Fernando Alonso has converted a four stop Ferrari strategy to win the Spanish Grand Prix after a 5th place start on the grid. Kimi Raikkonen finished second on a three stopper while Felipe Massa completes Ferrari's party by finishing in third place.
Vasconia wrote:With the new hard tyres I expect less pistops, less changes and consequently a more boring race. I think Vettel will win this one if Alonso hasnt got a great day.
The medium-(new)hard combination is so conservative and boring...
If F1 is about RACING, then less pit stops (or none at all) is a truer reflection of a RACE. Or is it a stage managed SHOW you want?
have you seen Indy Cars at Sao Paulo? Was it racing or a show, or maybe both?
Finishing races is important, but racing is more important.
I am rooting for Alonso and Ferrari, they really need a strong result here. However I do feel Redbull are going to be strong here as their bullying to get harder tyres has somewhat worked, ie especially for this race. I think the tyre compounds favour the Redbull and would mask its defeciencies on the softer rubber that we have seen earlier this year. As has been discussed earlier this is somewhat of a front limited circuit and they haven't fared to well this year on those types of circuits does give me some hope that we will see a competition.
im going to say a podium of Alonso, Hamilton and Webber, with Hamilton on pole but being taken by Alonso in the first turn. im also going to go bold here and say that McLaren will actually go even further back. It happened before in 2009 when it got worse before it got better. Just a fun predication though no facts.
"Leave it to Lewis Hamilton to ruin Redbull's day" - Martin Brundle
"Ok Lewis, Its Hammertime!!" - Peter Bonnington
"Fresh tires, 15 laps. What do you think Lewis Hamilton is going to do?" - Martin Brundle
"...and there, very much in flames, is Jacques Laffite's Ligier. That's obviously a turbo blaze, and of course, Laffite will be able to see that conflagration in his mirrors... he is coolly parking the car somewhere safe."Murray Walker, San Marino 1985
Vasconia wrote:With the new hard tyres I expect less pistops, less changes and consequently a more boring race. I think Vettel will win this one if Alonso hasnt got a great day.
The medium-(new)hard combination is so conservative and boring...
If F1 is about RACING, then less pit stops (or none at all) is a truer reflection of a RACE. Or is it a stage managed SHOW you want?
Pitstops are needed when the race itself is not enough interesting, something that usually happens in Barcelona.
Any comments about the first free practice??? it seems difficult to extract valuable information because of the early rain.
The two Ferraris in the first two positions, but taking into account that a Toro Rosso is third and the mixed conditions I am not sure if Ferrari will be able to compete for the pole.
Alonso first in the "old" Ferrari with Massa second on the "new", but still just 2 tenths in changeable conditions.
The STR looked good with it's new semi-ramp config.
Bottas beat Maldonado who had the upgraded car.
if the race was only 20 laps long then maybe they have a chance to run for podiums and victories...
