Spanish GP: Race ***Spoilers***

This may sound like heresy after the last 25 years, but if Ron Dennis is available, maybe the Scuderia should hire him to run the team on raceday.....

 

I have no problem with the move FA did on LH, he was trying to put one on him, on the inside ,got good traction off the start despite bieng the heaviest car on the grid, So long as when he does it back, I don't want to hear the BS about him being reckless.

 

+1

For the most part they seem to come home in the order 1 Brawn cars 2 Red Bulls. I think we will end up with Button WDC and either Barrichello or Vettel runner up. So not much of erasing each others points going on.

Also those who said Brawn has no money to develop the car and is going backwards: First it doesn't look like that and second I can't imagine him running out of cash this season. He was allegedly given a parting gift of 170 million from Honda, which should suffice to run the team. Mercedes will do its own engine development (as much as that is even allowed/possible). And development is curtailed this season for everybody anyway, so I don't really see the momentum shift.

 

We´re not so desperate.

And yes: it´s heresy. A big one.

 

All's well in my book then, Ross said he was real happy with the Merc power plant, JB can't seem to put a foot wrong, RB is well.. being RB. felt for him a bit in that race have to admit, but Ross was convincing when he said he thought the 3 stopper was the fastest, and RB struggled on the 2nd set of tyres, Thats it now the kiss of death from me ..

 

2010, aerodynamically isn't too different from 2009. Unless Ferrari want to go under a budget cut. So really the decision to ditch 2009 should only be made if Ferrari go with a budget cap, or if a budget cap happens. The only reason ditching 2008 was a good idea for Honda was because of the drastic regulations changes.

 

Well, it helps when your team screws over the other driver with an extra pit stop. Of course RB is used to getting shafted by Brawn and Schumacher...

 

I don't even want to think about the budget FIAsco.

 

The technical team yes.
The tactical team no way.
Someone has to clean house. In that respect its at Luca's door isn't it?

 

Uh, oh.

So not much hope then that the Scuderia could "pull a Brawn" for 2010? Bummer.

 

+1 and well said. Its time to move on. This particular iteration of Ferrari F1 is done for the year. Yes I could be wrong but today, after all the updates and Massa doing what he could, the Brawns are just that much better. Red Bull is the clear 2nd.

 

True, I hear you but according to Ross they switched JB's pit stop strategy his words :We allow are drivers to race each other but whatever they do they must not crash into each other!!, hence the start, but of course I know he would say that...

 

O HOHOHOHO! I bet he would too! He'd get his revenge on Hamilton.

 

Well yes, but like Andreas said Ross B must be laughing his head off on the quiet.

 

Maybe Button is better than I thought he was...

 

Sorry Stevo...i'm just frustrated...

 

Some how I don't think that Ross wastes his time on such things.
In my experience people who accomplish a lot don't spend much time in the past.
It says a lot that all the controversy over the diffusers didn't distract the Brawn team while McLaren and Ferrari seem to have both lost focus and are suffering.

 

He is, but unfortunately the drivers of now are all so close together they can't just get a point finish by being more brave than others like they could do in and before the 80's.

There are exceptions of drivers nowadays though, but even they can only do so much. I can actually only think of 2 drivers who are just there to keep others seat warm in the current season and those are S. bourdais and N. Piquet (nothing more than daddy's name unfortunately). Fisichella is beyond his prime to sadly.

 

Q. You had nine more kilos of fuel than Brawn at the start, yet you came in very soon after them. Can you explain what happened there?

Felipe MassaFelipe Massa: No. I don't understand. Maybe the consumption. I don't know.

Q. So you had to come in?

FM: Yeah.

Q. You couldn't have gone any further?

FM: I don't think so.

Q. After about 60 laps, you were 20 seconds behind, three tenths of a second behind. Is that more or less where Ferrari is?

FM: In Q2 we were two tenths slower. In qualifying, in Q3 we were four tenths slower because of the fuel. Usually the picture is similar in the race. Two tenths in the race is quite a big difference. Most of the time they were going slowly away. So that's the real picture at the moment.

Maybe we are still a couple of tenths behind. Red Bull I don't know because I was always in front of Vettel, so I don't know if I was holding him a lot or he was really similar. We still need to improve, but I think if you compare the car we had in this race and the car we had before it's a big stop forward. That's really, really encouraging.

Q. It must have been very disappointing when the team told you about the fuel?

FM: We didn't have a problem with the calculations. We had a problem with the machine. But I don't know if the problem was human or the machine. We need to analyse what was the problem.

It was very frustrating. You fight the whole race and then you have to back off. I was already saving fuel in the last run, but it was not enough, so I had to really back off and let Vettel go. I lost a position to Fernando and almost to Nick, so it was quite frustrating.

Q. How has the car improved?

FM: It's much better to drive. It's more consistent, you can be more aggressive under braking. We just have more downforce. It's just much better. I felt it straight away on Friday.

Q. Was there a chance to stop for fuel? What was the discussion with the team?

FM: My engineer was asking me to save fuel, but I was trying to save while fighting for my position with Vettel. He said maybe we could carry on like that and be okay. Then he said it was impossible. I think by the time it was worse to stop, so I don't know.

Q. With the speed of the Brawns and the points' advantage Jenson has, do you realistically think you can catch him?

FM: In the championship? No, I don't think so. We need to be realistic. After five races they won four. Even if we improve massively and we are three or four tenths if front of them they will still score points. So forget it.

 

Understandable mate..

There you going again saying something I have to totally agree with ....

I cannot hold Ross in higher esteem right now.

That is a given..

 

As I said a few races ago: Ciao Mondiale.

 

There's a difference between qualifying and race. During qualy, the driver has the time to talk to the engineers when he's in the pit and make decisions. During the race, he has to focus on driving.

Kimi had problems with the throttle, which is hydraulically actuated. Ferrari had to completely redesign their hydraulic system to create space for the double diffusor, and as they weren't able to test their modifications, it's most likely that some part of that system is the cause for Kimi having to retire.

And what should they have done about Kimi's KERS? It was extremly bad luck that it broke just in the warm up lap, but at that time, you can't do anything anymore.

 

I feel bad for Rubens. It was tough for him not to show how pissed he was during the press conference. On the same strategy, Rubens would have handily beaten Jenson today.

 

Ask yourself one question: If BrawnGP was your team who would you want to win..

I would imagine Ross wants to amass the biggest lead possible, things can turn around quick in this sport.

And no he wouldn't have handily beaten him, but it would have been a close call, that I would just give it to Rubens, however JB's last min Q3 qualifying pace was amazing.

 

The third set of soft tire let him down. He was a second to a second and a half per lap slower than he should have been on those tires. 3 stop was actually better but it just didn't work for Rubens because of the tires. It had ZERO to do with favouring one driver over the other driver. If anything Rubens was given the best chance to win the race at the start. Button was the one who thought he was being short changed when the switch was made to a two stopper...
CH