2007 Indianapolis, USA Grand Prix|Videos

 Sunday, Race Day

Hamilton wins

A great proper duel between the two McLaren drivers saw Lewis under pressure and flawless, and Alonso determined but second best. It was a good race. Quite a few good scraps between drivers mid-field, mainly in the middle sector where the slow and twisty corners proved to be a challenge.

Kimi, I believe, did his very best today and pushed his car as hard as could yet bearing in mind the condition of the engine which will be used for the next race. Although it was painful to see Kimi lose position yet again at the start, this was because he chose to start with the harder tyre compounds. Later in the race, he picked up great pace on the softs and closed in to Massa and almost looked like he was able to finish on a podium: something I desperately wanted to see. It could have been very possible if Ferrari helped Kimi to get infront of Massa, as Kimi was 1 second faster than the McLarens at the time and he was very close to Massa for a good 5-10 laps. Kimi could have pushed harder without a car giving him dirty air and he could have pressured Alonso, even just a little. However, just as Alonso found it difficult to overtake his teammate, Kimi did too, so I believe we could ask no more from the Finn, as long as he did his best I am content. So a big pat on the back for Kimi, but together he and the team must push harder throughout the weekend, particularly in qualifying, where it’s proven to be the golden spot for best chances at victory so far this season.

US GP Sunday quotes: Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen – 4th: "The car had a very quick race pace but I paid a high price for the positions lost at the start. We lost precious time behind slower cars and it is always difficult to overtake because when you close on a car ahead you lose so much aero downforce.

"In the final stages I closed on Felipe but there was never a really clear opportunity to overtake him and we were both thinking about the next race where we use the same engine. We must improve, especially in qualifying, because our target has to be to try and win."

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1h39:09.065
 2.  Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  +     1.518
 3.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  +    12.842
 4.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  +    15.422
 5.  Kovalainen    Renault              (B)  +    41.402
 6.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  +  1:06.703
 7.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  +  1:07.331
 8.  Vettel        BMW Sauber           (B)  +  1:07.783
 9.  Fisichella    Renault              (B)  +     1 lap
10.  Wurz          Williams-Toyota      (B)  +     1 lap
11.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  +     1 lap
12.  Button        Honda                (B)  +     1 lap
13.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  +    2 laps
14.  Sutil         Spyker-Ferrari       (B)  +    2 laps
15.  Albers        Spyker-Ferrari       (B)  +    3 laps
16.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  +    5 laps
17.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)  +    5 laps

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:13.117 - That made me smile....at least it's an improvement!

Videos

Saturday, Qualifying

Hamilton on pole

It’s very nip and tuck again between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, as the Brit just pipped in hi 2nd consecutive pole position by 0.054 ahead of Alonso. Ferrari have improved a little being 3rd and 4th with Massa ahead of Kimi.

Kovalainen is improving on his qualifying performance for Renault which is great, and the BMWs’ of Heidfeld and Vettel have really impressed me, with Vettel just being 19 years old he can stick near Heidfeld’s pace, of whom we can say has been really good. So, not only do Ferrari have McLaren to worry about, they have the BMWs’ breathing down their necks. Kimi, though, is a strange fellow. Perhaps that why I love him. I was feeling terribly down all of a sudden during Q2, and when I shed a tear in frustration, Kimi popped in the fastest middle sector on his OUT lap! Got me smiling but then I scratched my head thinking "it’s okay Kimi, in lap, out lap, whatever, just push". But what annoys me most is when people start getting upset over the fact that Massa has been faster than him on most occasions. Today, the Ferrari has improved a little right? Well Kimi is still up there with Massa, right behind him. This shows to me that Kimi definatly is using the maximum he can from the car. Obviously one of them has to be the slower one, and at McLaren the 2 time world champion is slower than Hamilton.

Tomorrow Kimi needs to think about 3 things: Massa infront, the BMWs’ behind, and his own approach to get as far ahead as possible. And as usual, we are there to support him. Keep Flying Kimi!