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<title>http://charlesmarshall.co.uk</title>
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<description>All from archive</description>
  <item>
    <title><![CDATA[F1 - USA 2007 (Second win for Lewis!)]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[http://charlesmarshall.co.uk/archive/f1-usa-2007-second-win-for-lewis]]></link>
    <description><![CDATA[
      Lewis Hamilton scored a second North American win in as many weeks after repelling McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso's advances 
during a tense race-long duel at Indianapolis.It was another consummate performance from the 22-year-old British rookie, 
who soaked up enormous pressure from the double world champion as the McLaren duo waged their most intense and uninhibited battle
 yet.Halfway through the race, the team-mates came just inches away from contact as they raced side-by-side down the long
 pit straight.But they gave each other just enough room, Hamilton retained the lead, and the die was cast for the rest of 
the afternoon.Unlike last year, there was no wholesale carnage in turn one on the first lap - but it did get scrappy as 
Ralf Schumacher locked up his Toyota's front wheels and slid into an innocent Rubens Barrichello (Honda) and David Coulthard (Red Bull), sidelining all three cars.Simultaneously, BMW's F1 debutant Sebastian Vettel, perhaps getting distracted by the commotion to his right, took to the grass and lost several places.Meanwhile Hamilton had successfully used a defensive line to convert pole into the lead into turn one, and then staved off the marauding Alonso around the rest of the opening lap.Having kept Fernando at bay, Lewis set about controlling the race from the front, gradually eking out his lead to 2.2s by lap 10.Felipe Massa held third off the start but Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen lost two places, to Nick Heidfeld's BMW and Heikki Kovalainen's Renault.Giancarlo Fisichella moved up two places to eighth but threw it all away when he touched the grass under braking for turn four on the second lap, throwing his R27 into a spin.The Italian's mistake seemed to fire him up and he began the kind of feisty recovery drive we saw at Monaco in 2006.The highlights included a side-by-side tussle with Jenson Button that went on for three corners, and a muscular move inside Alex Wurz at one of the infield hairpins.At the front of the field Hamilton was still looking strong, extending his lead to more than three seconds before initiating the pit stops on lap 21.Alonso pitted one lap later but was unable to capitalise on a shorter stationary time due to slower in- and out-laps, leaving Hamilton's lead virtually unchanged.Massa was still running third, but Heidfeld had lost fourth immediately before his stop when he spun into the escape road under braking for turn one, allowing Kovalainen to nip past.The Renault driver had been fuelled for a long first stint and now enjoyed his first spell in the lead of a grand prix.Apart from affording him that privilege, the strategy didn't really pay off and after taking on service on lap 27 Kovalainen rejoined behind both Raikkonen and Heidfeld.Meanwhile the battle for the lead was really hotting up.Three slow laps for Hamilton while the Briton was stuck in traffic gave Alonso the opportunity to whittle away his lead, and by lap 34 there was just 0.7s between them.As they closed on the long line of cars led by 11th-placed Vitantonio Liuzzi, Alonso's car grew ever larger in Hamilton's mirrors.By the time they emerged onto the main straight on lap 38, the team-mates were absolutely nose to tail, with Alonso pulling out of the slipstream to challenge for the lead.What followed was a riveting few seconds of wheel-to-wheel action (with echoes of the Mansell-Senna dice at Barcelona in 1991), as Lewis defended the inside and Fernando braked as late as he dared on the racing line.Hamilton held his nerve, won the corner - and Alonso's best chance was gone.The Spaniard probably knew as much, showing his displeasure by veering towards the pit wall next time by in what seemed a rather futile gesture to his McLaren mechanics.Several laps later, when he was still within close range, he lost a second with a ragged moment at turn eight, giving Hamilton vital extra breathing space.The reason for Alonso's frustration became evident on lap 50, when he was the first of the McLaren drivers to make his second pit visit.Barring any unforeseen late hiccups, Hamilton now had the race in his pocket - and so it proved.The margin between the two silver cars fluctuated around the 2s mark through most of the final stint, Hamilton eventually taking the chequered flag 1.5s in front.Massa had to fight a rearguard action in the closing stages to fend off a charging Raikkonen, who had recovered well from his poor start and looked much more like the Kimi of old.Unlike the other front-runners, the Finn had started the race on the harder of the two tyre compounds and had soft rubber for the last stint.Massa's defence was impeccable and the Brazilian held on for third place - but Raikkonen set the fastest lap of the race, which will have given Ferrari some cause for encouragement in the face of another McLaren 1-2.A week after dodging the Montreal carnage for fourth place, Kovalainen came home fifth on merit after a morale-boosting US Grand Prix weekend in which he generally outpaced team-mate Fisichella.Heidfeld might have had something for him, but the German fell by the wayside on lap 56 with a hydraulic problem.Sixth place should have gone to Nico Rosberg, who drove a strong race on a one-stop strategy - but the Williams succumbed to an oil leak and he pulled off in a cloud of smoke with just four laps remaining.His demise elevated the battling trio of Jarno Trulli, Mark Webber and Vettel to the final points-paying positions.Trulli and Webber enjoyed a spirited dice that was decided in the Italian's favour after the Australian's lunge down the inside of turn one ended in a trip across the infield grass.It was a banner day for 19-year-old Vettel, who drove a mature race after his first-lap excursion to become the youngest points-scorer in F1 history.For once, someone other than Lewis Hamilton was rewriting the record books.But that won't have bothered F1's star rookie as he completed a dream North American double.Race ResultsHamiltonAlonsoMassaRaikkonenKovalainenTrulliWebberVettelFisichellaWurzDavidsonButtonSpeedSutilAlbersRosbergLiuzziFastest lap: Raikkonen 1m 13.117s* Being lazy, this was borrowed from itv and then edited      ]]>
    </description>
    <pubDate>2007-06-17 00:00:00</pubDate>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title><![CDATA[F1 - Canada 2007 (Hamilton\'s First Win!)]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[http://charlesmarshall.co.uk/archive/f1-canada-2007-hamiltons-first-win]]></link>
    <description><![CDATA[
      Rookie star Lewis Hamilton realised the dreams of a lifetime in Montreal on Sunday, storming to his first Formula 1 victory after dishing out a lesson in composure to his more experienced rivals in the most trying of conditions.The British sensation withstood everything that the afternoon's action could throw at him to take a fantastic maiden victory in just his sixth F1 race on Canada's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.There were four safety cars periods, the difficulties of driving on an increasingly treacherous track and constant order changes behind him to deal with - but Lewis kept his head throughout to take a flawless win.The wild race, which featured a horrifying accident for BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica, made fellow championship Fernando Alonso and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen look like the rookies.But while the established stars faltered, Hamilton added the most important chapter in his F1 story so far and now leads the championship ahead of Alonso by eight points.Indeed the contrasting fortunes of the two McLaren drivers were settled at the start.Hamilton was slower away off the line than his team-mate and Alonso looked set to sweep around the outside of the sister MP4-22 going in to turn one.But in a mistake reminiscent of his one at last month's Spanish Grand Prix, Alonso outbraked himself and was forced to cut across the grass at the turn two hairpin.Crucially the mistake dropped the double world champion behind the BMW of Nick Heidfeld, allowing Hamilton the opportunity he needed to dictate the race from the front.And that's where he would stay, despite all that one of the most chaotic races in recent years served up.By the end of lap one, the Briton was 1.5 ahead of Heidfeld, with Alonso stuck behind the German.However rather than climbing all over the back of the BMW, the Spaniard was consistently around two seconds behind it for the opening 10 laps while his team-mate was waltzing away at the front.No doubt frustrated by his predicament, on lap 15 Alonso made his second mistake at turn one, running across the grass and losing a further two seconds to his team-mate.The world champion though would surely ensure he wouldn't make the same mistake for a third time though, right?Well, amazingly, it wasn't as just three laps later he slid across the turn one grass again, but this time the mistake was even more costly as it allowed Massa to nip inside the McLaren and nab third place.But in the next few laps the whole complextion of the race changed.Hamilton pitted on lap 22 and looked set to continue on his way until his old F3 Euroseries team-mate and friend Adrian Sutil threw a spanner in the works - or rather threw his Spyker hard in to the turn four wall.The incident brought out the safety car just seconds after Hamilton had rejoined, eroding his comfortable lead.While Nick Heidfeld remained a threat, he soon didn't have to worry about Alonso, who along with Nico Rosberg, made his first pit stop when their respective teams wrongly thought the pit lane was still open.The pair were immediately placed under investigation by race control and were soon handed a 10s stop-go penalty - which they would serve later.More drama befell Massa and Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella when the pit lane was reopened.As they made to rejoin the circuit, they jumped a red light at the exit of the pit lane - an infraction that would later see both black-flagged from the race with just 19 laps to go.The next man along, Kubica, did obey the lights, but the Pole was soon the unfortunate passenger in a terrifying accident.On lap 27, when the race went green, the BMW driver had enormous crash after touching the right-rear wheel of Jarno Trulli's Toyota while heading towards the hairpin flat-out at 180mph.The impact launched Kubica's F1.07 into a massive impact with the concrete wall, before it slewed back across the track, rolled, and finally came to rest against the guardrail on the outside of the hairpin.The safety car was immediately dispatched once again to allow medics to attend to the Pole and marshals the chance to clear the huge amounts of debris littering the circuit.The accident cast a menacing cloud over the afternoon, but miraculously Kubica was awake and alert when he was taken to the circuit medical centre.He was airlifted to hospital and the team later confirmed that he was uninjured.When the race resumed on lap 33, leader Hamilton immediately picked up from where he had left off and left Nick Heidfeld standing when the safety car pulled in to build an immediate three-second advantage.But the safety car was to make two more appearances still, just to make Lewis' life a bit more difficult.The first came on lap 50 after Christijan Albers became the second driver to spread orange carbon fibre debris following an off-track moment.Then just six laps later Tonio Liuzzi, on course for a healthy haul of points for Toro Rosso, added his name alongside the likes of Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve by ploughing into the infamous wall at the final turn.But while Liuzzi may not be a champion yet, one man who looks set to be, maybe even this season, is Lewis Hamilton - who after what must have seemed the longest afternoon of his life crossed the line to take a magnificent first F1 victory.Heidfeld, who had been the McLaren drivers' closest challenger all afternoon, picked up BMW's best result since it bought the Sauber team at the end of 2005, with a superb second place.Undoubtedly the biggest winner from the madness was Alex Wurz who from 19th on the grid kept his head above the confusion to come home a remarkable third.The result ended Williams' two-year podium drought and was the prefect way for the likeable Austrian to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of his F1 debut.It was also a landmark day for Renault's Heikki Kovalainen, who despite all the trails and tribulations of his weekend up until Sunday, came through from the back of the field to claim fourth place, his own F1 high so far.Raikkonen was perhaps lucky to end up fifth after a scrappy performance in which he never lived up to his 'Iceman' nickname.The Finn, whose championship challenge is slipping away by the race, touched the back of team-mate Massa at the first turn and then survived queuing behind the Brazilian while pitting under the safety car and several other misadventures.Raikkonen's four points were all Ferrari had to show from a weekend in which it once again was unable to challenge the now dominant McLarens.Then to cap a quite extraordinary afternoon, Takuma Sato pulled off something that you thought you would never witness - a Super Aguri passing a McLaren on merit.The McLaren was the double world champion of Fernando Alonso, no less, whose nightmare afternoon ended with a demotion to seventh place after the feisty Japanese ace outbraked the Spaniard into the final chicane.The final point went to Toyota's Ralf Schumacher, who himself was a late victim of the Sato charge.But the day belonged to super Lewis after what will surely be the first win of many.Race ResultsHamiltonHeidfeldWurzKovalainenRaikkonenSatoAlonsoSchumacherWebberRosbergDavidsonBarrichelloFastest lap: Alonso&nbsp; 1m16.367s* Laziness has caught hold once agin, this is an edited report taken from itv      ]]>
    </description>
    <pubDate>2007-06-10 00:00:00</pubDate>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title><![CDATA[F1 - Monte Carlo 2007]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[http://charlesmarshall.co.uk/archive/f1-monte-carlo-2007]]></link>
    <description><![CDATA[
      Fernando Alonso regained the lead of the world championship beating Lewis Hamilton in a 1-2 for the McLaren team.The silver cars were in a class of their own throughout, routinely lapping a second faster than the opposition and leaving Ferrari's Felipe Massa trailing home nearly a whole lap behind in third place.Despite some acrobatic and at times heart-stopping driving with an oversteering car, Lewis was unable to get past Alonso.The fact that he looked downbeat after his fifth podium finish in as many F1 starts was a measure of just what an astoundingly good job he has done so far, and how high expectations have been raised.Alonso and Hamilton both got away well from the front row, the Briton crossing over to the right-hand side to cover any challenge from Massa and slotting in behind his team-mate before the first corner.A set of super-soft tyres propelled Nick Heidfeld off the line and the German put a muscular move on Nico Rosberg to grab fifth behind Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault.All 22 cars made it round the first lap but Vitantonio Liuzzi got out of shape at Massenet at the start of lap two and buried his Toro Rosso in the barrier.His MP4-22 had not been handling quite to his liking and a tyre pressure adjustment at the pit stop had not cured the problem.By the time Alonso stopped for the second time on lap 51, he had 11 seconds in hand.It was too much for Hamilton to overcome, particularly since it transpired that he was pitting just two laps later ?%u20AC%u201C although a leisurely out-lap from Alonso made it a lot closer than it might have otherwise been.In fact, over the next few laps Alonso allowed his lead to dwindle to as little as 0.7s.Did he have a problem? Or ?%u20AC%u201C having made his statement when he needed to ?%u20AC%u201C was he simply moderating his pace to ensure no mishaps on the way to the chequered flag?Alonso relaxed his pace a little and the silver cars held station until the finish.After initially keeping the McLarens in sight, Massa had a lonely afternoon holding down an ever more distant third place.The Brazilian crossed the line one minute and nine seconds behind Alonso.Fisichella also ploughed his own furrow in fourth, but this result ?%u20AC%u201C beating both BMW Saubers on merit ?%u20AC%u201C was a morale-booster for the Renault squad, suggesting that the world champion team is gradually regaining lost competitiveness.Robert Kubica parlayed a 45-lap opening stint and a single pit stop into fifth place, leapfrogging his team-mate Heidfeld who ran a less conventional one-stop strategy with a short first stint on super-soft tyres followed by a long run to the flag.Alex Wurz took seventh for Williams, his first points-scoring finish since his return to grand prix racing this year.The Austrian fought a successful rearguard action to keep Kimi Raikkonen at bay throughout the closing stages.Starting from a lowly 16th after his qualifying mishap, Raikkonen made a good start to move up four places but thereafter couldn't break free of the midfield traffic.Scott Speed took a worthy ninth place for Toro Rosso, capitalising on an excellent getaway and solid pace thereafter.The two Hondas both fell back a place from their grid berths to finish 10th (Rubens Barrichello) and 11th (Jenson Button) after the Japanese team chose an unorthodox two-stop strategy with a short final stint on super-soft tyres.Rosberg's fine qualifying performance came to nothing as Williams' strategy backfired and he spent much of the race stuck behind slower cars, ultimately finishing down in 12th.Race ResultsAlonsoHamiltonMassaFisichellaKubicaHeidfeldWurzRaikkonenSpeedBarrichelloButtonRosbergKovalainenCoulthardTrulliSchumacherSatoDavidsonFastest lap: Alonso&nbsp; 1m15.284s* As I missed this race the report is based on itv's version.      ]]>
    </description>
    <pubDate>2007-05-27 00:00:00</pubDate>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title><![CDATA[F1 - Spain 2007]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[http://charlesmarshall.co.uk/archive/f1-spain-2007]]></link>
    <description><![CDATA[
      Felipe Massa denied the Barcelona crowd the result it was looking for by dominating the Spanish Grand Prix from lights to flag for his second consecutive victory - as Lewis Hamilton became Formula 1's youngest ever championship leader.Massa never looked back after emerging on top from a first-corner skirmish with McLaren's Fernando Alonso, which sent the home hero scampering across the gravel and down to fourth place - an incident he never recovered from.And while the world champion endured a race-long struggle, his team-mate Hamilton upstaged him for the second race running by scoring another superb second place finish.The result gives the 22-year-old rookie sole possession of the world championship lead after just four grands prix ?%u20AC%u201C another extraordinary milestone.Polesitter Massa set the tone for his dominant display at the start by coming out on top after going wheel-to-wheel with Alonso going in to the first turn.Both had got away well from the front row, but it was the world champion, no doubt spurred on by his passionate fans, who looked set to take the lead as he tried to brave it round the outside of the Ferrari through turn one.However Massa held firm on the inside of the corner and the pair touched, forcing Alonso across the gravel and nearly into the path of his team-mate Hamilton and Raikkonen as he hurriedly rejoined the track.Alonso's first corner move was a gamble that totally backfired, leaving him with a damaged car and a mountain to climb.He tried to pass Raikkonen on the outside at turn 10 on the next lap, but was forced to settle into fourth place.The first lap action had not all been at the front, as there was further chaos in the midfield.As Giancarlo Fisichella, Anthony Davidson and Ralf Schumacher battled at turn 10, the following Alex Wurz was unsighted and smashed his Williams into the back of Schumacher's Toyota ?%u20AC%u201C shattering his FW29's front suspension and forcing him in to retirement.The incident also forced the Toyota driver in for an unscheduled stop ?%u20AC%u201C a double blow for the Japanese squad after Jarno Trulli's car had developed a fuel pump problem at the end of the formation lap.At the front, Massa rapidly pulled away from Hamilton - who had outdragged Raikkonen at the start - with a succession of fastest laps.He was six seconds clear by the end of lap 10.But his team-mate Raikkonen ?%u20AC%u201C who had been hovering around a second behind Hamilton for the first nine laps ?%u20AC%u201C suddenly struck electrical problems and slowed.The Finn limped back to the Ferrari garage and into his first retirement of the season ?%u20AC%u201C a huge blow to his world championship aspirations.Raikkonen's demise came amid a series of retirements in the opening 10 laps.Red Bull's Mark Webber (hydraulics) and Trulli had already pulled in to the garage before the right rear tyre on Scott Speed's Toro Rosso spectacularly blew out on Catalunya's main straight.Meanwhile up front Massa had pulled out a 9.5s advantage by the time of his first pit stop on lap 19.But for a few nervous moments all that effort looked as though it might have been in vain as an overfill on the fuel caused a flash fire on his Ferrari.Luckily for the Brazilian, however, the conflagration did little damage and he was able to get back on the pace at the start of his second stint.Massa was followed into the pits by the man who started alongside him on the front row, Alonso, but the Spaniard was now already out of the reckoning for a home victory.But he then gambled for a second time by opting to take on the harder compound tyres for the second stint in a bid to claw back lost ground ?%u20AC%u201C a decision that would see him fall further back from the top two and in to the clutches of the chasing pack behind.Within a few laps, the Spaniard was only a couple of seconds ahead of BMW's Robert Kubica, enjoying by far his best weekend of the season, with Red Bull's David Coulthard running close behind in fifth.Lewis, as he hinted to ITV Sport following qualifying, did indeed have more fuel on board than both his team-mate and Massa, pulling in for service three laps later than they had.This allowed him to close to within eight seconds of his Ferrari rival, but it proved to be a false dawn as despite the fire, Massa increased his lead further in the race's second stint.By the time of the final round of stops, Massa - who again was the first of the leading runners to pit - had a virtually insurmountable 19.3s advantage in his pocket.Hamilton ran longer on the fuel, by four laps, and although he used the extra laps on the softer compound to claw back some ground, he still emerged from his second stop 11s adrift.From here Massa managed the gap to the young Briton in the final 20 laps, eventually crossing the line 6.7s ahead of F1's youngest-ever world championship leader.Alonso's lacklustre afternoon ended with a distant third, with Kubica picking up a solid five points for fourth after an impressive weekend.He would have had a close race with his BMW team-mate Nick Heidfeld had the German not been waved out of his first pit stop before his right front wheel was properly attached.Heidfeld had to tip-toe back around to the pits for the wheel to be secured, and later retired with gearbox failure.Another driver to star was Coulthard who scored his best result since his podium in last year's Monaco GP, although the Scot had a nervy final five laps after his RB3 lost a gear.This allowed Nico Rosberg a shot at trying to steal fifth place for Williams, but he ran out of laps and had to settle for sixth.Heikki Kovalainen underlined his growing confidence with seventh and at times was even the fastest driver on the track, but his race was marred by a fuel rig problem that forced both Renaults to make additional stops.Probably the happiest team in the whole paddock was Super Aguri, who at the 22nd attempt finally scored its first F1 point thanks to Takuma Sato.Sato took advantage of a late splash-and-dash fuel stop from Fisichella to take eighth place and no doubt sent his massed ranks of Japanese supporters wild back home.But in contrast to the 140,000 Spaniards in the Barcelona grandstands, their own home hero had not quite delivered the result they had been looking for.Race ResultsMassaHamiltonAlonsoKubicaCoulthardRosbergKovalainenSatoFisichellaBarrichelloDavidsonButtonSutilAlbersFastest lap: Massa&nbsp; 1m22.680s* Dam it, life got in the way again so another report based on itv      ]]>
    </description>
    <pubDate>2007-05-13 00:00:00</pubDate>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title><![CDATA[F1 - Bahrain 2007]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[http://charlesmarshall.co.uk/archive/f1-bahrain-2007]]></link>
    <description><![CDATA[
      Felipe Massa finally kick-started his 2007 title challenge with victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix, while Lewis Hamilton continued the dream start to his Formula 1 career with another accomplished runner-up finish.Massa atoned for his schoolboy error in Malaysia with a perfectly judged performance, but he was harried for much of the afternoon by the astounding Hamilton, who edged tantalisingly closer to a maiden win.The 22-year-old Briton etched his name in the F1 record books by becoming the first driver to finish on the podium in each of his first three grands prix.Into the bargain, he moved into a three-way tie with Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen for the lead of the world championship.Although he regained the points lead, Raikkonen was less than satisfied after finishing more than 10 seconds adrift of his winning team-mate in third place.BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld broke McLaren and Ferrari's stranglehold on the top quartet of places with another impressive drive to fourth, the highlight of which was a skilful passing manoeuvre on Alonso.That left the double world champion, who was outperformed by his rookie team-mate all weekend, to settle for fifth.Massa got away well from pole position, while from the dirty side of the track Hamilton found enough traction to hold second place into the first corner.From the second row, Alonso outdragged Raikkonen and the Ferrari only just kept the McLaren at bay at turn one.Alonso carried more momentum through the tight complex and muscled ahead on the approach to turn four to snatch third place.Moments later the safety car was deployed following a melee at turn four which eliminated Jenson Button's Honda and the Toro Rosso of Scott Speed.At the restart Raikkonen was caught napping, crossing the line a long way behind the top three, who were in nose-to-tail formation.Hamilton feinted to the inside of Massa approaching turn one but thought better of any outlandish move and tucked back into line.These two immediately established a cushion over Alonso, who soon had the fast-closing Raikkonen filling his mirrors.The die was cast for the opening stint, with an increasingly large margin opening up between the Massa/Hamilton and Alonso/Raikkonen battles.Alonso was visibly struggling with the handling of his MP4-22, locking wheels and missing apexes with uncharacteristic frequency â%u20AC" but Raikkonen was never quite able to pounce.As a result, Kimi found himself being chased by Heidfeld's BMW Sauber, which had remained within surprisingly close range early on and was now closing in on the battle for third.Massa and Hamilton continued to trade fastest laps all the way up to the first pit stops, the Ferrari driver edging away on one lap only for the McLaren man to reel him in again the next.It was an absorbing duel, and such was Hamilton's relentless focus that it was easy to forget it was but his third F1 start.Lewis was the first of the front-runners to pit and McLaren put both him and Alonso (who took on service three laps later) onto a long middle stint in a bid to turn the tables on Ferrari.The tactic didn't pay off, as Massa turned up the wick on his scrubbed set of soft-compound tyres while both McLarens struggled for balance.Moreover, Raikkonen leapfrogged Alonso by pitting one lap later than him, which released him to hunt down second-placed Hamilton.With a front wing adjustment at his pit stop having cured his car's understeer, Massa stretched his lead to 8.3s lap by lap 30, while Hamilton's focus switched to fending off the other Ferrari of Raikkonen.Meanwhile Alonso's race had really started to unravel.The Spaniard had his work cut out keeping the flying Heidfeld behind him and finally ceded the place when the BMW driver pulled off an audacious outside pass at turn four on lap 32.A little farther up the road, Raikkonen slowly but steadily whittled away the 5s gap to Hamilton until the pair were tied together by lap 40.But having handicapped him earlier, the long middle stint now worked in Lewis' favour as he was able to stay out for three more laps on a light fuel load â%u20AC" thus continuing his remarkable record of leading each grand prix he has started.Coupled with a shorter final stop, it was enough to ensure that he retained second place, emerging from the pit lane comfortably in front of Raikkonen.Just as Massa's lead seemed secure, there was another twist in this constantly fascinating race as it drew towards its climax.Hamilton found his McLaren was handling much better on the harder â%u20AC?%u0153prime' tyres he had taken on at his final pit stop, now free of the understeer that had bothered him in the middle stages.The Briton began to take substantial chunks out of Massa's lead with each new lap, cutting it to 6.7s on lap 47 and 4.6s by lap 51.His progress was thwarted a little when Anthony Davidson's Super Aguri expired in front of him and he had to navigate his way through the murky trail of oil â%u20AC" but even on that lap, he trimmed the deficit by 0.2s.Ultimately, he ran out of laps, and Massa held on to take the chequered flag 2.3s ahead of his now regular sparring partner.When Hamilton put on his late spurt Raikkonen was unable to stay with him, finishing more than 8s in arrears.Alonso's pace improved in the final stint and he closed back onto Heidfeld's gearbox, but the German is one of F1's coolest customers and was never likely to give his pursuer an opening.Robert Kubica could not match team-mate Heidfeld's pace and â%u20AC" almost alone of the 22 drivers, it seemed â%u20AC" had a lonely time en route to sixth place and his first points of 2007.By rights, seventh place should have gone to David Coulthard, who drove his best race since scoring Red Bull's first podium finish in Monaco last year.The Scot's feisty charge from 21st on the grid was sadly halted by a broken driveshaft shortly after his second pit stop.Team-mate Mark Webber stepped into the breach, but his RB3 fell by the wayside five laps later.The demise of the Red Bulls promoted Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella to the final points-paying positions.The Toyota driver had his hands full in the closing laps staving off his fellow Italian, who despite Renault boss Flavio Briatore's animated exhortations over the radio was unable to find a way past.Race ResultsMassaHamiltonRaikkonenHeidfeldAlonsoKubicaTrulliFisichellaKovalainenRosbergWurzSchumacherBarrichelloAlbersSutilFastest Lap: Massa - 1m 34.067s      ]]>
    </description>
    <pubDate>2007-04-15 00:00:00</pubDate>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title><![CDATA[F1 - Malaysia 2007]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[http://charlesmarshall.co.uk/archive/f1-malaysia-2007]]></link>
    <description><![CDATA[
      Sepang was the first of the new generation of Hermann Tilke-designed
racetracks, and it made a big impression when it joined the Formula 1
calendar in 1999.With its wide expanses, sweeping corners and state-of-the-art
facilities, the state-funded Malaysian circuit on the outskirts of
Kuala Lumpur provided a blueprint for the many new grand prix tracks
that would spring up in ever more diverse corners of the world over the
next decade.It also gave an insight into the difficulties of establishing an F1 venue in a country with little motorsport heritage.But the organisers do not complain about the lack of a large and
passionate crowd, instead seeing the grand prix as an excellent way to
advertise Malaysia as an international tourist destination.Sepang's first ever F1 race in '99 was its most memorable, as
Michael Schumacher made a remarkable comeback after three months on the
sidelines with a broken leg.He took pole position and dominated until handing victory to his title-chasing team-mate Eddie Irvine.Highlights of subsequent years included Kimi Raikkonen's maiden win
in 2003 and Jenson Buttonâ%u20AC?%u201E?s long-awaited first podium the following
season.The circuitâ%u20AC?%u201E?s wide straights leading into tight corners have always
prompted lively wheel-to-wheel racing - and inevitably some
controversial collisions as well.Race Results&nbsp;Fernando AlonsoLewis HamiltonKimi RaikkonenNick HeidfeldFelipe MassaGiancarlo FisichellaJarno TrulliHeikki KovalainenSecond place for Lewis! Great result for the rookie! Just a dam shame Alonso pipped him to the win, but what a start to his first season; fresh hope for a Bristish champion? After a great performance in Oz the Ferraris seemed to be slightly lacking and only managed 3rd and 5th.      ]]>
    </description>
    <pubDate>2007-04-08 00:00:00</pubDate>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title><![CDATA[F1 - Australia 2007]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[http://charlesmarshall.co.uk/archive/f1-australia-2007]]></link>
    <description><![CDATA[
      Start of a new season and Ferrari have got off to a cracking start.
Not the best day for Massa (dropping to 20th after a gearbox change)
but he did manage to get all the way up to 6th place and score some
points. With a win for R?%u0192?ikk?%u0192?nen the season looks good for the Ferrari
faithful.Youngster Lewis Hamilton put in a sterling performance to get on the
podium on his first outing into F1 and spent most of the race showing
Alonso exactly why Ron Dennis has so much faith in him.Hopefully the points will keep coming for Lewis as with Button stuck
in an under performing Honda he is the main British interest this
season. Unfortunatley that does come with all that pressure and hassle
from the media; lets just hope they will leave him in peace to do this
thing on the track.
Other notable points:The MacLaren is still the most beautiful car on the track and this
season seems to have some speed and substance to back up its looks.Wurz was almost decapitated by the under-tray of Coultards Red Bull in a daring (if slightly foolish) over taking attempt.      ]]>
    </description>
    <pubDate>2007-03-19 00:00:00</pubDate>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title><![CDATA[F1 Season Review: 2006]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[http://charlesmarshall.co.uk/archive/f1-season-review-2006]]></link>
    <description><![CDATA[
      The many twists and turns of the 2006 F1 championship lead to an
intriguing end. With the retirement of undoubtedly the greatest driver
of the modern age (regardless of his misdemeanours) it would have been
poetic justice if heâ%u20AC?%u201E?d gone out in style by winning an 8th title.However, this was not the case. With only a few races remaining it
was a very close call between Schumi and Alonso; unfortunately a rare
engine failure gifted it to Alonso.If you look back though the season then maybe you could point out
some mistakes (by Ferrari and Michael) that cost points and possibly
even the championship. But this would take away from the astounding
performances and pure driving genius that he graced us with this year
and during his illustrious career.On several occasions â%u20AC?%u0153the masterâ%u20AC?%u201E? shocked us with brilliant over
taking, amazing grit and determination along with stunning race
performances. In some cases coming from the tail end of the grid to get
his car in the points!Unfortunately there were some lows. One in particular might cast a
shadow of disapproval over his last season, maybe even his entire
career. The incident at Monte Carlo. Tactical, yes, sportsman-like, no.
If it had worked, it would have been great for Ferrari. But it didnâ%u20AC?%u201E?t.Incidents like this occurred though out his career. That is the flaw
of the champion. The desire to win at all costs, regardless of others.
Should we persecute him for this? No, after all he is only human and we
all make mistakes. Thankfully for most of us 10 million plus people
arenâ%u20AC?%u201E?t watching us when we make them.Whether you love him or loath him, the sport wont be the same
without him. No offence to Alonso, but he just doesnâ%u20AC?%u201E?t have the same
level of notoriety or skill as Michael. Without the 7-time champion the
sport no longer has that exciting figurehead that inspires the fans.With the rumour mill working over time, talk is already circulating
about Michael going back to Renault for one last season, maybe even
creating his own team with Ross Braun (the architect of many Shumi
wins). Who knows what will happen (Bernie?), but I doubt weâ%u20AC?%u201E?ve seen the
last of Michael Schumacer.This season wasnâ%u20AC?%u201E?t just about the title race. With new winners and
sterling performances from young drivers there is hope for next season.Button winning his first race has to be one of the best moments this
year for British motor sport. Massa out-qualifying his team mate on
more then one occasion. Kimi moving to Ferrari. Alonso going to
McClaren. 2007 should be an interesting year.Go Ferrari!
      ]]>
    </description>
    <pubDate>2006-11-27 00:00:00</pubDate>
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