BOF Posted March 22, 2012 Author Moderator Share Posted March 22, 2012 Unless I'm mistaken (I probably am), in theory it allows DRS to activate mechanisms to increase the ride height of the car or straighten the wings or do any number of things to the car that the driver wouldn't ordinarily be allowed to do on his own. No doubt the FIA can always invoke the mythical "spirit of the rule" if and when something doesn't tickle their fancy. I'm loathe to suggest that they're desperate to get Michael Schumacher back to the front of the grid by hook or by crook, so I won't suggest it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Vettel's interviews when everythings not all hunky dorey, not doing much to dispel a "myth" that his arrogance is misunderstood. See vettel v button postgame for assessing a disappointing race. Such a bellend. Anyway, glad to see Alonso win, and great finish for Perez! Williams and Lotus really looking decent this year which is nice, Mercedes seem to really have problems in-race at the moment it seems, though it was crazy with conditions, but they just don't last. Better for Force India as well this weekend too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 25, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted March 25, 2012 Great race today. It was a shame Alonso won, but it was very entertaining. The Vettel incident looked entirely his fault from where I was sitting. Seemed he cut in front of the HRT and only had himself to blame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briggaman Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I really enjoyed it, although having to wait 45 minutes for the rain to stop was a bit of a pain. Good thing it restarted though. Alonso did extremely well to take first place and held onto it well. I think Perez would have won if he hadn't gone off the track though. Very good race from him though aswell and I'm sure he'll be over the moon with second. Kimi also did rather well today. I was also impressed by Ricciardo today. Some of his overtaking was really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theunderstudy Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Jenson with a Lewis-esque rash blunder today, crunching into Karthikeyan whilst the field was bunched up not the best idea. lewis will not be happy with the mechanics after they really did not get hhis pit right. Alonso drove a tidy race, but Perez will have been really annoyed Sauber told him to pull back for fear of losing 2nd. I reckon Perez' speed advantage + DRS would have seen him smash Alonso and take 1st. Sadly it was just 2nd but it was a great race for him. Props to J-E Vergne for quite frankly staggeringly successfully faultlessly navigating lake-like conditions on intermediates, where less mortals were on full wets and skidding off. Lewis raced solidly, Vettel was poor, Webber anonymous. Massa another disappointment. Schumi and Rosberg not matching their pace once again. Sauber look the big winners this year. Red Bull are no longer THE team, McLaren's pace in qualifying is better (4/4 front row lockouts, and the only team to have a driver on the podium in both races) Ferrari I'm yet to be convinced, Mercedes poor, considering everyone's orgasming about them. Lotus look good. Oh and poor Roman Grosjean, what is it, 3 completed laps all season!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 25, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted March 25, 2012 But Perez lost it because he went off? Wasn't anything to do with his team telling him to back off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briggaman Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 But Perez lost it because he went off? Wasn't anything to do with his team telling him to back off. The team telling him to do that appeared to distract him, thus causing him to go off. He had no need to back off as he was much faster than Alonso. They could have just told him to be careful when overtaking. I suppose that it was ultimately his own error, yet there is that niggling issue that the team really had no need to say anything. I'm sure they're all more than happy with second place though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Sauber have been unlucky in the past, I think that was just caution on the verge of an excellent finish, nothing conspiratorial involved I don't think. After last year when they had points taken off them at australia, perez' crash in monaco iirc when he was doing well ( can't remember ), not surprised, especially with conditions still having the slight threat of doom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CastleBromVilla Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Whose the blondie thats always with Sebastian Vettel when he's doing interviews? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted March 25, 2012 Moderator Share Posted March 25, 2012 My highlight of the day was Buttons move to take Massa, really well thought out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 26, 2012 Author Moderator Share Posted March 26, 2012 Very enjoyable race and I'm glad I didn't watch it live. I'm glad I could Sky+ past the delay. I couldn't believe Ferrari actually won a race. Perez was fantastic and Brundle was right, he has now very much 'arrived' on the back of that race. I think Ferrari (and Massa) will have noticed that their #1 driver won the race and was harassed by the very guy rumoured to be in line to replace their #2 driver. As for any conspiracy, I don't really think Perez was asked not to overtake their engine supplier. Also, I don't agree that the radio transmission put him off. We get a delayed feed so it was about a minute or 2 old by the time we heard it. He then ran off the track a half min after that so he probably completed a whole lap in between hearing that message and going wide at turn 13. Mercedes were disappointing. Red Bull have 3 weeks to bridge the gap. Ferrari know all this did was paper over the cracks. Alonso and Domenicali said as much after the race. This changes nothing. They're still off the pace but this will give them the impetus to improve the car because the engineers will no doubt want more of this. Hopefully the taste of victory will motivate them to want it all the time. McLaren just had one of those days where; by their own admission; stuff just didn't fall into place. Force India and Toro Rosso are being solid if unspectacular. I expected more from them this season, certainly more from Force India. But they seem to be eating Sauber's dust at the moment. Williams have to be happy with the way things are going. Even if Maldonado continues to have problems getting to the end of races. I still can't figure Lotus out. Though Grosjean needs to sort himself out. He's got the qualy pace but I think he's trying too hard in the races. Now a 3 week break 'til the next race Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 26, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted March 26, 2012 But Perez lost it because he went off? Wasn't anything to do with his team telling him to back off. The team telling him to do that appeared to distract him, thus causing him to go off. Possibly, but that's an assumption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theunderstudy Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I think it distracted him from the "will to win" focus, he was steaming up on Alonso and was told, quite frankly, not to. And not attempt overtaking for fear of Alonso's stubbornness. (He'd rather both crash than let his aggressor win, I think) Either way, Perez has auditioned very well for Ferrari. Seriously though, he will be in a better car than that Sauber very soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 well the sauber's aren't that bad a car right now! but yes, massa is not going to be there next year, and perez has a very good shout of claiming that seat next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theunderstudy Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Next year? Sooner than that, mahyap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mykeyb Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Massa looks like a man who knows his fate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 26, 2012 Author Moderator Share Posted March 26, 2012 Ferrari are denying it, but then they will deny it right until the point where it's a done deal. Massa is nothing short of a liability at the moment. The car isn't great and Alonso is a top top driver so they're not going to get someone who can match what Alonso is doing, but you would expect Massa or [driver #2] to be challenging for points at the very least. I don't even see a lower tier team taking a risk on Massa when he loses his Ferrari drive. I think he's done in F1 once he leaves them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I think Massa could do ok when he's out of the ferrari limelight, I think a combination of constant speculation, the accident, and Alonso annihilating him has hurt him pretty badly, but in another side, most of those factors are gone. However, I'm not sure which mid tier seat would open up for him right now. Williams look like they could have a settled pair ( early days I know etc ) for a couple of years, and there's always the competition of a returning Kubica ( if ever ) or Sutil again I suppose. Meh, I dunno, but the one certainty is that he has no future with Ferrari. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 192 points for my engine this week lucky i didn't listen to a certain somebody :winkold: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 27, 2012 Author Moderator Share Posted March 27, 2012 Me? Anyhoo, as for Massa. I reckon he has mild dain bramage from when Barrichello mario-karted him with a green shell. Plus there's a generation of drivers coming through from the lower formulas that will nip his F1 career in the bud. The good teams won't want him and the bad teams want at least one pay driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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