Hamilton wins in Canada as Alonso’s gamble fails

2012 Canadian Grand Prix review

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Lewis Hamilton claimed his first win of 2012 in a riveting Canadian Grand Prix.

He led much of the race but a late pit stop left him needing to pass Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso to claim the win.

In a dramatic end to the race Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez came through the field to claim second and third place.

Vettel leads, Massa spins at the start

The race got off to an orderly start with the top six holding their positions: Vettel pulling away into the lead followed by Hamilton and Alonso.

Nico Rosberg made a good start but couldn’t find a way past Mark Webber in the opening corners. His attempts to find a way past allowed Felipe Massa to get a run at him.

After being held back for a lap the Ferrari driver squeezed through on the second tour. But it was short-lived: on lap six he spun at the exit of turn one and fell to 12th place.

By now Paul di Resta had also passed Rosberg so it was the Force India driver who took over fifth place.

Now on the back foot strategy-wise, Massa pitted on lap 13. Di Resta came on the next lap, which released a train of cars led by Rosberg.

Alonso leads briefly

As the front-runners drew closer to their pit stops Hamilton began to edge within range of Vettel. Alonso was coming with him as well, but just as it seemed a three-way battle for the lead would develop Vettel ducked into the pits on lap 17.

Hamilton led for a lap before pitting and, despite a sluggish getaway, returned to the track before Vettel had rounded turn two.

Alonso came in the next time by and Ferrari treated him to their usual five-star service. He scampered out of the pit lane before Hamilton and Vettel arrived, taking over the lead.

But Hamilton was already flying on his fresh tyres and now we had a battle for the lead on the track. Alonso ran deep at the hairpin, slowing down Hamilton in a bid to gain an advantage as they came out of the corner.

But the McLaren was on him as they crossed the DRS line and Hamilton was easily through. Vettel took a look at the Ferrari in the following laps but his car lacked the punch in a straight-line necessary to claim the place.

Hamilton moved back into the lead after Grosjean’s pit stop on lap 21, and pumped in a series of rapid laps to pull out a three-second lead.

Perez moves ahead in battle of one-stoppers

Behind the leading trio were three drivers yet to make their first stops: Kimi Raikkonen and the two Saubers, Kamui Kobayashi leading Sergio Perez.

All were on the soft tyres, which Jenson Button had also started on. But once again he was struggling for pace and he pitted for super-softs on lap 17.

It was the beginning of another poor race for the McLaren driver, who eventually made a second stop for more super-softs as he struggled to make either of the compounds work.

Kobayashi pitted on lap 24, allowing Perez onto Raikkonen’s tail. The Lotus driver stayed out another 17 laps before pitting and Perez went a lap further, jumping the Lotus driver in the proces. As he came out of the pits, Rosberg had just past Raikkonen, and the Mercedes driver beat the Sauber as it left the pit lane.

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Hamilton pits, Alonso and Vettel stay out

Their pit stops put Webber back into fourth, but some way behind the leading trio. Hamilton was being kept informed of the gap to his pursuers but was concerned about strategy.

McLaren’s strategy became clear when Hamilton asked his crew if they thought Alonso and Vettel were going to try to make it to the end on a single stop when they were planning on making another. Shortly afterwards Hamilton was in.

Their problems in the pits have been well-documented this year and this stop didn’t go perfectly either – a slow change of the right-rear wheel kept him stationary for 5.5 seconds.

Alonso and Vettel didn’t flinch as Hamilton returned to the track and instantly began taking a second per lap out of them – making a second pit stop was clearly not in their plans.

Hamilton’s pace was relentless and with drivers able to pick each other off in the DRS zone with ease his passage into the lead looked increasingly inevitable. By lap 60, with ten to go, he was 1.6 seconds per lap faster than Alonso and the top three were covered by six seconds.

Vettel didn’t even bother to defend his position when Hamilton came at him with his DRS activated three laps later. With six laps to go, Red Bull bowed to the inevitable and called Vettel in for what in the refuelling days would have been called a ‘splash-and-dash’. This was more of a ‘rubber-and-run’.

Hamilton claims the win

At the same time Hamilton was all over Alonso, carefully eyeing a pass at turn eight while Alonso carefully defended his position. Hamilton, well aware there was no need for a hasty move, patiently waited for the DRS zone and reclaimed the lead.

It was the beginning of a painful end to the race for Ferrari. Incredibly Grosjean, who had made his single pit stop one lap after Alonso, was still lapping strongly and claimed second place with ease. Another one-stopper, Perez, took third place off him.

Ferrari also came to regret not emulating Red Bull’s tactics as the re-soled Vettel took fourth off Alonso. He had been fortunate to survive a brush with the Wall of Champions while wringing the maximum out of his RB8 after returning to the track. He claimed the fastest lap on the final tour.

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Alonso slumps to fifth

Alonso lost four places to finish fifth, crossing the line with Rosberg less than half a second behind him. Webber was 1.2s behind them with the flying Raikkonen giving him grief – the Lotus driver set his fastest lap on the final tour and was 0.4s behind the Red Bull at the line.

Behind them came another pair of cars covered by less than a second, Kobayashi ahead of Massa.

Having run fifth early on Paul di Resta was a disappointed 11th, followed by his team mate. Pastor Maldonado ended another disappointing weekend for Williams in 13th, followed by the Toro Rosso pair.

Heikki Kovalainen in 18th was just 13s behind the other Williams of Bruno Senna, who in turn had Button in sight, 1.4s ahead and one lap down.

Hamilton takes title lead

Vitaly Petrov and Charles Pic also finished. The other Maurssia of Timo Glock retired as did both HRTs with brake trouble.

The final retirement was, once again, Michael Schumacher, after a broken hydraulic pipe jammed his DRS open.

Hamilton’s victory was his third in five appearances in Canada, on the fifth anniversary of his maiden F1 triumph.

After a difficult few races it puts him in the lead of the world championship. But as we’ve seen so far this year, that may not necessarily last very long.

2012 Canadian Grand Prix

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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118 comments on “Hamilton wins in Canada as Alonso’s gamble fails”

  1. Shame for Alonso, but happy that Hamilton finally won this season and we got our 7th victor. Lewis really pumped in those laps to catch Seb & Fernando, it was fantastic to watch!

  2. Well deserved. Hamilton’s been driving as well as ever this season in my opinion and he’s been rather unlucky too in a few races. I still say he’s favourite to take the title this year.

    Great to see Grosjean get another podium. Will not be in the least bit surprised if he gets a win this year and I hope that he does.

    Best thing was Checo, another podium for the team! What an incredible talent and what a brilliant season it is for this loveable privateer team. Great result all round. Very happy with the outcome of this race!

  3. I’m so glad and thrilled for Lewis. This is perhaps his best win in the past three years … kind of equaling his win at the 2011 Chinese GP in terms of pure race craft.

    At the same time, this is Michael’s worst ever season just for the records. In all fairness, Spanish GP is the only event where he made a judgement error….5 technical issues in 7 races is mind blowing.

    1. Actually, 1 technical issue in quali, 4 technical issues in races – including a pit stop blunder, 1 race destroyed by an eager Grosjean and one destroyed out of his own fault – something that can be put on the frustration accumulated in the first 4 races. All interconnected. So, 7 out of 7? Unbelievable season for Michael…

      1. All this while Rosberg still has the WDC in reach, at least mathematically. Something’s not right at Mercedes…

        1. karma?…. lol

          1. LOL…! Rubens must be smiling a bit… hehe!

          2. I’m actually starting to wonder whether the components on Michael’s car are different from what Rosberg has fitted on his. Maybe him acting like a developer, trying out alternative parts and agressive setups that in the end prove faulty?

            I know I might be a bit irrational as this is it’s too much of a “conspiration theory”-like long shot assumption but I can’t find another logical way of explaining this season so far. Too much bad luck to believe in anymore…

          3. He is having a run of bad luck in a year when he thought he can challenge the rest for podiums and championships. That’s the worst part. Even if Ross Brawn prefers Michael to stay back, there are no basic grounds to make him stay. I don’t think personally Nico Rosberg can lead the development of the Mercedes car if Michael does retire. It is not a secret.

          4. Way too much bad luck at this level…but yeah…that’s probably it and if it is, it has to come to an end at some point…

            I hope it will. Given their situation in the WCC at the moment and the huge pressure for results put on the management by Mercedes as a factory.

            Frankly if Schumi doesn’t perform this year he might lose confidence in the team and decide to retire. And in this particular case, if Rosberg really is unable to act like a developer, I don’t see a reason for Mercedes to continue in F1…

          5. @tony031r true… but, then I have a feeling that MSC may extend his contract for 2 years…. atleast for 1 year

        2. Well, mathematically everyone still has the WDC in reach. There’s still 325 points up for grabs.

      2. What a pity. Bad luck doesn’t give him a break.

    2. His best win is China last year if you’d ask me.

      1. >_o Nurburgring 2011!

  4. Hehe, ‘rubber-and-run’.

    What about ‘tire-and-spire’?

    1. I meant tire-and-aspire

      1. Tyre and spire…

        I GET IT!

    2. That one did make me chuckle…I’m going to start using it from now on!

      1. GuitarGraham
        11th June 2012, 9:49

        How about “Boots and Shoots!”

  5. How important were those laps after the first stop for Alonso and Vettel in the end. Grosjean, did almost the same race distance with the soft tyres and was remarkably quicker than both of them… and even Hamilton at one point!.

    I’d have never guessed the top 3… well, Hamilton’s win was expected to some extent, but Grosjean and specially Perez making it into the top 3 was incredible!

    And how well played by Red Bull. Yes, they risked and lost a podium, but they surrended to the inevitable quick enough to recover to fourth, just 1 place behind where they were beforehand. Damage limitation at its best.

    1. Perez starting P15 and finishing P3 just goes to show how strategy is king. Knowing how the car will perform throughout the race, and calling the right strategy at the right time, really makes all the difference. Highlights the fact, that if you are not quick enough to qualify near the front, you are much better off on sacrificing qualifying for a good race strategy.

    2. I’m guessing that Hamilton was just trying to hold a gap to the others so that he could manage his tyres, and was surprised they weren’t actually pushing him harder, which prompted asking if they were on a 1-stop. He thought they would only be going so slow if they were seriously managing their tyres, even more than Hamilton. But at the same time, to keep in touch with Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel (although going slower than perhaps they would for a two stop) were having to go faster than they would to manage the tyres properly for a one-stop. Perhaps, if they’d hung back from Hamilton and not worried about keeping in touch, they could have made a one-stop work. Conversely, perhaps the two-stop would have worked if they’d followed Hamilton, particularly if they’d pushed him harder during the second stint. But they stuck to a doomed one-stop, which worked for Perez and Grosjean because they were very much running there own race instead of trying to match Hamilton.

      1. Or maybe the pace that Vettel and Alonso ran at was actually what was comfortable for them to manage their tyres, having nothing to doing with keeping up with Hamilton, and both were just useless at managing the tyres compared to Perez and Grosjean. But I think my explanation might be more likely- after all, McLaren seemed sure that Red Bull and Ferrari were on a two-stop, probably because they could see they were running too fast to manage a one-stop effectively.

  6. Fantastic win for Lewis, the team really needed that! I assume that Alonso and Vettel were gambling on a probable late safety car or even a red flag (which would have allowed them to change tyres).

    1. @jcf1, a late safety-car might also have seen them jumped by everyone on fresher tyres directly behind them.

      1. Possibly, but if the safety car ran for the last 5-10 laps they would have been able to cruise to the end. A red flag would have allowed them to change tyres freely as we saw with Vettel in Monaco 11′.

  7. David_paraguay
    10th June 2012, 22:39

    Great race from hamilton, always fast in this track and today was no the exception, i hope mclaren(i.e button) could carry on this momentum in the next races

  8. Alonso Not sleeping tonight.

    1. true that !!

    2. Alonso probably slept well. He has eleven or twelve more race to fix this error. He will be fine. However, will Ferrari be up to the task. McLaren has two or three more races to blow for Hamilton in their pockets and Adrian Newey is still as much a threat as any of the drivers. What a year and Alonso knows it!

      1. Plus it’s a double points finish for Ferrari and a roll of the strategic dice away from a podium. The fact that people are saying that’s a bad weekend for Ferrari means they’re moving in the right direction. Back in Australia if you’d offered them both cars in the points and being a pit stop off an easy P2 they’d have jumped at the opportunity, now that’s considered a disappointing race.

  9. Fantastic result :) All we need is for Michael, Kimi, Romain and Sergio to all win a race now, and my year is complete.. other than Hamilton or Alonso winning the championship.

    1. DAMN! It told me that it wasn’t being said -.-

    2. Keith, could you delete these? Thanks

  10. I’m not a Schumacher fan but I feel sorry for him, with all those technical problems I wouldn’t be surprised if he retired at the end of the year, if Mercedes continue like this then Sauber will jump ahead of them in the WCC just like Lotus did with Ferrari.

    1. I put a bet on – well, my brother did for me. I ain’t old enough :P – for McLaren to be constructors champions, ahead of Red Bull and Mercedes. They are going to be costing me -.-

  11. Fantastic result :) All we need is for Michael, Kimi, Romain and Sergio to all win a race now, and my year is complete.. other than Hamilton or Alonso winning the championship. I personally prefer if Lewis won, but I’d like it if Fernando did despite my lack of respect for him, it would be perfect if he won after the troubles in the early races. Would prove that even terrible cars can be driven to wins and championships!

  12. @Keith: small typo: Sergio Perez cam through

    I gathered from Ham-pit communication that was broadcasted that Hamilton was originally also on a one-stopper, but they changed their mind once Alonso started to reel him in (the two laps before Ham went for the second tyre change). If my impression is true, then I’d say that for once McLaren were thinking fast ont heir feet, unlike the other two teams. I do not quite understand why Red Bull and Ferrari did not emulate McLaren two laps later when the lap times were obvious, they would have made it to top 3 most likely. Either I am missing some crucial info or they screwed up badly.

  13. Can someone explain why Mercedes didn’t just change Schumacher’s rear wing? I thought I’d seen rear wing changes in the pits before…

    1. The DRS wing is operated by the Hydraulics… Schumi had a hydraulic issue which led to DRS not functioning … so, even if they changed the wing, it is of no use.

    2. I just thought it took ages, from memory of lewis’ rear wing change in Monaco last year. But may also be a complex change with them having the double DRS piping/channel going thru it

      1. @jbmaunders rear wings take an age to replace. too long for a team like mercedes to replace, and send him out (probably well down the order, possibly into last place by quite some bit).

    3. As mentioned, it takes too long. Also once you’re more than a lap down there isn’t much point going out again. Better off saving the engine and gearbox although Schumacher hasn’t been putting much mileage on those this season…

  14. Ferrari & RB were concentrating too much taking the lead from LH, they forgot the other threats only to loose podium positions..

  15. Ferrari strategy is too defensive or reactive rather than active. They eager to ‘stay longer’ or ‘pit later’. sometimes it worked(Monaco, at least one place.), sometimes didn’t(Spain, lose lead.). the first pit stop was good if not great, it wasn’t able to hold Hamilton but they got Vettel anyway but no reason to think tyre would last. even there was a clear evidence called Massa who pit much earlier and struggle with tyre wear. I wish they would ‘wake up’ with this race. Look Red Bull. They noticed they were wrong and corrected it immediately so got Alonso finally.

    1. Had Alonso’s tyres held up, as Grosjean’s and Sergio’s did, then eh’d have been laughing his way onto the podium.

      1. I agree.. it was a gamble that just didn’t pay off. Kind of like Kimi’s gamble during the China GP

      2. Well, their cars are different from Ferrari’s. so It can’t be benchmark over Massa. I think Ferrari did long shot.

    2. Gamble is part of the game. Ferrari knew that Lewis was faster and to beat him it should be through a different strategy but I think the one-stop was their decided too late because Alonso was not preserving his tyres long enough and they paid massively because only Hamilton and Vettel were on their mind and failed to cover both Grojean and Perez.

      1. Grosjean and Perez were on a one stop strategy too. Grosjean was on the exact same strategy even. So Ferrari did cover them. Strategy wise at least.

  16. Is there no news of Mercedes having their cars disqualified until they update their DRS to fit with regulations?

    Ross Brawn was quite clear that in case of a failure the wing should close.

    1. Schumacher should be given a grid penalty at the next gp for having infinite DRS xD

      1. No, the cars should be banned altogether since an important (and mandatory) safety feature is obviously not working.

  17. Yuya Japanese
    11th June 2012, 1:12

    I am a big fan of Alonso, but I am satisfied with performance of Alonso. Alonso obviously knew that that stratezy was wrong and sooner or later he was passed by Lewis when Lewis was chasing ALonso with amazing pace. But Alonso tried to keep his position from Lewis at all cost. That fight was very impressive.

    Anyway, Lewis did fantastic performance, he deserved win obviously. Alonso and Hamilton are only guys who scored points in every race.

    I seriously expect Alonso VS Hamilton for title in this season…..It must be great.

    1. Alonso and Ferrari thought they were in Las Vegas and put everything on ‘Red’ xD

      1. That was Ferrari’s mistake. Always bet black

    2. Without DRS perhaps Alonso could have shown us a tour de force in defensive driving and an exciting battle between the former team-mates would have ensued. I think Alonso would have stayed at least on the podium.

      A bit like Schumacher last year, the art of defensive driving is dead with this stupid DRS system. When will the FIA realise that there is no racing with DRS, only ‘overtakes’. Unfortunately there is no hope.

      1. agree..DRS robbed us of good fight

        1. No it didn’t.

          1. Yes it did. There was no fight. The cars just opened their wings and drove right past the other cars. Did you watch the race?

          2. There was no fight to be had. The difference in tyres already killed it.

            Just like everybody was driving past Raikkonen in China. Did you love those “fights”?

  18. A great race & I am glad that Hamo took the win. I still don’t think RBR have the balance right in terms of top end speed. After an engine glitch which ultimately backed Webber back into the pack after the first round of stops, it left if him wide open again & on the defense as he didn’t have the top end speed to make the moves on the slower one stop drivers. Ill say it again unless you put it on pole & gain the early buffer whilst the pack are scrambling you leave yourself wide open for a tough afternoon and this is another example along with Korea & Dhabi of last year. Even in Sepeng & more so China it was difficult. When he came up on Massa’s with his routed tyres and was able to apply a great slipstream with DSR as soon as he pulled out of the draft he went backwards again bouncing on the limit. Lucky Massa pitted the next lap or this would have been more time lost.

    Makes no sense to me, surely something has to change… Is it the cars design or is the way the choose to set the car up? Its not the engine as other Renault powered teams have shown it can be done.

    1. Bouncing on the limiter means the highest gear isn’t long enough.

      That’s a choice they make. Go for higher top speed or better acceleration.

  19. James (@goodyear92)
    11th June 2012, 4:45

    Wasn’t the most exciting race of the year, the DRS (as always) reduced the intensity of some of the on-track battles. That said, I don’t think the outcome would have been any different. Lewis was on a charge and Fernando and Seb wouldn’t have been able to hold him back anyway, I just love watching cars crawl all over the back of another one for a couple of laps and then pull of a cracking overtake.
    Besides all that though, I’m just so happy to see LH finally get the win he so richly deserves. Controlled and aggressive best describes that race, I was on the edge of my seat when he was reeling in 1st and 2nd place. Qualifying laps being pumped in by drivers is not something we get often in this years F1, so cherish it when we do.
    What’s happened to Jenson? I don’t really support him at all, but seeing what he’s going through is making me wish for him to get back on the top step. It doesn’t even seem to be improving race by race, it’s just getting worse every weekend. Hopefully he’ll pick it up for his and Mclaren’s sake, but he’s falling too far behind in the championship. 43 points off the leader who just so happens to be his own teammate is worrying at this stage of the season, he needs to be in the points every race from Valencia to the end of the season if he has any hope.

  20. Loved watching Alonso, Vettel, and Hamilton battling out in those final laps, perhaps the three best drivers in F1 racing for the three best teams. In the end Hamilton was able to maximize the correct strategy. Watching the championship battle between these 3 great drivers will be incredible.

    1. @rumfresh, I agree, the race was great mostly because the top three drivers in F1 battled it out.

  21. Another brilliant race and another well deserved fresh win in a season that continues to delight. Couple of questions: 1. Did Hamilton have the union flag in the car with him to wave when he won? 2. Apart from Ayrton Senna, which other drivers have waved their national flags after winning a grand prix?

    1. (@sebring-mike 1. I didn’t see the end of the race but from what I know, it’s against the rules to carry a flag (and other objects) in the cockpit. 2. Felipe Massa 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix – a fan entered the circuit and handed him the Brazilian flag on his celebration lap.

      1. Yes it is against the rules. Let’s see if he gets a reprimand (yawn). You could tell at the hairpin Hamilton probably wanted to do a doughnut or two but then thought better of it :)

  22. The Curious Case of Jenson Button

    What’s Eating Jenson Button?

    Any more anyone?

    Is there an excuse for these lamentable performances? Why does this years car work so well for Hamilton and not for Jenson? Are the team artificially creating the situation in the hope it will convince Lewis to stay? Is Jenson past it?

    One thing is certain, Jenson appears to have contracted Felipetising Massa-itis!

    1. “We’re off to Button Moon, we’ll follow Mr. Spoon,
      Button Moon, Button Moon.”

      Ok, it doesn’t really work but I couldn’t help myself :)
      It’s a clear case of Massa-itis to me – Whitmarsh needs to administer the ‘Luca’ treatment sometime soon one hopes to get this sorted.

    2. Giving him a McLaren that works on Friday would be a good start. He just never got the car set up all weekend. A bit like Dario Franchitti who was similarly lost in the Indycar race – doesn’t mean he’s a muppet.

    3. What’s eating Jenson is a car that is not working for him. The problems appear to be outside his and the engineer’s skill set at this time. They will get it right and he will be competitive again. Soon I hope.

  23. William Brierty
    11th June 2012, 11:25

    So let’s recap. In that race we had the three finest drivers in the world, in the fastest cars in the world, on the best track in the world, all throwing the strategic die, flat out for the win, all with a chance of leading the championship after the race. And Jacques Villeneuve didn’t like it! What a prat!

    1. They’re not the fastest cars in the world, even older f1 cars have been much quicker around a track.

      1. William Brierty
        12th June 2012, 11:45

        They are the fastest cars that are racing at the moment you numpty, just like ALO, HAM, VET are the best drivers AT THE MOMENT!

    2. He always was a prat! Remember when he heard that Jenson had signed to partner him at BAR and scoffed and indicated that he thought Jenson was just a playboy and wasn’t much of a driver. Jenson promplty ended his career beating him 17 points to 6.

      1. William Brierty
        12th June 2012, 12:09

        Yeah, now Jenson is a more successful driver in every way! Villeneuve is like Montoya, genuine flashes of dazzling speed, but everything was ruined whe he opened his mouth! Jacques said on Sky F1 that the half-lap drop off of the tyres was “wrong” and tyres used to take several laps to drop off to give you the time to make strategic decisions. These are the finest drivers and the finest race tacticians in the world – they should be able to handle rapid drop off! He hates DRS too, claiming that it “numbs the art of overtaking”. Think of all the races and the championships ruined by being unable to overtake, just look back to Abu Dhabi 2010. So if your tyres aren’t going off and you can’t overtake there’s going to be no position changes – so why would anyone watch the race! And what happens if no one watches the races? No F1. What an opinionated pillock Jacques is, he is just intimidated because F1 2012 looks better than when he was racing, and he can’t admit the fact that he only won the championship because he had a car that was constantly on pole at a time when there was little overtaking.

        1. @William Brierty…sounds like JV agrees with MS and others about the tires dropping off so quickly. Sounds like JV agrees with most of us that DRS sucks and destroys the art of overtaking. So what’s the problem?

          Do you simply dislike JV or do you also disagree with MS about his opinion on the tires, and that MS should just suck it up and handle the rapid drop off? And do you actually think the only formula to achieve overtaking in F1 is through DRS?

          And are you actually going to blame JV for earning a spot at Wiiliams who happened to have the best car at the time? Should he have refused it after having earned a trial in F1 having won the CART rookie of the year followed by an Indy 500 win and the Championship in 95? Got news for you…most of the time the WDC winner had the WCC winning car to do it. It is still up to the drivers to take a competitive car and not squander it. Realize for yourself that in order for JV to get a chance to drive the best F1 car at the time, some important people in F1 must have seen some pretty potent stuff in JV. And he was impressive from his first handful of laps in a strange car.

          And JV didn’t set up the rules at the time such that most of the overtaking was done through pitting strategies…something that helped MS much much more than it helped JV. If anything JV rallied against this type of racing and wanted it to be less about aero and more about mechanical grip, which we finally have except for the tires that aren’t quite right to many people’s thinking, and except for the artificial DRS factor which they shouldn’t need now that they have sticky (if unpredictable tires).

          1. William Brierty
            13th June 2012, 12:27

            @Robbie I dislike Villeneuve, yes, but he did gain pole position in his first ever race, which phenomenal. To be honest I didn’t read that long and pointless essay above for two reasons. Firstly what I posted was an opinion/perception of JV’s attitude regarding modern F1, which you can’t prove otherwise. Secondly you seem to be under some illusion that I am against the style of racing we saw in JV’s era, quite the opposite, it just disliked the way he tried to criticize a fantastic race and ruin the general feeling of awe and positivity after the race. It was not the correct time to register his opposition to modern F1, and he hence ruined Sky’s post-race coverage. And I am sorry, but the style of racing we saw in the late 90s and early 00s didn’t offer the same spectacle or anywhere near the excitment of modern F1. Nor did it offer the same challenges. OK, it was harder to overtake, but at no point were any drivers at risk from a sudden tire drop-off. I actually believe F1 in its current configuration is more a challenge than it was in the years of JV from a driver’s perspective, which is good because these are the finest drivers in the world, and of course it is better from a viewer’s perspective; unless you’re a nostalgic purist who can’t accept that F1 has to develop in order to keep it fresh and exciting. And if you don’t like F1 as it is at the moment, don’t watch it, miss some great Grands Prix and wait for the regulation to, inevitably, change again, which will hack off yet another group of people, but that it just the eternal development of F1.

      2. @coefficient…inaccurate and unfair on your part…David Richards had it in for JV and thought he should forfeit some of his contracted salary to help improve the cars and the team (because that’s what all athletes in all sports do, right?). But prior to that, at the unveiling of the BAR car pre-season, DR was promoting JB as the teams next WDC, shuffling JV under the carpet. So when the media asked him about it, JV said that when JB proved himself he would have more to go on but for now JB was unproven and had everything to prove. Remember, that is off of DR just having said JB was their next WDC. JV was slagged for these comments, which were true, moreso than DR was slagged for being so tastless toward JV. Before long, in only a handful of races, JV had found some respect for JB, and by the 5th or 6th race of the season JV’s and JB’s girlfriends were seen having lunch together. JV didn’t have any problem with JB that wasn’t vindictively created by David Richards airing JV’s salary to the public and lording it over him like it was the cause of the team’s problems, and saying that JB was there to save the day. Conveniently forgetting of course that JV brought far more to the team than the salary that was agreed upon at the negotiating table.

        And when you spout off stats like the points by which JB had over JV, don’t forget to include the terrible unreliability JV had, the car barely able to finish a race, just as is happening for MS today, only MS is in at least a much more competitive package than JV was, and people are finding every reason to side with MS and point out this season’s lack of points in not his fault. Nor was it for JV and he was in a much lesser car.

        1. Villeneuve was never much good. He only won in 1997 because the car was so dominant. Williams/Head let him go because they thought he made hard work of the title despite having a yawning car advantage. He achieved nothing significant in the remaining years of his career. Perhaps he should have been more willing to lower his salary in order to help the team build a more competitive car. It worked for Jenson in 2009.

          Tell me this, did Villeneuve stubbornly stick with BAR or was it just because there weren’t any offeres coming from other teams? He always had a haughty attitude and was quick to criticise others, His willingness to berate his own team to the press was precisely what made Ferrari add him to their “no chance” list.

          He calls today’s F1 drivers spoilt brats, well it stinks of sour grapes to me! The guy is insufferable and long since good riddance to the him!

          1. Well at least we know where you stand…too bad JV isn’t allowed the same strong opinions as you. And you accuse HIM of sour grapes?

            You sure know how to belittle F1 by saying winning is simple when you have a dominant car. I guess if F1 is an entity in which sometimes it is a simple cakewalk for a driver, then you don’t value anyone’s success in F1 very much. I guess SV did nothing special last year, and MS especially, for all his advantages at Ferrari and all his dominant cars, did nothing special either. Both these drivers had far more dominant packages than JV had in 97.

            JV did have a chance to go to Benetton a couple of years after he helped form BAR. But Honda, who came back to F1 thanks to JV’s committment, promised him that if he stuck with them they would do him proud. So he did. He chose to try to stick it out with the team that he helped form. That is far more brave than most drivers would be.

            And just to correct more of your inaccuracies…Ferrari was never on JV’s radar because he, and several other drivers who were asked about partnering MS at Ferrari, said that there would be no way they could trust that they were getting equal treatment to MS on the team. Otherwise, they would have loved to go head to head with him in the same car. Problem was, everyone knew that same car would be one designed for MS. And everyone knew that Ferrari were never seriously interested in anyone other than someone that would act the bootlicker to MS.

        2. William Brierty
          13th June 2012, 12:34

          You do realize that you’re not going to earn much in the way of popularty being the policeman of F1 Fanatic, and I hope you realize that in social scenarios people don’t appreciate having their trivial inaccuracies corrected by an obsessive pedant.

        3. William Brierty
          13th June 2012, 12:49

          @Robbie I hope you realize that you’re not going to gain much in the way of popularity being the policeman of F1 Fanatic and I hope you realize that in social scenarios people don’t appreciate having their trivial inaccuracies corrected by an obssessive pendant.

          1. I hope you realize that this isn’t a popularity contest, and that giving an opinion does not make one a policeman. When I read inaccuracies relating to a topic I care about I am going to respond. Is that not what this forum is for? I’m a JV fan and when I hear him insulted I’m going to respond. You didn’t like what he had to say but I think you fail to realize that Sky are big boys and they hired JV for a reason. I don’t get Sky in Canada so I don’t know exactly what he said but from what I can extract it sounds like he was echoing the woes of many regarding drivers being limited by the tires and unable to push the cars too hard as a result, and regarding phony passes with DRS. He is after all a purebred racer. JV does not make a living commentating on F1. He does not have to walk a fine line between expressing his opinion and calling F1 down, unlike most media who make their living off F1 and wouldn’t be as free to speak their mind without fear of harming their chances at interviews and their involvement inside the world of F1 etc.

            I actually like how this season has been shaping up, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the drivers’ complaints of being limited by the tires, and I certainly don’t like DRS passes that make those trying to defend helpless. That to me is no better than processions.

            What a shame you can’t deal with people’s opinions by simply agreeing or disagreeing…JV’s…mine…you feel the need to use insults (JV is a prat and I’m an obssessive pendant) and the minute you are disagreed with I am also ‘the police’. And you concluded that without even reading the ‘essay’. Now whose really being the police around here, me or you?

          2. William Brierty
            13th June 2012, 20:00

            You’re Canadian!!!!!!!!!! Well that explains quite a bit! OK, you’re probably prone to defending your country’s only champion, but that does not mean you need to scan this forum for anyone that displays an opinion that is different to your own. For example, I am a British sports journalist, but I don’t feel inclined to defend Hamilton or Button when anyone insults them and I have no problem saying that the best driver in 2012 is not British and is in fact Fernando Alonso, and I also have no problem saying that there are notably few GREAT British drivers. You on the otherhand try to find technicalities that contradict “coefficient’s” perfectly valid and widely accepted theory that JV’s career and team moves were limited by his difficult personality. Your opinion regarding the current F1 regs is fine, you are entitled to that, and it is something that is bound to be controversial, but you can’t say whether JV’s reaction to the Canadian Grand Prix is right or wrong when you haven’t even watched it. Download it, watch it, lets see if your attitude changes.

          3. Try as I have, I cannot find JV’s words post-Montreal on Sky…I’ve been to their site and googled it other ways as well and everything comes up as pre-race stuff about his opinion on the protesters and about his opinion on the state of F1 these days. So if I can take from what he said before the race about F1 in general, I’m guessing that after the race he may have bemoaned the DRS passes he saw and FA’s tires falling off a cliff.

            “He always was a prat! Remember when he heard that Jenson had signed to partner him at BAR and scoffed and indicated that he thought Jenson was just a playboy and wasn’t much of a driver. Jenson promplty ended his career beating him 17 points to 6.”

            At the press conference revealing the BAR car that year, David Richards shoveled JV (one of the team’s founders) under the carpet and promoted JB, new to the team, as their great hope, in front of the media, to JV’s surprise. That is the fact of the circumstance, not “when he heard that Jenson had signed to partner him at BAR and scoffed “…there’s a huge difference. Fact…They stuck a mike in his face and said, what do you think of what DR just said. And in spite of what JV said they were friends in no time. So has the truth about JV been explained clearly? Or is it so blatantly wrong it needs pointing out. He currently rates JB very highly…higher than LH in terms of overall package.

            And…”Jenson promplty ended his career beating him 17 points to 6.” is akin to me saying NR is hammering MS this year, without recognizing the terrible ureliability MS has had. Fair? Accurate? Or a mere technicality? Come on.

            That completely shades JV unfairly, and for you to try to censor me on coefficient’s behalf, seems rather police-like on your part.

            And then there’s you…”What an opinionated pillock Jacques is, he is just intimidated because F1 2012 looks better than when he was racing, and he can’t admit the fact that he only won the championship because he had a car that was constantly on pole at a time when there was little overtaking.”

            Just intimidated? You actually believe that? This many years since he left F1, he’s suddenly intimidated…how ridiculous.

            Rather than accusing me of scanning around this forum, like I’m Gollum or something, lurking around to pounce on someone else’s opinion, perhaps you should scan around and you might find that many people share JV’s sentiments about the tires and DRS. For now I think all we’re seeing here is a couple of posters who dislike JV to the point of making untrue, inaccurate comments being made using insults which puts you two more extreme than I am in my Canadian efforts to defend him, since my comments contain the facts, not generalities and insults that have nothing to do with reality.

            You may love the racing so much right now that you have felt the need for such extreme reactions to JV and to me for defending him, but look around…F1 is a work in progress…many are questioning the tires and the DRS…JV’s opinion is just one in the mix and it is pretty much what the majority is saying…

            Find me the download, I’ll watch it, and I bet my attitude won’t change. I wasn’t in love with the race…I hoped better for FA and I hated those DRS passes as I always do. We’ve certainly seen just as exciting races if not moreso, this year and in others.

          4. Furthermore…you said…”In that race we had the three finest drivers in the world, in the fastest cars in the world, on the best track in the world, all throwing the strategic die, flat out for the win, all with a chance of leading the championship after the race. And Jacques Villeneuve didn’t like it! What a prat!”

            You make it sound like this was the race of all races in the history of races. On this site 17% gave it a 10/10. Three finest drivers…I’m sure JV would agree…fastest cars in the world….I’m sure JV would say not when they are limited by the tires, as some drivers in F1 today would agree, and many fans too, and not when the ‘fast’ comes from opening a wing and making your opponent look silly in the pinnacle of racing…on the best track in the world…a great compliment but I’m sure debatable and very subjective…

            JV is not allowed to dislike what you like without being a prat. I guess that makes a lot of us prats, and you come across like one of the protesters that can’t stand not getting their way and must fling something at someone. Even when it is off comments made to someone else. Whose scanning for someone’s opinion to criticize?

          5. William Brierty
            14th June 2012, 11:44

            Wow! Two essays! I feel positively blessed! I can see that we are both coming at this from different angles. You are picking apart everything that has been said, analyzing it, quoting it back, without realizing that this is a social forum and that colloquial language and hyperbole are likely to occur (and are admitably widespread in my own comments before I realized I was addressing my University lecturer). Me on the otherhand are critisizing you for doing that in the first place, and am simply saying that we don’t need to be corrected. I must say I read both essays, and in terms of arguing JV’s end, making me look like a fool and condeming the 2012 regs you’d get an A, but this is no longer about F1, this is about your conduct. I can picture you now, on a laptop, reveling in this charged, yet distanced social interaction, so I expect you will reply again, but do not do so before watching this:
            http://kat.ph/formula-1-2012-r07-canadian-grand-prix-race-t6442497.html
            It’s the torrent for Sky’s Canadian Grand Prix coverage, so download it and watch the post-race analysis. You will notice an excitment surrounding the post-race paddock, a subtle awe, however you wil also notice a bald JV unknowingly ruining everything by pouring a sour outlook regarding modern F1 onto procedings and angling every question to interviewees Grosjean, Perez and Hamilton in a way that forces an answer that displays his own opinion. That is not the work of a professional, and OK, he’s not a professional broadcaster, but his conduct was undeniably poor.

          6. Your link is downloading but it seems to be going painfully slowly. I suspect the problem is that I live in the country north of Toronto and the best we can get here in terms of ‘hi-speed’ is a mere notch above dial-up. I’ll persist as I truly am intrigued as to what JV had to say.

            I do find it intriguing that you say “JV unknowingly ruining everything”…if he was doing it unknowingly, perhaps because he is not a professional broadcaster and doesn’t need to sugar coat everything just to ensure he can hang around the paddocks for another day, then perhaps you need to cut him some slack.

            I don’t think an interviewer providing leading questions is anything new, and I would assume that the 3 drivers had an opportunity to agree, disagree, or correct JV if they felt the need. I just find it hard to imagine JV ruined EVERYTHING and I think people are free to form their own opinions as to JV’s comments, his conduct etc. as you have…but to make it sound like a disaster is a bit much.

            As he said in a pre-race interview that I read, today’s F1 is for some, but not for everyone. Not everyone likes that a lesser team can potentially win a race simply because the tires hooked up for them that day…ie. he hints at the lottery concept that has been tossed around on this site quite a bit. He admitted some people love F1 the way it is, some don’t, and it’ not for him. If he thinks the product could be better I don’t see anything wrong with that kind of caring. I think most would agree there’s nothing wrong with multiple different winners so far and multiple potential winners on any given race weekend, but I think it is the way it has been achieved, many would say artificially, that many have a problem with. Tires that could be a little more stable (doesn’t mean they have to be like they were in the 90’s/early 2000’s) and the removal of DRS is something that many would revel in.

            As to my conduct…I don’t see how it is any different from anything any other posters do on any forum on the net.

          7. William Brierty
            14th June 2012, 18:19

            I live in the wilds of Oxfordshire and the best internet speed I can get is 60kb/s, and I managed. But the real question is why the hell did you bother posting without watching it, so the above is just words, which you seem rather talented at producing in vastly overse quantaties. I think you’ve rather exposed yourself by posting without reason, because it shows a need to always have had the last word, although I perhaps am guilty of suffering that too. Don’t bother posting about the current F1 regs again, we simply have different opinions, which is bound to happen regarding something so fundemental to such a great sport, although I would find it interesting if you were able to put a positive spin of JV’s action after the race. Oh, and if you could somehow justify a) why you always need the last word and b) why you are targeting and arguing with me elsewhere in the forum, that would be lovely.

          8. Lol, I thought we were having a discussion, and since this download is still now just over half done, I thought you deserved to know that I was genuinely looking forward to hearing JV’s words and answering you after that. So a) I haven’t had my final word until I hear JV’s words as you yourself asked, not to mention you have admitted being guilty of the same thing (trying to have the last word) and b) I thought this was an open forum and that I was showing you on the other thread, which relates to this discussion, that I can meet you half way, but you seem to have decided that is ‘targeting’ you. Don’t flatter yourself, I have responded to other people’s comments too, and they don’t seem targetted, so maybe you need to get over yourself. You jumped in on ‘coefficients’ behalf and now you feel targetted? You want me to hear JV post-Montreal, and you expect that might change my ‘attitude’ as you put it, but I’m not allowed to suggest other options besides DRS, like JV’s opinion on big fat slicks, and expect that might get some people thinking there are better ways than resorting to a gadget. That’s fair…not.

          9. Ok William…believe it or not it took until this morning for that download to complete, and now I know why…I didn’t realize that with my slow hi-speed I was downloading the whole race in HD as well as the post-race stuff…I thought it was just the end part that you were linking me to that had the JV commentary in it…neither here nor there…I’ve got it and it’s great…now I just wish I had true hi-speed and I’d do more of it.

            My conclusion…everything JV said before the race which I did read is consistant with what he said after the race. There is absolutely nothing there that indicates to me he ‘soured’ the event or that his conduct was undeniably poor. The most negative thing I can say is that he looked like someone who doesn’t do this for a living, but as to his opinions and his attitude and his conduct with the great people they interviewed…Mario Andretti, RG, SP, LH…I think they all enjoyed JV’s presence and I think it was all healthy debate of the type that we are all having. Including with Johnny Herbert who I have met and have his autograph. There is obviously still a lot of question marks over tires in that it seems no team yet knows what to expect from one race weekend to the next as to whether they will experience or not the dramatic tire falloff that JV bemoans. And I thought JV raised an interesting point about cars actually slowing down ahead of the DRS zone because neither one wants to be first or else they are a sitting duck, and coming from a purebred WDC racer like JV I can understand him having a hard time wrapping his head around being limited by tires and being affected by the concept of being a sitting duck in what is supposed to be the pinnacle of racing.

            My conclusion…JV only contributed to healthy debate and otherwise was very positive regarding what people DO like about F1 these days, and was only positive about Mac and their win, and even positive about MS and his situation. I think you simply don’t like JV and don’t like anyone debating the negative aspects of DRS and so you have a propensity to have the attitude you do on this thread, just as you accuse me of having mine because I am Canadian, a JV fan, and no fan of DRS.

            Thanks for the link though. I may even go back and watch the whole thing when I have a chance, rather than just the post-race stuff that you wanted me to see.

          10. As I re-read that I thought I would mention I also have met JV and have his autograph too…a seperate event from the one where I met Johnny Herbert though. So that was kind of cool to see 4 guys standing there, two of whom I have autographs.

  24. Nice to see Nicole kissing Lewis’s helmet at the end. Twice!

    I counted 8 shots of her during the race. Has Bernie got her on contract?

  25. I’ve bashed the tyres quite a bit these last couple of months but actually I think now the teams are getting some idea about them things are starting to get a bit more interesting. It could also just be because the tyres provided for this race seemed to hang on longer than usual (apart from Monaco, but that’s just a special track) – and crucially the gap between soft and super-soft was quite small.

    If you look at Canada, you can now see that mixed strategies can occur (1 stop or 2 stop) with some tyre conservation approaches (Alonso) and some hard pushing for 15 laps (Hamilton). It’s the latter that gives me encouragement because before it seemed like pretty much every race no-one could push at all on the tyres.

    I would like to say that I was probably wrong with most of my comments towards these tyres, but only if Pirelli continue to supply them with this kind of durability and closeness between compounds.

    Now if only we could get rid of DRS, perhaps this F1 thing might not be so bad after all.

    1. The tyres are killing the overtakes. Not DRS.

      But then without the tyres the “overtakes” wouldn’t be there either.

      1. Tyres should allow different strategies for different driving styles and approaches to the race. DRS is a completely different thing because Alonso could still have had a decent go at defending even with shot tyres (just look at his straight line speed up until the passing car opened the DRS for both the Hamilton and Grosjean overtakes).

        I have hated the tyres all season but this race showed something different because different strategies to win the race were possible. Grosjean would have won the race if Hamilton had been concentrating on Alonso and Vettel and stayed out for example.

        Vettel got him into the hairpin but if you watch closely, Alonso actually (rather cleverly) let him through in order for himself to be able to open his DRS and not lose any more time to Perez.

        1. Hamilton waited for the DRS zone yes, but he would have waited for the straight anyway. He would also have gotten past just as easily if he hadn’t had DRS. he was already pretty much past Vettel and Alonso even before he hit his DRS.

          They might have been driving alongside for the whole stretch, but Hamilton would have easily outbraked Alonso/Vettel.

          Alsonso could not have gotten DRS by letting Lewis past on the straight. The DRS detection was 10 meters after the hairpin.

          1. Alsonso could not have gotten DRS by letting Lewis past on the straight. The DRS detection was 10 meters after the hairpin.

            I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about here. It obviously has nothing to do with the last part of my comment about Alonso and Vettel, and why Alonso let him past before the hairpin. I know where the detection point was.

  26. Had Hamilton not pitted and stayed out with Alonso and Vettel, Grosjean would have probably won the race!

    1. If Hamilton had gone for a one stop strategy he would have conserved his tyres. Just like Grosjean did.

      1. I know. I was talking about what would have happened if McLaren had been adapting their strategy mid-race in line with Alonso and Vettel… which they didn’t.

  27. Concerning Michael Schumacher DRS problem, isn’t the DRS supposed to remain closed if there is a problem with it? I think I read some articles when this DRS thing was allowed 2 years ago, explaining how safe it was, and how its design prevented it to remain open if there was a problem. Maybe there could be a penalty for Mercedes (that’s what i thought when I saw the mechanics trying to force it closing). Sorry for my english.

    1. Exactly. I don’t understand how this doesn’t seem to be an issue at all.

      It’s in the regulations:
      “The design is such that failure of the system will result in the uppermost closed section returning to the normal high incidence position.”

      The car is clearly illegal. Not to mention dangerous.

  28. I’m more than a bit puzzled why people are so anti-DRS after this race and not countless previous races where we’ve seen far more DRS-assisted easy overtakes.

    If the tyres could stay like they were in Canada, I’d be happy. Basically we saw the fastest 1-stop driver, Grosjean, finish close (but in second) to the fastest 2-stop driver, Hamilton. Actually I’d be happy for the drivers stopping most always to win, it means the fastest track speed is the most important element, but given the tyres have been designed to produce precisely this kind of ‘strategy tension,’ the Pirellis worked well this race. The question is whether they can achieve this fine balance for the remaining races.

    1. Because here we got robbed (again) of defensive driving, while at the same time overtaking is possible without DRS

  29. i was thinking about it. but now i’m sure, manipulation with DRS was fine, but the tires are a bit too much. SPORTS IS ABOUT THE BEST ATHLETES AND TEAMS WINNING. and so far i don’t see it happening. not even the 7th time. ALO deserved to win. but malaysia just was because of the rain. RBR and ferrari and lotus for that matter are making efforts but , the this has become a lottery. MSH, has got the worse luck. sad. but true.

  30. Alonso said that his pitcrew wouldn’t come out if Spain beat Italy at Euro 2012, so maybe because they drew they would only come out once?

  31. I’m quite surprised nobody insist on the 49 laps run from Grosjean and some mention the nice conservation from Perez … Surely they were not on the same compound (soft – SS for Gros and SS – soft for Perez) but still impressed how well Grosjean have manage that one on a Lotus which doesn’t always run nicely on both spec …

  32. I don’t know, maybe it’s me, but I’m surprised no one else has commented on Rosberg being told to conserve fuel in about the 8th lap.

    How can a driver go all out if his team don’t give him enough fuel to finish the race without turning it into a fuel conservation exercise after only 8 laps?? It seemed to suggest Mercedes banked on a safety car early and when it didn’t come their whole race was compromised.

    I could also suggest that quali is also becoming a bit of a bore as no one can short fill their car for a better grid position and barring a problem it is the usual suspects in q2 and 3. Think back a couple of seasons when we eagerly awaited the fuel figures before debating strategy. For me, either the tanks must be brimnmed and sdealed after qualui or re-fuelling should be allowed again.

    As for Jenson, I think his driving style means he just cannot get the tyres into their best operating range unless it is a hot day/hot track.

    1. On the Button remark, it was a hit day. So that didn’t help.

  33. Ban the DRS (or at least ban the one move rules in DRS zone), it makes the driver in front a sitting duck (all thanks to the Pirelli tyres, if you push harder on these tyres to keep 1 sec gap, you loose overall advantage in race). Its sad to see that Formula 1 has turned into a tyre conservation drive (you hear on the team radio all the time ‘preserve tyres’, ‘don’t push hard’).

    All due credit to Hamilton (he drove superbly), but overtaking is not real anymore, drivers don’t push themselves and their cars to limit and its all about tyre strategy ‘rubber-and-run’

  34. McLaren almost lost it for Lewis again with a 5.5 sec pit stop. As usual, they depended on his race pace to salvage their ineptitude. This just happened to be their day. You could see how the pitstop lost him track position to Alonso before he took took it back. On another day, another track, he may not have been able to get past Alonso or Vettel.
    Why cant they just get it right? Despite just implementing a system that Ferrari have been using for over a season? Why did it take them so long? these questions have to be asked. According to Jonathan Neale, we were supposed to see a “substantial” improvement in McLaren’s pit stops! The problem is indeed Whitmarsh’s leadership style. He simply too “nice” for the cutthroat world of F1, and does not posses competitive bone in his body when compared to denizens like Briatore, Willaims, Brawn and even Horner.

    Anyone noticed how Ron Dennis seems to be Lewis’s lucky talisman? More often than not, when he is present, Lewis seems to do well, and seems to benefit from McLaren thinking quickly on their feet regarding strategy. It seems Whitmarsh sharpens up, and indeed the whole team (at least regarding Lewis) when Ron is present.
    When Ron is absent, the strategic thinking seems to go in Jenson’s direction with Lewis left to battle it out on race pace, as happened many times last season.

    I am surprised by people who seem befuddled by Jenson’s race pace, or indeed his qualifying. He has had many a day like these – even in his championship winning year. As been mentioned many times before, his preformance window is extremely narrow, and his results at at McLaren has been flattered by favourable and quick thinking startegy courtesy of Martin Whitmarsh, rather than outright pace. Even at Mercedes, he was flattered by the car, as was obvious in the second half of the season. Whilst he is good driver, he is certainly not in the mould of Lewis – even when Lewis has his off days.

    Again, there is a lot of talk about Lewis driving well this year. I don’t agree withn that. He has always driven well. He is simply driving different this year. Most of his audacious moves which resulted in a mixture of penalties, tears and reprimands, were also the same moves which won McLaren a championship and gave Lewis the title of bests late braker and overtaker in Formula 1. It led Norbert Haug and Ross Brawn to christen him the saviour of F1, when the Formula was beign criticised for the inability of drivers to overtake, and Lewis had the most overtakes in that season. When these moves come off well, everyone gushes and praises him, when they dont, the whole world flagellates him, and the stewards crucify him; Thus this year, gone are the bold overtakes, the audacious late braking, the wheel to wheel duels. Instead we have a more careful, cautious Lewis. The tyres havent helped in this regard, as they do not favour an aggresive driving style. I say its a shame, because F1 has been robbed of one of its most exciting driver.

  35. Has no one noticed that each race has also had a different driver finish in 2nd place?

    1. @keithcollantine Vettel, Perez, Button, Raikkonen, Alonso, Rosberg, Grosjean.

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