2012 European Grand Prix
- Thread starter Matty
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- Shrewsbury
- pezzarinho17
Apparently alternator issues the same as with Grosjean.
On that, did anyone else notice the onboard of Grosjean showing that after he lost drive he got on the KERS button? Wasn't sure if this was a clever way to put some drive to the rear wheels past the engine and gearbox (not sure how drive is reapplied) or protocol.
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This may be the reason why neither Hamilton nor Raikkonen was punished for passing under yellow flags. Race control would have seen the third sector as being under double-waved yellows, but it appears that no flags were shown - and then everyone arrived on the scene of Vettel's retirement at race speed. The only reason why that would happen is if there were no yellow flags present.
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I see that Seb bias creeping through again astros
He basically did his usual trick of leading lights to flag, only without the flag bit. Was Alonso's drive through from 11th - or Webber's from 19th - not more impressive than just sitting out front all race?
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- lipming
I see that Seb bias creeping through again astros
Their pace wasn't mind blowing. Those running faster than Alonso either broke down or crashed into someone/got crashed into. The safety car helped them out a lot too. Webber probably would been in the top ten of qualifying if his DRS had worked.
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PeterJB
And that's the thing, Alonso doesn't crash. He's the talent and mental will of Senna with the tactical brilliance and conditional forbearance of a Prost, and just as full of himself as both of them put together. But when you have the skills to pay the bills, you can act like that.
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You make it sound like all his place gains were fluke. He passed a lot of people - just watching the race made that clear. It's worth remembering he was already in second by the time Seb retired, so he'd already done most of the work.
Alonso made three places off the grid, passed Maldonado (cleanly, natch), jumped Raikkonen in the pits and then passed - on the circuit - three more drivers (Webber, Senna and Schumacher). He passed Lewis after Hamilton had his pit troubles. Then Vettel after the safety car period when his car went pop.
I make that seven places gained on track, two in the pits and only one due to someone else's misfortune...
Judging by the rumours that Seb was on a three-stop strategy, his race was looking marginal even before his bad luck. Even more so after the safety car.
Was interesting to see Vettel back to his old ways in terms of pace, but I'd certainly not say he was driver of the day.
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- pezzarinho17
Grosjean at the restart makes that 8. Was very impressive indeed, but my feeling is that going out in Q2 helped as he had fresher tyres in the race, allowing him to push harder for longer. Safety car then also bunched the pack up nicely for him, but you need to make the best of such luck, and when it plays out you have to be in the position to pounce which he was.
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- GTP_Anghammarad
Alonso passed Grosjean at the restart as well.
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Thanks, I thought I must have been missing someone!
- 42
- Coral Springs
- ProtoApocalpse
Redbul still has the fastest car but for only a few laps. Vettel is able to pull away quickly but then again gets caught up with tire wearing quickly than the rest of the field. Lotus has a better tire wear so does mclaren. Ferrari has a better race pace and with Fernando behind wheel and the pit stops working 100%, its had to beat this amazing combo that is Fernando/ Ferrari
Dotini
(Banned)
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- CR80_Shifty
Vettel is the same old Vettel. But his RB8 is almost an entirely new car in the rear suspension, sidepods, exhaust, floor, etc. He was 20 seconds up the road then all his top opponents had to pit. He might have won by a minute. I'm sure he was on a 2 stop strategy. Webber the journeyman went from 19th to 4th with ease and aplomb.
I believe all the others are currently very worried Red Bull has them very well covered in terms of pace for the next any number of races. The ugly possibility of a Vettel steamroller now looms!
Respectfully,
Steve
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niky
👍 👍 👍
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It depends.
I don't doubt that Vettel's pace has been there all year, just masked when he's had a sub-par qualifying and not been able to capitalise out front. Even the most ardent Vettel fan has to admit that he's much better with a clear track ahead of him than he is when he has to fight through the field, and much of this year his qualifying position has meant he's had to fight through the field. Thus, we've not seen 2011 Vettel.
Valencia was different, and we definitely saw 2011 Vettel.
However, I'm not so sure that 2011 Vettel is going to make regular appearances from now on. It's rather unprecedented, but there are simply far too many equally competitive packages this year. And I still think we'll see that 8th, 9th and maybe even 10th different winner before the year is out.
And if he continues as he has been doing, I think it'll be Alonso on the top at the end.
Not that I'm discounting Vettel entirely, as that'd be foolish...
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- gorsad
- gorsadamad
They could be hampered by reliability issues like in 2010. But that doesn't seem too likely, considering this is their first actual retirement this season where something was wrong with the car.
But on the bright side, this was the first race they looked to be running away with it. The previous races didn't involve Vettel on cruise control so I expect the action to resume when we hit Silverstone.
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- ProtoApocalpse
What was the cause of his dnf again? Could the new parts be overheating due to the new parts? I heard it happened to Lotus car as well, Grojean
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- Bye_Ya
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- GTP_ghskilla
Give it up Horner. We know your secret.
