2013 United States Grand Prix *** Spoilers ***

Nick, I was simply agreeing that it had been a case of sabotage with Singapore. You are correct that it is a completely different case with Maldonado.

EC83, isn't that the race when Prost handed his winners trophy to the Tifosi?

I'd forgotten all about that last year Jim, when Bruno had to exclusively give up his seat to Bottas. I'm guessing that decision had something to do with PDVSA's influence. Dare I say it, but it actually puts Bruno's performances into a much better light. He actually did pretty well last year at Williams. I'm beginning to sound like Brunninho

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Races: 163 - Wins: 23 - Pole Positions: 24 - Fastest Laps: 22
Season 9: Constructors' Champions

Ferrari2007 Wrote:
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> EC83, isn't that the race when Prost handed his
> winners trophy to the Tifosi?

It was indeed.


Ferrari2007 Wrote:
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> I'm beginning to sound like
> Brunninho

You've got a way to go there. :P
(Although, weirdly, I've found myself missing him lately)

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Wow, explosive start!
Sutil just arrived.

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Awesome move by Webber. Out-Lewising Lewis!

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Yes! points for #BOTTAS and Williams.

Customary awesomeness from Seb. More history made!

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Wooo! Go Bottas! :D

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GPGSL -
GPGSL-3 - Pizza Party Racing manager and driver
Nations Cup - Team Scotland manager

When I saw the interview with Bottas after the race, where he praised the team, I couldn't help thinking that it was a subtle dig at Maldonado after what he said yesterday if so, then I think he deserves a pat on the back!

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You know you want to. [judgegrudge.mybrute.com]

He wasn't too happy with Maldonaldo at Suzuka.. but I doubt he was really having a dig at him here. He didn't need to either as their respective performances on the track did all the talking.

I think what Bottas has done this weekend is to give a big to the boost morale of the Williams team, he's given them hope at the tailend of a desperately unsuccessful season. He's had a difficult rookie year with an ill handling car which was off the pace and he's made a few rookie race craft errors but only the sort which loses him track position and time. He hasn't really had any incidents or collisions. He's basically quietly got on with it.

Maldonaldo on the other hand has done little but bemoan the car as undrivable and pointed the finger at anyone but himself. Piping off as he did post qualifying could ultimately cost him a drive for next year now. With a little bit of luck Hulkenberg could now pick and choose his car for next year since Lotus, Sauber and Force India all seem to want him, with lotus waiting on the dodgy quantum money and Sauber practically telling him that a Sauber contract is his if he wants it. And now Sergio Perez is on the market and he might just come with fresh telemex backing.

So suddenly the overly smug Maldonaldo doesn't look too clever. If he's not careful he'll be knocking on the door of Marussia.

regarding sergio, i would like to make a small comment:

what a shame by mclaren! the guy drove well, especially when you consider he is along a world champion who BEAT hamilton, who is regarded as top 2 or 3 of the fastest drivers.

Also, sergio made fun of jenson at so many occasions: bahrain; monaco in qualy; usa; india etc. If you look at it objectively, mclaren should either keep him or get rid of button as well. i mean, the gap bewteen them is 20 points, which is about 8 points in the old scoring system.

Button is not among the fastest 2 or 3. He might have the race-craft to be up near the top, but ultimately, he's let down by his qualifying performances, and the fact that Perez and he are roughly equal in qualifying means Perez was underperforming.

We said last year that either Ferrari were monumentally stupid or knew Perez wasn't going to be up to the job, and clearly it's the latter. He is a decent enough driver, but McLaren (despite their year) aren't a decent team - they're a team aiming to be at the top and should be have drivers to get them there - unless Perez has had an exceptionally poor year, he's clearly not going to be a driver who will ever challenge for a title unless he finds himself in the enviable position of Button at Brawn. It seems fairly obvious they're flirting with Alonso at any given opportunity, which if it happens in the next couple of years will likely to replace (or swap) Button... meanwhile, they're sounding out the new Hamilton (not necessarily good news in attracting Alonso!), and the noises are he's been destroying Perez in the simulator.

Button has a challenge on his hands now. If Magnussen lives up to their expectations then he'll quickly establish himself as the future of the team and then McLaren will the also look to Vandoorne most likely at the expense of Button. In today's era of money over talent and experience I would doubt his chances of finding another drive post McLaren especially if the top teams are tied up with long term deals.

But, it's not the first time Button has faced a season with the pressure of having to topple a team-mate to secure his long term future. In 2003 when he joined BAR he was pitched alongside a world champion in the form of Villeneuve who had a reputation of outphysching his team-mates, but it was Button who came out on top. When he went to McLaren we all expectd Hamilton to wipe the floor clean with him and yet button out scored him across the 3 seasons together.

My point is... Don't write him off because he has a habit of raising his game and getting the job done just when you expect him to flop.

gav écrivait:
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> Button is not among the fastest 2 or 3. He might
> have the race-craft to be up near the top,

you are correct, Gav! what i meant is that j.b. beat hamilton, who (that is Hamilton) is regarded as one of the fastest.

It was a brilliant performance all weekend by Bottas, the kind of performance I did think he was capable of but hadn't managed to hook up sooner. Hopefully he can build on this and have a really strong 2014.

RE Jenson, I'm inclined to agree with Jim - he's the easiest driver to underestimate. He might not be thought of as a truly top-echelon driver, but over time he's delivered drives(like China 2010, Hungary 2011, Spa and Brazil 2012) which were worthy of the very best, and done impressive things like keeping the 2011 Championship alive for an extra couple of races IIRC against Seb. So he definitely deserves comparison with the top drivers, and he should never be written off either.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/2013 01:29AM by EC83.

EC83 Wrote:
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> It was a brilliant performance all weekend by
> Bottas, the kind of performance I did think he was
> capable of but hadn't managed to hook up sooner.
> Hopefully he can build on this and have a really
> strong 2014.

I'd rate it as comfortably his best performance of the season and that includes qualifying 3rd at Canada (which had the benefit of a car setup which erred towards the wet conditions).

He beat on merit at least four cars which by rights should have been ahead of him (eight if you want to milk it; Rosberg, button, Ricciardo, Massa, Kovalainen, Vernge, Gutierrez, di Resta)

His pace was strong all weekend, he got through to Q3, including setting the pace in Q1 and he qualified above the level of the car even if a scrappy lap in Q3 cost him one or two positions. Following a period of conservative tyre management (with exception of the leading trio) he was the fastest driver in the closing laps of the race which ensured that Rosberg never got close enough to challenge him and he was closing in on Perez.

This race also went towards addressing some of his race craft issues. His start was "ordinary" but it saw him pass Kovalainen and he was assertive at the first corner which helped him maintain position on the first lap and get his tyres up-to temperature. Thanks to his strong pace he was never overtaken nor lapped and so no time was lost in the physical act of losing track position and he also dealt with overtaking Gutierrez in a mature way, it would have been extremely easy to lose a wing there (Maldonaldo).

His tyre management was good, though perhaps a little bit too conservative as in the second stint he lost a lot of time to the cars ahead whilst he was looking after the tyres, although this tactic did provide him the tools to manage Rosberg behind him and thus maintain 8th which was arguably more important than challenging for 7th.

Along with Grosjean's it was one of the drives of the day, and leagues ahead of team-mate Maldonaldo.