Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali says he does not blame anybody for mistakes that cost Fernando Alonso the championship.
Links
Ferrari: Alonso strategy a team decision (Autosport)
"Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has said his team will not single out individuals to blame for the strategy mistake that cost Fernando Alonso the world championship in Abu Dhabi.
"’It was a mistake,’ explained Domenicali. ‘Afterwards it is pretty clear it was a mistake, but at this moment I want to keep a clear vision – it is not good to say who took the decision or why it was taken. It was a team decision, and in the good and the bad moments the team has to stay together.’"
Razia to join young driver test line-up (Autosport)
"Virgin Racing test driver Liuz Razia will join Jerome D’Ambrosio and Rio Haryanto in driving for the team in the young driver test in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday."
Renault Selling Stake in Its F1 Team to Malaysia’s Proton, Figaro Says (Bloomberg)
"French carmaker Renault SA is about to sell its remaining 25 percent stake in its namesake Formula One team to Malaysia’s Proton, Le Figaro reported, citing people close to the matter it didn’t identify.
"Proton’s Lotus Cars brand will be the team’s sponsor for about 30 million euros ($41 million) annually over five years, and the team’s new name may be Lotus-Renault as the French automaker will keep providing engines, Le Figaro said."
How did Ferrari make that strategy mistake with Alonso? (James Allen on F1)
"The championship is over, the title is decided in Sebastian Vettel’s favour but the nagging question everyone is wrestling with tonight is, how did Ferrari get its tactics so wrong?"
"Hotel security requires passing through a scanner, bag check and removal of watches and shoes… Didn’t realise I was boarding a plane…"
British Grand Prix: Win grandstand tickets for all three days at Silverstone (The Mirror)
"We’ve teamed up with Silverstone to offer one lucky winner (plus a guest) a pair of grandstand tickets for all three days of the 2011 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix (08-10 July), where you’ll get a chance to watch Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and the Red Bull Racing challengers battle it out at the famous Northamptonshire circuit."
Sebastian Vettel title caps a Formula One season to remember (The Guardian)
"An amazing Formula One season produced its final twist here on Sunday when Sebastian Vettel, who had never led the title race, won his first world championship.
"It is difficult to begrudge him his glory, for he had more poles (10) than any other driver and shared the most wins (five) with Fernando Alonso. There will be red faces as well as red cars and overalls at Ferrari, though, for deciding to bring their man in when they did, only to see him re-emerge into heavy traffic."
Abu Dhabi organisers to improve track (Jonathan Legard via Twitter)
"Hearing that Abu Dhabi organisers will listen to recommendations about track improvements for next year."
What is annoying… (Inside Ferrari via Twitter)
"What is annoying is that there are people who is ready to be close to you when you win and all of a sudden is there to say that you are a bunch of idiots. The true fans are not like this, they support and cheer in the bad and in the good times"
Comment of the day
One of the most widely acclaimed seasons in F1 history may have just come to a close, but we’re already looking forward to next year. dancadera says:
Only my second year watching F1?óÔé¼?ªchose Seb as my driver as he was pulling up on Jenson last year. Now he’s the champ, which is amazing as a new fan.
Got tickets for Montreal next season, can’t wait to see that #1 on the Red Bull in person!
dancadera
If you too are heading to Montreal, don’t forget to check out the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix discussion.
From the forum
In the words of ashwin.raja8, Down to the wire: a poetic tribute to the season so far.
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Loki and Tom Watson – hope you both had a great day!
On this day in F1
On this day last year, Fernando Alonso made his first public appearance as a Ferrari driver. It didn’t go exactly to plan.
Alonso and teammate Felipe Massa got stuck in a gravel trap while being driven around the Valencia circuit in a Ferrari California by team chairman Luca di Montezemolo. They’d been trying to get as close as possible to the 17,000 Spanish fans who turned out to see Alonso’s first appearance for Ferrari.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
15th November 2010, 0:04
Bad news about Proton. Wish they’d stay where they belong… away from F1. Doesn’t look good for Fernandez to race as Team Lotus next year.
Hamish
15th November 2010, 1:24
I think thats a huge call. Regardless of a teams intentions, the ruling of a court of law is the determining factor in what happens.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
15th November 2010, 3:26
Unless it’s all settled behind closed doors at high levels in Malaysia, in which case all sides would agree to drop legal action. In court I’m certain that Fernandez and David Hunt would prevail, but they may not be given that chance.
BasCB
15th November 2010, 7:36
This saga keeps annoying me. I certainly believe, there might be a deal on the table for Renault to sell their stake to Proton and get to be a engine supplier only.
But I would think that going along would be dependent on Bahars Group Lotus making a deal with Fernandez.
Who knows weather Fernandez will agree to such a deal. Hunt already spoke out, saying Fernandez promised him not to do that. And as that deal is signed, but probably not yet settled due to the courts having to look at it, it might even be David Hunt is in a position to block such a deal, keep the rights and only licence them to Fernandez for next year.
Look at one of those pictures posted by Heikkis girlfriend (here http://plixi.com/p/56905959), that does not look like Fernandez giving in quite yet.
I feel this is getting even messier before it is resolved. At least there will be some drama for the winter months.
verstappen
15th November 2010, 9:26
I see one advantage of the Renault situation: it may well stirr the drivers’ market a bit up!
And that’s added to Felipes performance, (hurts to say:) Schumi’s performance, the takeover of Virgin, the Williams fling with HRT, not to forget Mark Webber’s second driver concerns, Nico Hulkenbergs performance, Petrov’s performance, Trulli getting a bit old(?, but still a qualifying animal), Putin’s performance and all the others and other things
etc etc
Having said that, I do think that all will be a bit locked because of the Lotus situation. Would a Webber want to go to Proton Renault? Would Felipe? Does Kubica want to stay there?
Enough questions for the winter!
Ben
15th November 2010, 10:51
what Virgin takeover? I’m guessing you’re referring to Marussia buying in. Its hardly a takeover, one investor is selling out and another buying in, from memory is a direct swap for 30%. Hardly a takeover.
verstappen
15th November 2010, 11:51
RE: takeover
You’re technically right, however, if the new investor is a new supercar maker entering the sport, also giving it’s name to the team, you can expect them to have a little more interest in the sport (and thus the drivers) then your ordinary investor just looking to maximize his profit.
Fixy (@)
15th November 2010, 14:54
It was Fernandes that brought Lotus back to F1, it was him that made Lotus win the new team’s championship, and now Proton want to thank him for this by kicking him out and using the name Lotus that is more prestigious now than last year. Fernandes has done so much for them and this is how they reward him: having his team called AirAsia F1 Team!
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
15th November 2010, 0:10
they really need to improve that track… maybe get rid of that annoying series of chicanes, as they look incredibly unnecessary.
Specially the chicane where Schumacher and Liuzzi crashed.
It’d be a better overtaking spot if they cutted the chicane enterely, going right to the U-turn, and then to the other straight.
Thinking how people sometimes critizise Hungaroring or Barcelone, at least those tracks were designed long time ago, and they were built with cities and roads around.
But this Yas Marina racetrack was designed and built at a empty island, with NOTHING around. Why oh why throw chicanes all over the place?
Jake
15th November 2010, 0:16
Get rid of the 3-4 chicane and turn the 10-11-12 crap into something more like the last 3 corners at istanbul. So the straight goes on a bit longer, with a hairpin cutting back to the right soon after and then what is currently turn 13 will make the cut back to the left.
karan01 (@karan01)
15th November 2010, 4:40
But then people will complain that the track is all stop-start and say they want more flowing chicanes
zecks
15th November 2010, 14:09
While i agree that it would be better racing if it ran straight and there was a big stop at the hairpin, that would also require a huge run off. The reason why they have that chicane is to allow the grandstands to be really close to the hairpin for spectator benefit.
Ads21 (@ads21)
15th November 2010, 0:18
completely agree, they had no expense spared, they could design whatever track they wanted. Why not a new Spa? Why not a new Interlagos? Why not make a track where its not impossible for someone to overtake on a massive straight?!?!?
djdaveyp
15th November 2010, 0:44
Its not the tracks fault that ferrari gave him a shorter seventh gear ratio than Petrov. If he ran a longer 7th gear ration there wouldn’t be a problem. The cars weren’t doing their terminal velocity at the end of the straight, they were bouncing off the rev limiter.
It’s not the first time a team has had a problem because of it as well. I remember earlier in the seasonb a red bull couldn’t overtake somebody because they were also bouncing off the rev limiter.
Maybe its time to get rid of the rev limit, now that the have a restricted number of engines its their problem if they stress the engines revving them too high.
Or they could just give themselves a cushion of some extra revs in case they get a tow.
Moveable rear wings won’t fix this next season. Even if they’ve got less drag, they’ll still hit the rev limiter if at the same speed unless they run a longer ratio or remove the rev limit.
Jake
15th November 2010, 0:52
how about instead of an adjustable rear wing when they get within a second, an adjustable rev limit?
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
15th November 2010, 0:53
that’s thanks to the engine freeze maybe… they lowered the rpms from 20 to 18 thousands…
I agree, they should get rid of the revs limiter… if they blow up their engines, it’s their problem!
Icthyes (@icthyes)
15th November 2010, 9:42
Fully agree, I’ve always said this.
BasCB
15th November 2010, 7:39
Building that kind of elevation out of the sea would have been a major task. They are happy to have got about 30 meters of that into the track.
But i agree with taking out the chicanes, they got me really confused the first time I saw bruno Senna doing some laps there in the show car last year.
Pinball
15th November 2010, 0:32
I don’t think they’ll ever get rid of that chicane going into the U-turn. I suspect it’s only there because there isn’t adequate run off area before the grandstands. I do agree however that it would be a better circuit without that chicane.
I think the main problem with the circuit is the asphalt runoff everywhere. Because of the calibre of Formula 1 drivers, the only real way to pass is to pressure the guy in front into a mistake. On an older circuit with grass verges etc, if a driver in front makes a mistake approaching the corner, or exiting a corner, they either have to try and correct it, or risk going onto the grass, either way it slows them down, and punishes them for the mistake.
With the asphalt runoff everywhere if the driver makes a mistake, they just use the asphalt runoff or verge as part of the track, maintaining their speed, meaning they are not slowed down and there is no punishment for making a mistake. Because of this it makes it very hard for a driver behind to make a pass, and that’s what makes the circuit boring.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
15th November 2010, 0:37
fair enough about the run off areas, I agree… but they could’ve thought about it before the construction started…
I also agree about the asphalt runoffs… I’d like to see driver errors punished…
-A-
15th November 2010, 1:29
I would expect that to have been considered, so apparently, the intention of the chicane before the hairpin was to be able to get the spectators as close as they could to that corner – which is impossible if the cars come blasting up to it, as then you’d need a sufficient amount of runoff.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
15th November 2010, 10:17
But on another part of the track the run-off goes under the seats. Why didn’t they do the same there?
BasCB
15th November 2010, 7:41
I think I heard that chicane is only there to have the people on the grandstands seeing the cars in front of them for a longer time. The runoff is pretty big there, so it should not be a problem.
Pinball
15th November 2010, 8:20
There’s not a lot of runoff, at most 20 metres from the outside edge of the track to the barrier. The harpin at Sepang before the front straight, which I guess is a somewhat a similar corner to the Yas Marina corner, has about 60 metres from the outside edge of the track to the barrier.
TommyC
15th November 2010, 0:39
wow, that’s exactly what i was thinking during the race! that would be an awesome blast out of the sweeping left and right and into the hairpin.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
15th November 2010, 10:15
In time-honoured tradition, here’s my “fix”: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4157330
Turn 1 is tighter and Sector 1 has that extra twist, bringing the speeds into the hairpin down a little so the chicane doesn’t have to be used. The useless bit after the second long straight is turned into a hairpin, which cuts a few existing corners, leading into a more open final sector.
Here’s a more radical solution: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4157343
Tight Turn 1, long straight into Bahrain-style braking corner into tight left (plenty of run-off would be available to keep Bernie happy), into long straight, chicane modified so it’s basically a tight right-hander, curved straight (I’m afraid this is necessary) into hairpin, cuts back towards harbour and the hotel would have been built the other way round, preserving the novelty of the cars going under it but cutting some mediocre corners out, two quick alternating flicks into fast approach into final corner, which basically mirrors what I did to the chicane, this time to compensate for lack of run-off.
Michael Griffin
15th November 2010, 0:27
Proton in F1.
That sounds even more wrong than Lada sponsoring Renault.
BasCB
15th November 2010, 7:43
It would end up as Proton F1 only if Fernandez is convinced he can pull off the trick, keep his promises to the fans, the family and Davit Hunt and does not sign away the Team Lotus rights to Group Lotus.
TommyC
15th November 2010, 0:37
i think you should change the title to “Alonso strategy a (bad) team decision”
i still can’t work it out. even during the race i was thinking “there’s no way alonso should pit out of synch with the front runners”. webber had to out of necessity and as soon as he did i conceded the championship was gone cause i knew he’d get stuck in traffic. just wow. i really wanted alonso to win after webber had no chance.
all credit to vettel though. after belgium i wrote him off due to his apparent immaturity (following on from turkey too). but to my suprise, he kept his head together, got down to business and dominated the back end of the season. he really should have won the last four races from pole and managed to make it three(hulk’s pole doesn’t really count). So congratulations Seb. These last few weeks really confirmed he deserved it. And if next year he can manage to avoid the silly mistakes he made mid season, he will continue his dominance (as long as the RB7 is competitive of course).
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
15th November 2010, 0:52
Well I’ve explained what I think are the reasons here:
https://www.racefans.net/2010/11/14/how-alonso-lost-the-championship-in-abu-dhabi/
TommyC
15th November 2010, 1:08
yeh, i read that. it still seems silly to me. it seems as if they completely forgot seb was still in the championship.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
15th November 2010, 3:30
Yeah, they definitely worried too much about Webber who was already behind Alonso, and not enough about Vettel, who was leading the race. Single mindedness. You’d think with as many people as they have crunching numbers they’d have avoided that.
RaulZ
15th November 2010, 13:45
Yes, he was behind but it was going to be in front easily.
Everything is easy after the race.
Jake
15th November 2010, 0:39
I really can’t believe it’s all over! For me it’s a bit of a shame a Red Bull guy won it due to the absolute dominance of their car and I would have loved to see someone in an inferior car take the title. For me, the best drivers of the season goes as follows:
1. Hamilton – Made a couple of mistakes later in the season but less then the other contenders. Was let down by his team on a few occasions. Single handedly regained people’s faith in overtaking in F1 at the beginning of the season, Australia was one of the greates drives I’ve ever witnessed. Due to the fact his car was 3rd fastest and sometimes over a second behind Red Bull and up to half a second off ferrari, to be less than a single second place off the title in the end was pretty incredible.
2. Alonso – Superb second half to the season and not his fault in the end that the title was lost in Abu Dhabi. Did very well to get 5 wins in only the second fastest car for some of them. However, he made too many mistakes at the beginning of the season which in the end cost him dear. I have to say I also lost some respect for Alonso after his antics with Petrov at the end today.
3. Vettel – Dominant in qualifying, however he only really had to be dominant over his teammate due to the dominance of the RB6. Would have wrapped the title up much sooner and made it a very boring season if it wasn’t for bad luck and many many mistakes. Great from lights to flag but has still failed to show his overtaking abilities which has let him down a lot this season. In the end though, he handled pressure better then Mark and came through to win it.
4. Button – Great effort in his first season for Mclaren. Didn’t have the pace of Lewis all season and qualifying let him down a lot. Got two very clever victories at the beggining of the season and did very well to stay in the hunt for so long in his relatively uncompetitive car.
5. Webber – Simply didn’t have the pace of his teammate and made far too many mistakes. Had a few very strong performance such as monaco and silverstone but was far too inconsistent. Didn’t have a single retirement due to mechanical issues all season yet only managed to come third in a truly dominant car – sums it up really.
So that’s my opinion on the 5 main contenders, It could be argued that Kubica could be shoved in there somewhere but I decided to just stick to the main contenders. I also think Robert’s performance this season is hard to gauge as we don’t really know how much he was outperforming the car or how much Petrov was underperforming it.
Sammy
15th November 2010, 1:54
Kubica always gets the benefit of the doubt as the most ‘consistent’ driver or the one who made less mistakes.
I say lets see him in a frontrunning car with where he;s within a championship fight. He hasnt dealt with that kind of pressure yet, late into the season.
It may be that he’s not as sublime as everyone seems to think he is.
I agree with you about Lewis, Australia was breathtaking, it appears that F1 without him would be extremely boring to watch. Sadly, the magic of his early season passes and mid season brilliance seemed to elude him down the stretch, but it was a brilliant season by him nonetheless.
Fernando turned into a bull in the second half, I wish without having to bully his teammate, but thats how he likes it. Great season from him.
Vettel a truly scary one to watch, it seems that once he secures pole, its virtually impossible to beat him, fastest driver in Formula 1 with no cars around probably.
I think those 3 are the ones to watch throughout this decade. We’re in for a bit of legend.
Maciek
15th November 2010, 7:50
Vettel truly is dominating… in the fastest car, from the front row. Hearing and seeing him after his win yesterday, it’s difficult to even suggest sour grapes, so I’m not, but I’ll be more convinced of his ‘completeness’ as a driver when he’s managed some wins from behind.
Kubica – no question we need to see him against a team mate who’s a known value and preferably without wheels falling off his car when poised for strong results.
From the drivers who’ve had full opportunities to prove themselves so far, no question in my mind that given equal machinery Hamilton and Alonso are the untouchable talents. I hope we get to see some true on-track battles between them and Vettel next year.
Martin
15th November 2010, 13:28
Agreed, congratulations to the winner, no sore-loser stuff, but agree completely that he’s a fast (VERY fast) driver, not yet a racer like Alonso and Hamilton – AND, I think, Kubica – was thrilled to get Alonso in my red cars, still am, but have been itching to see what the Pole can do – I think he will be less of a whiner-teammate than any of the top drivers.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
15th November 2010, 3:38
I agree about Kubica. It would be better to see him with a team mate that can provide a better benchmark, like we’ve seen with Heidfeld up against Kobayashi in the late season (who I think Kobayashi has held his own against). Who knows, maybe we’ll see Heidfeld at Renault next year and get a better picture of Renault’s performance.
Henrik
15th November 2010, 1:27
I just wanted to say congratulation to Vettel.
However, I do believe that once again “the race” was not decided by racing, but by the safety car.
Again a prime example to why the pit lane should be closed during Safety Car
HMZ
wasiF1
15th November 2010, 1:55
That struck was a sign that even you get rid of Kimi you won’t get the WC.Really I feel for Alonso he was giving everything there but a wrong decision made his loose his WC.
Quietus
15th November 2010, 5:07
well what a cock-up! someone may just lose their job at Ferrari. Vettel has been brilliant in the fastest car on the grid and made the most of it, very deserving. I’m still happy with Alonso’s performance this season, he can go one further next season.
BBT
15th November 2010, 6:22
Why didn’t Kubica get a penalty for driving over the pit lane line, just because it changes nothing doesn’t mean it should be over looked. Rosberg was penalised last year (although if memory serves that was all four wheels over) If one, two or more wheels break the rules the penalty show be given… getting a bit fed up with rules being broken and a blind eye turned (I’ll take that back if I find out later that he was penalised) Rules are rules even though Kubica is one of the drivers I like best.
achilles
15th November 2010, 7:04
….yyeesss BBT, where are the rule makers when it means little?, once again we see too much inconsistency in the application of penalties. A swingeing penalty even for minor misdemeanors would be[I hope] more of a deterrent to the dodginess that permeates F1..
John M
15th November 2010, 7:46
Cause then they might have to admit that the pit exit at the Yas Marina circuit is crap. It’s a gimmick. And, it will eventually lead to a bad situation. You saw a lot of the guys losing traction. It’s only a matter of time before that leads to a spin and someone from behind collecting them.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
15th November 2010, 8:22
yeah, agree.
They really struggle to go through there on cold tyres… it’s stupid.
Pinball
15th November 2010, 8:25
I think that corner in the pit lane under the tunnel could have been improved with some banking on it, it seems so flat, and it’s concerning to see many drivers nearly lose it there. I think it was practice one and Ant Davidson, and Crofty were talking about how many times Ant Davidson has crashed into that wall in the tunnel when on the simulator.
verstappen
15th November 2010, 9:31
Such a shame Schumi went off. He’s always trying to find that little extra edge with pit entry and exit. Would’ve loved to see that!
Icthyes (@icthyes)
15th November 2010, 10:28
Because he didn’t actually go onto the circuit; if he had kept going he would have hit a wall.
We’ve seen enough marginal calls over the white lines to know that if that part counted as the white line, Kubica would have been punished.
BasCB
15th November 2010, 7:19
Have a great birthday both to Loki and to Tom Watson. Enjoy it.
Calum
15th November 2010, 7:50
Surely I’m not the only one who cannot wait for the 2011 challenger launches!!
BasCB
15th November 2010, 7:59
What about this quote by Willi Weber, Huelkenbergs manager.
http://www.f1technical.net/news/15730?sid=06b68172d4beb9fa306138d89e49640a
Seems all is done for with Williams taking Maldonado, but I would not be suprised to see the Hulk somewhere else next year.
verstappen
15th November 2010, 9:39
Yeah I heard it yesterday.
To me it seemed a good idea to parc Maldonado at HRT, with the Williams-HRT deal. Maybe the Hulk has better options, maybe Maldonado’s money did the best talking…
And, it is new for Williams to let go of a rookie so soon. Traditionally they have 5 year contracts, so Weber maybe has something up his sleeve?
Icthyes (@icthyes)
15th November 2010, 10:31
Hopefully he won’d have done what Heidfeld did, gamble on a big seat coming open.
Maldonado has no place at Williams and they’ve lost respect from me for doing that, especially after all their comments about having sound finances.
BasCB
15th November 2010, 11:32
I would also figure getting Maldonado to lose his rough edges in the HRT with Williams back end would have been a smart idea.
Thing is, Williams did not sign up the Hulk to a 5 year contract last year, they were reported to be pushing for that this time, only Weber did not want it.
Knowing this is Willi Weber the Schumacher maker, he will should have some solid options for his driver (it this is not only another negotiation tactic).
Tom Watson
15th November 2010, 11:22
Thank you everyone :)
BasCB
15th November 2010, 11:32
Your welcome ;-)
Banii
15th November 2010, 14:52
What is done is done! To bad for Alonso!