GP2 Forum

Well, congratulations to Vettel and Red Bull Racing are in order, I guess. Well done, at least a string of flawless performances from him right in these last races when everything was decided.

This was just another race to show how risky it is to go into the final race as the leader with a statistical attitude along the lines of "We only have to finish in n-th place, come on, we finished higher up last time, how hard can it be?"

Now, as I said before, I'm looking forward to a nice, cold winter with a bit of a break from racing. I've watched quite a bit this year, so there's a little burn-out right there...

I'm quite ambivalent about this.

I love that Alonso didn't win (whining, cheating idiot) and of course sad for Hamilton and Button, being British.

I am however totally devastated for Mark Webber. It's time people knew how good he is, and this may have been his one and only chance to seal the title. History may well forget his genius if he doesn't get another chance.

Vettel is a worthy champion, perhaps in 2011 or 2012, but I would actually argue that in 2010 he was a spoilt petulant child.

However at Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz and Helmut Marko are really to blame. Favouritism shouldn't be a part of F1 these days, especially when Webber was as strong as he was. I personally think that if Red Bull had got behind Webber then he would have been world champion. Of course, Red Bull don't care about that any more. Their golden boy is champion, and the only one in the whole team who's sad is Mark.

Christian Horner had to play peace maker all season long, but I think Webber was unfairly treated. Not surprised at all that he wasn't really part of the celebrations in Abu Dhabi yesterday night. He probably feels robbed by his own team.

Plus Vettel made too many mistakes this year, Belgium and Turkey being the big BIG errors, whilst Webber's only real mishap was Korea (I can't really blame him for Valencia). Vettel may be champion and he does deserve it, but it doesn't really reflect who was the real KING of 2010.

Echoing some of Jake's sentiments, I too am pleased that Alonso didn't win, and his attitude towards Vitaly Petrov at the end of the race cemented that view for me - it was frankly disgraceful and unworthy of a double world champion. However I think that even though Webber hasn't won the title, the world at large has sat up and taken notice of him and he'll still be a force to be reckoned with next season. You'd have to say that the fastest driver of the season has won - ten poles against an acknowledged qualifying ace is good going in anyone's book! But as Jake says, there has been petulance this season, but then again Vettel's still a kid really. How he goes next season will be the real acid test, especially if things aren't going well.

Speaking of next season, how good could that be? It's difficult to see Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari dropping the ball, and the Mercedes duo could be up there as well, with the money to actually develop next year's car this season (unlike last season when there weren't the resources to devote to the 2010 car), Rosberg looking very good and Schumacher improving towards the end of 2010 - could we see an eight-way fight in 2011?

Don't forget the unknown factor - Kubica.

Will he be driving a Renault or a Lotus Renault? and what will Lotus be called next year? Fernandes? Malaysia?

Greyhead wrote:Echoing some of Jake's sentiments, I too am pleased that Alonso didn't win, and his attitude towards Vitaly Petrov at the end of the race cemented that view for me - it was frankly disgraceful and unworthy of a double world champion.

That was one thing I kind of politely forgot to mention yesterday. And Petrov, from what one was able to see, for once drove a flawless race and brought home solid points from where that good strategy call during the safety car put him.

jakesanson wrote:...
I love that Alonso didn't win (whining, cheating idiot)
...

There had been times I really liked Alonso, but he has done some things that are not conform with the spirit of the sport. He is a hell of a driver and, in my oppinion, the most talented on the grid but he is a driver with a bad attitude and goes for dirty tricks. It is good that he has be punished for that, but I doubt he learned his leason.

jakesanson wrote:...
at Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz and Helmut Marko are really to blame. Favouritism shouldn't be a part of F1 these days, especially when Webber was as strong as he was
...

I agree with you, Webber was put down to Nr.2 Status too early and would have deserved the title because he delivered the most constant performance, like Button did the year before.

Niki Lauda said a good thing before the Silverstone GP, when Webber had to give his new Front Wing to Vettel after his was broken: "Red Bulls doesn`t give wings, Webber gives wings"

From that moment on it was clear that Vettel is the Nr.1 driver and the team is focused on him. If Vettel manages to become a more constant driver it will be hard for Webber next season to come in a similar position like he did this year. Vettel is a great talent and one of the fastest 3 drivers (these are ALO, VET and HAM in my oppinion)

jakesanson wrote:...and what will Lotus be called next year? Fernandes? Malaysia?

I think I`ve read something about F1Malaysia, but I`m not sure.

Greyhead wrote:...
It's difficult to see Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari dropping the ball, and the Mercedes duo could be up there as well, with the money to actually develop next year's car this season (unlike last season when there weren't the resources to devote to the 2010 car), Rosberg looking very good and Schumacher improving towards the end of 2010 - could we see an eight-way fight in 2011?

I really look forward to see the Mercedes in a better position next year. Schumacher has great skill in developing cars and if he gets a car suiting him well, I have no doubt that he can be equaly fast as Rosberg. If there would mid-season tests allowed Mercedes would have been on the podium more often this year, due this was the point where Ferrari ans MSC made the gap to win close seasons (or the rivals engine blew )

The new Lotus team is also on the rise, let`s see where they will be next season. Petrov has improved remarkably during the season and might be there again next season, allthough Kubica is the faster driver, no doubt.

I had considered Kubica but that relies on Renault or Lotus Renault or whatever they decide to call themselves making a pretty big leap forwards, that's unlikely even with the new regs but on occasion we should see him challenging. He's a top driver and given the right car he'd definitely be a force to be reckoned with. Personally I thought in 2008 he was the best driver across the whole season and if he'd had the right backup from BMW (who decided to stick to their plan of winning a race in '08 and the title in '09, which of course didn't happen) I reckon he would have taken the title.

MäxX wrote:There had been times I really liked Alonso, but he has done some things that are not conform with the spirit of the sport. He is a hell of a driver and, in my oppinion, the most talented on the grid but he is a driver with a bad attitude and goes for dirty tricks. It is good that he has be punished for that, but I doubt he learned his leason.

Very true, he's a real hypocrite. Wasn't it at Monza '06 he said that he didn't consider F1 to be a sport anymore after Massa "blocked" him? I agreed with him there, but now he appears to be guilty of it. There's NO WAY he didn't know about Singapore 2008, and as for Hockenheim that was outrageous. At least in Austria '02 it was just pointless as Schumacher was already leading by a country mile, but this was much much worse.

Greyhead wrote:I had considered Kubica but that relies on Renault or Lotus Renault or whatever they decide to call themselves making a pretty big leap forwards, that's unlikely even with the new regs but on occasion we should see him challenging. He's a top driver and given the right car he'd definitely be a force to be reckoned with. Personally I thought in 2008 he was the best driver across the whole season and if he'd had the right backup from BMW (who decided to stick to their plan of winning a race in '08 and the title in '09, which of course didn't happen) I reckon he would have taken the title.

Totally agree! Kubica was the worthy champion in 2008 as he made no mistakes whilst all the others even Lewis did.

But then I still believe Lewis was worthy champion in 2007, and if fuel regulations had been upheld in Brazil and if Rosberg and Heidfeld had actually been disqualified like they should have been, it would have been justice done.

But no, justice is something the FIA doesn't understand. Look at Adelaide 94. Spa 2008. Hockenheim 2007. Spygate 2007 (why weren't Ferrari punished as well?!?!). Monza 2006.

When will the FIA get a backbone and listen to the fans who actually care about the sportsmanship of our Formula 1?

Simple. Controversy = newsprint and TV ratings.

Sometimes the nature of motorsport seems like lottery when the race winner or the champion is decided

F1 have been in decline in past years for me, and the reasons mentioned in this thread sure have affected. At younger age I couldn't miss a race (I guess F1GP started it:), now I may just watch the results of the race. Perhaps F1 has become too big or values (or my values??) has changed?

That's becouse F1 focus is totally outside racing. It's all about money, conspiracy, team orders, expensive facilities for Bernies friends, drivers relationships, money again, etc, etc. But no one explains me why we must watch races in a stupid track like Yas Marina.

Anyway, I'm happy with Vettel's victory, becouse I hate Scuderia Ferrari and becouse Webber was just a guy capitalizing on someone elses mistakes.

I must confess I agree with rremedio.

Half F1's problems isn't the cars, it's the circuits.

WHY are we still racing around Catalunya? There has only ever been three exciting races there, 92, 96 and 97. And what about Interlagos, Hungaroring and Hockenheim?

WHY are we losing Spa, Silverstone, and even further back Zandvoort, Adelaide, Detroit and others for these glorified go-kart tracks like Sakhir, Yas Marina, Korea, and of course Valencia.

BRING ON SOME REAL CIRCUITS!! Bathurst? Le Mans? Laguna Seca?

jakesanson wrote:I must confess I agree with rremedio.

Half F1's problems isn't the cars, it's the circuits.

WHY are we still racing around Catalunya? There has only ever been three exciting races there, 92, 96 and 97. And what about Interlagos, Hungaroring and Hockenheim?

WHY are we losing Spa, Silverstone, and even further back Zandvoort, Adelaide, Detroit and others for these glorified go-kart tracks like Sakhir, Yas Marina, Korea, and of course Valencia.

BRING ON SOME REAL CIRCUITS!! Bathurst? Le Mans? Laguna Seca?

Im agree with you too For example in Champcar and Indycar still some old circuits are used Why not in F1 too

RacerBG wrote:

jakesanson wrote:I must confess I agree with rremedio.

Half F1's problems isn't the cars, it's the circuits.

WHY are we still racing around Catalunya? There has only ever been three exciting races there, 92, 96 and 97. And what about Interlagos, Hungaroring and Hockenheim?

WHY are we losing Spa, Silverstone, and even further back Zandvoort, Adelaide, Detroit and others for these glorified go-kart tracks like Sakhir, Yas Marina, Korea, and of course Valencia.

BRING ON SOME REAL CIRCUITS!! Bathurst? Le Mans? Laguna Seca?

Im agree with you too For example in Champcar and Indycar still some old circuits are used Why not in F1 too

Because Ecclestone is hungry for money! And the countrys in Asia are perfect for this! Remember: We have a great Track Buenos Aires, Imola etc.

I also miss the old tracks, now we only have a few "classics" left

It is always the money