France: 8 Races, 4 different winners only 10 points between them

So now we had France. A boring, processional race. I really hope they don't return to Magny Cours, it is not worthy of F1 racing, there is almost no racing on that circuit.

But before we look at the results, lets go back a year. Last year France was also the 8th race. Last year produced the most competitive F1 season ever, not just at the end, but all through the season. Last year 2007 in F1 at 3 races into the season, 3 different winners. At 8 races four winners each with 2 wins each. At 12 races the four winners had 3 wins each. At 15 races, still 3 racers in contention and each had 4 wins each. And into the final race, those 3 were mathematically in contention, the guy with the least points won the race and won the championship by one point, with the two others tied at 1 point behind the world champion.

So last season was the most evenly contested season ever, with 3 racers genuinely contesting it from the first race to the last, and 4 drivers in contention through much of the season. Two manufacturers running neck-and-neck.

But, last season, after the French Grand Prix, even though each of Hamilton, Alonso, Massa and Raikkonen had 2 wins each, Hamilton's lead over Kimi was a massive 22 points. Kimi had 42 points, Lewis had managed more than 50% more than that, at 64 points in the first 8 races.

Ok, then the French results - Kimi led the race and seemed to be a clear winner, until he had a problem with the exhaust and had to let Massa pass. Massa won, Kimi second, and Trulli surprised all with a Toyota third place. Kovalainen was the best McLaren at 4th and Kubica's worst finish of the season (if we don't count Australia where he did not finish) at fifth.

Now lets look at the season in 2008. Might we be blessed with perhaps even a more competitive season than last year's.

So to start with, the first 3 races - 3 different winners (like last year). Now at France and the 8 race point, yes we have 4 different winners but not that evenly matched in wins, Massa has 3, Lewis and Kimi have 2, and Kubica has 1. So in this way, the season is "not as competitive" as last season.

Well, hold on. First, last year by this point it was clear the championship would only between Ferrari and McLaren drivers. This year it is between Ferrari, McLaren and BMW.. So already by this count, we have a more competitive season.

But lets look at the points. Last year at France, the difference between first (Hamilton) and fourth (Raikkonen) was 22 points. This year the difference between first (Massa) and fourth (Hamilton) is.. ten points.

TEN points between first and FOURTH. Wow. This is EXTREMELY close. We may truly have an epic season.

I do like it, that last year's best car is not running away with it - McLaren is not the best this season, in fact McLaren is third in constructor points. And last year's champion is not running away with it, Kimi is third in the championship points with 42.

Now, while we are comparing the two seasons at the 8 race point, lets look a bit at the main rivals.

Lewis Hamilton. Last season he was Mr Consistency, finishing on the podium every race through France and amassed 64 points. He had no failures to finish and very amazingly neither did the sister McLaren driven by Alonso. A perfect car so far. And Hamilton had just started his winnings three races earlier in Canada and won also in the USA Grand Prix, so the rookie had also started winning. The world was smiling at Hamilton.

What a difference a year makes. This year Hamilton has had one retirement - and that was his own fault crashing into Kimi in Canada, so it wasn't that the McLaren was not reliable. But Lewis had only scored 38 points, just more than half the points he had last year. Yes, he still has two wins this season, but when he didn't win, he was not on the podium, he has only 2 other podiums this season in addition to his two wins. He is now more a Mr Inconsistency.

Obviously no point in comparing Kubica to last year. Last year at this point he had half the points of Heidfeld, now he has nearly twice the points that Heidfeld has. Kubica has grown and become a far greater driver this season, but obviously, so too has the BMW-Sauber car improved tons from last year.

But lets look at Felipe Massa. Last year after France, 47 points and two wins. This year Massa has 48 points and three wins. Last year he was third in the Championship and 17 points adrift of Hamilton. This year he leads the championship two poins ahead of Kubica and 10 points ahead of Hamilton. Last year Massa was five points ahead of Kimi, this year he is six points ahead of Kimi. Last year he had 2 wins and 3 podiums, this year its 3 wins and 2 podiums. Massa should be smiling..

..except for Mr Iceman. Consider these stats for Kimi after 8 races.

Kimi last year 2 wins. This year 2 wins. Last year 2 other podiums. This year 2 other podiums. Last year Kimi 42 points? This year 42 points. Last year Kimi was behind Massa by 5 points, this year by 6 points.

Last years in the first 8 races Kimi was 2-6 behind in qualifying to Massa and 5 points behind in points. Then in the remaining 9 races, Kimi totally trashed Massa and outscored him by 21 points from Silverstone to Brazil, to finish ahead of Massa by not a hair, but by an overwhelming 16 points. Yes, perhaps one or two of Kimi's point scores were due to Ferrari team orders towards the end of the season, but that does not explain away even half of the points that Kimi outscored Massa.

So yes, Mr Iceman.. The true Mr Consistency. If he could win the championship last year when two time champion Alonso was in a better car and Hamilton in a better car - and Massa ahead of him at this point, now that Kimi finds Alonso in a weak Renault and Hamilton behind him, he certainly does not fear the fact that Massa has 3 wins to his 2, and leads Kimi by a measerly 6 points..

Last 3 races Kimi has had spectacularly bad luck, in Monaco he slid on a slippery surface on worn tyres from 5th place and crashed into Sutil. Had he finished behind Sutil in that race, he'd now be tied for second. But yes, we might say that this was partially his fault, perhaps.

In Canada it was certainly not Kimi's fault. He had legitimately passed Hamilton in the pit stop and was poised to win the race, until Lewis crashed into Kimi and took him out of the race. Obviously if Kimi had even come second in the race with Kubica still winning, Kimi would now lead the championship.

And the rare technical problem in France, when Kimi led and his exhaust pipe got loose and caused severe problems. Kimi was leading the race easily from Massa prior to that, and still finished second. Had they finished with Kimi first and Massa second, today Massa would be tied with Hamilton and Kimi only 2 points behind.

Yes, Kimi has had a severe case of bad luck the last three races. But inspite of all of that, the Iceman is the reigning champion and only six points from the lead. And his "strongest" rival, Hamilton, is behind Kimi at this point.

Last season Kimi had embarked on a near-hopeless task of fighting from 22 points behind at this point, when it was clear the McLaren was exceptionally durable and the fastest car. This season Kimi sees that the McLaren is not as fast nor as durable, and in fact it is the Ferrari which is the fastest car this season.

Kimi has never had the luxury of driving the fastest car of the season, and yet he's finished twice as the runner up in the F1 Championship and won it once, when his car was not the fastest.

Now he has the fastest car.

And as to Massa being 6 points ahead of Kimi? I'm sure the Iceman sleeps well, remembering that last year he was fourth 22 points behind the leader, 18 points behind the double-world champion (Alonso) and 5 points behind his own team mate.

This time he is 4 points ahead of his strongest rival (Hamilton). He is only 4 points behind the newcomer to the contest, Kubica, in the unproven BMW; and only 6 points behind the championship leader and his team mate, Massa.

He knows its motor racing, so there will be incidents (Montreal), accidents (Monaco) and technical problems (Magny Cours). As these "M-contests" are now past, it is time for Kimi's luck to turn and him to return to winning ways. I'd say the Iceman is the one most likely to pull it out this season.

But as the four guys are only 10 points between them, this is truly a fiercely competitive season. I love it..

Oh PS, and how about Heikki? Kovalainen is at 20 points, nearly half the points of Hamilton. Heikki has had a lot of bad luck, but he is not really convincing anyone that he deserves that second McLaren seat. If I was told that at 8 races we'd have 4 different winners and one of them a first-time winner, I'd have guessed that to be Heikki, not Kubica. I think Kovalainen is underperforming and must be feeling some pressure at McLaren. Lets hope he gets his season turned around, before he finds himself in a Toyota or Honda for next season..

Then Demolition Derby part 2 - Canada, and a first-time winner!

Oh, Canada.. Yes, that Hamilton mistake in the pit lane. Demolition Derby part 2, and another race where Kimi had fought back to be competitive, and a crash ruined it. This time it was Hamilton crashing into Kimi and some might say it was poetic justice for Kimi's crash into Sutil in Monaco.

But yes, this then brought us that amazing end to the race, hoping and wishing for Kubica to hold on without any fateful pace cars or other incidents, so he's get his maiden win. And he did win it.

That was brilliant.. First win for Kubica, the first ever F1 winner for Poland, and the first ever win for BMW (and former Sauber) as a constructor. Congratulations all around.

Even more amazingly, both Kubica and BMW took the lead in the championship. And poor Quick Nick Heidfeld, has ever a second place felt so empty as his that day, when he brought the first-ever 1-2 for BMW but this was not his day. Nick had led the race, and with several incidents and pace cars, a little bit of luck his way, and Heidfeld would have been the first-ever BMW winner. As Ferrari and McLaren were bumbling this weekend, it was destined to be BMW in any case..

Congrats Robert and BMW !!

So Demolition Derby part 1 - Monaco

Monaco.. Its a race that so often produces surprises for us. This year? The first F1 Demolition Derby with Kimi crashing into Sutil with less than 10 minutes to go in the race. It was a wet track and a racing incident, still, you'd not expect the reining champion to lose his car after the tunnel..

The good part of the result was that we had a season where the Ferrari duo had seemed to be pulling away from the pack, suddenly caught up again, with Lewis taking the lead with 38 points, Kimi second with 35 points, Massa third at 34 points and ominously, Kubica closing in with 32 points. This was good for the season, although my heart goes out to Sutil and the Force India team, they would have loved those 5 points the fourth place would have given them. They were "robbed"..