My993C2

So far this season Mercedes has been fast in practice and qualifying. But the advantage they have over everyone else in qualifying is lost in the race since the opportunity to open up their wing in the DRS zone is lost on most race laps. Nico Rosberg usually out performs Schumacher in the races in the three seasons they have been teammates. But Nico does not have the experiences Michael has leading the field and we will have to wait to see how he handles the pressure of being up front. Kobayashi and Raikkonen are within striking distance if the Mercedes does not have the race pace and both drivers are hard charging racers. I came into this weekend thinking "Oh McLaren will run away with another race". But while Hamilton has been consistently lapping fast and would be right up there without his grid penalty, Button has not been as fast as his younger teammate. Is this because Button's car is setup for race pace or is something else at play? Webber and Perez will also be hungry looking to prove that their improved results this season are no accident and of course one can never count out Alonso who will also be looking to charge forward in the field. I think Vettel is a good wet race driver, but Vettel's best chance to improve upon his less than ideal starting position is for a dry race. If the race stays dry Vettel has unused soft option tires that the others ahead of him do not have (the options are a good 1/2 second a lap faster than the primes). I don't see Vettel winning this race, but if it stays dry, he should move up in the field.

Yes this will be a very interesting race. This could be a race like none other that we have seen in a long time. The guys up front want to win their first races (Rosberg and Kobayashi) or win their first races after leaving the sport and then coming back (Schumacher and Raikkonen). But they will all be chased by some hard chargers (Hamilton, Button, Webber, Alonso and Vettel) who have won before and want to win again.

morganabowen

Boy am I off the grid Mercedes looks terrific with both of them on the front row Nico on pole and Michael right next to him will be hard to pass. Michael is difficult to pass and being the only seven time WDC, it is good to see him back in the top of the list. Hammy should not have much difficulty catching them from the third row, but the two Saubers may be difficult to pass. This is turning out to be an incredible season. I am not surprised to see Kimi in the front pack either I may stay up tonite and watch it live but will back up my play with the DVR

FGL28

I am happy that Nico got the Pole. I hope he and Schumi do well to make it interesting. I want to see WDC to be determined at Austin.

I hear there is going to be an investigation because race positions 1 thru 8 did not capitulate to 2012 WDC Alonso and let him have the pole.


How do you know it was Sato? As my wife says "All us Asians look alike". I thought Sato is in Long Beach. Or is it Kobyashi.

BlueRiver86

Kobayashi is taller.

My993C2

Congrats to Nico Rosberg for his first career win and congrats to Mercedes for their first win since the 1950s. We will never know if Button could have caught Nico in the closing laps had Jenson not had his bad pit stop. But I would like to think the racing Gods were shining down on Nico regardless. Vettel got caught out there at the end of the race with bad tires, but I think two stopping was his only hope due to his less than ideal starting grid position and bad start. But wow did Raikkonen ever fall off the cliff. Too bad, as the Iceman was running well for a while. Finally, there was some gutsy racing from most of the field with some good passes and good defending and hats off to everyone for not doing anything really stupid.

camlob

Yeah very nice race. Nico is a nice guy and finally he won. Kimi got dropped like falling off a cliff

333pg333

Enjoyed that. It's very rare to find cars in such close proximity mid to 3/4s the way through a race. Lot's of great personal dices today. Nice to see someone else win. Bet Dad is proud.

9.5 Degrees

Congrats to Nico and Mercedes in their first win. I don't know what they did to change their car from going through tires, but the car is working very well. Such a shame about Schumacher as he was the only car to retire because of a loose wheel nut. Schumi had a legit shot at a win too as he had 1 fewer stops to make than Rosberg.

Button didn't qualify so well, but he is showing himself to be a superior racer than Hamilton who didn't have a bad day either.

What happened to Kimi? Wowwwww did he fall hard. 2nd to 12th in 2 laps!!!

Alonso still the best driver on the grid takes a car that was 1.5 seconds off pole to 9th. Massa once again fails to score a single point.

Flying Finn

Wow, that was a wild race in the end! Very interesting race!

Congrats to Nico & MB!! Very well done!!! Nico didn't do a thing wrong and MB only one.

Kimi from 2nd to 12th in 2 laps... What's the point of having an extra set of fresh tires when you don't use them in the race?
Easy to say 3 stopper would've been better for them although it wasn't that far off of working.

I think Nico will be a serious threat to WDC now that the monkey is off his back and MB seems to be one of the, in not, the best car at the moment.

f8vr993

Congrats to Nico Rosberg for his first maiden WIN!
Feel happy for both Ross Brawn & Haug(MB Boss).
I can't believe I'm saying this but I'd actually felt bad for Mr.Shumi today...
Then he stayed in the paddock and was cheering for Nico! I gotta give him respect for that.
Also kudo goes to Hammy for passing all those people and finishing 3rd! That was the drive of the year so far in this early season.

Circuit Motorsports

Hamilton was actually gridded up a few spots behind Button thanks to a gearbox change and was running the second car strategy yet finished a couple seconds behind Button while regularly coming out 3 or 4 cars back after regularly being one spot behind him before pit stops.

AND he's ahead in the driver standings

DJF1

That was a FANTASTIC race! I was watching the race through the internet on Sky and I was on the edge of my seat all race long. Great fights, some wild passes, I mean 3 cars wide on more than one occasion?
Wow... congrast to Rosberg, a bummer for Schumi. I would have loved to see a little jump on the podium!

ltc

Yes, Alonso would be the best driver on the grid with a car that was 10 sec off pole or 10 seconds on pole.

Too bad the FIA doesn't award a trophy for being the best driver.

He was a total non factor in the race. IIRC, Vettel started behind Alonso and finished in front of him. But you're right, Alonso is the best.

ltc

Pos Driver Nationality Team Points
1 Lewis Hamilton British McLaren-Mercedes 45
2 Jenson Button British McLaren-Mercedes 43
3 Fernando Alonso Spanish Ferrari 37
4 Mark Webber Australian Red Bull Racing-Renault 36
5 Sebastian Vettel German Red Bull Racing-Renault 28
6 Nico Rosberg German Mercedes 25
7 Sergio Perez Mexican Sauber-Ferrari 22
8 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish Lotus-Renault 16
9 Bruno Senna Brazilian Williams-Renault 14
10 Kamui Kobayashi Japanese Sauber-Ferrari 9
11 Romain Grosjean French Lotus-Renault 8
12 Paul di Resta British Force India-Mercedes 7
13 Jean-Eric Vergne French STR-Ferrari 4
14 Pastor Maldonado Venezuelan Williams-Renault 4
15 Daniel Ricciardo Australian STR-Ferrari 2
16 Nico Hulkenberg German Force India-Mercedes 2
17 Michael Schumacher German Mercedes 1
18 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 0
19 Timo Glock German Marussia-Cosworth 0
20 Charles Pic French Marussia-Cosworth 0
21 Vitaly Petrov Russian Caterham-Renault 0
22 Heikki Kovalainen Finnish Caterham-Renault 0
23 Pedro de la Rosa Spanish HRT-Cosworth 0
24 Narain Karthikeyan Indian HRT-Cosworth 0

ltc

Pos Team Points
1 McLaren-Mercedes 88
2 Red Bull Racing-Renault 64
3 Ferrari 37
4 Sauber-Ferrari 31
5 Mercedes 26
6 Lotus-Renault 24
7 Williams-Renault 18
8 Force India-Mercedes 9
9 STR-Ferrari 6
10 Marussia-Cosworth 0
11 Caterham-Renault 0
12 HRT-Cosworth 0