How is he getting away with it?

[ShiftingGears]

Many would be welcome a change like this.

Are you kidding? That's one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard!

[ioan]

Are you kidding? That's one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard!

You shouldn't be surprised at all, people come up with bigger crap every day.

[gravity]

We have a track in South Africa, Killarney, where the main straight has a white line in the middle of the road (braking zone just before the hairpin).

The line is used as a guide for the stewards. If a driver moves across the line in a defensive manouvre, he is not allowed to move back across it and onto the racing line.
This has worked well in keeping the racing clean and has added to the spectacle of the racing too. At a time where it's difficult to get more than a couple thousand spectators at any racing even in South Africa, it's almost impossible to get a seat at the stands in that corner.

Its not a difficult rule to enforce. The current rule that the ITV commentators keep referring to regarding defensive driving, is something similar (only 1 block allowed, not allowed to move back online). I have seen many drivers moving across to defend, then moving back online yet have not been punished. A white line 'guide' would help the stewards in their decisions.

[Garry Walker]

BTW, if you watch Kubica's driving closely, you can see his talent. The BMW is in no way the fastest car on the grid. When I watch Hekki, I see someone who is simply keeping the car on track and letting the car do the work (not at all a bad strategy considering how many times the car has let him down). I think he will begin to push harder when he becomes fully comfortable to do so, and feels like the car will not break on him.

Are you Peter Windsor?

Heikki again was faster than LH in qualy, when you take account the fuel levels they had. AGAIN. So far that has been the case at quite many races already - Australia, Malaysia, Spain, Turkey and now France.
Bahrain and Monaco are unknown.
Canada is the only place where LH was faster in qualy.

That is a shocking stat actually and shows Kovalainen is pretty much killing Hammy in qualifying.

Great defense of his position against Hamilton but also demonstrated the need to create better passing opportunities for the faster cars. A divided track section (lanes, divided via white-line.) Many would be welcome a change like this.

And out of those many, none would have an IQ over 15.

[Shifter]

Are you Peter Windsor?

Heikki again was faster than LH in qualy, when you take account the fuel levels they had. AGAIN. So far that has been the case at quite many races already - Australia, Malaysia, Spain, Turkey and now France.
Bahrain and Monaco are unknown.
Canada is the only place where LH was faster in qualy.

That is a shocking stat actually and shows Kovalainen is pretty much killing Hammy in qualifying.

No, I'm some F1 fan on the boards. I guess I should have quantified my statement a little further, yes, Kovi (like a lot of Finns) are extremely good at getting in a one lap killer quali time. However I was just kind of referring to actual race pace. In race pace, Hammy is lightning quick and rotates the car in and out of corners, however his decision-making and his style of racecraft is quite disastrous at times (let's hear windsor say that). Heikki is getting some bad luck, and this is his first year in a McLaren, so he isn't pushing as hard as Lewis. On top of that he's got the 'McLaren second driver label'. If not for bad luck or punching the wrong button in Monaco Hekki would problably have more WDC points by now than Hammy, all other things being equal.

All I'm saying is quali is one thing, but it's race results that count. I'm telling you Hekki will be a serious contender for the '09 WDC once the minor hiccups disappear this year and Hekki begins to really push the car every race. What he's doing now is great becuase not once can I recall seeing Hekki make a driving error at speed during a race this year.

[ArrowsFA1]

All I'm saying is quali is one thing, but it's race results that count. I'm telling you Hekki will be a serious contender for the '09 WDC once the minor hiccups disappear this year and Hekki begins to really push the car every race. What he's doing now is great becuase not once can I recall seeing Hekki make a driving error at speed during a race this year.

Whether it's luck, or whatever, but I do think Heikki's real pace is being hidden. The French GP was a good example. After being placed 10th on the grid he had a very strong race, and was the fastest non-Ferrari. Had he been on the podium at the end of the day he probably would have earned more coverage and praise, and his drive deserved a podium.

I think he does suffer from having Hamilton as a team-mate. Not because he's #2 because I don't think he is, but because of the sheer volume of coverage Hamilton gets. McLaren = Hamilton in the view of the media, but Heikki can, and probably is, turning that to his advantage and quietly getting on with his job, which is why the McLaren drivers make a great team, and why Heikki will only get stronger as time goes on.