2014 Spanish Grand Prix - Barcelona

[Ral]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jjAj79e7RA

Raikkonen interview.

I don't think I've ever seen Raikonnen so upset. I don't mean it in a degrading way but I felt he could easily have starting crying then.

Crying maybe not quite, but I get what you mean. He is normally much less animated when things go bad. Better to walk away than say something in some cases.

[ringo]

First ive seen kimi emotional....
Alonso and his minions starting to play games when they see kimi is getting used to the car?

I think Alonso has the pitwall in his pocket. Maybe not the management structure, but surely the pitwall and mechanics..

[Edax]

Also, I think it was clear that Nico was in fact the quicker driver as he could go Hamilton's pace on the hard tires while closing in on the soft. Though that is most likely not so much a testament of their respective raw pace but rather down to their setup, which of course is part of the needed skill set.

Part of it might be that the track temperature dropped quite a bit since fiday. I suspect that is what got Hamilton into trouble with the second and third set.

Observation from Sky was that Hamiltonhad to work harder than Rosberg to get the tires up to temperature during qualifying. So Rosberg was probably set-up more aggressively, while Hamilton was set-up more conservatively, and got hurt more by lower temperatures. But that is a gamble which could easily go the other way.

And for Nico the quicker driver part. I think it is more a matter of courtesy. I mean Rosberg was quick no doubt. But Hamilton started more or less next to Rosberg and finished half a second (2.5 seconds including the slow pit stops) in front of him, without ever holding him up. It takes quite rare definition of quicker to give that to Rosberg.

[siskue2005]

First ive seen kimi emotional....
Alonso and his minions starting to play games when they see kimi is getting used to the car?

I think Alonso has the pitwall in his pocket. Maybe not the management structure, but surely the pitwall and mechanics..

Yeah, this race shows how screwed up things are....and then again this is Ferrari (who we know have always had such history of dodgy team orders) and also it is Alonso ( who also have such history of screwing up his teammates )... So no surprises here

[NTS]

And for Nico the quicker driver part. I think it is more a matter of courtesy. I mean Rosberg was quick no doubt. But Hamilton started more or less next to Rosberg and finished half a second (2.5 seconds including the slow pit stops) in front of him, without ever holding him up. It takes quite rare definition of quicker to give that to Rosberg.

Well.. Being behind another driver is slower and he was gaining rapidly at the end (mostly due to strategy?). I think if ROS jumped him at the start or stopped a little earlier he could've won.

As for Red Bull: nice for RIC to have a podium to keep. Great drive by VET. Some people claim he is bad at overtaking...

Ferrari: Usual team weirdness with Kimi. I hope he beats Alonso a few times in a row to stop this.

[iotar__]

First ive seen kimi emotional....
Alonso and his minions starting to play games when they see kimi is getting used to the car?

I think Alonso has the pitwall in his pocket. Maybe not the management structure, but surely the pitwall and mechanics..

Yeah, this race shows how screwed up things are....and then again this is Ferrari (who we know have always had such history of dodgy team orders) and also it is Alonso ( who also have such history of screwing up his teammates )... So no surprises here

All this lament about mere strategy call and tyre management? Imagine reaction if Alonso gets half a dozen of waisted team orders and exclusive updates. Ferrari's history of dodgy calls is not even close to what happened just recently at Lotus. It must have been hard for you to watch how 10x more "how screwed up things were" during previous seasons or maybe as long it's in favour it's quite OK? As expected I thoroughly enjoy this kind of hypocrisy.

BTW another POS Renault engine for Lotus, considering that eighth is quite an achievement, without the issue they could have beaten Ferrari with a slower car. Who would have guessed that after China or Bahrain tests?

[Unc1eM0nty]

And for Nico the quicker driver part. I think it is more a matter of courtesy. I mean Rosberg was quick no doubt. But Hamilton started more or less next to Rosberg and finished half a second (2.5 seconds including the slow pit stops) in front of him, without ever holding him up. It takes quite rare definition of quicker to give that to Rosberg.

That's a fair point, however, Lewis is not used to getting chased down by his team mates, he's usually pulling away or the one who's doing the chasing.

I doubt he have got past if he'd caught him with 10 laps to go, this is a terrible track for overtaking, Lewis was complaining about corner entry but his exit out of last corner was good, DRS wasn't enough for Nico.

He was struggling with set up today without a doubt, the tetchy radio coms tell me he was worried, I think this is a good thing though, he's serious about winning this title, he knows it's going to be close and isn't going to leave anything to chance.

[Shrieker]

Hamilton's left front was graining towards the end. To add to it's misery, he locked and flat spotted it at the end of the back straight with two laps to go. Rosberg's tires weren't exactly in great shape either, but had Hamilton dropped the ball, Nico was in a position to pounce. The last lap and a half was tense if you ask me. The leading car had the wake on it's side, but even then i don't consider Nico's comment about 'one more lap' BS, quite simply because they were both locking wheels pushing hard on the last lap. With another lap, you never know what might've been. So kudos to Lewis, for holding on, and to Nico for giving him a good run for his money.

The standout drivers for me today were Grosjean and Vettel. Gro for dragging that crapwagon into the points, and Vet for turning his misfortune from Saturday and maximizing the potential of the car. Red Bull seem to have done a very good job with the upgrades they've brought here.

I'm lost for words for Maldonado. Is he the worst driver to ever win a race ?

[Waywardism]

I actually think Rosberg would have found it easier to overtake Hamilton here than in Bahrain. That might sound crazy due to the nature of the Catalunya circuit. It's certainly harder to get up alongside someone here but I think it's much easier to make the move stick. In Bahrain there are so many lines you can take through the turns where the overtaking opportunities typically arise and Lewis took full advantage of that, he thrives off that sort of stuff, I'd go as far as to say it's one of his specialities. Here in Spain you throw it up the inside of someone in turn 10, which I think would be the only possible place for Rosberg, and as long as you don't overshoot the corner it's very hard for anyone to cut back on you. We saw Seb doing it all day long, sometimes from way back, it reminded me of Kobayashi at Suzuka's hairpin some years back.

I'm lost for words for Maldonado. Is he the worst driver to ever win a race ?

Monaco were right to ban him for life, it's a tragedy that he was ever allowed to race again in any formula.

[turbof1]

We have a topic about that: http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1326

I'm ok with a little discussion about here, but the aforementioned topic has some more info on that.

EDIT: article about it: http://www.f1zone.net/news/banned-for-l ... aco/14071/

It's just my opinion, but by all means and purposes Maldonado should be denied the right of racing. He has talent, but his temperament is way too dangerous.

[Waywardism]

Yes, and it's not like he's still a rookie or just going through a bad patch. Grosjean sorted himself out pretty quickly and is gaining a good reputation for himself. I just can't see that ever happening with Pastor.

Just for fun: http://maldonadocrashingintothings.tumblr.com/

[ss.vamsikrishna]

Kimi was good this weekend =D> =D> , never seen so emotional. Alonso has started his crying...

[Jano11]

Yes, and it's not like he's still a rookie or just going through a bad patch. Grosjean sorted himself out pretty quickly and is gaining a good reputation for himself. I just can't see that ever happening with Pastor.

Just for fun: http://maldonadocrashingintothings.tumblr.com/

Like it or not he is a F1 GP winner something many drivers are not and will never be.
I prefer a quick driver that has some brain fades every now and then to a total bore like so many in F1 are.

[nacho]

Bottas drove well, don't know what happened to Massa.

[Joker]

Kimi was good this weekend =D> =D> , never seen so emotional. Alonso has started his crying...

When did he cry and if you do a little bit research you would know that Alonso have been the faster driver the entire race. He beat him fair and sqaure.