Spanish F1 (qualifying spoiler)

[campbell]

Some injuries to Williams pit crew. Incredibly sad end to an otherwise carnival day - fate has a wicked sense of humour.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18051779

Hopefully all will be OK though. Assuming they are...then the banner on the rear wing of the Williams cars next race surely needs to be..."Smokin' "

[kenny]

Given the pace in the race I'm not sure Lewis would have finished that many places further up the field had he started on pole anyway.

Eh? Last to 8th having been in traffic the whole race would suggest he might just have romped it had he kept pole. He was never going to be setting fastest lap times doing one stop less than everyone else, a pretty good effort I thought, another 100m and he would have caught Rosberg. Not bad on tyres that were 30 laps old.

[graeme]

Yeah, Hamilton was nursing tyres the whole race. He could easily have won from the front on a 3-stopper, but if you're at the back you try something different. Being stuck behind Massa finished his first set of primes a few laps ahead of target, and his second set had to go 30 laps as a result. Big, big ask, but he was still pushing right to the end. A really great drive!

I can't stand the whiny little child, but I have to say he drove so well and took his penalty gracefully (at least in front of the cameras, which is good enough). He didn't throw a frustrated dive down the inside of Massa for once, and he proved he can manage tyres (almost Jenson-stylee) and play the long game when asked to. I fully expected him to blow his top about all the recent pit-crew frak-ups, but his response was not his usual whiny rant, but rather, "You win as a team, you lose as a team". What a breath of fresh air! Either his PR team got a new cattle prod for Christmas, or he really is becoming... likeable. He's still a diamond-earring, pencil-beard, perma-sunglasses, nouveau-bling, faux-gangsta douchebag of the highest order, but if he continues this trend of acting like a grown-up I'll have to overlook that and become a fan.

[Dominic]

Given the pace in the race I'm not sure Lewis would have finished that many places further up the field had he started on pole anyway.

Eh? Last to 8th having been in traffic the whole race would suggest he might just have romped it had he kept pole. He was never going to be setting fastest lap times doing one stop less than everyone else, a pretty good effort I thought, another 100m and he would have caught Rosberg. Not bad on tyres that were 30 laps old.

What on earth was Schumi up to?

How long till Ferrari ditch Massa?

Good to see the "Lotus" team doing well.

[Dominic]

Either his PR team got a new cattle prod for Christmas, or he really is becoming... likeable. He's still a diamond-earring, pencil-beard, perma-sunglasses, nouveau-bling, faux-gangsta douchebag of the highest order, but if he continues this trend of acting like a grown-up I'll have to overlook that and become a fan.

[kenny]

What on earth was Schumi up to?

He is past it, needs to quit soon before what's left of his reputation is ruined.

How long till Ferrari ditch Massa?

Consistantly 1 second per lap slower than Alonso in qualifying and the race, 2 points from 5 races while Alonso is joint leader, can't be too long. It's starting to seriously hurt Ferrari's position in the constructors championship already 4th place and only Alonso's good results stopping them dropping behing Mercedes and Williams. While I thought they might just stick with him until the end of the season when they can get the driver they want Ferrari might be forced to change him soon in order to avoid being a mid table team for the start of next season.

[Dominic]

So Schumi gets a penalty for smashing into Senna : http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18053192

Which seems fair enough, however, I still can't understand how Schumi's penalty in comparable to Hamilton's. To quote Eddie Jordan, "the rules need looking at.."

[j2 lot]

Given the pace in the race I'm not sure Lewis would have finished that many places further up the field had he started on pole anyway.

Eh? Last to 8th having been in traffic the whole race would suggest he might just have romped it had he kept pole. He was never going to be setting fastest lap times doing one stop less than everyone else, a pretty good effort I thought, another 100m and he would have caught Rosberg. Not bad on tyres that were 30 laps old.

Hamiltons race was superb- considering he finished a place ahead of Button despite starting at the back, I think he would have romped home to victory had it not been for the penalty.
I really expected a toys out of pram reaction given the severity of the punishment but he does seem to have calmed down this season

[dirkpitt]

So Schumi gets a penalty for smashing into Senna : http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18053192

Which seems fair enough, however, I still can't understand how Schumi's penalty in comparable to Hamilton's. To quote Eddie Jordan, "the rules need looking at.."

To add to that dom

A Ron dennis quote in the senna movie “where is the consistency???”

[Dominic]

Interesting blog on Schumi:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson ... iocre.html

And Massa;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18067284