Official F1/Motorsport thread

[PeteJ]

Can't afford both, look forward to seeing your photos though!

Got myself a 70-200 2.8 IS and 2x extender for silverstone

[Alastair]

And yours from Silverstone.

I was considering not taking the camera at all and just snapping with my wife's P&S instead. Maybe you've set me a challenge now though. Think I'll travel light and just take the zoom and the walkabout with nothing else.

[Malc]

I went to Goodwood last year, but not going this year. When I next go though I wont be taking any pictures, as last time I spent far too long taking pictures, rather than just enjoying the festival with my own eyes.

[Wools]

I know Alonso has been in the wars regarding traffic but his suggestion that other teams and the FIA are manipulating him are far fetched.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/84868

[PeteJ]

He and Ferrari have to be careful, they were unlucky in the race for sure but since then their attitude stinks. Wouldn't be surprised if the FIA tell them to STFU or get a fine.

[Roddie]

Alonso is just a big baby. If there's a sniff of 'race manipulation' then surely he should be the one to keep quiet; how can keep a straight face when making these cries after the disgrace of Singapore 2008? Hamilton was within his rights to pass the Safety Car and it's only because he hesitated that he wasn't ahead at the first SC. But he did hesitate and so he was penalised. It's not the first time a driver has been given a drive-though and not had their place compromised; what he did lose, was a chance at winning the race.

The Safety Car always throws a large dollop of luck on a Grand Prix and it just happened to fall between Hamilton and Alonso. There times where Ferrari and Alonso will have benefited and if Fernando could've overtaken the SC legitimately in this race, then I'm sure he would have.

[sharky_ob]

Glad to see Webber walk away from that one.

Did Vettel actually see Yippee on the team radio after the flag? Gimp.

[Senna]

@Mike, mate have fun at Silverstone !!

Thanks man, I'm very much looking forward to it, and especially the new track layout. The last time I went was in 2003, and we all know how that race went - a fantastic race and battle between Barrichello and Raikkonen, and then that nutter walking onto the track on Hangar Straight.

More of the same please (ok perhaps not the nutter)!!

[Shez]

I think Alonso has a point in general, although all the race manipulation stuff is bollocks.

Alonso does need to look at his own performance (again) - It's starting to become clear that his speed seems to drop when he is flustered.

As for the penalty, it took far too long to hand it out, and in that time Hamilton had built up enough of a cushion over the slower Sauber, so much so he did not lose track position - I can see how that would be frustrating for the person directly behind Hamilton at the time he illegaly passed the safety car.

[Wools]

Quoted by the Press Association on Tuesday, Hamilton was asked whether Alonso's moaning was a simple case of sour grapes.

"Yeah," said Hamilton. "I even saw him overtaken by a Sauber [Kamui Kobayashi] on the big screen. It's very unlike him to be overtaken by a Sauber so he must have been completely in another world..."

I love it.

[PeteJ]

FIA are angered at Ferrari now, if they keep on they'll be sent to bed with no tea.

[Roddie]

I think Alonso has a point in general, although all the race manipulation stuff is bollocks.

Alonso does need to look at his own performance (again) - It's starting to become clear that his speed seems to drop when he is flustered.

As for the penalty, it took far too long to hand it out, and in that time Hamilton had built up enough of a cushion over the slower Sauber, so much so he did not lose track position - I can see how that would be frustrating for the person directly behind Hamilton at the time he illegaly passed the safety car.

It apparently took longer than usual to dish out a penalty because they were concentrated on making sure Webber was okay, then they had to wait to get footage from the chopper. They couldn't actually see the SC line from the onboard and because the transponder in the Safety Car is in a different place than in an F1 car, they couldn't go by that either.

[JohnMcL7]

Given penalties are usually fairly slow to be given out, I don't really understand the complaints in this specific case - the penalties for the cars speeding behind the safety car just after Hamilton's incident weren't even dealt with during the race.

John

[Senna]

Guys, take a look at this video on Youtube it's Lewis and Jenson visiting the McLaren F1 'Museum' where they uncover Senna's 1988 McLaren:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tQCXE7DDuc

We all know Lewis's idol is Ayrton Senna, but just watching this gave me goosebumps as he sat in the car completely quiet and eerily focused. In their personal lives they may be very different, but in their attitude to racing and aggression I think there's very little difference. I still feel it difficult to warm to Lewis, but he's just such an exciting driver to watch it really doesn't matter.

Nice video, made me smile

[Paulos G]

Nice video, made me smile

Me too. Great find.