2008 Chinese Grand Prix predictions

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Will Lewis Hamilton avenge his Chinese GP nightmare by winning this year?

Shanghai has been a Ferrari stronghold since it arrived on the F1 calendar four years ago.

With fairly cool but dry weather expected this weekend and Bridgestone bringing their harder compound tyres, I think we’ll see McLaren score their first win in China this weekend.

We’ve seen several times this year how tyre compounds and temperatures can have a profound influence on car and driver performance.

This weekend the track conditions and compounds seem to point towards McLaren having the upper hand: especially the fact Bridgestone are bringing their two hardest compounds of tyres.

We all remember Lewis Hamilton’s disastrous end to last year’s Chinese Grand Prix – but don’t forget how strongly he started the weekend. He put his McLaren on pole position and led comfortably at the start.

Ferrari, as ever, will be very close. But I’m getting an impression that Kimi Raikkonen has become the quicker of the two drivers once again. In a recent interview he said that at Spa he had gone back to an earlier setup configuration and it had improved his pace.

He was quicker than Massa at Spa (but crashed) and was very quick late in the race at Monza. At Singapore he was reeling in Massa and Hamilton when the safety car came out, then at Fuji he out-qualified Massa for the first time since the British Grand Prix.

Does Raikkonen now have the upper hand at Ferrari? If so, can Ferrari use him to get Massa ahead of Hamilton? Even if not, I’m sure come the end of the race they’ll have moved Raikkonen aside to elevate Massa:

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Felipe Massa
3. Kimi Raikkonen

Japanese Grand Prix prediction results

The only person to correctly name Fernando Alonso as the winner of the Japanese Grand Prix was Yosu!

What do you think will be the top three for the Chinese Grand Prix? Make your podium predictions below…

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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77 comments on “2008 Chinese Grand Prix predictions”

  1. Head says:

    1. Hamilton
    2. Raikkonen
    3. Massa

    Heart wants:

    1. Massa
    2. Kubica
    3. Raikkonen

  2. 1. Massa
    2. Raikkonen
    3. Hamilton

  3. I predict that either Hamilton or Massa will finish out of the points…

  4. Hamilton
    Kubica
    Alonso

  5. when i predict it’s only bad luck so i’ll skip prediction’s

  6. 1. Raikkonen
    2. Kovalainen
    3. Alonso

    with Massa and Hamilton as DNFs or out of the points.

  7. 1. Ham
    2. Rai
    3. Kov

  8. 1 Hamilton (Every time he has been largely criticised, the following race has been perfect for him)

    2,3,4,5 Kimi, Felipe, Kubica, Alonso in whatever order you can choose, but It doesn’t really matters.

  9. 1. Raikonnen
    2. Kubica
    3. Alonso

  10. alonso
    massa
    kimi

  11. schumi the greatest
    17th October 2008, 13:53

    i think hamilton will win this one, hes dominated in practice so far and he usually puts in a great drive after a load of criticism e.g. silverstone after mangy cours etc.

    Having seen the videos of practice on itv.com he’s flying the back end sliding out all over the place but stil setting faster times.

    i think ferrari will be a bit stronger than practice 2 would suggest but i think hamilton will take pole and if he gets a good start i dont think anyone will get near him this weekend, thats when hes at his best.

    cant see kovaleinen helping much, hes been utter crap this year, so my prediciton is:

    hamilton
    massa
    alonso

  12. 1. Hamilton
    2. Raikkonen (finding form now he has nothing to lose)
    3. Alonso

  13. I think there’s a good chance that neither Lewis or Massa are going to win either of the last 2 races – they’re just not consistent enough. Tho one of them will win the championship.

    That would mean that the champion hadn’t won a race for the last 5 races – does anyone know if that’s happened before in recent memory? Seems a bit lame to me.

  14. Wet weather chaos

    Piquet to win and give Flavio a serious headache!
    very very long shot, but stranger things have happened this season so I’ll put it out there $:)

    (weather link)

  15. A sweet taste of irony:

    1. LEWIS
    2. ALONSO
    3. MASSA

    I´m with “THE SHOE GREAT EVER”. Lewis always has done a great job after a big wave of criticism. The hard compounds and the climate will suit his car anyway and I´m expecting some help from Alonso to Lewis increase his points advantage.

  16. 1)Massa
    2)Raikkonen
    2)Kubica

  17. Prost didn’t own any of his last 6 races in 93. If Senna hadn’t retired 3 times in them he might have closed on Prost for the final races.

    WDC winning very few races in the last rounds are actually very usual. For example Schumacher won only once in 2004 and that was one of his easiest titles. Then, we have Alonso amazing feat of being WDC in 2006, despite a single win in the second half of the season!

  18. 1-RAI
    2-HAM
    3-BOU

    Kimi´s got the upper ands gonna show winning both races, Lewis’d be conservative , massa’s most likely to crash in such a ridiculous way the stewards just won’t be able to help him… and, yeah, i want Seb there.

  19. 1st – Raikkonen
    2nd – Kubica
    3rd – Hamilton

    Massa – DNF

  20. Hi Guys,

    this is a long shot but i rekon,

    Kubica, Massa, Alonso,

    Raikko and Kovi in the points, Hamilton Out,

    that would be great for the final race….

  21. Massa
    Alonso
    Kubica

    Ham and Kimi DNF…

  22. Lewis
    Kubica
    Kimi

  23. 1. Kimi
    2. Hamilton
    3. Massa

  24. Chinese gp is the fate for the world champion before sao paulo
    predictions:
    1.Felipe
    2.Raikkonen
    3.Heikki
    4.sebastien
    5.jarno
    6.kubica
    7.alonso(Not well in this gp my father said)
    8.Timo(my father’s teammate)

  25. 1. Lewis Hamilton
    2. Kimi Raikkonen
    3. Fernando Alonso

  26. 1.Ham
    2.Alo
    3.Rai

    @24, Enzo Trulli – Fair possibility, out of interest, what do you think is happening to Hamilton in this?

  27. I’m not going to predict who will finish where but from the times in free practice (both the fastest laps and the long stints) it’s apparent that Hamilton is absolutely on song here. If Heikki can get his act together I think Massa will be in trouble.

  28. Raikkonen, Massa and Alonso to take each other out at the start. One thing F1 does show us, is that Karma is a real thing, and I’ve never seen “fate” or the Yin and Yang of the universe work so dramaticly as it does in F1. Just think of Murrays 100’s of “He’s in the lead, nothing can stop him now” moments, follwed seconds later by that driver flipping his car on to its roof.

    IF Lewis wins, he can claim to be one of the very best. The FIA is aginst him, he’s been attacked by Spanish racists wearing monkey suits, and now the other drivers turn on him. Not to mention he is a trail blazer being the first Black driver in the old boys club of F1.

    If he wins, it is against all the odds.

  29. Has to be: –

    Like Dorian points out from the heart.

    1. Massa
    2. Kimi
    3. Alonso
    4. Hamilton

    However, there is a strong posibility that Hamstring will pull it off: –

    1. Hamilton
    2. Massa
    3. Alonso
    4. Kimi

  30. Agree with you there Anonymouse.

  31. Kubica
    Raikkonen
    Piquet

  32. Kubica
    Raikkonen
    Piquet Jr.

  33. 1. Kubica
    2. Alonso
    3. Kimi

    @Anonymouse

    The FIA is aginst him, he’s been attacked by Spanish racists wearing monkey suits, and now the other drivers turn on him

    All these happened only to Hamilton. Well..Kubica also is in the title hunt, he is not attacked by all? Is everybody (except british fans and media, of course!) against him because he is Black?? Or to put things in other words, Hamilton has done (and said) everything perfect and simply ALL OTHERS dont want him to become WDC?

  34. Kubica this weekend

    2 massa
    3 alonso

    i have a bad feeling for lewis this weekend…..please be wrong

  35. Nirupam, so by your reasoning, Lewis deserves the hatred and that no-one wants him to be champion. I would love to know what definitive reason(s) you would give for this. It is almost as if you have concrete justified reasons for agreeing with this, instead of realising just because some people think something, it doesn’t mean it is necessarily right. If a majority of people are in favour of capital punishment, it doesn’t mean it is right for example.

    And you saying it is only the British and media who want him to win is saying you know about every single F1 fan/viewer in every single country in the world that watches F1. There is no way you could know this. Lewis has fans AND detractors in Britain, just as in all countries of the world. And I do think the antipathy is in a large part because he is black.

  36. Unless some major error happens, I don’t see a reason why RAI will finish ahead of MAS.

    My guess would be:

    1. HAM
    2. MAS
    3. ALO

  37. 1. Lewis
    2. Alonso
    3. Kimi

    Lewis and Alonso to have fair fight for the win with Lewis on a 3 stopper coming out just in front!!!!
    (ps i’m not a Lewis fan)

  38. I putting my money on Hamilton for the win. I don’t think either Ferrari driver will be able to match his pace, but Massa should be able to grab at least second. Third should be Alonso. But who knows, Bourdais and Kubica were going very well in practice, maybe they might be able to grab the final spot.

    My podium is:

    1. Hamilton
    2. Massa.
    3. Alonso

  39. HAM
    MAS
    RAI

    Ron brings in HAK to talk some sense into Lewis, gets him an acupuncture, and flies in a PussyCat Doll for good measure. Lewis chills out and brings it home.

    Kimi will be very fast and will be forced to have a very slow pit stop to let Massa by

    … then Massa buries the field the Brazil from lights-out. Lewis and Fred battle it out for 5th spot and the title is decided in a cloud of silver and orange carbon fiber, I mean, a brilliant outside pass in Turn One by Lewis (I can’t decide.)

  40. Dam it – I want to change my mind after seeing the updated weather forecast for tomorrow (http://www.weathercity.com/cn/31/shanghai/)

    1. Lewis
    2. Alonso
    3. Vettel

  41. 1. Massa
    2. Barrichello
    3. Piquet

    A brazilian weekend at Shanghai!

  42. 1-lewis
    2-massa
    3-alonso

  43. 1. Kimi
    2. Alonso
    3. Kubica
    4. Hamilton
    5. MASSA!!!!!!!!

  44. Kubica
    Raikkonen
    Heidfeld

  45. 1. Kub
    2. Alo
    3. Hei
    ***
    Massa fifth, Hamilton not classified.

  46. 1- Kubica
    2- Piquet
    3- Bourdais

  47. with big crash on start with Raikkonen, Hamilton , Massa and Alonso …

  48. Podium:

    1. Alonso
    2. Hamilton
    3. Massa

    Two days later:
    1. Alonso
    2. Mass
    3. Ria
    ..
    ..
    ..
    ..
    6. Hamiton

  49. Just to spice things up I’d like to see:

    1. Kub
    2. Mas
    3. Rai

    DNF – Ham

    …It’s not gonna happen!

  50. 1st- Hei (first win!!!)
    2nd-Massa
    3-raik
    4-ham

    Only a dream, but could happen.

  51. 1. Hamilton
    2. Kimi
    3. Kubica
    4. Alonso
    5. Heikki
    6. Glock
    7. Vettel

    MASSA – Oh dear DNF thank you LEWIS for WDC!!!

  52. My entire heart and some of my head have a feeling that there will be an immense… ‘disagreement’ between Massa and Hamilton on the back straight, where Massa will defend on the inside almost on the white line. But knowing Hamilton by now, he always goes for an inside line when overtaking and expects Massa to go back on the outside, misses his braking, and ploughs into the back of Felipe. Knowing the unpredictability of Formula one these days, I’d say its a possibility.

    So I think…
    1. Raikkonen
    2. Kubica
    3. Alonso

  53. 1. Hamilton
    2. Kimi
    3. Alonso
    4. Kubica
    5. Vettel
    6. Kovalainer
    7. Heidfeld
    8. Trulli

  54. Keith,

    I disagree w/ what you wrote related to last year’s Chinese GP:

    ” … don’t forget how strongly he started the weekend. He put his McLaren on pole position and led comfortably at the start.”

    Not so. Kimi won all 3 practices and was 2nd in Q3, by a tenth and a half from Lewis … but he was four (4) laps heavier (Lewis pitted on lap 15, Kimi on lap 19). And Massa was also heavier than Lewis by 2 laps.

    So the dominant car last year, in the dry, was the Ferrari, not the McLaren.

    I agree that Kimi can’t finish higher than Massa, unless Massa is out of the race.

    As far as the temperatures being cold, and the hard tyres … well the forecast I see calls for close to 27C on race day and slightly cooler for Q, so it won;t be cold by any stretch. Plus, it seems to me that the Ferrari is now the faster car in Q (and still the faster in race trim) regardless of temperature and tyre.

    The McLaren has the edge on the wet, I guess, but this weekend will be dry.

    I think Massa will produce a tremendous lap somewhere in Q, far ahead of anyone else, will easily take pole and barring another team disaster will walk the race … w/ Kimi’s permission. I agree that Kimi is now faster than Massa, and in fact the fastest driver out there, period.

    Massa wins and we go to Brazil w/ a prospective tremendous season finish.

  55. 1. Hamilton
    2. Kimi
    3. Alonsito

    It´ll be lovely to have old pal “Alonsito” on the podium when Hamilton celebrates his title success!!! Let´s see if he shakes his hand for breaking his record in the same way he did with Vettel at Monza!!!

    Ha ha ha (je je je para los españoles!), I can hardly wait!!!

  56. Im with you PaulD. Hamilton celebrating the WDC with kimi and Alonso on the podium is the perfect finish!!!

  57. Dan M, that’s pretty funny.

    Anyways, Lewis will probably get poll and keep the lead for a while, but I don’t expect him to run away from the field. Talking about Karma, hopefully his engine blows up 3 laps from the end just like Massa’s did back in Hungary. That was just awful.

  58. 1. Kimi
    2. Hamilton
    3. Alonso

  59. 1. Kimi
    2. Fernando
    3. Robert

  60. On the Track:
    1. Hamilton
    2. Massa
    3. Raikonnen

    Once the stewards have done their work:
    1. Massa
    2. Raikonnen
    3. Hamilton

    Penalty of the week: Hamilton for blocking an overtaking manouvre (Drive through, post-race)

  61. this is a wild one hear. i think it will rain, not 100% sure.

    prediction:

    1. Massa
    2. Webber
    3. Coulthard

    This i dont know how will happen. Me thinks we will have the worlds most expensive carpark somewhere on track. and Webbo and DC will soldier on after great stratergy calls by RBR.

  62. Let me see…
    I guess Kimi will finally put it together and win, now that he doesn’t really give a toss. Robert second and Alonso 3rd. Hamilton in the gravel, Massa with one or two points.
    1. RAI
    2. KUB
    3. ALO

  63. 1-Massa
    2-Kubica
    3-Alonso

  64. The weather is intriquing me, if it rains and Lewis performs i think he’ll finish 1st or 2nd, but with it being the 2nd last race of the season it wudn’t suprise me if it goes titts up for Lewis (and thats without the stewards help).

    Thats the way this championships been one race is good the next u get a bad result. Massa is in the good position in that he’s the chaser and there’s not as much pressure on him to win the title than there is for Lewis.

    Id love Lewis to win the title here but i cant see it. Id happily settle for him to finish ahead of Massa hopefully with at least one car between them.

    Kubica i think’ll be out on a clever strategy he could be lightly fueleed in this one and get of 2 a flyer on sunday morning as a result

    My Prediction
    1 Lewis
    2 Kubica
    3 Massa

    Oh nad another thing wudn’t it be good if Bourdais got a points scoring finish here (id settle for 7th with him) after he was robbed of 3 points in the last race. Hopefully another top performance and his drive will be saved as i dont want Sato in F1 again just because he’s a sponsor driver.

    Watch out for Honda this w/e, i wonder if they’ll qualify ahead of the Force India’s?

  65. Massa and Hamilton DNF

    Kubica
    Glock
    Heikki

  66. jeb from philippines
    18th October 2008, 1:53

    My Unofficial 2008 Chinnese GP Results:

    1. Massa 10
    2. Alonso 8
    3. Raikonnen 6
    4. Kovalainen 5
    5. Bourdais 4
    6. Piquet 3
    7. Trulli 2
    8. Vettel 1
    9. Webber 0
    10.Hamilton 0

  67. 1. Hamilton
    2. Alonso
    3. Raikonnen
    4. Trulli
    5. Vettel
    6. Webber
    7. Piquet
    8. Massa

    Fastest Lap: Raikonnen :~)

  68. massa
    kimi
    alonso
    kubica
    someoneelse
    hamilton…

    heh

    is just me, or do other people think f1 race broadcasts should be the same as the f1 videos on the f1.com website… full dj playing a set, quick cuts, fast replays…

  69. While I want Lewis to win without a doubt, I think he’s going to wind up on the wrong end of an over-agressive move again. As a result…

    1. Kubica
    2. Alonso
    3. Massa

  70. i think webber should finally take his first win followed by kubica and heidfeld

    hamilton-disqualified

    massa-2 points

    raikonen-DNF

  71. My race predictions are –
    Rain:
    1. Hamilton
    2. Alonso
    3. Kubica

    Dry:
    1. Raikkonen
    2. Alonso
    3. Hamilton

    My “results” predictions are that somehow Massa gets a few ‘bonus’ points from his friends in the Stewards box. I vote that the penalty will be against Kovi.

  72. Kubica
    Alonso
    Kovalainen.
    Piquet

    And Briatore having a huge headache :-))

  73. Just for fun:
    1- RAI
    2- HAM
    3- ALO

  74. My fervent hope is:
    1.Felipe
    2.Kimi
    3.Kubica
    This is purely because I am a Ferrari fan and because this is Felipes year.

  75. KOV
    MAS
    RAI
    ALO
    .
    .
    .
    .
    HAM-DNF-Puncture resulting in high speed crash….no physical injury of course, same can’t be said for his ego!

    Did anyone else pick up on Massa’s comment at the post quali press conference, where he said something along the lines of ” We’ll see how we go on the long stint” does that mean he’s heavy?

  76. just a odd question but does anyone know the end song track when the F1 finished today at the China F1 Grand Prix. It was on ITV 1.

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