BBR EX26 F2007 Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari 200th GP Victory

BBR EX26 1:43 2007 Ferrari F2007 Chinese GP Winner Kimi Raikkonen

This is BBR's version of the Ferrari F2007 as driven by Kimi Raikkonen to victory during the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix. Coincidentally, this is Ferrari's 200th Grand Prix victory since joining Formula 1 and also their 600th podium. This was Kimi's 5th win of the season en route to winning the 2007 F1 drivers championship.

The presentation is limited to 200 pieces and is mounted on a schedoni leather. Normally, BBR creates these Exclusive series to commemorate a significant moment for Ferrari. Although recently, they have created EX models which does not represent any symbolic or momentous occasion. Some are not even race wins like the EX38 (F150 - Singapore GP) or the EX39 (F150 - Japan GP).

This F2007 version sports the new metallic/cherry red color used by Ferrari on their cars which started only after the Monaco GP. I personally like better the Marlboro red color on earlier Ferrari cars or the current Ferrari red color.

 

Thank you for looking! =)

2012 Canada GP - Lewis' First Win of the Season

The start of the Canadian GP weekend cannot be any better for Hamilton. In the first and second free practice sessions, Lewis topped all drivers showing hope that potentially, he will get his first win of the season. But after the third free practice, we saw Vettel lead the pace. Worse for Hamilton fans, Vettel drove superbly and flawlessly during the Qualifying session that gave him pole position. He was the only driver to reach the 1 minute 13 seconds mark. Hamilton qualified second and the revived Alonso in Ferrari got 3rd.

Not too set expectations too high so as not to feel down if Lewis doesn't win (as with every race), I thought at least a podium position will be satisfying already especially with the performance of both Red Bull and Ferrari. And we all know the miscues in the pit stops of McLaren. So it will be hard for Lewis to win this race.

I stayed up late hoping for a good race and possibly a win for Lewis. Race started at 2AM Singapore time. I prepared myself so that I can watch the race. And boy am I glad I did! Regardless who won, in my opinion, it was a very exciting race to watch. And it was even more satisfying for me to see the driver I support win the race in a very convincing way. It is not usual to see any driver, overtaking two world champion drivers in the final laps of the race to take the win!

At the start of the race, Vettel was being... well like Vettel. He quickly created a gap for himself to hold a 3 seconds lead over Hamilton. I thought it will be another one of the boring races where Vettel started from pole, created enough separation, and won the race. And for quite some time, it looked like that would happen. Then I quickly noticed Lewis closing the gap. It seemed the tyre degradation is forcing Vettel not to push so much. On the other hand, Lewis was able to push further. After Vettel's pit stop, obviously Lewis took the lead. But I was happy to see that even after Hamilton's first stop, he was able to jump ahead of Vettel! That is the time I started to think that a win is highly probable.

It became a battle of strategies in the end. McLaren committed to a two stop strategy while Red Bull and Ferrari opting to do a single stop. Over the team radio, we can hear Lewis asking the team what strategy Red Bull and Ferrari are on. They initially said that they believe they are doing the same strategy as they were. So Lewis pitted and came in third after his pit stop. Lewis was surely waiting for the others to do their pit stops but it did not happen. McLaren realized that Red Bull and Ferrari might be pushing to the end with the tyres that they have and urged Lewis to push as much as he can. I thought for sure Lewis would be mad if he lost the race because of their strategy. Note that Lewis was very wary of what the other 2 were planning!

In the end, tyre degradation was too much for Vettel and Alonso. They probably pushed up to the limit of their tyres. Because of this, Lewis was able to easily overtake both drivers to lead the race until the checkered flag. This gave Lewis his first win of the season and continues to have a strange pattern of results he had in Montreal where he either won or retired from the race. To add insult to injury, Alonso lost 3 more places finishing 5th while Vettel finished 4th. That gave Lewis the lead for the drivers' championship by 2 points with 88 points over Alonso's 86 and Vettel's 85 points.

With 1 more week to go, I cannot wait for the European Grand Prix. Hoping to see Lewis win again!

BBR F2007 Kimi Raikkonen Winner Australian GP 2007

BBR BG331 1:43 2007 Ferrari F2007 Australia GP Winner Kimi Raikkonen

In 2007, Kimi Raikkonen left McLaren to drive for Scuderia Ferrari team. In his first race with Ferrari during the Australian GP, Kimi took pole position, set the fastest lap and won the race. This was also Kimi's first F1 hat-trick.

Back then, Kimi joined Nigel Mansell as the only 2 Ferrari drivers who were able to win their first race with the Scuderia team. Nigel won the first race of the 1989 season which was held at Brazil. The same feat was accomplished later on by Fernando Alonso when he moved to Ferrari from Renault and won the 2010 Bahrain GP.

I particularly like this race version because it still has the old bright red Marlboro color. Later, the color of their car was changed to dark metallic red which started after the 2007 Monaco GP.

As a collector, it's obvious that I should also have another F2007 version but with the new dark  metallic red color. And I do! I have the BBR EX26 (Ferrari's 200th GP win) and EX29 (Championship Presentation). But still thinking if I want to buy the England GP version where Kimi also won ;)

With the different shades of red used by Ferrari in their F1 cars, which one do you prefer most? Let me know what you think and thanks for visiting and reading!

MP4-22 Lewis Hamilton Canada GP 2007

Minichamps 1:43 2007 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-22 Canadian GP Lewis Hamilton

Since this weekend is the 2012 Canadian GP, I thought of taking pictures of this model. This is Minichamps 1:43 version of McLaren Mercedes MP4-22 as driven to victory by Lewis Hamilton during the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix. 

In this race, Hamilton had both his first career pole position and first F1 win. Lewis led for most of the race even though the safety car was deployed a couple of times which increased the chances of other drivers to overtake him.

Lewis already raced 4 times at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve during his career. In this particular track he has mixed results. He won twice (2007 and 2010) but also retired twice (2008 and 2011).  Lewis crashed into the back of Raikkonen's car during the 2008 GP while Button collided with Hamilton due to very low visibility that caused Lewis to retire during the 2011 GP .

For this year, I am hoping for another win for Lewis Hamilton in this track. Lewis, winning this weekend will create a peculiar pattern for the Canadian GP winning and losing alternately. Note that in 2009, there was no race held in Montreal. 

If Free Practice 1 is any indicator of what is to come, we will see a 7th winner on Sunday in 7 different races this year with Lewis getting his first win of the season.