The Official Not606 European GP Chat & Predictions

This is a tough one, well, they all are for me as I haven't got one right yet! So, Alonso, Button, Hamilton, Vettel...

Alonso has the home crowd but that didn't help him last year or in Barcelona this year; Button won last time so I doubt he will again this; Hamilton is due a result, now has a car to do it and will certainly be, ahem, fired up; but Vettel should win, especially after losing out to Jenson in Canada plus he'll be more determined just in case the new regs have a negative effect after this race.

Hmm, decisions, decisions, and a not very scientific analysis... I think it's between Seb and Lewis: my head says Vettel but my heart says Hamilton.

 

No, "but" is the conjunction, which means the first clause is "I like Button" and the the second clause is presented to contrast with that.

 

Surely if he trully liked Button. Annoying Hamalots wouldn't be the only reason he wanted Button to beat Hamilton and Vettel. If he did not like button or was more nuetral that being his only reason would make more sense. Easy to misread that regardless.

 

He does truly like Button - he says so at the beginning of the sentence. That's the bit that GUEST ignored (and there's always a bit that they ignore). That statement implies that he wants Button to succeed. Next, in contrast to that statement ("but"), he goes on to say that he'd also like to see him succeed just to annoy the Hamelots. "Just to annoy the Hamelots" is the contrasting reason, not the only reason, just the contrasting reason to wanting him to succeed because he likes him.

Exactly, but he's already told you he does like Button, so that statement informs the rest of his comment.

 

It would be fun if some outsider won, like Barrichello. It might silence the Top x fans.....or bring a tidal wave of excuses again.

 

I wonder if those days are gone, to be honest - Panis in Monaco '96, Hill in Belgium '98 and nearly in Hungary '97, Herbert in Europe '99. The top teams are too slick, their cars are too reliable and their drivers too good in varied conditions for someone to sneak through the carnage. Schumacher got up to fourth in Canada but perhaps that's about as far as an outsider can hope to get these days.

 

Aside from the two Renault 'fast out of the box' podiums at the start of the season, it's sad but true. But my first thought when considering who will win was wouldn't it be great to see someone different? Could the new diffuser regs throw up some surprises at Silverstone? I can but hope.

 

I think the days of suprise podiums are gone (maybe a wet race), but the best we can look forward to is the likes of Kobi, Buemi, Perez getting a 4th or 5th in a race.

 

Kubica would've been in contention for the Monaco win. Also during Monaco, the pile up at the end almost saw Alguersuari clean Vettel up, which would almost certainly have taken Alonso and Button (who were right on his gearbox) out of the race as well, leaving Kobayashi leading the Grand Prix, with six(?) laps left.

 

Rosberg has been getting podiums the last few years for Williams and Mercedes if he counts as an outsider. I would almost class Massa as an outsider now to get on the podium these days.

 

Pirelli said in Valencia, the street circuit that hosts the European Grand Prix, will see the debut of Pirelli’s medium tyre as the prime with the supersoft as the option. Is that still true? Only 57 laps to get the strategy right !

 

Yes - supersoft and medium.

AG - the example of Monaco is exactly what I mean. Utter carnage and yet we have Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren on the podium. After everything that went on in Canada it was just McLaren and Red Bull. In Turkey last year, who mopped up when the Red Bulls took each other out?

Mercedes and Renault aren't outsiders for podiums but, for the win, as Bergkamp mentioned, they certainly are.

 

If I do get to see this GP it will be on Spanish TV... which may be interesting

 

Woah, it seems my fairly innocuous comment (to me) has provoked quite a strong reaction! To clarify:

I do genuinely like Button as a driver, I think he's proven he can be blindingly quick, especially in these last two races when he's really wrung the most out of the car. But more than anything, he drives intelligently, his understanding of everything else that is going on around him, how the race is unfolding overall, and not just his own, is a fantastic skill to have, and no doubt contributed to some excellent results he's had in the past. In Canada, Button made scores of overtakes, and with the exception of Alonso, managed them all cleanly.

On to the second part of my comment, the "Hamilton is better than everyone" mentality which many F1 fans display annoys me, as sometimes it borders on disrespect for other drivers. If Button could win the WDC this season, in arguably the second best car, and do so fairly, would put a massive hole in this mentality, which I often feel provokes arguments on fora like this. I'd also like him to beat Vettel to give us a truly interesting season, as one driver completely dominating takes the edge off of the competition.

Does that seem reasonable enough?

 

BLS - you can expect a VERY LOUD and drawnout AAALLLLLLOOOONNNNNSSSSOOOOO if he makes an overtaking move.

 

btw, a Hamelot isn't a fan of F1, it's a worshipper of Hamilton with barely a grasp on reality. the name comes from combining HAMilton and zealot. An example of a Hamelots thinking would be if Hamilton walked on to a school playground with a machine gun and started massacring the children, a Hamelot would immediatley defend him by saying that what he did wasn't dangerous at all, and that the children were really to blame for running into the bullets, anyone who said any different would then be subjected to instant abuse, even Hamilton fans come under fire from these lunatics.

As to DH's comments, why have they upset you so JC? surely you should be more upset with the Hamelots that have caused DH, and very many others, to feel this way about Hamilton. I want Button to win because he humiliated my brother on a fortnightly basis at Buckmore, and having the Hamelots crying and screaming about it if it did happen is a bonus.

 

Its good fun. I love how they pronounce some of the drivers names like Button 'henson boooton'

 

Are Spanish F1 commentators as enthusiastic as Spanish football commentators? I love Spanish football commentators, I wish English commentators were like them: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!, GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

 

Something like this Mifune...:

 

Ha ha yeah, can you image John Motson doing that!? Sometimes on FIFA I change to Spanish or Mexican commentary because it is so much more fun.