http://www.planetf1.com/race-features/6103069/A-Few-Conclusions-From-China
Taken from that article; Alonso Shows His True Colours It's no wonder that Fernando has had enough of these wacky races and wants a return to normality. "We've had only one in Bahrain, and we won the race," he reflected mournfully on Sunday. The last three races have been messy for the Spaniard and he has done well to finish the Far East leg of the season in third place in the standings (it's an example, incidentally, on how congested the standings are and the effect of the new points format that Felipe Massa has fallen from first to sixth in the space of just a single grand prix). Having rescued a decent result in Malaysia despite being hampered by a faulty gearbox, Fernando was the architect of his own difficulties in China by jumping the start. Without the Safety Car, he would have finished with the also-rans. All the post-race focus, however, was on his remarkably opportunistic and risky overtaking move past Felipe Massa at the pit-lane entrance. It was a bold manoeuvre because of the danger that it would result in an accident - which was only avoided by Massa taking to the grass - and a rift within the Ferrari camp even if it did not. It's an example of just how single-minded Alonso's outlook is that he felt it sufficient to declare afterwards merely that "for me it was a normal move and it definitely won't compromise our relationship." Of course it wont, Fernando, because you were the jumpee not the jumped-on. His consideration of what Felipe might have thought of the matter was conspicuous by its absence, as was Felipe's own willingness to publicly reveal as much. So far, his only comment has been delivered via the private sanctuary of a Ferrari press release.
Complete the quote Steve; ..minus the acrimony. IMO this is a pointless statement from PlanetF1. The Acrimony was what they were infamous for.
I can see why they comparing them, but Button The Professor"!! for his intellectual approach to competition.. er ok. I have said at the beginning of this season I must find my quote, that Button can and will pick up the pieces of the big guns fighting it out, and go for it thinking long term, he is doing this and of course he is a good driver in the wet, and with good tyre preservation he yet again is exceeding my expectations of him.
While most of us (me included) lumped Button alongside Michael Schumacher in how they would factor in the WDC (boy, was THAT a bad call), you did in fact say that Button would be there to pick up the pieces of the big guns fighting it out. I didn't think he would win more than one GP, but he's already exceeded that after only four races. He is simply making great decisions during adverse conditions. I still think that, in the long run, it will be about Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso (in that order) for the WDC, especially as things dry out. However, I think there are very compelling arguments to include Rosberg, Button, Kubica and yes, Massa as well (especially for Felipe in dry conditions).
The point to racing is to win, not to wipe your teammate's ass. You can't blame Alonso for not wanting to be stuck behind Massa yet again. I didn't see anything wrong with the move either.
I just hope for the sake of the team that if the roles are reversed in the future and Massa pulls that move, Alonso reacts as calmly.
Alonso has treated Massa with kid gloves thus far and if that had continued it will surely lose him the title. At that point he had to do what he had to do.
An interesting thing to note (again), is that Button got his tyre call so much better than Hamilton. Was that down to luck or experience?. I also wonder whether Hamilton again relied too heavily on the team for tyre decisions. Here: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83010 he says: "It was tough at the beginning, the weather was not easy for making the call to change tyres. I chose very late when I was halfway around the corner and clearly it was not the right choice". It seems very strange that he would decide to go into the pits having already started to go round the corner. That to Me seems more like a late reaction to the team telling him to come in. (Don't get the wrong idea BTW, I'm not accusing him of lying). As for good tyre preservation, it was interesting to note that Ted Kravitz in the pitlane for the BBC said that while pretty much everybody elses tyres were worn out, Alonso's tyres were still in very good shape with plenty of tread left on them. Considering how hard he was pushing, I once again found that quite impressive.
Exactly. Massa had PLENTY of time to climb his way back up through the field but couldn't and that's NOT because of Alonso. Massa is slower than Alonso and has been every single race. It's about time he did something like this.
http://www.lastampa.it/_web/cmstp/tmplrubriche/giornalisti/hrubrica.asp?ID_blog=298 "to hell with fair play, the move marks the Spanish territory and allows one to establish an internal hierarchy" I'm afraid Massa will not have the balls to pull a move like that. Not if he intends to keep his ride. But I sure hope he will, regardless of the consequences.
I thought this was an interesting statement towards the end of the article: But it hardly takes a leap of imagination to foresee Rosberg starting 2011 as the number one driver of a giant team with a giant budget alongside Adrian Sutil or Nick Heidfeld. They're essentially writing MS off into retirement already.
And that's a good thing. Hopefully this is the new Alonso. He dishes it out AND he can take it. I don't want to hear any whining at Ferrari about the team not supporting him like we heard when he was at Renault and McLaren.
The season isn't over yet. Do I think MS will overtake JB in points? No, but the season is still young, things happen.
i just scaned thru that article and they said what fernando did in the pits was not cool but what hamilton did was good? WTF am i missing something?
"Marks the Spanish territory" lol. They make it sound like he's walking around Maranello peeing on everything
Simple. It's a British website. Hamilton can wipe his bum with Jenson's gloves and they'd be fine with it.
