when Spain switched to the Euro I put a cheque into my account, for about 10 minutes I had the equivalent of £1/4Billion, sadly they realised the mistake
After seeing second practice, I think Alonso might be able to win the race. The updates worked, he didn't have to fight the car as hard as he normally does on a Friday, on SS tyres he was only 3 tenths down on Vettel despite the HRT, race pace was strong and Rivola thinks Ferrari are "particularly competitive" on soft tyres. Rivola also says "Iâm convinced that we can be on the podium" which is interesting because Red Bull were faster on low fuel and Button was one of the fastest on high fuel. Alonso said they weren't focusing on lap times which to me suggests their rivals were lighter. The best thing about today was that Red Bull were not dominant. Maybe they're just hiding their true pace for qualifying, but for now it seems their pace in Japan was just like in Valencia - a fluke. At the moment I'm thinking Red Bull and Ferrari will be equally matched on race pace but Red Bull will take pole with Alonso 2-3 tenths behind.
Hamilton baffled why his car is so far off the pace, just after he's signed for another team? Call me an old cynic, but perhaps he should ask Alonso and Button (and DC) what it feels like to not be the old-guard McLaren's favourite driver.
I personally can't see McLaren sabotaging their chances for winning the WCC and a ****-load of cash, simply to spite Hamilton.
Averages from race simulation: Alonso 1:45.588 (supersoft) Massa 1:45.756 (soft) Button 1:45.797 (supersoft) Vettel 1:46.172 (supersoft) Raikkonen 1:46.368 (?) Webber 1:46.461 (soft) The reason why Ferrari were so fast was because they started their race sims after everyone else, therefore not only were track conditions better for them, but their stints were shorter so less tyre degradation.
That and RBR and McLaren went longer in those stints. Alonso lasted 7 laps, Seb 12 laps, Jenson 11 laps.
I still like Alonso's odds for victory given the pace of the Ferrari in practice so far, but it looks like the Ferrari isn't quite as fast as the Red Bull or the Mclaren - in the case of Button - based upon those numbers Silver. Also, interesting that bit about Mclaren having some form of driver controlled traction control. Part of me enjoys the innovation and them trying to bend the rules in their favor, but if it clearly breaks the rules then they will have to be punished for it.
For some reason I thought that was a load of crap when I read, but then I checked autosport and whatya know, its true. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103355 Looks like Force India is gonna implode unless they get some new sponsorship. VW would be pretty cool, maybe they would use the Audi name since it is such a big name in Motorsport nowadays?
