SofaF1

Another weekend with plenty of drama, Massa’s huge crash in qualifying was a bit of a shock, but it looks like he will be ok, hopefully he will be back in the car, but recovery looks like it might be a bit slow. Hamilton taking the win might have been a surprise but as Nick pointed out, it was predicted by a few here at SofaF1, maybe the sign of a rallying McLaren team. The championship is all up in the air again!

Round 10

Mr C 8
GrifF1 8
Bearded Stew 7
Aitch 7
Rod 6
Igor 6
Alex 5
Jackie 4
Fourstar 3
Piqued 3
Christine 2
Nick 2
Pete 2
Lou 2
Sean 2
Takuya 1
RG 0
Jeremy 0
PatW 0

Championship

Igor 59
Mr C 56
Nick 55
Aitch 51
Rod 46
Bearded Stew 45
PatW 41
Alex 40
Lou 38
Christine 37
GrifF1 35
Fourstar 34
Pete 34
Sean 34
Jackie 29
RG 23
Piqued 16
Jeremy 14
Takuya 13

Respectfully putting to one side the horror of Massa’s accident and doubtful recovery, everyone is now getting interested in the top drive that has suddenly become available. There have been lots of exciting, and improbable, names linked with the position, but who is most likely to take it? Who would you like to take it? Firstly, Ferrari’s two test drivers: Gene and Badoer. I think it would be great to give them something back, especially Badoer – the third man behind Schumacher’s championships. What about Schumacher himself? If he wanted to come back (and there are suggestions he never actually wanted to leave), could Ferrari say no? Alonso, rumoured to have a contract for 2010 anyway, is the next obvious choice. If Renault remained banned from Valencia it becomes even more inevitable, but the intricacies involved in getting him out of Briatore’s car so soon must be difficult (and expensive). It would, however, give Alonso a great head start on getting to know the car for next year. Other interesting options apparently being bandied around the (virtual) paddock are Coulthard and Bourdais. It’s difficult to see how Coulthard could betray all his years of Ferrari hatred, though, and Bourdais, despite his credentials, hardly impressed anyone with Toro Rosso. Ferrari could also go with a young Italian driver, such as Bortolotti or Liuzzi, but somehow I see them favouring experience over youth. My personal favourite has got to be Villeneuve. There are bad memories of his come back with Renault, and then Sauber, but just to see another Villeneuve in the red colours of Ferrari would be exciting. As usual, the decision will be made less on driver ability, and more on the politics of a very political grid.

It’s the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend and you know what that means?

It means it’s time for our predictions. Please pick the pole sitter and the top eight finishers for the race. Please have your predictions in before qualifying starts on Saturday!

Another race with plenty of drama, Webber winning convincingly at the end but didn’t make it easy for himself. Red Bull seem to be maintaining their edge at the moment, do Brawn have any money to catch back up? Looks like its going down the wire. Maiden win for Webber, great result for him, he does seem to have had rather a lot of bad luck, but makes it through this time.

Nobody backed him to take his first win this year though in our championship as far as I could see so no extra points there!

Round 9

PatW 10
Mr C 9
Aitch 9
RG 5
Nick 5
Piqued 4
Fourstar 3
Rod 3
Sean 3
Alex 2
GrifF1 2
Igor 2
Takuya 2
Pete 2
Lou 2
Christine 1
Bearded Stew 1
Jeremy 0
Jackie 0

Championship

Nick 53
Igor 53
Mr C 48
Aitch 44
PatW 41
Rod 40
Bearded Stew 38
Lou 36
Christine 35
Alex 35
Pete 32
Sean 32
Fourstar 31
GrifF1 27
Jackie 25
RG 23
Jeremy 14
Piqued 13
Takuya 12

Nick catches up with Igor, the battle is very much on, but I still can’t get my head around people who are running off predictions from months ago still get more points than me!!

Red Bull dominate as Brawn fade in the coolness of an English summer. Great result for Red Bull with another one-two, at Silverstone in the dry this time, showing that they really do have a pretty good car and are in the hunt for the title. Button struggled to beat his qualifying position of sixth, but still holds the championship lead nicely. The race is on, can Red Bull overhaul Brawn over the second half of the season?

But what about SofaF1? Fourstar lumbers into action with more than a third of his points this year in one race alone! Igor and Nick still at the top of the table but the midfield is getting pretty busy.

Round 8

Aitch 11
Fourstar 10
Nick 7
Rod 7
Alex 6
Mr C 5
Bearded Stew 5
Igor 5
PatW 5
RG 3
Christine 3
Sean 3
GrifF1 2
Takuya 2
Jackie 1
Pete 1
Lou 1
Piqued 0
Jeremy 0

Championship

Igor 51
Nick 48
Mr C 39
Rod 37
Bearded Stew 37
Aitch 35
Christine 34
Lou 34
Alex 33
PatW 31
Pete 30
Sean 29
Fourstar 28
Jackie 25
GrifF1 25
RG 18
Jeremy 14
Takuya 10
Piqued 9

So will some of our competitors be breaking away this weekend or will everyone remember to put in their entries for the SofaF1 British Pole Poll.

What do we want? The pole sitter and the top eight point scorers for the race

When do we want it? Before qualifying starts.

Good luck!

Another race, another win for Brawn and Button. Red Bulls are getting closer with Vettel taking pole, but gave the lead to Button on lap one and couldn’t regain it again. Webber’s superior strategy leapfrogged him ahead of Vettel too, while Barrichello retired the Brawn for the first time. Every one else was pretty much playing catch up, Ferrari improving a bit but still not anywhere close. Rosberg finally has a good finish result in fifth after all his speedy practices.

Round 7

Mr C 12
Sean 9
Aitch 8
Bearded Stew 7
PatW 7
Nick 6
Alex 6
Pete 6
Fourstar 5
Igor 5
RG 4
Christine 4
Jackie 4
Rod 2
GrifF1 2
Lou 2
Piqued 0
Jeremy 0
Takuya 0

Championship

Igor 46
Nick 41
Mr C 34
Lou 33
Bearded Stew 32
Christine 31
Rod 30
Pete 29
Alex 27
PatW 26
Sean 26
Jackie 24
Aitch 24
GrifF1 23
Fourstar 18
RG 15
Jeremy 14
Piqued 9
Takuya 8

So Ferrari believe that Turkey might well be their turning point for the season, but what do you think that’s what we’re here to find out.

Other possible excitements for this race weekend include the possibility of somebody other than Jenson winning a race – hey it could happen.

We were told earlier in the season that Turkey will be the race which decides Piquet’s fate. But in many ways Bourdais looks closer to the brink. Not for points but it might be fun to see who you guys think wil be the first driver tone shown the door.

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