2009 Spanish Grand Prix

[livemusic]

What a crash at the start!

 

[LancerEvo7]

Barrichello got past Button. Trulli spun, collected both Force Indias and Toro Rossos. Kimi's up to 10th.

EDIT: Tree'd both ways.

 

[nosturbo]

Ahh, Alonso pushed Rosberg out wide which brought him into Trulli's path.

Dunno what the heck happened with the Toro Rosso's though...

 

[Bram Turismo]

Ahh, Alonso pushed Rosberg out wide which brought him into Trulli's path.

Dunno what the heck happened with the Toro Rosso's though...

I think one of them tried to avoid Trulli, but that sent him right into his teammate's path. Too bad for Toro Rosso. Things are looking good for Kimi though, I wonder how his fuel load will work out for him.

If Rubens would only manage to finally clinch a win now...

 

[nosturbo]

Hopefully Rubens can put the hammer down and pull away, its gonna be awesome if he can take the win here.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Dammit, I didn't realise it had started and strayed in here. Hopefull HARPER'S ISLAND will be over soon ...

 

[SagarisGTB]

Oh dear, Rubens has to make one more stop than Button. Hes screwed.

 

[superwally]

I was hoping to see a race, not wait around for 90 minutes to see who's fuel strategy will pay off. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I suppose I'm just grumpy because both Toro Rosso's are out, although I can't say either one was really at fault. Bourdais had just pinned the throttle to follow Piquet around the mess to the right, and at the last moment Buemi moved back to the right in front of him. I'm sure they will be blaming Bourdais.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Oh my god, Ferrari are such idiots. What the heck are they thinking?

 

[Peter]

Congrats to Brawn and Red Bull, ferrari messed up Massa's race again by not giving him enough fuel and Raikkonen out from problems again. That race was pretty exiting, right?

 

[Touring Mars]

@ Webber...

Felipe did what?

 

[Bram Turismo]

That race was pretty exiting, right?

It was boring.

 

[daan]

Congrats to Brawn and Red Bull, ferrari messed up Massa's race again by not giving him enough fuel and Raikkonen out from problems again. That race was pretty exiting, right?

No spoilers in the thread title please. I've removed it for you.

 

[Peter]

That part was actually in it before the race. I changed it last night.

 

[daan]

That part was actually in it before the race. I changed it last night.

I didn't notice it being there during the race. My comment still stands. There should be no indication of anything other than the name of the race in the thread title

 

[Tired Tyres]

Well the new rules have failed the acid test. Ironically it was KERS that prevented overtaking rather than promoting it as KERS was the only way Massa could stay ahead of Vettel until the fuel issue and the only reason Hamilton was able to stay ahead of Glock.

One of Massa's wheel covers flew off before the first stop and if one of those things flies into the crowd it would be bad. Those things have to be banned now on safety grounds.

Great result for Button. I thought Rubens was very unlucky. I thought he'd won it with his start.

Very good result for Webber. It was surprising to see how much slower the cars were going on the hard tyres.

Toyota seen to have gone backwards this race and Ferrari are still their own worst enemy.

Monaco will inevitably be better since seeing to cars so close to the barriers is always exciting.

 

[superwally]

They should just start the race, run for 2 laps to sort the field, and then do some fuel calculations to decide the winner when they race at this track, and quite a few others.

F1 race strategy is no more exiting than NASCAR race strategy to watch, but at least with oval racing the cars are somewhere near each other and faster cars can actually pass the slower ones. Last night's Darlington race was far more interesting and involved more 'strategy' than today's F1 parade even with 400 caution flags.

I congratulate the Brawn and the other teams who found a loophole in the Regs and created a fantastic design. The problem is that the new regs were implemented to give the cars a smaller aero "footprint" and allow for closer racing. With the superdiffuser, we are essentially back to where we started and the whole point of the change in regs has been circumvented. It's added a lot of excitement as the teams at the top have changed, but the racing itself at this point is starting to suffer.

 

[Alltidxx]

Anyway, while were on the subject of Ferrari, I realise people will roll their eyes yet again (I did before reading it ), but some interesting observations on Alonso and Ferrari:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/f1mole/2009/05/alonso-a-banker-for-ferrari-mo.html

Kimi has always had a grumpy stubborness about him and suddenly that is conveniently perceived of as an indication of not being motivated. I think it's rubbish. Massa and Räikkönen are both fabulous drivers and Kimi is contracted for 2010. Speculating about 2011 is fine but it really is getting very tiring to hear over and over again that Alonso will kick Kimi out. Wishful thinking is all it is.

 

[Sureboss]

Why are people expecting a good race at Barcelona?

Alonso and Webber was epic, not much else.

 

[C-ZETA]

Well, yet another Button win...if this is what happens for the majority of the season, this season will just be another boring lagger...although we haven't had that since 2004 (where Schuey just simply excelled over everyone).

Bring on Monaco! (which just happens to be 2 days after my b-day )

 

[Sureboss]

@ Webber...

Felipe did what?

I missed what he said completely, I heard him say Felipe...then he pointed to the camera. Do tell!

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Why are people expecting a good race at Barcelona?

I was wondering the same thing. To me, any race that Button and Brawn win is a good race - and doubly so if they pick up a one-two - but it is Catalunya, Formula One's equivalent of the Macy's parade. I was a little disappointed to see that Massa couldn't hold Vettel off because it's nice to see a team reap rewards for hard work, and also because it would mean Button's lead over the German would have been bigger. It's a shame Buemi was out so early; his results may have been a product luck moreso than usual, but he's out-performing Bourdais and I certainly think he's worth keeping an eye on. He's very much the spearhead of Toro Rosso' campaign.

But the thing I'm most curious about was what was going through Button and Hamilton's heads when the former lapped the latter.

 

[homeforsummer]

Good result, dull race. Nicely summed up in four words! Good to see Webber actually having a race where he avoided bad luck, for once.

I don't think any amount of technical regulations will ever make the Spanish GP an interesting race though. I'm sure it's a good circuit to drive on but with that many long, flowing corners and only very short straights before the tighter ones (first corner excepted) you simply aren't giving people enough areas in which to overtake. And that chicane section before the last corner is a waste of space, neither significantly slowing speeds along the straight, nor offering anywhere to pass on the way into it.

 

[DaddyVDUB]

Exactly, the course is set for qualafying. For example in F1CE Tourny I was in at Spain I was lucky enough to Qualify 3rd for race. When race started 2nd place bobbled a bit at start so I jumped into 2nd on first lap and just ran race without going offtrack or any mistakes and finished 2nd. The track is just not made for passing or close racing.

 

[C-ZETA]

Good to see Webber actually having a race where he avoided bad luck, for once.

That happened in China though. Of course, he managed a 1-2 with Vettel there.

 

[Peter]

If ferrari gave Massa more fuel, he would be in 4th rather than 6th. Another bad move by the guys in red.

 

[daan]

I missed what he said completely, I heard him say Felipe...then he pointed to the camera. Do tell!

That's the thing. We can't tell.

But it rhymes with "ducked up"

 

[Ardius]

They should just start the race, run for 2 laps to sort the field, and then do some fuel calculations to decide the winner when they race at this track, and quite a few others.

F1 race strategy is no more exiting than NASCAR race strategy to watch, but at least with oval racing the cars are somewhere near each other and faster cars can actually pass the slower ones. Last night's Darlington race was far more interesting and involved more 'strategy' than today's F1 parade even with 400 caution flags.

I congratulate the Brawn and the other teams who found a loophole in the Regs and created a fantastic design. The problem is that the new regs were implemented to give the cars a smaller aero "footprint" and allow for closer racing. With the superdiffuser, we are essentially back to where we started and the whole point of the change in regs has been circumvented. It's added a lot of excitement as the teams at the top have changed, but the racing itself at this point is starting to suffer.

Blah blah blah, if you're going to criticise F1, at least pick a Grand Prix thats considered the "best"....not the one generally considered the worst.

And not one person has been able to prove that the Brawn diffuser is ruining the regulations - but it doesn't matter anyway, as I think Martin Brundle was saying, the regulations just made it easier to catch up, but not necessarily overtake.
Catching up is only half the battle, and at a circuit like Catalunya it means nothing.
There was only one part of that race where another car could have slipstreamed a Brawn and that was Webber at the end of the race, but like I say, catching up doesn't automatically mean you can overtake.

I really should have placed down some bets on Button.....as each time I think in my head "Button will probably win...but nah, someone will get their chance, like Rubens" but once again Jenson did it. Brilliant drive from Jenson, though still good (but not good enough) from Rubens.

Great drives from Webber, Alonso, Hamilton and Massa as well. Rosberg had a solid race too but nothing special. Vettel being the unlucky driver who drove great but couldn't make any impressions thanks to Felipe (baby).

Felt sorry for Massa, Ferrari refuelling rigs playing up and Raikkonen's engine going, seems Ferrari will never be perfect this season......great!

 

[daan]

Yeah, 'cos there was loads of overtaking between the cars that didn't have the diffusers, wasn't there?

 

[Stevisiov]

I was wondering the same thing. To me, any race that Button and Brawn win is a good race

It's quickly becoming a case of any brawn 1-2 is a bad race for me, apart from my fantasy f1 team.

If ferrari gave Massa more fuel, he would be in 4th rather than 6th. Another bad move by the guys in red.

Well its there Rig that didn't work as expected, so its not really there fault they he wasn't fuelled correctly as far as I can tell. Ferrari's main mistake was not making Massa give up his place earlier to save fuel, he would have only lost the one place there.

Its frustrating for me as a Red Bull fan, for two races Seb was the quickest out there but has been held up by a KERS car. Button's driven faultlessly so far, but luck has played its part to help give him an even bigger lead. I still think we are in for an exciting end to the season. Plenty of time for Red Bull and indeed other teams to claw it back. The good news for Brawn is that other teams are going to be tripping each other up to get to Brawn.