Obviously that's the result of a plot by the FIA against Red Bull who must be superior in all things. Clearly the presence of wheels on his Sauber was unfair, and in the future all F1 cars must run without wheels except Red Bull. Red Bull is also considering an injunction against fueling the other teams, and making all their drivers stand in corners with bags on their heads for the duration of the race.
I don't understand all the Red Bull hate here.....all they did was take a backmarker to a World Champion in a few short seasons....and I do not think they did it by cheating. This reminds me of all the anti-Ferrari rants where folks are always complaining that Ferrari has Bernie and the FIA on the payroll or something, but when they stop winning all that seems to go away. We're just watching from the sidelines, unless we have money invested somewhere in an F1 team, I don't think these kinds of remarks are accurate or appropriate. Let's just watch the show and enjoy it for what it is - entertainment!
I don't hate Red Bull, I'm just poking fun at them because they're complaining so much about the tyre thing. During the whole blown diffuser thing a few years ago, I thought the other teams were whining too much about Red Bull's advantage. They should have stepped up to figure how to make that work for them rather than getting blown diffusers banned. Red Bull's a fine team, with fine drivers and I don't mind if they win. I do however feel like making fun of them for leading in both the drivers and constructors championships, then complaining about having to work harder for the win, that's all. Besides, if there wasn't some polarizing, meaningless shout-fest controversy, then it wouldn't be F1.
Don't think anyone is hating on Red Bull really, they have done a stellar job the last few seasons.... That said, it is rather comical to hear them whining now, and they still reside atop the points standings.... Bit of head them off at the pass me thinks... PS: ...and for many, all the speculation is a part of the entertainment. Otherwise we would all just be watching Mickey Mouse cartoons.
Ferrari are the usual group crying foul and looking askance at everything. Nice to see another team step up into that breech.
Here's Paul Hembery of Pirelli on the race. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzTuhnmBeZ8&feature=player_embedded]Paul Hembery on the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix - YouTube[/ame] He does say that they will be making some changes for Silverstone, but he also mentions that any changes made that are seen to favor Red Bull will be met with criticism from the other teams. They're really in a darned if you do, darned if you don't situation. Also, Sauber set the fastest lap times on both the option and the primes this race.
This was a darn good read IMHO... BBC Sport - David Coulthard column: I want to see F1 drivers flat-out
Before the season all the teams were allowed to do a bit of testing on the new tires and got physical and performance specs as provided by Pirelli. They all built cars based on that info. As happens every season, some hit the ground closer to the mark than others. Red Bull missed, though not by much, with a car they claim is better than the tires. Translation: They built their car based on an expectation of better (read more durable) tires. Whether they did so because of wishful thinking or miscalculation we'll never know. Fortunately for them, there's a convenient bandwagon for them to jump on provided by all those complaining about the tires having an artificial affect on the racing. Don't forget, there were at least a few other teams complaining as well very early on but -- and I suspect this is because they sense Red Bull would benefit most and start running away again -- they've all become silent, leaving Red Bull as the lone consistent and vocal complainer. The lone complaining team, that is. There are still drivers wishing things would change, though I suspect they've been largely silenced by team politics, and plenty of others griping outside the paddock. For example, Martin Brundle: Enough is enough. Pirelli have to change their tyres after a race bordering on a farce (skysports.com)
You guys do know that there is always just one team and driver truly happy at the end of a race...everyone else is left to make excuses why they got beat, why their performance wasn't good enough...and to a one, it is hardly ever because they missed the setup.. Tis never my fault I sucked.
I'll second that. Re his "bigger concern" I read a similar comment about failures today from Heikki Kovalainen. There's definitely a growing camp that says, leave the performance pretty much as-is until next year but fix the basic construction or whatever it takes to cut down on the catastrophic failures.
As for the tire issue. Remember when Ferrari was dominating? What did F1 do? They kept changing the tire rules until Ferrari weren't winning all the time. Same thing is happening to Red Bull. It is what happens in F1 if you do too well. I'll be surprised if NJ happens. It just seems like too much is and will get in the way. F1 at Long Beach? How are they going to deal with the noise regulations? F1 cars are a lot louder. I just have a tough time seeing any country with more than 1 race since Bernie wants to keep adding more.
If it weren't for Alonso we would be having the conversation in reverse, because Kimi, running a tire saving strategy, would have won the race while beating Massa who was running the same strategy that Alonso did... This is competitive racing, more than one way to win, next race Kimi's strategy might be the winning one.. Leave the tires alone.
I kind of wish it didn't go that way; changing the rules to hinder one team. But winning = more prize money = more development for the car = more winning, a vicious cycle. The other teams don't pull in as much money, so they can't develop the car to the same extent as the winning team, so they can't win. It's annoying, but I see the reason for the rules changes. The only way around that kind of thing would be to put extreme spending caps on all the teams that could never really be enforced (yes there are spending caps, but I'm thinking that there'd need to be much tighter ones), or to turn it into a spec car race, which would ruin it for good. Besides, can you imagine telling Ferrari that they'll have to build on Caterham's budget? Or McLaren? Geez, McLaren seems like they could put their cars in space if they felt like it (this season notwithstanding - what a mess they've got themselves into this year!).
Budget? Not for lack of budget that Red Bull didn't run well in Spain and it sure as heck ain't for lack of budget that MB is stinking up every track they got to... To do a tire compound change this far into the season will hurt more than help those teams that are actually running on a limited budget.
For better or worse, they're going through with it, and they're moving it up one race. Pirelli have consistently stated the goal given to them was to match the tire performance as seen in Montreal (in 2012? can't remember that detail) so I'm guessing that's why they've decided they need to get it "right" for Canada. Pirelli to introduce revised tyres from Canada onwards (formula1.com)
I agree, a good read. Buxton seems to be maturing a bit as a journo. I still like him much better via text, though (i.e., edited), than behind a microphone.