FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPANA TELEFONICA 2008. Montmelo (Barcelona) - 25.27.27 APRIL 2008

Pit Babes?
IIrina . Kiki . Liza . Mima . Natella . Saffron . Monika . Marina . Olga . Danielle . Luba

Race - (Sunday 27 April) - Kimi Raikkonen confirmed the Montmelo tradition of the pole winner wins by leading from start to finish ahead of his team mate Felipe Massa who never looked like challenging the Finn who snatch second place from the crowd´s favourite Fernando Alonso into the first corner. Behind Lewis Hamilton also made up a place by squeezing on the inside of Robert Kubica. The first lap caused the safety car to be called out on the first lap when Adrian Sutil ( Force India-Ferrari) and Sebastian Vettel (STR-Ferrari) had a coming together. Nelson Picquet (Renault) was also trying very hard, had an off, forcing him into the pits, and putting him well down the field. In his effort to move up the field again he went down the inside of Sebastien Bourdais (STR-Ferrari ) causing his retirement on the spot and Bourdais a lap latter, Bourdais not seeing the Brazilian coming up the inside. (They will have to do something about the current wing mirrors).

Alonso did not come in as early as expected but here on the pit stop Lewis Hamilton managed to overtake the Spaniard. Antony Davidson was the next retirement with the underfinanced Super Aguri (lt us hope they can find a sponsor) followed by Heikki Kovalainen ( McLaren-Mercedes) the Finn ploughed into the tyre barrier at turn nine after something broke on the left-front of his MP4-23, bringing out the safety car for a second time. Nick Heidfeld had to come in for fuel during this period and was penalized with a drive thru and 10 second penalty - (need to change this rule). Rubens Barrichello (Honda) lost a front wing in the pits and retired to be followed by Fernando Alonso whose engine gave up the ghost much to the disappointment of the 132,600 crowd, who gave him a standing ovation. The rest of the race was pretty processional, the only feature being the closeness of the first 4 cars – the winnner Kimi Raikkonen - Felipe Massa Ferrari (+3.2 secs) - Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (+4.1 secs) - 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber (+5.6 secs) - Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault (+35.9 secs) driving a good race - Jenson Button Honda (+53.0 secs) getting his first World Championship points this season - Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota (+58.2 secs) upholding Williams place after the retirement of Nico Rosberg ahead of the last points finisher, Jarno Trulli Toyota (+59.4 secs )

Practice (Friday 25 April) - Who was driver of the day – Fernando Alonso .( 1m 21.904) who in the closing seconds of took provisional pole, much to everyones surprise, only to have it snatched from him by Kimi Raikkonen.(1m 21.813) The Finn has looked strong all weekend, but in Q1 and Q2 did not look too happy and it seemed as his Felipe Massa .( 1m 22.058) might be the stronger of the two Ferrari drivers. He managed to put his first run together, but could not repeat it in his second run. Robert Kubica (1m 22.065s) had been consistent and was rewarded with 4^th fastest time but the surprised Lewis Hamilton (1m 22.096s) was not too happy with his performance and would have preferred to start further up the grid. Team mate Heikki Kovalainen (1m 22.231s) joins his McLaren team mate on the third row, with Mark Webber (1m 22.429s) on row four for Red Bull, alongside Jarno Trulli´s (1m 22.529s) Toyota on. Nick Heidfeld (1m 22.542s) was ninth for BMW Sauber and at one stage did not look in Q2 looked as if he would not get into Q3., changing to the soft compound at the last minute which was worth it was reckoned half a second. Nelson Piquet (1m 22.699s) in just his fourth Grand Prix put the second Renault into the top ten proving that the team has improved and Pat Symonds said after qualifying that the Brazilian was on a different strategy to that of the Spaniard who tomorrow will want to win. Promises to be an exciting start to the race and tomorrow Spain could be jubiliant!

Practice (Friday 25 April)

Kimi Raikkonen was fastest this morning (1:20.649) and again this afternoon (1:21.935). This morning it was Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica chasing him, but this afternoon it was rookie Nelson Piquet (1:22.019) and the crowd´s favourite Fernando Alonso (1:22.032) upseting the form book much to Renault´s delight ahead of Kazuki Nakajima (1:22.172) ahead of his highly rated team mate Nico Rosberg (1:22.266) who could do no better than seventh fastest time. Between the two Williams were the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa (1:22.229) and Mark Webber´s (1:22.238) Red Bull. David Coultard (1:22.289) put the second Red Bull eigth with the two Force India cars of Giancarlo Fisichella (1:22.383) and Adrian Sutil (1:22.548) completing the top ten. Lewis Hamilton this afternoon could finish no better than eleventh with Heikki sixteenth, suffering from mechanical problems

Fernando Alonso - "Something strange needs to happen during the race if we want to reach the podium now. Hopefully this will be the first step we need to do during this season to be close to the podium. Sooner or later we need to start improving the car and I think this race will be the first opportunity to see if we are going in the right direction. It is true that every time I come here to my home grand prix I had always the possibility to fight for the pole position and fight for the victory.if not, the podium was a real possibility always. This year I don't think it is a real possibility, just a dream as it was in the first few races.

We had what we were expecting and we are quite happy with the car and the improvement we did. But, as I said, maybe we will not be happy anymore tomorrow when we see the others and they are quick as well.

I think we did a god job and probably the others teams did a good job as well. It is just a matter of which team took the biggest step and we are optimistic we can improve, but we must improve what we did in the first few races.

So let's start from this race.

Spanish Grand Prix on ITV
Live qualifying Saturday 26 April 1210-1430 ITV1
Qualifying highlights Sunday 27 April 1030-1130 ITV4
Live race Sunday 27 April 1200-1505 ITV1
Highlights Sunday 27 April 2345-0040 ITV1
Highlights re-run Monday 28 April 1800-1900 ITV4

Australian Grand Prix - pre race comments

Kimi Raikkonen - "Everything looks to be in good shape, Probably I have never started the season with such a good feeling. Personally I feel like there is a big difference to start this season compared to last year.I know the team and how they work. There will be no surprises. I've built up a good relationship with my engineers and we understand each other and they also know how I like to have my car set up. The car is a nice step forward from last year. Ferrari have done a good job to improve the areas that needed to be improved. The car has been improved in the slow corners and over the kerbs. We should be strong in every place, but beforehand you never know it for sure."

Fernando Alonso - "I know that a win or a podium in Australia will be difficult, but you never know what can happen during the race. It may rain; the race may take place on a drying track and you can have the chance to spring a surprise. If an opportunity presents itself, I am ready to seize it."

Nico Rosberg - "The aero department has done a really fantastic job with the FW30, That's not to disregard everyone else within the team that has been working hard on it, but the aero on the car is a real step forward. We also already have a lot of developments which are scheduled for deployment over the year. People think that we can't be as good as the manufacturer teams, but that's not the case and we can compete with them, The team has recruited some strong people over the past few years to consolidate the existing structure and that has helped us to make some good progress, he new rules which will come in next year will also wipe the slate clean which should give us a big chance to enter that realm."

Adrian Sutil - "My goals are to do everything possible to be better this year; to make fewer mistakes and get a few points. I want to help the team move forward." About his new team mate: "For me it's a positive challenge to have Giancarlo in the team as he will push me, which is important for the future, It will be difficult, but this is what I need, as if you are pushed, you have to put in your maximum effort."

Kazuki Nakajima - "Having already raced in the Brazilian Grand Prix last year, I feel a bit more relaxed going into the season because I've experienced a race weekend before and know exactly what is expected of me, As it's my debut season, it's difficult to talk about results but obviously I want to do my best in every race, It's my first year in Formula 1 so it won't be easy to get everything right first time, so my objective is to make good progress and enjoy the races." About the new chassis "It's definitely a step forward, When I drove the FW30 for the first time in Valencia at the start of January, I could tell the difference from the FW29 straight away and my initial feelings were really positive. We also have some updates planned for Melbourne which should also take us further forward. One thing is clear and that is that Ferrari and McLaren are still ahead of us, but the midfield is really close so it's going to be a big fight among those teams and we're in that group. One thing's for sure: it's going to be a great season so, if we do well, it will be well deserved."

Formula 1 Chat

Lewis Hamilton - "There's no excuses," he said. "Last year the only excuse was that I was a rookie and that it was all new. But this year, I'll continue to learn. So sure, there will always be mistakes, but I don't feel there is any room for error."

Flavio Briatore - Speaking to reporters in Valencia, Briatore said: "Alonso always makes a difference, both with his performances and motivating the team.

"He is happy, we are the same, nothing has changed since he left and he has improved a lot. Professionally, as a driver, everywhere. One more year of experience is very useful.

"I see him very motivated, even more than in 2006. That helps a lot, both him and the team."

Kimi Raikkonen - "Ferrari will be my last team" Ferrari have nothing to worry about as Raikkonen has no intension of leaving the team.

"I do not see any reason to leave here," he told Spanish daily Marca.

"I still have two years left of my contract, but in any case I believe that whatever happens this will be my last team."

As for what he wants do when he does opt to leave Ferrari and F1, the Finn siad: "I would like to maybe compete in a few rallies, or something like that."

Felipe Massa - "If you look at last year's championship, at the Monza Grand Prix, I had some seven points more than Kimi and I had everything to fight for in the championship," Massa told reporters during testing in Valencia on Wednesday.

"But I had a problem in Monza and I lost the chance. I don't think my championship was bad. I think it was very good and I will do the same.

"To win the championship you need a quick car, a consistent car, but you need to be lucky as well. I think one of these points was missing for me last year so I won't change my approach this year."

2008 Formula 1 World Championship Calendar

Mar 16 - Melbourne, Australia
Mar 23 - Sepang, Malaysia
Apr 6 - Sakhir, Bahrain
Apr 27 - Barcelona, Spain
May 11 - Istanbul Park, Turkey
May 25 - Monte Carlo, Monaco
June 8 - Montreal, Canada
June 22 - Magny-Cours, France
July 6 - Silverstone, Great Britain
July 20 - Hockenheim, Germany
Aug 3 - Hungaroring, Hungary
Aug 24 - Valencia, Europe
Sep 7 - Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Sep 14 - Monza, Italy
Sep 28 - Singapore*
Oct 12 - Fuji, Japan
Oct 19 - Shanghai, China
Nov 2 - Interlagos, Brazil * night race

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We are still seeking a sponsor to cover the running costs for Juan Nichols to compete in the Spanish Formula 3 Championship (Class B). www.internationaltravellerscardonline.com are prepared to supply the Dallara 300