Belgium Grand Prix 2010, Spa-Francorchamps Circuit - Race 13/19

I agree that Ferrari predicted the weather incorrectly. This is probably true. However, what made them believe that they simply had to use such an extreme set up?

No other leading driver/team did this. Most of the drivers chose a setup between wet and dry (damp, if you like). This was so that they cover both eventualities - ie. if it rains heavily or if no rain falls. Had Ferrari/Alonso been confident in their own ability, then surely they could also have used a damp setup and allow Alonso to make up the difference, using his own skill.

I honestly can't see why Ferrari needed to take such a risk, unless they felt they needed every percentage point of performance to beat the opposition.

Personally, I feel that Alonso called it wrong and paid the price. He then compounded his error by spinning his car off the track in frustration. For this reason alone, I feel Alonso let himself down.

Ferrari have finally produced a car capable of consistently finishing on the podium, but Alonso was unable to extract the maximum from it at Spa. At such a crucial moment in the title run in, is this really what the best driver in F1 would do?

Anyway, next year, Alonso should be settled in at Ferrari and will probably do better, but it would've been fantastic if could've entered the last few races of the season with Alonso side by side in the championship with Hamilton and also racing wheel to wheel with him, on the track. I feel we are being robbed.
 
Telescopi said:
Hamilton may win more races than Schumacher but if he sticks at Mclaren his whole career I wouldn't say he was the better driver.

Schumacher going to an also-ran Ferrari team (remember this was the Ferrari V12 alesi / berger days) and turning it into the class of the field was an impressive feat. He had help, clearly, but it still stands out. I suspect part of the attraction of returning to F1 was to do the same again with Mercedes (again under Brawn).
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Schumacher's stats are insane. At Hamilton's current win rate he will have to do 450 races or race for about 25 years in F1 to equal Schumacher! Hamilton has the talent but it takes more than talent to do what Schumacher did.

suprised there has been no mention or time punishment etc for massa starting about a meter past his start mark.
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It's an odd one. I have seen drivers overshoot their starting position before and get away with it- but not by as much as Massa. There doesn't seem to be a rule against it...

Alonso has always been questionable under pressure. He just about held it together in 2006 but clearly cracked with his battle with Hamilton in 2007. Clearly he can be brilliant but I think it is hard to be consistent over a long period of time when one is personally a little unstable.
 
Owenb said:
Schumacher's stats are insane. At Hamilton's current win rate he will have to do 450 races or race for about 25 years in F1 to equal Schumacher! Hamilton has the talent but it takes more than talent to do what Schumacher did.
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Very true. Schumacher was very talented, but he also had a lot on his side - luck, money, people (like Brawn), a second fiddle team mate, the FIA :p, other teams coming out with exceptionally bad designs. All in all, it worked out very well for him. Until Bernie realised his dominance was killing the support and subsequently tried to change rules etc. to try to bring it to and end.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
Very true. Schumacher was very talented, but he also had a lot on his side - luck, money, people (like Brawn), a second fiddle team mate, ...
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Hamilton still has time to sort these things out. One of the key things is to get a team-mate who wont take points away from him.

Once he moves away from McLaren, he will be able to dictate his own terms and arrange the team around himself.

He still has time.
 
sunama said:
Hamilton still has time to sort these things out. One of the key things is to get a team-mate who wont take points away from him.

Once he moves away from McLaren, he will be able to dictate his own terms and arrange the team around himself.

He still has time.
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Ferrari were dominant for so long though - and with little competition for many years. I just can't see that happening again. Just look at Red Bull. They are no doubt quick - but I remember in the "Schumacher days" when a car was quick it would put 30-60 seconds over the rest of the field. Just can't see Hamilton getting that kind of luck. Where would he move to anyway?
 
Owenb said:
Alonso has always been questionable under pressure. He just about held it together in 2006 but clearly cracked with his battle with Hamilton in 2007.
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I wouldn't say he cracked.

He was not happy with the fact that he was not being given preferential treatement and that Hamilton (the rookie), seemed to be matching him in performance.

As an incoming world champ, he wouldve expected to have been given preferential treatment, however, this was not given. This didnt go down well with Alonso and it all ended in arguments.

Still, he did very well to finish in joint 2nd despite the crazy situation he found himself, after Hungary. Below are Alonso's and Hamilton's results after the Hungarian debacle:

Hamilton....5......2......4......1......Ret......7
Alonso.......3......1......3......Ret......2.....3

As can be seen Alonso was fantastically consistent after the bust up, demonstrating that he did not "crack".
 
CaptainRAVE said:
Where would he move to anyway?
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In 3 or 4 years, he could move to another team. We just don't know at this stage.

At some stage, I see it as almost inevitable that he will drive for Ferrari.

A lot of it depends on how badly he wants to hunt down MS's records. If he starts to get close, he may well start moving to teams which offer him the fastest cars and the best chance to win races/titles (ala Prost and Senna).

He is still 24 I think, which would mean that as long as he stays healthy, he should be able to win races for the next 12 or so years. His big problem will be Adrian Newey, who is able to build super fast cars and Alonso (who could take championships/race wins away from him).

This is all at least a decade in to the future though, so its impossible to predict with any accuracy what may or may not occur.
 
sunama said:
I wouldn't say he cracked.

He was not happy with the fact that he was not being given preferential treatement and that Hamilton (the rookie), seemed to be matching him in performance.

As an incoming world champ, he wouldve expected to have been given preferential treatment, however, this was not given. This didnt go down well with Alonso and it all ended in arguments.

Still, he did very well to finish in joint 2nd despite the crazy situation he found himself, after Hungary. Below are Alonso's and Hamilton's results after the Hungarian debacle:

Hamilton....5......2......4......1......Ret......7
Alonso.......3......1......3......Ret......2.....3

As can be seen Alonso was fantastically consistent after the bust up, demonstrating that he did not "crack".
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It started much earlier than that. He wanted the team to stop hamilton putting pressure on him in Monaco, he complained when Hamilton blocked him when trying to overtake in the USGP. After Silverstone he made went out of his way to point out how bad hamilton was during the race- and that was all before really became public. If he had kept his head I am sure he would have found the 2 extra points that he needed.
 
dannyjo22 said:
I just surprised when no one else noticed, Ferrari didn't grass on him themselves.
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Very strange - Brundle commented on it, one can only assume it was clearly visible from the pit all. I guess all the other teams must have assumed it would be picked up automatically so didn't bother complaining.
 
sunama said:
Hamilton still has time to sort these things out. One of the key things is to get a team-mate who wont take points away from him.

Once he moves away from McLaren, he will be able to dictate his own terms and arrange the team around himself.

He still has time.
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dont see him ever leaving mclaren tbh if he did where would he go anyway?

vettel will probably stay at redbull for aslong as he can do no wrong.

renault no longer have the backing.

ferrari dont seem to have recovered from losing brawn , todt etc and not beeing able to spend billions on testing has obviously crippled them.

mercedes are still the crap bar-honda team

mclaren have nearly always been one of the top 3 teams and a title contender for the last 15 years
 
I agree with all that, although I think I read recently Renault are maybe going to buy back the team. Mercedes should have just stayed with Mclaren.
 
arknor said:
mercedes are still the crap bar-honda team
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I wouldn't write them off that quickly, they are gearing up for next year afterall. I would never count out a team that has both Brawn and Shumacher. Even if it's actually Rosberg who does the winning those guys know how to build championship teams.
 
I don't think anybody can tell what drivers will be doing or how competitive a team will be in 5 years time.

6 years ago, in 2004, when Ferrari were winning EVERYTHING, would we honestly have believed that a driver called Alonso would beat MS/Ferrari for the next 2 years?

Would we have believed that the year after Alonso beat MS, a rookie known as Hamilton would arrive and match Alonso, in the same equipment?

3 Years ago, would anybody have believed that RBR would produce a car so fast that they would out qualify every other non-RBR car by almost 1s/lap (in 2010)?

The way I see it, many of the top drivers of the past have served with Ferrari at some point in their careers. Senna didnt, but I feel this was only because he died before he had a chance.

I honestly think that it is inevitable that Hamilton (providing he stays healthy), will drive for other teams. I can't think of a single top line driver who has stayed with the same team throughout his career.
 
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