Bleacher Report - Articles by Nick Taylor

Lewis Hamilton Wins The 2008 Formula One Drivers World Championship

Nick Taylor — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 06:40:47 -0500

A hearty congratulations to Lewis Hamilton. We came into the final race of the 2008 Championship with it all to play for between Massa and Hamilton.

Qualifying was taken by Massa, and he started his home Grand Prix from the front row. Just a few minutes before the lights went out the heavens opened and it started to rain. The start was postponed and all the teams changed their tyres.

The lights went out and the race was a go. David Coulthard crashed out of his last ever race at the second corner, and Nelson Piquet Jr span out too.

The track dryed out very quickly and all the teams came in to change to dry tyres. For the most part the race was an easy simple race, although I dare say that most of us (whoever we may be supporting) were perched on the edge of our seats or screaming at the television!!

The pit stops came and went with no major dramas, although the Honda team were clearly seeing fires that weren't actually there!!

In the last 15 laps there was talk of rain. Then it came and a few of the teams took the risk and brought their drivers in to change their tyres to wets.

As I'm sure we were all aware, Hamilton had to finish in fifth to win the championship. Vettel was all over him and finally made the pass, Hamilton had no answer to it, and when the tyre change was made LH was in sixth. Trying to get back into fifth.

It came to the last lap Glock was well ahead of the scrap between LH and SV. But it happened and Glock couldn't keep traction in his car and was taken by both Hamilton and Vettel.

The championship was won at the final corner. Massa came over the line in first and the Ferrari team started celebrating a little too early, Hamilton had got it.

After all the controversy of the 2008 championship, the lights are out, the cars are parked and the teams and drivers are either drowning their sorrows or partying into the night. We go into the winter period of developing the cars and the long process of testing for next year.

As I have said in the past although I am a Ferrari fan, there is no way I am against Hamilton, he deserved the championship this year, why? Because he won.

We all look forward to 2009....

Lewis Hamilton Takes the Hat Trick: Pole, Fastest Lap, and Victory in China

Nick Taylor — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 21:44:52 -0400

The lights went out and Hamilton had the best start he could and stayed ahead of Raikkonen.

Kovalainen made his start count and challenged Massa, but he was not quite good enough and stayed in fourth.

A first corner incident between Trulli and Bourdais, with Trulli coming worse off and he left the track onto the run off area. Which leads to Trulli having to retire on lap 4.

In the opening laps, Webber made some excellent moves on Barrichello and Piquet, however he was obviously running light by coming into the pits very early in the race.

By Lap 21, it showed that Massa's car wasn't running as well as he'd liked, as he still had no answer for Hamilton's pace.

On Lap 31, Fisichella how was a lap down was holding up Raikkonen for several corners, which he very clearly showed as Raikkonen passed on the back straight.

Nakajima and Glock both one-stopped which is an unusual move, obviously to try to get into the points. On lap 35, Kovalainen had an awful puncture and had to limp back to the pits.

On lap 38 Massa made his last stop and rejoined in fourth place. just behind Heidfeld. Only a lap later, both Hamilton and Raikkonen made their final stops of the race.

On lap 41 Kubica made his final stop and rejoined the race in fourth, his championship contention completely gone now.

Lap 50 and Raikkonen backed off and didn't challenge Massa's move on the back straight.

Kovalainen also came into the pits, parked it straight into the garage and climbed out of his car, the pit crew had a look and it was the right front brake which was on the cards from the start of the race.

Hamilton finished the race after pretty much leading the race from start to finish. He finished 14.9 seconds ahead of Massa. Raikkonen took third and Alonso fourth.

Hamilton's first place not quite good enough to clinch the title in China, but the lead is now up to seven points.

However, due to Kovalainen not finishing, Ferrari goes to Brazil with an 11-point lead in the constructor's title race.

So we go into the final race in Brazil with it all to play for. Massa has to win his home Grand Prix and Hamilton do no better than a seventh.

Lewis Hamilton Starts The Chinese Grand Prix In Pole Position

Nick Taylor — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:25:46 -0400

We move to China for the penultimate race of the season. With all the interviews before qualifying, Martin Whitmarsh was heard saying that Lewis had NOT followed orders in Japan, and Patrick Head was heard saying that although drivers need to be aggressive, sometimes that doesn't pay off and a driver has to drive conservatively especially at this stage of a championship, which it seems that LH hasn't been doing.

Nelson Piquet Jr. was the first driver out onto the circuit for Q1 as usual and setting the first time of 1:37.511.

Lewis came out and set a fantastic first time, and was the first driver to break the 1:35 mark.

At the end of Q1 we lost Coulthard, Nakajima, Button, Sutil, and Fisichella in that order. McLaren looked very strong after Q1, Toro Rosso and Renault at this stage looked stronger than the Ferrari's. After the session, DC expressed the fact that he wasn't happy with Nick Hiedfeld, and watching it, I can see what he meant. DC was clearly on a flying lap and Nick on an in-lap, and he should have moved out of the way.

In Q2, Kubica was having serious problems with the balance of his car and he was unable to set a decent time, and finished a very unimpressive 12th place, he will move up a place after Mark Webber takes a 10-place grid drop due to having to change his engine after a blow up in practice. Also out of Q2 were Piquet, Glock, Barrichello and Rosberg.

In Q3, after the first runs, it looked like LH and FM were running slightly heavier than their team mates. Both came in and put fresh soft compound tyres on.

At the end of Q3, Lewis starts the race from a well deserved Pole position, Raikkonen starting a fantastic second with Massa at third, maybe, carrying more fuel. Alonso after saying he will help the Ferrari's out as much as he can starts the race in fourth.

Fernando Alonso Wins Again, Championship Contenders Falter at Fuji

Nick Taylor — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 01:20:38 -0400

The scene: the mountains of Japan. The grid: headed by Lewis Hamilton. The lights go out and Lewis' championship nearly falls out of his hands completely.

Lewis doesn't have the best start of his season, and is passed by Kimi and Heiki. Then, heading into the first corner, Lewis tries to get back the lead he and fails, nearly taking out several other cars.

There are a few incidents down the pack as they all reach the first corner. David Coulthard takes the full brunt of one incident and crashes out of the race.

Felipe Massa and Hamilton fight it out until Massa over cooks a corner and nudges Lewis. I can hear many of you now saying that he did it on purpose; however, you can see he didn't it was just another racing incident.

A few more laps down and Lewis and Massa are both given drive through penalties for their minor incursions. So, the two contenders are way back and not looking like they are going to get much out of the race: time for damage control.

Alonso eventually grabs the lead from Robert Kubica and shows everyone why he is a double world champion with a fantastic, composed drive. Kubica had a small chance of taking the lead from the former world champion, but just can't put in the lap times he needs.

While Alonso runs away with the lead, Kubica and Raikkonen fight it out for second place, with, in my opinion, some of the best racing we have seen this year. No malicious maneuvers, no trying to take each other out, just good racing.

After the first round of pit stops, the order remains much the same; Heikki drops out of the running with engine failure. All the while Massa is slowly and quietly making his way through the pack until he takes Webber in the closing laps to get the last point scoring position.

Hamilton makes up a few places but can't get as far as I'm sure he would have liked. Could it be that the boy wonder is feeling the pressure again in the closing stages of the championship? Only time will tell.

After the race, the stewards decide that the Massa/Bourdais incident was Bourdais' fault and give the young Frenchman a 25 second penalty, promoting Vettel, Massa, and Webber all up one place. The gap now stands at only five points between the two championship contenders.

If Massa and Hamilton keep losing their cool, could Kubica take the title? As we move into the penultimate race of the season the championship once again turns into a three horse race.

Jim Clark OBE: A Tribute to the First Flying Scot

Nick Taylor — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:10:41 -0400

I recently wrote an article on financing and its effects drivers in Formula One. In that piece, I wrote very briefly about the great Jim Clark; I don't think I did him any justice, so I thought I should elaborate on one of my favourite drivers.

Jim Clark OBE was born on the fourth March 1936 and died on seventh April 1968. At the time of his death, he had won more Grands Prix (25) and achieved more Pole Positions (33) than any other driver.

He was born into a Scottish farmer’s family in Fife; he was the youngest of five children and the only boy.

Much to his parent’s dismay, Clark started racing his OWN Sunbeam-Talbot in the local Road Rally and Hill Climb events and proved himself a worthy competitor.

By 1958 he was driving for the local Border Reivers team, racing in D-Type Jaguars and Porsche's, and won 18 races for them. In late 1958 he met Colin Chapman, who would move him firmly in the limelight of the motor racing world; he drove in Chapman’s Formula Junior cars.

He made the move to Formula One driving Chapman’s Lotus. Early in his career, he was involved in one of the worst accidents in Formula One history on 10th September, 1961 in Monza, Italy.

Wolfgang Von Trips, in a Ferrari, collided with Clark. Von Trips’ car went airborne and crashed into the barrier, throwing Von Trips out of his car. The accident killed Von Trips and 15 spectators.

In 1963, he won his first Formula One championship, winning seven races in the process. That same year, he entered the Indy 500 and came second, winning Rookie of the Year.

In 1964, he came within laps of retaining his Formula One crown, but an oil leak robbed him of his second title.

In 1965, he once again won a Formula One world championship; he also won the Indy 500, making history by being the first to win the great race driving a mid-engine car.

In 1966 and 1967, which brought new FiA regulations, the Lotus was less competitive. However, in Italy in 1967, Clark drove what is regarded by some people as the greatest drive ever.

Starting from Pole, Clark was leading the race until he got a puncture. He lost a lap while limping back to the pits. He then drove qualifying lap after qualifying lap to regain the lost lap AND the lead. Unfortunately, he ran out of fuel and coasted across the line to finish third.

On the seventh April 1968 Jim Clark was tragically killed while driving a Lotus in a Formula Two race at the Hockenheimring in Germany. The cause of the crash was never identified; however, investigators thought it was most likely due to a deflating rear tyre.

The team replaced the green and yellow badge with a black one for a month after his death. The 1968 World Drivers Championship was won by team mate Graham Hill; he dedicated his title to Clark.

Jim Clark was then and is still regarded as one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time by many. Of the 72 starts Clark made, he won 25 of them, a remarkable 35 percent.

Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Championship Turn In Singapore?

Nick Taylor — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 22:46:07 -0400

The first thing I would like to say is congratulations to Lewis Hamilton, in my personal opinion (and this is coming from a member of the tifosi!) Lewis will have the championship this year.

What a race Singapore was!

On Saturday, Felipe Massa drove his Ferrari to perfection and seemed to be gliding round the circuit, with Lewis coming close but not close enough.

Then on Sunday, when the lights went out, Massa shot ahead in one of his best race starts I have seen him have.

Then, the nightmare scenario played out.

Nelson Piquet (don't call me) Jr. crashed into the wall, bringing out the safety car. All of Massa's work and the whole pack bunches back up.

Then came that nightmare of a pit stop. The green light went on and, once again, a driver is not going to be told twice. He was away, taking half the pit equipment with him! At that point, the championship fell firmly in the arms of Lewis.

Everything went well for the British driver. Because of the safety cars, the pit stops changed, and Lewis did the best he and the McLaren team could do.

Settling for that third place has shown that maybe Lewis has started putting a more mature hat on his head; if this had have been last year he might have went for win rather than a solid podium in the wake of a rival's trouble. It's better to have six points than none.

Nobody, though, can take away the drive that put Alonso on the top step of the podium. He drove with such a clear head and a clear goal; he was always going to win that race. Renault risky pit strategy paid off... and well.

It is such a joy to watch a driver and car working perfectly together on the race track, and that is what we saw on race day.

Then for no reason (or none that I could see) apart from a brief lapse in concentration, Kimi Raikkonen under steered into a wall, ending to his race.

Apart from the obvious big things, we saw some fantastic driving from a few others. Nico Rosberg got a very strong and well deserved second place. His overcoming of a 10 second stop-and-go penalty proved he does deserve to be in Formula One and could be a future star.

Lewis Hamilton kept his head together while everyone around him was losing theirs, and took the last spot on the podium.

Another very good drive from young Sebastian Vettel saw him finish a very firm fifth place; and I can't forget Timo Glock’s fourth place after keeping his nose clean all the way through.

So now, the lights have all gone out, and we have finally put to bed the most unique race of the year. We walk into the last three races of the season looking to see if Lewis can take the crown from Kimi, but will he succeed? I think he will.

You can see that he wants it this year; last year he thought he had the title before he got it and blew it. I don’t think he will make that mistake this year.

There is still everything to play for and the only way Lewis will lose it is if Ferrari come and take it, a feat which I think is going to be more difficult than people think.

Formula One, Lewis Hamilton and a History Lesson!

Nick Taylor — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:53:43 -0400

First and foremost, I am NOT trying to start an argument here; I am just airing a few of my own points. Why is everyone being either completely for or completely against Lewis Hamilton?

There is no shadow of a doubt that he is a VERY talented driver. However, there are a few things that people are overlooking. No, he hasn’t had his drive at McLaren handed to him; and he HAS had to work for it, but not work as hard as some in the past.

It is true that money and motor sport have to come hand in hand. I competed in Rally-cross for two years in Germany. I had to pull out after two years because it cost me too much money. Tyres, engine parts, and cars (I rolled my first car and had to buy a new one completely).

£11m that McLaren has put into him has helped Lewis and his family out by taking away the worry of having to think about where the next set of tyres have to come from, or the worry of how they were going to pay for the next engine blowup.

If you look at some of the greatest drivers of all time, you have to look at their financial situations, too.

I would like to start with Gilles Villeneuve, who started when his father let him drive the car on and off the driveway. Then he started driving and found that he had a natural ability to drive fast.

He then went into snowmobile racing which he was putting all of his own money into; he had no sponsors, and his parents put in as much as they could.

He then had to struggle and live as cheaply as possible. For several years, he lived in a mobile home on his parents drive way with Joanne and young Jacques.

When he got his F1 drive with McLaren (who then broke their contract) he went onto Ferrari and still didn’t really get the money he should have until he started winning races.

Next I would have to mention is Nigel Mansell, who was racing in the lower formulae borrowing money from friends, family and the bank, sold everything they owned and re-mortgaged their house to fund Nigel’s’ racing even before getting into F1.

When he eventually did, he still had to work and drive better than everyone else to earn his money. Jim Clarke, who came from a farmer's family background, just raced cars fast and won races in cars that were slower than everyone else.

He got into F1 by fluke, being Lotus’ test driver and driving better than the actual drivers, but still not having any money. He had to get to race meetings and test meetings by paying out of his own pocket.

As for Michael Schumacher, his parents worked themselves to the bone to put Michael into races. They had to build the cars themselves and do everything in-house until Michael got into that Benetton in Spa in 1991.

Those four drivers didn’t have the financial backing that Lewis has had. I am not and would never say that an F1 driver can’t make it to be a world Champion, but if Lewis Hamilton didn’t have the financial backing, would he be sitting where he is now?

His raw talent is very, very good. He WILL be a world champion, all I’m trying to do here is just give an example of how a lot of money can help.

I hope people on this site don’t think I am against Lewis, as I am not. I really enjoy watching his flamboyant racing style; he has made F1 more exciting again.

The era of Ferrari winning everything is over and McLaren are now back in the limelight with Lewis.

I am thankful of the guy being as good as he is; I’m just trying to give you all a different perspective on things whether you are for or against Lewis. Thanks.

After The Controversy Of 2008, the Small Mercies Of 2009

Nick Taylor — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 23:49:50 -0400

With all of the controversy which has clearly been happening this year, with the FIA, several racing incidents, and other such things happening down the pit lane.

There have been quite a few things missed by many people, the fact that the traction control has been taken away has on many occasion made the racing much more exciting to watch. We have seen the true quality of many drivers and true racing in a sense. Is anybody looking forward to next year? I personally can't wait til the 2009 Formula One season, whoever wins this year has obviously deserved it.

But next year we will see more overtaking, more racing shenanigan's again. Due to the slicks coming in, which I personally think the grooved tyres were a bad idea in the first place, back in 1998 when they brought in those stupid groves it was an attempt to slow the cars down, unfortunately they got it all wrong with the groves you reduce mechanical grip, mechanical grip can be overcome.

What they should have done is reduce aerodynamic grip because once that has been removed it is very difficult to overcome. Look back to the 1990's the cars had a front and a rear wing and the bottom of the car was smooth, nowadays you have the diffuser at the back and all the little wings to improve the aerodynamic grip, which in turn will improve the mechanical grip rendering the groves in the tyres pointless.

So now they are going to rectify this situation and they are bringing back in the slick tyres and removing the little wings, so the cars will have more mechanical grip and less aero grip. The cars will be more level again, I can't remember what year he said it but Bernie Ecclestone once said "the car is made up of 25% driver 25% tyres 25% engine and 25% down-force" in recent years that has not been the case, perhaps with the new changes due to happen next year this will once again make Formula One like it used to be.

I used to love watching Prost, Senna, Fittipaldi, Mansell, Berger, Piquet and all the other greats battling it out and making great racing, although before my time in fact before I was a glint in my fathers eye, one of my favourite bits of motor racing was Rene Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve in the closing laps of the French GP in 1979.

That sort of racing should come back to the sport, the current situation of Formula One is too scientific, too clinical. Bring back the banging of wheels, the sparks, the excitement of the race.

Why Is Everyone Against the FIA?

Nick Taylor — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:50:03 -0400

I have read recently that there are a lot of people not entirely happy with how the FIA are “treating” certain teams in the paddock and how they are giving some teams preferred treatment. This is just not true.

The FIA are made up of a group of people that are unbiased towards any team. If a team or driver commits a rule break of any kind, then they are punished in a way that the FIA sees fit to punish them.

OK, yes, I am a Ferrari fan, but I am also British and in a conflict of interests in my own head, of course I want Massa to win the championship, but I also want Hamilton to win.

There have been certain events this year which have made people annoyed and defensive over a driver who, from what I can see, is not allowed out of the house without his father. The British press undermine Lewis every race by speaking to his father, but that is something that we can’t stop.

Anyway I digress, as we all know the teams in the Formula One pit ALL try to push rules, regulations and finances to the limit and occasionally they do go over. But the FIA ruling on these infringements is justified, what happened to “the referees decision is final”? I have read a couple of articles written by you good people about certain things.

For example; the Spa incident this year which I have already written about. The Valencia incident, people think that Massa should have been punished for this? Why?

The driver can’t see a thing in the wing mirrors when sitting in the pit lane, the team let him go and off he went, a driver is never going to be asked twice to go, as we have all seen in the past when a premature “lolly-pop man” lifts up too early and the driver takes half the refuelling rig with them.

If Massa hadn’t have lifted off, it would have caused a crash, but he did, hence why only the team were punished.

OK then rolling back a couple of years at Imola, when Montoya was on the outside at the hairpin, many people said at the time that Ferrari should have been punished by this, again, why?

I daresay that many of you have all experienced motor racing in some way shape or form (if you haven’t try it, you’ll love it!) and knowing what I know about going into a tight hairpin, nobody in their right mind would try and overtake someone on the outside of a hairpin; it’s the long way round and you are going to be squeezed out because of the racing line.

There have been a few people slagging Ferrari off for taking someone out behind the safety car, granted a stupid mistake but its not the first time someone has done it.

Again, think back to Montoya smashing into the back of Schumi’s Ferrari in Monaco when he was heating his brakes in the tunnel. People blamed Ferrari for this. Again, why?

If someone smashes into the back of you driving down a road, you don’t blame the person that got hit; the person who hit you who is to blame.

Most of these incidents are racing incidents and I have seen them time and again in F1, Touring car, and racing rally cross myself, when you are in the car there is only one person on the track and that is you.

If the FIA deem an incident is illegal, they will punish you accordingly. If they feel the infringement is not that bad, they won’t give you punishments.

The other matter at hand here which a lot of people are overlooking a lot of the time is that McLaren are VERY lucky to be racing this season, because of the infringement last year of McLaren having information about Ferrari.

Ron Dennis (who, by the way, deserves a lot of respect for the way he handled it all) didn’t know anything about the information and neither did Lewis Hamilton. This is the only reason that they have been allowed to race this season.

If Ron Dennis knew about it and kept it quiet, then they wouldn’t be racing. Many of the FIA and the race stewards in the many countries believe that McLaren shouldn’t be here in 2008.

If McLaren hadn’t have been here, the season wouldn’t have been as exciting as it has been.

Has Sebastian Vettel Made a Mistake Signing for Red Bull Racing?

Nick Taylor — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:57:45 -0400

Now that Sebastian Vettel has properly proven himself as a Formula One winner, has he made a mistake by signing with RBR?

The Toro Rosso team is moving very quickly up the ranks of Formula 1, and in quite a few cases has been able to beat Coulthard and Webber of the sister team. Does this mean the RBR team is going backwards, or is it that Vettel is getting the best out of the Ferrari in a Red Bull jacket?

Obviously, this is only speculation at this point; but I think signing for the sister team was a bad idea where Vettel is concerned. He should have stayed where he is.

He has a team with many years' experience and a team boss who has forgotten more about Formula 1 than we mere mortals will ever know!

When the Red Bull team came into Formula 1, they were moving into an already well established environment. However, it has taken them a bit of time to get where they are now.

With the amount of money that is being thrown at them, they should be doing better (as should Toyota, but that's another matter). Considering the Toro Rosso is a few years younger, it is doing better than the RBR team.

I truly hope my speculation and worry is wrong, because given the right car and motivation, Vettel WILL be a Formula One World Champion.

Lewis Hamilton, Ron Dennis Were Wrong in Spa

Nick Taylor — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:33:18 -0400

I have heard so much about Lewis Hamilton's incident in Spa. Now, I am British and all for the young up and coming driver; nobody can take away from him that he is very quick and very talented.

However, the overtaking move on Kimi after the missed chicane was against the rules; they state that the car that has missed the chicane is not allowed to attempt another move at the next corner.

After his botched ovetake and surrender of the lead, Lewis was travelling 4-6mph slower than Kimi, which in F1 is neither here nor there. He then challenged at the Hairpin, out braked Kimi and took the corner.

I have looked at the footage and Kimi nudged the back end of Lewis' car, making his front wing moves quite drastically sidewards. That could have caused Kimi to not have enough down force on his car at the end of the lap (we all know how a wing can deteriorate during a lap), causing his crash.

I am not saying that Kimi would have won the race, because Lewis' pace was far too quick. But, if Lewis had taken the chicane properly, he would not have been in Kimi's slip stream to take Kimi on the Hairpin, so therefore he wouldn't have been in a position to pass.

The 25 second penalty was given for that reason. The appeal came because Ron Dennis (quite rightly) spoke with Charlie Whiting and asked if the move was okay. However, Charlie Whiting isn't the person who gives out penalties.