2012 European GP - Valencia

[raymondu999]

Abso-bleeding-lutely gutted. Just plain and simply gutted for Vettel. On a sidenote, that car was scary fast, and amazingly wasn't (or at least didn't appear to) have any worse deg than the Lotus. Perhaps Lotus focused more on a qualifying setup?

Will be interesting to see how the D-spec Red Bull goes at a fast downforce circuit like Silverstone.

I thought it was interesting that those who actually pitted after the safety car had enough pace and time remaining to really bang in more laps to counter the deficit. I thought the guys like Webber who didn't pit then were signing their own death warrants.

Alonso... possibly, I daresay his best ever victory? Amazing drive from the man. Even if Vettel had held on to win (which you have to admit he probably would've) and Grosjean had held on, Alonso probably would've still been 2nd. Absolutely stonking drive for him. Stonking job from Hamilton too in that first stint, and later on. I have never felt that he was an extraordinary defender. Overtaker, yes, defender, no. But now my mind is changed.

I personally apportion the Hamilton-Maldonado blame as 10% to Hamilton, in that it was avoidable from Hamilton's side. Hamilton should know quite well that Maldonado isn't exactly of a sound mind in wheel-to-wheel, and then realised that.

[Mr Alcatraz]

I haven't heard a single comment on how Maldonado did the exact same thing to Kimi at the same spot as "The Boss" on lap two. Check it on your Tivo, I think it was actually worse! The only difference is that Kimi gave him a wide berth!

[PlatinumZealot]

Yep I saw that one... but I think Maldonado was on track IIRC. He didn't T-bone Kimi.

[flynfrog]

The Hamilton incident was his fault too. Hamilton was playing tough guy and Maldonado should've seen this, but he doesn't seem to have the awareness to see when he can take a risk and when he can't. Hamilton stayed on the line, Maldonado clearly went ballistic right into him.

Hamilton isnt smart enough to know when to let it go

Fixed it for you

[Mr Alcatraz]

Yep I saw that one... but I think Maldonado was on track IIRC. He didn't T-bone Kimi.

Good point I looked at it again and Igornado was in kimi's position and T-boned Fortunado plain as day.

[ArchAngel]

Congratulations to Merc for finally getting both cars through to the checkered flag, with both on points! =D>

It took a couple of reliability gremlins and gremlin-brained moves from some frontrunners to help pave the way for Schu's return to the podium, but Michael drove the wheels off his car (as much as his tyres would allow) and deserved good fortune for a change. Fair recovery from Nico on his last stint to at least ensure that the team came home with a solid haul of points. This at least consolidates their hold of 5th (*sigh*) in the WCC, and gives them some margin over Sauber and Williams.

Still quite a lot of work to do, though, if the team is to reclaim 4th (*sigh*) -- a spot they should've already leveled-up from long ago. 3rd in WCC already seems almost out of reach, but one can still hope. Reliability is the key. So I certainly hope that those extra pair of eyes Ross assigned to help monitor car #7 will continue to keep the reliability gremlins away.

[marcush.]

when asked on whish guy he´d put his money for the WDC -Schumacher answered :If he´d put money on someone it was himself...the season is unpredictable ... =D> =D>

[zeph]

Of course Hamilton is not without blame. He could have avoided that situation. But Maldonado was too hot-headed. He could have and would have gotten past Hamilton if he had kept his cool. I'd be inclined to dismiss it as a racing incident, but I feel the penalty is just and fair.

[myurr]

Of course Hamilton is not without blame. He could have avoided that situation. But Maldonado was too hot-headed. He could have and would he gotten past Hamilton if he had kept his cool. I'd be inclined to dismiss it as a racing incident, but I feel the penalty is just and fair.

He could only have avoided the situation by backing out of the fight completely and simply letting Maldonado past. Once you start doing that you're giving a green light to all the drivers to just dive up the inside expecting you to get out of the way. You cannot do that and expect to be a top racing driver and long term you increase the risk of collision as drivers get more and more ambitious in passing you expecting you to be the one to back out of it.

[mx_tifoso]

To break up the Maldonado/Hamilton merry-go-round...

Right before Grosjean DNF'd

Then...

[raymondu999]

Has anyone else noticed the round robin?

The last time these 3 shared a podium, it was:
1. Alonso - Renault
2. Raikkonen - McLaren (who back then was a MERCEDES partner)
3. Schumacher - Ferrari

Now keep the drivers in the same spots, and displace the team names by 1 down

1. Alonso - Ferrari
2. Raikkonen - Renault
3. Schumacher - McLaren (who back then was a MERCEDES partner)

Other than McLaren being in the mix - and let's face it back then they were practically Mercedes - it's just about a good team round robin.

Perhaps the next time they share a podium we'll see it as the following?

Alonso - Merc/McLaren
Raikkonen - Ferrari
Schumacher - Renault

[nash929]

I think it won't be long until an MS win. At least, I hope so.

[roadwarrior]

A great result for Schumacher and a long time coming. Merc still need to find some pace though because if it wasn't for the retirements, Schumi would only have been 6th or 7th and Rosberg out of the points and at least a good 40+s seconds behind Vettel.

Did anyone else think that Ross didn't look all that happy after the race when interviewed by the BBC guys (when they spoke with Ross in the Merc garage on the BBC forum)? To me he just didn't seem that happy and looked as though he was preoccupied and had other things on his mind. I would have expected him to be beaming with Michael's result. I wonder if they found something this weekend with regards to Michael's side of the garage. It may just be me but I didn't get a good feeling watching RB in that interview.

[nash929]

A great result for Schumacher and a long time coming. Merc still need to find some pace though because if it wasn't for the retirements, Schumi would only have been 6th or 7th and Rosberg out of the points and at least a good 40+s seconds behind Vettel.

Did anyone else think that Ross didn't look all that happy after the race when interviewed by the BBC guys (when they spoke with Ross in the Merc garage on the BBC forum)? To me he just didn't seem that happy and looked as though he was preoccupied and had other things on his mind. I would have expected him to be beaming with Michael's result. I wonder if they found something this weekend with regards to Michael's side of the garage. It may just be me but I didn't get a good feeling watching RB in that interview.

I bet he's thinking about the RB's pace and of course, that new floor & tunnel.

[f1316]

It may sound an obvious comment, but I think what is becoming particularly clear this year is that it's imperative to be on good tyres at the end of the race. Apart from in Monaco, where I suspect it would have been OK, track position does you little good because you're not able to defend once your tyres reach a certain age.

What is also interesting is that there may be a form of strategy which allows a driver to somewhat avoid the "tip-toeing" some have complained about. Because the cars are *so* far off the qualifying pace in the race - something like 7 seconds per lap at the start of the race - there could be an argument that the non-optimal strategy allows the driver to push so much harder so as to counteract the amount you lose in additional stops throughout the, let's say, four stints. In a sixty lap race, it only takes lapping an average of .333 of a second faster per lap to make up the extra 20 seconds which is roughly average for a pit stop. This is by no means a fact-based comment, but from the purely anecdotal evidence of driver comments, I would estimate that they are losing significantly more per lap by having to conserve.

Not only this, but it allows those drivers who are better at pushing the car to its limits to push for the full race, whilst still giving those drivers (and cars) that are better at conserving to conserve. Purely psychologically, I can imagine certain drivers benefitting from this more agressive strategy - qualifying position and overtaking possibilities allowing.