Alvin's Formula One Blog

Saturday 11th October 2008 Lewis Hamilton answered his detractors in the best possible fashion by claming pole in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix and then declared: "I do my talking on the track." Hamilton surged to the top late in the third qualifying session on the Fuji Speedway circuit with a stunning best lap of one minute 18.404 seconds to finish ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. On Friday, BMW's Robert Kubica, who came through the karting ranks alongside Hamilton, claimed most Formula One drivers believe some of the young Briton's moves are too dangerous. The Pole deemed moves by Hamilton on Toyota's Timo Glock and Renault's Fernando Alonso at the Italian Grand Prix last month were too much. But Hamilton, who on Sunday will look to increase his seven-point lead over World Championship rival Felipe Massa, disagreed with Kubica's comments. "I do my talking on the track," said the 23-year-old. "One has their own opinions and t...

Japanese GP - Qualifying 11/10/08 08:17 L ewis Hamilton claimed pole position for Sunday’s 67-lap Japanese Grand Prix with a final flying lap in dry conditions this afternoon at Fuji Speedway. The championship leader stopped the clocks in 1:18.404s, over two-tenths of a second clear of nearest rival Kimi Raikkonen.  Hamilton ’s sixth pole of the season, the 12th of his career, will have been made all the sweeter as title rival Felipe Massa will start from fifth position after a poor final lap in qualifying. Kimi Raikkonen came alive when it counted and lines up on the front-row of the grid in his Ferrari with Heikki Kovalainen starting third in the second McLaren Mercedes, four-tenths off team-mate Hamilton .  An impressive final lap from Fernando Alonso saw him post the fourth fastest time and therefore starts on the second row of the grid in his Renault alongside Kovalainen. For Massa , the final run in qualifying was disappointing as he dropped 1.5 seconds from his best lap re...

Tuesday 7th October 2008 With his banker race still to come at Interlagos, Felipe Massa has every chance of taking the Drivers' Title provided he doesn't slip up at Mount Fuji - the Japanese race could be the turning point of 2008. In a week that has seen one of the greatest put-downs the F1 world has ever seen we head to Mount Fuji and the location of a real (and very wet) F1 circus in 2007. The put-down had been delivered by Bernie Ecclestone, often described as F1's Ringmaster, after Ferrari boss Luca Montezemolo described the events of the Singapore GP as a circus. "If that's a circus," Bernie is reported to have said, "then Ferrari were the clowns." You certainly don't get the heads of FIFA or the IOC, Sepp Blatter and Jacques Rogues, indulging in such knockabout humour. Though it's understandable that Montezemolo wanted to take his anger out on someone after Singapore and blamed the Safety Car - had Felipe Massa waited till the fuel lin...