Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
“I love this circuit: it’s in this incredible natural arena that is just amazing to race on. And it’s anti-clockwise too - so it presents an additional challenge to the drivers… Everybody’s always happy to finish the season in Brazil - there’s a real party atmosphere in Sao Paulo on the Sunday night and it’s a perfect place to end such a great season.”
Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
“I really like to race at home and I think I race better at home. Do I need to say I’m very motivated? I love this track, I grew up here and I know all its little tricks and secrets.”
Gridcrasher’s Chinese is a bit sketchy, so we have little idea why Nando and Bobby chose to go karting in Shanghai before Sunday’s GP. But they did, and here’s the proof. Looks like they had a fine time, too. Alonso is clearly in high spirits right now.
High point: Nando doing doughnuts (about 3min 30sec into the clip).
Fernando Alonso, Robert Kubica, Nick Heidfeld… just a few of the F1 drivers who have had a pop at Lewis Hamilton in the last few days. Now Kimi Raikkonen and Timo Glock have joined in.
“What Hamilton did at the start at Fuji was not clean,” Kimi moaned today.
“He didn’t give me a chance to turn into the corner. You have to learn how to find braking points when you are six years old in go karts. Obviously you should know how it goes at this level.”
Ouch - that’s about as bitchy as Kimi ever gets, so he’s clearly very pissed off about what happened in Fuji, when the two McLarens forced him wide at the first corner.
Pudgy Timo Glock also spoke out against Hamilton’s behaviour:
Bobby Kubica and Nando Alonso are mates. They regularly play poker together and make jokes about Lewis Hamilton’s rapidly receding hairline (probably). But that doesn’t mean the big-nosed Pole would want Alonso on his team.
Kubica told Bild newspaper: “I think Fernando was never convinced about coming to BMW. As far as I know him, he would not have fit. There are differences of philosophies.”
We can read between the lines and assume that translates as follows: “BMW are boring German technicians who treat their drivers like flesh-covered robots - hot-blooded Fernando would hate that.”
What Lewis, Felipe and co. really think about Japan
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) “I love Japan… The Japanese fans are some of my favourite in the world: so passionate, but really polite, charming and respectful. As for the race, one of the questions I get asked most is whether I prefer to drive in the rain: my answer is always the same, I’ll race in the wet or dry, I don’t mind. But it’s always easier for us drivers to race in the dry; I’d always prefer a dry race.”
Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) “There is no single corner at Fuji that particularly contributes to your laptime. It’s relatively easy to understand the corners, and it’s not a particularly tricky circuit. So it’s a place where you can’t afford to make any mistakes - you have to be absolutely precise and extract the maximum from your car to be fast.”
BMW Sauber driver takes part in bowling competition
Formula One driver Robert Kubica is currently taking part in a bowling tournament in Vienna. Apparently, he started bowling in 2003 “because he was annoying at home”. His second sport (is it a sport?) was put on the backburner while he worked on getting his break in F1, but the Pole is now competing in tournaments once again. The video above shows Kubica talking about his bowling, including problems with a swelling thumb and comparisons with F1! If that doesn’t take your fancy, the occasional slips in his English are also worth watching: “I’m taking it like fun.”
