so, there is no way he can win, unless he can pull rabbits out of his hat.

Oh geesh, I spoke too quickly, Lewis pits too! Heidfeld gets in front of him. Heikki is leading the race! While Kimi at last gets past Barrichello. Smart driving from kimi.

 

Trulli is done. Probably gear box or transmission.

 

Heidfeld and Rosberg pit. And they have another dog fight in the pits and Heidfeld gets away. Lewis gets to second place, just behind Heikki. Oh wait, Heikki pits and Lewis leads again.

Kimi is back to do what he does best. Hounding drivers ahead of him. Kimi is right behind Heikki and if he does over take him, it’s safe to assume Ferrari will have a better car. But truth be told, Hamilton is going to win this race.

 

OMG Massa shuts down Coulthard so bad that he runs into the grass and crashes, as you can believe, by himself. David indeed drove arrogantly.

 

Safety car is out. Kimi was about to pit and just didn’t. Alonso is being asked to save his fuel. So, it all now depends on how long the safety car is out, and if it stays long, the podium is all but over for these two.

 

Mercedes Benz SL 63 is the safety car. Mercedes also supplies the electronics for Formula One. Ron Dennis seems to hold all the cards, doesn’t he? Not that safety car is anything to go by.

Thoughts so far: Looks like Lewis Hamilton is going to win this one by a huge margin. The rest of the position is all up for grabs.

 

Safety car leaves while Kimi still stays on track. OMG Kimi overtakes Heikki and rushes into gravel. Is his race over? I am sure he is going to pit now. Massa has stopped. Michael would never have done that.

Nelson Piquet Jr. is off!

Massa is off!

 

Kimi is back on track.

 

Sato is off!

Half the drivers are off the race, I think! Well, whaddya expect, it’s 1:30 in New York City and half of wine is in my belly. Drunk live blogging is surreal.

 

I am right…11 of 22 is off the track!

Sebastien Bourdais is on sixth place! A rookie! Could this be the second Hamilton in two years?

 

The race position seems to be set. Lewis is slated to win. Heikki is probably a good wingman in this race.

Oh god, Kimi goes off the track again. Hamiltion pits – 8.6 seconds. Nice. This should see him through the race.

 

T Glock crashes spectacularly! I am sure the safety car is coming in.

 

Saftey car is employed. Glock is getting out slowly, but he seems okay. Boy that crash looked wonderful!

 

Barrichello is out…really lousy driving. No it’s not. They raised the lollipop before the car get fueled fully. Ross must be super pissed.

11 laps remaining and the safety car is out for the third time, I think. Good news for Ferrari though, Kimi is ahead of Heikki.

 

Disaster for Kubica. He is being told he is done. It’s amazing that his race is off when the safety car is on.

 

Alonso just got ahead of Kimi. Damn.

Nakajima, the flying ninja, takes his own wing off!

 

How in the world did Alonso got on to fifth position? Lewis is still leading.

Five laps to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Lewis

2. Heikki

3. Nico

Three laps left:

 

OMG Kimi’s race is over. Ferrari has just had a horrible weekend in Australia. Not a good sign for the world champions.

 

Heikki is all over Alonso. But for people who have long memories, even Schu struggled overtaking Fernando.

OH GOD! Sebastien Bourdais just blowed out. He’s done.

Hamilton wins. As expected.

Heidfeld second

 

Rosberg third…his first podium.

While Heikki and Alonso has a nasty dog fight (dog fight is just becoming my favorite term for Formula 1). And contradicting physics, Alonso comes up as a winner. Well…he is a two time world champion.

So the start of 2008 has been great! While the winners have been predictable. Ferrari have to get their act together, which I am sure they will. While McLaren have to keep up at maintaining their high standard. It’s really disappointing for Ferrari as they don’t have any points at all.

If 2007 was the most exciting season we have seen for a long time, 2008 promises to challenge it.

I will be back tomorrow with more of my two-pence.

Cheers! (Because I’m drunk)