French Grand Prix: Hamilton tops third practice, but loses pole to Felipe Massa

Lewis Hamilton was able to place his McLaren-Mercedes in P2 in qualifying today for the French Grand Prix, neatly splitting the Ferrari's of pole sitter Massa and third-place Kimi Raikonnen.

P4 went to the BMW of Robert Kubica... good to see him back in the car after that horrifying crash in Montreal.

Shockingly, Fernando Alonso ended up in the FIFTH row in P10, after encountering a gearbox problem during the third qualifying session. Prior to his retirement, though, he had yet to break 1:14, so it appears that he was not quite on the pace of the top three.... he should have been able to sit on the second row if not for the mechanical.

P2 is a good spot for Hamilton, as he has already proven to give Massa problems off the line and into the first turn at earlier races. Tomorrow's event at the Magny-Cours circuit should be outstanding!

Willy T Ribbs: "People ask, 'Is that your son?'"

Lol, here's a very amusing and informative article by Robin Miller about the first (and only) black driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, Willy T. Ribbs, found over at the Speed Channel's site.

One of the best quotes from Ribbs was about his fondness for Lewis Hamilton: “I’ll say this though: I haven’t watched F1 since Ayrton Senna died, but now I won’t miss it because of that kid. I am so proud of him.”

Have a gander; it's good stuff.

What say ye now, Jacques?

Here's a great article found over at F1 Fanatic, comparing Lewis Hamilton's amazing first season run to the 1996 Formula 1 debut of Jacques Villeneuve. Former World Driving Champion Villeneueve, many of you will remember, was most recently seen pooh-poohing Hamilton's success as "luck." Yet when you compare the two side-by-side for the first seven rounds, it reads a little like this:

Hamilton - seven races, seven podiums, two poles, two wins.
Villeneuve - seven races, four podiums, one pole, one win, two DNFs.

"Seven races, seven podiums..."

And two astonishing wins. So says this write-up over at Planet F1.com.

When it comes to Father's Day presents, Lewis Hamilton really knows how to deliver!

The amazing thing about Hamilton's Indy win (er, excuse me, "U.S.G.P") was that he prevailed despite the tremendous pressure applied by his own teammate, two-time World Driving Champion Fernando Alonso. Lewis got out front when he needed to most, during the final qualifying session, and held his line throughout the entire race.

Who on earth will win in France?

Two in a Row!

Lewis Hamilton has just one the U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis Speedway! More to come...

P1 x 2

Today, June 16th, marks the second Saturday in a row that Lewis Hamilton laid down the fastest lap in Formula 1 qualifying. And just six days after winning his first race.

Fernando Alonso shares the first row, the Ferraris claimed row two, and Nick Heidfeld put his BMW in row three, alongside Heikki Kovalainen in his Renault. Here's the story at Planet-F1.com.

Hamilton third in first practice at Indy

Fernando Alonso sits on top of the leaderboard in P1, with a 1:11.925, followed by a BMW, of all things! Yes, Nick Heidfeld put the Bimmer in P2, followed closely (less than 3 tenths) by Hamilton in P3.

And, wonder of wonders, ANOTHER BMW sits in 4th! Where the heck are the Ferrari's? Raikonnen is in 5th, while Massa sits in seventh. But it's still very early in the process.

Ron Dennis: "This was a straight out, full on, tremendous achievement..."

So says the Man at McLaren, regarding Lewis Hamilton's Sunday drive in Montreal. Full article at Planet F1.com.

"... there is no denying that F1 has entered the Hamilton era."

Pretty heady stuff, eh? Well, I didn't write it; that line is in this article over at Planet F1.com. In any case, what a day. June 10, 2007: the day that marks the first Formula One victory by a black man. And of course, it is incidentally the day that Lewis Hamilton wins his very first Formula One race. At Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, no less. In only his sixth start, no less. And with this win, storming into a reasonably significant 8-point lead in the Driver's Championship classification.

Congratulations, Lewis. And congratulations to the Vodaphone Mercedes-McLaren organization. Here's to many more first place finishes!

Hamilton takes pole position for Montreal!

Wow. Lewis Hamilton earned his first ever F1 pole in qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix, setting a laptime four-tenths of a second faster than his teammate.

The other surprise: while Sato wasn't able to keep his place from practice three, Nick Heidfield put his BMW on the second row of the grid by qualifying third, separating the Mercedes-McLarens from the Ferraris, who qualified in fourth and fifth.

It's gonna be some race tomorrow!

Hamilton tops Practice Three in Montreal

"Our Lewis", as the British rags like to claim him, has topped the leaderboard in the incident-shortened third and final practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Hamilton recorded a fast lap of 1:16.071, besting Kimi Raikonnen's 1:16.459 and teammate Alonso's 1:16.465. The second Ferrari, driven by Massa, was in fourth (of course) with a "devilish" 1:16.666.

The surprise of the session? Takuma Sato putting his Super Aguri in the fifth place spot with a 1:16.864.

'Course, this is just practice... on to qualifying!

Mario Andretti: "I look at Hamilton's situation, and I salivate..."

Leave it to the great Mario Andretti to come up with the quote of the year. He made the Pavlov-ian comment during this interview over at Planet F1.com.