In the final stage, it was raining again. MS had a nice gap from Alonso, so there was no reason pushing the limits and risking his pole position. Alonso on the other hand had a lot more to gain and that's why he was pushing harder.

Also, if you remember Michael's final pit stop they decreased the angle of the wings to decrease downforce. They increased the downforce when the circuit was almost dry, to assist handling with the dry tyres. When the track was dry, they didn't need all that angle on the wings, to achieve higher speeds on the straights, now that the tyres performed well. Alonso had a higher angle on his wings, allowing faster times with rain and had a lot more reasons to push the limits.

 

do you see that past form as increasing or lessening his chances of winning the title?

and what did you make of Renault's blatant blocking tactics?

 

Well it worked for him once with Hill, worked against him once with Villeneuve, so I think it leaves the situation as it currently is - too close to call.

If MS has any sense, he won't risk losing a title that way again, but I think if the position arises during the last race of his career that he sees his 8th championship slipping away, he won't be able to help himself, and the "dark side" will take over.

Fisi was clearly doing all he could to protect Alonso, but I think it was clear his preferred option was to take the lead and save points that way, which he eventually tried and failed to do.

The stewards could have looked into it, but it didn't go on for too long, and there were no forced crashes, unlike Sato's situation, so I guess Renault got away with pushing it as far as they could.

 

Use the 'Gravel' Luke, trust your feelings.........

The more I think about those last few banzai laps by Alonso, the more I think his engine will go pop!

 

If you think about it though, that engine will have spent most of quali and half of the race at reduced revs due to the wet. I think he'll be fine.

 

I doubt it - it will go pop in a large cloud of French piston rings and onion soup!