Australian Grand Prix - March 16, 2008

Heidfeld thrilled by "fantastic" season opener

Nick Heidfeld secured second place at today's Australian GP. He’s clearly stoked with the result, hoping BMW can build on this foundation to hit their big-picture targets for 2008.

"This was a fantastic start to the season for us. The crew has been grinding incredibly hard to iron out those early kinks we had with the F1.08. We've seen constant progress, and honestly, we haven't even tapped into the car's full potential yet."

"I had too much wheelspin right off the line, which meant I couldn't keep Nico Rosberg behind me. I fully expected a rough afternoon because I thought he'd be diving into the pits sooner, but we ended up pitting on the same lap. Our crew did a stellar job out there, and they managed to get me back out ahead of him."

"During the second stop, I caught a bit of a break—the safety car didn't come out earlier than expected, so I was able to fuel up exactly as planned. In that final stint, I had to be careful not to chew through my option tires. All things considered, having the first race without losing control to wheelspin was easier than I anticipated."

His teammate, Robert Kubica, unfortunately saw his chance to capitalize on starting on the front row slip away due to a string of bad luck.

"My race felt pretty solid at the start. I was running a strategy similar to Nick's and the pace was there. Then we switched things up mid-race, and that decision just didn't pay off."

"I got stuck behind Bourdais and lost a massive amount of time. I still felt like I had a shot at grabbing some points, but during that third safety car period, Nakajima slammed into the back of my car, and I had to retire."

jadewolf56, where on earth are you pulling all this news from?

Roger Williams3 said:jadewolf56, where on earth are you pulling all this news from?

The links above, specifically.

www.f1racing.com
www.f1-us.com

😉

jadewolf56 said:those points above specifically

www.f1racing.com
www.f1-us.com

😉

thanks 👍

jadewolf56 said:The Italian started from sixth, but he was forced out by a battery explosion during his first pit stop—apparently it got so hot it made his seat unbearable.😲

"The battery was running too hot right from the start. Then it just blew while I was in the pits. It’s a shame, because the car felt good and I was having a decent run. I was sitting in scoring positions, so it sucks to miss out on a solid result this early in the season."

😂 😂 😂

I'm still wondering why he scrambled out of the car so fast once he hit the pits—the mechanics just stood there looking completely baffled.

Blame Ferrari!!!
Massa was just disappointing—really weak driving there—and Kimi was making rookie mistakes over the radio.
Hamilton was in a league of his own. 🙏

Just two more hours! 🙏
Kubica! Kubica! 👋👋

Man, I can't remember the last time I felt this isolated. 😁

Mark Ruiz8 said:😂😂😂

I'm still sitting here wondering why he was in such a damn rush to jump out of the car the second he hit the pits, especially with the mechanics just standing there looking at him like he’d grown a second head.

😂😂 It was wild, honestly—the way he just flew out of the cockpit while the crew stood there completely stunned, staring into the empty seat like they were waiting for a ghost to reappear.🤣🤣

Race move!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5_KJ1QLkbk

Man, oh man... my Kimi just can't catch a break..😢 but hey, if he managed to snag a point like I just read... I'll take it. Better than nothing, right?🙂

Was it a Ferrari disaster? In my book, partially. Looking back, the actual racing felt better than the final results suggest.
I don't hold much against Kimi personally. At least he fought and held his own given the circumstances. He was driving right on the edge, which is the only way to pass someone when you're clearly faster. That’s the kind of driving I expect from him.
Mechanically, though, it was a total mess 👎.

There was just too much junk on the track for me to give this race a passing grade. There weren't enough overtakes because everything was too risky and difficult.

Plus, there were far too many collateral victims. The SC just kept ruining the flow.

If this is what we have to look forward to—if future races are going to follow this pattern—then it’s a massive step backward.

Melbourne, you absolute nightmare 👎!

Roger Wright94 said:A Ferrari embarrassment? In my book, maybe partially. The actual race performance looked better than what the final standings suggest.
Personally, I’m not holding much against Kimi. At least he fought and actually made things happen given the circumstances. He was driving on the ragged edge—you have to do that if you want to overtake someone when you clearly have the pace. That’s the kind of driving I expect from him.

I think you're underselling Kimi if you honestly believe today was the level of driving you expect from him. He made two massive rookie mistakes that completely trashed a brilliant start. Braking too late while passing Heikki when he had a real shot at points, and then putting a wheel off track while passing Glock... that wasn't "on the edge," that was just being way over the limit.

Roger Wright94 said:If this is a true preview—meaning if future races are going to follow this pattern—then we've taken a step backward.

Melbourne, you idiot! 👎!

As far as I'm concerned, the race was great. If the same drivers keep spinning out in the next rounds, we'll finally see who can't drive without electronic aids. We'll see who doesn't belong in Formula 1, which will clear the way for better drivers to get seats in top teams. Because if Piquet, Glock, Massa, or whoever else can't handle the car without traction control, they should just head down to GP2.

I'm with wearyraven41 on this one 👍

jadewolf56 said:🙄
Which race were you watching?
He was actually pretty cool.😂

I feel like we all watched the exact same race, yet we all walked away with a completely different experience.🙄
I’ve been reading through these threads, and it seems like everyone is out for blood regarding Massa and his driving. Look, I get it—he made one massive blunder right at the start, but I honestly don't recall him making that many mistakes after that. Last season, the common complaint was that he lacked any real edge, yet today, Massa (most likely) pulled off more overtakes than anyone else on the grid. As for Kimi, sure, he was a bit tedious to watch. Aside from that incredible start, he didn't really show much else, and even then, he seemed to be struggling to find his rhythm alongside Barrichello. If it wasn't for that engine failure, things could have gone a dozen different ways. I'm just hoping they can actually get the reliability sorted out.

wearyraven41 said:A total masterstroke during the race!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5_KJ1QLkbk

🙏

I was actually sitting here wondering how he even pulled that off, especially considering how Kov and Kimi
just flew right off the track, allowing Fonzi to cruise through completely undisturbed...

And as for Kimi...

it looks like that questionable overtake he pulled on Kovalainen
actually happened a full lap before he ever made his move into the pits...

Just a bit idiotic, really.

hollowhawk412 said:🙏

I was honestly just sitting here wondering how he actually pulled that off, especially since from what I saw, Kov and Kimi
didn't exactly fly off the track to clear the way for Fonzi to cruise through...

As for Kimi...

it looks like that messy overtake on Kovalainen
happened a whole lap before he even headed into the pits...

kind of a brain fade, really.

Heikki went a bit too wide, Alonso saw the opening and snatched it, so there he was—honestly, I preferred seeing Heikki jump past Alonso, if he hadn't hit the limiter 😢.

Mark Ruiz8 said:Ferrari totally blew it!!!
Felipe Massa was just disappointing, such a weak drive. And Kimi was making rookie mistakes out there.
Lewis Hamilton was on a whole different level. 🙏

Honestly, Felipe Massa has been a letdown for a long time now. I have no clue why Ferrari is dragging their feet on replacing him, because the guy just isn't winning championships, no matter what car he’s sitting in. As for Kimi, I don't even think those were "rookie" mistakes—I think we're finally seeing who he actually is now that all these computer assists aren't doing the heavy lifting for him. That's his true level right there. Time will tell if he keeps messing up like this in future races, but I'm betting it's not bad luck or pushing the limit; it's just pure lack of skill. You can really see the gap when you compare him to Fernando Alonso in this race. They were both pushing hard, but how many mistakes did Fernando make?? Zero. He proved once again that he's easily the best driver in F1 right now. For me, Kimi was the biggest disappointment of this race, maybe even the whole season, but hey, we'll see how it plays out...

Edward Howard2 said:I don't think these were rookie mistakes—more like a reality check showing who actually knows how to drive once you strip away all the computer aids. That's where Kimi stands right now. Time will tell if he keeps making these blunders in future races, not because he's pushing too hard, but just because he doesn't know better. You can compare him to Fernando Alonso in this race. Both were driving on the edge, but how many mistakes did Alonso make? None. He proved again why he’s arguably the best driver in F1 right now. For me, Kimi was the biggest disappointment of this race—maybe even the season—but I guess we'll see...

That's a bit of a generalization—both Kimi and Alonso are top-tier drivers, and anyone can have a stupid moment. Just look back at when Alonso went off track a few times in the first corner during Canada last year. Does that mean he doesn't know how to drive?
Plus, those two mistakes didn't really have anything to do with traction control issues, in my opinion. The first time he just overshot it, and the second time he ended up on the grass.

Man, I feel so bad for Kimi!! Seriously, what is going on with that car? They should just ban the USA Grand Prix altogether at this point because Ferrari always finds a way to mess things up!!
Massa was such a letdown, and honestly, Hamilton is just getting harder to stand.
I don't know, man, these races aren't even fun anymore. If they’re only aiming to have eight cars finish, they might as well just call it Formula 2 instead of Formula 1.

Arthur Doyle70 said:Heikki Kovalainen went a bit too wide, but Fernando Alonso seized the opportunity and there he is, right in front; honestly, I feel better about Heikki overtaking Alonso, (if he hadn't engaged the limiter 😢 )

Heikki Kovalainen went a bit too wide...

I could have just as easily said Alonso went too wide when Heikki overtook him...
and frankly, he went even wider

but listen to this

Pat Symonds, Chief Technology Officer: "I think that Fernando's performance today was just wonderful. He used everything that we gave him and more. We were rather unlucky with the safety cars and debated whether to switch strategies under the safety car, but our tyre wear would not allow us to change on to the soft tyre and reach the end of the race with just one stop. As it was Fernando got severe graining on the soft tyres in his final stint, which gave him a lot of understeer. Nico Rosberg's difficult weekend continued as he got hit on the start line which caused considerable damage to the rear of the car. He found it very difficult to drive, which explains his slow lap times and maybe even his retirement as we are still investigating what happened."

The bolded part explains why Heikki passed Alonso...

because he had been glued to his gearbox for eight or nine laps, and then he finally pulled it off on the very last lap...

Renault overtaking both McLaren and Ferrari in a single move
can't be any worse than McLaren overtaking Renault...

you rarely see that first one happen...I actually thought Heikki and Kimi Räikkönen had briefly gone off track...but then, boom...

credit where it's due..he was right on their bumper and caught them while they were braking

generally speaking, you need to capitalize on the mistake of the driver ahead just to overtake a single car...

and when you're dealing with two at once 🙏