Nordschleife

Hydraulic failure - can be very serious in F1 cars - valves stop working

R+C

paradisenb

What an interesting race. Unforgettable. I TIVOed it. Unfortunately with the delay the very last recorded frame was Alonso passing Massa. Ding! Stop! DAMN. Went back and changed my options for the Season Pass.
Lots of intrigue. Not predictable. Who will do what when. I find that added a lot fo excitement. Most exciting race of the year.

A.Wayne

Yes , but the engine was still running , he changed map positions on the steering and ran at full power again for 2 corners then went limp with him trying to make it back to the pits.. An Hydraulic failure would have him stopping on course the first time ...

A.Wayne

I would add to that by saying the whole season has been great , by far the best F1 season in over a decade .......

A.Wayne

By Alan Baldwin Sunday, July 22nd 2007, 17:33 GMT

McLaren's Fernando Alonso apologised to Ferrari's Felipe Massa for an angry exchange after a wheel-banging finish to Sunday's European Grand Prix.

Massa, leading Sunday's chaotic race after his final pitstop, did his best to hold off Alonso on vibrating tyres but the Spaniard muscled his way past on the 56th of 60 laps with the cars touching.

Television showed both men having words as they waited to step on the podium, with runner-up Massa turning away from the triumphant double world champion, who grinned and raised both thumbs to the camera.

The title rivals have previous history between them, dating back to last year's Italian Grand Prix, when Spaniard Alonso felt unfairly penalised for impeding the Brazilian in qualifying for Ferrari's home race.

They also clashed after this year's Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, where Alonso questioned Massa's driving after a first-corner collision ended his hopes of winning at home.

"I was really surprised when he came to say that I did that on purpose," said Massa of the latest incident on a slippery Nurburgring circuit.

"I would never do something like that on purpose. Like I said in Barcelona, it was normal, here was normal and it's going to be like that. So if he was a little bit unhappy, it's not my problem."

Alonso refused to fuel the latest spat and declared the episode closed.

"We touched each other two times (on the track) and I apologise to him because I was so stressed when I finished the race, because we nearly didn't finish the race," he said.

"I apologise if I said anything to him, because it's motor racing and it's a fight. We finished the race, so I don't want to talk any more about this and I want to enjoy the win."

Massa accepted his words: "I don't have anything against anybody, I just do my race and I follow the rules of the sport, that's all," he said.

"If somebody tells me something I did was wrong and I didn't I will be unhappy. That is normal. But if he has apologised then that's fine, he knows he was not right after the race."

Alonso's win left him two points adrift of leader and teammate Lewis Hamilton. Massa moved up to third overall and a further nine points behind.

A.Wayne

By Pablo Elizalde Sunday, July 22nd 2007, 17:06 GMT

Felipe Massa during the European GPFerrari were left licking their wounds after a disappointing end to what looked set to be a successful end to their European Grand Prix.

The Italian squad had to be content with a second place from Felipe Massa when, for most of the weekend and the race, it looked like they would leave Germany as winners.

A late downpour, however, left Massa struggling with his car, an opportunity seized by McLaren's Fernando Alonso, who muscled his way past the Brazilian to take his third win of the season.

Massa consoled himself knowing that he had cut eight points to championship leader Lewis Hamilton, but the Ferrari driver could not hide his disappointment at losing a race win.

"A second place that leaves a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth," said Massa. "I had driven a strong race right up until the last rain shower, then once I had the rain tyres on, I immediately felt vibrations which made the car very unbalanced. And that, after I had been really strong when it had been wet in the early stage of the race.

"In the dry, I managed to gradually make up ground on Alonso because the car was great. I was lucky at the start because I managed to stay on track when the conditions meant it was almost impossible, but then I was not so lucky at the end. But that's racing and I have to accept it.

"The positive side is that I have made up a lot of ground in the drivers' classification. There is still a long way to go this season and we have to be confident," added Massa, who had a heated discussion with Alonso following their contact on track.

"I was a bit on edge but then he apologized and that was the end of it," said Massa, whose rival pointed at the tyre marks on his McLaren after jumping out of his car.

Kimi Raikkonen, starting from pole position, continued with his jinx at the Nurburgring, the Finn retiring with a mechanical problem while running in third place.

Raikkonen is still 18 points behind Hamilton, but with one race less to go.

"I am very disappointed," said Raikkonen. "I was in a good position, immediately right behind Felipe and Alonso and the car was very quick and I was convinced I could win. But gradually, the hydraulic system began to malfunction, I began to lose time and then I was forced to stop.

"This knock back does not mean I feel like giving up the fight, even if there is now one less race in which to compete. The gap to the head of the classification remains the same and anything can happen in the seven remaining races. We have a very competitive car but clearly we have to improve on the reliability front."

MJSpeed

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated...

cupcar86

I think you mean pneumatic failure, the intake and exhaust valves in F1 cars are pneumatic which is why they can rev at such insane levels.

rbennett

Massa and Nando having those exchange of words was worth admission alone!

I could sense the tension of the podium interviews, Massa’s eyes were crossed for the entire
interview, in anger I suppose ??

I think they should chain rear bumpers on their F1 cars and have a pull off to settle it once and for all!

Alonso was pretty impressive in this race, kept his cool and passed when necessary, I really think
he was most happy with Lewis’s bad luck though, as he predicted earlier!

Ray S

What a disapointment for Ferrari. They had a great chance to gain points on the Mac and blew it.

Great race to watch.

Nordschleife

air is another fluid.....

his valves weren't working properly...... think of it as a cam shaft getting out of adjustment

R+C

kurt M

Nordschleife I am suprised at your post, you are normaly spot on. Air is not a fluid it is a mixture of gasses. As near as I can tell the cars systems do not run pressures high enough to liqufy air at room temps.

I too got killed by the TEVO cut off. New F1 trivia question. Who made the fastest run from last place to leading in a F1 race?

Nordschleife

cfd = computational fluid dynamics = what you use to to model the movement of air over the car, into the engine, where ever.

I come from a background where air is 'curved', and we move our race machines through two different fluids - air and water - in this context air is 'just another fluid', whilst it may be a gas, it behaves like a fluid for our purposes.

hydro-pneumatic systems use both air and fluid(s), they are often looked after by the tech who specialises in hydraulics, in the world of 70-word English (English as the universal lingua franca) exact definitions often get a little fuzzy round the edges.

Its like 'air guns', or 'air tools', technically they often aren't, they are N-guns and N-tools, but it would be pedantic to insist on calling them something else. And we still refer to air pressures when its the pressure of Nitrogen that we are measuring in tyres.

Examples of fluids include liquids and gasses. However, one should not confuse the hydraukic sandwich with the air kiss.

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paradisenb

Who is Markus Winkelhock?

Flying Finn

Kimi's figth (again) just go a whole lot worse. Germany has "treated" his WDC battle same way before. He ain't giving up though. Kimi needs a lot more points in next race which is nearly impossible since there are 3 others so much ahead of him, not only one. One of the can have bad luck (as Hamilton did) but not all 3.

As you said, Alonso is in almost as good position as he has been the two times he had won the championships. Way ahead although now there is big problem for him called Hamilton. He will and has been giving him big time trouble which is good since under pressure Alonso get weak & whiney. Hopefully close situation continues, I'd hate to see the situation where he (Alonso) is 10-20 points ahead and can just play safe and then even gets more lead due to others bad luck or mishaps.

I hope Ferrari doesn't go behind Massa, at least not yet since he doesn't have the mental toughness that's needed when the going gets really tough.
Kimi's only 7 point behind Massa which ain't much, 18 to Hamilton & 16 to Alonso is a lot at this point though.