Kimi gets 10 grid spot penatly

[Down F0rce]

Kimi suffers an engine failure, he loses 10 places:

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=33318

[Kicking-back]

Yes.

I assume he'll push for pole, start 11th and still have a decent race.

[luke]

:jawdrops: This is bad.

[Knowlesy]

I just feel this season starting to swing towards our old friend MS and perhaps even Barrichello at this stage. I think they'll be strong the rest of the season and that combined with Alonso and raikkonen being a little inconsistent of late.

Hopefully we will get a four way fight for the title in the final round, but still get a new champion maybe.

[Kicking-back]

Alonso and Raikkonen inconsistent! Don't make me laugh!

A lot of people have been seduced by Indy!

[Menelaos]

Seriously, Kimi and Alonso inconsistent? Are you serious? It was inconsistency that kept them from winning in Indy?

[richard_sykes]

Kimi`s the best driver out there in my opinion.

[Hugh Jarce]

Maybe - Good news for Renault though on their home turf to have Kimi so far back. Bet Flav is smiling!

[Knowlesy]

Not massively inconsistent you understand. Most would die for their consistency.

Raikkonen has the problem of being unbeatable for a couple of races and then having a bad one.

Alonso made the error at Canada and US didn't help either driver. Plus of course, Renault may well tail off in performance a little, it wouldn't surprise me at all.

If Schuey were to start racking up the podiums, he'd be right in the mix.

Look, I'm just being pessimistic to prevent dissapointment!

[BootsOntheSide]

With a new engine Kimi could be capable of qualifying fastest and thus starting 11th in a decent amount of fuel, so he may well go for that. Maybe reaching the podium is possible, but it's still a big boost for Renault on home territory.

[Menelaos]

Look, I personally just hate it when a driver gets ****ed because of such stuff. I wish there were no mechanical failures at all. But it's totally crazy, Raikonen's only failure so far was in Imola when he was leading, and now a broken engine Whatever. So, McLaren just lost two of their best races (Indy and this one). I hate this stupid two gps regulation! And anyway, even if Raikonen is second after winner Alonso, that won't be a good result for him. He would have to be much nearer now and all these problems (nurburgring, indy, here) have kept him too far back. I don't know how he can climb back up

[Knowlesy]

It's a pretty stupid rule.

To be honest though, as things stand I think our championship leader is correct. He's got the maximum out of his car at every race bar Canada. raikkonen has been flawless too recently, but his start to the season was patchy to say the least.

Still, if Alonso can build up such a lead in nine races, Kimi can claw back that many points in ten races. And I think he's looking OK tomorrow to be honest.

[Menelaos]

knowing all this, how many points do you think Kimi will score tomorrow?

[Kicking-back]

Kimi's car has lots of inherent raw pace - he'll be okay in the race.

And I think Juan Pablo probably has more fuel than a lot of those ahead of him.

[Kicking-back]

Originally Posted by Menelaos

knowing all this, how many points do you think Kimi will score tomorrow?

6

[ralf fan]

Provided all the cars in front of Kimi finish the race a top 5 finish is the best he can hope for IMO. Magny Cours is a very difficult place to overtake and i think he could lose some serious time behind the Saubers and other "pretenders" early on.

[Knowlesy]

I think 5th is the minimum Kimi can expect. Expect him to gobble up a fair few cars at Adelaide hairpin on lap one.

[Kicking-back]

Nah - he can just stick it to the inside at the hairpin every lap!

[Knowlesy]

Well, i have an image of Mika at Adelaide hairpin in the '99 race zooming past about three hundred cars in my head! It was like something on the playstation!

Time for his successor to do the same I think, for entertainments sake!

[mclaren_fanatic]

I see a MS and Alonso making trouble for themselves, slowing each other. It is a long race and Kimi has a very good chance of making his way up to the front. Remember you only have to lead the last lap not all of them!!!

[Glen]

Seems the engine that went was a special spec, fitted only to Kimi's car. Sometimes you come unstuck when you favour one driver over the other... The Renaults and Ferraris are all going to be very difficult to beat, plus there's Trulli and Sato up there in the mix. I think the podium is out of reach - and given that Alonso is unlikely to have as bad a second part of the year as Kimi did the first part I reckon the Championship is next to impossible too. Even if Kimi wins every race from here on in Alonso is going the be one or two places behind each time.

[Don K]

Originally Posted by Glen

... I reckon the Championship is next to impossible too. Even if Kimi wins every race from here on in Alonso is going the be one or two places behind each time.

Actually, in that case Kimi would win the title.

If Kimi wins all races from now on, he will end up with 137 points.
To beat him, Alonso needs 137-59+1= 79 additional points.
Which means that even 9 p2's and 1 p3 would give the title to Raikkonen.

[Gt_R]

All Alonso needs is a bit of Fisi-luck, and we'd see the championship wide open.

[Kicking-back]

Originally Posted by Glen

Seems the engine that went was a special spec, fitted only to Kimi's car. Sometimes you come unstuck when you favour one driver over the other...

I fear your anti-McLaren obsession's clouding judgment there.

Kimi was due a new engine here, JPM was not.

[strider]

I'm not a fan of Norbert Haug, but I think he's right to criticise the 10 place drop on the grid. 6 places would be better. After all, Kimi lost valuable track time as well, so it's effectively a double penalty.