Vettel #1!!! The fastest man on the grid, no doubt. Nico did well beating Schumi. Button, the slowest driver of the Big 4 teams, as expected. Ferrari...countdown to a catfight has begun...go girls, go! Scuderia Hispamania...LOL...go Max!
doh! I dunno about fawning, but Allen's questions lack any depth, just sort of vague. The monotonic voice doesn't help.
If Massa beats Alonso in the race... I fear what sort of team-destructive Alonso reaction we might get.
No I believe the term is Max Out, at least according to Bruno that is... (reminds me of last year's movie that made me want to gouge my own eyes out ). I can just imagine the chaos of having Bruno as the pit lane interviewer to replace PW...I think even Andreas would take back PeeWee at that point!!!
It is amazing how only in retrospect can you truly do cross-comparisons of team-mates. If you think about it Massa has pretty much gone stride for stride with 3 world champions in a row... A lot of people may be having to revise their opinion of Massa upwards. Very nice to see him back and competitive!!! Frank
I'm all for Massa over Alonso, but let's see if he can defend and/or pass against Alonso and others. He's always been a good qualifier, but not necessarily possessing great racecraft like the Lewis' of the track.
+1 and as I've said earlier many times, I think we will see him up front this year. I sincerely hope he goes all the way. I too think he has grown into not only a great driver but a true sportsman. He has always put team before I and quick to congratulate others when he has been out done..... But at least my wife is pulling for Ferrari now that FA is onboard.....I had him sign a hat for her at Goodwood after he won his first driver's championship and without hesitation when I am watching F1 or she knows I was up early or late watching... first words out of her mouth is how did Fernando do?
You certainly seem to have an attitude problem with the scuderias 2 drivers. Massa is a bigger moaner than Mansell, They're gonna take each other out, Blah blah. Two of the best drivers on the grid and driving their hearts unlike some past drivers seem to have done. I'm happy and hope to see them both succeed. Looking like a good year ahead and i don't see why someone has to be so negative about it all. What are you trying to achieve?
Massa is very good at qualiflying no 2 ways about it, and he has done a good job here taking into account his injury and recovering period. If he had pole, then like he has shown in the past there would have been a chance he could romp home with a win. But this is a different story with 2 fearless overtaking drivers on his heels and one in front, he may get lucky if there is carnage but I don't see him overtaking much if they get the jump on him. And thats why I think he really gives it his absolute best in qualiflying.
Agreed. Overtaking is an area where Massa needs improvement. From pole he is nigh untouchable, but as many here know, he needs to elevate his game in the overtaking department. Still very much a "feel good" story for him to come back so strong after his near-brush with death last year. All I know is that Ferrari has 2 out of the top 3 grid positions. I think many tifosi can now breathe a sigh of relief that the Scuderia is back to being a front runner (last year with the F60 was a hard year for all Ferrari fans)... Frank
Wow Vettel flew and Massa, who has always done well at this circuit, only slightly off by a .1 and FA off by .5; Hammy off vettel's time by a full second +. Maybe the mclaren boys spent too much time plugging holes.... Schumey not happy with the car so you'll see as much development work as the rules allow. Great start for the Scuderia.....hopefully we'll see some ON TRACK passing. should be an interesting start with heavy cars, cold brakes and lukewarm tires.... FORZA FERRARI!!!!!!
The fact of the matter is this was only qualifying on empty tanks. Remember this year we start with full tanks. The car that can keep from eating there tires up on full fuel loads will shine tomorrow. A car that is fast on empty tanks might be a pig fully loaded and vice versa.
Thought MS would have done better. Massa did as expected-he's the best most consistent qualifyer out there but the lad has poor skills in traffic-well at least better than Button. I think at the start tomorrow we will see Hami- or FA make a big leap out front by the first turn.
+1 Excellent point! I'm really looking forward to finding out which teams do well on a full tank tomorrow. All the best, Andrew.
Exactly. This (allegedly) is where Ferrari is strongest-race pace on full/medium tanks. We'll see......
And who will run out of underbody plank first? And who will run out of tires first? And who will run out of a working engine first? All we know is that the first driver to run out of car parts sits in a Lotus.
But will the HRT cars reach 2/3rd distance before the leaders finish? Remember the cliche "chinese curse"?: "May you live in interesting times." This year is gonna be very "interesting". A bit like a demolition derby. First pit stops: lap 5? Or sooner? Which will occur first: the first pit stops, or the new teams getting lapped? Maybe this is just preparation for the return of the USGP. They could run it on the 101 without closing the road, and the traffic wouldn't be much worse. Everybody's gonna be praying for an early safety car. ... and if the mirrors keep falling off of the new cars, that could easily happen. F1 will really have gone Hollyweird if they bring back DC to bounce off the new cars (wearing a cape, shouting "This is Sparta!")
