2010 F1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GP: FINALE RACE *** SPOILERS ***

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Bullseye!

And I love that you call Kobayashi "Sato II" - perfect!

Excellent post.

 

My general like for Alonso stems from his incredible talent and my impression of him as a really cool guy.

 

Years ago, someone much wiser than me told me, upon a bitter defeat on the cusp of a national motorcycle championship whose loss came down to poor, error filled race control: "That's racing".

And that it is. All that matters is everything and nothing. It comes down to points at the end of the final race. Opinions flutter and flap opposite directions like a flag in the wind, all season long. The judgements of who was right and who was wrong come along based on who won.....well, right and wrong didn't win or lose the championship. Kharma? Cmon.....
Nobody deserves or doesn't deserve whatever outcome......it is what it is, and that's all it tis.

Vettel won the WDC. Flavio winked to Elisabetta. Alonso and Hamilton have next year. Weber thinks about what could have been. And for many, the coming months will be devoted to changing personnel and trying to build on this year's efforts.

 

Before the season, I picked Red Bull and Vettel to win the respective championships. I was pretty confident about Red Bull through most of the season, but the way Vettel was going at times, I figured that I had picked the wrong guy. Funny the way things worked out!

And I believe the only other time that four drivers headed into the final race with a chance to win the WDC, their names were Aron, Barlini, Sarti and Stoddard. Wait.....that's fiction.

 

Alonso did not "choke". Choking would have been if he made a mistake under pressure. He didn't. I think it's pretty clear he tried his best.

The team may have let him down on the pit stop strategy but it was a crap shoot based on Webber's times.

Given that both Massa and Alonso fell 4 places from their grid positions, it seems pretty clear the car or strategies just weren't up to getting him a podium today. Alonso did not make any mistakes that cost him anything I could see. Neither did the pit crew or mechanics. Choke? No way. They just weren't fast enough today.

As to Petrov being a "disaster", it's not been his speed. It's been his reliablity. He's also racing for his seat. Petrov knows he has to race well at the end of the season. Give him and Kubica some credit for showing a strong finish.

This was Vettel's victory, not Alonso's loss. Vettel drove hard all race and clearly outshined his teammate and everyone else in the field today. He had 10 poles in the season -- obviously he is quick.

Also, give credit to Hamilton and Button for racing hard all the way to the end. It must have been sweet for them to take points away from Alonso. If they couldn't win, at least they could keep Alonso from celebrating.

 

Being a cheater and a sore loser disqualifies anyone from being "a really cool guy" in my book. I will add Turkey to his failure list this year.

 

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Well that was a scenario I hadn't really considered.

 

Pretty funny!

Hey but carbs are sooooooooooooooooooo 1970's!

 

Alonso came in to Abu Dhabi with a 15 point lead over Vettel. He emerged with a 4 point deficit. It was Alonso's loss.

Quick, edit the Wikipedia definition:

"In sports, a choke is the failure of an athlete or an athletic team to win a game or tournament when the player or team had been strongly favored to win or had squandered a large lead in the late stages of the event. Someone who chokes may be known as a choker or, more derisively, as a choke artist."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choke_%28sports%29

 

Was I the only one who wasn't at all surprised by this seasonal result?

We knew Red Bull wanted Vettel over Webber.
We knew Alonso's resurgence was convenient to make the ending "interesting".
We knew Hami didn't have the numbers.

Of course, I've also been watching FIA hand the WRC trophy to Citroen and Loeb, year after year ---- after running off any serious competition.

Lights, camera, action.

It's about "the show".

Oh: and about Concorde money. Before Alonso's surge, Ferrari was 3rd in the WCC. After Alonso's surge, Ferrari is ... 3rd in the WCC.
And Ferrari invoking team orders with no more than a slap on the wallet from FIA?

(The irony is the new FIA points system, which helps F1's longer seasons, but makes WRC even more ridiculous, as they often don't even have 10 cars running.)

 

If Alonso had spun or done something stupid (crash or miss the pit box or lose concentration or whatever), I would say "choke". But if you drive the best you can and even your teammate has similar poor results, you have to look elsewhere.

If Massa was so great and Alonso "chocked", why wasn't Massa right behind Vettel pushing him and taking points away? So, maybe Massa chocked too? He also fell 4 places. What's his excuse?

Did Alonso fail to win the championship? Yes. Choke... that's really not what I would describe here.

It's a team sport. The car or strategy didn't let Alonso or Massa do anything but fall farther behind.

And, I believe it belittles Vettel's victory to say Alonso "chocked". Vettel won. He did what he had to do and did it convincingly. That's what champions do.

I'm still happy for him. He had an amazing season and earned the championship -- as Red Bull earned the Constructors. They were the better team this year. I don't think many of us doubt that.

 

I think Ferrari's pit strategy is to blame too.
Was Alonso's tire really worn or did they pit him because RBR pit Webber?

Alonso was NOT racing Webber, he had 8 pts lead on him and it's ok for Webber to finish before him as long as Webber did not win.

Ferrari should have known pitting Alonso the way they did, would put him behind other midfielders (Rosburg, Petrov ...), did they just believe Alonso could pass them easily?

 

Wow...I was hoping for Fred to take the title, but i can't say i'm not happy with Vettel being crowned the WDC. He really deserved it, IMO.

As for Ferrari, they need to get back to the drawing board. Strategy or no strategy, the car was no match for the Bulls..

 

And Alonso is so 2005... Vettel is 2010

 

They had to race Webber - Alonso needed to finish 4th, Vettel/Hamilton/Button were too fast for him, so he had to make sure to stay in front of Webber. Unfortunately, Ferrari forgot about Rosberg and Petrov.

 

? And your point is what? The kaiser gets spun from behind - how is this relevant?
You've been stirring the pot all year (Alonso ahead of Massa - life is good etc). Your boy was gifted a few wins this year; drove well at times; didn't deliver in the end and now acts like a punk because no one would move over for him.
Take your medicine like a man. Red Bull/Vettel kicked his ass. How sweet it is! I haven't felt this good in a long time. I think I'll re-read Dieters comments about winning in a sporting fashion; not a manipulative manner.
Kevin

 

Easy Bas, all I'm saying is he is very young and has a long way to go (I'm not saying he isn't talented). Remember when Hamilton won in 08' and everyone was going "GAGA" over him, now look where he's at.

Here I made this for you just to make you laugh enjoy
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Yes he needed to finish 4th, and he was in 4th.
I think Ferrari pit him to counter Webber's pit, to make sure he came out ahead of Webber, but they either ignored, or didn't think it matter, that there were other cars ahead of him that he must pass later.

IMO, if Alonso stayed out longer, he would still have cleared Webber, and the other cars.

 

Classic fist shaker. I didn't see that on the Speed feed, unfortunately.

 

Would he have cleared Webber - that is the question. Webber was at that time the fastest in the field on his new tires. Had Alonso lost the WDC because of pitting later and Webber being in front of him in the end, he'd receive equal blame here.

 

+ A *very* big 1!

"Some you win, some you lose."

I'm sure we'll have endless "woulda, coulda, shoulda" debates over the coming months, but none of it now matters. *Lots* of Monday morning quarterbacks here!

Congrats to Seb - He drove flawlessly and showed he could handle the pressure. Mark I thought was very disappointing in the end.

The Ferraris simply weren't good enough this year.

Cheers,
Ian

 

If choking means screaming to your team to change your tyres and your team telling you to stay out on them you can run on tyre cord, well yes.

 

Actually, I won't disagree here. I've said all year how much I like Vettel. I wished he raced on our side!

As long as McLaren doesn't win the Constructor's championship, I can live with any season.