TBK-Light.com

They beat him when they had the best technical director, the best designer and the best driver in the world at that time in the same package.

Today, they have none of those things. Well, arguably best driver, but even the biggest Alonso fanboy must admit that the top tier is more crowded than when Michael was king. As must the biggest Lewis and Seb fanboys.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

What Ferrari need is a good second driver, otherwise they are 100% screwed in the WCC. With two good drivers and a good car, they have every possibility in the world to grab the title.

_________________
I shagged a couple of loose balls for her in warmups.

No, Ferrari need someone who can back Alonso up every race. Massa can't do that.

I believe that if he is still performing like this mid-2012, they'll fire him and bring in Perez or Bianchi to evaluate them for half a season.

_________________
Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Alonso is not going to be around forever. He's 30, and while he has obviously got a few more years left in him, it would probably be in Ferrari's interest to find drivers who would be able to take him on and beat him on their day, in the same way that McLaren have Lewis and Jenson.

I am not entirely convinced that Perez is that driver. And Bianchi needs to stop hitting things.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

Felipe Massa is also 30. Ferrari has served him long enough and he has not repaid their faith.

That's why Ferrari started their academy. If not, Ferrari will be trying to lure Sebastian away from Red Bull in a few years.

_________________
Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Yeah, obviously, unless Massa has a rebirth next season then he will go, but the point I'm making is that it wouldn't help Ferrari if they opted for someone to do a similar job to him. They have to hire someone who will do more than what they expect out of Massa.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

No, they need someone who can do what they expect of Massa. That is finishing close to Alonso and picking up results when he is unable to do so.

Massa for the best part of 2 seasons, has been unable to do what Ferrari has asked of him.

_________________
Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Unfortunately Massa is not only inconsistent but also fails to accept some of the responsibility of his bad performances. That needs to change if he's going to re-discover his form.

I don't think that will be good enough. Alonso is struggling, and will continue to struggle, to match Vettel and whichever McLaren is faster on a given weekend. Having a dogsbody who can be counted upon to finish right behind him will not give Ferrari the results they want in terms of the championship.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

Alonso is struggling but is still managing to drag the car to decent results. That's not exactly all down to luck is it? Thanks to that performance Alonso is 3rd in the WDC. Massa by contrast is nowhere, not even close to 5th place. Having a dogsbody who can finish near Alonso would help Ferrari to be more competitive in the constructors and possibly finish 2nd.

No, but you look at Alonso and all but once this season has he been outstanding. Taking that car to places it does not belong and in with a shot at 2nd in the drivers championship. Give him a car that is reasonably close to Red Bull and he can take the title. But with such a slow car they can't

Look at 2010 - Massa was much closer to Alonso and backed him up several times. In 2011, he hasn't done that. Not that it would have helped, but another driver scoring points closer to Alonso's total would help the teams credibility and more money for 2nd place.

I just think with so many drivers around, lots of them could do better than Massa.

_________________
Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

I'm not criticising Alonso, I know he's doing a great job in what is the third best car. In the short term, it would help Ferrari to have a better number two who remains a number two, but for the long term they need to branch out.

Whoever they go after for 2013 may determine where the rest of this decade goes for them.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

Yes, although the problem of replacing Alonso won't materialise until 2016.

_________________
Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Sutil, was consistently keeping up with Mercedes' pace.

Voted for Hamilton, but Alonso was fantastic also.

Buemi was having a great race but the car let him down, again.

Sutil, Rosberg, Kobayashi and Rubens all deserve a mention as well.

5
Better than I expected for this boring track. And happy to see Hamilton wins this one

Not seen her before, but she was hot, Webber's is the best.

Clearly they'll be changing the track now after the lack of passing in the race

went to bed after 6 laps checked recording this morning and the order was pretty much the same

3/10

They needa take out turns 5 and 6, change up the chicane between both straights so its not so freaking tight, make turns 11, 12, 13 and 14 a long sweeping corner kinda like Spoon at Suzuka then run that backwards. Phil's layout looks much better as well.