[2qwik4u]

Lotus is looking pretty good. Look how much Raikkonen was able to make up, and if Grosjean hadn't gotten screwed over at the beginning of the race, I think he would have done well. I'm really excited to see how they are going to do this year.

[vince14]

My fear with Lotus is they'll be one of those teams that looks good at the start of the year, but trails off by mid-season and is fighting to stay in Q2 by the end. Williams, BMW, Renault and Sauber have all been victims of 'the slide' in the past.

Vince

This post has been edited by vince14: 19 March 2012 - 07:44 PM

[Bigasshammm]

vince14, on 19 March 2012 - 07:44 PM, said:

My fear with Lotus is they'll be one of those teams that looks good at the start of the year, but trails off by mid-season and is fighting to stay in Q2 by the end. Williams, BMW, Renault and Sauber have all been victims of 'the slide' in the past.

Vince

Which is exactly what happened to them last year. They got a podium in Melbourne last year and by the end they were lucky to score points. They don't have the capital I think to compete throughout the season in making new parts and changes to the cars.
Ferrari once again find a way to out pace their qualifying which is amazing. They're just unable to put a hot lap down.
I was surprised by Rosberg's inability when Schumacher seemed to be having no trouble. But then he may also have had a tranny issue that was never brought to light. Or after Schumacher's car went they dialed back Rosberg's to salvage points.

[vince14]

Amazing race today, Perez should have won it! He made one mistake, and Sauber made one as well which let Alonso off the hook. How long before we see Perez in a Ferrari next to Alonso?

Vince

[Bigasshammm]

I need to start DVRing the entire days Speed schedule. I hate these races that get delayed and then I don't see the end. Beyond shocked Ferrari won a race. Their saving grace was the rain. What the hell were McLaren doing in the pit? Between Hamilton's 3 or 4 stops he was in there like a full minute. That's terrible.

[2qwik4u]

Ugh, just finished watching the race. Well, most of it at least. DVR stopped with 8 laps to go.

I was sooo much hoping Perez would win it. Something must have happened in the closing few laps? Even after the Perez's long pitstop to go on slicks from the inter's he was still reeling Alonzo in like crazy. Oh well. I'm sure one of the bigger teams will pick up Perez soon.

[vince14]

Perez made a mistake at turn 13 with about 6 laps to go, ran wide and dropped from under 1 sec behind Alonso to over 7. A real shame, if he'd kept it on the island for that turn he'd have been in the DRS zone and got past Alonso on the main straight. I do wonder how long it will be before Ferrari organise some sort of beneficial swap with Sauber for Perez - "Hey Peter, if you give us Perez we'll let you have the Ferrari engines free for the rest of the year. Oh, and we'll throw Massa your way as well".

Vince

[Dave Williams]

2qwik4u, on 19 March 2012 - 05:58 PM, said:

Lotus is looking pretty good. Look how much Raikkonen was able to make up, and if Grosjean hadn't gotten screwed over at the beginning of the race, I think he would have done well. I'm really excited to see how they are going to do this year.

I don't see how Grosjean got screwed, since he was the one who ran into the back of Schumacher and spun both of them.

I just don't see how Ferrari can keep Massa any longer. I like the guy, but he just isn't getting it done. For over two years now, it's been a constant litany of excuses of how he can't get the tires to work, or can't get the balance right. Alonso seems to be able to make it work. I don't really expect Massa to beat Alonso, but he's not even close as a number two driver. The other big teams (Red Bull, Mercedes, and McLaren) have two drivers can score points for the constructors race, and at Ferrari it's almost all Alonso.

If I were Perez, I'd think hard about going to Ferrari this year, if that's what's offered. I think this year he has a better chance for podiums and even victories in the Sauber than in a Ferrari. I just don't think Ferrari is going to catch up. They are almost a mid level team now.

[2qwik4u]

Dave Williams, on 26 March 2012 - 12:15 AM, said:

I don't see how Grosjean got screwed, since he was the one who ran into the back of Schumacher and spun both of them.

I was referring to the Australian GP when he got taken out by Maldonado in the opening laps of the race. I agree, he didn't look as good in Malaysia.

[Bigasshammm]

What the hell happened to Mercedes? Twice now they qualify high and then don't get points?
Are they sandbagging to get their system OKed for good or did they just set their car up totally wrong for qualifying and not race? They say their rear tires go away too fast but I don't see that on the track. I don't see them sliding around like the Ferarris or the lower level HRT Marrusia teams. They're just overall slower as the race goes on.

[PNW_Modeler]

Dave Williams, on 26 March 2012 - 12:15 AM, said:

I just don't see how Ferrari can keep Massa any longer. I like the guy, but he just isn't getting it done. For over two years now, it's been a constant litany of excuses of how he can't get the tires to work, or can't get the balance right. Alonso seems to be able to make it work. I don't really expect Massa to beat Alonso, but he's not even close as a number two driver. The other big teams (Red Bull, Mercedes, and McLaren) have two drivers can score points for the constructors race, and at Ferrari it's almost all Alonso.

He's never been the same since his big accident at the Hungaroring

[Bigasshammm]

PNW_Modeler, on 27 March 2012 - 09:14 PM, said:

He's never been the same since his big accident at the Hungaroring

Sadly no.

Realistically who would?
I don't believe for one second though that he's gotten the full Ferrari support since Alonso got there.

[vince14]

Agreed, and the worst thing the team did to him was to take away the win in Germany and give it to Alonso. Whilst that might have given a better result for the team at the time, I think that deep down it broke something within Massa.

Vince

[Dave Williams]

I believe Massa is getting more support than Alonso is right now, becasue he needs it. Ferrari, like all constructors, are mainly after getting the constructors points. Having a winning driver is a side benefit for the team and if they can't have that, they definitely want to win the constructor's championship becasue it means money in addition to prestige. And the way to get max constructor's points points is to have both driver score as many points as possible. Doesn't work as well when only one driver is scoring the points.

I think Massa's problem is that he only does well in a car he's comfortable in and is preforming well. Since he came back, Ferrari hasn't been delivering the same competitive car that they were before his accident. The cars are harder to drive, harder to get set up, and the new Pirelli tires have different characteristics. Guys like Alonso (and Hamilton, Vettel, Schumacher back in the day, and others) have the skill to extract the maximum out of a car that isn't the most competitive car on the track. Massa just doesn't.

I think Ferrari has been more than patient with him and are giving them all the help they can, but at some point I think they are going to have to face up to the fact that they aren't building world beater cars any more and right now they need two drivers able to extract the maximum out of the cars that Ferrari can give them. Massa isn't one of those guys.

[vince14]

Interesting race today, good to see Rosberg get his first win. A shame for Button, he could have won as well. And I now make it 3 1/2 times that Webber has flipped a car...

Vince

[2qwik4u]

Agreed, one heck of a race. The entire last third was incredibly exciting. I'm begining to like Perez more and more. I really liked his comments before the race when he was asked if he would switch to Ferrari mid season if he was asked. Massa seemed to show some small signs of improvement, but it is looking more and more like too little too late. And what the hell happened to Raikkonen? 12 spots in one lap?

[Bigasshammm]

Sad that Hamilton had to change gearboxes or he would have been battling for the lead as well. Schumi also got screwed. It seems the pit crews are letting down the drivers more often then not this season.

An interesting race and good for Roseberg to earn some of that money. Mclaren in command so far so I'm happy.

[Bigasshammm]

This weekend's shaping up to be a rare spectacle.

[vince14]

I managed to miss the race - I was halfway up a mountain in Portugal instead. But from the highlights I think Rosberg was a bit naughty...

Vince

[Bigasshammm]

vince14, on 24 April 2012 - 01:14 PM, said:

I managed to miss the race - I was halfway up a mountain in Portugal instead. But from the highlights I think Rosberg was a bit naughty...

Vince

Yet he was completely cleared of both instances? And the fact that they waited till after the race reeks of conspiracy. If that was Hamilton he'd have had two drive throughs. When Schumi almost put barrichello in the wall two years ago he was penalized heavily. Because there's no wall there it's ok?