FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[What's Burning?]

No it's only in parc ferme, Lewis's car didn't breach any rules in Q1 or Q 2.

Exactly which is my point, why not put the guy back to where the car was not legal and slot him in tenth place. It was a supremely harsh penalty and it better be interpreted just like that from here on in for EVERYONE else.

He lost 3.5 seconds in the pit stop today. That would have put him on p7, in front of Rosberg.

As I said, he did well today, but it wasn't a once-in-a-life-time drive. It's what you can expect the three best drivers on the grid.
So yes, Hamilton proved again proved today to be one of the three best drivers on the grid. No, he didn't prove that he is the best.

I wasn't one saying it was a once in a lifetime drive. My point is that your comparison of Vettel's performance is apples to oranges, it's ridiculous to compare the two and it's very interesting that you picked your starting point at lap four of your comparison since at that point Lewis had already gained 9 spots, while Vettel has LOST 4 spots. You can massage numbers but if you want raw numbers, then by that account, Lewis picked up 16 spots to Vettel's ten, case closed time behind the leader is utterly irrelevant in this comparison.

[LRW]

Is anyone watching the coverage! Massive fire at Williams, smoke all over the paddock, firefighting going on. Insane.

Where you seeing this?

sky

[LewEngBridewell]

Is anyone watching the coverage! Massive fire at Williams, smoke all over the paddock, firefighting going on. Insane.

Where you seeing this?

It's been all played out on the F1 BBC Forum, but it's now finished. Just chatting with EwanM, and apparently a Force India mechanic has been taken to hospital, and Sir Frank's son Jonathan may be caught up in it.

Absolute inferno it was.

[Hammer278]

Time to drag up a post from the past - hate to say I told you so (in spite of many others on this board rubbishing todays winner at many times in the past), but...

I'd go even further than that - I'm sick of people referring to Maldonado as a pay driver when they're using it as a derogatory term (99% of the time). As said, he won the GP2 title, and with 6 feature race wins including Silverstone and Spa - two real 'racers' circuits. He's hardly been in a position to demonstrate his talents in F1 yet. It IS possible for somebody to be both a talented driver AND have strong financial backing! He was fairly even with Rubens last year, so considering it was only his first year in F1 I think a lot of people are being WAY overly harsh on him. I'm certainly not saying he's a future WDC or anything, but it seems to me that he could well be perfectly capable and obviously does have a decent amount of talent.

EDIT: Quick glance at his stats, and they're actually even more impressive than what I had thought:

2004 : Italian Formula Renault - Won title - 17 races - 8 wins - 6 poles
2005 : Italian F3000 - 4 races - 1 win
2006 : Formula Renault 3.5 - 3 wins - 5 poles - another 6 podiums - would have won the title but for a technical infringment resulting in 15 points lost
2007 : GP2 - Won at Monaco, broken collar bone mid-season meant he missed four rounds (8 races) effectively ruining his season
2008 : GP2 - 1 win - another 5 podiums
2009 : Euroseries 3000 - competed in one round (2 races) and won one of the races
2009 : GP2 - 2 wins in first half of the season with 8 consecutive points finishes followed by a horrendous second half of the season
2010 : GP2 - Won title with 6 wins

I'm sorry, but those are NOT the stats of a traditional pay driver - 2 titles (could have been three), 23 wins and many more podiums and pole positions in various highly respectable series between 2004 and 2010.

Source: ME! On 9th of March this year: http://www.forumula1.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10845&hilit=maldonado&start=600

Such a great race from Pastor today, kept calm even after losing the lead after the start and through his pit stop issue, drove very maturely when Alonso was breathing down his neck at various stages, and was blisteringly quick when he needed to be! Very happy for him to prove his detractors wrong today with a well deserved win on pure merit.

Haha...nice find.

I didn't buy him as just a pay driver either, did state a couple of times that he was actually giving Barrichello a run for his money last season. Always disliked him since Spa qualifying last year, but the guy had talent. But I didn't expect his talent to run so deep, what impressed me most was his pacing and ability to take that kind of pressure. It was immense since DRS was present, but he actually out-fumbled Alonso in the end. Can he keep this consistent from now on? Don't know.

[Ferrari man 009]

I dont actually care about the result now, I just hope everyone is ok.

On days like this results dont matter!

[LewEngBridewell]

Update:

* Williams garage gutted
* One person (at least) taken to medical centre
* Fuel rig lost completely.
* Massive KERS explosion
* Williams employee headcount underway.

[LewEngBridewell]

Paddock evacuated. More team members taken to medical centre.

[LewEngBridewell]

Charred remains of the Williams pit after the huge fire in the paddock following the race.

[darwin dali]

Time to rethink KERS?

[LewEngBridewell]

Time to rethink KERS?

It'll certainly be mentioned after this. Did you manage to see any of the televised pictures DD?

[myownalias]

Was it a KERS fire? Senna's WIlliams looks undamaged, or do they immediately take out the KERS system?

[LewEngBridewell]

Was it a KERS fire? Senna's WIlliams looks undamaged, or do they immediately take out the KERS system?

Early reports did indeed lay the blame on KERS. I don't know if there have been any further updates, the BBC coverage has stopped.

[EagleF1-27]

Blimey, shocking to hear about the fire in the Williams pit, hope everyone is ok.
Having said i wasnt going to watch, ended up having to due to the wife wanting to see it! Great recovery drive from Hamilton, showing how much he has matured since last year and learnt about saving tyres. Unbelievable that he finished in front of Button and since McLarens latest attempt to ruin his race by leaving a wheel too close to his car. And then for those on the BBC to suggest it was his fault for an aggressive drive out of the pit box!!
Surprising win from Maldonado, will be interesting to see if he or Williams can repeat it.

[vlad]

Damn, I just hope everyone stays well...

[myownalias]

Was it a KERS fire? Senna's WIlliams looks undamaged, or do they immediately take out the KERS system?

Early reports did indeed lay the blame on KERS. I don't know if there have been any further updates, the BBC coverage has stopped.

So has the Sky Coverage... just wish this didn't happen on this day to ruin Williams day!