fire in the williams garage. they wanted to burn the cars before fia find out they had illegal mods. lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RHC0NOeOTE!

 

^ Oh burn [pun intended]. Looks like the fire started with the KERS system. Same thing has happened to Chevy Volts and Fisker Karmas. I am sure that the FIA will find a way to penalize Williams for not being allowed to inspect the car before the fire. Senna will probably get a lifetime final grid position. I am at least thankful that nobody got seriously hurt although one guy was on fire and several suffered severe smoke inhalation. Kind of scary for the crew members.

 

Absolutely amazing race, all around. From schumi and senna crashing, hamilton getting kicked to the back, and raikkonen ripping up the track in the last dozen laps. Whew!

What an exciting year so far.

 

Schumi was penalized for it.

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227...ews-for-Schumi

 

yeah, inhaling all that smoke from burning battery can't be good for your health.

couple race ago, kimi lost 12 posts in 10 laps in the last stint. now he gains 20 seconds in 10 laps. looks like he learned how to manage them tires

 

Well said ... F1 tires are purposely designed to wear sooner to keep the show exciting. If they wanted long lasting tires they would give them All Season Tires with really high wear ratings.

So after the Mugello testing it seems Williams has made the biggest gains. Hurray for limited in season testing. Now only if they would do something about Qualy tires being different from Race tires we will be set.

 

^ in 2005, they weren't allow to change tires during the race. one set of tire had to last the entire race distance. they can only change tires if they had puncture.

 

Well, first things first....congrats to Maldenado...never thought he could pull himself out the "bomber-bumper car club" with the Russsian rocket but he did it today.

Now to Sauber's results: a fifth spot...just a couple away from podium....again!..passing of Rosberg outside of DRS zone towards the end...magic...more to come in Monaco...but pit crew has got to improve....can't B almost twice as slow as field in the pits and then expect drivers to make up the diference ontrack...puts undo pressure on the team...time to shape up or ship out!

Pirelli's tires R really starting to get to the drivers after this weekend and we R beginning to C it...this from Alonso, one of the best, if not the best driver on the grid:"With seven laps to go I got to a curve and suddenly the grip was gone. I even radioed the box to see if the car had been damaged," and this from one of the smoothest drivers on the grid, Button: "I work hard at it [preserving tires],but right now it's not working and I have no idea why." and this from Kimi who has seen it all: "At one race one team is there (at the front) and then suddenly they are tenth in the next race, so it's bit of an odd situation," and this from the current world champion:"Three weeks ago Williams was nowhere, now they're beating everyone into the ground," I read these comments as complete frustration in the inability to figure out these tires...so every race they get in the car, they have no idea how they R going to fair in the race. U would have thought after one complete season under their belt, the teams would have hired the skilled engineers in tire degredation and come up solutions to this issue by now...yet, based upon the results, they have not and it is rather odd.

Later, Ken

 

Not sure if it was the weather or the track, but tire degradation didn't seem to be an issue in Spain to the extent it has been in other races. Gotta love Kimi's charge at the end of the race and since he is a hard charger, perhaps a way has been found to get the best out of the tires.

As for testing, this is what should have been happening all along. Perhaps we would not have seen a complete runaway by Brawn in 2009 and Red Bull in 2010/2011 if testing had been permitted. There seems to be parity between 7 teams now and at least 12 of the drivers could win at anytime. If I were a betting man, it would be hard to put odds on the outcome of any race, the races being completely unpredictable. All in all, one of the best seasons I can remember in a long time.

 

I'm sure tire degradation was an issue or else Alonso's charge to catch up with Maldonado wouldn't have mysteriously stopped. I'm sure there are other instances, we just don't know about them. But looking at Ken's post above, my suspicions seem to be confirmed.

Totally agree, Red Bull wouldn't have run away with the championship if there was limited testing the last 2 seasons.

In other news, Barrichello was seen running away from the Williams Garage after the fire started.

 

I get confused sometimes when someone says one thing and then at another point in time expresses the opposite...I thought, and don't make me go back and look it up, that you liked the dominant teams in a given season...Ferrari's run where no one could touch them was one of UR examples...but now you R saying this season is the best for you where there is no dominant teams...so which is it?...but I digress yet again.

Later, Ken

 

Ken, you have been a thorn in my side for as long as I have been posting in this thread. For what it's worth, I appreciate technical and driving excellence. So, if a Jimmy Clark or Alain Prost or Michael Schumacher wins both by superior equipment and driving, so be it. I am certainly not against solid competition either. What I don't want is contrived racing like in NASCAR where there might be 5 lead changes on one lap and 60 lead changes in a race like the Daytona 500. Speaking of double talk, you have been a master of it yourself and I certainly would not seek you out for prognostication [Hint-Raikkonen going to Williams]. You might say that the kettle is calling the pot black, but I digress...

 

I leave U with this: there is a difference between predicting and expressing a position...try to C the distiction.

Later, Ken

 

I was mainly speaking about the rules: IIRC state you have to use the same tires from Q to start! This is what I was refering to saving waste, environment... rather than run a set for each Q, and for Start... thats 4 tires, rather than 8-16!!

 

What I saw, IMHO, was Schumi totally lost it and was completely to blaim...coming into the corner, Schumi attempted to pass on the outside...then Senna moved left to hold/defend that line...as soon as Schumi realized this, he thought he could then instantly move right to take the inside line...but he had too much speed and/or did not brake hard enough and just plowed into Senna's rear...Schumi deserved what he got and it is time to start selling Merc domestic cars...Appologizing for UR errors is not in Schumi repertoire...some classic examples: he never appologized to Vellenuve when he deliberately tried to take him out in last race Vellenuve was GP Champion, never said he was wrong almost pushing Rubens into aconcrete wall....in short, he never owns up to his previously aggressive and now poor driving "skills"...time to say Bye-Bye.

Later, Ken