vettel the ambassador of F1? he say some nice thing the days of F3 with kobi on podium and now they both on poidum again kobi so happy he looked out of words on podium
Domenicali: "We have to score more points." Where does he get these incredible ideas? I'm stunned, the man is the next Chapman.
EXACTLY! The days of one car's domination are over IMO. Titles will be won by mere points, not dozens of points folks. What happened to Alonso this weekend had NOTHING to do with the car. It was bad luck that, quite frankly, was due his way. Look where RedBull ended just a few races back. The F2012 is extremely competitive now. Some said McLaren was clearly the top car a couple of races ago. And now it's RB. It keeps changing folks. Maybe Ferrari is next. So stop saying the Ferrari is crap just because it's not the fastest of all by a landslide. The car is clearly in the top 3 overall (depending on track and setup), which makes it 'extremely competitive' IMO. Alonso has a REAL CHANCE at the title, but it WILL be a fight. And it'll most likely be decided on the last race, like in 2010. This makes the end of the season more exciting than if somebody is 30+ points ahead. If Alonso makes it (hope so), it'll be even sweeter than if he had just cruised to a title victory. Hey, to make this fun, can somebody knowledgeable with the rest of the tracks make a prediction which car is favored? COTA is new, but word is McLaren should rule in that circuit. How about the rest? Maybe the odds are a little bit against Ferrari, but nothing a little rain can't change . So at the end, you never know.
I keep liking my tickets to COTA race....hope there is a championship on the line for 3+ drivers based on the outcome.
Good chance for that: Right now with 5 races to go we still have 11 drivers with a mathematical chance at the WDC.
It's only 9 man, with Massa needing to win ALL remaining races, with ALL above him DNFing to match Alonso's 194 points. Numbers 10 and 11 are Perez and Koby, already mathematically eliminated. More realistically, only 6 drivers are left, but it's a super long shot for Webber and Button, with 60 and 63 points behind. Therefore, the title contenders are Alonso, Vettel, Raikkonen and Hamilton. And if the last 2 don't make ground over the first 2 in Korea, for practical purposes it'd be a 2-driver race IMO. We'll find out soon enough . Finally, RELIABILITY will be a key issue in the last races. I wish Speed (or anybody else) posted how many new engines and trannies each team has left. Strategy between risking mechanical DNF and getting grid penalties for changing either one (if necessary) will be crucial as well. Every point will count this season.
Domenicalli and gang don't seem to realize that poor qualifying results = poor and risky starting grid positions, especially when the car is quick for race day. Its OK to blame Grosjean and others, but come on, they need to get it together for Saturday.
Agree, but I give Alonso credit for making hay when he could. The car is now not quite up to the job, especially against Vettel unfortunately. Pete
Alonso has never been a particularly good qualifier : http://www.4mula1.ro/history/driver/Fernando_Alonso/poleposition.html but he has a great race brain and will be one of the drivers fighting at the end
LdM is being proven correct on Perez according to this---- http://planetf1.com/race-features/8148982/Conclusions-From-Japan --Perez faces steep learning curve-- "A weekend to forget for Sergio Perez. Even his progression into Saturday's top-ten shoot-out produced discomfort given it served to focus attention on the fact that he had previously qualified higher than twelfth only once since Spain. It's a stat which must alarm his future employers too. The similarity of Button and Perez's softly-softly driving styles will pay a useful dividend in terms of set-up next year, but McLaren are always going to be fighting uphill battles if neither of their drivers can put the MP4-28 anywhere near pole. Button's Saturday record this year is a 12-3 defeat. Just as troubling was Perez's ragged, rash attempt to overtake Hamilton around the outside of the hairpin, a move that could only have ended either in a collision or the gravel trap. Given the value of the ten points he was poised to collect for Sauber in the Constructors' Championship, it was bordering on dumb. As Ferrari have already intimated once or twice, Perez still has much to learn - perhaps too much. It's only at best that the youngster's promotion is a year ahead of schedule. "
Slow news day . I doubt Whitmarsh is second guessing. Checo remains 15 points ahead of his more experienced teammate, it was the first race this year he dnf'd without help from others (or a mechanical issue) and he's visited the podium 3 times in 2013. 'Poised to collect 10 points ' ??? Quite the determination based on his position at lap 19..... Weak. Anyone betting against him outscoring McHam in 2013 ???