Thread: Who is the Donkey of this weekends mess?

So, after all, races are decided on the exiting position from the pit lane at Q3?

Sad

Worse than that, they are decided by who whinges loudest in front of the stewards

I vote for all of us donkeys that continue to watch and support the sorry, parade spectacle that our F1 has become. Hee Haww!

Can someone explain to me where/how Ron Dennis lied? I'm not disagreeing, I just don't see exactly where it is. Was he caught lying, or is it that people just don't believe him?

Ron apparently lied about the 20+10 seconds to cover-up what was an internal McLaren affair. Without the radio transcripts, we can only believe the FIA stewards who in effect, implied both he and Alonso were being "untrue"
(Maybe helped by Lewis' bickering while presenting their case, if you believe what is reported in some Spanish press )

Thanks. BTW has Alonso said anything about all this since the race finished? It seems he has insinuated doubts about continuing at McLaren, which the press have taken and run with, but he hasn't said anything about Hamilton, or has he? They do/did have an agreement about not talking about each other to the press. Hamilton seems to have spilt out more of this than anyone to the press. Also interesting to see Mansell's reaction, no stranger to having a bit of a moan himself in his day....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/moto...ne/6934023.stm

Originally Posted by donKey jote

shut it bawldy

Right, you and me, outside now!

I am tired of this now, can we move on to something else?

Probably not, at least not whilst people are not talking to each other.

Originally Posted by Mickey T

it's a bit silly to believe there will not be management issues when your two drivers look like the drivers most likely to win the championship, and lying didn't help ron's public outlook.

but, for mine, it's the stewards and the FIA for getting involved in an internal team squabble.

McLaren had made it quite clear up to now who was ever fastest in Q2 would get the nod for Q3 which may explain why Lewis challenged the team order in the first place. Lewis was by far the fastest driver all weekend and may have well got past FA with the extra fuel. But then again, I wouldn't put it past McLaren manipulating pit stops between their drivers.

Lewis posted the fasted lap in Q2 of 1:19:301 with his jealous Spaniard team mate +.360 behind. In Q1 LH posted a 1:19:570 with Alonso back in 5th at +.855

My respect for Alonso plummeted when he took that extra ten seconds in the pit stall. If he had left when instructed by the team, chances are Lewis would have bettered his time anyway. Lewis should be commended for not letting all this niggle him, he still went about his business and reminded us that he is still a contender for the WDC.

The donkey is Fabrizio Borra, FA's Phtsio.

Originally Posted by Ian McC

I am tired of this now, can we move on to something else?

Probably not, at least not whilst people are not talking to each other.

What else are we going to talk the next threee weeks, Scott Speed???

Originally Posted by pits4me

If he had left when instructed by the team, chances are Lewis would have bettered his time anyway. Lewis should be commended for not letting all this niggle him, he still went about his business and reminded us that he is still a contender for the WDC.

bettered it on a lap he was not, according to the team, entitled to do in the first place? and a lap that he only had an opportunity to do by being unscrupulous, dishonourable and sneaky? a lap he would have done because he ignored the orders of a team - orders that he was happy to have alonso comply with when they worked in hamilton's favour - and a man that has fostered him for a decade, who he insulted publicly?

whether you like ron or not, the bad boy in this is hamilton. ron looked bad by stumbling over themselves trying to protect the team from his fallout.

alonso just tried to give him his comeuppence, to prevent him from running the lap he was never entitled to in the first place. a lap that he cheated the team to do...

Originally Posted by pits4me

.....My respect for Alonso plummeted when he took that extra ten seconds in the pit stall. If he had left when instructed by the team, chances are Lewis would have bettered his time anyway. Lewis should be commended for not letting all this niggle him, he still went about his business and reminded us that he is still a contender for the WDC.

The donkey is Fabrizio Borra, FA's Phtsio.

But it's not clear that Alonso did it. He may have been following instructions. May have been. However, Hamilton has freely admitted he disobeyed requests to stick to the original plan. His excuse is pretty lame, he could have got on the radio and explained that he didn't want to let Kimi through and that Alonso should stick with him. I find it hard to accept that he decided to go his own way only when he arrived at the first corner. I reckon it was his intention from the off in Q3, but that's just my opinion. In fact, I don't have a major problem with the fact that he did this, but Alonso did nothing worse than him, and that's IF Alonso did it deliberately. So all these "unsportsmanlike behaviour" accusations thrown at Alonso are double standards.

Both drivers should also be equally commended for not letting it affect their driving on raceday, not just Hamilton.

I'm really enjoying this season, but I think Lewis is starting to believe all the hype coming from the British press and all the attention he's getting. He's talked too much about all this outside the team, to the press, and in my eyes taken the shine off his "I'm just a nice guy" image.

And I still think the stewards were way off. If it was all deliberate, ALonso messed up Hamilton's strategy, but he didn't IMPEDE Hamilton, strictly speaking.

And if Alonso had gone out and NOT got pole, I doubt if he would have been penalised. It's purely hypothetical, but does anyone think the stewards would have got involved if Hamilton had been on pole at the end of Q3?

I completely agree with you fandango none of them are saints, but there are many double standards around here.

RD, for compounding the problem. Alosn would have benn dropped back to 5th and the team would have kept the WCC points. He lied to the stewards, initially publicly threw LH under the bus ( which IMO can't be classifdied as favoritism by Alonso) and then when the ruiling came down, tried to backtrakc and left FA out to the wolves wothout publicly admonishing FA's behaviour.

He seemed to look out for one person only, himself and his own sense of meglomaniacle ego. He is more concenred about not looking back than serving the best interes to his drivers or the team, whiuch has cost him the WCC points in Hungary. Overall his equal treatmentt philosphy is good, fair and more than the approrpirate course of direction IMO. His administration over that policy has been less than stellar in terms of PR managment.

Originally Posted by Fiero 5.7

I vote for all of us donkeys that continue to watch and support the sorry, parade spectacle that our F1 has become. Hee Haww!

Then you are most welcome to leave the thread and forum.

Speaking of parade spectacles, that's ecxactly what Nascar has become, a highly scripted racing show with phantom caution flags to bunch the drivers together. Or IRl which is boring on a whole other level. Or Champ Car, with its boost pass system and barely watchable races.


I'll take F1, thank you

Since when are the FIA involved with internal team matters? Enzo and the great Alfred Neubauer would be rolling in their graves. Alfred would probably have fired the FIA. With him if you disobeyed his orders the odds were you were unemployed immediately!

Originally Posted by Easy Drifter

Since when are the FIA involved with internal team matters? Enzo and the great Alfred Neubauer would be rolling in their graves. Alfred would probably have fired the FIA. With him if you disobeyed his orders the odds were you were unemployed immediately!

fair point. Dont know why this wasnt left to McLaren to resolve as it didnt affect anyone else.

Originally Posted by Flat.tyres

fair point. Dont know why this wasnt left to McLaren to resolve as it didnt affect anyone else.

Both drivers showed a lack of sportsmanship towards each other but only one impeded the other driver. Hamilton disobeyed a team order and McLaren really must deal with that. However, Alonso impeded another competitor so the FIA has a right to deal with that.

But the blame for this mess really goes to Dennis and the McLaren team for not dealing with it better. If Alonso was supposed to be first on track, why wasn't he? Who let Hamilton go so that he was at the front of the queue when they should have held him back? They could have avoided all this mess and the hard feelings quite easily.

Originally Posted by BriannaBee

Both drivers showed a lack of sportsmanship towards each other but only one impeded the other driver. Hamilton disobeyed a team order and McLaren really must deal with that. However, Alonso impeded another competitor so the FIA has a right to deal with that.

But the blame for this mess really goes to Dennis and the McLaren team for not dealing with it better. If Alonso was supposed to be first on track, why wasn't he? Who let Hamilton go so that he was at the front of the queue when they should have held him back? They could have avoided all this mess and the hard feelings quite easily.

How did Alonso impede Hamilton's race?? He didn't HAVE TO PIT. He could have left. Hamilton's fault, pure and simple. There is no rule that says you must pit before your last hot lap in qualifying, but maybe that's in the every-changing-depending-on-the-nationality-of-the-drivers British rulebook? The other BS he was involved in is just icing on the crapcake known as Lewis Hamilton..