I can remember seasons where a team were bedding something new in that failed all over the place – only for it to be sorted and spectacular a year later

Judging by Alonso’s past form this will be happening as soon as he’s left! 🙂

When you think about how good Alonso is it shows the level of driver that Hamilton is considering he out drove Alonso in his rookie year!

Judging by Alonso’s past form this will be happening as soon as he’s left!

You may have a point.

Alonso is outstanding. He will easily get a drive next year.

The question is where!?

Brundle is convinced he can’t go to Merc or Ferrari and doesn’t fit in with Red Bull’s young image. He can only see it being Renault.

And as said already – leaving someone else to take his McLaren seat and reap the benefits of his work! 🙂 The intriguing thing for me is who will fill his seat there.

Alonso to Sauber in 2018

Alonso to Sauber in 2018

😆

The intriguing thing for me is who will fill his seat there.

Great question- I love speculating about this kind of stuff!

They already have a rookie so they’ll be looking for someone experienced. Will they still have thr budget to pull in one of the big guns? Not sure if any of them would be intetested tbh- they are all safely esconced at the big 3. Unless…Hamilton to McLaren for 2018!! 😉

Cracking race so far!

Lewis is steely eyed racing driver out front at the end of a race, lure them in bang in a fast lap, lure them in bang another fastest lap….

Lucky boy not to get penalised after running off the track and going the wrong side of the bollard

That was a great race.

Red Bull have a huge amount of work to do. If this was ‘spec b’ they need to move to ‘spec k’ rapidly.

Highlight – the little lad who was crying in the crowd. A Ferrari fan for life now, really nice touch from them.

I think little touches like that young lad are the kind of thing that Liberty Media will bring to the game.

That will win ferrari 1000s of new fans, you couldn’t see the cold calculating germans doing that. I’ve always liked Kimis cool demeanor too but he showed a great side of his personality there

Certainly good pr for Ferrari and Kimi. Something money cant buy no matter how many twitter, insta, faceache followers you have.

Incredible race! Absolutely amazing 🙂

That has to be the best Spanish GP ever 😀

Proper racing with a great result for the championship, a bit of fan involvement and respect between the drivers. This season is going to be epic 8)

Great race, loved it. Not often I say that about barca!

If anyone thinks that finding that kid and taking him to Ferrari wasn’t a bit of marketing then I think they are a bit stoopid. Funny how there was a TV feed from the hospitality tent at just the right moment.

Yes, but there is nothing wrong with that. Its marketing and thats what sells tickets and raises sponsorship which results in the racing.

I agree. But I don’t think they were dong it for the kids sake.

If anyone thinks that finding that kid and taking him to Ferrari wasn’t a bit of marketing then I think they are a bit stoopid. Funny how there was a TV feed from the hospitality tent at just the right moment.

You are right, they would be stoopid, but I don’t think anyone is thinking or saying that. In fact so far everyone has been saying the opposite, eg:

Certainly good pr for Ferrari and Kimi.

and

That will win ferrari 1000s of new fans

and

I think little touches like that young lad are the kind of thing that Liberty Media will bring to the game.

All professional sport is 100% marketing. That’s what pays for it.

It’s not like you’d get say football having kids as mascots is it?

But I don’t think they were dong it for the kids sake.

The kid won’t care.

He’s had the best day of his life, following on from a huge disappointment seeing his hero binned in the first corner. He’s probably set up with Ferrari hats for the rest of his life.

No-one had to do it, and it was a nice gesture. Everyone wins.

No-one had to do it, and it was a nice gesture. Everyone wins

Exactly. It may have been for marketing reasons, but it was still a good thing to do.

Agreed, ulterior motive or not, what a great thing to do.

jeepers some right doom mongers on here.

That wee lad has had the best day ever, he’ll remember his day forever.

To me, the PR stunt with that young lad was the best thing that happened in the GP, maybe I watched a different race but not seen anything really exciting yet this season, getting quite boring with very little real overtaking but that’s just my opinion.

IMO that was a proper F1 race – the only things that would have improved it are if the Merc & Ferrari strategies had converged a bit later, if Lewis had managed a non DRS pass and if Alonso hadn’t been nerfed off at the start.

FWIW I always enjoyed the long game races that depended on strategy, comparing lap times over a stint, how they ebb and flow with traffic/incidents on track etc to see who was going to end up ahead. It’s about being the quickest from flag to flag, not passing the most people on the way.

I’m no Alonso fan but with him starting in 7th made me egg him on all throughout the race! Wish he had finished in 7th, shame he dropped those places – didn’t he pit just before the safety car so kinda missed out there?

I think that if they sort the Maclaren Honda package out (Honda will keep trying until they sort it so not to lose face) it could be unbeatable. Hopefully they see some real improvement over this season. I just wish the livery didn’t make them look like BSM learner cars.

You can tell the drivers love these new cars, they all seem to be putting in max effort too. Hamilton admitted they had to drive at 80% a fair bit in previous years but was giving 100% yesterday all through the race.

I’ve also warmed to Vettel since he joined Ferrari. Much the same as when Hamilton joined McClaren he seemed to have found his natural “home”, is much more relaxed in camera interviews etc. Love how he speaks Italian to the team, that probably will help in him fitting in!

Much the same as when Hamilton joined McClaren

You mean Mercedes? He debuted for McLaren.

interestly even though qualifying was very close I still think the merc has more of an edge than the times suggest

Lewis best sector times total 1:18.914
Vettel best sector times total 1:19.172

so the merc has over quarter of a second on the ferrari if anyones interested the data can be found here

It’s about being the quickest from flag to flag, not passing the most people on the way.

this is why most dont like it

its has more to do with tyre management and luck – virtual safety car this time- than actually being the fastest on the track

Granted this time we did get that overtake though[ and when vettel rejoined] so there was actually racing for a change as well

We want to know who is the best driver not who is best at managing tyres and has the wisest strategist in the pit lane/most luck that day.

F1 rarely delivers on that front

You mean Mercedes? He debuted for McLaren.

Yes I did, got McLaren on the brain.

We want to know who is the best driver not who is best at managing tyres and has the wisest strategist in the pit lane/most luck that day.

I’ll take a bit of genius strategy every so often too tbh e.g. winning the race on a 4-stopper

Needs more wet laps

It’s about being the quickest from flag to flag, not passing the most people on the way.

Junkyard – lazarus

this is why most dont like it
its has more to do with tyre management and luck – virtual safety car this time- than actually being the fastest on the track

Granted this time we did get that overtake though[ and when vettel rejoined] so there was actually racing for a change as well

We want to know who is the best driver not who is best at managing tyres and has the wisest strategist in the pit lane/most luck that day.

F1 rarely delivers on that front

What you’re saying is like “snooker should just be about the best person at potting the balls”. It sort of is, but there’s a bit more to it than that!

To nab a quote from Training Day, “The shit’s chess, it ain’t checkers”

If you want just a straight who is the best driver contest you’re watching the wrong sport! The car and team have always made a massive difference and always will.

The closest thing to top flight ‘best driver series’ was A1 GP but it just didn’t get the coverage, I reckon if they had hit the ground running and promoted itself like the E Grand Prix series has it may have survived and eventually succeeded.