They should have pitted as soon as Hamilton did to be in with a chance. Once they left it a couple of laps they were screwed, and had no choice but to hope the tyres would last. I was quite surprised to see Vettel pit after he'd been taken by Hamilton. You'd think he'd have just stuck it out, but it obviously turned out to be right as he passed Alonso at the end.

But then Grosjean and Perez both one stopped, so it could have been done.

Murray Walker on F1 Legends next.

 

I think Perez and Grosjean did quite a few (10?) more laps in their first stints than Alonso/Vettel which made the difference come the end of the race.

 

Vettel and Alonso both had to push when they left the pits, overheating their tyres, and these pirelli's don't seem to like that so couldn't hold as long as Grosjean and Perez. Slowly bringing the tyres in seems to be the order of the day. But you don't always get that option. It didn't matter for Hamilton as he didn't have to make the tyres last.

 

Close fields can be exciting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA7Wvjwkt_I

 

I don't believe it's quite as simple as that, Perez is famous for his tyre preservation this season so far, I think his combination of driving style and the cars setup are more the reason he was there at the end of the race. Hamilton was told over the radio to 'go for it' and he did, completely flat out. Alonso summed it up for me 'Hamilton was faster than us all weekend' when asked if things would have been different if they (Ferrari) had changed the tyres.

On another note, did anyone notice RBR were not allowed to run the 'holes in their brake ducts' either, this was also deemed illegal and they were forced to fill them in.

 

I must admit that I missed that completely. That will teach Newey, trying to be so clever. This probably accounts for Webbers poor race and stopped Vettel catching Hamilton after his pit stop late in the race.Serves them right.
Red Bull are nothing but a bunch of cheats deliberately misinterpreting the rules to improve their cars. None of the other teams do that.
Makes you wonder about the two wins that they have had this season.

 

Webber had a weird strategy (not new for his team) and didn't manage his tires well as well as getting stuck behind 2 drivers (I want to say Massa and Kobayashi but I could be wrong). Vettle was running strong as well but did not push it the whole time because of their strategy.

In regards to the holes some of the other smaller teams were running them as well (at least Sauber i believe). and it was only when red bull won two races that people started to get disgruntled. If the scrutineers deemed it OK than I don't know why everyone is complaining. It would be a different story altogether if they did it, thought they were right, and didn't take it to them to verify it. But as well all know they did get it verified. This is like the game of basketball when someone shoots the basketball with a little contact, watch's to see if the ball goes in the hoop and if it doesn't they call a foul.

and now that I am done with my rant and even if I do not like Lewis... He drove one HELL of a race. It was exciting to watch because he was given the green light to "push push push" over 75% of the whole race. Congratulations are in order for Mclaren and Lewis and it was just a matter of time before he got his first win. That and he has a hot girlfriend/ fiance whatever they are now.

 

People always seem to get carried away with these tiny features. There's 1000 things that make up a good car, and Red Bull have lost two. 998 out of a 1000 still isn't bad.

Clearly Red Bull screwed up the strategy for both their drivers in Canada, and they won Monaco mainly because Webber put in a great qualifying lap, and Schumacher was penalised. You can't put any of this down to the presence, or absence of a couple of little holes.

I liked Adrian Newey's comment on the grid. "Just looking at the other cars to see if there's anything we can get some inspiration from". We all know they do this sort of thing, but it was suprisingly honest of him to admit it.

 

Whilst I'm no big Red Bull fan, that's a little unfair. All the teams try to think of ways to gain an advantage by interpreting the rules to their advantage.

Brawn double diffusers
McLaren F-duct
Mercedes double DRS
Red Bull blown exhausts
Benetton/Renault mass damper
Lotus Lotus Renault forward firing exhaust
Tyrell 6-wheeler
Ground effect fans
etc

All part of the sport and most of them banned in the end.

 

Whilst I'm no big Red Bull fan, that's a little unfair. All the teams try to think of ways to gain an advantage by interpreting the rules to their advantage.

Brawn double diffusers
McLaren F-duct
Mercedes double DRS
Red Bull blown exhausts
Benetton/Renault mass damper
Lotus Lotus Renault forward firing exhaust
Tyrell 6-wheeler
Ground effect fans
etc

All part of the sport and most of them banned in the end.
[/quote]

Whooooosh!!!