Why do you continue to look down upon Alonso and Ferrari.
The best driver and the best team should be able to win, otherwise they can't be called the best.

Alonso can thank a very rare Ferrari "kablammo" at Suzuka for one if his 2 WDC.
She will likely be remembered for her complete lack of responsibility in the biggest scandals in modern F1 history.

Im not even sure DV would be in the top 5 of F1 drivers when she retires.

But, it's all academic. Alonso has been given exactly what she wished for, a car that is competitive, much closer to the front than last year's.
There is no reason for her to NOT win the WDC this year...unless the team once again chokes on strategy or they lose the wire cutters to Massa's gearbox.

It is a foregone conclusion. Alonso is the 2013 WDC.

 

 

True dat. In the words of an infamous A-BW, "da fix is in". Alonso and Ferrari will get a lot of eye popping and jaw dropping help from the usual suspects this year. The only way they are not gifted the WDC is if DV makes multiply bonehead moves like in the last race.
Oh, and look for RB and Vettel to be penalized through infractions and "deemed illegal upgrades", by Ferrari, I mean the FIA.

 

I want Alonso to win. He was BY FAR the best driver last year, and if he had a better car, or better luck he would have been the champion. Vettel is good, but he's always had the best car and is an a-hole... I hope he doesn't repeat as champion, I hate his guts...

 

I did not hack alexb76's account, I promise

 

lol...

This whole thing about whoever having the best car, therefore they're not a deserving Champion doesn't sit well with me. Someone has to have the best car. Always has been that way and always will be. The gap between teams might vary from year to year but ffs...someone has to have the best car. However, in saying that, the best car can change through the season. All the Pro Alonsifosi bang on about how he was robbed of the title and would have won in a canter if he didn't have such a dog of a car. Err...huh??? The Ferrari was clearly quicker than the Red Bull at various times last year. Not many seem to remember this. The Red Bull has been noticeably slower in top speeds for many years in a row. Vettel is a bit of a prat but he can drive a bit. Of course I support Webber and he can also drive a bit. Another title that doesn't seem to get discussed much, but one that the drivers value is the Champion of the Fastest lap for each season. A few different drivers have won that over the last 8 years.

Overall I'm with those that would prefer to see no team orders and drivers racing for the title using their skill-sets as opposed to fuel/tyre saving economy drives.

 

Lotus saying it's too early for team orders.

Hamilton saying there's no #1 at Merc, pundits and team orders say otherwise.

Massa surging and in the points lead at Ferrari.

Now Marko says let'm race...

I predict an interesting race.

 

oh this shall be entertaining,no holds barred, I hope Mark makes his car so wide that Sebastian does the Valencia-flip (that is assuming that Mark is ahead, which we know won't happen because his KERS or DRS will be set to fail, nothing ever goes wrong with the golden-turd's car)

 

Mark's never treated Seb like a team mate so why should he start now? Hopefully Kimi will take over for Webbo next year.

 

I totally agree, I'm fine with Mark driving a Porsche LMP1 and Kimi driving a RedBull

 

I don't believe RBR. If you have a situation like last race with cars either Multi 21 or Multi 12 and they are told to conserve fuel and get the cars home, neither one of these guys is going to believe it and they are either going to run out of fuel or run their tires off. What is more likely to happen is a "botched" pit stop or similar to separate these two drivers.

 

While I revel at the idea of Webber and Vettel taking each other out, you are correct, that realistically RBR will do all they can to ensure the drivers aren't in a position to fight, and to ensure that Vettel gets the best equipment, best strategy to avoid a repeat of Malaysia. I predict a KERS or DRS failure on Webber's car this weekend.

To hear any team principle (ANY one) say they don't employ team orders is hogwash, there are myriad ways to orchestrate things.

I far more respect Brawn for being honest and forthright about it, than Vettel's admission he cannot control his own drivers by deflecting attention about how other drivers would do the same as Vettel did in Sepang.

Rosberg didn't do it
Hamilton wouldn't have done it if told not to by Ross
Massa has already rolled over too many times, I'd love to see him outqualify and outrace Alonso this weekend

"Felipe, Fernando is faster than you, can you please confirm that you understood this message"

"Rob, I can confirm I heard your message but if Fernando is faster let him prove it by passing me, I outqualified him and I am outracing him"

 

It was also confirmed that both Webber and Vettel's cars were indeed running in a conservative setting, BUT Webber's was turned down more than Vettel's. That's one of the reasons that he was able to get past Webber after that short but entertaining for the punters, dogfight.

 

F1 China 2013: I'd probably do same again, says Vettel
11 April 2013

Sebastian Vettel: I think I'm the kind of guy that respects team decisions but on the other hand Mark is not the one that deserved it [the victory] at the time.

F1 China 2013: I'd probably do same again, says Vettel
Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel has said he would 'probably' do the same again and ignore team orders if he was told to hold station behind team-mate, Mark Webber.

Vettel caused much controversy in Malaysia last month, when he disobeyed the 'Multi 21' instruction and overtook the sister car to claim the victory.

Speaking ahead of this weekend's race in China, the third round in the 2013 F1 World Championship, the German added that in way it was 'indirect' pay back for similar situations in the past, when Webber has also ignored commands from the pit wall.

“I respect Mark a lot as a racing driver but I think there was more than one occasions in the past when he could have helped the team but he didn't,” Vettel told reporters in Shanghai.

“Was it payback? Probably you could say indirectly so. But as I tried to explain after the race in my opinion it's always best to be truthful. Maybe sometimes the truth is not what the people want to hear because as you can see controversy is more popular than the truth. I told you after the race what happened; I was racing, as a racing driver I was solely focused on winning the race. I got a call on the radio which I heard but I didn't understand at the time.

“I should have understood, that's why I apologised to the team because in my action I put myself above the team but that wasn't my intention. Whether you believe me or not is up to you.”

Pressed on if he would do the same again, he replied he would and that Webber didn't really deserve the victory.

“I'm not sure I can give you a proper answer because in the moment it might be different but I'd probably do the same," he admitted.

“I think if I had understood the message then obviously I would have thought about it - I'm not sure I can give you a perfect answer on this - but thinking about it I probably had realised at the moment that there was quite a conflict. On the one hand I think I'm the kind of guy that respects team decisions but on the other hand Mark is not the one that deserved it at the time.”

“I think being completely honest I never had support from his side,” he added. “I have got a lot of support from the team and I think the team is supporting both of us in the same way.”

As for suggestions he should have been sanctioned by the team for failing to respect team orders, Vettel replied: “Sanction, as in punishment? What do you expect? Maybe it's a little bit of a dreamland you all live in but what do you expect to happen? Make a suggestion...

“I think we dealt with it internally. As I said, I did apologise to the team, I took it very seriously. I went to see the team as soon as I could - the whole team, not just the people working here,” he concluded.

 

After reading Vettel's last interview where he said it bas basically a payback for Brazil (and couple of other occasions before) and that he probably would do it again, even though I remembered being pretty amazed by Webber's driving in Brazil (I'm sure I commented about it in Brazil thread), I went back and watched the race again last night.
Webber sure drove like an ***, challenging Vettel which was completely unnecessary and stupid. Start wasn't too bad but even there he could've acted like a team mate, then later he let him by which was what anyone would've & should've done (and he did it too late) considering the situation but then later at the restart, he pushed Vettel way too close to Force India in a situation where he had nothing to gain and Vettel had everything to lose. It resulted himself driving wide and Vettel was ok but it was close and completely unnecessary.

After seeing all that, my opinion on what happened in China: Webber completely deserved it.
(after the race, I criticized Vettel pretty strongly)

As far as what comes to Kimi going to Red Bull, I think it would be great to see him and Vettel in same team as they're good buddies and even Vettel is somewhat of a no nonsense guy. No doubt would be super strong pair.
It's no secret that Marko contacted Kimi at Suzuka right after Ferrari announced their contract ending so they would want him there for sure.
Somehow IMO it would be better if Lotus could make a good enough car and keep him but obviously it's not at the same level as what RB is at.
Kimi himself of course doesn't worry, nor want to think about stuff like that yet, not even close to that at this early.