FGL28

Lewis,

Sato's being in Indy Racing has made me watch it.

And you are one of the most cheerful guys on Rennlist.

9.5 Degrees

ALONSO IS GRANDE!!!!!!!!!!

Even the Alonso detractors have to give him credit. What an outstanding race he ran. So fast, so smooth, basically working his butt off to get those precious tens of a second lap after lap and reeling Hamilton in a much faster car

Unfortunately, even ltc has to admit that it was the Ferrari Crew that let Alonso down. Their pit stops were way too slow. When RBR, McLaren, and MB have 3.3 second stops on a consistant basis, why does Alonso have a 5.2 second stop when the race lead is on the line?

Look at the difference between Alonso and Massa. Massa is driving what the Ferrari is capable of. Alonso is elevating what the car is capable of.

Finally, kukos to Jensen Button as he is able to podium with a car that had in and out KERS power.

ltc

Yes, 2nd place seems to suit Alonso well...2nd place in a race, 2nd in last year's WDC, yes " the best" always finish 2nd.

Yes, it is always someone else's fault ... The team, the pitcrew, the strategy, the wind tunnel,the donkey cart that is the F150, the sub optimal setup on the car, yada yada yada.

But when he podiums, it is only due to his immense talent in overachieving and achieving the impossible.

I remember what a slow pit stop can do ... RBR had a slow pit stop which allowed Alonso to win his only race this season IIRC.

Wake me when he wins a WDC for Ferrari ...

Land Jet

Once Seb was out of the race it wasn't very interesting to me, tough luck. But did anyone else notice how big a gap he had opened after just a couple of turns? I don't know how he does it, qualifies just fast enough to get the pole, but then on race day he jumps out in front and has a few second lead after very few laps. Makes Webber look bad by comparison. I'm no longer a Hamilton fan so would have rather seen Alonso or Button win it.

jbossolo

I beg to differ. Once Seb was out of the race it GOT interesting for me! It gets old to watch a guy run away from the field and win the race from pole.

the flyin' scotsman

The international F1 feed doesnt include Matchett's comments just the 16hrs/day NASCAR .

It would be interesting to know if that was missed from the Friday crash but the car went through quali and posted pole position. If it were a failed suspension component then the failure in turn 2 vs at the end of the long straight was perhaps the best outcome for Seb and safety for all. Been enough death recently.

Dont imagine RBR will admit to that one if it were to be true.

ilko

No disrespect but that explanation makes no sense to me. Why would RBR let Vettel run with a broken car for 2 days. They have the technology to test for cracks even if they're not visible to the naked eye. I haven't heard that theory presented anywhere else either.

BTW, a picture is worth a thousand words:



Unlike most other racers who DNF, Vettel spent the race on pit wall. Speaks volumes about his character and determination.

9.5 Degrees

Extraordinary drive by Alonso, says Domenicali
14 November 2011 As Martin Whitmarsh praised a ‘faultless’ performance for Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi, the superlatives continued as Fernando Alonso’s drive to second place was labelled ‘extraordinary’ by Ferrari Team Principal Stefano Domenicali.

Ferrari has managed just a single victory from the 18 Grands Prix held so far this year, although Alonso’s result at Yas Marina signalled his tenth podium finish of the 2011 campaign. It also confirmed that, over the past seven years, the Champion of 2005 and 2006 has reached the rostrum of every race on the current calendar.


“We knew a podium was possible and that was confirmed this evening when, thanks to yet another extraordinary drive from Fernando, we were in the fight for the win right up until the final part of the race,” said Domenicali. “His first lap was exceptional, as was his race pace after that.

“Finally getting a driver onto the podium in this race is indeed cause for satisfaction. Now there’s one race to go and second place in the Drivers’ Championship is still up for grabs. That will be hard to achieve but it is definitely not impossible and we will do all we can to give Fernando the tools to achieve this.”

Sunday’s result also confirmed that Felipe Massa’s sixth place in the 2011 standings is all but confirmed; Nico Rosberg could still beat him to it, but only by notching up a maiden career win in Brazil next weekend.

multi21

There is a lot of Schumacher in Vettel. Any wonder why MS was his boyhood hero?
Other driver's would have been in the shower and on their private plane to Malorca after a first lap DNF. Kimi would have been partying with others on the yachts in the marina. This kid works hard at his profession and there is little wonder why he is outpacing all the others and his teammate.

the flyin' scotsman

The International tv feed inidcated Seb visited the Pirelli factory over last winter.....the only driver to do so.......speaks much.

My993C2

Pretend for a second that Vettel was not even in yesterday's race (not that hard to do since he was only in the race for 15 seconds). That is exactly what we had yesterday. Hamilton might as well have been on pole, he ran away from the field from the get go. Alonso had a good race, but he never really came close to threatening Hamilton for the win.

I wonder if we will ever know what happened to Vettel's tire. In the post race BBC coverage (which was mostly a BBC love fest for their preferred team McLaren), many people from Red Bull did not appear to know what happened. Of course if they do know, one wonders if they would even tell the world. Red Bull and McLaren are somewhat open to talking to the media (unlike Ferrari which hides after each race), but even Red Bull and McLaren have their secrets they want to keep from everyone.

Serge944

Brazil will be interesting. There will be three battles that interest me:

Button vs Alonso
Hamilton vs Webber
Schumacher vs Rosberg

Although still mathematically possible for Webber to jump into P2 in the driver's championship, I think he will be battling to maintain his 4th place standing.

the flyin' scotsman

Brazil will be interesting.

I looking for Force India to scream past Renault, Lotus whatever they're called.

For those not playing years ago FI is the former Jordan that sank to despair as Midland and Spyker.

Adam@Autometrics

I didn't think too much of him last season, but now the only thing about Vettel I can dislike is how he ruined this year's championship. I hope '12 looks more like '10, with a bit more car/luck parity.

Turb-OH Brad

Yeah, and Paul DiResta makes me like them even more. I think they are going places in the not too distant future.