The collected works of ScottyB

Lewis Hamilton signalled that Ferrari may have opposition in Sepang this weekend, by setting the fastest time for McLaren in Saturday morning’s final practice session ahead of qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The 22 year-old Englishman lapped his MP4-22 in 1m 34.811s to outrun world champion team mate Fernando Alonso by exactly half a second, with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa separating the two after a late improvement to 1m 34.953s.

Robert Kubica took his BMW Sauber round in 1m 35.385s to pip the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen for fourth, the Finn lapping in 1m 35.498s. All of the quick times came on Bridgestone’s softer tyre compound.

A late flurry of faster times saw Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld’s respective laps of 1m 35.770s and 1m 36.160s threatened, but ultimately they held on to sixth and seventh for Williams and BMW Sauber respectively.

… Practice 3 times …

This afternoon’s Qualifying was almost upset by rain and the majority of teams were very careful with their decision making. Ferrari, McLaren and BMW were the clear pacesetters in Q1. There were no incidents to speak of. Sutil, Albers, Wurz, Barrichello, Davidson and Speed were the bottom six not to make the cut at the end of the first 15-minute session.

As is usually the case, the times dropped on the ultra-light fuel loads of Q2. Alonso set the fastest time this weekend, posting a 1:34.057 to put him to the top of the sheets. Incidentally, this time is faster than the track Lap Record, 1:34.223, set by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2004 with the V10 engines. Quite amazing. Massa took the second position with a 1:34.454 - four tenths off Alonso’s time. It was looking to be a McLaren stronghold this weekend at the conclusion of Q2.

The threat of rain saw most of the teams hold off until the very last minute to set their fastest times in this session, only the top 5 decided not to go for another run.

Liuzzi, Button, Sato, Coulthard, Fisichella and Kovalainen were the bottom six not to make the cut for Q3. The most surprising (and disappointing) exits were both of the Renaults.

Q3 and all ten runners were out from the very beggining, burning off fuel before the hot laps. Alonso was quick to let-loose and set a fast time, probably in case the pending rain clouds decided to let loose. Raikkonen, Alonso and Heidfeld all had a crack at pole position, but in the end it was Massa who came through with a blistering, all purple sector lap to beat Alonso to the pole by 0.267 of a second. A fraction behind was Raikkonen, filling the third position, while the rookie, Hamilton - slightly off the pace of the top three, filled the fourth spot - and in turn, the second row of the grid.

So it is Ferrari - McLaren - Ferrari - McLaren for tomorrows race. And by the looks of the times today, its still anyone’s race.

… Qualifying Results …

Source: F1.com

The second round of the Formula One at Malaysia got underway yesterday with Practice 1 and Practice 2.

With a track temperature that varied between 41 and 48 degrees Celsius, and an ambient of 33, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa set the immediate pace with a lap of 1m 34.972s from McLaren’s Fernando Alonso (1m 35.767s), followed by respective team mates Kimi Raikkonen (1m 35.779s) and Lewis Hamilton (1m 36.548s). They did their times, then they went back to the garages.

There were few incidents in the session; Alonso had two offs, however, the first in Turn 9, the second in Turn 4. No damage was sustained in either.

With five minutes to go, the main runners apart from Massa were all out again. Nobody beat the Brazilian’s time, but Alonso and Hamilton each improved, to 1m 25.220s and 1m 35.712s, leaving them now second and third respectively ahead of Raikkonen, who didn’t go quicker.

… Practice 1 times …

Being the preliminary stage of the weekend, not too much can be read into the morning’s times however.

From this race onwards Bridgestone have brought along tyres marked with a central white stripe within the tread area, to visually denote which is the softer compound.

Practice 2 saw Renault jump a few spots, splitting the Ferrari’s ahead of the Williams duo.

Kimi Raikkonen added fuel to Ferrari’s fire on Friday when, despite setting the fourth-fastest time (1m 36.160s) within four-tenths of a second of team mate Felipe Massa (1m 35.780s) in the second practice session, he revealed that he was not happy with his F2007’s performance.
He also reported that, in general, the two Bridgestone tyre specifications (soft and hard for ease of commentary, but actually in the overall perspective of the company’s 2007 offerings, the medium and hard compounds) weren’t a million miles apart, and that he would not, after all, need an engine change.

“The car feels reasonably okay but I’m not 100 percent happy,” he said. “We learned things but there is still work to do. The car felt different to the way it did here last week, the set-up was not as good as it was. The grip’s slightly different.”

Most felt the same as the high track and ambient temperatures hurt grip significantly. Where Renault and Williams got a handle on things, completing the top six with Ferrari, McLaren appeared to struggle while doing a lot of evaluation of both compounds.

For Renault, last year’s winner Giancarlo Fisichella was happy with second place (1m 35.910s), if not overjoyed. “We went through the programme this morning, but as I had not tested here since last year it took me until this afternoon to get more confident with the circuit. I tried the new tyres and the car was better balanced, so second and third places are quite encouraging for tomorrow.” Not that he really sounded encouraged. “The grip was quite poor,” he added, “especially with these track temps, but we are going better step by step. It’s going to be a tough race.” Heikki Kovalainen looked much more assured than he did in Melbourne, en route to 1m 36.106s for third.

Over at Williams the mood is good, even though Alex Wurz (1m 36.621s) felt that the on-track behaviour of the FW29 seemed different to the test and nobody can be totally sure just where they fitted into the overall pecking order until tomorrow afternoon. Nico Rosberg (1m 36.523s) believed that they had found a couple of good set-ups. The main problem concerned a software issue which prevented Kazuki Nakajima (1m 36.885s in the morning) from selecting first gear after his spin.

… Practice 2 times …

Source: F1.com

Only it was Friday!

I love the long weekends. Occasionally we are really lucky and get a Monday off, or perhaps a Friday. The three-day weekend is a pleasant dig out of the working week. Even more rarely, though, is the elusive four-day weekend. A Friday and a Monday off work - and it feels just like I mini holiday.

I first opened my eyes at about 7:30am and the Sun was shining. Or at least there was light pouring through the glass-bricks in the bathroom, because it shone under the doorway. The plan for Friday was a walking tour through Glenrock Lagoon and perhaps a picnic on the beach before hiking back. At 7:30am, all portents pointed to a fine day outdoors. I rolled back over, pulled the blanket over my head and caught some more Zzz’s.

When I awoke again at roughly 10:30am, the scene couldn’t have been more different. The sound of rain echoed through the hallway, the soft ‘drip.. drip’ of the leaky down pipe outside my window and the swooshing noise tyres make across the tar road outside were indication that the weather had changed. For better or for worse though - that’s debatable. For the rest of my day was spent snuggled under the covers with a lovely woman, watching films, listening to the sounds of the rain outside and better educating ourselves at the mastery of Uno and learning about the thickness of walls within ones house.

The Long Weekend and The Departed were our days watching. The latter being near enough to three hours, but both exceptional films - even if from opposite ends of the genre spectrum! A light-hearted, comedy and a dark crime/drama/thriller.

But it was not all laziness and lounging around being idle. We managed to work in a little drive around (even if it was only to get lunch) and being the Easter long-weekend, the roads were quiet, the rain contributing to the absence of cars on the roads - perfect for little jaunts here and there. I love driving the MINI. Even more so when it is raining as you appreciate it even more in said conditions. Sitting under the bright, white lights at the service station this evening, sparkly clean, covered in rain drops.. it is truly one beautiful looking car. Even if I do say so myself.

This evening, we went and saw 300. THIS. IS. SPARTA! Three words that I will not soon forget.

From the outset, the Battle of Thermopylae and the 300 went beyond all expectations. Even the Warner Brothers logo, appearing forged out of the same material as a Spartan shield told you this was going to be something good. Burnished golds and blood reds are the hue of the film. The cinematography is so smooth and simply divine as to put you completely in the midst of the action and it envelopes you so your heart races with each and every battle scene. The colour is absolutely amazing.. seeing a Spartan sail through the air, each skirmish punctuated by a slow motion sequence that details the flight of each dismembered limb and drop of blood, while the camera pans through the scene in a 360 degree arc is just sensational. I don’t think I can name another film where the action has been so polished; so smooth; so immersing.

Every shot was like art in its most beautiful form. Even the violence was picture-perfect. 300 isn’t just a wicked film, a comic book.. another graphic novel brought to life, a special-effects bonanza, laced with pure eye-candy and masterful effect.. it is absurdly enjoyable. So much so that I cannot wait to see it again; to own a Special Edition copy on DVD that I can watch whenever I want to see outrageous cinematography and awe-inspiring, movie-making visionary.

The decision to see the later session in the Senstadium was well thought. Mega-sized screen and eleventy-billion speakers and subwoofers lends to this epic, creating a torrent of rushes to the senses. This is how 300 has to be seen. I just hope it lends itself that way to DVD. Nonetheless, I can say I have seen it in all its glittering gold and blood-drenched red glory.

What a film.

So we roll over to the 7th of April. Today, one year ago, I had a date with a girl I met over the internet. We had a coffee at Gloria Jeans on Beaumont Street. I didn’t ask her if she wanted sugar with her Cappuccino. We talked into the night.

Happy one year anniversary Katie, I couldn’t have envisioned a better day xxx