Red Bull is decidedly not the front runner, Mercedes F-Duct works WELL and there already has been an official complainmt about it to the FIA , Ferrari is totally, completely lost, and HRT may not race tomorrow...
Qualifying notes - front row was not a shock but Ferrari was where they were expected. Roman Grosjean is doing well and Kimi qualified well along with Schuey as a bit of a surprise. At least HRT was able to race this week...
Race notes - A pretty good race with so many questions with rain all thru the race. Ferrari in the wet is good with Alonso - a tribute to his driving ability for sure (especially since Massa was so far back). Mercedes cars are not nearly as good in the race - gotta have cars that can be drivable to finish well. Perez in an absolute shocker - unbelievable drive from him. What happened to the McLaren pit stops - they used to be great and int his race - terrible for both drivers.
With what I have read of Vettel's comments - he is already starting to unravel. He clearly cut in front of Karthikeyan and cut his tire.
Lotus and William's are better than I would have thought and I wonder how well Sauber will be in the rain.
An absolute shocker that Vettel did not make it past Q2. WE are going to see who the #1 driver is I think. Either they will either go back to the exhaust that Vettel likes or go with Webber. They both ran different exhaust ducting this weekend - obviously Webber really likes what he has... Or was it strictly saving tires or just misjudged the time would hold up...?
Rosberg was confident and it certainly shows how the front duct works well in qual - now they have to get the car working better in the race. I think this is the first time Rosberg out qualified Michael this year.
Hamilton will start 7th but the cars just seem a bit off. I don't see Massa finishing the year with Ferrari. Sauber and Lotus are surprises at the front - even Williams did really well considering last year.
Spanish GP Qual: Wow - Maldonado - what a surprise and for William's...!
Grojean, Kimi Perez - all up high in final qualifying. And now Maldonado on the pole and Hamilton sent to the back on a screw up by the crew (they did not fuel the car enough)....
Webber in 12th along with Button in 11th and Vettel in 8th - wow.
Hamilton starting last now after stopping on the track after his qualifying lap instead of driving back to the pits. Seems a little harsh. If they wanted to exclude him from Q3, he should start 11th, not last. Then again, if they want to send a strong message about this issue, having him start last should do it.
There's a fire in the paddock. Black smoke is steaming out of the Williams F1 garage. The team's mechanics are well trained to deal with this eventuality and have got the hoses on the fire nice and early. We'll keep you updated on that situation.
Apparently the rule was created when he ran out of fuel on his pole lap (about 2 years ago) - so the team violated a rule that they were responsible for creating.
Though it still seems really harsh and penalized the driver more than the team. Seems to me that if they wanted to send a message than they could take away manufacture points... Wonder how many more points the team is going to toss away this year. Early estimates for Hamilton alone they have given up close to 30 points
The race was very good - lots of close racing mid-pack. Several lead changes with Alonso, Maldonado and Kimi all vying for the win. Maintaining tires was a critical step. It was interesting that both Red Bulls had issues with the same part of the front wing.
Not sure I agree with Massa's penalty or Vettel's - if they came through immediately behind Senna and Schuey's accident - how are they supposed to slow down enough? Especially when they are concentrating on their cars and passing or protecting their position.
I do give Senna some fault for the accident - it is about 50\50 between them - it did look like he juked inside then went outside to take the turn - maybe he thought Schuey was farther behind. Scheuy should have made a move a bit sooner as he had no room to react...
Hard to believe that William's won - fantastic that they did but holy cow - after last year it would have been improbable for them to hit the podium I would have thought... It decidedly looks like Maldonado did not bring just money - the kid can drive.
Was sick yesterday so I did not post qual results but hereis race results....
Big 'ol mess before turn 1 took out several drivers. The rain variable played out a bit but it really would have been nice for a sudden down burst int he last 10 laps. Hamilton's crew lost him 2 places with a slow pit stop (4.3 sec compared to 3.4-3.6 sec). No idea what happened with Button - seems to me they need Dennis back.
Never saw what Schuey's issue was either - wonder if the crew really knew. Good race by Vettel, Massa, and Rossberg though Vettel was thrown a curve by the weather guessing. Force India turned out well as well...
A lot of drivers really made the tires last - even the super softs.
Worst of the first 6 races. Impressive run by webber though
Anyhow, Satos shunt at the Indy500 made up for the rather dull monaco gp. It was def a thrilling last 2 laps and I don't know how he is gonna sleep tonight.
I'm still not sure how Sato missed taking out Franchitti. Another few inches and I think they're both in the wall.
We'll have to see if Canada can give us our different 7th winner in 7 races. I think Hamilton is the best bet for that to happen, but can't discount either Lotus with kimi on Romain. Should be interesting!
Anyone catch Bernie's comment about a London GP? He claims it will be better for London than the Olympics. Seriously, Bernie? Granted, it would be for multiple years instead on just once, but still....
The article also says that Bernie might be prepared to pay a 35 million pound sanctioning fee himself. Isn't that effectively taking money from his right pocket and putting it in his left pocket
Isn't that effectively taking money from his right pocket and putting it in his left pocket
It's what Bernie does best.
Edit: I can't find the name of a very interesting biography I read about Bernie which focused on his business dealings more than F1. It was written by a British journalist and published in either the late 90s or early 2000s. I'd recommend it if I knew what it was called.
Edit2: I think this is it. It's well worth reading.