ltc

It's not hatred.
Rather, a complete lack of respect, based on a total lack of character. Nothing more than that

Again, if Alonso win the 2010 WDC by 7 points or less, then it will be, by definition, a faux WDC championship, under the rules as previously defined by Sir A. Wayne.

Consequently, as my last act, I will ban the entire Alonso fan club and stricken their posts from the record, just as Pharoah struck the name Moses from Egypt.

Seems like the reasonable thing to do under the circumstances.

PPo

Hey... I never doubted that he was a great driver... you must have me confused with somebody else.

PPo

Nobody can argue that point.

According to Sir A. Wayne and the guidelines/rules he posted... if Alonso won, he would be a Faux champion regardless of the 7 point spread.

Ray S

If you're going to "quote" a guy do try to get it right.......

He said "is my f-duct working?" It was a question and not a panicked statement (check for yourself on lap 38) and you have totally misrepresented the exchange.

PPo

Totall missrepresented the exchange? Come on now... sorry for not getting it 100% accurate.

When I have time I will check the recording and apologize if it was completly missrepresented...

agdamis

One question my friend. If next week the running order is the same as today and Vettel moves over for Webber and Webber takes the championship that way, as Shuey has done many times in the past, will that be giving in or common sense?

This is the problem and my point all along. Great drivers are in the right place at the right time and fight very hard to be there. This is why they win championships sometimes by just those few points gifted to them by their team mate. If Vettel needs to and does not move over next week Red Bull will do themselves and Webber a great disservice. Regardless of the fact that I am an Alonso fan to the core since he began his career I will concede defeat regardless of Vettel moving over because Webo was there all year long. Championships are not made in one race and this still is a team sport.

See you next week.

Ray S

That's fine......check lap 38

chris walrod

Confetti combined with Champaign, that stuff gets everywhere! Try cleaning a car out afterwards. Certainly a tedious process.

9.5 Degrees

I'm not saying it's not admirable, but Red Bull has made it very diffcult on themselves with what happened today. Maybe it's me, but I don't think Vettel has a chance to win it this year. 16 pts is too big a hill to climb with 1 race to go. Alonso will come in at least 3rd at the last race. It's the Red Bulls and then Alonso, Hamilton, not Button, not Massa can touch Alonso. He gets every last ounce of performance out of that car and then just a little bit more.

Now instead of Webber needing to beat Alonso by just 1 position, he needs to beat him by 2. That's a tall order.

Mistakenly, I believed everyone would get a fresh engine for Abu Dhabi, but it's "their freshest engine that's left" of their 8. In other words, they can qualify on an older engine and then change out their engine for the race because there will be no 10 grid spot penalty.

RajDatta

Whatever the outcome may be, this has to go down as an epic season. In some ways, it will be used as a perfect example of how:
Not to run a team with such dominating car (RBR, Christian Horner))
Not to implode when you are leading the WDC (Webber/Hammy, Webber might still get his)
You can never give up, no matter how the odds are stacked up (Ferrari with midseason slump, Alonso)

Webber could still pull this off, but he will need Vettel's help and Alonso will not make it easy for either. Alonso is no longer just trying to reach the podium, he is going for the kill. He has clearly stated that he plans to go fight for a win, so he controls his own destiny. I just hope that it doesn't come down to a DNF for any of the guys. It would be very unfair this late into the season. I hope they duke it out and leave it all on the track at Abu Dhabi.

Vettels recent comments tell me that he WILL NOT move over for Webber. It was very interesting, what he had to say about his relationship with Webber. Also, nice to see Hammy realize what a competitor Alonso is and to give him his due.
F1: Vettel - I Will ‘Never Be Friends’ With Webber
While the relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso has improved, tensions remain high between the Red Bull teammates...
SPEED Staff / GMM | Posted November 07, 2010 GMM

As one icy F1 relationship almost completely thaws, another has frozen solid.

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso clashed infamously at McLaren in 2007, but Hamilton has now admitted he would be happy to reunite with the Spaniard.

"I'm happy with the way I have things now but I would have no problems having him as a teammate," the Briton said.

Hamilton also refused to agree that Alonso's potential 2010 title win has been tainted by the team orders affair, insisting the now Ferrari driver would "deserve to walk in the company of the great names of the past."

"You are going to be very hard put to find someone beat him on raw talent," he told the Mirror."When he comes to Zurich he texts me every now and then to meet up," revealed Hamilton.

Meanwhile, at Red Bull, Sebastian Vettel has revealed that his relationship with teammate Mark Webber is near irreconcilable.

"Quite a few things have happened this season," the German told Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung newspaper.

"Let's put it this way: We will probably never be friends," added Vettel.

333pg333

Ideally it would be great if the WDC was decided on skill alone and it is a remote possibility. More likely Webber will need Vettel's help if he's to pull this off. I have to admit that if Alonso wins he is just as deserving of it than if Webber wins with Vettel's assistance.
If Vettel is winning the race and Alonso is 3rd he can't win the WDC so he won't let Webber pass.
This is going to be a doozy!

ltc

Agreed, it is a team sport, especially if you are referring to the Constructors Championship.

However, until the rules are changed, there are no team orders allowed.
I won't get into a Bill Clinton disection of "it depends on what the definition of team orders is" debate, the FIA created the ambiguity and it's up to them to either correct it or allow team orders in the open.

It is odd to ban team orders in what you described as a team sport, but there it is. Clearly (and Massa went out of his way in Germany to make the point) team orders exist.

FWIW, I believe that RBR believed the Constructor's title meant more to the team and the organization than an individual WDC and in the end, they will probably lose the WDC for either of their drivers by allowing their own drivers to race each other at their own peril.
They said it and they appear to be sticking to it, fully aware of the potential consequences. For that, I admire RBR infinitely more than Ferrari (in light of the Germany $100K / 7 points) fiasco.

In spite of the FIA, as an engineer, I will always watch F1, simply due to the fact that it IS a constructor's championship first and foremost. Watching the technical side of the sport, especially when Newey is involved, is fascinating.
(although I openly admit I do miss seeing Sato's epic crash test efforts in the name of R&D).

Land Jet

Congrats to RBR for the constructors championship. Vettel has been the fastest driver all year long. If he hadn't made a number of immature mistakes early on he would already be WDC. I think that the last 10 laps of next weekend's race will dictate how RBR handles who will get preferential treatment. If Alonso is in a position to beat Vettel in the points but not Webber, I imagine RBR will give a pre-arranged signal for Vettel to fall on his sword for Webber. If he is not in a position to win it, what would he have to gain by not giving way?

333pg333

Seriously, let's form a betting pool of those who think there is any chance of Vettel falling on his sword to let Webber win the title.......or not.....???

So for essentially a boring season....c'mon really it has been. It's been all decided by practice and pits. There is no real dicing any more...so at least this could become a vaguely interesting edge of the seat finish to the season.

In the end put them in equal F1 style cars and represent their countries...oh...right..that already failed. Pity in some ways.

agdamis

I think RBR already have a "soft form of team orders" as Chris Horner has already come out overnight to say that "We do not use teamorders, but our guys know what to do if the situation makes it neccessary."

That is team orders!