The shanghai paddock is totally devoid of atmosphere thanks to misplaced artistic licence by the designers. Each team has an office on an individual island in a man-made lake on the site of a former marsh.
The area is known as a place of ‘peace and meditation’, a misnomer if ever there was one given the constant bitching and plotting going on behind closed doors.
Saying that, the McLaren office has been remarkably calm and serene -certainly compared to this time last year when Fernando Alonso punched an office door off its hinges as a demonstration of a perceived injustice by McLaren as he qualified fourth to Lewis Hamilton’s pole.
Hamilton repeated the job this year but the atmosphere was very different as he and Heikki Kovalainen sat down after qualifying. Unlike his predecessor in the second McLaren, Kovalainen was very subdued, a
reflection of a disappointing fifth on the grid for which the Finn appeared willing to blame no one but himself.
Hamilton hid his disappointment well because Kovalainen not only failed to get among the Ferraris but he also allowed Alonso into fourth place; in some ways a more menacing presence for Hamilton than the Ferraris second and third on the grid.
Despite pretending that he couldn’t care less, Alonso remains bitter over his year with McLaren and the fact that Hamilton was able – or allowed to by McLaren, if you listen to Alonso – to humble the twice world champion on a couple of occasions last year. Alonso has gone on record recently in saying
his deal was to be Number 1 whereas McLaren have always denied this and pursued their policy of being even-handed. It’s a policy which gets short shrift from David Coulthard if you read his autobiography ‘It is what it is’. But that’s what McLaren say and it clearly niggles Alonso.
Which brings us to the start of this penultimate race of the 2009 season. Given half a chance, Alonso will put a wheel inside Hamilton’s McLaren even, some suspect, if it means eliminating both cars.
Hamilton’s start had better be good. Otherwise the island of peace and meditation will be anything but.
Like we, Hillbillies in the US say, “Eeeew whee, this is gonna get good!”
good start leads to a good race. other than that you spelled ‘had’ wrong.. “Hamilton hid his disappointment” lol
oh wait im stupid
Shouldn’t it be “…penultimate race of the *2008* season.”?
good luck to LEWIS
See, Alonso i just pathetic.
He is Mr unhappy just because he isnt fighting for the title this year.
Somebody please put him back in his crib.
*is just pathetic
(:
If Alonso gets the chance (Which of course thats a strong possibility) he’s gonna be a pain in the arse for Lewis tomorrow and in Brazil…And rightly so.
I still think Hamilton’s gonna cock it up tommorow and Alonso is going to drive into someone. He might aswell…
Let the racing being. Anyhow lewis has been a pain recently being so stuck up. If he loses he has only got himself to blame. Many of us who supported him are now supporting his rivals. It will be disappointing if such a dk becomes world champion. Someone who ruins the chances of others even when he has been lapped, dumps his girlfriend after getting fame and fortune and leaves his home country to get a tax break just does not cut it to be a world champion.
strange that the author of this article is called Maurice HAMILTON….. It seems clear that he is trying to give people the preconceived notion that if there is ever a crash; it is because Alonso wants to take him out. Even if the cash is attributable to Lewis.
Way to go for unbiased journalism….
yes im aware this a british blog, and hamilton is leading the championship, – im a fan of the guy even- but seriously every post turns into a story about hamilton. even the post about webbers clarification…
aluraeo if you had become famous overnight, were harassed wherever u went in your country and had so much money that its like being anally intruded by Gordon Brown every time your pay cheque comes through, wouldn’t you find shelter elsewhere? i know i would.
As for him not deserving to be world champion for his actions OFF the track, that just shows how far you have to go to find reasons why he doesn’t deserve it, it doesn’t matter if he’s a pimp or if he has osama bin laden hiding in his basement, if he scores the most points and wins the championship in a non controversial way, he deserves to be champion its as simple as that.
IF massa wins the championship, you can question whether he would deserve it because he’s been unfairly gifted what is it now… 5 points? 4 in spa and 1 in Fuji… If the FIA hadn’t screwed things up this year with biased decisions then hamilton would only need 1 more point than massa tomorrow to secure the title.
If Massa wins the championship by 6 points then i will concede that he deserves it.
Its easy to criticise hammy, but i have yet to hear any criticism at all that does not stem from jealousy or hatred of him because he’s better than others. You can call him arrogant and what not, but what real racing driver isn’t?
I’d applaud if Alonso does take out Hamilton as payback from last season…
And more if Kubica wins the race (and the championship)..
I just wish that Kova would let lewis have it every race and not suck with one of the best cars on track..
I guess that’s why he replaced alonso…
are you guys preparing today itself with a certainty that hamilton is going to do someyhing stupid in the race and he has already got a lot of excuses ready.
ALONSO IS THE LOWEST FORM OF LIFE
lets hope that he, kimi and massa tangle @ the 1st corner, so kubica can overtake kovalinen and finish 2nd.
Hamilton 4 the champ, kubica 4 2nd.
hopefully massa wont finish the race.
kovaleinen is the worst driver on the grid. tomorrow, he will get nowhere near the top 4
Maurice, you’ve got to change your surname.
May I suggest Maurice Di Montezemolo, that should throw people off the scent.
well alonso lowest form and he has won 2 races wot lot of formula 1 drivers would do for that but back to point hamilton cars is miles faster than the renalut hamilton all the way i getting up at 7 am just to watch in got up 4.30 last weekend thats how much i wont haimton to win
oh yea alonso left mclaren just because the ‘new’ kid was faster than him well eveer1 and can’t take it he moans so much
Capital letters?
Spelling?
Punctuation?
You’re giving Liverpool a bad name.
Is it just me or does Kovaleinen seem to come across that he has let Hamilton down by being 1 place lower than Alonso ? If so hes the kind of team-mate to have ! Alonso is a good driver and shouldnt keep this stupid grudge he has, he the team-mate not to have. If i was Ferrari i wouldnt be impressed by this childish behaviour, he should go back to what hes good at . . . door removal service that is, and generally being an arse !
Alonso! do everyone a favour and take hamilton out! Massa, do u all a favour and drive a gr8 race and win it!
big pile up at the start PLEASE, dont care who starts it, just let Kubica through to win the championship, stupid baby Massa and bighead Hamilton. Hope Vettel does well tomorow also
When will you Hamilton haters give up? Every F1 article turns into a Hamilton witch hunt. It’s not Hamilton that’s the problem, it’s you people who ruin the debates about other issues. You’ve obviously got nothing else to do, how sad and pitiful you appear.
Some of us can actually put aside our allegiancies and have an unbiased opinion, the rest of you can’t.
I’d like for Bourdais to some points this race, since he has been unlucky with the penalty at Fuji.
I’m brazilian, but I do not support Massa as much as I could. I have the feeling that Massa does not deserve to be de first brazilian to win the championship after Senna. I would prefer Kubica, who has been driving a lot better than Massa or Hamilton.
Graham Potter said:
When will you Hamilton haters give up? Every F1 article turns into a Hamilton witch hunt….Blah blah.
Well every article is about Lewis 99.9% of the time….He’s not the only driver in the race, theres plenty of other drivers that are ALOT better than he is, other drivers have driven better races, had more patience, kept a cool head, not screwed up, not seen the red mist & have just came though to win, no need to mention no names cuz we all know who they are, they get a small mention then it’s pretty much forgot about. Then Lewis drops a fart that smells of roses & he’s in an article every bloody day. He’s got everything going for him, he’s hardly proved a thing since he’s been in F1 where as other drivers that haven’t had baby-sitting he’s had………Has!
Ohhh and btw? Who are those other British drivers? Jenson?…Button and….David…Whats his name? Scotish guy?…Yeah, Coulthard, David Coulthard.
And what about poor little Anthony Davidson? Remember him? Once Lewis came into the picture, Davidson just….Well was forgot about, shame.
Forza Alonso!
If he’d been given a fair chance last year, he’d have kicked Hamilton’s ass.
Hope he’s in a better car next year.
I don’t think Hamilton needs any assistance to ruin his pole position. Maybe, I don’t know, he will do something stupid, Alonso and Flavio will have another awsome strategy, Alonso wins, Massa 4th, Hamilton 9th.
It could happen, right?
I have an idea, Heikki crash into Massa’car in the first corner from the back and run him off the track and make him retire(I mean not deliberately, just like what Massa did in Fuji, Totally not delibertely).
And Lewis doesn’t make a mess from the first corner.
And He will be the 2008 WORLD CHAMPION.
Shanghai has shanghaied me off… It’s the most boring track apart from valencia this whole season…
Result
1st:Hamilton
2nd:Massa
3rd:Raikkonen
4th:Alonso
Come On Lewis In Brazil You Can Do It
The most boring race.
Kimi’s salute was the best bit.
That Maurice Hamilton is just pathetic.
Does anyone know what channel I can watch F1 racing on in America? I really want to watch the championship
I hate Hamilton more than anything else!
ALONSO FOREVER! GET STUFFED LEWIS!
I hope Fernando takes Hamilton out and all the people who want him to win smash their Tvs in frustration!
Go onto YouTube and watch all the anti-Lewis videos, tonnes of english people hate his guts…
AND I DON’T BLAME THEM!
I wish someone would shoot a rocket at his car!