Formula 1 Thread

[ironbut]

A wild and woolly race for sure!

Pretty wacky decision by Alonzo but, it's not always so clear cut from the drivers seat (I'm thinking that he had no idea how bad the wing was damaged). Of course, it could've all been different if he'd avoided running into the back of the Red Bull in the first place! I'm sure he was kicking himself after that mistake.

I gotta kick out of Hamilton's little visit with his old pals in the pits.

And just when things were looking so great for Force India,.. those guys must've been crying in their after race drinks! And sending a car out with a miss matched set,.. never seen that before!

Everybody came close to running out of tires. If the rain had continued, they probably would've run out of intermediates and been forced to the full wets. The longest race of the year and no chance of an extra set! Seems kinda dangerous to me.

And that was before the team issues. Webber looked like he could've eaten nails! Probably the last driver I'd want as an enemy!

[Torpedo]

I still don't get Massa's attitude. At the race start he run like mad to block Alonso and never did anything like team work to block Webber. Once Fernando was out, he calmed down and never really pushed to make podium.

 

I'm not very sure which were team orders at RB. For Webber's pissed looks and comment, it seems the team ordered to leave things as they were with Webber 1st and Vettel 2nd, but this decided to win the race at any price. Still I'm unsure Webber was pissed for they told him to slow down and let Vettel take over.

 

I'm quite sure Fernando didn't know how serious was the damage in the front wing. However some other times cars make a few turns looking worse than that, which probably was what Ferrari tried to accomplish. Just a case of bad luck. Looks like good luck isn't on his side many times.

[ironbut]

The impression I got from the post race interview with Christian Horner was, when the race was decided to be "in hand", the team decided it was time to leave the race order as it was (Webber 1st) and turn back their pace to one that will preserve the tires and stress the engines (and team) less. Webber said that he had complied with the teams wishes and slowed down but that Vettel shot past him once he did.

In other words, Webber complied with the orders and Vettel didn't.

 

I guess all this inter team stuff will get sorted behind the scenes.

I did get the impression that many of the drivers seemed to have some kind of attitude going into this race. Maybe it was the heat?

 

The rest is the ups and downs of racing. It's just shocking to see it all happen in one race!

[mikeymad]

I liked that Hamilton acknowledged that he should not have really been on the podium. 

[ironbut]

I agree Mikey.

Hamilton has really matured as a man before our very eyes.

I have to admit that I wasn't his biggest fan at first. In retrospect, being an Alonzo fan, I was biased when they were both at McLaren. As it turned out, that was probably for the best as Alonzo moved to Ferrari.

Rosberg seems like the kinda guy that needs a little stroking from time to time. Probably the result of growing up in the shadow of a world champion father.

I aways liked Nico. Even though he may not be one of the very best drivers, he does exemplify the "Grand Prix" image,.. living in Monaco and always happy to be a spokes person for the FIA.

[Absorbine_Sr]

I too was not a big Hamilton fan, but I agree Steve, the maturity he displayed last year impressed me, and even more so in taking the chance to move to Mercedes this year. And my guess is that he will be champion again with Mercedes, maybe as soon as next year.

 

Ferrari took a chance and lost by keeping Fernando out. I understood what they were doing - trying to get him one or two more laps on inters to maximize the slicks when he came in. They failed. That's racing. I was more concerned that the wing failure looked really scary and left Alonso with a true lack of control. Luckily it worked out ok. Fernando will be back next race as strong as ever.

 

Rosberg needs to understand team dynamics. Had the roles been reversed, Ross would have told Hamilton to hold position as well. Sometimes you have to take one for the team. And you guys are right - Lewis admitting Nico should have been on the podium was a class act. Pity that Vettel couldn't do the same.

 

And I'm sorry, I need to rant a little here. Vettel is a great driver, there is no doubt. But he's an arrogant asshole. It was made quite clear to him and Webber that they were to hold station. And Vettel did not. I felt Webber was justified in being pissed, and I hope Mark can come to terms with his emotions. The reason I say that is a similar incident killed my favorite driver of all time. In the 1982 Italian Grand Prix, the two Ferrari's were 1-2. Gilles Villeneuve led Didier Perroni, and no one was challenging them. They were told to hold station. On the final corner, Perroni passed Gilles, and Villeneuve was livid. He swore he'd never speak to Perroni again. At the next race, Gilles swore he'd not be out qualified by Perroni and went out for one last gonzo run to beat him. And he made a mistake. he hit the rear wheel of Jochen Mass and crashed horribly, thrown from the car. Killed.

 

These emotional issues have consequences and Vettel needs to have his ass spanked to make him very aware of this.

 

End rant.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Absorbine_Sr

[Torpedo]

x2 on the Vettel rant. He behaves like a kid, some of the maturity Lewis has got, would come very handy to him.

[mikeymad]

歡迎到中國來

(welcome to china)

[ironbut]

Here's hoping that things go a little smoother for all involved!

Funny, every year Sepang always amazes me with it's enormous scale.

Too bad it's so far away. I'd love to see it in person.

[mikeymad]

Really enjoyed the Race.. and the results..  Good racing till the end.. 

 

also liked that the top 5 were all different teams. 

[Torpedo]

I've had a lot of fun today watching it. Poor Weber though, suspicious too much bad luck for a weekend. Massa should have left Ferrari long ago.

[Absorbine_Sr]

Excellent race, excellent result. I keep laughing when they talk about Massa outpacing Alonso. He has - until it comes to Sunday. And then Fernando shows who the consummate driver is. But kudos to Kimi and Lewis for great drives. 

 

Webber? Bad luck maybe, but I wonder if his guys have been rattled by the fact that Red Bull did nothing to Mr Vettel over the last weeks. Oh well, I've never had a lot of love for Mark Webber. And it's good to see, from Vettel's race, that there may be enough weakness in their armor for someone else (preferably Red) to take the championships this year.

[ironbut]

Yup, great race!

It seems to me that the championship could be won by any of the top 3 or 4 teams.

And talk about a team suddenly "out of whack"! Could Vettel's selfishness ruin an entire season?

 

It was cool to see Alonzo's "girl friend" in the paddock. What a babe! (I guess that's what a model needs to be though huh?)

I'd love to see Hamilton's post race interview in slow mo'. I could swear that Alonzo was chasing Dasha around the paddock behind Lewis!

Ah,.. the rewards of victory!

 

http://www.dashakapustina.es/

 

Now, Pirelli's tire choices are going to make or break Bahrain!

[Torpedo]

IMO Webber would make an excellent second driver for Ferrari. He and Alonso respect each other very much and are kind of friends.

 

Dasha is a cute girl, and seems sweet. The former wife wasn't bad either, not so flashy (perhaps fashionable is the word) but didn't show as much interest for races as Dasha.

 

I wish fanatism doesn't spoil Bahrain's date. I'll be working so not sure I can watch the race

[ironbut]

Back to Europe and another exciting race!

I'll wait till after this evening's "encore" presentation to get into details but if you missed the live broadcast, it was a real eye opener!

[mikeymad]

I really enjoyed the first half+ of the race.. after the last round of stops it pretty much settled down and everyone brought it home.. but good race.. and happy with results.

[ironbut]

I was so happy to see Ferrari jump the boat and run their own race. I guess it goes hand and hand with having a car with enough pace. But ever since Abu Dhabi 2010, I thought that they were making questionable decisions (but what do I know?).

Really amazing how Mercedes went down the charts because of poor tire management/design. I can't see them replacing Ross Brawn though. Just goes to show how much things changed in F1.

Alonzo did his usual great job especially at the start. I think he takes so many chances during those things that he may be more understanding when things go sideways.

Massa did a great job as well. He looked so happy up on the podium (was that his wife and little boy they kept showing?).

I love the fact that Kimi has so many fans. I wonder if he still parties it up like he used to.

 

Off to the French coast.

Even though Monaco can be kind of boring sometimes (seems like qualifying and pit work really determines the race results), I love the sight and sound of those rocket ships flying down the tubes of a tight street circuit!

Don't forget that practice is a day early.

[Absorbine_Sr]

Well, it looks like we'll have Honda back in 2015. Initial announcement is that they will supply engines to McLaren, but it has also been said this is not a McLaren exclusive deal.

 

More info here.

[Iron_Dreamer]

YAY!!!

Honda-McLaren? Now that makes for some good nostalgia!

[Torpedo]

Awesome. I also read that Kubica might be driving a F1 for practice and improving his injured arm. It'd be so nice having him as team mate of Alonso...

[Torpedo]

Any thoughts about Monaco? Most boring race in years. And Massa needs a substitute

[Absorbine_Sr]

Only thought is that Rosberg must have been thinking "One more Safety Car and I'll bitch slap whoever caused it after the race."

Edited May 27, 2013 by Absorbine_Sr

[ironbut]

Great race in Montreal.

Although Vettel/Redbull clearly had enough pace so it became a cakewalk for him, I loved all the hard racing that went on behind him.

Massa in particular should be very proud of the effort he put out and in won't be long before Force India can be considered one the the top teams.

I can't help but feel for Button. I guess that's racing though. And those folks that say that all it takes is money should take a look at McLaren's slide from the top this year to see how making the wrong decisions in the off season can ruin a season.

I don't see how Lotus can afford to keep Grojean much longer. He seemed to be taking it easy early in the season but wasn't scoring many points. Now he's back in the thick of things but now he's back in the thick of things.

I was glad to see Bottas show a little of what he could do. The Williams is just too damn slow though.

 

Don't know if you guys saw that one of the track workers died after the race. Got run over by one of the cranes while clearing a stranded Sauber it looks like. Tragic for a volunteer (usually members of the local car clubs)!

Edited June 10, 2013 by ironbut

[Torpedo]

I didn't know about the track volunteer. Sad news

 

The race was fantastic. I still think that RB cheats and does something to Vettel's car which the FIA is yet to find out. It make no sense, regarding time differences during the training sessions and previous races, that Vettel after just a couple of turns was almost 3 seconds ahead Hamilton. He's not that good driver. And he's damn lucky, he might have well ruined the race when went off the track after the chicane a few turns before the end, when it was obvious he was going to win. One of these days we'll know 

 

Massa also did a great race. Surprisingly good despite his disastrous Q2 and the previous race at Monaco. Same did Kimi, he's one of the great drivers.

 

Sergio Perez and Pastor Maldonado aren't that far in dangerousness from Grosjean. This just takes things a bit further

[Absorbine_Sr]

And a nice fair fight between Alonso and Hamilton. But still no one can come to grips with Vettel when he starts on pole. Ferrari really needs to up their qualifying game. And unless Vettel suffers a couple DNF's, I'm already thinking this season may be a write-off.

 

And very sad news regarding the corner worker. Those guys are all volunteers - at the F1 level they are usually very accomplished - so it makes it that much sadder.