http://planetf1.com/race-features/8165449/Korean-GP-Winners-and-Losers Funny someone here had the same idea lol! Guess it was not the end of the world to state so. TifosiUSA this one's for you amigo----- Fire at will!!! The Big 'What If...' So what would have happened if Alonso had let Massa through in the final stint to see if he could challenge Mark Webber? The strategy being that if Felipe could challenge the Red Bull and put Mark under more pressure, then Webber's tyres might not have lasted the distance. Or, we could have had a scenario as we witnessed with Hulkenberg, Grosjean and Hamilton where Massa fighting with Webber allowed the car behind, Alonso, to pass them both. It's not as though Massa would have failed to give up the place to Alonso once past him and they were fifteen seconds down the road in front of Kimi Raikkonen. It was the perfect situation to try something radical.
Face...palm... Unfortunately, the writer must not have watched the race because Webber was merely cruising, when Alonso began to catch him he simply upped his pace and comfortably drew away. Plus, as I said earlier: 1.) Had Massa passed Alonso and then succeeded in getting by Webber, he would be in second, Webber third and Alonso fourth as FA obviously didn't have the pace to pass Webber (or he would have done so in the race). He tried at one point and Webber simply dialled it up again. 2.) Therefore they would have finished with VET in 1st, MAS in 2nd, WEB in 3rd and ALO in 4th. Using your brilliant strategy, Alonso would have lost 3 additional crucial points to Vettel and would be down 9 right now instead of 6. That is, assuming that Massa would have even had the speed to catch Webber (a very big IF). All he probably would have done is pushed his car unnecessarily hard and risked his tires falling off a cliff for no reason. There was nothing to gain from trying this. Then again, you live in a parallel universe where you think it's a good idea for Ferrari to allow their drivers to race each other (not just this race, but for the remainder of the season) when Fernando is locked in an ultra-close WDC battle and Massa has no chance.
To address this ridiculously speculative paragraph directly - let me get this straight: 1.) Ferrari were to let Massa pass Alonso to see IF he could catch Webber 2.) IF Massa caught him, and IF Massa passed him 3.) Alonso would somehow be able to magically catch Webber IF Massa battled with Mark, despite the fact that IF Massa could catch Webber the "battle" would consist of an easy DRS-zone pass lasting a few seconds 4.) IF Mark tried to defend against Massa and IF he was under pressure there could be a mistake IF his tires got worn enough and IF Massa's held together long enough to catch him and pass him 5.) IF Massa couldn't catch Webber he would drop back and switch places with Alonso, but what IF he did get past Webber and Alonso couldn't catch Webber? What IF Massa cooked his tires trying all this and had to stop again? LOL. How idiotic. Let's face it, you (and likely this British journalist) don't like Alonso and simply wanted to see Massa pass him and were frustrated when he wasn't allowed to. Which personally, I would think was cool if I was a Massa fan. Sort of turning the tables on the "Fernando is faster than you" fiasco. If I was Massa I would have said something like "Ok, I'm much faster than Alonso but can't risk passing him and stealing points away so I need to fall back. Roger."
At this point I'm beginning to wonder if they're not just publishing stuff the interns write when they're not running down to the corner store for more coffee.
Coffee? I understand the exuberance among the fans producing some wishful posts but are there no professional standards left?
Sadly F1 opinion pieces are usually so biased they carry about as much weight as your everyday forum post.
..But they are the only ones!! Pitpass it´s a joke, Planet f.1 rubish and autosport litle more than british propaganda....
I think you're reading too much into this, or overanalysing. Nothing wrong whith what you said, but the way the race went we will never know what would have happened had Massa passed Alonso. There was nothing to loose. You say that Alonso would finish fourth, loosing extra points. But ofcourse Ferrari would not have allowed that to happen en Massa could have dropped back again if there were no gains. I agree that Massa probably would not have passed Webber, but a good team is always ready to pounce when there are problems with the rivals. As it is, they didn't bother the RBs at all so no pressure at all. They gave that one away too easily.
You right, Massa seemed to have the pace to catch mark, and we don´t know how long Webber´s tyres would have lasted if he had to push, plus Felipe is a good overtaker...problem was, if massa passed Webber waht then? Alonso wouldn´t be able to do do same so, where they going to tell Massa to drop 2 places? That would have been ridiculous....as much as i hated it (and i´m not even rooting for Alonso to win this champonship) it was the best possible call for Ferrari.
Ask LH about Budapest when Massa parked him on the grass to take the lead from 3rd at the start in 2008. He is not without some racecraft believe it or not. He lost the title by 1 point. That does take some skill actually. Is he FA? No. He is not without merit either.
+1 remember Singapore? But in the seasons where overtaking was hard, he wasn't known for being a good overtaker. The seasons with DRS and KERS have helped him I think.
It's a fact that Alonso didn't have the pace to catch Webber, thus making the whole thing an exercise in futility. What Massa did or did not have the pace to do is irrelevant because Alonso couldn't catch Webber.
True. There was no reason for Alonso to drive any harder and tax his car unnecessarily. Given everything we've seen over the years there is no reason to think that Phil was faster. It's great to see Massa back on form but it doesn't mean that he's suddenly surpassed Alonso.
No, i´m not, he actualy is very good at defending and atacking, do you remenber him taking 2 cars at one time Canadá 2008? he did an amazing recovery in that race...same at Silverstone previous year.....and if you look back, Massa is actualy one of the drivers who makes more overtaking moves without using DRS...