OLDSKOOL STORY: 2008 F1 BRAZILIAN GP
This is the most memorable F1 race I've ever watched. Agree or not it's your choice but this is truly memorable and I wanna tell you about the race...
It was the last race of the 2008 season. It was held in Brazil, at Interlagos. The result of the race will decide the world champion. There were two strong contenders: Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa. Hamilton lead the classement with 94 points, second was Massa with 87 points. Massa had nothing left to do but to win the race for the title, but Hamilton must finish 6th or less better. A'ight the race 's gonna be thrilling as Massa will race in his country and in the front of his local supporters. His supporters redden the Interlagos' tribunes. They come to support their hero to become the world champion.
And the race begins! As the drivers coming toward the first turn, David Coulthard, the senior driver who is retiring at the season has a crash with Nelson Piquet Jr. It is a bad end for DC, who has raced for years from The Age of Ayrton Senna till The Hamilton's Era ends his career in some tragic end at the first turn. DC walks away from his car, waving his hands to the crowd. It's like a sad goodbye, but he was a great man in F1.
Don't really remember the whole race, but I do remember the rain falls down for a while. Massa leads the race for many laps. Sorry, some the memories are still missing anyway...
So, let's move to the astonishing part. Lap 63, the rain falls down, but not heavily. Many drivers make stop to change tyres. Some change their tyres into intermediate tyres. Lap 66 and Hamilton & Sebastian Vettel, who still races for Toro Rosso at that time use intermediate ones. Hamilton is 5th and Vettel is right behind him. Toyota's Timo Glock tries to stay at the track with slick tyres. He hopes that he won't need to pit again so he will gain better position. On lap 69, the penultimate lap, rain falls down all of a sudden. Hamilton goes wide and Vettel takes over his position from the apex. I remember when James Allen, the TV commentator says that Hamilton could lose his chance to win the World Title. Vettel goes up into 5th and Glock, who is in 4th with slick tyres is being chased by Vettel and going slowly as the track is getting wet, so he's losing so much grip. At the front, It's only matter of time for Massa to win his home GP. Behind him, there are Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.
THE LAST LAP. The tension is getting higher at Ferrari & Mclaren box. They are all curious. Curious of who's gonna go home with the World Title. Massa is all alone at the front, Hamilton is in 6th. If it stays like this Massa's the world champion. Glock is still in 4th, but Hamilton & Vettel are flying to pass him. Massa has finished the race when Hamilton was still on his way to the finish line. The crowd cheer as Massa crossed the finish line first. Alonso comes second. About 21 seconds later...Glock who makes a bad choice by not changing his tyres finally gets passed by Hamilton. This is what I remember most when the commentators say :
"Is that Glock, is that Glock going slowly?"
"Yes it is. Oh my goodness me, Hamilton's back in position again!"
At the Ferrari box, the team with Massa's father, Luis, celebrates Felipe's victory. At the track, Hamilton steps on the gas to the finish line. He finishes fifth. Commentators say that Hamilton is the 2008 F1 World Champion. Hamilton is delighted after he crossed the finish line. At the Ferrari box, people who are screaming and celebrating Massa's victory including Massa's father are silenced when they watch on the TV screen hamilton finishes 5th. The celebration comes to early as Massa's "world title" was taken over in the front of his tifosis. That someway hurts inside very deep. The race result may not be predicted by both Ferrari & Mclaren before. At the other place of circuit Jenson Button's Honda RA107 is caught on fire. This is the last race for Honda, because they decide to withdraw from the "land jet competition".
At the top of the podium Massa tries hard to be strong after his "defeat". His supporters keep giving him spirit although Massa eventually fails to take the crown. At 2nd, there is Alonso, and Kimi Raikkonen fills the 3rd spot. The world champion Hamilton is not on the podium. The team Mclaren celebrate their driver's success. Oh, almost forget, there is also Hamilton's girlfriend who is also the vocalist of Pussycat Dolls, Nicole Scherzinger at the party. She also celebrates her boyfriend's success.
Honda Racing decide to call it a day because of crisis. Ferrari are crowned The Constructors' Champion. Lewis Hamilton becomes the youngest world champion ever in age of 23 before Sebastian Vettel breaks the record in 2010. He will join Red Bull Racing, as David Coulthard's successor. Glock is accused of "helping" Hamilton to win the title but he refuses that accusation.
Maybe that's all I can tell you all about the race. Some people may be glad to remember it, but on the other hand some may find it a bad memory. This is the best F1 race I've ever seen (on the TV because I haven't got the chance to see a race live, hhmm...). So, it's certain that sometimes miracle happens in F1. Massa who is predicted as the world champion finally defeated in the end of the race. I think I'll tell this to my kids someday...
You may find some inaccurate informations in this post. Please leave your comment for corrections.
Sources :
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&sa=N&biw=1280&bih=677&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbnid=AAGqyrSZ4Bf_RM:&imgrefurl=http://www.f1aldia.com/2697/el-final-mas-dramatico-de-la-historia-de-la-f1/&docid=0izL57vuJ9iE_M&imgurl=http://www.f1aldia.com/photos/2600/2672/007_small.jpg&w=600&h=435&ei=3T-BUYOlOcbqrAf-7oHgCg&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:76,s:0,i:321&iact=rc&dur=1004&page=5&tbnh=176&tbnw=251&start=76&ndsp=20&tx=146&ty=66
http://img.terra.com.br/i/2008/11/02/906510-1681-ga.jpg
It was the last race of the 2008 season. It was held in Brazil, at Interlagos. The result of the race will decide the world champion. There were two strong contenders: Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa. Hamilton lead the classement with 94 points, second was Massa with 87 points. Massa had nothing left to do but to win the race for the title, but Hamilton must finish 6th or less better. A'ight the race 's gonna be thrilling as Massa will race in his country and in the front of his local supporters. His supporters redden the Interlagos' tribunes. They come to support their hero to become the world champion.
And the race begins! As the drivers coming toward the first turn, David Coulthard, the senior driver who is retiring at the season has a crash with Nelson Piquet Jr. It is a bad end for DC, who has raced for years from The Age of Ayrton Senna till The Hamilton's Era ends his career in some tragic end at the first turn. DC walks away from his car, waving his hands to the crowd. It's like a sad goodbye, but he was a great man in F1.
Don't really remember the whole race, but I do remember the rain falls down for a while. Massa leads the race for many laps. Sorry, some the memories are still missing anyway...
So, let's move to the astonishing part. Lap 63, the rain falls down, but not heavily. Many drivers make stop to change tyres. Some change their tyres into intermediate tyres. Lap 66 and Hamilton & Sebastian Vettel, who still races for Toro Rosso at that time use intermediate ones. Hamilton is 5th and Vettel is right behind him. Toyota's Timo Glock tries to stay at the track with slick tyres. He hopes that he won't need to pit again so he will gain better position. On lap 69, the penultimate lap, rain falls down all of a sudden. Hamilton goes wide and Vettel takes over his position from the apex. I remember when James Allen, the TV commentator says that Hamilton could lose his chance to win the World Title. Vettel goes up into 5th and Glock, who is in 4th with slick tyres is being chased by Vettel and going slowly as the track is getting wet, so he's losing so much grip. At the front, It's only matter of time for Massa to win his home GP. Behind him, there are Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.
THE LAST LAP. The tension is getting higher at Ferrari & Mclaren box. They are all curious. Curious of who's gonna go home with the World Title. Massa is all alone at the front, Hamilton is in 6th. If it stays like this Massa's the world champion. Glock is still in 4th, but Hamilton & Vettel are flying to pass him. Massa has finished the race when Hamilton was still on his way to the finish line. The crowd cheer as Massa crossed the finish line first. Alonso comes second. About 21 seconds later...Glock who makes a bad choice by not changing his tyres finally gets passed by Hamilton. This is what I remember most when the commentators say :
"Is that Glock, is that Glock going slowly?"
"Yes it is. Oh my goodness me, Hamilton's back in position again!"
 |
| photo when Hamilton passes Glock on the last lap |
 |
| Massa wipes his tears inside his car at the parc ferme. Keep spirit, Felipe! |
Honda Racing decide to call it a day because of crisis. Ferrari are crowned The Constructors' Champion. Lewis Hamilton becomes the youngest world champion ever in age of 23 before Sebastian Vettel breaks the record in 2010. He will join Red Bull Racing, as David Coulthard's successor. Glock is accused of "helping" Hamilton to win the title but he refuses that accusation.
Maybe that's all I can tell you all about the race. Some people may be glad to remember it, but on the other hand some may find it a bad memory. This is the best F1 race I've ever seen (on the TV because I haven't got the chance to see a race live, hhmm...). So, it's certain that sometimes miracle happens in F1. Massa who is predicted as the world champion finally defeated in the end of the race. I think I'll tell this to my kids someday...
You may find some inaccurate informations in this post. Please leave your comment for corrections.
Sources :
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&sa=N&biw=1280&bih=677&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbnid=AAGqyrSZ4Bf_RM:&imgrefurl=http://www.f1aldia.com/2697/el-final-mas-dramatico-de-la-historia-de-la-f1/&docid=0izL57vuJ9iE_M&imgurl=http://www.f1aldia.com/photos/2600/2672/007_small.jpg&w=600&h=435&ei=3T-BUYOlOcbqrAf-7oHgCg&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:76,s:0,i:321&iact=rc&dur=1004&page=5&tbnh=176&tbnw=251&start=76&ndsp=20&tx=146&ty=66
http://img.terra.com.br/i/2008/11/02/906510-1681-ga.jpg
