[Round 4] Spain

[MaxX]

One of the most intresting things here, might be if Super Aguri can continue their F1 presence.

For the race itself I hope Mclaren has made some improvements and we get a real close race between place 1 and 6

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Well, pretty much all the teams should be very much prepared for this one. I don't expect any "miracles" though.

[Petrus]

We might see a wet race. At least what the forecast is. That might help some people.

[Greyhead]

Fingers crossed for Super Aguri.

[HF]

We might see a wet race. At least what the forecast is. That might help some people.

Well, a wet race in Spain would be cool

[Greyhead]

When was the last time we had a wet race at Barcelona? Was it 1996 when Schumacher destroyed everyone? I always remember the one in 1991 (also a wet race, it was held near the end of the season then) when Mansell passed Senna on the pit straight with a gap about the width of a Rizla between them. But back then the circuit was new and the teams hadn't all tested incessantly there yet. Unless it rains the closest we'll get to overtaking is when everyone passes Massa as he spins off...

[MaxX]

Yes, the 1991er Barcelona race was truly a stunning one (http://youtube.com/watch?v=fPybk9Fj-hg), a wet race this year would be nice IMHO =D>

[HF]

Well, qualy is over and thats my view on it:

Ferrari did a quit well job. Both runners in teh first two lines; what could be better? Allonso will start with very less fuel onboard. I think he'll give his crew a run in lap 12 or 13. Kubica made the thing he had to do: get forth in qualy. Then there are the 2 McLarens. Compared with the times they drove in Q1 und Q2 I think they are filled up with the most fuel in lines 1 to 5. Webber suprised me. He gets better and better with every qualy he drives. Trulli beaten his teammate another tim. Is it a german problem or his he born to rule his mates? Heidfelds poition is disappointing. Read that he had electric problems... Do you know more about? And then at least Piquet. He did the first time a quite well job. His runs were perfect.

Let us have a quite well race like the qualy was!

And don't forget: Take part in the WebTip!

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Well, that was once again a nice qualifying. It looks like all the top teams have made some developments, they still seem balanced out not unlike the last races. I think it's pretty obvious that Alonso's second place should have something to do with his fuel load, on the other hand Renault does seem to have made a significant step forward, demonstrated by both his and Piquet's pace in the other sessions as well.

Apparently McLaren still has some work to do, even if everybody stayed on track this qualifying (;-)) and they're probably rather on the heavier side of the grid for tomorrow. But Ferrari seems ahead under normal conditions...

How are things looking with rain potential for tomorrow?

[Greyhead]

That was a nasty looking accident that befell Kovaleinen. Hopefully he'll be ok. Dunno if anyone else spotted this, but on British TV the commentators pointed out that you could see straight through the monocoque when the tractor picked the car up, there was a big hole in it. That's pretty unusual with the cars being as strong as they are so it shows the car must have hit the tyres with some considerable force.

[HF]

That was a nasty looking accident that befell Kovaleinen. Hopefully he'll be ok. Dunno if anyone else spotted this, but on British TV the commentators pointed out that you could see straight through the monocoque when the tractor picked the car up, there was a big hole in it. That's pretty unusual with the cars being as strong as they are so it shows the car must have hit the tyres with some considerable force.

Yeah, i saw it too. But at the end the German people said that he said that his elbow aches and one of his legs. When I recognized that his car was under the tyrewall I was really shocket. I remembered Schumacher in Silverstone and Senna. Dunno the reason why. I thought his neck would be brocken or something. But it doesn't seem. I'm really glad for his thumb.

The race itself was not so good. Very boring with the two Ferraris there. It's a real pity for Rosberg and Alonso how thier race ended. I supposed Alonso on the podium...

A other thing: do you know were Alonso was born? He wore his sunglasses when the national anthem of Spain was played.

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Actually, Kovalainen's crash reminded me of Hamilton's exit last year at Nürburgring qualifying. The problematic factor here in my opinion was that the car apparently went under/into the tyre barrier, instead of the impact basically being absorbed by the tyres and the "coating" in front of them. As far as I understand this protection around the tyre barriers, that's the one thing that should be prevented by these, so I'm sure it will be important for "them" (Charlie Whiting et al. ) to review why this didn't seem to have been working here.

Of course, it's good news if there are no serious injures for Kovalainen. Mercedes' Norbert Haug was very careful in the TV interviews not wanting to say anything definite before they got a full report from the hospital where he's being checked out, but if everything is resolved, it's another demonstration of how "relatively safe" things are in F1 these days.

Otherwise, it wasn't a very interesting race from my point of view, either. It was a cool victory for Ferrari, and the two safety car phases during the race problably made the gap between them, Hamilton and Kubica seem smaller than it could have been.

Good show from Alonso and Renault in front of his home audience though, even if they would probably not have finished on the podium either way. At least they didn't completely show off and stopped after five laps, like it first seemed like they might after yesterday.

[V12-Power]

What a boring race!!

The LMS race was over 1000kms and till the end everything was unbelieveable close! In the last lap the Pescarolo on P4 overtook the Creation on P3 for example. Nothing against F1, but that's real racing. I hope with the new rules in 2009 we'll see motorsport again!

[Greyhead]

The LMS race had a big accident as well, Stephane Ortelli rolled his car spectacularly and broke his ankle!

[TdK]

do you know were Alonso was born? He wore his sunglasses when the national anthem of Spain was played.

He is born in Oviedo, north-west of Spain. But Oviedo lays in the Catalonic (Catalunya) state. Most Catalonic people see Catalunya as a seperate country, which it isn't, and "hate" to be called 'Spanish'. Maybe Alonso does to