Well done to Webber and Red Bull, Vettel and Kubica. Clearly this track suited the Renault engine well, but I guess Red Bull would be up there anyway.. I guess we should be grateful for all their reliability issues, and the difficulties their two drivers seem to have to actually overtake someone on track, otherwise we would be watching a repeat of last year's Brawn GP dominance..
I hope Renault will improve their car further, and allow Kubica to challenge Mercedes on a regular basis.
I can't believe people have been downplaying Alonso's performance from the back of the grid to 6th (or 7th), especially people who would proclaim other drivers gods last year for struggling to end up in 13th place or so on tracks where overtaking is actually possible (Turkey anyone?)..
Yes, when you start from the back of the grid with a faster car it is only natural that you should be able to overtake the backmarkers, however, I remember a certain British 2-time winner in Monaco being stuck for 40 laps or so behind an Arrows in the same streets, waving hands and feet up in the air and being unable to do anything like what Alonso did today..
Also, seeing as no one in the top 5 even dared to attempt an overtake, which is pretty good evidence that in Monaco, with these cars, you really have to be much quicker to even dream of an overtake, I guess it is only fair to say Alonso managed the absolute best result possible under the circumstances.
Which brings us to the whole MS vs FA incident..
I think it is quite clear who messed up and should be embarrassed: the race stewards! They should have either not waved the green flags (lights) on, or deem the pass legit.
As it is, I think both FA and MS have reason to believe they were right: FA was told by his team he can not overtake, which implies the teams had been informed the race would finish under SC conditions; and MS thought he had every right to do so seeing the green lights, and of course grabbed the opportunity as anyone would.
I think the penalty is too harsh, especially considering all the reprimands handed so far in other incidents this year.
I know it sounds a bit bitter and unsporting, but I think if I was in Alonso's shoes I would have been really tempted to just shut the door on Michael as soon as I saw him next to me, and cause the rest of the field to pile up behind me!!! THAT would have been interesting to see the stewards decision on!
All in all though, I think this whole issue detracts the attention from what Rubens did with his steering wheel.
That was absolutely inexcusable. Not only he did not follow the rule that upon retirement he is obliged to put the steering wheel back in place, he deliberately threw it in the freaking racing line, putting other drivers at risk. After what happened last year with Massa, I think this very specific very experienced driver should know better than that. I would actually go as far as to say this move was as bad as Renault's crashgate, and if HRT do not request a punishment the FIA should take action itself. A 5 race ban for Rubens honestly does not sound harsh at all to me.
What would he do then if he was actually challenging for a win or a championship and his car let him down like this? Take out a shotgun and start shooting at the stewards?!!!
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. H.P.Lovecraft