Alonso's poor start in Melbourne

[Arkle]

Who noticed in the BBC coverage Schumi's race engineer telling him about the white lines and lining up to avoid them? Guess what Alonso did, look at the replay and see him with the rear wheels right on the white line with minimal traction. Did he get a good start? No, did he lose places? Yes. Whose fault is this then? Alonso is a quality driver, but in the presure of this year he still needs all the help he can get.

[eps]

It's a team thing.. Drivers have enough to worry about, the team should be there for them, helping them gain any and every little advantage that they can eke out.

[Crafty_]

methinks you mean melbourne.

Alonso is doing okay, the car wasn't good in Oz, maybe because of the damp weather ? not sure. They are going to be caught by the macs if they don't get updates on the car.

[.Adam.]

I think Hamilton did the same as well.

[rev-erend]

No sure I would blame the drivers..

The cockpit has very high sides for crash protection - so the driver can really only see the ground significantly ahead and to the sides .. plus they have to press many buttons once on the grid and also try to avoid the dirty side of the grid as much as possible.

[Eric Mc]

I wish it was Adelaide

[oilspill]

Alonso hasn't been the best of starters in recent years (the good one in Bahrain was an abnormality). The drivers dont need telling about surface grip levels, just as Massa doesnt need to be told how to drive, its purely a reminder. Let them be.

[jamieboy]

.Adam. said:

I think Hamilton did the same as well.

If anything, Hamilton seemed to be even further over but unlike Alonso, he seemed to move left onto the proper tarmac almost as soon as he started, whereas Alonso looked to keep going straight along the slippery bit.

[amokwa]

Well it did give Massa an opportunity to even the score after he had to take evasive action in Sahkir. The message is now clear to Alonso.

Massa really wants to be WC too and for once Ferrari did the right thing. If teams keep telling slower drivers to move over for their team mates we can kiss over taking and proper racing goodbye.

[Phil-CH]

amokwa said:

Well it did give Massa an opportunity to even the score after he had to take evasive action in Sahkir. The message is now clear to Alonso.

Massa really wants to be WC too and for once Ferrari did the right thing. If teams keep telling slower drivers to move over for their team mates we can kiss over taking and proper racing goodbye.

I was more surprised Alonso didn't try to pressure Massa as he was clearly the much stronger performing driver of the two in that race. Considering from how far back Alonso fought to the front, I was surprised he was happy to stay at 4th behind Massa.

[jonnylayze]

amokwa said:

Well it did give Massa an opportunity to even the score after he had to take evasive action in Sahkir. The message is now clear to Alonso.

Massa really wants to be WC too and for once Ferrari did the right thing. If teams keep telling slower drivers to move over for their team mates we can kiss over taking and proper racing goodbye.

Massa really wants to be WC in the same way that I want to be WC but he has about as much chance as I do of achieving it - and I drive a diesel...

[marine boy]

Crafty_ said:

methinks you mean melbourne.

Alonso is doing okay, the car wasn't good in Oz, maybe because of the damp weather ? not sure. They are going to be caught by the macs if they don't get updates on the car.

I think you're right as he should have at least won the race after restarting from behind the safety car instead of just finishing fourth.

[amokwa]

Phil-CH said:

I was more surprised Alonso didn't try to pressure Massa as he was clearly the much stronger performing driver of the two in that race. Considering from how far back Alonso fought to the front, I was surprised he was happy to stay at 4th behind Massa.

I think it was a case of not wanting to bang wheels with his team mate. Recall that when Massa lost the position to him in Sakhir he did not force the issue.

It is going to come do to grid position for those 2 as I do not see them risking a fallout as happened at McLaren with Hamilton in '07.

[Crafty_]

Gaz. said:

Crafty_ said:

methinks you mean melbourne.

Alonso is doing okay, the car wasn't good in Oz, maybe because of the damp weather ? not sure. They are going to be caught by the macs if they don't get updates on the car.

Really? That car is stunning, it's almost as quick as the Red Bulls through the corners and as fast as the Mclaren in the straights, did you notice that Lewis couldn't catch Fernando even with the F-duct along the straight if he didn't catch the Ferraris slip stream as he did when he passed Massa earlier in the race? Imo it's the best car on the grid.

One lap pace is good, but the car isn't quick enough over race distance, massa was having a hard time with it and alonso was at times too. When the drizzle started again Massa was 2 seconds slower than Sutil, who was in 11th.

Cant find them at the moment but the speed traps showed the macs as quickest. Interestingly the red bulls were the slowest through the traps in Q3.

[GTP rpm]

The McLaren did have some awesome pace down the straights. I assume the "f-uct" means they can either run same aero as everyone else, or more aero and have more grip - but not loose out on the straights.

It's not worth saying the Red Bull is the fastest, as it appears only Vettel is dominating in it. Webber is struggling under pressure, again which, is a great shame as I like the bloke.

It's difficult to know how fast the Ferrari actually is. I doubt Massa is 100% after missing the end of last year, especially with the injury, but I felt Alonso's drive from the back of the grid was amazing - but how much more has he still got to give and/or get from the car? They might have equal pickings at the moment, but I whilst Massa came 3rd this time round, remember Alonso was at the back of the field after turn 1...he'd of at least finished 3rd...more than likely 2nd I feel.

The Merc's are a bit down on pace. I actually think Rosberg, is better than what Williams allowed him to be proven as...though maybe his qualy pace is better than his race pace? This isn't uncommon, Trulli anyone?

Wow, my whole post was off-topic, I just felt this was the safest place to put out my opinion lol.

On topic - Agreed with whoever it was earlier, who said about the high sides and complicated starting procedure. The white line only lasts for about 2 wheel revolutions and in that time, the hook up of grip I'm sure isn't as important as the throttle control once the gear is engaged? I could have this confirmed (could be wrong).

[MGJohn]

Both Mclarens were faster than the rest of the cars through the speed trap at Bahrain according to the table I saw a few weeks ago ~ both by several kph with Button's car faster than Hamilton's.... It was the infield where their cars were not so fast... and lost out big time to the other cars...

.... I do not think it was simply down to the duct but, could be wrong about that ...
.

[GTP rpm]

I'll take your word for it..but how about Melbourne?

[jamieboy]

GTP rpm said:

The white line only lasts for about 2 wheel revolutions

I could well be wrong, but isn't it worse than that in Melbourne? I think there's a white line left over from it being a normal road which they paint over for the race - it runs the full length of the pit straight and seems to line up with the left-hand side of the odd-numbered grid slots.

[10 Pence Short]

GTP rpm said:

I'll take your word for it..but how about Melbourne?

To the best of my knowledge the McLaren was the fastest car through the speed traps at Melbourne, too.

Ferrari and Red Bull seem to have done a better job of creating a good blend of aerodynamic effectiveness and straight line efficiency, though.

Shame that stupid Webber resorted to his usual BTCC standard of driving once again, though.

[amokwa]

jonnylayze said:

Massa really wants to be WC in the same way that I want to be WC but he has about as much chance as I do of achieving it - and I drive a diesel...

The current drivers points table should be a lesson to you :-) If Massa does not want to be WC what is he doing in F1 ? So now you know why he did not let Alonso past in Melbourne.