2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

This year we had the opportunity to see the Shanghai Grand Prix for the second straight year. The World Championship comes to China with Lewis Hamilton leading Felipe Massa by a meager 5 points. Last year Hamilton crashed out on worn tires. This track has proven to wear McLaren tires and many thought it could pose a problem this year.

The Grand Prix in China is now in its fifth season and is a great place to see the race. Race seats cost at minimum 780 RMB ($114 US) for all three days. You can get into the track area and watch from various grass areas for 380 RMB ($56 US). Unlike Indy F1 which allows you to sit anywhere you want on Friday and Saturday, you have the same seats for all three days; however, Friday the security is a little bit relaxed due to the small crowds. You can sneak around and see the practice rounds from all but the most expensive seats.

This picture shows the main grandstand. In front of this grand stand are the pits. These are the most expensive seats on the track 3980 RMB ($581 US) for the three days. They say you can see the whole track except the hairpin turn where this picture was taken.

Above is a picture of the grandstands by the hairpin turn. These are the only other covered seats on the track. You can see the F1 cars go from 310 km/h to 53 km/h. It almost looks as if the cars are being pulled back by the brakes. It is an incredible site.

Friday was a day spent relaxing, walking around the F1 Village. Also, no kids! Isaac was in school as Sonia and I enjoyed our day. We got to see the morning practice from our race seats. We then snuck into the B seating area beside the main grandstand. These are also good seats, but I preferred my race day seats to these seats.

This is Kimi Raikkonen, the reigning world champion, during the morning practice. He was third fastest on the track that morning. Then, Ferrari didn't show up in the top five in any other practice rounds. They were probably doing alot of testing on different set-ups for race day. It must have helped out. Both drivers qualified 2nd and 3rd.

Jarno Trulli was also one of the fastest on Friday. He was fourth fastest in the second practice session, but later faded in the qualifying rounds to qualify 9th overall.

Between the two qualifying sessions, we walked the village and purchased merchandise and took a few pictures of a few girls of F1. Below are the pictures for your viewing.

I hope you enjoy these pictures. There were many more girls from Coca-Cola, AT&T Williams, Toyota, and a few from China Mobile. These were just a few for you to see. I am sure you can check them out at the f1 live site. Those of you that follow F1 know where to find them.

I know alot of you all are Alonso fans and my blog would not be complete without a photo of the double world champion. He was actually second fastest in the second practice on Saturday and managed to qualify 4th and finish 4th right of the podium. Not bad for a slow Renault, but he is the double world champion.

Saturday, Isaac came to the track. He was not very happy that mom and dad were able to go Friday. He also wanted to go. Below Sonia and Isaac relax on the autograph stage before qualifying.

Saturday after the first practice, I was looking for merchandise from some of the back runners (teams that don't win grand prix's). I thought that there would be some merchandise by the other expensive grandstands. So I took the whole family for a long walk around the track. Unfortunately, I did not find any of the merchandise. What I did find was an unguarded entrance to the K grandstand. These are some of the best seats in the house and we snuck in to watch the qualifying. These seats are priced at 2580 RMB ($377 US). Very nice viewing.

In the above picture, you can see the hairpin turn. This photo shows David Coulthard during qualifying. He had a poor qualifying session and qualified 16th. He did manage to work his way up to 10th in the race. This race was his last race in China. He will retire after this season. China marked his 244th grand prix. He won 13 Grand Prix's during his career.

Williams has not been very competitive the past few years. They have moved from competing for the title to back marker. This year marks there 30th Anniversary as a Team in F1. They have won 9 world titles. I am sure they will be back in the hunt for the title soon. Above Rosberg didn't make it out of the first qualifying session.

Well, who would I be cheering for in the race. As some of you know, I have always been a Ralph Shumacher fan. So I have cheered on Williams and Toyota, but this year he isn't racing. Last year a purchased two driver caps (Shumacher and Hamilton). Since last year with a rookie going to win the world title, I have moved on to McLaren. I also like Heikki. I think he has potential and both are young and will be in Formula 1 for a while. Hopefully next year I can wear Hamilton's World Champion driver cap.

Onto the race! Hamilton started from the pole and completely dominated the race. I have to say, it kind of looked like Micheal Shumacher. Felipe and Kimi could not hang with the McLaren. Could it have to do with stolen Ferrari secrets last year? We will never know. Below are two photos of this years two title contenders.

Hamilton was fast in the Silver and Orange McLaren. It was his race to win and he was able to run the table and show that he does deserve to win the World Championship. I was a little concerned about tire wear, especially after Heikki's puncture.

Massa has been the best in his career. It would be special to see him win the Brazilian Grand Prix and the Championship at his home grand prix.

Lewis enjoys his victory lap. A well deserved lap after two consecutive years starting on the pole position. I hope all of you enjoyed the pictures!