Just want to say congratulations to Rosberg and Alonso for fantastic performances throughout the weekend. I regard Rosberg as a much better driver now. Ferrari, now demoted to 4th fastest car despite closing the gap to Red Bull, had a lot of work to do before qualifying. The car was better but still not good enough. For Alonso to take the 4th fastest car to 5th was an incredible result. Ferrari didn't even bring all of the planned developments and yet Alonso puts in some amazing laps in all qualifying sessions. I hope this puts an end to the desperate Italian media claims that he was demotivated. Although it's debatable, I think Mercedes had the 3rd fastest car here. Whitmarsh mentioned that "had Lewis managed to string together his three best sector times in a single lap, he'd have been second-quickest". It was a great lap by Rosberg to beat both McLarens and I hope he makes the most of this opportunity, as in the past he has messed up when he was in promising positions (Singapore 09, China 10). Where do you see Alonso and Rosberg finishing tomorrow?
Alonso 6th- Just feel Massa has got a plan up his sleeves. Rosberg 2nd -Reckon he will get past Webber into the first corner.
I have a feeling Rosberg will go out to prove himself and I have a feeling he will win. It will be great if he does. Alonso will be lucky to get a podium
I think Rosberg has a good chance of passing Webber. He starts on the clean side, but I don't know how good he is at starts. I usually keep my eye on the red cars at the start and ignore all others apart from the frontrunners. Do you (or anyone else) know how Rosberg does at the start? What about race pace? Passing Webber is a possibility, but retaining position will certainly be a struggle given dominance of RB. Having said that, a lack of KERS could cost Webber. Ferrari are strong in race conditions, as are McLaren, so Rosberg might not be so comfortable in third. I think: Alonso - 3rd Rosberg - 5th The increase in performance for Ferrari is amazing, especially since they brought less updates than expected. A strong Ferrari in qualifying could turn into a beast for the race... but then I am a very optimistic Ferrari fanboy!
Rosberg's last start was pritty decent in China, nearly took vettel on the outside of turn 1, but before that in malaysia was one of his worse. Considering it's up the front he doesn't mess up that, which I have yet to see anyway. The cars working for the first time, so I don't think McLaren have tenths off Mercedes more like a few hundreths. The Mercedes have yet to be given the chance to see where they stand regarding race pace, China wasn't fair with the fuel restriction mode and that it's also been 3 weeks. Nico did a 1 lapper and beat Lewis' time which he couldn't respond back with a better run. Quali shows Merc's up there with the McLarens IMO and Nico needs to perform as well as he did in China when he was leading to really give Webber a run for 2nd. Also another good point to give Nico more fuel for his fire to gun for 2nd: Q: (Joris Fioriti - AFP) Mark, you’re four tenths behind Sebastian on your best lap, so was it a good lap? MW: Perfect. Couldn’t go any quicker. And regarding Nico's mindset eventhough he might be joking a bit: Q: You’ve got two McLarens behind you and two Red Bulls ahead; is it attack or defence or both? NR: No, I’m going to have a stunning start because I’m going to be on the clean side of the grid, so I’m going to go straight past Mark and then we will see!
Where do you see Alonso and Rosberg finishing tomorrow? Alonso will finish just in front of Massa - if the radio works. Rosberg will finish behind Button.
I hadn't thought much of Alonso's performance but when you put it like that (fourth fastest car) he did very well. I think Mercedes and McLaren are evenly matched, I expect Hamilton to get Rosberg at some point. Alonso to finish 6th behind JB.
Alonso 4th after 2 Red Bulls and Hamilton, Rosberg fighting with Button and Massa and maybe a Renault.
I don't see Vettel winning this, I feel that Webber, Alonso and Rosberg will have strong races but certainly it's a case of who will come to the pits first for the front runners. Vettel seems to have bad luck here so I think we may see him drop down the order IMO and hopefully tommorow we can have a safety car to spice things up even more.
Rosberg (5th/4th?) … has the clean side of the grid and has a real opportunity to be in 2nd place by turn 2. However, I still have doubts about his ultimate racecraft when compared to those he is amongst. I hope he does very well. It would be great to see him win; but seriously, the Red Bulls have a lot in hand and I would be somewhat surprised if Vettel doesn't take the laurels again. Rosberg can realistically hope for third, but I believe Hamilton will ultimately beat him to the podium. Alonso: (4th/5th?) … I expect him to be fighting with Rosberg at some point and that he will come out on top - if he keeps his mind on the job and does not focus on Hamilton. I very rarely make predictions and this one is a close call but my answer is Rosberg 5th, Alonso 4th as a best guess, depending upon Button discovering something: he could mix it up here but has not found a good balance. Massa is also a consideration but he does not seem able to string it all together yet, in the way that he needs to if he is to threaten the front runners. é
when i saw he didn't do a lap I thought exactly the same. Will we see this sort of thing later become more popular? I wonder what would happen if all the top 10 decided to do the same thing?
Yes but remember Massa used up a set of option tyres in Q1, and apparently Massa went out for a lap in Q3 but made a mistake so came back in.
I would be happy for a top 4 finish for Alonso. I hope Rosberg has a good result too, fingers crossed for a win
