Formula-1 2010

[KLM]

On a somewhat unrelated to the racing note, what did you guys think of the advert for the AMG SLS they kept airing thru the race?

Its alright, I guess. Apparently its an older ad that Mercedes shot, but when they signed Michael, they added him at the end. The red car is a dig at Ferrari.

[Pericles]

Its alright, I guess. Apparently its an older ad that Mercedes shot, but when they signed Michael, they added him at the end. The red car is a dig at Ferrari.

Thought they put the red car to take advantage of the marketing provided by the Red Baron. Always thought that car looks better in Silver anyway.

[esdeez]

Its interesting how mercedes is really dominating F1 now. Their advertising stratergy has come at a time when honda, bmw, and toyota pulled out due to costs. Its highly unusual to see an ad for a supercar anywhere in the world but they must be on to something. Couple this with the fact that the top 3 drivers of the last race all had the 2 pointed star to thank and its a classic 'win on sunday, sell on monday' act.

On another note, I'm intrigued by the MGP ad thats also being aired. Do you think that one was another mercedes based ad, or is it mainly for petronas?

[KLM]

Its interesting how mercedes is really dominating F1 now. Their advertising stratergy has come at a time when honda, bmw, and toyota pulled out due to costs. Its highly unusual to see an ad for a supercar anywhere in the world but they must be on to something. Couple this with the fact that the top 3 drivers of the last race all had the 2 pointed star to thank and its a classic 'win on sunday, sell on monday' act.

On another note, I'm intrigued by the MGP ad thats also being aired. Do you think that one was another mercedes based ad, or is it mainly for petronas?

You're right, the Merc engine is by far the strongest one in the field but I read somewhere recently that sales of MB cars had fallen and in the luxury segment, they were third behind BMW and Audi. Lets hope F1 somehow improves Mercedes sales in the next quarter at least.

[esdeez]

Perhaps again a little off topic.... But I really can't understand why the rules say that BMW Sauber has to maintain the BMW tag....

BMW Sauber Ferrari as is seen on the timing sheets must be embarrassing to all parties involved to say the least...

[MasterDon]

They both got reprimanded, but no penalties. Good call by the stewards, IMO. It was un-necessary but not worthy of any penalties. Great racing all around, huh guys?

yup..good race...here's hoping for more wet races(where ferrari come out on top...lol)

[isurujosh]

in this day, time and age of tree huggers, "race on sunday and sell on monday" does not bode too well with a majority. we can see the results clearly in the sales charts. mercs aren't doing too great. only the really good cars in absolute terms like the revamped e class do well. a racing image, especially a one to do with F1 does not seem to matter too much in most sectors that mercs operate.

on a different note, i think the SLS may not be too sucessful becuase 458 italia and mp4-12c are lot better cars. as for me i'd choose the SLS only becuase of it's great looks. i saw one couple of days ago in flesh and my god! it looks lot better in flesh than in pics, it's engine note though is still a notch down on ferrari's to my liking.

on the subject of who's got the best F1 engine. i think the renault isn't too far behind the mercs. haven't you seen the renault factory cars down the straights? may be not all of that is down to aerodynamics. i think renault have over-developed their engine during the grace period given to them to cover up the HP deficit.

Edited April 20, 2010 by isurujosh

[isurujosh]

i hope schumi is back for good. it'd be fun to watch him compete with the new kids. i hope i was wrong with my inital doubts about schumi's come-back. bring-on sunday. i hope the much awaited long wheel base and clean chassis delivers.

Edited May 7, 2010 by isurujosh

[esdeez]

i hope schumi is back for good. it'd be fun to watch him compete with the new kids. i hope i was wrong with my inital doubts about schumi's come-back. bring-on sunday. i hope the much awaited long wheel base and clean chassis delivers.

Well indeed, what a great race it was for shumi. Coming 4th and definately showing that he can drive like the pro he is by holding off button so well.

I actually feel sorry for LH on the penultimate lap, that must be so frustrating, but of course for the spanish crowd it must have been a miricle to have alonso move up to 2nd.

Vettel also proving that he can show self control and nurse the car back to the finish with an imminent brake failure, again highlighting their reliability issues...

Good show by Webber, faultless drive from pole and a well deserved victory.

This is gearing up to be a brilliant and unpredictable season.

[isurujosh]

hamilton has had his shares of luck especially during 2007 and 2008, now he faces the unlucky times. it's part of any sport. the good and the bad times. but again hamilton drove superbly. i could not figure out though how exactly hamilton managed to leap frog vettel. was it only caused by the involvement of the 3rd car between vettel and hamilton during vettel's re-entry? or is it that hamilton managed to churn out some stonker laps in and out of pits? or is it the combination of both?

button again proved that he's only a second rate driver (but still a very good driver in it's own right). what keeps him at the top is his first rate judgement.

massa looked like a man about to loose the seat to a polish driver. kobayashi is no joke. rosberg also showed that he too is 2nd rate at best. he aint got killer instincts that top rate drivers have. not all blame though can be put on rosberg as we all know that mercGPs got more problems with aero-dynamic turbulence than other cars.

[KLM]

A complete breakdown of the Michael/Alonso incident by Ross Brawn. It is clear that Damon Hill and his team of stewards made a serious mistake.

[isurujosh]

A complete breakdown of the Michael/Alonso incident by Ross Brawn. It is clear that Damon Hill and his team of stewards made a serious mistake.

damon hill has some old scores to settle :lol

it's nice to see schu being schu again, i mean that uncompromising racer in him. that's what i like about hamilton and schu.

it was nice seeing schu doing well and aggressive against rosberg even in the shorter wheelbase car.

on ross brawn's claim: what ross does not highlight is Article 40.13, which states that "if the race ends whilst the Safety Car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking."

i think it's a difficult call but on entertainment and racing spirit grounds i'd have liked to see schu not been penalised.

Edited May 17, 2010 by isurujosh

[virensti]

25 Jul 2010

Race results - Alonso leads Ferrari one-two

Ferrari controlled Sunday's German Grand Prix from start to finish after polesitter Sebastian Vettel dropped to third at the first turn. Felipe Massa was ahead of Fernando Alonso for the first 48 laps before moving aside for his team mate.

Vettel came home third for R*D B*LL, followed by the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Mark Webber was fifth after engine problems on his RB6. Full results...

FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2010

Provisional Results Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts

1 8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 67 Winner 2 25

2 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 67 +4.1 secs 3 18

3 5 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 67 +5.1 secs 1 15

4 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 67 +26.8 secs 6 12

5 1 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 67 +29.4 secs 5 10

6 6 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 67 +43.6 secs 4 8

7 11 Robert Kubica Renault 66 +1 Lap 7 6

8 4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 66 +1 Lap 9 4

9 3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 66 +1 Lap 11 2

10 12 Vitaly Petrov Renault 66 +1 Lap 13 1

11 23 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 66 +1 Lap 12

12 9 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 66 +1 Lap 8

13 10 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 66 +1 Lap 10

14 22 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 66 +1 Lap 14

15 17 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 66 +1 Lap 15

16 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 65 +2 Laps 21

17 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 65 +2 Laps 19

18 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 64 +3 Laps 23

19 21 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 63 +4 Laps 20

Ret 19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 56 +11 Laps 18

Ret 25 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 50 +17 Laps 24

Ret 20 Sakon Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 19 +48 Laps 22

Ret 18 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 3 +64 Laps 17

Ret 16 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1 +66 Laps 16

Bit unfair of Ferrari IMO. If Alonso was soo much faster, all he had to do was pass him..

[Supra_Natural]

Ferrari being ferrari once again... and alonso being alonso.

They've been fined and reported to the WMSC

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/85552

[Watchman]

Ferrari being ferrari once again... and alonso being alonso.

They've been fined and reported to the WMSC

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/85552

I was thinking the same thing!! Alonso sure got raped in the post-race press-conference....

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/7/11072.html

They could have gracefully claimed a 1-2 finish.. now all thats remembered isnt a 1-2 finish, but rather a case of race-fixing...

the simple fact that those 2 guys (no matter what order) ended up on the top of the podium is hardly the highlight..

But me happy! my sexy red&silver Mclarens are still holding strong...

Edited July 26, 2010 by Dilesh

[gunat]

Well, Ferrari can do whatever they want knowing they'll only get a slap on the wrist- after all, they now have an added advantage of old guard in the upper echelons of FIA. They (Ferrari) pretty much set the tone for the rest of what was shaping up to be a great, clean season. I don't think there has been a more blatant case of race fixing in recent past.

As we've seen with his previous team, Alonso stamps his feet like a petulant child, and a team mate gets screwed in the process. If he was faster, then all he had to do was pass Massa on the merit of what he claimed.

I don't doubt his skill as a driver- but he does absolutely nothing but damage to the sport, the spirit of competition, and the overall reputation of the F1.

More's the pity that it was the 1 year anniversary since Massa's accident and he was really showing it up on the track...i hope he's smart and doesn't stick around Ferrari...knowing that he'll be second fiddle and nothing more.

It takes 2 to tango, and Alonso with Ferrari are a great combo as we can see.

[Elvis_Pil]

Well Massa is in sticky situation now- he either has to play ball and be second fiddle or he can very well end up being out of a drive next year. As Ferrari has demonstrated in the past, they will not hesitate to kick a contracted Driver out of the team. Massa really would not have many options on the open market for next year- other than in a mid field team like maybe ForceIndia or Sauber as most of the good seats are now finalized. Plus I don't think he's built a solid enough reputation for getting points off with weaker machinery.. so that does not help.

[isurujosh]

massa was born to be a lap dog. he has had to play second fiddle excpet for half a season all his career. i think ferrari did the right thing. but they could have done a better job by anticipating this before the race and engineering an overtake but still this is how titles can be won. ask R*D B*LL if you are not sure. anyway it seems that it is easier to tame down massa than rubens. if it were rubens it would have been austria all over again.

[xXx]

I am with Isuru on this. Alonso has a greater chance of clinging the tile compared to Massa hence he should be given priority. Though the blatant manner Ferrari executed their strategy was foolish.

[Elvis_Pil]

I'm not sure if you can ask RedB*ll anything about winning titles

[isurujosh]

I am with Isuru on this. Alonso has a greater chance of clinging the tile compared to Massa hence he should be given priority. Though the blatant manner Ferrari executed their strategy was foolish.

another +1 for dominicali.

R*D B*LL would not have faced their current plight if they had chosen a clear front runner and acted upon it during the very early stages of the season it self. but vettel's apparent inabilities and his car breaking manners did not help the course either.

[Elvis_Pil]

nonsense. One wonders what the criteria would be for selecting a 'front runner'.. and if selecting a front runner was an accepted strategy then the top guys at Mclaren should be fired for fielding two world champs- who are both at the summit of the championship.

F1 teams will always work towards the maximum points for team and even team orders will never be handed out to reduce the overall tally the team can earn off a race. (unless its towards the end of the season and only one Driver has a practical chance of winning the Championship)

Edited July 27, 2010 by Elvis_Pil

[Pericles]

nonsense. One wonders what the criteria would be for selecting a 'front runner'.. and if selecting a front runner was an accepted strategy then the top guys at Mclaren should be fired for fielding two world champs- who are both at the summit of the championship.

F1 teams will always work towards the maximum points for team and even team orders will never be handed out to reduce the overall tally the team can earn off a race. (unless its towards the end of the season and only one Driver has a practical chance of winning the Championship)

You mean like the crash in Singapore that allowed Alonso to win?

[Elvis_Pil]

Well crash-gate was something else.. There is no comparison between Nando and Nelson. And just for argument sake- all things did go according to the so called 'team orders' plan. They scored a win and considering Nelson's previous form its highly unlikely that he would have scored decently if at all in that race. So team did score the max possible points.

[isurujosh]

rubbish. recent history shows that having a clear favorite in the team is the way to go for winning championships. most of the championships of the last decade were won by the team that had a natural clear front runner or the teams that forced a front runner when the drivers were equally capable like in 2009. the only reason why RBR is not leading the championship right now is down to the abesnce of a clear no. 1 driver there due to Horner's over estimation of vettel and underestimation of webber.

mclaren's current line up, approach and it's suceess is not the rule but the exception. besides mclaren has not won the championship yet (i hope they do), i wouldn't count my chicks before they are all hatched or try to formulate a theory based on an exception rather than on the rule. mclaren would anyway have anticipated hamilton to be the front runner. it wasn't difficult to figure out that hamilton is in a different league than button towards the end of 2009 when button was loosing to rubens north, east west and south.

those who cannot comprehend as to how F1 teams select a clear front runner may consult jean todt, flavio briatore and ross brawn to learn ABC of formula1. hic! i can only imagine how hard it would have been to select the front runner between fisichella and fernando.

Edited July 27, 2010 by isurujosh