The discussions on the Ferrari pit wall that led to crucial decision that cost Fernando Alonso the world championship have been revealed.
The exchange of messages between Alonso and his race engineer Andrea Stella, which was not broadcast during the race, shows the team’s preoccupation with Alonso’s position compared to Webber.
It also shows how Alonso urged the team to use Felipe Massa to hold Webber up.
The radio transcript, published by Corriere della Sera, shows how Ferrari made the mistake of reacting to Webber’s pit stop instead of keeping Alonso out.
Lap 9
Alonso is 1.7 seconds behind Jenson Button and 1.4s ahead of Webber, who is 0.8s ahead of Massa.
Andrea Stella: “You gained three tenths on Webber. Felipe is closing in too.”
Lap 12
Webber pits.
AS: “Webber has stopped and Vettel is also losing ground on Hamilton.”
Fernando Alonso: “If you see that Felipe can overtake him in a lap call him in.”
AS: “We are thinking about it, concentrate on Button.”
Lap 14
Massa pits.
FA: “How did it work with Felipe?”
AS: “He came out behind Webber”
Lap 15
Ferrari tell Alonso to pit on lap 16.
AS: “OK, come in [to the pits] now.”
FA: “OK”
AS: “You will come out close to Webber. You are in front”.
Lap 17
Alonso is 1.1s ahead of Webber and 1.5s behind Vitaly Petrov.
FA: “What’s the situation?”
AS: “We have to overtake the Renault in front, he won’t stop any more. After that it’s Rosberg.”
Lap 22
Alonso is 0.5s behind Petrov. None of the cars that were in front of him before he pitted have come in yet.
AS: “I know you are giving everything but it’s critical to overtake Petrov.”
2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Image ?? Ferrari spa
Damon
17th November 2010, 16:50
Alonso was just too slow. That’s there is to it.
Todfod (@todfod)
17th November 2010, 16:54
So was hamilton behind the other Renault. Maybe trailing a Renault makes your car slow?
roberto
17th November 2010, 20:03
the problem with overtaking a renault was that it had a high speed on the straight.
Alistair
17th November 2010, 23:15
As was the same problem for non-Renault drivers at Malaysia and other races….
Yet RBR still complain about their engine.
Dev
18th November 2010, 2:37
their speed was nothing to do with engine, but tall 7th gear & very efficient f-duct with a set-up which was biased towards sector 1 & 2. they were around 1 sec slower than Ferrari in the last sector… but that did not matter as you can’t overtake in sector 3.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
17th November 2010, 16:55
From what little we saw of his pace in clear air I don’t think there’s any reason to doubt he could have finished fourth, given his position at the end of lap one, had they got the strategy right.
Scribe (@scribe)
17th November 2010, 18:52
Say it again Keith, it fills me with a pleasant warmness.
Ronman (@ronman)
17th November 2010, 21:13
Alonso, Petrov is ahead of you, confirm you understand this message…
zecks
17th November 2010, 23:07
that will teach him for saying that he preferred ferrari over his championships at renault
Rocky
18th November 2010, 0:39
This is ridicules tell him to move over. I am faster than him this is ridicules.
Alistair
17th November 2010, 23:34
I agree; but, of course, a championship is not determined by any one race, but, rather, by all the races combined. Alonso made myriad mistakes in the first half of the season. He did well in the second half, though, with the second best car. I.e., the strategy in the final race wouldn’t have mattered, if he had made fewer mistakes earlier on in the year.
Lewis, in contrast, had the third best car and consequently couldn’t, by definition, make many mistakes and still be in the hunt come the final race: in fact, he made one, monza, and that was very unlucky. He didn’t lose the championship because of that mistake, either. He lost it by not having a quick enough car throughout the year: often, he was 0.5-1 sec. slower than the RBR; at Hungary, it was nearer 2.00 sec.
Speaking of strategy, McLaren could have used Button to hold up Vettel by keeping him out on worn tyres…it might not have won Hamilton the title; but it would have helped him out.
Mike
18th November 2010, 6:49
Lewis made quite a few more than one mistake, He let Alonso past twice in the last few races by going off the track.
No doubt he did a great job, but don’t forget mid year, the McLaren was quicker than the Ferrari.
I think Hamilton still being in the running is more a reflection of how badly Red Bull messed things up, than how well McLaren did.
Luib
18th November 2010, 4:49
KC, could you establish the link to the corriere della sera were Alonso was involved? I can’t find it in the online edition, unless you receive at your door step the paper edition….
Dave
17th November 2010, 16:53
Alonso was gifted 3 wins ( barhain, germany, korea). It’s Karma! Well done to Sebastian! The true champion, earned it without team order.
LewisC
17th November 2010, 17:09
And without doing much overtaking, either.
Still: the points table doesn’t lie and the history books will say he’s the champion.
sato113 (@sato113)
17th November 2010, 17:21
apart from he’s not the champion.
Robert McKay
17th November 2010, 17:39
I think LewisC was referring to Vettel.
Ash
19th November 2010, 17:09
A real champ should not be needing to overtake..
overtaking is only for bad qualifiers to claw back positions they should nt have lost in the first place.
Besides when Vettel needed to overtake because of the puncture, he did that in style.
Vettel is the rightful champ this season and perhaps the most deserving of the last 5 WDCs except Kimi!
PT
17th November 2010, 18:56
I think we should get over this “gifted” attitude. This is motor racing and countless victories in F1, Indy 500 and other series have been decided by retirements. If you can’t accept that, go into the F1 sporting records and start defining who the “true champion” is, beginning with Ascari.
Had Alonso won the title he sure would have been a worthy champion. But he and Ferrari fumbled with the strategy and Vettel won – no complaints, Vettel deserved it. If the right strategy at Abu Dhabi won Alonso the title it would be deserved as well.
Without team orders? What do you think Turkey was? The initial reactions from the Red Bull staff confirmed it was team orders gone wrong. Or why else do you think Horner continues to say “both should have given each other room?” It was clearly Vettel’s mistake.
BasCB
17th November 2010, 19:28
I second that PT.
Winning the title is about getting the whole package right over the season, a mix of car and driver speed, strategy, driver mistakes, technical issues and getting the right dose of luck.
Ferrari came close this year, but in Abu Dhabi they made one more mistake, while Red Bull got it right with Vettel so he deserves the title.
Interesting discussions, it shows again how much Alonso is part of the strategy on track (I wonder, did he always do that, or did he get more involved after Singapore 2008 to avoid suprises? – he did say he was not involved in the strategy there).
roberto
17th November 2010, 20:05
oooooohhh you dont now that.
Ronman (@ronman)
17th November 2010, 21:18
BasCB, He did say? do you believe Mr. Teflonso? have you noticed that nothing ever sticks to Alonso, and that he is always unaware of his team strategies? Crashgate was the tip of the iceberg, he also denied the fact that Massa let him by, and still does… have you ever heard him concede that it was in fact a team order… i think Alonso will become a politician or a mob don once he retires…
BasCB
17th November 2010, 21:43
Yes, he did say so repeatedly when questioned about that at the FIA hearing.
I was thinking back to an excellent article by Keith, where he had a look at how drivers were involved in strategy and already put a strong argument in to question, how real it would be for Alonso not to be involved in the race strategy (compared to remarks from Hamilton and others who were defenitely more involved or at least informed than that).
I think we have seen several times this year and in the past, that Alonso is pretty active in tactical thinking behind the wheel.
But the FIA went with his argument in this case (at least oficially).
RaceKid
17th November 2010, 23:06
Without clear team order…
Alistair
17th November 2010, 23:24
Vettel should have won the championship way before the final. He had the best car by miles. He was also given preferential treatment over a team-mate who is not rated highly: I have never, in decades of following this sport, seen a team take a wing off one car and give it to the other…and that was a major team order, to all intents and purposes.
Alonso, in the second best car, and Lewis, in the third best car, still took the title down to the wire. So these drivers did a far better job than the RBR drivers….
David A
18th November 2010, 17:34
They did a far better job than Webber. Vettel lost three wins through mechanical faults. That’s part of why he didn’t have it wrapped up 2-3 rounds earlier.
david smith
18th November 2010, 13:47
Gifted 3 wins??
Bahrain and Korea??
Okay you could argue Bahrain and no doubt you will Korea what planet are you from?
You could say webber was gifted monaco you could say hamilton was gifted turkey you could say and say and say.
But to finish first first you have to finish.
Jeremy
17th November 2010, 16:54
i believe the last quote should read AS: “I know you are giving everything but it’s *critical* to overtake Petrov.”
Ralph
17th November 2010, 16:55
Alonso should have focussed on the guys (Vettel, Hamilton) in front, instead of the guy (Webber) in the back.
Q. Do you race the frontrunner or the backmarker?
In hindsight still a strange pitcall.
After the pitstop and getting stuck behind Petrov the title chase went into a ‘sudden death’. Game over!
Petrov drove the Quali and Race of his life!
Ads21 (@ads21)
17th November 2010, 17:02
Alonso only needed to finish 4th, he was quite reasonably concentrating on Webber, how was he to know if couple of upper midfield cars had pitted under the SC? It was Ferrari’s job to make sure they didn’t pit Alonso until they knew he’d come out clear of Rosberg and Petrov.
Joey-Poey
17th November 2010, 18:31
And it’s Alonso’s job to pass the cars in front. Granted, it’s a tough job, but you can’t expect becoming world champion to be easy. I’d say there’s no one person to blame, but both parties are at fault for not stepping up.
Ads21
17th November 2010, 19:32
Hamilton was in an identical situation with Kubica and couldn’t do anything about it. Its nearly impossible to pass at Abu Dhabi and the Renault had super traction and straight line speed. Alonso’s shown enough times in his career that he’s more than capable of overtaking another car.
Adam Tate
17th November 2010, 22:00
I would hardly call being stuck behind Kubica identical to being stuck behind Petrov.
Ads21 (@ads21)
17th November 2010, 22:25
No I guess you’re right, the McLaren’s performance advantage over the Renault was probably slightly greater.
David A
18th November 2010, 17:36
Nope Ads, Kubica is a better driver than Petrov.
Fixy (@)
17th November 2010, 17:05
Webber was just seconds, if not tenths, behind Alonso when he pitted. He was right in making sure he exited in front of him, but pitting later would have made him finish fourth and finish in front of Webber.
BasCB
17th November 2010, 19:30
But only because the soft tyres were coming back into it at that moment, something none of them really had any way of knowing as even Bridgestone expected them to drop furter off.
Jack Holt
17th November 2010, 17:28
Spot on, it’s almost impossible to overtake at Abu Dhabi, yet Ferrari must have known he’d come out behind Petrov and Rosberg – OK perhaps they thought Petrov wouldn’t be a problem, but Rosberg? There would have been little chance of getting past him.
The transcript shows just how much of a pawn Massa had become when they made him number 2 driver, I wonder whether his dismal run of races following Germany reflected his low spirits or simply his unwillingness to play ball? Had he been quicker there can be little doubt that Ferrari would have used him as a blocker many times during the season, so what was the point of him even trying to have a good race? Reading that transcript I’m so glad Ferrari walked away empty handed.
bananarama
17th November 2010, 18:06
Basically, what you are saying is: Massa is useless. I like Massa, he is a nice guy, but if he drives like after Hockenheim I must agree .. that way he is useless or even worse a waste of money and a valuable race.seat.
Vishy
17th November 2010, 19:28
He did not say Massa was useless. All he meant was the way Ferrari abused Massa, it totally destroyed his morale. I agree Ferrari and Alonso don’t deserve the title.
Wether Vettel can overtake or not is a different issue, but he defenitely was in the right car and fast.
Adam Tate
17th November 2010, 22:27
Exactly! I agree with you Vishy, had Ferrari actually supported Massa at all, I think they would have won the championship. If you want a one man team, have a one man team, don’t demean and toss aside a good driver like Massa and then whine like little babies when you don’t when the championship.
I’ve never been so disappointed in Ferrari before.
Jay Menon
18th November 2010, 10:42
We’ve been talking about Ferrari not supporting Massa since Germany.
Im not condoning what Ferrari have done with him, but he’s just bent over and taken it! If he was self respecting enough, he would have given Monty the grand finger and walked off, hell I would have.
This my theory alright, when you work in a big organization, you make yourself important, and you have to have key leadership characteristics for that, which is what Massa lacks. Alonso revels in this.
You have to admit, apart from Abu Dhabi, Ferrari look a much better team during the second half of the season compared to the past couple years (post Todt) and you have to attribute that to Alonso. In 08, Ferrari should have won the title long before Interlagos, but the team was a mess.
They seem to have got their act together. I suspect they will be a force again next season but Massa needs to grow a pair if he wants to be take seriously. And it would help if can make up the 0.5s deficit he has on his team mate as well.
Todfod (@todfod)
18th November 2010, 7:01
Massa was always going to be used as a pawn in Abu Dhabi. He couldn’t win the WDC in Abu Dhabi, nor could Ferrari take the WCC by using Massa differently. That was his purpose, just like Jenson was going to be used as a pawn to help Hamilton in Abu Dhabi. I really do not see how Jack is so shocked with his pawn status. What did you expect Ferrari to do.. put Massa on a race winning strategy from 6th on the grid?? Massa’s job was to jump Webber after the pit stops, and even though Webber was help up by Alguersuari, Massa was unable to jump Webber. If Massa was in front of Webber, we would probably see Alonso take the title this year… but.. as usual Massa has lived up to his reputation and disappointed. Since Hockenheim, it seems like Massa has tried his level best not help Alonso win the WDC.
Jack Holt
18th November 2010, 12:01
Todford, drivers should not be asked to drive deliberately slowly at any point in the season, it’s simply unsporting. I don’t mind a team a team pitting a driver so that he comes out ahead of a rival, but he should still be racing at that point, not driving deliberately slowly.
I don’t get why people watch sport if not for the sport, what’s so great about a team (any team) winning if it hasn’t won sportingly? Red Bull were brilliant last season, they risked the title in order to allow both drivers to race, that’s how a world championship should be won.
I suspect Ferrari were prepared to ask Massa to impede the other championship drivers as soon as he was placed in the number two role, that explains why his form was so atrocious after Germany, he had no motivation to race – there’s no point qualifying well if team orders will turn each race into an embarrassment.
The irony is that a motivated Massa would have probably played the number two role much better, before Germany he was frequently in the mix with the title contenders, afterwards he disappeared off the radar. They didn’t need to do it, Alonso had him beat anyway.
Scribe (@scribe)
17th November 2010, 18:16
Well you say it’s almost impossible to overtake around Abu Dhabi but enough went on last year. Also the Renaults did a fair amount of overtaking, along with a few other changes of position that went on. I’d say the Renaults are ideally suited to protect themselves from overtaking, especially on a track like Abu Dhabi, which isn’t ideal but not even close to impossible.
BasCB
17th November 2010, 19:32
I have to agree with that, overtaking is proven to be pretty hard to do at Abu Dhabi (even in GP2), and the Renaults with their new engine for top speed and having great traction out of corners were a very tough nut to crack.
gabal
17th November 2010, 18:28
Maybe they didn’t think their tyres would last the race distance so they would eventually get out of the way.
theRoswellite
19th November 2010, 4:03
Jack, I must agree.
Also, when you compare Alonso’s blatant directions to the team…”have Massa block”…it reminds me of other races, Singapore, and other years…the Schumacher reign at Ferrari.
Race manipulation, of any kind, seems so cynical when compared to the Red Bull teams stated policy of adherence to not only the stated rules, but the spirit of equality and sportsmanship.
Ferrari has no one to blame but themselves. They were basically handed the Championship, and instead of letting Alonso RACE to the points he needed they became consumed with making the right calls.
Life isn’t much fun when you feel you need to manipulate your way to success.
I hope the Italian press points all this out to them.
Daffid
17th November 2010, 22:35
I agree, I really don’t get it. Once I saw Quali it was obvious that Webber was dead in the water. After the start Fernando just needed to concentrate on Button to keep 4th or regain 3rd. Easy from the calm of the sidelines, but it’s not hindsight – in my flat we were watching the driver tracker, and as it happened we were all screaming, what the hell are Ferrari doing, have they lost their minds?
Evidently they had.
Ads21 (@ads21)
17th November 2010, 16:58
Judging from this article Alonso didn’t really have any role in the decision to pit. He obviously suggested they try and have Massa jump Webber as was common sense for Ferrari to do.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
17th November 2010, 16:59
Hadn’t seen until now that Commendatore tipped this story in the round-up today, so thanks to them:
https://www.racefans.net/2010/11/17/fia-appeal-court-decides-world-touring-car-title/comment-page-1/#comment-478684
chris sz
17th November 2010, 23:01
im sure there is more to it than that.knowing ferrari they must have edited the conversation…where is al the cursing that when on between the two?
Commendatore
18th November 2010, 23:18
Well Keith, because I enjoy so much your amazing site (as a fellow F1 fanatic), I thought it was about time to give something back as well i.e. contribute. :)
Cheers… ;)
Dan Thorn (@dan-thorn)
17th November 2010, 17:01
Such a difficult call, at the time it looked like pitting first was an advantage and it even looked like Hamilton might get the jump on Vettel, which made covering Webber the main priority.
Had Vettel swanned off comfortably into the distance would they have kept Alonso out? Who knows.
It’s all to easy to criticise with the benefit of hindsight but even so Alonso and Ferrari broke the golden rule of giving up track position, especially to a Renault which had been a) Quick through the speed traps all weekend and b) Had strong traction away from corners all season.
Vishy
17th November 2010, 19:30
Absolutely bang on money. A blunder to give track position to Renaults and Rosberg when he was only a few seconds off the lead.
matt88 (@matt88)
17th November 2010, 17:06
Keith, it’s “Corriere della Sera” not Serra (which means ‘greenhouse’). :)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
17th November 2010, 17:18
Ah I should have known – presumably it’s an evening paper then? Fixed it, btw.
DaveW
17th November 2010, 17:36
Utter failure of management and communication by the team. Alonso is controlling the team’s whole strategy, for both cars, but they are giving him lousy information, and, of course, he has to drive the car. I’m fairly certain that Alonso was not aware of Petrov and Rosberg until the stop, instead of having his mind filled with sugar plum fantasies of Massa jumping Webber and Hamilton passing Vettel. The pit wall is focused on bowing and scraping and puffing him up instead of speaking truth to power.
David BR
17th November 2010, 17:54
Yeah, the reference to Hamilton gaining on Vettel, suggesting he might get past, may well have stopped him realizing fully the threat Vettel posed.
Journeyer
18th November 2010, 5:49
You may be spot on here, DaveW. You make a very good point.
RaulZ (@raulz)
18th November 2010, 8:33
Alonso couldn’t know if there’re peple who already pitted if the team don’t tell him. And I think the team didn’t tell him because they just didn’t realise of that fact.
It seems that the team realize late, when Alonso came out to the track.
Any chance looks very sad and a big mistake.
And, be carefull what you say. Alonso is listening to you, he knows everything and all his furious wil lay on you. :)
What ideas you have…
matt88 (@matt88)
17th November 2010, 17:50
yes, ‘sera’ means ‘evening’.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
17th November 2010, 18:09
Que sara, sara…
DaveW
17th November 2010, 18:43
Keith was referring to the well known italian horticultural journal.
Gwenouille
17th November 2010, 22:06
Yesss ! Excellent comment !
That kind of humour is sooooooooo nice. Thanks !
enka
17th November 2010, 17:21
I like this part most, the man in control!
Fernando Alonso: “If you see that Felipe can overtake him in a lap call him in.”
Sound_Of_Madness
17th November 2010, 17:30
The correct word is leapfrog I believe. I was like OMG too when I saw the quote.
Vishy
17th November 2010, 19:33
Arrogance. That is what it is. To think everyone else is your tool is arrognance.
Journeyer
18th November 2010, 5:53
I disagree. I reckon many a driver has done this before. Both Senna and Schumacher have been known to ask for a LOT of information from the pitwall, and they can make decisions or suggestions to the pitwall based on it.
That said, DaveW said in an earlier comment that this is useless unless Alonso has all the information. Did the Ferrari pitwall factor in those who had pitted behind (Rosberg, Petrov)? They may have not been able to do so. In any case, they probably didn’t inform Alonso of this, which meant Alonso probably made a wrong recommendation.
Todfod (@todfod)
18th November 2010, 7:21
Vishy .. dont make me laugh. This has nothing to do with arrogance. What is Massa’s job in Abu Dhabi? Does he have to win the WDC?…NO! Does he have to help win the WCC?….NO!
His job was always to help Alonso take the title. Alonso stating the obvious doesn’t make him arrogant.
Marybeth
29th December 2010, 0:41
Todford, “His job was always to help Alonso take the title.” Precisely. Massa outqualified Alonso in Bahrain and on the first turn of the first race, Massa had to pull over to let FA by.
BasCB
17th November 2010, 19:35
I do think this is one of the things that make Alonso as good as he is, he is able to do quite a lot of strategical thinking while driving the wheels of the car.
Downside is him wanting to be in control even over his own teammate.
mfDB
17th November 2010, 20:44
I disagree with Vishy and the others bagging Alonso, it’s not total control of a teammate….what else was Massa doing? It was the last race of the year and the only thing Massa could do was help Alonso and the team (which he said he would do). If this was the radio from the first race of the season then maybe it’s wrong, but not in this case.
Quit trying to vilify Alonso just because you don’t like him. If this was (insert your favorite driver here) then you would be saying “oh, he’s a genius….so tactical”.
BasCB
17th November 2010, 21:48
This is not about not liking Alonso at all. His ability to think about the tactics and dirigate a lot of things is very impressive (as said before) and makes him one of the greats.
But i see a downside, that gets him to be in total control and getting involved into things like Germany 2010, Singapore 2008 and Spygate 2007.
And then seemingly being clever and fast thinking enough to get out of that without any penalty for himself does make me get a sour feeling about him.
Dave Blanc
17th November 2010, 23:10
Not an Alonso fan but you have to admire a guy that can drive a F! car to the limit AND be thinking of strategies at the same time. Impressive.
HewisLamilton
18th November 2010, 16:12
Spygate 2007? You mean where McLaren stole Ferrari documents? Alonso was controlling this? I think this is a bad example.
infy (@infy)
17th November 2010, 17:41
Kieth, where can we get McLaren and Red Bull’s radio convo’s? I find it a bit unfair that Ferrari’s are handed out but not the rest.
djdaveyp
17th November 2010, 17:46
The story is about ferrari radio. Why does he needs the others? It was Ferrari who made the bad strategy call.
Luke
17th November 2010, 18:23
I think McLaren have it on their website, maybe.
Al
18th November 2010, 8:54
yes, but they don’t put everything.
For sport’s sake al radio conversations should be public after the race. Period. And also not confidential telemetry (speed, gear used, brakes, G, etc).
I enjoy watching races, but also looking at numbers and analyzing the after-race data to understand what the drivers and team faced, what they did and why. That’s what I love Keith work on data (I even thought about publishing a blog with similar information before I found f1fanatic)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
17th November 2010, 21:47
I’m with you, infy, I’d like to be able to hear them all in real time. McLaren do publish some of theirs in the commentary on their website during races.
But when you watch an IndyCar or NASCAR race the chatter from the teams almost never stops and, to the best of my knowledge, it’s in real-time, or at least much closer to it than F1’s is.
zecks
17th November 2010, 23:11
Although i would like to hear radio coms closer to real time, if i had to choose between that and HD, i would choose HD every time
David BR
17th November 2010, 17:51
That’s the weird bit, precisely what Ferrari didn’t do.
Alonso’s grid position was highly vulnerable: third place at the start, needing 4th against Vettel to win and no more than 1 place behind Webber. Fighting to pass Hamilton and Vettel would be risky as they apparently had least to lose in any track tussle. So third was better than trying to grab 1st or 2nd, paradoxically. It meant, though, that losing one place to Button (as happened) would mean that Webber passing him (a) gave a Vettel championship win, or (b) leave Webber just needing to pass Button. Once Button got past him at the start, Ferrari were suddenly looking in both directions at once, with any mistake (losing a position) critical. But why they broke the cardinal rule of not giving up track position unless losing a lot of time because of tyre wear is the strange bit. Big mistake that cost the title for sure. The radio messages seem to suggest Alonso was focusing on the wrong threat too, at least at the critical moment, but not really enough to be sure.
BasCB
17th November 2010, 19:39
The first thing, stopping Massa to block Webber was a sensible idea, shame for them it did not work with Massa’s inlap and stop being to slow.
Then when the team called in Alonso, he will not have known, that that meant to come out behind these cars as well as none of them could know the sofst were getting better again so it would have been faster not to stop.
David BR
17th November 2010, 21:04
Massa was worth risking, I guess, though it didn’t seem to be timed right after. But my point was that they weren’t losing any real time to Button or Webber, so why bring Alonso in? Especially as that meant getting stuck behind drivers who’d pitted already? It might seem like hindsight, but – since I was rooting for Vettel in the race – there were two moments when I thought things were definitely going his way: Button passing Alonso at the start, and Alonso pitting early. Just seemed an obvious mistake. We’d just seen Webber and then Massa pit and fall behind. Ferrari seemed to think they were copying Webber at Singapore – or were overly worried he’d do the same, coming through the field again, and wanted to tag him. But the circumstances were totally different.
David BR
17th November 2010, 21:05
sorry, ‘timed right either‘
kowalsky
17th November 2010, 18:05
the title was lost long before the last race. The fact that he had a chance to win it at abu dabi, still is hard to understand.
Ferrari will try next year, and if they can keep the level, or may be better it a little, they will be a formidable opposition to red bull. Nobody at ferrari should be ashamed of a very good 2010 season.
BBT
17th November 2010, 18:26
? Doesn’t make any sense, or at least I don’t understand. Is the first sentence talking about Vettel.
Alonso was favourite until he pitted and even then I thought he’d still make it until I realised the top speed of the Renaults, if Hamilton could pass (better top speed) then I was sure Alonso wouldn’t.
After Hamilton nearly lost the title in 2008 I’ve always said you should concentrate on the position above the one you need, as it happens if they had done this Alonso would be champion today.
Oh well never mind, pleased to be a neutral. :-)
BBT
17th November 2010, 18:27
should of been Hamilton couldn’t pass…
Guy
17th November 2010, 18:26
Well Sebastian Vettel is world champion, but he got this tittle very easy, almost never had to battle and if he did battle then he lost, not really a true champion in my opinion.
Ferrari was indeed wrong with their strategy, hopefully next season they do a better job, but watch out for renault.
Brad Leigh
17th November 2010, 19:41
Didn’t battle? Heh. Tell That to Mark Webber. If you’re new to the sport, a big part of the battle occurs on Saturday.
Pink Peril
17th November 2010, 22:17
Remind me again of how many of those pole positions Vettel translated into a win? He must have the worst pole/win ratio of all time.
Adam Tate
17th November 2010, 22:33
5 wins from 10 poles ain’t so bad. In fact why don’t you look back at 2002 and see how Montoya managed to get something like 5 poles in a row and yet didn’t win any of those races. And that was Montoya, a driver I’m convinced should still be in the sport and as good as anyone running now. So for Vettel to only get 5 wins from 10 poles is more than acceptable to me, considering it was enough for him to win the World Championship.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
17th November 2010, 22:55
Interesting you mention 2002, the last season before this year to have proper (i.e. low-fuel) qualifying.
That’s part of the explanation for Red Bull’s poor pole-to-win conversion – some cars are simply better for low-fuel, single-lap blasts than a 200-mile Grand Prix.
The ’02 Williams was a case in point – great at using its tyres and BMW power for a single flying lap, but it tended to shred its tyres in the races.
anotherignorantinofformula1
18th November 2010, 23:37
before you talk do some research because if not it makes you look bad. they are not 5 out 10. he converted only 3 out of 10 valencia, japan, abu dabi.
the other 2 wins weren’t wins from the pole
malaysia, brazil
3 out of ten is pretty bad 30% is not even an F . that kind of convertion rate shows pretty much what kind of driver the finger guy is. just to put the facts straight
JCCJCC
17th November 2010, 18:32
It’s pretty clear that Alonso and Ferrari make a mistake together. Ferrari failed to communicate that with the safety car, some drivers already pitted, and that some of them where in position to overtake alonso if he pitted in that moment. They failed to look at the overall painting, they should focus not only in Webber, but in Vettel, and in this case in Rosberg. Why in Rosberg? Because Rosberg was the first of the ones who pitted in the SC period in the beginning, and since Alonso was already in is limit position (4th), returning from the pits behind Rosberg would mean that he had to overtake him on the track, thing that they should know would be very difficult (due to the wing configuration that they choose).
Ferrari should have informed Alonso about the Rosberg/Petrov early stop. And then they should wait until they had a safe gap to Rosberg (22 seconds maybe).
Alonso came to the pits on lap 15, on lap 14 he had 15.7 seconds over Rosberg. Assuming that Alonso would keep his pace, 1-2 seconds begind Button, he should have waited until laps 23-24 (almost the same that Vettel and Hamilton choose). The question is: Would Alonso tyres keep is performance for 10 laps more?
P.S.: The move to call Massa was very clever, if Massa returned in front of Webber, Webber would be out of the title…
enka
17th November 2010, 18:50
I would think that given the mileage of their engine, Alonso qualification position was the best they can achieve. Button got easily past him on start, so yes, they played a defensive game, they need to bring the car to finish line. Switching the tactics from attacking and defensive is not that easy.
HounslowBusGarage
17th November 2010, 23:17
I didn’t see the race, so I’m going on reports and other people’s comments. But are you suggesting that Ferrari didn’t notice or failed to tell Alonso that anyone pitted during the Safety Car period? If that’s right, it’s utterly stupid.
Alonso sitting there, driving his private parts off. Waiting for Petrov to peel off into the pits for his obligatory pitstop . . . which he’d already taken many laps before.
JCCJCC
18th November 2010, 8:32
If the talks are just those. They only told him about the early stop of Rosberg and Petrov after Alonso pitted. For what I know about Alonso he would never stop if he knew that he would return behind drivers who had already pitted.
Oliver
17th November 2010, 23:58
But if they were going to Sacrifice Massa’s race what was the point pitting him early since as Webber had already gone into the pit, he was going to fall back behind Massa.
Massa could have just kept on going, then If eventually Webber caught up, he would just slow him down.
Ian
18th November 2010, 2:42
I agree with you Oliver. Ferrari made 2 blunders with pitting both Massa and Alonso. All they had to do was keep Massa out after Webber pitted and have him slow the train until there was 22 seconds between Massa and Alonso so Alonso could pit and come out in 4th place with fresh tires for the win. It seemed so obvious as I watched, I just about fell out of my chair when I saw what they did.
people_are_people
17th November 2010, 19:09
Why did they wait 2 laps to call in Massa? If they had pitted him a lap earlier, he probably had a better chance of re-joining in front of Webber. And it doesn’t explain why they called Alonso in at that point of the race either. Was it the tyres? Or were they only looking at the gap between Webber?
Byron R
17th November 2010, 19:19
Did everyone notice at the end of the race in the RedBull pits, all the Renault engineers celebrating with RB .We know they use Renault engines ,but they were just as excited as RB. Kubica and Petrov helped decide the victor.
In addition , how do you think Massa feels now? Hockenheim for nothing.
mfDB
17th November 2010, 20:50
That was just the Renault guy(s) that are assigned to RedBull for their engines. They are factory Renault guys (not the ‘team’ Renault) guys and they were there all year….
RaulZ (@raulz)
18th November 2010, 15:10
Well, Massa should feel bad. The team (despite if that was good for Alonso) make a movement in order to Massa get position from Webber. So the idea was to benefit Massa. At the end he couldn’t because he wasn’t enough fast, even with Jaime stopping Webber.
Yes, he should feel bad. Even when he wanted to help Alonso, he could because of being slow. As allways.
I hope next year he had better pace, but this year, please don’t invent stories about what would have happened if he had won in hockenheim.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
18th November 2010, 15:27
All the same, he should have won at Hockenheim. He was ahead, and Alonso couldn’t get past him.
It would have been wonderful to see him win that race, one year after his crash at the Hungaroring. Instead the race was ruined, and ultimately for no good reason.
Steph (@)
17th November 2010, 19:21
During the race Ted Kravitz said that Massa’s wheel (right rear I think) was slow to go on and he would probably have jumped Webber had it not been for that. Nothing seemed to work out how Ferri wanted it to.
The strategy was wrong and the completely msised the big picture despite Stefano earlier saying they had to stay calm they did exactly the opposite.
I don’t really blame Alonso for not passing the cars. He’s a good overtaker usually but the Renault was quicker through the speed traps meaning the Ferrari would be at a disadvantage coming up the one of the best overtaking spots at this track and Vitaly just wasn’t making any mistakes. If this had been Interlagos they may have been able to get away with it but they just totally disregarded their rivals.
I did enjoy this part though:
Fernando Alonso: “If you see that Felipe can overtake him in a lap call him in.”
I have to say I’m always impressed by Alonso and how he has the capacity to focus on strategy and what everyone else is doing in the middle of a race.
BasCB
17th November 2010, 19:42
I am right with you on this Steph. Impressive to see Alonso planning this from the car. Just to many things did not work out for them in Abu Dhabi, maybe it is about Karma after all.
marmad
17th November 2010, 20:31
Adrian Campos once said that Alonso had an IQ higher than 150…maybe his brain is an almost perfect computer (he makes mistakes, like everyone). Anyway, Ferrari’s ‘strategy errors’ lost Alonso the World Championship. I congratulate RBR team, the best estrategy and the best car. Ferrari needs to start planning for the future now.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
17th November 2010, 21:42
Looking at the race chart I’m not sure:
https://www.racefans.net/2010/11/14/how-alonso-lost-the-championship-in-abu-dhabi/
Massa’s pit stop cost him 1.5s more than Webber’s did, and he went from being 0.8s behind Webber to 2.6s behind him. So even without the pit stop problem he probably would still have been behind.
What was crucial in this was Webber getting past Alguersuari (having spent more than a lap stuck behind him) and setting the fastest lap of the race up to that point on lap 14 while Massa was making his pit stop.
Gridlock
17th November 2010, 19:22
I’ve slowly come to the conclusion that we were robbed of perhaps the most thrilling final race ever by a pitiful excuse for a motor racing circuit.
Ironically Ferrari were certainly robbed of a WDC by the toy race track of one of their biggest customers.
Imagine that race with the same stakes at Interlagos or Imola. It would have been one for the ages. Instead we get a 2 time WDC in a Ferrari stuck behind a rookie in a Renault for 40 laps. Herman Tilke should be ashamed.
tharris19
17th November 2010, 19:52
Twenty-four cars on the same track different speed, different stategies, RBR won. Nobody was robbed, mistakes and circumstances dictated this race.
JCCJCC
17th November 2010, 20:26
I agree with both of you. I think that we were robbed of a thriling final race, imagine this race in a decent circuit (one where overtaking would be possible) Alonso in that position, having to overtake 2/3 cars on the track to became champion… great race would be to assist…
I don’t agree that Ferrari have been robbed, the circuit was the same for everyone, they knew it was hard to overtake, so they should decide the tactics accordingly…
mfDB
17th November 2010, 20:52
I think that every time we watch a race at that circuit we are robbed of a little something…no matter what
VXR
18th November 2010, 15:38
Mistakes and circumstances dictated the whole championship.
Bullfrog
17th November 2010, 19:31
Did they publish what was said between Massa and Rob Smedley while he was stuck behind Alguersuari for 40-odd laps?
Mark Hitchcock (@mark-hitchcock)
17th November 2010, 19:41
“Jaime…is faster..than you”
BasCB
17th November 2010, 19:43
Come on felipe baby, push. And then some good tips how to brake, shift gears and what lines to take.
bosyber
18th November 2010, 18:35
Plus recommendation where he should be able to pass – Toro Rosso isn’t Renault, they don’t have an f-duct, and he should have been able to do the job at turn 7/8.
saget
17th November 2010, 20:03
Has anyone done an analysis of whether Alonso would have stayed in front of Kubica/Rosberg/Petrov had he stayed out like Button did? Obviously it would hard to predict how long Alonso’s soft tires would have lasted, but if he had stayed our for 10 more laps, with expected lap times based on fuel burnoff, would he have come out in 4th?
JCCJCC
17th November 2010, 20:23
I did.
If his soft tyres lasted he would need 10 more laps to get enough advantage to pit and return to the track in front of Rosberg. If he did so, he could with new tyres set good laptimes, and keep the distance to Kubica in order to pass him when he pitted.
chaostheory
17th November 2010, 23:23
I wonder what Kubica wouldve done if he had Alonso behind? They are like good friends and so on, couldve been interesting :)
brendan
17th November 2010, 20:35
‘It also shows how Alonso urged the team to use Felipe Massa to hold Webber up.’
wheres that then? he wanted massa in front of webber. but surely thats common sense.
it was just a bad team and in that involves alonso call. it just didnt work out. i think webber was used to dupe ferrari but thats just my opinion it really doesnt matter in the overall scheme of things.
daniel
17th November 2010, 20:48
i think ferrari focused on the wrong car.. they were so worried about webber.. and it shows in this radio communication.. they lost all sight of the renaults and mercedes.. use massa to hold off webber.. why?? webber is behind you allready.. your doing what you need for that.. figure out a way to get in front of your competition..
enka
18th November 2010, 16:32
yes I think it was what they did it wrong!
Brakius
17th November 2010, 21:10
I kind of looked at it as Red Bull somehow knew Ferrari were focusing on Webber and used Webber to distract Alonso, by pitting early, allowing Vettel to win the championship. Given the poor quali attempt from Webber I think they felt Vettel had the best chance, as he did.
Well played strategy for Red Bull. Ashame Ferrari did not run their race, but let Webber dictate it for them.
Kris H.
17th November 2010, 21:35
Does anyone recall Alonso getting quite loose on his in-lap? I think he almost hit the wall. Perhaps the Ferraris were going to struggle on the softs more than most. Okay, maybe they’d recover like the others, but all it took was Webber getting past and it was game over. I still think we’re all benefiting from hindsight and that none of truly know what may have happened.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
17th November 2010, 22:26
Wonder why Alonso never asked for Vettel’s situation… and why didn’t the engineer tell Fernando that some guys were ahead of Webber and didn’t need to pit again.
Maybe if he knew about that, he’d have choosen to stay out.
J
17th November 2010, 22:27
ESPN Reported that the Petrov & Kubica are using their last engine which is new. That is the main reason why the Ferraris & Mercs had a hard time overtaking them (or can’t overtake them) – they have fresh engines.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
17th November 2010, 22:31
As mentioned here:
New engines help Renault to best result of 2010
Scalextric
18th November 2010, 3:47
Renault’s speed, even with fresh engines, casts a little more doubt on Christian Horner’s claims earlier this year that Red Bull’s Renault engines were short on power relative to the competition.
Pink Peril
17th November 2010, 22:34
Both Alonso & Webber should have pitted under the safety car, given their respective quali positions such a move could have paid big dividends.
Bren
18th November 2010, 0:27
that would of been a massive risk at the time.
but in the long run would of given alonso the position he needed.
But making that call at that time would of been huge. Tho i did think it as soon as the accident happened and i saw rosbeg go i thought he would be the problem, not petrov.
esp as early in the stint fernando seemed happy to just be a second or so in front of webber i didnt to me seem enough
it was only when he started putting the hammer down and close in on button, who was also closing in on vettel/lewis that i started to relax all seemed ok webber was delt with it appeared time to push on….and then they pitted him… i was screaming at ‘tv leave him out! what about rosberg!’
but nevermind they will learn. remember ferrari in 97, 98 and 99 made very similar errors to lose world titles
Bren
18th November 2010, 0:29
what they should of done was pit massa under SC allowing him to run to the end and interfere up front like kubica did.
imagine massa ahead of lewis, one of 3 things could of happened
1. massa in his uselessness wouldnt of held him off more than a lap.
2. held lewis up enough to back him and others back into the pack
3. Lewis would of got frustrated and taken himself out.
would of made it more interesting anyway!
running fernando and massa on same strategy made no sense really.
Steven
18th November 2010, 1:36
The problem then is that with Alonso down the order, the other front runners, and Webber, would have stayed out as long as possible on the softs to build enough of a gap. As we saw, the softs were working for almost 30 laps, so it is conceivable that Alonso could have ended up behind all the other front runners.
Agree though that Massa should have been in and pitted, as he would have ended up in a position to really interfere
Pablo
18th November 2010, 1:54
The problem to overtake Petrov is…. Petrov isn´t Piquet Jr!!! Justice is what we saw last sunday….im so happy for Ferrari (yes, im Ferrari-fan, but team orders is for loosers….and alonso show to the world that he is a spoiled child and a looser). Forza Ferrari, only for Felipe
brendan
18th November 2010, 10:38
ferrari did the team order not alonso. FACT.
Dont ever remember fisi or jarno letting him through. tho in the same seasons montoya gave kimi at least 2 wins in 05.
you need to support someone mate if you dont like team orders.
David A
20th November 2010, 2:48
But Fernando urged the team to make the order, so he did play some part in it.
And Montoya didn’t give Kimi anything- Raikkonen was just faster than him. Montoya was so poor that year that he threw his car off the road twice in the closing laps to lose 2nd at Turkey to Alonso.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
18th November 2010, 2:05
I have said it & the whole world knew it the team concentrated more on Webber then the front runner.
I think Alonso should concentrate more on his racing them his team-mate? Imagine Kimi in that situation?
brendan
18th November 2010, 10:35
kimi tatically wasnt in alonso or michael’s league.
bosyber
18th November 2010, 18:40
and just maybe, it would have meant he could have gotten 4th and the title. I think that is the point. Sometimes thinking a lot isn’t what is required, but instead just focusing on simply doing the best job (on track) works better.
Bruno
18th November 2010, 2:24
Give me a drive next season huh huh huh, talking of massa, alonso, webber, ham, but, Y not talking about me!!! huh huh huh give me a drive, mwahhhhhh
Regis
18th November 2010, 2:45
Why has nobody talked about Red Bull’s team order to Torro Rosso’s Alguersari letting Webber past.
How come this blatant team order hasn’t been talked about anywhere?
Webber would not have been able to get past him just like Massa, or even Alonso behind the Renault.
He lost a few seconds sure for a lap or two but still the Torro Rosso let him past… This is a team order and it should have made headlines somewhere.
I don’t get it
enka
18th November 2010, 16:41
it is interesting …you talk about TEAMS order instead of team mate order?
David A
19th November 2010, 20:24
Agreed to an extent. STR really need to start being owned by someone else for the good of the sport.
Cube
18th November 2010, 3:37
Hardly urging the team to “use Massa” – I was expecting a little more than this…
Mr. X
18th November 2010, 5:24
Would you think there is a conspiracy that Torro Rosso & Red Bull ordered to hold back Webber in order for Vettel to win? You may include the Renaults as well on holding Alonso.
Journeyer
18th November 2010, 6:00
The thought of Vettel having 5 other cars helping him is a scary one.
But I reckon there was no foul play involved. Just a series of mistakes from Ferrari and a very fast Red Bull car in Vettel’s hands.
brendan
18th November 2010, 10:40
they certainly made life easier for some harder for others. even kubi got right out of the way. which was pretty disgraceful.
but f1 has been like that for years. even if it like team orders isnt allowed.
it just is how it is. Remember williams and mclaren in 97.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
18th November 2010, 11:00
When?
brendan
18th November 2010, 19:14
when side by side with vettel he made no attempt to race.
Journeyer
18th November 2010, 5:58
Where’s Ross Brawn when Ferrari needs him, eh? ;)
When Ross was around, race strategy was their greatest strength. Before he arrived and now that he’s left, it’s become a bit of a weakness for them…
bosyber
18th November 2010, 18:41
But with Schumacher this year, his strategies are also far from flawless, aren’t they?
Peter
18th November 2010, 7:35
I remember after Alonso came out of the pits that Martin Brundle said in commentary that given past experiences Vitaly Petrov would most likely make a mistake anyway and Alonso would have been past. To Petrov’s eternal credit he proceeded to throw egg on everyone’s faces by driving what was pretty much an immaculate race. Alonso just didn’t have the speed to get past the Russian’s Renault and indeed it seemed that it was the Spaniard who was making mistakes born out of frustration.
As for the world championship, the history of F1 is littered with “what if’s”. IF Lauda hadn’t crashed at the Nurburgring he probably would have won in 1976. IF Pironi hadn’t crashed in practice at Hockenheim he probably would have won in 1982. IF Mansell didn’t have a tyre explode here in Adelaide in 1986 he would have won in 1986. IF Webber hadn’t crashed at Korea this year he might have been the Red Bull driver who won the title this year.
All that really matters is the driver who is in front at the end of the season and in 2010, for better or worse, that driver is Sebastian Vettel. Personally I think he’ll be as strong or stronger in 2011, provided RBR are still as strong. He’s a worthy champion IMO. I just hope, as an Aussie, that Mark Webber doesn’t have a down year in 2011 and can go 2 better.
AK
18th November 2010, 15:51
It is only fitting that RB are both constructors and drivers champions as they’ve been at least the equal fastest car at every circuit except Monza and Montreal.
They’ve made their fare share of mistakes, as drivers and as a team, that has let in Macca and Ferrari with a chance that they shouldn’t have really had.
I feel that Webber’s bad start at Spa really did him in mentally as he was never his imperious self of earlier in the season after that race. Mistakes started creeping in at almost every race thereafter and he was generally slower than Vettel. Singapore and Brazil were his only good races after Spa, neither of which he won, of course.
snafuracer
18th November 2010, 8:40
Alonso was using OLD engine – Monza and Brazil – almost three races age, whereas both Petrov and Kubica had fresh, brand new engines.
Dextrous
18th November 2010, 9:21
Im an Alonso fan and what i dont understand is why Alonso gave up the fight from the start itself, he should have fought for his postition at the Start he just gave it away so easily that was his turning point …..that was my biggest surprise
AK
18th November 2010, 15:55
That was understandable, given his lead in championship. At the end they played it too safe with their strategy but I don’t think it would have been wise for Alonso to try too hard to retake the position from Button at the start. Why risk crashing when a 4th place finish would do?
Federico
18th November 2010, 9:48
Hi! Your analysis JCCJCC is correct in my opinion.
It’s also interesting your final question,and i try to give you an answer.
If you see the time table, for example the two comparison made from F1Fanatic, of Ferrari and Renault lap time,you see that Alonso is faster than Petrov to the 7th laps until the 13th laps, but he slow down to -1.9 seconds at the 7th laps to -0.1 seconds, and on laps 14 Alonso is slower than Petrov for about 0.15 seconds.
So i think that if Alonso were stayed out he remain beheind Petrov, so the championship will be lost at any case.
Mybe the solution were to stop when there was the saefty car, but it was a big risk.
Finally I’am sorry for my English i am italin…:)
ecclestoned
18th November 2010, 10:33
“Would you think there is a conspiracy that Torro Rosso & Red Bull ordered to hold back Webber in order for Vettel to win?”
Getting Webber in front of Alonso might have been a bit smarter to help Vettel,wouldn’t you think ?
“You may include the Renaults as well on holding Alonso.”
Renault apologised for Vettel’s engine producing Papal Smoke in Korea and might have had to promise to preserve a fresh engine for RK/VP for the last race, before they could extend their contract with RB.
If that engine would have kept humming to the finish in Korea it would have been a totally different race in Abu Dhabi with SV leading FA by 17 points and MW by 18 points.
Or maybe Renault just didn’t feel like helping the chap they assisted to become a double WDC and has left them twice since.
Who knows?
brendan
18th November 2010, 10:48
red bull can hardly blackmail renault who else would they use?
the new renault boss has something in for alonso. he has made some rather dumb comments over the course of the season. i remember one being ‘alonso was not motivated’ is he having a laugh!
anyone that saw lewis and fernando bang wheels for 16th place at silverstone in 09 know exactly the best 2 drivers on the grid are!
DaveW
18th November 2010, 15:01
Papal Smoke? That’s hilarious. Bernie, is that you?
david smith
18th November 2010, 13:49
Who cares now….its history – Roll on 2011.
Muriel Smith
18th November 2010, 17:21
Hi Keith … well I did tell you a few weeks ago that virtually ALL THE RACES IN FORMULA 1 ARE FIXED AND MANIPULATED and the championship decider in Abu Dhabi on Sunday was no different … in fact it became glaringly obvious to me on Saturday that the lap times in the last two qualifying sessions were undoubtedly massaged and adjusted to produce a start grid that would play-out perfectly for the master manipulators (who virtually control every aspect of F1) and their co-conspirators with what they had pre-planned for the race … yep the MMs’ certainly excelled themselves this time … all orchestrated and executed with ruthless precision to not only prevent Alonso from winning the drivers’ championship this year but to ensure that Vettel did win it and that Hamilton and Button were either side of him on the podiums so that McLaren would clinch second in the constructors’ championship!
Almost gone are the days of the loose wheel nut and/or tampering with the actual cars before the race or during the pit-stops … no the MMs’ have had to become much more subtle and (Shu)machiavellian in recent years and in Alonso’s case they’ve relentlessly stymied all his efforts and continually tried to break his competitive spirit because he’s just too good … they tarnished his reputation in Budapest 2007 and he has been branded ever since as a dirty rotten cheat … it’s significant too that only Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds were found guilty of fixing the outcome of a race while Alonso was their driver (and as a result were both unceremoniously dismissed from Renault) … and we know how they were supposed to have allegedly ‘fixed’ said race don’t we … the only reason that particular episode hasn’t been referred to more often (to try and further cast aspersions and sully Alonso’s reputation) is because the MMs’ don’t want to draw too much attention to it lest people realise what really goes on in F1??
Ohh talk about ‘the pots calling the kettles black’ … the constant hypocrisy and double-dealing that abounds … the scheming and plotting … the sheer arrogance of their underestimating our intelligence and making the sore mistake of taking us all for idiots … and by all I don’t just mean the fans … I wonder what the sponsors would think if they found out the truth … the King of Spain … all the Sheiks and Princes in Abu Dhabi … all the people who have invested huge amounts of their cash and energy into the sport … like I said before Keith the truth will out in the near future and a lot of people are going to flush with embarrassment and reproach themselves … it’s a can of very nasty worms indeed because we’re talking virtually every race for decades … they’ve just gone one step too far this time and the day of retribution looms!
A few weeks ago I sent you (and many other influential F1 people) the irrefutable proof of Alonso’s innocence and Ron Dennis’ guilt with regard to the Hungarian pit-stop incident back in 2007 … clearly you all chose to ignore it because before the race in Interlagos we were once again shown on our TVs Alonso stationary (like the proverbial sitting duck) at that pitstop with Hamilton behind him (and Dennis and Whitmarsh looking round from the pit wall) while Martin Brundle reminded us that Alonso deliberately held-up Hamilton’s last flying lap and that there was no love lost between these two team-mates, etc … a totally indefensible and outrageous lie that keeps getting churned out whenever Alonso has any success or is possibly in with a chance of winning the title (grrr!).
And next season of course they will have the nerve to keep showing us (over and over) the footage of Alonso shaking his fist at Petrov at the end of the race … any other driver vying for the championship and it would have been ‘understandably venting their frustration on Petrov after being trapped behind him for the last 37 laps’ … but because it’s Alonso they will ‘milk it for all it’s worth’ and use it against him at every opportunity … I myself (as I’m sure many other pro-Alonso fans would agree) can completely understand and empathise with why he temporarily lost his cool at that moment!
What follows is my own personal take on the qualifying sessions and the race in Abu Dhabi and I can confidently state that you will find no other race analysis like it anywhere … I’m not sure about where your loyalties lie Keith (you could be one of many who are in Ron Dennis’ pocket and/or helping to do the MMs’ dirty work … whether knowingly or unwittingly??) … even so I think you will find my analysis very informative and eye-opening … I’m hereby accusing the MMs’ of Formula 1 Motorsport (whoever they might be?) of blatantly fixing the outcome of the final race in Abu Dhabi … let’s start with the final two qualifying sessions and dissect how the MMs’ managed to adjust the lap times of the top dozen or so drivers so that they could slot-in their carefully chosen ‘pawns’ exactly where they wanted them … the following list applies mainly to the pawns and key players in this race:
1st: Vettel (so that he could sail to victory and the drivers’ crown unimpeded)
2nd: Hamilton (no problems with grip or his car this weekend because McLaren need him to gain a podium to
clinch 2nd in the constructors’)
3rd: Alonso (there was no way that he could have got 3rd position because he was stuck in traffic and had to slow to find space on his last flying lap but 3rd is where he had been allocated by the MMs’)
4th: Button (certainly didn’t have an undriveable car or problems with grip this weekend for the same reasons as his team-mate Hamilton)
5th: Webber (second time only that Webber was not on first or second row this season … he claimed that he ‘couldn’t find the pace’??? … last time he was 5th was to keep Alonso behind him while Vettel charged ahead)
6th: Massa (too little too late from Felipe and still he wasn’t able to assist his team-mate in any way, shape or form?)
8th: Schumacher (in the German Mercedes car and strategically placed for his pivotal contribution to the MMs’ plan which would come before the end of the first lap)
9th: Rosberg (another fast driver in the second Mercedes car and also a fellow Countryman of Vettel’s and indeed Schumacher his team-mate’s?)
10th: Petrov (in the Renault which is a cousin car to the Red Bulls as both are powered by Renault engines … the Renault cars are known to have really good traction and have recently gained speed from significantly (and to my mind suspiciously in this race?) successful ‘upgrades’?? … this young Russian is hoping to retain his seat for next season … enough said?)
11th: Kubica (first time all season out of the top ten??? … this so that he could choose the harder tyre which would effectively take him far enough in the race to gain a 23-second lead over Petrov and/or Alonso and thereby come out from his pit-stop ahead of them … Kubica was additional insurance in case Alonso somehow managed to get past Petrov and Rosberg … his main role was to steal that crucial 4th place from the championship leader Alonso by the end of the race)
15th: Hulkenberg (not a key player in this race but another German used last time out to slow Alonso … what a long way off from his pole at Interlagos only 7 days previously … notable too that he drives for the British team Williams???)
16th: Liuzzi (the crash king and arch deployer of the safety car for the MMs’ … I’ve lost count of how many incidents he’s been involved in or caused this season which have invariably brought out the SC … his contrived crash in Interlagos when Alonso was directly behind him didn’t quite go to plan and stop Alonso from nabbing the 3rd podium so in this race he will be working closely (a bit too closely some might say after) with that maestro of machinations himself Michael Schumacher who will cunningly park his car on the track and await Liuzzi’s ‘unavoidable collision’ with it?!?)
And there you have it Keith … the scene was all set for Vettel’s victory and Alonso’s downfall the day before the race but just before I get to the actual race here are some interesting (and perhaps very telling) pre-race comments:
Martin Whitmarsh: “Fernando wasn’t expected to be in the mix at this stage of the season” … said in discussion with Christian Horner??
Eddie Jordan: “Vettel would make a great world champion and ambassador for the sport” … for about the tenth time this season?
Martin Brundle: “I hope there’s not an incident at the first corner which will eliminate half of the different permutations and calling the race winner” (he says this even though it was he and David Coulthard who demonstrated to us that in Abu Dhabi it’s the widest and easiest first corner on the calendar?)
Brundle again: “Kubica is starting on the harder tyre and could become quite a problem for the strategies working for Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari … he may well run a lot longer and could interfere with the run of play because the top ten are all on the softer tyre”
The following is the race from my perspective to show just how well the MMs’ ‘arrangement’ panned out … how would I describe it best … like putting together the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle … or a dominoe effect … no I think it has to be compared to ‘moving the pieces (especially the ‘pawns’) on a chess board one by one to ultimately checkmate the King … Alonso’:
Lap 1: Button passes Alonso before the first corner (as intended) so Alonso is 4th … Schumacher deliberately spins his car just after coming around turn 5 (please note: it was subsequently confirmed that there was no contact with Rosberg as was first assumed) and comes to a stop on the left-hand-side of the track facing the oncoming 15 or so cars that are all hurtling round the bend and jockeying for position … every single car manages to avoid Schumacher’s car either on the right side of the track (sometimes two abreast) or a few of them straightening out just after the turn to veer across the very ample run-off area on the left.
I repeat … that’s 15 cars all steering clear of the stationary Mercedes with the help of a very wide track and run-offs but who drives straight into MS (when you can actually see in slow motion that he too could have swerved left to avoid it) … our old friend the crash king himself Antonio Liuzzi … the MMs’ had to ensure that there was enough debris scattered on the track so that the safety car would be called out … this allowed Rosberg and Petrov (among others) to pit under the safety car for their harder tyres … Martin Brundle immediately tells us that: “Rosberg could become a nuisance along with Kubica later on for the leaders” … also that “the safety car has really added some spice to the race now”?? Please note that turn 5 was the only corner where they could make the crash look realistic and convincing.
Lap 3: Behind the safety car Kubica now up to 10th … Rosberg 17th and Petrov 18th after their pit-stops … the camera goes to Liuzzi and Schumacher who are smiling and chatting as they return along the pitlane to their respective garages … they wave at the spectators above and Schumacher gives Liuzzi a friendly pat on the shoulder as they part (job done!) … Ted Kravitz explains to us why Webber didn’t pit early under the safety car as he did in Spa and it was “because he needed to be aggressive and attack Alonso on the restart and try to get some distance on him”, etc. Safety car in at end of lap 5.
Lap 6: Kubica up to 9th, Rosberg 16th and Petrov 17th.
Lap 9: Webber in 5th sandwiched between Alonso 4th and Massa 6th.
Lap 10: Rosberg up to 13th … we are told “Webber has no pace and is not making an impact on Alonso … the Ferraris’ are quicker”.
Lap 11: Hamilton is 2nd close behind leader Vettel.
Lap 12: Webber pits for harder tyres and Brundle declares “he’s going to slot back in behind Sutil, Kubica and maybe even Rosberg and they are going to hold up his progress … ohh he’s behind Petrov as well … Mark Webber’s in trouble … the traffic is going to absolutely wreck Webber’s race”.
Lap 13: Massa comes in so as to (presumably) get out and hold up Mark Webber but he actually emerges behind Webber?
Lap 14: Alonso does a flying lap to pit and get out ahead of Webber … which he succeeds in doing.
Lap 17: Alonso now 12th and Webber 13th while Vettel and Hamilton are both going longer on their tyres so as not to get caught up in traffic … they need a 22-second gap … Rosberg has already stopped and is now 24-seconds down the road.
Lap 22: Alonso (who has been trapped behind Petrov for the last 8 laps) gets a message to say that it’s critical to pass him (but we all know from last year how difficult it is to overtake on this circuit??).
Lap 30: Ted Kravitz says: “the faces in the Ferrari garage look like a black Monday as they can see their championship slipping away from them … it was all so silly because Ferrari didn’t need to do what they did … if they had just stayed out and mirrored what Hamilton and Vettel did they would be in a much better position now”.
Lap 37: Alonso up to 9th due to Hulkenberg’s stop but trailing behind Kubica by 20-seconds … Brundle says: “remember that Renault would probably like to see a world champion today who is powered by one of their engines and at the moment Kubica and Petrov are doing a fine job of holding Alonso back … or rather Kubica could do so in a while.
Lap 39: Button pits and comes out behind Hamilton (and Kubica who has still got to stop) … Button needs a podium for McLaren to come second in the constructors championship.
Lap 41: Ted Kravitz now in the Red Bull garage says: “Dr Helmut Margot has done the math and will be sending a crate of champagne to Petrov for helping them out with Alonso … everything’s going Vettel’s way and the title is slipping away from Alonso”.
Lap 43: Alonso’s engineer Andrea radios him to urge: “use the best of your talent … we know how big it is … use it!”
Lap 47: Kubica finally pits 23-seconds ahead of Petrov … he comes out ahead of Petrov and Alonso.
Lap 48: Brundle says: “what an impact Schumacher and Liuzzi’s contact down there in turn 5 has had on the world championship … bringing out the safety car which allowed some of the mid-fielders to pit early and put them into play”
Lap 51: After 50 laps of Webber trailing behind Alonso he suddenly gets a radio message urging him to try and get past Alonso??
Lap 55: Vettel wins (as was always intended from day one), Hamilton and Button conveniently get their podiums for McLaren’s second in the constructors and Kubica, Petrov and Rosberg coming home 4th. 5th and 6th proved to be three well-chosen and stalwart safety buffers who succeeded in denying Alonso his drivers’ championship crown … job done!
All this thanks to the cunning and covert strategies devised by the MMs’ and their co-conspirators who were counting on Ferrari to react to Webber’s pit-stop … Mark of course played the part of the pied piper to get Alonso to follow him into the pits … he never intended to win this race or even try to get past Alonso and he certainly never had a rat’s hope in hell of winning the drivers’ championship himself … neither did Alonso who got well and truly stuck behind Vitale Petrov for the last 35 laps of the race … the whys/wiles and wherefores are many and I haven’t got time to discuss them here but will end by telling you that:
Mark Webber post-race told Lee McKenze: “we came in early for the harder tyre which obviously hurt Fernando because he had to cover me off … so in a way I suppose it was a bit of a team effort but I didn’t get the result I wanted”. Notably Webber didn’t put in an appearance at the Red Bull celebrations later in the day as far as I am aware … make of that what you will??
It was also conspicuous that Felipe Massa was nowhere to be seen after the race and wasn’t asked for his opinion … nor any of the Ferrari team members (if I remember rightly?).
And so Keith … the ‘pied piper ploy’ won the day for Vettel (and Red Bull) and ‘I rest my case’ … I’m now in the process of circulating this information to as many people as possible but at a later date it will be edited and amended to become a chapter in my book … until my tome is published I will continue to collect even more compelling evidence and unputdownable fodder for the fans next season … like I warned before Keith inevitably the MMs’ will come to regret their cheating and corruption and many F1 personnel will be losing their jobs and livelihoods as a result of it … what a boring and tedious final race when it could have been spectacular … a tragic waste of talent out there on the track that we weren’t allowed to see … very sad??
Regards … Murial
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
18th November 2010, 17:30
That’s a very long-winded way of saying you don’t like McLaren.
DeadManWoking
19th November 2010, 0:27
Forget the T-Shirts and Mugs Keith, if you sold F1F branded Tinfoil Hats you’d make a fortune :D
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
19th November 2010, 8:17
I’m seriously considering F1 Fanatic anoraks :-)
MasterManipulator
18th November 2010, 18:26
I confess. It was me all along. Well done, Ms. Smith.
-MM
james_mc
20th November 2010, 16:16
Interesting spelling of “Muriel” ;-)
John H
20th November 2010, 20:14
That is the most twisted, bitter, passionate, ridiculous, committed, blind and rubbish post I’ve ever read on F1F. Love it. Fantastic!
Nick
18th November 2010, 18:14
Murial/Muriel (can’t even be consistent with the spelling of his/her own name), what are you on ? Can I have some ?
Simply put, Nando struggles against a rookie, again. The end.
ecclestoned
19th November 2010, 14:57
I must say I agree 100% with Muriel Smith.
This circus is manipulated against Alonso to such an extent that even FA himself is manipulated to manipulate his own self.
But there are no manipulatorS,there is actually only 1 GRANDMASTER MANIPULATOR and I even know who it is:MY OWN SON,7 years old,go figure!!
The wednesday before the race in Abu Dhabi I sneaked up on him while he was playing in the attic and saw with my own eyes how he was preparing the race.
He had aligned his collection of matchbox cars and continuously made Vettel win and Alonso lose in the most cruel ways.
From what I saw Nando didn’t stand a chance:everything had been prepared to the finest detail to make him lose the WDC.
After the race I asked my son if he was also involved in the 2007 manipulation,but he denied and told me you can only be Grandmaster for one year and can not be re-elected and that in 2007 it was his now 10 year old brother,you know,my other son,obviously..
,
John H
20th November 2010, 20:18
Are you sure he’s your other son?
ecclestoned
21st November 2010, 6:32
good point.In such a manipulated world nothing can be considered 100% sure,not even your own kids.
I have also warned my nextdoor neighbours about their son,because I was told he did something funny to Timo Glock in the very last corners of Interlagos in 2008!
ecclestoned
19th November 2010, 17:52
“red bull can hardly blackmail renault who else would they use?”
I know,but they really tried to put the screws on with this advert ,that appeared the monday after the korea race ,in all the newspapers:
“Energy drink F1 racing team looking for top class engine for F1 season 2011.
All candidates can apply except from french origin.
Candidates can present themselves with their engine at:
Bradbourne drive,Tilbrook
Milton Keynes
Buckinghamshire MK7 8BJ(as in ..)
Great Britain
P.S. please knock,because the bell is out of order “
Stefan
20th November 2010, 8:37
It’s very simple, if Alonso would’ve pitted during the Safety Car just as Rosberg and Kubica, Alonso would’ve been in front of them.
Still don’t understand why they focused on Webber, he had to win to become champion while Webber (5th) was behind Alonso (4th) and Vettel was leading the race.
Stefan
20th November 2010, 8:37
I mean Petrov, not Kubica!!!
Kayumanggi
23rd November 2010, 5:04
Wow, that’s a long one.
If words can kill, Alonso would’ve die maybe thirty times over. So Ferrari, let’s just say, were not very good at choosing the right words, unlike Red Bull and McLaren. Not only did it penalized and mortified Ferrari, but it acted as a gleaming white shield that the other teams overly and overtly used and abused.
He’s definitely faster than his teammate. And afterwards, Massa wasn’t the same and helped proved his critics right.
So, Red Bull was saying that there will be no team orders and they will let their drivers race. Right, tell that to Webber when he exclaimed, “Not bad for a number 2 driver” after winning one. That’s a daring and brave driver filled with unabashed emotion. And tell that to me again as the images of the infamous nose job and wheels banging keep playing in my head.
Same thing being claimed by McLaren. Right, save fuel, because there’s only so much of it to go around.
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2nd April 2012, 5:30
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