Qually - Spoiler!!!!!! It looked all weekend like the Ferraris would have something for the Mercs, but in the end - Alonso's in 5th place, like always and Kimi's behind the wall, also like usual. I thought Riccy Racer might just have it, but in the end the Mercs had one more tenth in them than the Reds Bull, and the Hamster has .0007 more speed than Rosburg .....just enough to get him the pole and Rosberg the shaft it's been a real upset year for the old guys like Massa and Button (and even Vettel), getting trounced by their younger rookie teammates - speaking of ol Jens, I think this is it for his F1 career....I can't see Uncle Ron paying him to come back next season with Honda and the lesser teams will be hiring paying drivers and won't have the cash to shell out for Jens.... I think he's done. Kimi looked racy this weekend, like he felt he really had the car under him that would let him push, but beside his engine(?) problem, he was still a second or more slower than the Mercs. Ferrari may be faster than at the start of the season, but then so is most everyone else, the gap remains the same and they're still a 5th place car. Marchionne has said that they need more engine, so I'm guessing that's what they'll have next season. Whether they'll also have the chassis to take advantage of it remains to be seen...... so qually ends up just as expected: 2 Mercs - Hammy & Rossy 2 Reds Bull - Danny and Seb Alonso Everyone else...... Unless one or both Mercedes hit the wall or run out of tires, it will probably be business as usual - but Riccy Racer has shown a strong ability to conserve his tires and have something in hand at the end of the race, lets see what he can do this time.....
Spoiler. . . . . . . . Yep with Lewis and Nico turning almost identical times, Red Bull catching up and possibly their own little drivers duel brewing, then Alonso showing speed this week end......this could be a great race indeed!!
I think it is going to be one hell of a start & a good race. When Ricciardo flashed P1 on scoring I cheered like many who were there. Quite a lot of action in the last minute. I was sure Lewis had shot himself in the foot with his last lap lockup. Damn near did, 7 thousandths of a second Wow!
Wow........... I cannot believe they let Alonso get away with those first corner shenanigans......so from now on boys, barnstorm past everyone you can, go straight at the first corner, and keep all the places you made up over the guys who DID take the turn....that's the new rules...... The all 4 off rules definitely seem to be open to interpretation - if you're not one of the marquee teams and go all 4 off you get a penalty, but not if you're Ferrari - and especially Alonso.
Yes, Seb passed him back cause he couldn't hold the line, but he passed two cars...... You all see my point tho, don't you? If it's a penalty to put 4 over, and no one forced him out - he was simply going too fast to make the corner - why did they let that slide?
He was clearly passed Daniel and was alongside Seb....and he most definitely did give the position back to Seb. This was reported by several people, including Daniel. What Alonso did was simply to recover from a lockup. They don't give out that penalty if you go off track from a mistake. Otherwise the pit lane would be full of drivers getting penalties for going off track cause they locked up or went off because of a spin.
It could be argued that the speed it took Alonso to get in front of both Daniel and Seb is why he locked up in the first place, don't think it had any effect on the finishing results but had Magnusson done that, they would have had a public hanging..... Of course I'm a Ferrari fan so me thinks it should have been a no call.... Dang my crystal ball sure flickered before the lights even went out for the start today.....
Yes but the reason he was recovering ( I saw no lockup till he was already well past the corner) was because he deliberately drove down into the corner and then straight on, only then was he really on the brakes - I'm sorry I saw it as a deliberate move that worked, and I think you'll see more of it as the season goes on. and yes, if Magnussen had done something like that they'd have sat him out for a few races.
Guess I watched a different race. Looked like Alonso threw a hail marry into the first turn. I saw lockup he no choice except to run wide, so he gained a few & lost one back, just good hard racing no BFD as far as I'm concerned. Of course they'd have hung Magnussen for that. For some reason he is the flavor of the moment with the stewards.
Was a good race over all. I think Red Bull should have brought in one of the cars with about 15 laps to go and put on super softs. Split the strategy could have got someone a win.
Re: Alonso - Martin Brundle mentioned that Charlie Whiting was planning on going easy on any first turn lapses. I think the reason was that he would rather people run off than crash and stop the race. That seems fair to me, especially since Alonso did give up the spot.
He gave up one, but he passed two cars! And he only gave up the one because he was going too fast to hold the line and Vettel got him back. Banzai move and illegal as hell IMHO - but because it worked I think we'll see a lot more of this in the future, and because of more guys trying it we'll see massive pileups in turn one again......being on pole or first off the line might be the only way to make it thru turn one in the near future. Seems to me if you're going to have a rule - all 4 tires off is a penalty - you need to enforce it religiously and uniformly. Vettel has been all 4 off at lots of tracks, but let Mags do it and instantly he gets taken to the woodshed...... All I'm saying is if they have a rule - and they do - they need to not show favoritism....or lift it "just this one time".....
Seb did NOT get the position back with driving. Alonso slowed and gave it back to him. Listen to the post race interviews..... And like I said, there is no penalty if you go off from a driving mistake. If you go off track consistently at a corner you will be penalized. That is exceeding the track limits while RACING.
If he had to give it back to Seb, why didn't he give it back to Ricciardo too? And what's the difference between making a driving mistake and going off while racing? In both cases you go 4 off - as long as you aren't forced off....... and no one forced Alonso off in turn one......so was that a driving mistake or racing? And again, what possible difference does it make? The point of the rule is to make the drivers stay on the racing surface - and to make sure they do there are penalties involved if they don't - except when they decide not to? I'm just saying you can't have rules ambiguity like this, either enforce it or don't.....and if you are going to enforce it - make sure you do it to everyone every time, otherwise don't bother to have the rule in the first place.
Personally I think if someone goes 4 wheels off because of good hard racing great. I like good hard charging racing, not a processional parade. These cars & drivers can pass & that is a good thing in my mind. We are seeing some great racing this year, even though they are racing F1 Prius's. Slightly off topic, IndyCar. Remember when Zanardi passed Herta 4 wheels off in the corkscrew to win race on the last lap. Oh boy great stuff, everyone loved it, except Herta.
If they don't want cars to all 4 off then stop paving all the run offs. Half a car width then a moat. That would solve the problem. Not to mention how cool it would be to watch the cars jump the moat.:cornut:
I agree if there is room to put there a car any racer worth their salt will use it. The paved runoffs are there for safety & that's good, but keeping drivers off them seems an impossible task. Are there crocodiles in those moats? :ihih: