Katsuya

Niki Lauda was saying that Schumacher is the only way for Ferrari to go: he said that Gene and Badoer haven't raced in forever, and even when they did they were shit (true), and Bourdais "can drive. I can drive." Personally, I'd love to see Lauda vs. Hamilton >_>...but really: there is a very realistic chance right now that we'll see Schumacher vs. Hamilton and Schumacher vs. Vettel. That alone = awesomeness.

The news coming through at the moment is that Massa can move his limbs, but can't speak right now and has "damage" to his left eye...let's hope that it's nothing too serious, and especially nothing that puts his future racing career in jeopardy... ETA: This, of course, puts the Ferrari race seat up for grabs. The obvious answer would be to put Luca Badoer or Marc Gene in the seat. The dream answer would be to put Michael Schumacher in the seat. The possible answer would be that Fernando Alonso is going to be driving a Ferrari car around Valencia in a month...

It should be pointed out that Bourdais' two points came from the clusterfuck of an Australian GP, and then finishing thirty seconds after everyone else in Monaco. So he didn't really set the world alight in that respect... Also, Lewis' win looks hilarious in the standings table. So far, his season has gone: DSQ - 7th - 6th - 4th - 9th - 12th - 13th - 16th - 18th - 1st Oh, and also...Rosberg is doing an amazing job so far. Fifth place in the overall standings, and in the past five races he's gone 6th - 5th - 5th - 4th - 4th. Probably is part of the reason that this season is being so tough on Nakajima, too, because he's really just shining so much right now. The rumour is that he's going to BMW next season (which implies that Kubica or Heidfeld is going), and I just hope that the BMW is much better than it is this year, because if you give him a good car I'm sure he's going to be threatening for the title...

Alguersuari wasn't crap; he was about 5-6 seconds down on the car ahead of him for the first half of the race, so that's pretty good going for your first ever race. Plus, his qualifying time was like... .4 down on Kubica, a considerably more experienced driver who last year was racing for the title. So...yeah. Not all that bad for Jaime. Oh, and Nakajima won't be leaving Williams any time soon this season, because he's the reason for the Toyota engine, me thinks. Plus, he's not *that* bad, he just always seems to have unfortunate pit stops that end up dropping him way down compared with everyone else - which cannot all be his fault.

Would explain why Flav was in such a hurry to get out of the place before the race was over. Probably thought he'd let everyone else deal with it. I think if anyone is to blame though, it's Alonso: if you're a driver, and you know that wheel is going to come off, you don't travel quicker than a snail's pace and you pull off the track if it seriously looks like it's going to fall off...which he seemed to do neither of. Although...I don't know if a ban is fair. It seems a little bit extreme, and Vettel didn't get a penalty for driving an entire lap with a wheel hanging off in Melbourne. Besides, the exact same thing happened to them in Hungary in 2005 (which I pointed out to my dad when it happened) and all that happened then was that he slid off the track, so it was kind of just...a little bit more of an extreme kind of that. Also, if the penalty is for not telling Alonso that he's got a wheel missing...I'm pretty sure we should give Fernando the benefit of the doubt and think he might have noticed it himself. Any other race, it would have been a slap on the wrist, but because of Surtees and Massa, this is being hyped up a lot...

In terms of the actual result, Alonso took pole but is about...eight laps lighter than everyone else, so presumably he's just gonna hope he gets a good start. Vettel, Webber and Lewis are behind him, with Vettel and Webber both on pretty much the same strategy and they're likely to be the ones racing for the win, unless the KERS helps Hamilton or Alonso's gamble really pays off. Also, it would appear Ferrari can't field the test driver in Massa's position, although I doubt they ever thought of doing so. That would presumably mean that 10th spot would just be empty, so Nakajima will be on his own on Row 5.

Tell that to Roland Ratzenberger.

He seems to be going downhill fast - I wonder if the skull fracture might have caused some pressure to build up around the brain? Kind of like the whole Natasha Richardson accident?

If you're at all squeamish, don't look at this link: Massa with the visor open

I had heard that it was a gash on his face and some swelling around his eye...so I think there's a lot of stories going around right now...but here's hoping that he'll make a full recovery. Sheer interest...who is the Ferrari test driver? Is it still Luca Badoer?

Yahoo is reporting that Massa won't be racing tomorrow. I presume, therefore, that either they'll just have 19 cars on the grid tomorrow, or Ferrari will draft the test driver in and have a glorified test session. Also...here's something I just realised: this is the first time, really, since 2007 that Alonso and Hamilton will be in cars at a similar pace, right at the front of the field...and one would assume that Hamilton will probably leapfrog at least one Red Bull at the start, so we could realistically see Alonso vs. Hamilton for the lead. Oh, and they should totally do that every qualifying session. So funny/confusing.

Erm...what? The timing system has died, and nobody knows who's on pole, but Alonso seems to be #1, based on his pitlane walk consisting of "what time did you do?". Bizzarre...

Alguersuari made his debut today and didn't crash/kill someone as apparently half the field thought. Still, he wasn't overly quick, but for a first grand prix, it was good enough. A lot of people said it wasn't fair to make him debut at Hungary because the track is so difficult (by the by, it looked...different than it usually does. Like there was more colour or something...I dunno), but then again, it gives him the chance to seem more confident at Valencia which is his home GP, after all. So...yeah. Kind of an odd weekend, I think, is ahead, since Webber was working the car a lot better than Vettel was, and the Brawn's still seemed a little off it. McLaren and Williams might be able to sneak up on Brawn this weekend...and therefore, my prediction for the winner is Heikki Kovalainen. I dunno, but he was doing well last year even before Massa broke down and he was gifted the win, and I have a feeling that the Red Bull/Brawn dominance is going to get rumbled a little bit this weekend. Especially if he uses the KERS better than Lewis tends to use it >_>

There's no multiple choice, so while I probably would have voted La Roux and GaGa, I had to vote for my true love <3. Also, I wouldn't say all of GaGa's songs are Electropop. I'd say that the "well known" ones are, but Eh Eh, for example, is anything but electro. La Roux is more consistent, and maybe that's why I love the album...and I've not heard any of Little Boots' stuff, so, meh.

Aaaaand Bourdais has been fired. Toro Rosso will announce the new driver before the Hungarian GP, so...yeah, it's Algu-thingy. I'd love it if they suddenly turned round though and went "yeahhh...welcome Takuma Sato!"

Erm...Minardi's first ever points were in the Detroit Grand Prix about twenty years before Webber scored those points >_>

WEBBER!!! Yay, such a good win and so, so long in the making. Played the drive-through perfectly, and just...so good. Yay! Also, BOOOO Kimi for once again fucking over Sutil. It would have been about, what, 4th or 5th for Sutil otherwise (he was right behind Massa and, arguably, quicker). Oh, and Rubens = sour cunt. "Today was how to lose a race"...well, yes, it was, and mainly by you. Couldn't pass Massa for about 10 laps, and says he did all he could? Maybe you should have done more, Rubens.

The fuel adjusted grid has it as Webber from Vettel by about 0.2 seconds, then Hamilton in 3rd about 0.5 behind Webber, then the two Brawns and then Sutil - who's fuelled the heaviest out of the top 10, meaning he actually outpaced the Ferrari's. Lots of rumours about people moving cars, too: - Bourdais is said to be out after this Grand Prix, with Alguersiari (probably wrong) or Sebastien Loeb being a shock replacement. Algu-whatever is probably going to get the Toro Rosso drive next year though. - Kovalainen's contract is apparently running out and he's hardly set the world on fire in the McLaren, with his only win being a kind of lucky one - Glock is rumoured to be maybe heading that way, but he's saying he's sticking at Toyota. One would imagine either Rosberg or Sutil, Hamilton's friends, might be drafted in as the replacement (those three, if I recall, were the ones McLaren wanted ahead of Kovalainen in the first place). - Tonio Liuzzi was hinting on the BBC that he's been in contact with a current F1 team for next year - maybe a move back to Toro Rosso or Red Bull, or he might get the race seat with Force India if Sutil leaves. - Alonso and Vettel are being hinted as the new Ferrari team for 2010, although it seems more likely for Alonso to jump ship, which would put Massa or Kimi out of a race seat: common sense kind of says that Kimi leaves and also leaved F1, since that seems to be the way he's going. - Jacques Villeneuve wants back in to F1, although USF1 don't want him according to reports, which means he's either going to go to Campos or Manor if he does come back. Campos, however, appear to have Pedro de la Rosa on their list, which makes a lot of sense (apart from the fact he's got to be like, 40-odd now or something). Marc Gene is another one they're looking at, reportedly. They've also got a female test driver, Natcha Gachnang, who is Buemi's cousin. - Rosberg is also a contender for a BMW drive. - USF1 are reportedly evaluating Marco Andretti, Jonathan Summerton, AJ Allmendinger, Scott Speed and Danica Patrick. Speed, of course, has the F1 experience... So...yeah. The grid, therefore, might look like this (this is just a random guess, more than anything, but...meh, might as well see how right I am next March) BRAWN: Button & Barrichello (possibly Button & Senna) RED BULL: Vettel & Webber TOYOTA: Glock & Kubica (Trulli can't be around much longer, can he?) MCLAREN: Hamilton & Sutil FERRARI: Alonso & Massa RENAULT: Kovalainen (I imagine they'd welcome him back ala Alonso) & Romain Grosjean (rumoured to have been replacing Piquet mid-season) WILLIAMS: Nakajima & ??Liuzzi?? TORO ROSSO: Buemi & Algueseariaiaiaiaia BMW: Heidfeld & Rosberg FORCE INDIA: Fisichella & ...some guy. CAMPOS: de la Rosa & (insert Spanish GP2 driver here) MANOR: Villeneuve & di Grassi USF1: Speed & Patrick Which takes Trulli, Piquet and Kimi out of the equation. Seems about right, me thinks.

Well that was a rather epic qualifying session. Huge props to Webber for finally getting pole having not really looked anywhere during Q1 and Q2; I have a feeling though that one way or another, it's not going to be a "good" result - because this is probably one of the last few places for Rubens to get a win, but I also really want Webber to finally get his first ever victory. So we shall see... Oh, and Sutil in 7th <3333.

On something you just said... Spoiler: Click here to viewI was sure, given that kind of bitchy army woman had said earlier in the week "let's see if he's immortal like his granddad" or something along those lines, that the kid was going to come back to life. But then he didn't and...well, it was just a depressing final 15 minutes, bar Bridget's uber face turn.

...erm...wow. Kind of a harrowing last episode, and...well Spoiler: Click here to viewI'm guessing no more Torchwood? Can't see Jack coming back, so unless they create a new team then...well, yeah. Also, Bridget <3 - and I called it as soon as she was staring at the PM. Although having the Hazel Blears-esque woman being the PM doesn't seem like a great trade, although she started to redeem herself.

Andy...still, he seemed like a class act at the end, and he even managed to get out that little quip to Sampras which was awesome. I think that, in many ways, he's been the star of the tournament, simply because of the last three matches: the quarters match against Lleyton was awesome, coming through against Murray put him in as the crowd favourite, and then finally taking it to Federer when it mattered the most, only to just fall short...wow. In fact, when you look at the final four as a whole, Roddick by far had the toughest draw. Haas had Cilic who's never really done all that much, and Djokovic who is barely clinging on to his number four slot. Murray only had to deal with Wawrinka (Ferrero doesn't really count these days), and Federer's biggest problems came in Karlovic, who turned out to be all kinds of nothing against him (Soderling, arguably, was an increased threat this time). So, fair play to Roddick, he thoroughly deserves the praise he's getting. Of course, the question now is - who wins the US Open? If Nadal is fit, he's got as good a shot as any, but you've got to think that if he is fit, he still won't be 100%. Murray's best on a hard court, and he's in much better shape this year than he was last year when he made the final. Djokovic and Del Potro always have a shot to throw in an upset, and Roddick's managed to win this before...but you've got think that it's Federer to lose, if anything. The guy is unstoppable at the US...

We are, in a way, now in set number seven. Last year's might have been the best tennis match ever, but this is one of the most nerve-racking.

Roddick is up a break now in set four...

...eep. Roddick better not crumble...