I run BlogF1 on my own. 99%+ of articles on the site are written by myself, and those that are not are authored by guest-posters. Therefore, when things happen in my personal life it is inevitable that BlogF1 will suffer - the site is not my job, it is purely a hobby. Although I did recently admit to it being a hobby that is out of control!

Last week, my girlfriend of six-and-a-bit years decided to leave me. It came completely out of the blue and I was not expecting it. I will not go into details but needless to say I was/am devastated. We lived together for most of those six years and suddenly finding myself alone in our home was very difficult. To add to the stress we were hoping to sell in a few months, and while that is still going to happen, it doesn’t make it any easier to overcome when you have extra worries to deal with outside of the obvious.

It has been a week now and I’m starting to get my head together and sort out what needs to be done to ensure I remain sane and functional, but it will take a long time before I’m back to my regular self. The good news is that I feel ready to get involved once again in the site and write about the love of my life that I know won’t be going away (well, not just yet anyway), Formula One. It won’t happen right now and I will leave the message up for a couple more days I imagine, but hopefully this week you will see the return of myself to the site.

I would like take this opportunity to thank every single person who have sent me emails, messaged me on Twitter or Facebook or any other means of communication - I thank you from the very bottom of my heart. I honestly didn’t realise so many people cared so much - it is very warming to know that BlogF1 readers are a sound bunch of guys and gals.

So I thank you for your patience and I look forward to writing again later this week; there’s a lot to catch up with and discuss!

Ollie.

Oh, and in case some of you are wondering, that’s me up there looking gormless in the sunglasses.

Stewart-Ford vs. Ford Focus WRC vs. Ford Cougar

Ferrari F310 vs. Ferrari 575M Maranello vs. Fiat Punto

McLaren Peugeot MP4-9 vs. Porsche 911 vs. Peugeot 306

Spyker F8-VII vs. F16 Jet Fighter

Read more about this race on BlogF1 at the post I wrote last year: Spyker F8-VII vs. F16 Jet Fighter

Ferrari F2004 vs. Eurofighter Typhoon

Schumacher got trounced, but at least the Eurofighter has beaten other cars as well, the Bugatti Veyron for example…

Bugatti Veyron vs. Eurofighter Typhoon

…Top Gear tried racing against the Typhoon with Richard Hammond at the wheel of a Veyron, but the plane was just too quick.

Ferrari 126c vs. F-104 Jet Fighter

There’s very little information on this video other than the race taking place in 1981. I don’t know if Gilles Villeneuve won or if the F-104 did, but I’m certain the Ferrari driver had a lot of fun that day.

BAR Honda vs. Superbike vs. Speedboat

Jenson Button beat the lot of the them after he turned off the anti-stall and started to get away from the line properly.

McLaren Mercedes F1 vs. Mercedes DTM vs. Mercedes SL AMG vs. Mercedes CLC

I’m not very good with Mercedes’s model designation system, so if I’ve got the car models wrong, I apologise in advance.
Another predictable race between a variety of road-going and racing cars.

Arrows vs. Lamborghini

Like Spyker, Arrows rarely set the track alight, but when they race other machines, they are in with a fighting chance. Especially when the result is as obvious as this one.

And the prompt of this post? Lewis Hamilton raced a learjet this morning down a runway. Apparently the McLaren driver is a Learjet Brand Ambassador (which I presume means Ron Dennis gets a discounted jet) and Hamilton raced one in his MP4-23. The race was put together for a publicity event for the Farnborough Air Show, and the BBC have a video of it here.

If you like these videos there’s more to see on BlogF1’s video page…

Adrian Sutil completed a second productive day for Force India and the local driver managed to soar into fifth place, just 0.2s down on David Coulthard in fourth. The Red Bull team ran both race drivers as did sister squad Scuderia Toro Rosso. Mark Webber took over duties for the afternoon but was 0.5s shy of his team mate. Sebastian Vettel outshone Sebastien Bourdais, the former getting into sixth while the latter was at the bottom in twelfth.

Three red flags were thrown during the day; Adrian Sutil, Rubens Barrichello and Fernando Alonso all stopped on track. The rain mostly held off allowing the drivers to complete more laps than yesterday, the busiest driver being Nico Rosberg who toured the circuit 117 times. There was a short shower around lunchtime, but the track quickly dried and the afternoon went without any wet spells.

Hockenheim Test: Day Two Times

Three-tenths separated the pair who are at the top of the championship along with Felipe Massa, and all teams were present in Germany with at least one regular driver or test driver. Nico Rosberg, who has had a terrible couple of races was testing in the Williams FW30, the German being able to go third quickest ahead of the other local pilot, Adrian Sutil.

Kamui Kobayashi was present for Toyota and the squad tested a new front and rear wing and the Japanese test driver went sixth for the Cologne-based team. Alex Wurz was the other test driver at The Hock, running in the Honda RA108 with a slightly revised front wing. Wurz caused the only red flag of the day when he spun on the wet track.

Testing is expected to continue tomorrow providing the bad weather can hold off.

Hockenheim Test: Day One Times

Now I don’t think Heikki could have matched Hamilton’s pace yesterday even if his tyres were in great condition - let’s face it, Hamilton put in quite a performance in front of his home crowds. And it should also be noted that Lewis is usually the driver who gets called up about tyre preservation, or indeed the lack thereof. However, Kovalainen’s problems were, according to the Finn himself, of his own doing.

I just struggled with my rear tyres all the way through the race, to be honest. They were going away and I was damaging them excessively. The car control became difficult and I had to slow down. This was the reason I couldn’t keep up.

It looks like in the low grip conditions I put more load on the tyres. We saw that a little bit in Canada, where I had more tyre wear compared to Lewis again. In the rain when the grip is lower I put a little more load on the rear tyres. It’s probably something I need to look.

Perhaps we can look a bit at the set-up. But I think I can improve that area myself as well. Heikki Kovalainen.

Heikki said he was disappointed about his result but also said that he has taken many positives out of the weekend and is looking forward to Hockenheim in a fortnight. However, his honesty at Silverstone is impressive, or at least it is to me. Often when a driver makes a mistake, they will try to pass the blame, to save face, to get out of jail. However, privately they know the real reason, and in Formula One, so will the engineers - telemetry is a very telling thing.

Heikki could have spouted out some PR-friendly/no-one-is-to-blame answer and scurried away. But instead he chose to be honest and hold his hand up. Much like when David Coulthard returned from the gravel trap yesterday; the Scot knew it was his fault and decided to be honest and move on. Coulthard is ten years Heikki’s senior and 211 races further up the road though; he’s been there and done that already.

So why have I bothered to mention this? After all, it is a seemingly small and insignificant thing to write about. But I like to talk about some of the incidents that bring the sport back down to a human level, that show humility and emotion. Formula One is often robotic and business-like. In fact, Formula One is mostly a business, and the drivers are very often criticised for being little more than machines. But to hear a driver say he needs to improve in a few areas, but not in an apologetic getting out of trouble with the boss way, in a sincere and self-concious way, it’s nice. It raises Heikki’s reputation in my mind. Yes, he messed up, but at least he can hold his hand up and say so.

Well they certainly did for Felipe Massa. Let’s start by taking a look at the Brazilian’s weekend as it is a little easier to understand what happened, even if the whys are still unknown.

Felipe Massa

On Friday Felipe had a sizeable off in his Ferrari. It was the morning session and Massa had just set the fastest lap - little did he know that it would remain the fastest lap of the 90 minute session. After just eight tours of the track Massa skated across the gravel and impacted the barrier. The reason for the off was because Fernando Alonso’s Renault V8 had blown moments before and left a trail of oil on the track. A few drivers had a wobble as they entered the Stowe corner, braking from around 190mph. Massa couldn’t control his wobble though and the impact was said to have been around the 25G mark. Serious enough.

Massa’s car was returned to the pits but it couldn’t be mended in time for the start of the second practice session, and spare cars are forbidden this year. Massa eventually got out on track in the afternoon but could only manage eighth fastest after 18 laps - half of what many other drivers were doing.

Saturday didn’t go quite as badly and the Brazilian driver was going well in qualifying. The impact, it seems, hadn’t bothered him. However, in the third and final qualifying session - the part that decides the top ten grid positions - Massa suffered some kind of problem in the pits and one of his runs was delayed. Although UK ITV didn’t pick up on it, the team were struggling to get a wheel on the F2008 and this hampered Felipe’s running.

The teams very carefully orchestrate their qualifying runs in order to maximise the free space their driver has ahead of them. Sending a car out directly behind another is pointless because the car in front will hold up the driver behind, even if he is slightly quicker, the disturbed air is not good. This very likely happened to Felipe at some point during that final run or he was just delayed and couldn’t complete enough runs. Either way, he only qualified in ninth.

The race was even worse though. Massa couldn’t keep his Ferrari on the island and spun so many times I lost count. Initially I, along with ITV commentator Martin Brundle, presumed there was a problem with the car. Perhaps the engine mapping was wrong and that was causing the car to spin at the very slightest touch of the throttle. However, after the race Massa was bemused as to why his race fell apart and no satisfactory answer has been given yet that I can find.

Felipe was struggling right from the start because of a lack of grip and his race was immediately compromised, and then it is very difficult to drive in these conditions in the middle of the pack. Luca Baldisserri.

I’m sorry to say this Luca, but while you are correct - it couldn’t have been easy - other drivers managed to spin less than Felipe. Drivers like Kazuki Nakajima who has only driven in ten races, for example. Sure he spun a lot, but I’m certain Felipe made more mistakes.

So it seems that Felipe’s mistakes were all of his own doing and that his car was running normally, albeit on a very wet track. Needless to say, it isn’t what you expect from a championship winning team and a driver with the experience of Massa.

Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi’s weekend started better than Massa’s with 47 laps completed in the morning practices. Although he didn’t finish as high as Massa in the tables, it was generally thought that Raikkonen was running a conservative strategy and wasn’t too bothered about final places and more concerned with track time.

During qualifying Kimi improved as the sessions went by and the Finn almost took the pole. On the final set of runs Kimi set the benchmark and Lewis Hamilton couldn’t match or better it. Mark Webber and Heikki Kovalainen demoted the reigning world champion down to third, but both their laps were absolute stunners that although perhaps expected, came from deep within. Raikkonen’s lap was good, solid and certainly not the end of the world for the world champion.

And then we come to Kimi’s race. To be honest, it was gut-wrenching. We could see he had the car underneath him. It wasn’t the best, perhaps not even the fastest out there, but it was winnable. Kimi’s Ferrari could have taken the victory today, but it didn’t.

From the start Kimi looked fired up and he made a good getaway from the line. Unfortunately, Heikki had decided to defend and let’s be honest, if it came down to letting Kimi or his team mate through, he’s gonna defend to the Ferrari! Raikkonen was squeezed over to the left and had to get out of the throttle, which in turn enabled Hamilton to slip by and pressure Kovalainen.

But all was not lost and after the lead changed, Kimi set about pressuring his fellow Finn, and then the leading Briton. After the pit stops though, it was all over for Raikkonen. The McLaren’s had pitted and taken new intermediate (wet weather) tyres. Ferrari decided not to replace Raikkonen’s boots though and just topped him up with fuel. Ferrari were hoping the rain would ease and a dry line would emerge on the track. In this case the Bridgestone intermediates behave almost like a slick and Kimi would have had the advantage.

Alas, it rained even harder. Kimi was on almost treadless tyres, and Lewis Hamilton was on deeply grooved and very grippy tyres. And then it rained even harder. In fact it rained so hard that in all honesty, the drivers on intermediates should have pitted for full wets (extreme wet weather tyres). Rubens Barrichello was blitzing the field on his full wets.

I am disappointed, but I am equally aware that things could have been much worse. We had the possibility to win the race but we made a mistake at the first pit stop, keeping the same set of tyres, because we expected the track conditions to improve. It was a joint decision: we are a team and we win or lose together. Kimi Raikkonen.

Kimi went backwards and there was nothing he could do about it with the tyres he was on. The determination of Raikkonen is astounding though and the fact that he was able to come back at the end and finish fourth is admirable. But in hindsight, it should have been so much more. It so easily could have been a win. And how different the championship table would look if he had taken the victory.

A Sunday to forget as quickly as possible in terms of the result, although we must remember certain elements of this weekend, as there were mistakes made that we cannot afford to repeat. We could have won this race with Kimi but we made a key mistake at the first pit stop, choosing to stay on the same set of tyres. Stefano Domenicali.

Robert Kubica is still in with a very good chance, the Polish driver only being two points behind the leaders. Nick Heidfeld is also well within contention, the German resting twelve behind the leaders. Heikki Kovalainen now has 24 points, exactly half of the leaders, but with the wins being shared among the top three, Heikki would do well to start getting consistent second and third places. Silverstone marked the mid-way point for 2008, and 48 points isn’t a great deal in comparison to previous championships.

Jarno Trulli and Mark Webber are right behind Kovalainen and Rubens Barrichello received a healthy dose of points this afternoon. I’m not expecting Barrichello to stay so close though, his result was down to adverse weather conditions and right calls made during the race. Both Williams drivers are on eight points each - somewhat surprising when you consider that Nico Rosberg is the golden child of Williams and Nakajima is the rookie who ran over his mechanic in his first race last year.

The last time a Briton won at Silverstone was in 2000, that year the race went to David Coulthard. Hamilton has now become the eleventh (twelfth if you rightly include Tony Brooks) British winner of the British Grand Prix and it was the McLaren driver’s seventh victory in Formula One; the team’s 159th.

It is definitely and by far the best victory I’ve ever had. It was one of the toughest races I have ever done. I was thinking out there if I win it it will be the best race I have ever done, not just because of the home crowd.

On the last laps I could see the crowd starting standing up, and I was praying, praying ‘just finish’. You can imagine the emotions going on inside and I wanted to get it around. Lewis Hamilton.

Nick Heidfeld has been suffering in qualifying lately and the German driver has been complaining of temperature problems with his Bridgestone tyres. However, yesterday Heidfeld put his BMW in fifth and today he brought it home in second, consoling the team after team mate Robert Kubica retired.

It was a good race. I am happy with second place because today it was the best I could achieve. Qualifying went well and in the race we did everything right. Obviously it was crucial to make the right tyre decisions.

At the first stop we were wondering if we should stay with the used set of inters, but luckily we then decided on new tyres. We were expecting a small shower, but when I drove down Hanger Straight and saw a black wall in front of me I thought I should expect more than that.

The most difficult moments in the race were when cars were overtaking me who had been lapped, but were just on better tyres for the conditions at that time. There was so much water and I couldn’t see where it was lying. Once before Abbey I almost spun, but just managed to keep the car on the track. Nick Heidfeld.

Rubens Barrichello gave Honda something to shout about as the most experienced driver in Formula One finished in third after starting the race in sixteenth. Barrichello drove a mature and outstanding race and for me, is the driver of the day. While Lewis won, he had the car underneath him to do just that, Rubens has a dog under him - his qualifying position proving that. But the Brazilian drove superbly in the difficult conditions and fully-deserves his podium.

I never lost the belief I have in me with the speed and everything. It was obviously a lucky day and it seemed to happen to me. I love the wet weather conditions but it was a perfect race.

We had a minor problem on the pitstop. I thought I had the fuel already but they didn’t let me go. But that was a minor problem because it was the right decision for us to take extreme wet tyres.

I was passing people from inside to outside, it was just magic. So I thought that was a good decision because I went off at Club and nearly hit the wall. It was Club and Abbey that were the most difficult ones. I said I am coming in and coming in for the extremes.

I have this great feeling, it is like I am young. I am smiling to the problems and I am working more. I love the sport, I love the speed and I cannot live without it. Rubens Barrichello.

Ross Brawn, Honda’s team principal, paid tribute to Barrichello’s drive as well, praising his driver and remembering the times they spent at Ferrari together.

Rubens had a great race. He really pushed when he had to, and the middle of the race was fantastic. It was a bit like old days. The team did a great job as well. Some great calls during the race and we had the right tyres at the right time.

We had a problem with the fuel rig which really probably cost us second place, so that’s frustrating, but we shouldn’t be too greedy. Ross Brawn.

David Coulthard, competing in his final British Grand Prix, lasted all of about two minutes. The Red Bull made contact with the Scuderia Toro Rosso and both slid off onto the the grass. It wasn’t Coulthard’s finest moment from his 15 year career, but the Scot put his hand up, accepted blame and apologised.

I’m extremely disappointed and sorry for the team. I’ve taken out two Red Bull cars so that’s obviously the worst case scenario. You have to take your opportunities when they come in a race like this and I thought I saw a gap. Unfortunately it turned out it was a bad decision.

The visibility was incredibly bad as you can imagine. I was very close to Sebastian after Abbey, as he had a wobble coming out of there. There was a clear gap down the inside, but unfortunately it was closing as I made the move.

I’m sorry for him that we made contact and went into the gravel, I’m sorry for Red Bull too, as it was two cars out in one hit. I’m extremely disappointed for this to happen at my last British Grand Prix. David Coulthard.

Coulthard’s team mate, Mark Webber, had a better weekend, the Australian qualifying on the front row. However, his race was almost over sooner than David’s after Webber spun on the opening lap, undoing all his hard work from Saturday. Even though Webber would go on to drive a very well-managed race and reclaim many of the lost positions, it so easily could have been much, much better.

Unfortunately I dropped it on the entrance to Becketts on the first la. I was quite close to Kimi [Raikkonen] and just got on the white line. I lost the car on the exit and had to let the field go past, so it was clear to spin back round.

After that it was about making the right call for the right conditions. It was a difficult day to go car racing and it just didn’t go our way today. The guys did a good job all week and it’s a shame we couldn’t convert our good qualifying performance. Mark Webber.

Fernando Alonso was upbeat after the race, despite losing out for being on the worn tyres rather than getting a new set at the pit stop. The decision cost the Spaniard a lot of time and he may have even lost a podium because of it. However, the conditions at Silverstone were difficult and Alonso was just happy to have added a few points towards his campaign.

Like every time it rains, anything can happen and that was the case. There were times when you had the right tyre and others when you had the wrong one and you had to keep the others at bay and try to stay on track because you knew it would be a good result.

It’s not bad. It’s a good feeling. Sixth position is three points that are good for the drivers’ and the constructors’ championships. We missed a chance because Barrichello finished on the podium and maybe we could have been there, but it’s okay. Fernando Alonso.

On the final lap Kazuki Nakajima lost seventh place to Jarno Trulli, but despite this and all his spins, the Japanese driver still managed to collect one point for Williams after a weekend the team will want to very quickly move on from.

It was good to score a point again, but it was a shame to lose seventh place to Jarno on the last lap. His tyres were in a better condition than mine, though, and he was just a bit quicker than me in the final laps when the track was drying out.

It was enjoyable out there today, although a little hard to control the car in the opening and closing stages. The team made a really good decision to put me on the extreme wets at just the right time and so I was able to manage the car well in such wet conditions. Kazuki Nakajima.