Brasilian GP 2003

[freakray]

Originally posted by crayzayjay

There were fears over safety following the tyre rule, and what goes and happens... these fears are ignored. Alonso's hurt, and no matter how bad it turns out to be, the guy's hurt cos a fool in a suit wanted to introduce as many new rules as possible to "spice things up"

How true.....we all knew the tyre fears before the start of todays race.
The stupid tyre rules saw 7 cars parked on the same corner because there was too much water and not enough tyre to deal with it.

In the interest of safety, they need to realistically review the tyre rules, amongst other things.

[ales]

I just watched a replay of MS's spin. Clearly, he hits the stream of water, the car aquaplanes and immediately swaps ends. He was a passenger. I'm sure the same happened to Montoya (I'm yet to see the actual accident), as well as the rest.

What is also sad to see is the FIA seem to assume the "you made the bed, you have to lay in it" position. Yes, it was the teams that voted on the 1 wet tyre compound, and a stupid decision in every way, and concernes were raised immediately after the announcement of this rule. But still this is no reason to refuse to change it. So much has been done to improve safety (the controversy with HANS, waiting tofind out how Alonso is doing and whether HANS had something to do with him being hurt/not being hurt more seriously), so this horn-locking attitude will lead F1 into crisis. I can definitely see drivers refusing to race in such conditions on inadequate tyres.

[crayzayjay]

Originally posted by ales
I can definitely see drivers refusing to race in such conditions on inadequate tyres.

I couldnt agree more. When Webber was interviewed on the grid before the race started he was clearly edgy, and looked like he really didnt want to be there, which is extremely rare for a race driver... seeing drivers like that makes them seem more "mortal", if you know what i mean, and i was thinking that if i were in his shoes i would seriously be scared about the prospect of racing a 900bhp, half-ton car on the wrong tyres over a flooded circuit... Webber crashed at some 150mph or so... whats left to say

[freakray]

Originally posted by ales
I can definitely see drivers refusing to race in such conditions on inadequate tyres.

I don't blame them if they do, but I can also see the FIA(aka Max) slapping fines on those same drivers with fines for 'bringing the sport into disrepute'.

[Veyron]

I think they should use the tyres off the pace car, it was doing great! And Jag could use the engine, it makes more power than the Ford!

Seriously, I can't really add anything to what you guys have said, it's a sad, pathetic stiuation.

[ales]

from f1-live

Renault driver Fernando Alonso escaped his horror crash at Interlagos on Sunday with just a sore ankle, the Spaniard managing to exit his shattered R23 unaided after the accident that cause the Brazilian GP to be red flagged.

Thankfully it appears as if Fernando won't be forced to sit out round four at Imola in two weeks time, a spokesperson for the team confirming that after numerous x-rays their driver is suffering bruising the leg and ankle.

“He's fine, absolutely fine,” the team confirmed.“But he's suffered some bruising to his leg, especially his ankle. He's had some X-rays at the hospital and they have come out fine."

After three races, Fernando has finished the last two in third place and is currently in third place in the drivers standings.

[RallyRaider]

Well, the amazing start to the year continues. For the third race in sucession the wrong McLaren driver won and Schumacher broke his car.

Plenty of luck to be had.

Good luck to Raikkonen, receiving a free upgrade on third place to first ; the Bridgestone runners who managed to keep it on the track and lived to reap the rewards when their tyres entered 'the zone' :sun:; Fisichella, Alonso and Webber for taking points with shunted and burning cars :shocked:; Fisichella again for narrowly avoiding an early exit courtesy of Firman's front end failure ; Alonso for having his team fit the wrong tyres, a drive through penalty, destroyong his car, yet still collecting third place :toothless; and most of all Schumacher Snr who didn't have to watch his team mate move ahead of him in the championship (did Todt hit the panic button?) :angel:

Bad luck for Barrichello, who had done all the groundwork for a home win before his (long lifed component?) car let him down again ; Coulthard, who was one again deprived of a win due to an unfortunately timed pit stop ; Button, Alonso, Webber and the rest for their huge shunts :o; Panis, minding his own business only to be Liberachied by a ballistic Firman ; Fisichella for listening to his ill-informed team before having his hopes dashed ; and the half dozen or so drivers who fell victim to the Interlogos planners who thought the track was a good a spot as any to exit a dranage pipe :huh:

The McLaren domination has been a plesant surprise to the start on the season. Unfortunately it probably has slightly less than two weeks to run - what are the odds on a Ferrari GA one two at Imola?

[nornicle]

Watching them take on turn 3.

cringing as my favourites (Shumacher and Barichello) both go out...

watching my own national hero Webber crash.. and then watching in disbelief as Alonso smacks Trulli's (?) smash....

i havent been this excited since... since.. SEPANG..

I think they finally got some excitement back into F1

HOWEVER its stupid having a 1 choice wet tyre rule.

[Raging Bull]

Truely fantastic race yet again. coincidence that new rules come along and first three races of season are very exciting?? dont think so, these rules are workin and the 3 races are evidence of that.

DC very unlucky, knew kimi would run well. but poor rubens, really felt for the guy when he pulled over. Schumacher snr?? well, can he handle the pressure? or can he face not winning?? Season is looking good and cant wait for next race.

[freakray]

Originally posted by nornicle


watching my own national hero Webber crash.. and then watching in disbelief as Alonso smacks Trulli's (?) smash....

Alonso hit debris from Webber's crash......

[crayzayjay]

Originally posted by Raging Bull
Tr. Schumacher snr?? well, can he handle the pressure? or can he face not winning?? Season is looking good and cant wait for next race.

If youre implying Schumacher Sr couldnt handle the pressure in Brazil, your comment doesn’t really stand up. (If you werent, apologies in advance). Schumacher aquaplaned off on the shallow-grooved Bridgestones. It could have happened to anyone. In fact, it happened to him, Montoya, Pizzonia, Button (ouch*), and Webber. Im sure theres a couple more… Schumi was very quick before he went off, and we found out why he started the race as low down as 7th; its because he had a wet-weather setup on his car which didn’t remotely help his qualifying pace, and still only 3 tenths off Rubens, whose car was on rails. Michael’s strategy would have paid off if other drivers hadn’t been allowed to work on their cars before the race due to the extreme weather conditions. Not that it mattered, seeing as he was on the pace before skating off the track… shame.. it was looking good for him.

As for the excitement, the Brazilian GP did nothing for me. Sure there were heart stopping moments with crashes and what have you, even some nice overtaking manoeuvres (kudos to Kimi & Ralf with the outside overtaking), but what we were watching wasn’t F1. It was a mix of BTCC and Demolition Derby. F1 shouldnt have so many outside factors that determine who wins. The most deserving driver, i.e. the fastest guy over a weekend should win. That's what F1 is. Not this charade we've witnessed for the first three races. The new rules suck. All of 'em. And the one that didnt (no TC) has been put off for a season... quelle blague

[ales]

A couple of pages up you'll see my list of who spun (and either rejoined or not) at turn 3. I totally blame the track design for this.

[ales]

And yes, forgot to mention. I'm quite puzzled by the obvious negligence of the rules (by the FIA) when they allowed to work on cars and even change the engine without applying the penalties. very weird. Not that it mattered much in the long run, but fair it was not.

[crayzayjay]

It was because of the extreme circumstances that they let teams change their cars to wet-weather spec. It was for their safety but messed up people who had qualified with wet weather setups. You cant really argue with that happening, but you sure as hell can argue with the crappy rules existing in the first place.

[Guido]

Oh well, finally I'm on the net again. After much ADSL installation troubles, everything seems to be fine now.

Anyway, interesting reading on these pages. Strangely enough on this forum a lot of debating has been going on whereas on other places a more "acceptive mood" was visible. No matter how hard we all complain here, it's not going to change the rules or the outcome of a race. At the end of the day, it's the result that has been declared official that counts. And this race, Kimi was driving first 2 laps before they red-flagged it after more then 75% of the race was run. Period. So he was declared the winner. One could argue, Schumacher hit aquaplanning as so many others, or Barichello struck by mechanicla failure, or this or that. Races have been run in the same severe condition as this one (fe Australia, early nineties, forgive me I forgot the date) and will be held in the future in the same condition again. Drivers have lost a pocketed races in the final stages (or whatever stage) and most likely there will be more unfortunate ones in the future. So are these rules sucking? Was it a farce? Was it this? Or was it that? If - Then - Else should only be in the ICT-programmers wordbooks

Bottom line is, I was the first to say that the whole new set-up was crap, that I was not going to watch etc. etc. but now that we're underway, I watched every race and loved every minute of it.

I also read that team owners and manufacturers will meet again to discuss the new series from 2008 onwards. Interesting to see what that will bring.

Guido

oh yes, I forgot to tell - My favourite team is in the winning corner again, and that makes me even more happy :jump: