Disagree. Yes, I do think they deserved penalties, but it should have been a stop and go during the race. Next race penalties suck and I say fine 'em rather than give some arbitrary too-late punishment.
Of course I liked it and I'm very happy to hear that the FIA didn't hand down any draconian punishments. Apparently the changes implemented after the horribly wrong decisions in 2008 (Spa, Fuji) are showing their effects. A good thing. That said, it wasn't clean what he was doing. And that right after weaving around like a mad man in the last race. Hamilton seems to be given a lot amount of carte blanche. Oh boy. I have long given up trying to convince those folks that their 5,000 changes for the lead are as meaningless as the NFL baskets are compared to soccer goals. I just don't care anymore whether a NASCAR or IRL fan likes or doesn't like F1. They're in their world, I'm in mine. You can only lead a horse to water.
Completely agree. But come on, I know you're a huge Alonso fan but he really was pushing his luck at the pit . I'm trying to like the guy and so far this year he hasn't disappointed me, with the exception of 'stealing' the pit entry today. He seems very diplomatic...good PR person?
He did steal the pit entry and that was a rude move towards Massa. No question about it. Apart from that he drove a brilliant race. I still don't think he has a chance at winning the title this year. Dunno what happened to Vettel, but he'll be back next race and duke it out with the McLaren boys. If anything I was stunned how poor MS drove. He is probably surprised too. He is no longer a force to be reckoned with.
He did show some of his old tricky skill making it hard to pass him, but put simply he just appears to be outgunned by the youngsters.
I started to feel empathy for him: He became a free for all. Everybody just passed him one by one. And when he tried to hold back his disciple he lost it and run off the track. This ain't the man who won 7 titles anymore. He now looks like most of the other great champs who tried a miserable comeback (Mansell, Jones, Fittipaldi etc).
+1000 Maybe like I posted eariler a new approach by Todt, warnings then if consistant same infractions the hammer comes down, all IMHO. I don't think there is anything untoward going on.
No argument. It was painful to see Schumacher, the famed 'regenmeister' struggle like this in these conditions. It was a shame to see Alonso have a false start, am I correct this is the first false start since Indy 2002 by hakkinen? I think Vettel will bounce back he said during a pre race interview on the parade truck that he wasn't happy with his setup, despite snatching pole. Webber drove terrible, especially considering he was on a 'rain' setup (more wing front and back). I was astonished by Petrov's new found speed at the end of the race though, did he get new tires in the last ~10 laps?
Webber was my pick in Jack's pot (pun intended) and it didn't do me much good. I'm just happy I didn't waste my Vettel pick on this one.
He was my pick as well. I warned you yesterday not to expect much . It wasn't the mechanical failure i expected, but more driver related this time .
Given or do some drivers just somehow take it? Schumi in his previous racing life did it. Now Hamilton and Alonso are doing it to a lesser degree. It seems that when you're good in F1 you're good even when you're bad. The funniest thing I've heard in a long time as we were watching the post-race news conference: "Hon', who's da straight guy in the middle? He's kinda cute." What can I say. Dirty South.
Webber drove this race the way his whole career was: Sometimes fast, sometimes erratic, inconsistent altogether. He is probably one of the most mercurial drivers out there. He could win or he could be an also run under the exact same conditions. A bit like Berger.
Hello everyone. It's hard for me to believe that the rain makes for better racing. But it is more exciting to watch.
Hang on this time this comment is completely unfair. Webber (finally) got a good start but I will admit he was indecisive for the next 3 or 4 corners before he finally got his rhythm but by then the idiots at the back had crashed. Then the restarts have become stupid with this allowing passing before the start finish line. This makes NO sense at all and is fncken dangerous. F1 is now the only race series in the world where this stupidity happens ... and what happened, Hamilton pushed Webber off the track big time. If this track had not had as enough run off room Webber would have hit a wall and spun back into the pack taking out 3/4's of the runners, and who knows injurying somebody!!!!! Who fncken changed this rule?. Somebody needs to be sacked straight away!!! Webber then was faster than Vettel during the middle to last stages of the race until his tyres lost all tread again (just like Hamilton) and had that minor braking off at the first hairpin and then quite naturally tried to settle for that position but his tyres were way gone. It has taken me a while but I've finally worked out Webbers weakness and it's this finding a rhythm and grip level. This is why he is a bit eratic in those first few corners. In this way he is exactly the same as Frenzten was, ie. needs a couple of laps to find the grip levels and settle into his rhythm. In both cases this is why they will/were never greats. You have go "bam" on that first lap and just get on with it, like (the once fast) MS used to. Pete
+1. Massa who fncken sncks in the rain is being a pig headed *****head and needs to get out of Alonso's way and let Alonso who CAN drive in the rain get on with holding up the teams hopes. If I was Alonso I would have done exactly the same thing, in fact at Australia I would have taken him out because there were many times when Alonso got right up along side when Massa would suddenly dart at him and Alonso did the mature thing and let him go. Alonso finally has got tired of this bullsh!t and made it publically noted to the team and all the world. Alonso then goes and gets a 4th place after a drive through penalty and Massa finishes no where. Alonso case is well proven and Massa should show more respect to Scuderia Ferrari. Hamilton's team should get the pit incident penalty not Hamilton because they let him go when it was not safe. Hamilton though should have pulled in behind but the ultimate blame is the lollie pop man. I'm still most shocked about the passing starting before the start-finish line. Man we are going to see some very dangerous and nasty accidents if this continues. It is just wrong and exactly why the no passing before the start-finish line rule was implemented. Pete
Except for the start Alonso drove a great race. Sorry Phil. Rosberg is improving as a driver and had a great race as well. Schumi did not look very good. Nor did Phil, but better than Schumi (one place better). Hami is the most exciting driver to watch. Pushes the envelope. Pushes the rules. Button is getting to be the most cerebral driver out there. Good for him. Looks like it is going to be a battle all season. Vettel is good and Webber has his moments of ups and downs. the rain made it interesting to watch except for the safety car parts which bunched everybody up and then the fun began again. My regret is the TV did not show enough of Alonso working his way through the field. It will be a long 3 weeks to Spain.
Button, Rosberg, et all got lucky. There's nothing more to it. He did assess the track conditions correctly and make the right call in Australia, but here it was just luck. He gambled; it could've easily rained at that point and screwed him.
But you have to admire how Button gets so much more out of his tyres. Out qualified and out raced his team mate! I never expected this. Pete
I think he was just more patient. Yeah, it could've poured down on him for a lap, but he chose to go with "it's not raining until it's raining" versus the Doppler forecast.
Out qualified and out strategized, yes. Out-raced (in the wheel-wheel sense), no. Lewis has been shredding everyone in his way. This is why his tires are wearing so much more; all those passes aren't free. Lewis was within 1sec at the finish because Button's tires fell off shortly after his did, and iirc his last stint was shorter than Lewis'. The teams are usually accurate in calling drivers in changing conditions. I can't remember the last time a good portion of the grid switched to wet tires and had to pit again within a few laps to switch to back to slicks.
Completely agree, however luck has its part in racing, so well done. Hamilton got a bad launch out of the pit box, otherwise he would have been ahead. Even if it were the lollipop guy's "fault", Hamilton still deserves full blame. You play the cards dealt to you.
