Driver of the Europe GP

[andreag]

Alonso, indeed.

Coulthard also fine.

And Lewis, winning one position.

[Dave B]

Tempting to say Winklehock, kept his head under the most trying of circumstances.

Honourable mention to Hamilton for setting a string of fastest laps, but ultimately I'm going to say Mark Webber for keeping cool and giving Red Bull a well-deserved podium :up:

[zoostation]

1. alonso
2. wurz
3. winkelhock

=]

[Ian McC]

Hell, anyone who drives out there in those conditions gets my vote!

[ozrevhead]

Hell, anyone who drives out there in those conditions gets my vote!
I so agree with that but to hell with it - If I aint going to be patriotic now I never will!!

Mark from winkelhock and Fernando!

:D

[gm99]

Alonso for sure.
Webber and Wurz for a great job and an entertaining battle towards the end.
Winkelhock for a debut that no-one, himself possibly included, could have foreseen.

[F1MAN2007]

of Course Alonso

[donKey jote]

hmm... let me think :D
http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/16/16_3_166.gif

[Somebody]

Alonso, easy - allthough Winklehock deserves a mention/


Honourable mention to Hamilton for setting a string of fastest laps, but ultimately I'm going to say Mark Webber for keeping cool and giving Red Bull a well-deserved podium :up:
What, even with the last-corner braketest?!

[truefan72]

alonso
wurz
webber
Coulthard

honorable mention LH who obviously had the pace, and kpet his car going in the gravel and probably would habe gotten to 8th if the bloody marshals hadn't waived the stupid blue flags, and then was subsequently held up behind Massa, and asked to move over for Alonso too

poor performance

Massa - he blew it, all is fine as long as conditons are perfect and he has a decent advantage, as soon as he gets any kind of challenge, he wilts
Ferrari - for miscalculating Kimi's Fuel load, simply no excuse

Heidfeld - for punting Ralf S out of the race, and waiving his hands at Kubica, his own Teamate!

[Erki]

Alonso
Winkelhock
Wurz
And Kovalainen would have got a much higher position, possibly even a podium, if only his team didn't **** it up. :\

[VkmSpouge]

I think Fernando Alonso is the driver of the day. He made a good move on Massa at the end of the race and drove really well. Mark Webber and Alex Wurz also did very well. Markus Winkelhock deserves a mention for leading the race on his debut.

[Garry Walker]

Why are you giving the vote for Winkelhock? He got lucky and took a gamble, there was nothing impressive in his drive.

Drive of the race: Alonso, unfortunately. Did the best job possible.

Massa - you are a *****. He gave up too easily and then later on cried about it. That was a win in his reach and he let Alonso own him, rattle him and beat him.

Kimi - Tough luck for him. Silly mistake on the first lap though.

Heidfeld - What a stupid race. He should get a penalty for ramming out Ralf.
Also took out Kubica at the beginning.

[Garry Walker]

And Kovalainen would have got a much higher position, possibly even a podium, if only his team didn't **** it up. :\
How???? You mean his last pitstop? He needed to pit at that time, he was running out of fuel. The only possibility he had was to put on inters then.

[BDunnell]

Massa - you are a *****.

It's always nice to read reasonable, non-personal comments.

Why get so worked up? Why not just enjoy the race?

[Dave B]

Why are you giving the vote for Winkelhock? He got lucky and took a gamble, there was nothing impressive in his drive.
I gave him a mention not for his pace, obviously, but for the incredibly mature way he dealt with extremely testing circumstances in his first F1 race. A driver in a slow car, out of position at the front of the field, is often a recipe for chaos - Winklehock drove superbly and kept his nose clean. It's a shame his car expired, but I feel he deserves the praise that's coming his way.

Remind me how Ralf did :p

[Garry Walker]

It's always nice to read reasonable, non-personal comments.

Why get so worked up? Why not just enjoy the race?

I enjoyed it. Massa gave up too easily at the end, he should have fought harder.
If you knew me, then you would know I am supporting Massa in his quest for the title, but today he needlessy gave up 2 points and a win. He should have fought harder.

[gm99]

Why are you giving the vote for Winkelhock? He got lucky and took a gamble, there was nothing impressive in his drive.



Well, he did manage to stay on track in terrible conditions in his first-ever F1 race (and quite possibly his first time in the wet in an F1 car ever) while many other far more experienced drivers did not (even after they had changed to wet tyres). And not just stay on track, but lead the race and build an advantage. I would call that impressive...

[dont_be_jack]

I, like others, must say that anyone who finished the race and didn't drop out gets my vote. To survive the first two laps and then the last 5 was a feat.

Great move by Alonso, though, but I might give a mention to Massa for holding him off for so long.

[Garry Walker]

I gave him a mention not for his pace, obviously, but for the incredibly mature way he dealt with extremely testing circumstances in his first F1 race. A driver in a slow car, out of position at the front of the field, is often a recipe for chaos - Winklehock drove superbly and kept his nose clean. It's a shame his car expired, but I feel he deserves the praise that's coming his way.
Everyone passed like he was a snail after SC left the track. Nothing impressive.



Remind me how Ralf did :p
Remind me how Hamilton did in qualy? sounds stupid? Yes it does. So does your question.

Ralf was rammed out today from a point-scoring position by a moron.

[AndySpeed]

Why are you giving the vote for Winkelhock? He got lucky and took a gamble, there was nothing impressive in his drive.

Agreed, if he hadn't got lucky and been out in front then no-one would probably have noticed. He certainly slid backwards very quickly.


Remind me how Ralf did :p

Ralf was going relatively well until making contact with Heidfeld, possibly one of his strongest weekends of the year when you consider his qualifying performance and luck etc.

My vote will go to Alonso.

[ioan]

I enjoyed it. Massa gave up too easily at the end, he should have fought harder.

8 points is better than no points, and given how far Alonso went to get past Felipe I think it was the right choice.
As for Alonso saying he banged his wheels on the Ferrari on purpose, a bit immature.

[Dave B]

Remind me how Hamilton did in qualy? sounds stupid? Yes it does. So does your question.
Hamilton was quickest in Session 3 of qually and had just set the fastest Sector 1 time when he suffered a mechanical failure. I apologise if in your eyes that makes him a failure.

My question was never meant to be serious, hence the " :p " at the end.

[AndySpeed]

Ralf was rammed out today from a point-scoring position by a moron.

Talk about a knee-jerk silly reaction. Heidfeld's regarded as one of the cleanest drivers in F1 I thought? Also, did he not appear to apologise?

So does this mean that if you make a small mistake occasionally then you're instantly a moron? :rolleyes:

[Garry Walker]

8 points is better than no points, and given how far Alonso went to get past Felipe I think it was the right choice.
As for Alonso saying he banged his wheels on the Ferrari on purpose, a bit immature.

Well, we will have to agree to disagree then. I remembered Schumachers race at Spa in 1995. Remember how he fought against a much more superior car there? Massa should have done the same today, he gave up too easily. I hate settling for points, a racer has to go for the win no matter the cost.
I am very unhappy at FMs performance today.

[Garry Walker]

Talk about a knee-jerk silly reaction. Heidfeld's regarded as one of the cleanest drivers in F1 I thought? Also, did he not appear to apologise?

So does this mean that if you make a small mistake occasionally then you're instantly a moron? :rolleyes:

Your first post in this thread was very good, but this one isnt of very high standard unfortunately.

Heidfeld has had his bad moments and today he rammed more than 1 car. His thoughts were probably with his new-born son. So yes, Today he drove like a moron.

[Ian McC]

Not sure where Heidfelds head was today, the BMW's made contact twice after that first corner, I wouldn't want to be them when they got back to the pits.

[donKey jote]

Talk about a knee-jerk silly reaction. Heidfeld's regarded as one of the cleanest drivers in F1 I thought? Also, did he not appear to apologise?

Not only did he not apologise, he believes it was all Kubica and Ralf's fault !
He got the big :down: from Niki Lauda :p

[VkmSpouge]

Massa - you are a *****. He gave up too easily and then later on cried about it. That was a win in his reach and he let Alonso own him, rattle him and beat him.

Massa tried really hard to hold that race lead despite his Ferrari being no match for the McLaren at that point in the race. I think he did exceedingly to hold off Alonso for as long as he did. Massa certainly didn't give up on the position easily.

[Zico]

Driver of the Euro GP?

Ralph without a doubt. :)

[BDunnell]

Not sure where Heidfelds head was today, the BMW's made contact twice after that first corner, I wouldn't want to be them when they got back to the pits.

Must say it looked as though Heidfeld was trying to get one back at Kubica after Kubica made contact with him on the exit of the first corner. Not good.

[gloomyDAY]

Not sure where Heidfelds head was today, the BMW's made contact twice after that first corner, I wouldn't want to be them when they got back to the pits.
Reporter: In other news, F1 newcomer Robert Kubica beheads his teammate Nick Heidfeld. Apparently, Heidfeld rammed Kubica for a position and sparked a mad house in the pit lane.

[Corny]

how about a poll?
Alonso was the man of the race I think, brilliant manouvre in the last laps on Massa:d

[Garry Walker]

Not only did he not apologise, he believes it was all Kubica and Ralf's fault !
He got the big :down: from Niki Lauda :p

Is that true? If yes, then Heidfeld clearly is a moron. I hope BMW wont give him another contract.


Massa tried really hard to hold that race lead despite his Ferrari being no match for the McLaren at that point in the race. I think he did exceedingly to hold off Alonso for as long as he did. Massa certainly didn't give up on the position easily.

Massa let Alonso overtake him on the outside, he should have chopped Alonso.

[Erki]

I think the real driver of the race was Anthony Davidson... I don't think I saw him ONCE on the screen. I had no clue he was even racing. :p

[andreag]

Hamilton was quickest in Session 3 of qually
No, he wasn't. He crashed on his first attempt of a fast lap. Before that, Alonso had the fastest lap with still more than five minutes to go.


and had just set the fastest Sector 1 time when he suffered a mechanical failure.
He set the fastest sector 1 before the crash, but most of the drivers couldn't set any time as the qualy was stopped. After that his time on first sector was beaten by Felipe, Kimi and Fernando, respectively.

"What if" it's just speculation.

[donKey jote]

Is that true? If yes, then Heidfeld clearly is a moron. I hope BMW wont give him another contract..
yes it's true. He also moaned about his teammate fighting him harder than other drivers do :p :


Massa let Alonso overtake him on the outside, he should have chopped Alonso.
he already did a couple of times :rolleyes:

[ojciec dyrektor]

Massa tried really hard to hold that race lead despite his Ferrari being no match for the McLaren at that point in the race. I think he did exceedingly to hold off Alonso for as long as he did. Massa certainly didn't give up on the position easily.

I don't think so. Massa can't drive in wet. Remember last year Hungaroring?
It's not Ferraris fault that Massa is poor.

Man of the race is Alonso for sure.

Donkey of the race Heidfeld. He run into two drivers and keep telling it was their fault. :s hock:

[zoostation]

Is that true? If yes, then Heidfeld clearly is a moron. I hope BMW wont give him another contract.


so a thumbs down from nicky lauda means that you shouldnt have your contract renewed??

and calling drivers '*****s' is a bit harsh in my book.

[Dave B]

Massa let Alonso overtake him on the outside, he should have chopped Alonso.
So you're upset that Heidfeld collided with Schumacher, yet advocating that Massa should have done the same thing to Alonso?


No, he wasn't. He crashed on his first attempt of a fast lap. Before that, Alonso had the fastest lap with still more than five minutes to go.

My bad, you're quite correct. My point still stands though, Hamilton's poor qualifying was down to factors outside of his control.

[andreag]

By the way, it has been an incredible sunday for spanish drivers at Nurburgring:

Dani Campos won the F-BMW race, Javier Villa did it on GP2, and Fernando Alonso on F1.

Three in a row. Never seen before.

And Alberto Contador won the Tour de France stage, Rafael Nadal is playing the final at Sttutgart vs. Wawrinka, Sergio García started the last day on the British Open with and advantage of three strikes, and Dani Pedrosa will start the Moto GP race at Laguna Seca from the first row.

Nice sunday, indeed.

[donKey jote]

Nadal turned the second set around and won it ;) :)

[Corny]

and Pedrosa will win it in a few hours:P

[donKey jote]

lol Nadal just got told Fernando won - the DSF commentator commenting on an "erfolgreiches spanisches Wochenende", before handing Nadal the keys to a Merc :p :

[donKey jote]

haha he can't start it :D


there, he found the start button...
how not to drift in a merc on a clay court :p

[djparky]

easy- Fernando Alonso- it's been a dismal few days round where I live (endless rain and floods) but watching that battle for the race lead really cheered me up- clapped when he got past Massa- all part of racing, bit of wheel banging spiced it up a bit- other than that possibly Alex Wurz's stealth drive to 4th place

[gm99]

lol Nadal just got told Fernando won - the DSF commentator commenting on an "erfolgreiches spanisches Wochenende", before handing Nadal the keys to a Merc :p :

Hopefully, Nadal didn't tape the Grand Prix to watch it when he gets home - otherwise he must be pretty pissed off at that commentator :D

[andreag]

Nadal turned the second set around and won it ;) :)
I've just seen it. They gave him a Mercedes Benz and a blonde girl :eek: .

[donKey jote]

a blonde girl, as opposed to a Bond girl :D

(pardon my sexist remark, deep down I'm a bit of a donkey you know )
http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/16/16_3_166.gif

[donKey jote]

DSF are now showing the GP... I'll pretend I never saw it and watch it again I think :D

[donKey jote]

Kimi was lucky to miss the pit wall :eek:

[donKey jote]

damn ads :p :

[jens]

Do I really have to vote for race winner this time ( :p :) - Fernando was that impressive!

But also...
Webber did a great job, drove consistently the full race and clearly managed to beat DC.
Wurz also - I think his best drive of the season (surely rate that 4th a lot higher than that fluke 3rd).

And how can I forget Winkelhock? The funniest performance of the day! :D ;)

[OTA]

Great win, no doubt driver of the day for Alonso. Once again he shows his class. Every time the conditions get difficult Alonso shines, he usually has much more imagination and courage to look for all type of lines in the wet.
Felipe took a good beating and it hurt a little when FA remminded him that it was a good fight... for a couple of laps which was the time Felipe could hold. And it wasn't FA wheels in FM car, but the other way around.
A great race, and what a champioship, good stuff...

Cheers
David

[VkmSpouge]

Massa let Alonso overtake him on the outside, he should have chopped Alonso.

If he had done then Alonso would probably have come through on the inside. Alonso was clearly superior in those conditions but Massa did everything he could to hold the McLaren off.

[Donney]

1_ Alonso, great driving when the Ferrari was faster and even better when he was better in worst conditions.

2- Webber, after all the events in the race he got a nice and deserved 3rd place, great stuff.

3- Winkelhock, he did great in his first F1 race.

[mirek01]

Driver of the race Rambo-Heidfeld (he was going like a tank) :mad: .Seriously it could be only Alonso.

[gerrit]

3- Winkelhock, he did great in his first F1 race.

Don't tell he was lucky. In fact he was very unlucky with the safety car and the red flag. He lost his immense lead and he lost at least 15 minutes advantage of a wet track.
BTW what a stupid rule to give lapped cars their lap back, but I think this has been discussed before.
BTW2: how long does a GP last. This GP lasted over 2 hours.

Gerrit Stevens

[Somebody]

BTW2: how long does a GP last. This GP lasted over 2 hours.

The red flag time is added to the two hours. It just made it.

[F1boat]

Alonso.
Obviously.

[Mickey T]

Alonso.
Obviously.

indeed. classy. from snoozing in the sun after the race was stopped to tracking massa down lap by lap and messing with his head, to putting massa in a situation where he looked foolish in the press conference - after massa's decision to touch him in the pass. all classy, and the work of a champion starting to look comfortable.

[F1MAN2007]

indeed. classy. from snoozing in the sun after the race was stopped to tracking massa down lap by lap and messing with his head, to putting massa in a situation where he looked foolish in the press conference - after massa's decision to touch him in the pass. all classy, and the work of a champion starting to look comfortable.

I liked the snoozing in the sun while other were scared by the conditions!! Classy by a WDC.

[race aficionado]

Bravo Alonso!!!

[Hawkmoon]

I'd have to go with Alonso. I knew as soon it started to rain near the end that he would have Massa. The biggest weakness in Massa's game is his wet weather driving and it was pretty obvious that he wasn't going to hold the Spaniard at bay.

Alonso showed the difference between a world class driver and simply a top diver. If only Kimi's reliability curse didn't strike I think he would have proved a much tougher challenge for Alonso. Oh well......

[Rollo]

1. Winkelhock - to be leading in your first GP and after starting from dead last is nothing short of a) remarkable and b) lucky. I think that is was a bit of a shame that he was forced to have his lead slashed to merely yards because of the rain but I guess that you have to take the good with the total flooding of a racetrack.

2. Hamilton - Alonso should fear this man. To go from a lap down (which wasn't given back to him) to being back on the lead lap is a brilliant show of fighting spirit.

3. Alonso, Massa & Webber - their drives were adequate. Sometimes all you need to do is stay upright, which they did.

[akv89]

Alonso was fantastic. Easy pick. However, if I'm going to remember this race for any one person it is Winklehock :p : Has there ever been another driver in F1 who debuted in the worst car, starting from the pitlane and led the field at the end of the first lap at their home GP :p :

[andreag]

Hamilton ... To go from a lap down (which wasn't given back to him)
This is not correct. The lap was given back to him, when the SC allowed him to pass all the cars to rejoin behind (he pass the SC on the main straigh. But instead of joining the packet he pitted to change tyres, and rejoined behind Heidfeld on 17th (Heidfeld also change tyres before the rest).

[pino]

poll added and eventhough Alonso once again showed he's the best driver, I gave my vote to Webber :D

[ioan]

I can't see Winkelhock in your list pino!

[Ranger]

I can't see Winkelhock in your list pino!

Winkelhock = Bloody legend! Not the driver of the race, but damn... that was the best thing I've ever seen in F1! :D

Shame about Kimi whose retirement was the only dampener of the race despite the wet.
Kudos to Webber who did brilliantly to get the podium, and to the safety car driver who had the prescense of mind to speed up before Liuzzi hit him.

Hamilton made the best tactical decision of the race that a driver could have made by keeping the engine running once he was off.

But Alonso was the driver of the race, hands down. Ten points in the bag, Hamilton nil - such a brilliant win in changable conditions couldnt have been more timely. :)

[Valve Bounce]

As much as I'd like to vote Alonso because he won, Webber drove a car which was obviously slower than several others. From the live timing gaps, it was easy to see that both Red Bulls were holding other cars up, and had they giebn their opponents half a chance, they would have been easy.

Still, I must say that Alonso drove very well when the rain came down a second time.

[Hondo]

I had to go with Webber, mainly for taking and preserving a position they wouldn't normally be able to achieve. Mark on the podium sure does highlight just how tiny those F1 drivers are!

Nice race Mark!

[Flat.tyres]

Ive given it to Webber for the result but Alonso could easily have got it as well. its just we dont get to vote for Mark often :D

[donKey jote]

I would have given it to Webber but for the brake test ;) :p :
So I guess it has to go to the Raindance Kid
http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/16/16_3_166.gif

[Big Ben]

I have a question... can I found out who voted for Massa?

[ojciec dyrektor]

I have a question... can I found out who voted for Massa?

Meybe Felipe is registered on this forum? ;)

[samuratt]

Alonso: Driver of the day and Master of the Rain

Winkelhock: nice to see him lead the pack in a Spyker on his first day! XD

[andreag]

I have a question... can I found out who voted for Massa?
I have another question. Why is not Lewis on the poll?

According to some opinions written in another threads, he did a superb driving. I also pointed out in my first post to start the thread; he was great gaining one position during the race.

And for sure he should be the driver of the race if we take in account how high every driver reached at any time in the race; when he was holding by the crane he was higher than any other driver.

[Gibbsy]

I have another question. Why is not Lewis on the poll?

According to some opinions written in another threads, he did a superb driving. I also pointed out in my first post to start the thread; he was great gaining one position during the race.

Lewis lost control going into turn one during the rainstorm. He was the only supposedly top driver to fall victim to the river that developed at that point, the rest were substandard drivers like the toro rossos and Button. Then he made the classic rookie error of going on to dry tyres before the track was dry enough.

Not a great race for him, but an excellent learning experience.


I gave my vote to Webber. He got through the crazed start and the early storm unscathed. Overtook Coulthard when he had to, then drove millimeter perfect lines to keep Heikki and Wurz at bay, After Wurz pitted he put down quik laps to build a gap before his own pitstop, then nursed a struggling car home after the rain hit again. He was fourth on Merit on the day which is a great result for a Red Bull driver. The Kimi retirement and the subsequent podium were the icing on the cake. I for a second thought hed win when Massa and Alonso touched. I Was screaming at my TV for them to take each other out, but it wasnt to be.

Alonso was great also, though I attribute his win to luck. Had the final rain hit ten minutes later he would have followed Massa home.

[millencolin]

because i am extremely biased and absolutely stoked at the result... the best drive at the euroGp was

MARK WEBBER!!!!

WOOT!!! GO WEBBER!!!

ok i'll calm down... honourable mention to Winklehock and Spyker in general. Tops strategy move to put on wets at the start

[Valve Bounce]

From what I perceived in the live timing coverage, Mark fought off Heiki's Renault and then Wurz's Williams in his slower Red Bull for 10 and around 30 odd laps. Great drive. I voted for Mark.

[wmcot]

Wow, I'm the only one that voted for Wurz so far? He made up 8 places and came within a whisker of a podium! A terrific charge on Webber in the wet! Not a bad day's drive for the guy!

[Storm]

Fernando :up:

Webber did pretty well as did Wurz to catch him near the end..if he had 1 more lap he may have got P3

[leopard]

The two Fs at the front weren't amazing me, I vote for Webber and the ***bull

[wmcot]

I was going to vote for Winkelhock for the novelty of it. As the SpeedTV commentators pointed out, who else has started last and then started first (actually re-started) in his first GP???

I bet that record stands for quite awhile!

[Flat.tyres]

I was going to vote for Winkelhock for the novelty of it. As the SpeedTV commentators pointed out, who else has started last and then started first (actually re-started) in his first GP???

I bet that record stands for quite awhile!


I cant think of any other driver who made up 23 positions in a couple of laps :D

[Mihai]

Definitely Winkelhock! A lot of you nominated him, but he has only a couple of votes (including mine) on the poll. Alonso did a magnificent race, but I say let it be Winkelhock the man of the race. It may well be the only F1 race in his life and what a dream debut he had!

[stevie_gerrard]

Alonso just ahead of webber, under a lot of pressure to match his teammates work, and was up to the task. Could be an interesting battle for the rest of the season with Lewis faultering a bit. :p :

[raphael123]

How anyone can say anyone but Alonso is beyond me.

Though what I noticed was in the dry spell, Hamilton was matching Massa's pace when Alonso was losing .3-5s a lap! At first I assumed it was as Hamilton was much lighter, but that didn't turn out to be true. I think Hamilton, though I prefer Alonso, probably had the pace to win that race. Saying that, we don't know how he would have coped at the end when it started to rain.

[Valve Bounce]

I cant think of any other driver who made up 23 positions in a couple of laps :D

Neither can I, seing that only 22 cars started.
:p :

[Flat.tyres]

Neither can I, seing that only 22 cars started.
:p :

sorry, complete brain fade. somehow I took 1 off 22 and got 23. does this qualify me to work for the FIA? :dork:

[Big Ben]

Winkelhock... :) ? hilarious.... of all so many picked this one because hazzard brought him to the first place and lost almost everything in one lap,,,

[jso1985]

Take count Winkelhock was in Full Wets on the restart.

He did one bet that worked out perfectly and another one that ruined any chance to score points...

[wmcot]

sorry, complete brain fade. somehow I took 1 off 22 and got 23. does this qualify me to work for the FIA? :dork:

More than work for them! You're next in line for Max's job!

BTW - Why is the crane (or whatever it's called) driver not on the poll? I want to change my vote to the crane driver!

[Flat.tyres]

More than work for them! You're next in line for Max's job!

BTW - Why is the crane (or whatever it's called) driver not on the poll? I want to change my vote to the crane driver!

:laugh:

[F1MAN2007]

Take count Winkelhock was in Full Wets on the restart.

He did one bet that worked out perfectly and another one that ruined any chance to score points...

The information of rain came from a student in UK who is the forecast agent for the team!!! :D

The student is brilliant and being in UK he could predict the rain precisely than the top professionals on track in Germany?! :D