Just sayin' ... we all seem to be in agreement.

 

^ I think with some tweaking, they can continue the great show that they have been putting on, while allowing the "hard chargers" to make the most of their tires without having to be too worried about conserving them. I think it is a fabulous idea to have soft compound tires as used in the race for qualifying. Let them fight it out. Those Q3 sessions are often as good as the race itself. Reward the fastest driver and put him on pole position. Then, keep the tires as they are with two provisions: first that they last a couple more laps than they currently are and give the teams a few more sets so that they don't have to be overly conservative.

 

Haha!

Eat that, Hamilton! He's starting at the back of the grid!

 

I don't get it. Are they going to start disqualifying cars for doing the same thing at the end of a race now? I can recall multiple times in the last couple years where driver's have not made it back around after crossing the finish line for the same reason.

 

thats bs, he should the in the last spot of q3, not back of the grid.

 

Agreed, or 5 place grid penalty, he doesn't deserve to be put right at the back, his weekend is ruined and he was the fastest car by .5 seconds. Didn't think I'd ever see the day when Maldonado started on pole...

 

damn, kimi so close again.

 

this was a good race. i am wondering how the shumi accident will work out...

 

I think some of you are missing the point of running the same tires from Q to start.
Just like the Engine penalty. They are promoting and challenging the Manufaturers to make a lasting product, not a disposable (waste) product. This saves the team Money, the environment, and helps advance R&D that we see later down the line.

The rules are getting crazy now, but I think some (engine/tire) are for very very good reasons.

 

What a race. Can anyone believe that Williams finally won a race? Maldonado did a superb job holding off Alonso for the win. This certainly has been an amazing year. Who would ever have thought that McLaren and Red Bull would be struggling to get into the top 10? Really looking forward to Monaco.

 

Sorry dude, but your logic simply does not fly. How does having the tires degrade sooner help make a lasting product and the environment? Shouldn't the compounds be designed to make the tires last longer? Formula 1 has never been about making lasting products. It is about making the absolute best car that technology and the rules permit. There is not a lot learned from an F1 car that can directly be applied to road cars. That is not the point, nor is conservation. A better analogy would be the Audi R18 E-Tron that uses a diesel hybrid. Now that saves fuel. Also the tires used in LeMans are more designed for longevity and lower fuel consumption. So your comments about using the same tires from qualifying to start rings hollow.

 

I would have loved to see this race go 67 laps instead of 66. Kimi was poised to make a run on Alonso if it had. Otherwise, way to go Maldonado. He had pace, and maybe more importantly, he showed great poise after they goofed his pit stop mid race. I'm almost shocked that he was able to keep his composure with a guy like Alonso pushing him so hard for so many laps. I really was expecting him to run wide/off at some point....similar to what Senna did during qualifying.

 

Correction, didn't think I'd ever see the day when Maldonado won a race, he definitely proved me wrong. Impressed with Kobayashi as well. Kimi would've won with 5 more laps.

Its too bad Williams had that fire in the garage after the race, hopefully the team members that got injured are okay, Senna's car is unsalvageable...

Lets be honest here, how good has every race been this season? After every race I keep on saying that was the best one I've seen.

 

2012 is complete madness.

Maldonado's win just goes to show again how the pole sitter always wins in Barcelona.

Would have loved to of seen Kimi on a 3-stopper, making up 20 sec in the last stint is insane.

How about that fire in in the Williams garage after the race. Did you guys see some of those pics? Yikes!

 

I wouldn't say this one was the best race I've seen this season, since overtaking at the front was really only done during pit stop rotations, but it really was another great race with a lot of action from top to bottom.

Gotta love how Maldonado's best finish in the 1st four races was an 8th though, and then somehow everything came together for him this weekend. Hell, he hadn't even made it to Q3 in any of the last three races leading up to this, and his performance was just night and day better than his teammate too. About as big of a disparity in performance as we've seen at Ferrari all season. Can't help but think he's got a seat somewhere for the foreseeable future, even if the Venezuelan gov't(PDVSA) stopped bankrolling him.