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So what are your thoughts of the first race of the season. It certainly was a close one between Alonso and Michael Schumacher and an impressive charge from the back by Kimi Raikkonen. Nico Rosberg was also impressive after having to replace his front wing yet still making it to 7th and setting the fastest lap of the race.

There will certainly be question marks around Montoya's performance who started 5th and finished 5th behind Raikkonen who started at the back.
Jenson Button dropped a place too, Mark Webber gained a position while Christian Klien outqualified and out raced his team-mate finishing in 8th.

Dissapointements ? Toyota's finishing 14th and 16th must be the biggest one! Fisichella and Barrichello both struggling with their cars. One starts wondering why this happens to them ?

Was this close to what you expected for the start of the season ? Thoughts ?

Roll on Malaysia (next week!)

I'd like to say Nico, he is obviously one hell of a driver (I wonder how Kovi would have done?) But it has to be Kimi that was phenomenal(doop doo bee doopy)

Snowy wrote:I'd like to say Nico, he is obviously one hell of a driver (I wonder how Kovi would have done?) But it has to be Kimi that was phenomenal(doop doo bee doopy)

Yeah, nico was great, look forward to seeing him race next race.

Kimi did very well, but my vote goes to Alonso. Had a good fast race. Even had to win it with a soiled race suit after Massa's spin.

Was an entertaining race, can't wait for malaysia.

rah wrote: Even had to win it with a soiled race suit after Massa's spin.

That was a pretty outstanding piece of breaking and as you say he would have had to have an extraordinary sphincter to maintain a comfortable flameproof suit

Roll on Malaysia

Alonso The Cute won the first race



And it was a good close race and Alonso showed what he is made of

Raikkonen was impressive too and so was Rosberg.

I think Button did reasonably well too after that bad start and he did a lot of overtaking and that is great.

I was hoping more from Massa The Rebel but it looks like he will be closer to Michael than his other teammates
You are bound to make mistakes if you are testing the car and racing it too and you can only blame Ferrari for that

Toyota were shockingly slow and that is very strange!

Malaysia next week We must be lucky!!

JayVee wrote:If there is a dissapointement of the day award, it would have to go to Montoya who finished behind Kimi who started last .

Button did a good job considering the bad start and had Nico not tangled with Heidfeld he probably would have made Webber look ordinary but the Williams seems to be good and that is good news imho

Agree with you. but I'd shared the dissapointement of the day award with Toyota...

driver of the race: NicoR!! a superb drive in his debut!! great!

congratulations to Alonso! that was a very nice race from him!

I liked a lot the new Q! lot of action!!

I enjoyed the first race of the year. It looks like it could be a three way race for the title. It's also good to see tyre changes back.

My driver of the day is Kimi.

The defining moment of the race for me was Alonso's second pit stop where he managed to get out in front of MS.

Well done Alonso for a well deserved win.

Great opening for the season

Alonso - Very good race by Alonso A very well fought Victory.A couple of close call for him; 1 - Massa missing him by whiskers & then a turn 1 tussle with Michael for the lead after the 2nd pit-stop.(would have loved to hear JayVee's comments,if Michael would have won on similar situation & style like Alonso did on Michael)

Michael - Ferrari is back Fast & Reliable.Avoided any controversies by not touching anyone or shunting anyone out,even when Alonso forced him offline to take the lead after 2nd stop.

Kimi - My choice of drive of the day.Seems like 2005 season is back for Kimi.Starting last & making his way up the field & finishing on the podium.

Button - A disappointing race for him after so much promise.Poor start ok, but i still think they dont have the pace to catch up with Renault,Mclaren or Ferrari when either of these 3 take the lead.19+ sec could be an indication.

Montoya - Ron Dennis should have changed his engine,cos after the race it looks like it could have been worth it.

Webber - Brilliant driver.Calm collected,knew the potential of the car, let things unfolds in front of him & cruised.I reckon Williams could spoil some1's party this year

Nico - Young , energitic,doesnt care about the reputation..Way to go.

Klien - Great drive.Respectable finish.DC can give as many excuses,but his partner seems to be faster than him now.

Massa - Over enthusiatic,follows the tradition of spinning behind cars without touching them ..hope to see him in points soon.

STR -

Toyota - They need to hire Narain Karthikeyan instead of Ralfie

Let the 3-way-championship begun

It is interesting to compare the fastest laps of team mate against team mate.
While I would not take anything away from Nico's superb drive, remember he was out of synch, with fuel weight, after his early pit stop.

Races like yesterdays' are why I love F1 racing! I agree with almost all the postings I've seen (tho' I'm wondering howcome only 13 people have voted on drive of the day!?

Ed: maybe it's because there are so many places to post? I was going to go to the Bahrain Thread and then I saw that this one was called response to Bahrain, so I came here. But I have also read the postings on the earlier thread. Maybe you could combine them or something?

Anyway, I have to agree with almost everyone. I don't think, no matter how you spin it, that Fernando "stuffed" Michael. In fact, it was thrilling racing and I don't know how it could possibly have been closer --or more professional.

If you taped the race, go back and look at Michael congratulating Fernando after the race; he is almost as radiant as the Spaniard. You can see in his body language how much he loves racing; indeed, I'd say his love for it is as great as his talent.

I was totally let down by Toyota; you won't find J.T. in my picks for race #2!! And Nick, who was so exciting last year, was also a disappointment for me. He's off my list now, too. Finally, as much as I like him as a person and respect him as a driver, I have to drop D.C. from my list of drivers contending, too.

On the other hand, as I suspected when I tried to stir up the Australians, Mark Webber drove a heck of a good race and I'll have to find him a slot in my future picks.

Jenson, as many suggested, seemed to lose his way. Given how good his car was, he was as big a disappointment (tho not to me) as JPM. I was convinced that Juan Pablo would be fast. And I guess he can be. Fast, that is. But I'm not picking him for a podium. Not with F.A., Kimi, Michael and Jenson in good health and good cars!

Rubens! What happened to the Rubino?? I didn't pick him because I don't think he ever drove as good as his machinery. Felipe, though, looked good all week end ---until he lost it big time. (PS: I think it more than a little unsporting to suggest he was trying to take Fernando out
why would/should he? the point isn't to win the race as much as it is to beat all the other drivers. And, as every sportsman knows, if you need to cheat to win you can't ever know what winning is.

What --other than Kimi's incredible drive and Michael and Fernando's duel was the cream of a brilliant afternoon of racing? Obviously it was Nico's arrival. Or spell that "ARRIVAL!" He'll be on my pick list and I suspect he'll be moving up in it, too.

cheers and on to Melborne!

Jim Watt

Um, there is the small matter of Malaysia first Jim.
That was a stir about Massa taking Alonso out, along the lines of someone stirring the Aussies about MW
DC stated openly that he is only just beginning to understand the car. Unfortunately his engine blew AFTER the flag fell, he cops a 10 gridspot penalty for Malaysia
Barrichello lost a gear early on.
Fully agree about Nico.....unless he has a BIG ONE, he will be a force.
Ed has posted the times for each team member, its makes interesting reading.
Rock On F1.

I do have to pick you up on this Jim.....its M E L B O U R N E.

Kapel wrote:Great opening for the season

Alonso - Very good race by Alonso A very well fought Victory.A couple of close call for him; 1 - Massa missing him by whiskers & then a turn 1 tussle with Michael for the lead after the 2nd pit-stop.(would have loved to hear JayVee's comments,if Michael would have won on similar situation & style like Alonso did on Michael)

IF and WHEN that happens, you'll hear my comments. There is no point in discussing remote possibilities

When Michael had a real chance of winning, there was this blue and yellow car in front , just like that race last year, San Marino I think

Kapel wrote:Michael - Ferrari is back Fast & Reliable.Avoided any controversies by not touching anyone or shunting anyone out,even when Alonso forced him offline to take the lead after 2nd stop.

Forced him Alonso was coming out of the pits and on the inside, you want him to stop so Michael gets past

Any chance you remember what happened to Barrichello in Indy last year after the second pit stop ?

Wait for Malaysia first otherwise you may be dissapointed

Kapel wrote:Webber - Brilliant driver.Calm collected,knew the potential of the car, let things unfolds in front of him & cruised.I reckon Williams could spoil some1's party this year

Yeah they could be the best Bridgestone runners

JayVee wrote:
IF and WHEN that happens, you'll hear my comments. There is no point in discussing remote possibilities

Blue glasses on,is it?

JayVee wrote: Forced him Alonso was coming out of the pits and on the inside, you want him to stop so Michael gets past

Yes JayVee forced!!!But i think its fair,its good racing,what i was trying to get at is that U would have not considered a similar move to be fair if Michael had done it on ur Blue eyed boy-Mr Alonso..i can bet how many of Rupees on this.

JayVee wrote: Any chance you remember what happened to Barrichello in Indy last year after the second pit stop ?

Yes very well...N i dont remember but i'm 100% sure,u must have cried foul against Michael for doing that.

JayVee wrote: Wait for Malaysia first otherwise you may be dissapointed

I've taken disappointment for the entire last season,so it could not get worse..i'm worried abt u

JayVee wrote: Yeah they could be the best Bridgestone runners

Wouldnt mind that...but that would mean the end for Michelin runners...Cos at this moment Ferrari is the best Bridgestone runners & there hardly any difference in them & Renault(As per Bahrain race) So if they become the best Bridgestone runners....Julian would be the happiest man

Kapel wrote:

JayVee wrote: Yeah they could be the best Bridgestone runners

Wouldnt mind that...but that would mean the end for Michelin runners...Cos at this moment Ferrari is the best Bridgestone runners & there hardly any difference in them & Renault(As per Bahrain race) So if they become the best Bridgestone runners....Julian would be the happiest man

Don't forget me