Hotmail
Kimi admits he needed some luck
by Essential Sports
Must-read:
Must-see:
Top headlines:
- Federer bests Roddick for 15th Slam
- Police rule McNair death a homicide
- Jeter, Pujols highlight All-Star rosters
Worth a thousand words:
The Finnish driver started in 6th place on the grid and looked set for another tough day at the office but in the end the result has kept the defending Champion very much in the title race. Raikkonen now sits in 3rd place in the Championship race, just five points behind McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.
The start of the race was also not what the Ferrari man would have hoped. Overtaken by rival Fernando Alonso, Raikkonen had to wait until the Renault driver pitted for his second stop to find the clean air he needed to ensure he would reclaim the place he had lost off the start.
Following Felipe Massa's blown engine and pole sitter Hamilton's puncture Raikkonen found himself in a podium position again and closing in on Timo Glock who was sitting in 2nd place. Having seen Massa's engine give in the instructions soon came from the pit wall not to push the car and 29 year-old coasted in for his 54th top three finish.
"We could have managed to do the race a little better, and I was stuck behind Alonso all the way to the second stop," said Raikkonen.
"I'm a little bit lucky with other people going all over the place.
"We have the speed in the race, but if I can't get qualifying right then we will always end up like this.
"We just need to sort out the problems and then we will be fighting for wins."
It is notoriously difficult to pass in Hungry and despite possessing superior power and speed Raikkonen conceded that it was the right option not to attempt a pass on Glock in the closing laps of the race as it may well have backfired on the Italian team.
"It is very difficult to get past, you need something special in one corner.
"Unfortunately I could not pass him. Third place in the end, after a difficult weekend for me, was a good result."
Member Comments
mdg35: Bernie picks the tracks - Max just makes the rules... which means that they probably voted against Max a few weeks ago...
HeyOtis8/4/2008 12:53:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Hungary was the first GP held behind the Iron Curtain, and Bernie basically designed the track from what I am reading. Apparently, he also financed construction, so this may have something to do with why Hungary's calendar slot appears to be so secure...
HeyOtis8/4/2008 12:52:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
LBGP, do you have point totals for season to date? I like this, anyone a web guy who can make a website for this?
tkaudi8/4/2008 12:28:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Wasn't Hungary the first gp held in a Soviet-block nation? Maybe there is some kind of sentimental value in keeping this race on the schedule.<br /><br />Either that, or they voted in favor of Max a few weeks ago...
mdg358/4/2008 11:40:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
LBGP - thanks for the update. With your second post, your results match what I had.<br />digitalis and Evesdropper both came out well on this unusual race. Good job. And congratulations to those who won their first points, this isn't easy picking the right order of finish, particularly in a race like this one.
jayhawk178/4/2008 11:08:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
BTW, Fox Sports.com sucks if you try to post from Asia!
8/4/2008 11:01:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Thanks LB, I'm going to try to be in Singapore for the Singtel Singapore GP since I'm based in Taiwan thru December. I've seen video of the Paddock and pit grandstand, looks like a very nice venue should be an interesting race to sy the least....
8/4/2008 10:59:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Eves - my apologies and good catch...you did correctly predict KR 3rd and FA 4th....the scoring is places 1-5 - for the night race in Singapore we have agreed to an inverted points total, places 5-1 with 5th getting 10 points, 4th 8 and so on.. <br /><br /><br />Gents - Re-post of Points total for the Hungary GP in the WWF1FFPL as follows:<br /><br />Evesdrpr: 11<br />Digitalis: 10<br />Lawman85: 6<br />LBGP76: 6<br />Snickers: 6<br />Vailoce: 6<br />tkAudi: 5<br />moTribe: 5<br />BBSurfr: 5<br />GoGoYub: 5<br />Gnid: 5<br /><br />Predictor of the Race = Digitalis for HK and Evesdropper for 2 of 5!!
LBGP768/4/2008 10:36:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
LBGP76,<br />I was a race late in joining the WWF1FFPL,I wanted to make sure I understand the scoring in picks. I picked KR 3rd and FA 4th,is the scoring for placing 1-5?<br />~Thanks
8/4/2008 10:18:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
... and yet, I see they just extended Hungary to 2016 or something like that... <br /><br />Probably a fun race to go to... they don't call it Booty-Pest for nothing... I'll put it on my list right under Spa, Monza and Silverstone...
HeyOtis8/4/2008 9:16:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Gents - Points total for the Hungary GP in the WWF1FFPL as follows:<br /><br />Digitalis: 10<br />Lawman85: 6<br />LBGP76: 6<br />EvesDrpr: 6<br />Snickers: 6<br />Vailoce: 6<br />tkAudi: 5<br />moTribe: 5<br />BBSurfr: 5<br />GoGoYub: 5<br />Gnid: 5<br /><br />Predictor of the Race = Digitalis<br /><br />I'll post point totals for the season on tomorrows cover story - what the heck are we gonna do for the next 3! weeks>...??<br /><br />Otis - kinda agree, the Hungaroring is not very impressive..<br /><br />SBandit - Nigel musta been a maniac that day..
LBGP768/4/2008 9:02:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Actually, it's more fun for the fastest cars and fastest drivers to have to make passes to get to the front. Otherwise, given equal reliability, they just drive away or maybe benefit from pit strategy issues. Only Sexy Maxey Mosley prefers that.
dirttrackbob8/4/2008 7:20:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
... that is a glorified Go-Kart track... you really see who knows how to stalk and pass at Hungary... I'm pretty surprised that the Hungaroring has never made Bernie's Hit List...<br /><br />That being said, Hungary is one of those races that always seems to affect the championship every year...
HeyOtis8/4/2008 6:41:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Kimi did get the fastest lap near the end, which is kinda strange, he's done that a couple of times now. On this track you need to qualify up front. How did Nigell pass 12 cars there?
shootingbandit8/4/2008 5:20:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
It's a puzzle. FM had the pace on the McLarens in the race, and Kimi had the fastest lap. Qualifying is killing them. Hope they can sort it out. More fun to have the fastest cars at the front with the points on the line.
WP68UO748/4/2008 2:24:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
advertisement
