Heikki Memory Loss

McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen will leave hospital on Monday evening following his accident in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix. Kovalainen will stay in Spain for a few days’ relaxation, before returning home to start a light training programme in preparation for the next race in Turkey.

The Finn was taken to the Hospital General de Catalunya in Sant Cugat del Valles immediately following the crash, where CT scans confirmed he had no head injuries and no broken bones. He was kept in overnight for observation, but further tests and scans on Monday morning all went positively and showed no problems.

“I have a slight headache and a stiff neck, but apart from that I am feeling well and in good spirits,” said Kovalainen. “My focus is on getting better as soon as possible so I can pass the FIA medical inspection required to allow me to race in Turkey.

 

“I don’t remember anything from the accident or what happened afterwards but would obviously like to thank all the circuit emergency staff, the FIA medical team at the track and the doctors at the hospital for all their efforts in looking after me. Also thank you for all the messages I have received - they all mean a lot.”

McLaren have established that Kovalainen’s speed was approximately 240km/h when his front-left tyre deflated and about 130km/h when he hit the tyre barrier. He experienced a 27g deceleration. The team suspect a wheel-rim failure was to blame, but have yet to establish the exact cause.

 

Here's the video.

FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPANA TELEFONICA 2008

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	66	1:38:19.051	1	10
2	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	66	+3.2 secs	3	8
3	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	66	+4.1 secs	5	6
4	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	66	+5.6 secs	4	5
5	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	66	+35.9 secs	7	4
6	16	Jenson Button	Honda	66	+53.0 secs	13	3
7	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	66	+58.2 secs	12	2
8	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	66	+59.4 secs	8	1
9	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	66	+63.0 secs	9
10	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	65	+1 Lap	19
11	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	65	+1 Lap	14
12	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	65	+1 Lap	17
13	18	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda	65	+1 Lap	22
Ret	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	41	Mechanical	15
Ret	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	34	Engine	2
Ret	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	34	Accident	11
Ret	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	21	Accident	6
Ret	19	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri-Honda	8	Radiator damage	21
Ret	14	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	7	Accident	16
Ret	6	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	6	Accident	10
Ret	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	0	Accident	20
Ret	15	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	0	Accident	18

Kimi Wins Spanish Grand Prix

Kimi punches the air after wining the Spanish Grand Prix

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen became the eighth consecutive man to win the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position, when he dominated Sunday's race at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The Finn shrugged off two safety car periods - the second when compatriot Heikki Kovalainen crashed his McLaren heavily after a front-end failure pitched him off the road in Turn Nine at an estimated 180 mph - and led home team mate Felipe Massa, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica. They finished 3.2s, 0.9s, and 1.5s apart respectively.

It may not have been a classic race, but it increased Raikkonen's championship score to 29 points and his lead to nine over Hamilton (20), while Massa jumps up to fourth on 18, one behind Kubica (19).

The Kovalainen incident occurred on the 22nd lap, possibly as a result of something causing the front-left tyre and rim to separate. It took a while to stabilise the Finn at the accident scene, but he gave a thumbs up as he was taken by stretcher to the medical centre. Later he was flown to hospital for precautionary checks, and his condition was described as stable.

Full story: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/4/7697.html

Massa wins 2008 Bahrain GP

Bahrain Race Result

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	57	1:31:06.970	2	10
2	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	57	+3.3 secs	4	8
3	4	Robert Kubica	BMW	57	+4.9 secs	1	6
4	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW	57	+8.4 secs	6	5
5	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+26.7 secs	5	4
6	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	57	+41.3 secs	7	3
7	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	57	+45.4 secs	11	2
8	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	57	+55.8 secs	8	1
9	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	57	+69.5 secs	13
10	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	57	+77.1 secs	10
11	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	57	+77.8 secs	12
12	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	56	+1 Lap	18
13	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	56	+1 Lap	3
14	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	56	+1 Lap	16
15	14	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	56	+1 Lap	15
16	19	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri-Honda	56	+1 Lap	21
17	18	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda	56	+1 Lap	22
18	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	56	+1 Lap	17
19	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	55	+2 Laps	20
Ret	6	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	40	+17 Laps	14
Ret	16	Jenson Button	Honda	19	+38 Laps	9
Ret	15	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	0	+57 Laps	19

Night Race, night race, night race

Malaysia is getting ready for night race that Bernie Ecclestone always pushing for it. Due to the larger market in European countries, and the different time zone, hosting a race in Asia makes the revenue slightly not so lucrative compare to races in other Europe countries. That's the whole story behind this night racing thingy that trouble country like Australia, which face the similar problem.

From my understanding, Australia is against the night racing idea, simply because it is not viable. Why? Because even without the night race, Melbourne GP currently is at a loss, millions per year. To held a night race in Albert's park, heavy investment will be needed, that will burn another big hole in the pocket.

Why Bernie Ecclestone is so firm on the decision, he even treaten Australia, saying that Australia F1 will be removed from next year calendar if they do not agree to the night racing concept. Because there are other countries dying to hold a F1 GP in their country. If Australia is not interested, he has plenty of other choices.

The bottom line is, he want to make as much money as he could by pressing country like Malaysia and Australia to invest in night racing, on the other hand, larger market group enjoy it, he is happy, the organiser? Not so happy.

Night race could be fun, I totally agree with it, but what about the organiser? What they going to do with the state-of-the-art flood lights? How many night racing events like F1 can be held in a year? Who is going to bear the cost? Not Bernie definitely...

No one knows what will happen during the night race, as this is something new, on one has done it before. How well will the driver adapt to this night race, how they deal with the lights, glares, shadows.. All remain to be seen.

"I want to keep racing alive in this part of the world and the only way we can do that is to have races at night." The F1 supremo said. To me that's a nice way to say it. You can put it in a nastier way:

"I want to make sure I can make lots of money, I don't care how much are you going to invest on your track. If you are not cooperative, I will remove you from F1 calendar. The only choice is LISTEN to me, I WANT NIGHT RACE!"

This is my personal opinion, to host or not to host a night race, they must make a wise decision. I totally understand what Australia trying to do. For Malaysia, I do not know what will be the outcome. But if I am the decision maker, I probably will against the idea as well.

Malaysia - Race Result

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	56	1:31:18.555	2	10
2	4	Robert Kubica	BMW	56	+19.5 secs	4	8
3	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	56	+38.4 secs	8	6
4	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	56	+45.8 secs	3	5
5	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	56	+46.5 secs	9	4
6	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW	56	+49.8 secs	5	3
7	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	56	+68.1 secs	6	2
8	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	56	+70.0 secs	7	1
9	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	56	+76.2 secs	12
10	16	Jenson Button	Honda	56	+86.2 secs	11
11	6	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	56	+92.2 secs	13
12	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	55	+1 Lap	17
13	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	55	+1 Lap	14
14	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	55	+1 Lap	16
15	19	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri-Honda	55	+1 Lap	21
16	18	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda	54	+2 Laps	19
17	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	54	+2 Laps	22
Ret	15	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	39	Hydraulics	15
Ret	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	30	Spin	1
Ret	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	5	Hydraulics	20
Ret	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	1	Accident	10
Ret	14	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	0	Spin	18

Source: http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2008/788/6490/

Malaysia - Qualifying Result

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:35.347	1:34.412	1:35.748	17
2	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:35.645	1:34.188	1:36.230	13
3	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:35.227	1:34.759	1:36.613	12
4	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:35.392	1:34.627	1:36.709	18
5	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:35.205	1:34.825	1:36.711	18
6	4	Robert Kubica	BMW	1:35.794	1:34.811	1:36.727	13
7	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW	1:35.729	1:34.648	1:36.753	13
8	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:35.440	1:34.967	1:37.009	18
9	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:35.983	1:35.140	1:38.450	18
10	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:35.891	1:35.000	1:39.656	20
11	16	Jenson Button	Honda	1:35.847	1:35.208		15
12	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	1:36.058	1:35.408		12
13	6	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	1:36.074	1:35.562		12
14	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:36.198	1:35.622		15
15	15	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	1:36.111	1:35.648		15
16	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	1:35.843	1:35.670		13
17	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	1:36.240			9
18	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	1:36.388			9
19	14	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	1:36.677			8
20	18	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda	1:37.087			9
21	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	1:37.101			10
22	19	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri-Honda	1:37.481			9

Source: http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2008/788/6489/