Alonso is still Alonso, f**king great driver but pissed off he's found himself in a less than brilliant car. This wasn't what going to Ferrari was supposed to be all about. He's frustrated and understandably so. Still a great driver, but mentally he's not fully engaged because of what's happened with Ferrari this season if you ask me.

That said, I still don't think anyone could have stopped Kobayashi going past on brand new tyres.

When Rosberg illegally went into a closed pitlane in Singapore 2008, and managed to leapfrog Hamilton because it took 16 laps (one longer than Valencia) for them to give out his penalty, in which time he'd built a bigger gap than his penalty cost him, I was in such uproar I said the following on this forum:

Oh, wait ... sorry, that's not what you're after, is it?

When Webbo won Nurb with a drive-thru everyone thought it was impressive. Nobody going on about the punishment not being effective.

OWNED!!!!

Oh really? Tinypic

Well one good say that Rosberg brpke the rules with a clear need to do so, as in days of the refuelling he would have run out of fuel, if he did not pit. One could argue that there was a technical need to brake the rules. That is not the case with what Lewis did in Valencia. In Valencia Lewis was simply clever.

It should have set a precedent in Hamilton's case.

There is nothing great how he has drived and behaved last 3-4seasons. He has sucked big time.
But this season is not over yet,he still has time to prove us wrong

The precedent had already been set with Rosberg and Webber's penalties, and yet now when it happens with Hamilton it's a huge conspiracy? If this was the first time it had happened, as a McLaren fan I would have smelled a rat too, but it's happened before and may well happen again.

They have taken quotes from a Forum and posted them on the news section? I hope Autosport don't get any ideas! Not sure what they are trying to achieve with that, but it comes across as very desperate and frankly embarrassing.

Something the internet F1 fans could learn from? Or were they just being sarcastic when they moaned about him moaning? And who has the adrenaline flowing?

Kudos to Alonso for showing humility and a level head in his statement. Qualities that sometimes seem sadly lacking on this board.

You know what: I was never angry at Alonso, even though is reaction was out of controll. He was angry after the race, ofcourse. Now he softened his remarks, very good.

However: I am still angry at Ferrari. Ofcourse the company can be upset by events like that in Valencia. What is annoying is how they try - everytime! - to make something out of it which it's is not - the unfair 'state of F1'. With which they mean: If Ferrari doesn't win, something must be wrong.

QUOTE (Tactical @ Jun 29 2010, 21:01)
Levels of fanboyism and bitterness against the spaniard are disgusting.



Yeah, I know. Thanks.

Saying what it is without the FIA making them apologise. I found one of those very interesting:

“It was 2006, in the GP2 race in Imola, and Lewis overtook the safety car after falsely thinking he was being waved through when in fact it was waving through the Campos cars ahead of him. Lewis was leading the race at that time and should have stayed behind the safety car. His penalty? A black flag and disqualification from the race. So I can see why Ferrari would be upset that a similar penalty was not applied to Lewis for this transgression.”

Yep, both sides of fanboyism are utterly sad, we can agree on that. You and me, and many others here, look sad from an objetctive point of view. But it doesn't matter, all of us will keep fighting, ehm... that is... losing time in a forum, to show we are in possession of... the truth.

I have been reading the forum for years man, and knowing this (and many others) ceased to be a open discussion places some time ago, to become playgrounds where kids play endlessly to that classic 'my d*** is bigger than yours' (change d*** by driver and bigger for better).

But somehow, we need to do it sometimes. I think Alonso does not deserve the bullshit he is thrown here constantly, and fully understand the same goes for Hamilton according to you and some other biased people . Perhaps time will finally decide who was right.

Nonsense. Next round.

Cheers.

Ferrari backed their driver. It's the best they could do as it will only bring them a common objective and not a sign of bad feelings.
That, and of course seeing both Ferraris caught behind the safety car while the whole field runs for best positions. Also seeing FIA incompetence in handling penalties...

They, sadly, don't quote the more recent example of cars passing the SC in GP2 - which resulted in a drive through.

They already do it.

No doubt. Sometimes we really forgot that what we seek here is good and fast info's and that the main target is to enjoy a good race and a competitive championship.

And what a brilliant insight they put up there! Like this gem: Others also broach the subject of the nationality of the race stewards, saying they should not be of the same nationality as the competitors, as suggested by Goodwood, a British fan who says “..Everybody should see the intrinsic unfairness of having at every GP stewards of the same nationality as drivers in the grid. Can you imagine a football match having a referee of the same nationatily as any of the contenders?” Well, I've understood there wasn't any British stewards, am I right? Oh it's the ever satanic Whiting and his love for all British, i guess.

I'm getting pretty disgusted with this whole thing. And I'm not British or Hamilton fan.

Ahaha I read that too, and I don't know why I was more disappointed. The fact that it was biased and frankly amateur journalism by the Ferrari web writer, or the fact Heinz Harald Frentzen isn't actually English..

Before that snippet was used I wonder if the writer actually thought to check who the chief steward was in Valencia?

Sure Whiting is British but he's penalised Hamilton in the past and nationality hasn't be mentioned before. I suppose it doesn't fit if Lewis is punished by a fellow countryman, as you can't use the racial card, and rival fans have been quick to back the FIA when a decision goes their way..

Alonso is sitting at home asking himself why he didn't stay at Renault, after all, as he would be 0.6 of a second faster than Kubica, he would be leading the WDC by now.

Wonder if he took a glass of whine with his large slice of Humble Pie

So.

Alonso was upset during and after this race over how it evolved - Understandable

Alonso criticized how it had unfolded and said things straight from the heart in the heat of the moment - Understandable

Alonso calms down and apolgizes for saying the things she said and explains he was upset at the time - Understandable

So now let's criticize him for all of this because none of us fellow Autosport members would do any of the things above because we are just on a higher level altogheter.

Come on, let us all come together and marvel at ourselves!

I agree, FA deserves some respect for his statement. Alonso was wrong to say what he did and has gone to lengths to retract it which is never easy. I thought it particularly pertinent that he added this line “And I am not referring to any of the drivers in particular: it’s a general matter and I think we should talk about it together in a calm way, to ensure that things like this do not happen again." Offering an olive branch to Hamilton?

Wrong though the comment might be it does point to an important issue regarding the understanding the public have of the sport. Even people who are 'into' it enough to post on the Ferrari forums and here did not understand the difference between Race Director and Stewards.

Alonso understands, of course, as do Ferrari. In my view they should be doing what they can to provide some thought leadership on this issue, not writing up daft misleading articles like this.

There is a lot wrong with F1, but the nationality of the stewards last weekend was not one of them.

If you consider an opinion of "I wouldn't unfairly accuse the stewards of manipulating the race" equals marveling at yourself, then I think that says more about your standards than my supposed self-congratulations.

Alonso was mad due to what for him was a very good reason, he said some things in the heat of the moment that have been (partly) blown out of proportion, and he has either retracted or apologised for those remarks since then. Fair enough, he's a racing driver and sometimes these guys go nuts about something and say things after a race or over the radio which they later wish they hadn't. Same goes for all drivers if they are around long enough and fighting at the sharp end like FA is this season. Some even drag the wreckage to the next weekend (e.g. Trulli after his collision with Sutil) before they finally let it go, so at least Alonso shows he can put this behind him and look forward.

However, Ferrari as a company needs to be taken to one side and given some calm, quiet advice about how NOT to appear utterly crass and unprofessional. The stuff they put on their official Web site is barely fit for a forum post and hardly what you'd expect from a team with the long, proud heritage this one has - and that's after a couple of days to calm down and gain some perspective. Poor show, Ferrari, damn poor show

Precisely.
Whiting is getting alot of stick from Ferrari fans over the decision to give Lewis a drive through penalty, which goes to show that certain elements of fans do not understand that a race director does not decide on how to punish a driver. Stewards make a decision in a collective and the race director is in charge of issuing this to the teams/drivers responsible.

The chief steward at the weekend was German and I too think nationality played no relevence in the weekends events.

I think the fact that Alonso does not want to give interviews (he is very uncomfortable with them and never wanted to be famous) but is forced to under contract. Yet forum members hang around online on sunny afternoons moaning out of their own choice, speaks volumes.

I would prefer to meet Alonso in private down the pub and hear is true views, and I for one would not moan about him if he wants to sit there and moan or swear about certain events at work. It happens down the pub every evening anyway.

Anyone else who has raced knows how blood boiling events like these can be, and also how different you can feel as the days pass.
Eventually you can start to accept 'thats racing' and focus on the next race, shame the same cant be said of internet F1 fans. I imagine people with tickets to the next couple of races are even more excited about the sport they follow. As for people on here, it just seems like a negative existence.

I dont know if its mentioned already, if Alonso knew what the SC rules were about, what the level of stretch was, why didnt Alonso overtook Lewis before the white line? Its so easy to nag afterwards, its so difficult to anticipate to the situation ... And yes, there was a yellow flag.

This is not just an emotional reaction from them. They are thrwoing a smoke screen to try and hide the fact that the big update that was suposed to give them a big advantage didn't work. Upgrade or not Valencia was suposed to be a good track for Ferrari and they were no better than in Canada. They know they are in a bad shape and running out of ideas to fix this years car.

I think the tifosi will catch up with that pretty soon and when it hapens I doubt Ferrari will be highlighting their coments anymore.

He has apologized to FIA and the Stewards but not to Hamilton.

Yes because you've been in such a situation...

Welcome to F1. You should be aware that if you dont make progress in F1 you actually go backwards. The Ferrari updates worked sure enough, just that everyone else went forward one step too. This is not about Ferrari catching up, this is about Ferrari obtaining a bigger gain than their rivals. All teams are adding performance updates including Mercedes.

What kind of huge update did McLaren had for Valencia?

I've played a bit of competitive sport. I've been on the receiving end of a number of decisions that have gone against me that I've disagreed with. I've often felt the need to complain about those decisions. I've never once questioned the integrity of the people making those decisions.

I'm sure the pressures on me were nothing like those on a top line F1 driver, but still. There are certain lines you shouldn't cross. Claiming "fix" just because you were on the receiving end of a decision you didn't like is one of them.

Ferrari's exhausts blowing over the diffuser was not expected to launch them above Red Bull or McLaren, I wouldnt even call it a huge update. RB and Macca are still moving forward, obviously. They are continually learning to make the tyres work better and balance the car better with their superior package for a start, they bring updates to every race.

The integrity of formula one is more questionable than a sunday football referee, Alonso knows this only too well from 2006. As for whinging, he knows from Hungary 2007 where that gets you (even when its the father who does it)

Have you guys read the articles on the front page? Noble's and Doodgin's.
They sum it up pretty well.

Nothing can be more intense and passionate in F1 nowadays than Hamilton vs Alonso.

My standards are probably lower than yours then?

My standards say that sometimes you say things, and sometimes you even do things, that you might regret afterwards. Not uncommonly those things happen in what is commonly known or referred to as "heat of the moment".

My standards say that these things can happen in life and I think if you apologize for it afterwards, ita can and should go a long way. Some things though is maybe so severe that an apology might not be enough at all. But I don't think this is even close to classify as that.

Apparently most people criticizing Alonso here never do anything wrong and thus has nothing to apologize for, thus is in every right to hang Alonso for this. Maybe you are one of those.

To be less cynical:

Alonso was upset during and after the race and I think most people can understand why. He criticized FIA directly afterwards for what he felt was wrongly done by them. When he calmed down and reflected on it, he realized he was wrong in criticizing them and apologized for it.

So what's the big deal?

Hamilton lied to the stewards last year, got a team member sacked and somewhat apologized for it two weeks later. I think that was worse than this, but still not a big deal.

Well you've answered your own question there, as for Alonso's comments its understandable under what circumstances he chose his wording. When you see an incident in which an individual purposefully chose to ignore the rules and through an extensively drawn out period, where by the incompetence of the stewarding and or stewarding system resulted in the action of rewarding an individual who had broken the rules and disadvantaged the individual who had chosen to respect those same rules, would make any driver question to themselves and or to others the integrity of the sporting stewardship. Coupled with the prior lenient decisions made by the same body regarding said driver, a certain amount of questioning has to be made. This happened in the heat of the moment and Alonso has apologised. What needs to be now addressed is the future handling of such matters, in a way fitting both parties to make sure such a scenario where a driver who brakes the rules of a sporting code is not able to gain a net benefit to a driver who respect those same rules.

if someone can find the quotes, Alonso said the same thing back in 06. I don't understand why the british journos are making this a big deal now.
that time it was the for the penalty he got at monza and the mass damper issue.

Sure, people make mistakes. I make lots of them. I'm sure I've said sorry more times than I remember.

But I don't think saying: "I don't think I would have done that" re: Alonso's "manipulated" comment is quite the "marveling at yourself" you seem to characterise it as.

I don't think Alonso is a bad person for having done it. It's hardly the worst thing I've ever seen a driver do. But I do think it was pretty poor. I see you bring up the Hamilton lying incident in Melbourne as a comparison. For what it's worth, I think that was worse - and I still find myself more than able to support Hamilton. So please don't take my criticism of Alonso for this overboard.

I have to say, as well, that the panacea that his "apology" (and whilst that word has appeared in a few headlines, I note neither it nor any synonyms of it appear in the text of the press release) seems to have given him surprises me a little as well. If regretting the interpretations people could put on your comments is an apology then I have to say it's pretty meally mouthed. Again, Alonso hardly finds himself in sparse company here. So please don't see me as slating the guy - that's just the way I see it.

Classic Ferrari - that's a good list of reasons why Alonso would be an unhappy bunny getting out of the car. I still don't see why that anger couldn't manifest itself as "the stewards are sh*t" rather than "the stewards are crooked". Taking that extra leap is the bit I don't find too understandable at all, I'm afraid.

Why? He hasn't said anything bad about Hamilton.

Exactly but thats how some people are going to remember it.....because Hamilton has got into his head and all

Are you serious, before the race and after the practice sessions, this update was being hailed as a potentially 7 tenth bringing update. Something that could see them get the win .

Alonso has not apologized at all. He just said that he was wrong on what he said of the Stewards and they did the right thing last Sunday.

He has nothing to apologize for to Hamilton. Alonso said that drivers that follow the rules ended up worst that drivers that did not. That was the fact of the race.

Hamilton was the one accusing him of being envious.