jbossolo

Good race. Congrats to Alonso. What's up with Red Bull team orders? As if Vettel needed any extra points!

Well, it's off to Germany! Literally for me, as I'll be there watching from T4 grandstand in two weeks!
Should be fun!

multi21

Alonso is driving really well and smart too. He allowed Hamilton to burn his tires off chasing him and then allowed LH to pass him easily only to reel him back in and pass him back. Really smart.

Hamilton should have been penalized by hitting Massa in the side for the 4th spot, but given that it's in England with a British race stewart.... well you know.

As far as RBR, Vettel slowed down knowing he could never catch Alonso, Webber was not faster and hasn't been all year.... Webber took advantage of Vettel saving his car and wants to pass? Hollow at best and underhanded at worst. The team did the right thing given these two guys history.

* I'm enjoying McLaren's implosion lately. Qualifying blunders, wheel nuts not secured, short fueling the cars.... couldn't happen to a more deserving team IMO.

f8vr993

+993 with Pete!
Congrats to Alonso for a surprise win.
Bad boy hammy did NASCAR thingy again to Massa. (aren't stewards not penalizing these rough contacts?...Mass was ahead into corner! Wait, it was Mansell! Yikes!)
Kudos goes to kobayashi & Di Rista for nice qualifying job though race was...
Also, S. Perez looked more mature than shumi today...

BC

Too much Shadenfruede for me to not ask you wtf you are taking about. I like this team for various reasons, one of which its an english team. If you say its because of Ron D, i'll stop listening as he has no real influence now.

333pg333

To be fair, even though they have previously stated that the RB guys are left to their own devices when it comes down to race places, they would not be the first team to drive under orders. Also, I would guess that their worst fears were one taking the other out and scoring no points. Not like it hasn't happened before.
Still, would have loved there to be just one more lap. Both for the MW/SV and LH/FM races.

Larry Herman

There could be lots of reasons for the orders that we are unaware of. Vettel obviously appeared to be slowing, and it could have been for reliability reasons. That said, he might have picked up his pace to hold off Webber, and then possibly risked a failure, so who knows. Since team orders are now allowed, it is a non-issue.

Kudos to Alonso for making the most of what he had. We'll see if this was just a rules anomily or if the Ferrari has developed and can sustain the pace now that some of it has been taken from McLaren and Red Bull.

wilhelm

Vettel not faster than Webber? Webber started P1 and Vettel P2, who had the lead at the first corner? Vettel schooled Weber at the start like he has been doing all year.

Why is Webber so bad on the start, how many times has he lost positions this year?

Team orders are allowed and Vettel vs Webber was for 2nd place not a race win. Why is this a big deal its only for 2nd place!


Nice win for Ferrari, too bad it took a rule change to get them a win.

multi21

Never mentioned Ron Dennis if you read my post. If you look at McLaren's performance as a team this year, they have made a lot of mistakes in all areas of their team from strategy to individuals in the pit box etc.

It's pretty clear to me that they gambled big time with Hamilton (we'll never know about Button as he DNFed), but they screwed up the qualifying session which placed him 10th. Then then short fueled him hoping to bring him up the grid with a lighter car which would only work if it rained and there is less fuel consumption.

RajDatta

Nice underhanded compliment to Ferrari. So Ferrari now has the pace because the RBR and McLaren's handicap? Didn't Ferrari qualify well in the past few races as well? Do you not see normal progression at Ferrari?
Ferrari has had an upperhand on Mclaren in the last 3 races. The results have not always reflected this change.

RajDatta

It took a poor pitstop and constant progress from Ferrari. Ferrari could keep up with RedBull In Valencia as well.
Anyways, going forward, everyone will be back to Valencia specs so this should be a non-issue.

RajDatta

+1. It was a strategy that counted on accidents to help conserve fuel. Even though it was raining, this never happened and there was no safety car.
They gambled and lost.

M758

Yeah seems like Vettel slowed down one he was past Hamilton. Vettel comes in for the 2nd stop in the lead, but has slow stop. Comes out behind Alonso and Hamilton. Hamilton then holds up Vettel who despite being fast can't make the pass. Seems like the red bull was faster in the corner, but even with DRS did not have the straight away speed. Anyway that allows Alonso to gap Vettel so when Vettel pits for his last tires he can pass Hamilton, but was too far back to catch Alonso. So he backed off. Possibly to increast relability or due a Minor issue. Webbo comes back at him a bit at the end, but if the team told Vettel to back off and preserve the car then is seems fair to also tell Webbo to back off too.

So just a less than ideal race for red bull or a sign the blown diffuser was a big edge for red bull and this is sign of tougher times for them?

paradisenb

I think the LH vs FM incident is a non-issue (I only saw one view though). To me it was a racing incident. They both were fighting hard for many laps and had reached 'do or die' in the last few corners. I would not be happy seeing LH penalised for working hard to hold his posistion.

McLaren had an ugly day at their home race. Gotta thank the FIA for changing the rules right before they went before their home crowd. I bet a lot of fans in England are furious since McLaren seems to be coming on of late.

RB 'Hold your posistion' comment seems reasonable to me, those guys might have taken each other out in the last corner, costing RB valuable constructor and WDC points. Vettel had clearly pulled back, having no chance to overtake DV.

At least RB can put their masterpiece back into it's, as designed by the rules, winning configuration for the next race.

Larry Herman

Underhanded? Maybe a little more reflective of the facts. Yes, Ferrari is improving, no question. Did the imposed mid-season equalizing rules change slow Red Bull, no doubt.

It's all conjecture, but I do feel that if the Red Bull cars ran in their Valencia form at Silverstone, Ferrari would have been 3rd, even with the pit stop screwup. Still, Ferrari is improving, and Alonso seems to have his old form back. That has to be good for the sport.

RajDatta

Let see, Valencia, where the rules were same as before, Ferrari/Alonso came in 2nd. How do you explain that? Silverstone, they went up an additional notch, which shows normal progression.
As far as Alonso having his old form back, he was driving the same way all yr, just never had the car. All one has to do is compare his teammate to him and see what the car is really capable of. It's a one driver team, where his teammate does not hold his end of the deal. Never has, never will. I doubt many other drivers would get pushed around like Massa. Whatever little respect I had for him as a driver was lost yesterday. He lacks a backbone. How often will he let Lewis b1tchslap him.
Raj