159 replies to this topic

[freaky2]

If Alonso finishes in front of Vettel that in itself would be an achievement. Getting the needed 13 points difference would be something of a miracle (without an unlucky retirement). But, as Eric said, we can look forward to an exciting race.

[dribbler]

BradSpeedMan, on 23 November 2012 - 10:13 AM, said:

and we can deduce that Vettel has'nt?

I believe so, Brad, yes.

I'm not diminishing Seb's achievement at all. I think he deserves the title through a combination of enjoying a great car and drving it very well.

But he has led more than Fernando and in those situations has not had to be chasing, rather more controlling.

[BradSpeedMan]

dribbler, on 25 November 2012 - 07:53 AM, said:

I believe so, Brad, yes.

I'm not diminishing Seb's achievement at all. I think he deserves the title through a combination of enjoying a great car and drving it very well.

But he has led more than Fernando and in those situations has not had to be chasing, rather more controlling.

It's almost as if you did'nt watch the first half of the season when Vettel displayed real race craft and silenced those who said he couldn't...
Let's not forget he's the one that did eventually put himself in a position to capitalize on Alonso's "misfortunes", when he himself have suffered just that the first half of the season

Edited by BradSpeedMan, 25 November 2012 - 09:58 AM.

[JHS18]

And after all that, guess what the weather is today? Dry. They don't expect rain in the race.

****'s sake. Where's some wet weather when you want it?!

Think it'll be pretty easy for Seb now. Shame for the championship to end with a bit of an anti-climax though.

Where has the rain been this year? We've only had one wet race and that was all the way back in Malaysia. Disappointing.

[Rainmaster]

Well, it could still rain yet. But if it doesn't then Ferrari's task is difficult. Even more so if they have got some kind of wet setup on Alonso's car. That thing looked quite horrible to drive in the dry so that could make even the podium difficult in a completely dry race.

[BradSpeedMan]

For the first time I can remember I saw Vettel yesterday showing sign of edginess under pressure, or should I say certainly both the championship contenders are showings signs of it. As they say, it ain't over till it's over. This race is going to have me on the edge of my seat for the entire duration, come rain or shine

[BradSpeedMan]

Actually the nerves are already going, wonder if I should watch

[freaky2]

Sure you should, especially since you're probably the one who will enjoy it most!

On to the race!!

[Ikyrotz]

Crazy race!

[Ikyrotz]

Lotus needs to really work on their strategies... why on Earth did they bring Kimi in so early. By the time the rain started, I bet the tires were completely worn out already. Idiots.

[freaky2]

And it's the final countdown... Only four laps.

[freaky2]

freaky2, on 25 November 2012 - 05:42 PM, said:

And it's the final countdown... Only four laps.

I guess Di Resta disagrees XD

[Schumikonen]

jajajajajajaja Great end of the season and great race, now I am going to spend the rest of the day watching Alonso's fan pictures(at the pictures of you thread) and imagining how their faces are at this moment, I guess they are just the same as Alonso's jajajajajajaja.

Edited by Schumikonen, 25 November 2012 - 06:06 PM.

[brambilla]

Aright, that was disappointing. Race Starts, Vettel ends up facing the wrong way , and I go "YES !!!" (It was 3 AM on Monday morning here in Sydney , Australia, so my wife didnt take kindly to that), then I watch in disbelief as Vettel claws his way back up to where he needed to be. And to top it all off, an unmotivated Rosberg just goes through the paces, and in all honesty, as much as i dislike the other Deutsche-man, Schumacher has outperformed Rosberg this season. So, time to get in a power-nap , and off to work. Hopefully Alonso and Ferrari come back with some motivation, and Mercedes get their act together.

[Rainmaster]

Wow, I expected more posts here (you know, a forum war ).

All that I cay is congratulations to Sebastian Vettel, he's a good guy and he drove a fantastic season. Commiserations Fernando Alonso, he's a good guy and he drove a fantastic season.

[BradSpeedMan]

Where are the people, we should be celebrating!!! Come on guys, celebrate the success of our youngest triple champion!,

HEIL HEIL, THE 3 TIMES TRIPLE CHAMPION GERMAN WUNDERKIND,

[BradSpeedMan]

This was always going to be a difficult one (3times consecutive championship), the fourth one next year won't be. Believe me folks...

[freaky2]

That sounded like an official press release George

I guess this race was the tie-breaker of the season for me. Alonso couldn't really shine in the latter half and Ferrari's (necessary but non-appealing) shenanigans made me reconsider Vettel. After watching him this race (a really tough one for him and he did nothing wrong) I think he definitely deserved the title. And, as for Alonso, his car was a dog like so many times lately. Vettel didn't gain enough positions to cement the championship, but Alonso couldn't gain a single one either (except for Massa + retirements). So there we go, I hope next year there's better opposition

[The Shadow]

One hell of a roller coaster...

Finished with some symmetry, Button won in the first and last rounds. The race was one roller coaster of emotions, a fitting summary of the season. Congratulations Sebastian Vettel, 2012 Champion. Congratulations Fernando Alonso. He proved his pedigree and won over many detractors this season.

The sense of depression will creep in come the new season, realising that it's going to be a tough year to beat when we start again mid March 2013.

Epic, just epic!

[HandyNZL]

Rainmaster, on 25 November 2012 - 06:27 PM, said:

Wow, I expected more posts here (you know, a forum war ).

All that I cay is congratulations to Sebastian Vettel, he's a good guy and he drove a fantastic season. Commiserations Fernando Alonso, he's a good guy and he drove a fantastic season.

Alright then, I'll start a war.....(hehe)

War I:  Going back up the page and pre-race, Steve and Brad were discussing Vettel's "effort" as it were....well, for Mr Schumacher Fanboy Extraordinaire to say that Vettel wasn't really trying, benefited from the best car, blah de blah blah, what does that say about Schumacher?  Afterall, all he ever did was control a race from the front because he had the best car.

War II:  Vettel has performed yet again when needed.  For all those saying he was Sh#t in the wet, the boy was doing the fastest laps of the race, throughout the race, albeit punctuated by Hamilton and Hulkenberg now and again (and I think Button too)...I think the fact that he came from 24th and still got to where he needed to be, and with only one-way radio, he drove a very mature race, managed Kamui, and got the points.  And well done to him for playing the percentages, a-la Prost in a way.  I'm still tipping him for a 4th in a row next year.  Whilst Alonso did very well this year, Vettel did better, and as such, to me, surpasses Alonso as the best on the grid today.  Discuss....(hehe)

I think, as I did three years ago, that Nico Hulkenberg can (and will) challenge for the WDC one day (within three years I would guess).  Hopefully with Sauber he will be further up the grid on average than he was with Force India and as such can convert these in to points.  Then, get the 2nd seat with Red Bull in 2014 after Webber's retirement.

[BradSpeedMan]

Even his teammate who didnt want to help him is singing his praises...http://www.totalf1.com/full_story/view/437257/Webber_Vettels_third_title_very_special/

[HandyNZL]

Alonso might now enter the record books as being the guy with the most opportunities for a world title and not converting them....there was that year in a McLaren, then that year at Ferrari, and now this year too...he's two from five...


(boil, boil, toil, and trouble...)

[Massa]

What a great, great race.  So much strategy and drama.  Hülkenberg and Hamilton going for the lead like that and giving Alonso just something of a chance...that start from Massa and the subsequent Vettel spin followed by an incredible effort to get back into the points...that battle of Räikkönen and Schumacher...Red Bull biting first on fresh slicks only to need inters...Hamilton and Button exchanging the lead...Webber not really playing too nice with his teammate...Alonso down the inside of Massa and Webber...just so much.

I'm very glad for Vettel and Red Bull.  They made an amazing comeback against some rules interpretations that had set them back a bit.

It was nice to see him and Schumacher at the end there celebrating.  I wonder if one day Vettel will be in that position, retiring as the statistical greatest of all time.  If not that, he is already a legend, and like Schumacher, he's cemented his team's status with his own.

Alonso and Ferrari fought, and the progress the latter made, though never enough, is still evident in how far Massa has come from the beginning in Melbourne; undoubtedly, this car would have more aptly been named F-150 than the last.  Alonso loses with grace.  No what ifs.  Just the end result, a reverse of 2006 but the same in a way, when you wished to award the title to both drivers.

A new era for Hamilton and for McLaren.  Button wouldn't answer Piquet's question, but I suspect he's thought about it.  I don't count him out of 2013.

On a final note, it was the last Grand Prix to be aired on SPEED, the home of Formula One in the U.S. since I started watching and years before that.  Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, and Steve Matchett were joined by the original SpeedVision commentator (and former Formula 5000 racer, as well as an authority on model trains) Sam Posey, who has narrated the intros of Grands Prix as a way to stay connected to the sport he loves despite his unfortunate health problems.  It was nice to hear from Sam.  Pit reporter Will Buxton didn't hold back the tears; Varsha barely managed.  It's going to be hard to watch F1 without this team together.  It's hard to describe just how much of an experience watching Grand Prix racing in America is, at all sorts of hours, with three guys who you almost think of as your friends in coverage, as Bob Varsha would say, "that's always subject to blackout, much like David Hobbs."

They showed a montage at the very end of F1 on SPEED and SpeedVision, which was great, and emotional once it caught up to the time I started watching.  Lots of great moments; I think we're all so lucky to be part of this era of F1.  It's just so exciting, and incredible how a silly little sport becomes so much more.  Sam Posey ended with a question, "it's been a fun ride, wouldn't you say?"

Yes, definitely, this year included.  Six constructors winning a race?  Awesome.  You could call Brazil, Abu Dhabi, Valencia, Montréal, Silverstone, Malaysia, and others modern classics.  An improbable fight from Ferrari and a deserving victor.  What more do you need?

I look forward to 2013, when the start of the footage NBC will include in its montage when that time comes happens live...

[Massa]

HandyNZL, on 25 November 2012 - 06:50 PM, said:

Alonso might now enter the record books as being the guy with the most opportunities for a world title and not converting them....there was that year in a McLaren, then that year at Ferrari, and now this year too...he's two from five...


(boil, boil, toil, and trouble...)

They actually mentioned on our broadcast that Alonso has lost more championships in the final race than any other driver.

Another guy two from five?

Jenson Button, in winning Grands Prix ended behind safety cars.

[HandyNZL]

Massa, on 25 November 2012 - 06:50 PM, said:

What a great, great race.  So much strategy and drama.  Hülkenberg and Hamilton going for the lead like that and giving Alonso just something of a chance...that start from Massa and the subsequent Vettel spin followed by an incredible effort to get back into the points...that battle of Räikkönen and Schumacher...Red Bull biting first on fresh slicks only to need inters...Hamilton and Button exchanging the lead...Webber not really playing too nice with his teammate...Alonso down the inside of Massa and Webber...just so much.

I'm very glad for Vettel and Red Bull.  They made an amazing comeback against some rules interpretations that had set them back a bit.

It was nice to see him and Schumacher at the end there celebrating.  I wonder if one day Vettel will be in that position, retiring as the statistical greatest of all time.  If not that, he is already a legend, and like Schumacher, he's cemented his team's status with his own.

Alonso and Ferrari fought, and the progress the latter made, though never enough, is still evident in how far Massa has come from the beginning in Melbourne; undoubtedly, this car would have more aptly been named F-150 than the last.  Alonso loses with grace.  No what ifs.  Just the end result, a reverse of 2006 but the same in a way, when you wished to award the title to both drivers.

A new era for Hamilton and for McLaren.  Button wouldn't answer Piquet's question, but I suspect he's thought about it.  I don't count him out of 2013.

On a final note, it was the last Grand Prix to be aired on SPEED, the home of Formula One in the U.S. since I started watching and years before that.  Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, and Steve Matchett were joined by the original SpeedVision commentator (and former Formula 5000 racer, as well as an authority on model trains) Sam Posey, who has narrated the intros of Grands Prix as a way to stay connected to the sport he loves despite his unfortunate health problems.  It was nice to hear from Sam.  Pit reporter Will Buxton didn't hold back the tears; Varsha barely managed.  It's going to be hard to watch F1 without this team together.  It's hard to describe just how much of an experience watching Grand Prix racing in America is, at all sorts of hours, with three guys who you almost think of as your friends in coverage, as Bob Varsha would say, "that's always subject to blackout, much like David Hobbs."

They showed a montage at the very end of F1 on SPEED and SpeedVision, which was great, and emotional once it caught up to the time I started watching.  Lots of great moments; I think we're all so lucky to be part of this era of F1.  It's just so exciting, and incredible how a silly little sport becomes so much more.  Sam Posey ended with a question, "it's been a fun ride, wouldn't you say?"

Yes, definitely, this year included.  Six constructors winning a race?  Awesome.  You could call Brazil, Abu Dhabi, Valencia, Montréal, Silverstone, Malaysia, and others modern classics.  An improbable fight from Ferrari and a deserving victor.  What more do you need?

I look forward to 2013, when the start of the footage NBC will include in its montage when that time comes happens live...

Well said, Eric.  It has been a great season, with arguably the two best drivers out there racing for the championship to the final flag.  Alonso has handled the whole year with grace, and I think even matured even more than he was two years back when he was whining into the radio every second race.

What was Piquet saying to Button?  I couldn't work out the question, and I think neither could Button, so he just said what he wanted to say.  Button is a consummate professional, and gave the team a little fillip there.  Good on him.

[Massa]

Piquet asked if Button was glad Hamilton was out of the way.  If he understood, I knew he wouldn't touch it.  I think McLaren can move forward pretty well next year, personally.

[BradSpeedMan]

Schumikonen, on 25 November 2012 - 06:05 PM, said:

jajajajajajaja Great end of the season and great race, now I am going to spend the rest of the day watching Alonso's fan pictures(at the pictures of you thread) and imagining how their faces are at this moment, I guess they are just the same as Alonso's jajajajajajaja.

Good to see u again....let's celebrate in Alonso misfortune hehehehehehehehehehe

[BradSpeedMan]

Massa, on 25 November 2012 - 07:04 PM, said:

Piquet asked if Button was glad Hamilton was out of the way.  If he understood, I knew he wouldn't touch it.  I think McLaren can move forward pretty well next year, personally.

I very much doubt it Eric, Mclaren have to come up with a bullet for Button to win it

[freaky2]

Bullets for the contenders, or...?

[Ikyrotz]

I think Vettel showed today why he deserved this WDC. Almost everything was going against him, and he still managed to take the position needed. The race itself, while entertaining and keeping you on the edge of the seat for the entire time, was a bit of a lottery, since no one seemed to know just how the weather would turn out. Take interns a couple of laps too soon and destroy them, or take them a bit too late and loose time with slicks. Of course that's how it often is with races in rain.