Kein_Ersatz

Great race, very enjoyable to watch. Webber had the best run with the worst luck.

m73m95

FANTASTIC RACE!! That might be the best F1 race I've ever seen (in the dry).

Its pretty obvious that Red Bull is farking Webber on purpose.... Its the only thing that makes sense. Just trying to break his spirit, I guess?? But Webber is too good to let it work. He deserves the championship more than ever.

Massa is continually kicking crying Alonso's ****! And WTF is up with Alonso using the DRS in more than the designated area of the track?

Hammy killing Vettel on the start...

Brilliant race!!!

Flying Finn

WTF, We got multiple Wayne's now?

Come one guys, them favoring Vettel means when there's only one set of new parts, he gets them. Might also get the nod for who gets the preferred pit strategy.

But team screwing up one of their driver on purpose? I guess you mean in Q1 he wanted softs but team forced hum to use hards because they didn't want him to advance in Q2?!

Indeed which is kinda surprising after the way he performed in Australia, could've been just a bad setup etc.

But to me it almost seems more that Alonso has given up. In every interview, almost all he talks about is how with their car, they can't fight for the win etc.
It's true they are not faster but how about something other than only focusing on what their car is and what it is not.

Disclaimer: this is not bashing, just observing and if you Alonso fans pay attention unbiasedly to his actions, it should be obvious to you also.

MJSpeed

^I would say he looks dejected/indifferent. Reminds me too much of Alain Prost in 1991 while also driving for the Scuderia.

In part I understand, if you're not competing for race wins what's the point. No one is races to come in second or worse. At this time the F150 isn't even good enough for a podium finish, unless something happens to RedBull and McLaren. Heck depending on the track Renault and/or Nico might be faster than them.

I will say this though, he (Alonso) is stating a fact. What would you want him to say, thanks to Tilke for another POS track that's been made exciting only by the addition of DRS and KERS? Seriously anything other than just simply stating the facts would then be considered whining or him bashing the team. Which leads me to another question why is it that Hammy gets a pass on bashing the team? Anyone else on the grid would be crucified for it.

3 weeks until the next one really sucks!

Bob Rouleau

This and the last race too displayed real racing. Looks like the rules changes for this year have worked. Very enjoyable to watch!

arrivederci

Webbo had the best drive by far - without KERS but with the weight penalty. I don't know if it was pit strategy or pure driving, but it was a great race for him. How about his comments after the race about it being good to see someone competing with Vettel?

At the time of the race, I thought the Alonso DRS thing was cheating. But after hearing the facts, it sounds like it actually could have hurt him.

Overall a fantastic race. Lots of great passes as the different tire strategies played out.

Ray S

+1

GT3 Techno

Webber had a terrible starting position but remember that he had more sets of fresh soft tires than the other fast cars because of that (the other front runners all used a set of optional tires in Q3). He started with the hard compound but used it for fewer laps than the others who finished the race on them while he was on soft compound.

Great race and great driving by Webber. This result may change the teams strategy in qualifications for the races to come... if someone can save a set of soft tires in Q3 and get a good grid position in Q2 and Q1, he can win the race !

Ritter v4.0

It was a great race as the outcome was in doubt until the very end or close to it. But was it great racing?

No question DRS and KERS allow for better passing. All other things being equal (they aren't of course) a passed car could apply the same and repass if generally as fast as the passing car. Assuming they both work (see FA and MW).

But its really the tires and their absurd degradation ( ignoring crazy clag build up) that is creating the artificial drama. Tire management, while always an issue in motorsports has become too critical, usurping most other driver and technical considerations. The tires seem to the tail wagging the F1 dog at present.

No doubt the racing may be better than in recent years but it just seems to have been overly synthesized. I'm wondering what the race would have been like with DRS/KERS but with one tire compound for the weekend that has far less dramatic fall off from peak performance. Are there now too many new technical variables atm that more than anything else determine the race outcome? Seems like it.

I cheered when Hamilton passed Vettel but would have like to have seen better dice and possible repass, but when cars that are otherwise very close in performance become +2 secs faster its not going to happen.

I applaud F1 for instituting changes that have brought drama back to the sport- I just think these Pirelli tires have gone to far in determining winners from losers.

GT3 Techno

Complicated indeed:

"Tyre allocation has been reduced for 2011, with 11 rather than 14 sets of dry-weather tyres available to each driver per race weekend. Drivers will receive three sets (two prime, one option) to use in P1 and P2 and must return one set after each session. A further eight sets will then be at their disposal for the rest of the weekend, although one set of each specification must be handed back before qualifying. (At certain events, teams may be given an extra set of primes for use in P1 and P2, or an additional specification of dry-weather tyre - again for P1 and P2 only - for evaluation purposes. Teams will be given at least a week’s notice when either of these scenarios is to occur.)

If a driver fails to use both specifications of dry-weather tyres during a (dry) race, they will be excluded from the results. If a (dry) race is suspended and can’t be restarted, and a driver has failed to use both specifications, 30 seconds will be added to the driver’s race time."

A.Wayne

Still lost in the smoke and mirrors.... Superkid Vettel with all the beans was ran down and schooled by his faster teammate ..

As stated before, Vettel is slower than .......

1. Alonso
2. Hamilton
3. Kubica
4. Webber

and in equal cars would not have a chance and in case it slipped you Kimi is on his way to NASCAR , another Bet you lost ...

Keep watching , those training wheels will get loose again ..Ciao ....

Land Jet

Lay off the Qualudes, they're making you delusional.

multi21

I for one do not give Hamilton a pass for this. In fact, one can argue that your comparision of Alonso to Prost in 1991 is similar to Hamilton in 2009 when he didn't have a car that was competitive to be on the top step and when asked about it, he had no idea what was wrong and didn't know how or if it would come back. He was basically a guy who gave up on the season. Eventually the MAC came back toward the tail end of the season, but Button had too big a lead at that point.

It is interesting that as good as Hamilton is behind the wheel, he is not bashed as much as Alonso or Vettel in terms of team orders/strategy. Button who is having a very good season so far, is not given preferred pit strategy and still manages to be competitive. NO ONE ON THIS BOARD BRINGS THAT UP. It's always Alonso over Massa or Vettel over Webber.

It never ceases to amaze me how good McLaren engineers are at bringing a dog of a car up the grid in a short amount of time. They were dead in the water up until the last day of testing and after 3 fly away races, have a race win and are 2nd in WCC points.

Meanwhile, if what Ferrari are saying is true and their windtunnel needs recalibration, then they have 3 weeks to sort that out. If they can, look out, if they can't and it's not the windtunnel, then forgetaboutit.

Anyone see Schumi climb 6 grid spots and race toe to toe with a lot a guys? Not as impressive as Webbo run to the top, but still, not bad for an old man.

My993C2

Some of the other sites I may go to to talk about racing are mostly just computer game racing sites. This rennlist site is different. There are actually real world racers on this site (not sure how many of these real world racers talk about F1 races). I am not a race car driver (hangs head in shame), I am only a track day rat. But I have driven a real world Formula Renault car on several occasions, and I think the most Gs I experienced in the Formula Renault was only about 2 Gs.

Something that can easily be forgotten watching a race on TV is the physical beating these real world F1 drivers go through. Schumacher battled hard in this race. Not bad at all for a guy in his 40s. The future belongs to the young guns of Vettel and Hamilton (don't count out Alonso or Massa if they can get good cars) plus there are a number of other young drivers poised to do good as well. But there are still some older drivers Schumacher, Barrichello, Trulli, Webber and Button who are battling hard with the young guys. I know the beating the Formula Renault car gave me when I drove it (I now know why some of the drivers wear knee pads), and driving the Formula Renault cars I have driven are a walk in the park compared to these F1 cars.

wilhelm

Vettel P2
Weber P3

how can he be schooled when Weber never passed him?

Massa P5
Alonso P6

Based upon your logic, Massa is a much better driver than Alonso since he finished better when clearly he is a #2 driver with a slower car!

Do you actually believe what you type?