[sgiitk]

A most enjoyable race. Was also on ESPN-HD a big bonus.

Whats was not known to me is that the Mercedes were not as aerodynamically clean as the McLarens. So with high tyre wear and poorer aerodynamics Schumi & Rosberg did a great job. Two DRS zones also worked out great.

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by J.B

I personally think from now on it will be cake walk for Alonso, if he just finishes in top 5, while the others take points of each other. Reliability issues barring, it would take more effort for him to blow the championship from here than to win it.

Wish it were mate! I see Lewis in a position to win the next 3-4 races. The Mclaren has been very quick at the last few races, and Lewis was just cruising for the latter half of the race at Monza. He can take an avg of 7-10 points off Alonso every race, even if FA finishes P2 each time.

Lewis is oncourse for the WDC.

[mgh]

Originally Posted by J.B

That would be something, and it looks very much possible, especially as Grojean would come back and could play second fiddle to him by taking out some cars .

Massa should take that role at Ferrari

Seriously, Alonso has a 37 point lead with 7 races left. Unless he is very unlucky, he is the best bet for the driver's championship.

The circuits coming up are not low downforce ones. Red Bull will do better on those. However, McLaren are on a roll, and the only team other than Red Bull with a chance for the constructor's championship.

Sauber are too far ahead of Sahara Force India, and have a better car. Williams are dependent on Madcap, who can best be described as a hot and cold driver. He will pick up a bunch of points in some race, and SFI will move to eighth. They are likely to overhaul last year's points by a good margin, but at best will finish seventh, as against sixth last year. They are also unlikely to have any driver in the top ten, unlike last year.

It is clear that neither Paul di Resta or Nico Hulkenberg are capable of rising above the car, as they have almost the same number of points. And SFI with their lower midfield position are unlikely to attract better drivers – a vicious circle indeed.

[anachronix]

Apparently, Fernando's car was damaged from his duel with Vettel!

Fry: "Then there was the incident when Fernando went off the track in his duel with Vettel: once the telemetry was working again, we spotted there was something not quite right at the rear, so in the final laps, we asked him to be cautious, avoiding the kerbs. When the car was in parc ferme, I have to say we could see the damage was quite bad, also affecting the aerodynamics."

Originally Posted by AMuS

"A hole in the floor, a piece of the diffuser broken off, secondary damage [I don't know why they are calling that secondary] at one of the rear dampers. Stella told Alonso to drive more slowly. To finish was the most important thing. The damage increased the tyre deg."

[gtonsing]

Nothing better than 8th place for the year for SFI i guess then. The remaining races dont favour SFI that much, They should have made more points in Italy. Singapore is not a good place for them - unless there are (touchwood) many crashes and SFI is not one of them.
What a drive by Perez. No one would have thought that car would have such pace!! If there were a few more laps, I think he might even challenge Hamilton!

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by SilentEngine

I would wait till Singapore to see how things are. Spa and Monza were two tracks were Lotus (and all Renault powered cars) were not going to be strong. Kimi managed to stay in the hunt by scoring 25 points from these two and closed the gap to Alonso by 10 points (thanks to Spa DNF for Alonso). I expect Lotus to fight for podiums in next few races. But more than Alonso, I think Lewis is going to pull ahead of Kimi because McLaren have a better car overall.

There is no doubt about Kimi’s capability, but I am not very impressed with Team Lotus and their strategies. The team does not look as confident as - say McLaren or Ferrari

Originally Posted by Hatari

Wish it were mate! I see Lewis in a position to win the next 3-4 races. The Mclaren has been very quick at the last few races, and Lewis was just cruising for the latter half of the race at Monza. He can take an avg of 7-10 points off Alonso every race, even if FA finishes P2 each time.

Lewis is oncourse for the WDC.

True, Lewis sans distractions is very much in the hunt for WDC. That said, Fernando still have a very strong chance to widen the gap in the next few races. He has always been at ease in Singapore. And he has been so consistent even in unfavourable conditions, more than anyone else on the grid

Originally Posted by anachronix

Apparently, Fernando's car was damaged from his duel with Vettel!

In that case, the podium finish is even more special!

[akshay380]

IMO we are heading into the last part of the season with Alonso and Lewis battling it out for the top spot. And a straight fight between McLaren and others in development race. Wish I could be at the Indian GP watching McLaren do 1-2 with Lewis in the lead.

[J.B]

Originally Posted by Hatari

Lewis is oncourse for the WDC.

Originally Posted by mgh

The circuits coming up are not low downforce ones. Red Bull will do better on those. However, McLaren are on a roll, and the only team other than Red Bull with a chance for the constructor's championship.

I agree with mgh, Vettel and Newey would do everything they can to hunt down LH and FA. They are probably done with the circuits where their car is weakest and RBR have this uncanny ability to have the strategy spot on and get Vettel into the podium irrespective of his starting position. Also, you never know when Mark will pull a surprise win, so it is still very tight between the bulls and McLaren.

Originally Posted by vb-san

There is no doubt about Kimi’s capability, but I am not very impressed with Team Lotus and their strategies. The team does not look as confident as - say McLaren or Ferrari

Yes, Lotus tend to become conservative once they are in to the podium or even while running in top 5, but if the other heavy weights are going to have a tight fight on the limit, Kimi could stealthily sneak past them. Kimi's moves are amazing both while attacking and defending, unlike some young kids who can't digest being passed.

Originally Posted by akshay380

Wish I could be at the Indian GP watching McLaren do 1-2 with Lewis in the lead.

If it is going to be a hot race in India, I would bet on the Saubers, they just seem to catapult when the temperature rises, especially under Perez.

[negativeH]

I feel Lotus just never expected to do so good this season and hence are just 'too over-joyed' to concentrate. Sounds a bit blunt yeah, but human temperament is like that yeah.
They look like they're just not ready to compete with the big boys, and are just happy dominating the mid field pit wise. It's only Kimi's brilliance that has driven them to a surprise number 3.

[vb-saan]

Post-race driver comments:
http://www.espnstar.com/home/news/detail/item853473/

[asr245]

Fantastic track - fantastic race. Wish there were a few more laps for Perez to hunt down LH. But I am intrigued by his lack of celebration. Perez was obviously the happiest of them all followed by Alonso. That Sauber certainly is kind to it's tires. Their jump in championship this season should give them a boost in cash flow. I hope they catch Mercedes now. Their beating Mercedes over a season would be like David hammering Goliath. Mouth-watering!

Also happy to see FI not gaining too much advantage over Williams. If Maldonado can keep it together, Williams should be in good shape to take back 7th (still not good enough though).

[anachronix]

Originally Posted by negativeH

I feel Lotus just never expected to do so good this season and hence are just 'too over-joyed' to concentrate. Sounds a bit blunt yeah, but human temperament is like that yeah.
They look like they're just not ready to compete with the big boys, and are just happy dominating the mid field pit wise. It's only Kimi's brilliance that has driven them to a surprise number 3.

Its the team that brought down a Michael led Scarlet dominance back in the early 2000s with a back to back championship wins! You think they are not ready!?

Kimi is still the dark horse, F1 is going back to places where its going to be hot & humid. Something that works better for the Renault and importantly the Saubers. Renault have always lacked top speed and they were on their backfoot in Spa & Monza as expected! It will be battle royal from Singapore, I hope the eye brow man can stay away from trouble and score safe points!

[MaserQ]

So the F1 circus flies out of europe with an absorbing race at Monza. Driver of the day had to be Perez. His charge towards the end was one to watch. Catching and beating the Ferraris on their hometurf was a clear statement of intent toward Di Montezemolo to come and get him.

Clean race from Hamilton. If he can stitch together a few more podiums and with a bit of luck, we could be in for a cracker last part of the season! Alonso is happy to collect, collect, collect.. for now.

[negativeH]

Originally Posted by anachronix

Its the team that brought down a Michael led Scarlet dominance back in the early 2000s with a back to back championship wins! You think they are not ready!?

A lot has changed since then, hasn't it. What I meant was that they probably under estimated themselves and their drivers, and it is a very genuine mistake; a returning 'has-been' in Kimi and a semi rookie. Their initial season mistakes of qualifying judgement and bad strategies further builds on this.

Kimi is still the dark horse

+1. And...and...am secretly wishing that somehow Alonso gets a couple DNF or no points scoring races and Bam! Kimi has the title!! Come on Ferrari don't let me down

[anachronix]

Originally Posted by negativeH

A lot has changed since then, hasn't it. What I meant was that they probably under estimated themselves and their drivers, and it is a very genuine mistake; a returning 'has-been' in Kimi and a semi rookie. Their initial season mistakes of qualifying judgement and bad strategies further builds on this.

Definitely sounds like a bollywood movie or it might fit an artifical situation in Wrestling Entertainment!

I dont think that was the case with Renaul, they had some very interesting concept under development with their cars last year but lacked a good lead driver for the team. I will call it tough luck here when Robert met with the accident. They have continued the same treand and now with Kimi finding his speed with the quick Renault they are still there fighting. Strategy errors are normal in F1, master strategist Ross Brawn himself did some funny strategic errors last year.

Not the case of "Honestly, I dint think I would make it this far" (as Po says)

+1. And...and...am secretly wishing that somehow Alonso gets a couple DNF or no points scoring races and Bam! Kimi has the title!! Come on Ferrari don't let me down

If you pray for the top teams to not let you down, I think thats good enough. Ferrari is leading the championship with an inferior car only because the teams that started the season with the fastest cars let it all down in the first part of the season while Alonso & the team kept their nerve together