Hamilton said he and Alonso are of a higher calibre...

[Scott]

Ouch.  As a Swiss, I have to support Sauber.  In the quotes he comes off pretty arrogant, and barely a word of praise towards Hulkenberg who sparred and won with Hamilton today - I think everyone can agree. 

It's just not very ingenious to say you are of a higher calibre and therefore shouldn't be fighting for 5th and 6th.  Hamilton AND the team made some mistakes today, and as a result, they finished 5th. 

...oh, and there was a Sauber in front of you that was faster than your car even when you had the KERS flap open.  Oh, that too.   

http://www.planet-f1.com/driver/3213/8960147/Hamilton-Alonso-and-I-deserve-better

[F1fanaticBD]

I think what Lewis was referring to was they should have been scraping for race wins with Vettel, instead of biting each other at 5th or 6th place. He didn't mean anything to Sauber or Hulk, I think a bit of frustration not having a car worthy of fighting with Sebastian.

[John S]

Not sure Lewis is complaining about the Sauber doing a good impression of Gilles Villeneuve at 81 Spanish GP in Ferrari's first ever turbo, he held up/off five or more cars for nearly all the race by blasting off the corners at any straight. I remember at the time, yes some of us are old enough to have watched it on TV, what a snorefest that was.    Yeah I know you can't blame Hulk, but a moving road block is precisely what DRS was introduced to prevent - this is my opinion by the way Lewis doesn't really get into this in the piece.

For me it appears Lewis is rueing the gap between both the Merc and Ferrari to Red Bull, Mark may well have got all the way to second spot without the incidents that befell him. Yes the Red Bull is as far in front of the other cars now as Ferrari was in 04 or Williams in 92, I'm sure the guys in cars struggling to keep up had similar gripes we just never really got to hear about them as the media coverage was not nearly as extensive as it is now.



   

[Scott]

But John, Lewis did get past Hulk twice, but Hulk took the place back both times.  And hard to blame Sauber for having a straight line speed that is better (lets say, as good) than the Merc with its DRS flap open.

[John S]

Just a shame to see any race dictated by a car cutting the average speed of other competitors simply by being strong enough at one or two points on the track. Sure it's within the rules to set your car up to be defensive but it's not great viewing.  Nico is lucky it was usually top drivers who were trying to pass him in Korea, can you imagine what some of hungrier more aggressive drivers might have resorted to after 6 or 7 laps? Perhaps that's why WTCC is becoming more popular than F1 on TV, - if you ain't rubbing you ain't racing.    

[F1fanaticBD]

Honestly John I think it was a nice to watch at least for me. Racing should not always be about overtaking, sometimes we must be able to enjoy the person with an inferior car defending fairly & properly, two of the most talented drivers of this generation in cars with almost unlimited budget. This sort of racing will never let the viewers number drop, instead the lack of such competition is blame for the decline.

[cosworth151]

I agree with BD on this one. I enjoy watching drivers make the most of inferior equipment. It accents the talents of the drivers.

Of course, I've always been a fan of small teams that punch over their weight, like Minardi, Sauber, Jordan and Super Aguri. Nothing like watching David best Goliath every so often.

[John S]

Seems more like we are heading for the return of the Trulli train than the underdog taking it to the big boys. 

Hey we'll have to think of a new name.    How about Hulk's convoy or the Sauber caravan? 

[Jericoke]

I agree with BD on this one. I enjoy watching drivers make the most of inferior equipment. It accents the talents of the drivers.

Of course, I've always been a fan of small teams that punch over their weight, like Minardi, Sauber, Jordan and Super Aguri. Nothing like watching David best Goliath every so often.

It was a great demonstration of how different tracks can favour different cars/teams/drivers.

It's important for everyone to understand that F1 is over a season, not a race, and compromises must be made.

[Scott]

Seems more like we are heading for the return of the Trulli train than the underdog taking it to the big boys. 

Hey we'll have to think of a new name.    How about Hulk's convoy or the Sauber caravan? 

Not sure.  I think it is unfair to simply write it off to setting up the car defensively, nor suggesting that he really held up the others.  The Sauber performed remarkably in Q as well, so it's a bit simple to write them off as just quick off the corners.  Like Cos and BD, I love it when a lightweight can keep a heavyweight off balance and stay in front...for whatever reason you think it is.

[John S]

  Like Cos and BD, I love it when a lightweight can keep a heavyweight off balance and stay in front...for whatever reason you think it is.

Sauber are hardly lightweights they've been in F1 for 20 years.  Now if Marussia or Caterham were managing to keep top teams at bay it really would be David and Goliath.

I'm not saying Hulk and Sauber's efforts are not very laudable, however I still maintain a car that can only keep them at bay because of strengths in one or two parts of the track reminds me too much of trucks hogging both lanes on dual carriageways.         

The Irony is that considerable Merc investment led to the Sauber F1 team starting in the sport, now that does make it sound more like Super Aguri stuffing Honda than Daniel in the Lions. 

 

[vintly]

The 2008 World Champion believes he and Alonso deserve to fight higher up the grid as they "are of a higher calibre".

This, and the headline, is appalling reporting.

Hamilton said 'I think we deserved more as a team', and that Alonso and him 'should be further ahead'. He never said that he and Alonso as individuals deserve anything - it's just crap sensationalist reporting, nothing more.

[Irisado]

The headline is poor, I agree.  I also agree that what this is really about is that Hamilton feels that Vettel is having it too easy at the front.  He's right, Vettel is having it too easy, but Merecedes don't consistently have the race pace to beat him, and Ferrari haven't had enough pace since the tyre composition change to win at all.  It's all born out of frustration of Vettel's dominance.

As for the Hulkenberg debate, he drove brilliantly, and used a good set-up to allow him to stay in front of his rivals.  That's just great team work.  It was far from the Trulli train, as Jarno used to be slower in races than his rivals in all cars, even quick ones.  Hulkenberg was driving a midfield car, and racing ahead of front running cars, so he was bound to be slower at most points of the track.  That's not the Trulli train at all.  There's no comparison.  He took advantage of the first lap chaos to vault up the order, and held his position.  A great drive.  It was also pretty tense stuff, as one mistake and a Hamilton and Alonso would have both overtaken him.

[lkjohnson1950]

I don't know if Hulk did this, but based on the way his car ran, it's possible. Several Teams/Drivers when stuck at the back of the grid with a fast car will reduce the downforce slightly to give them more speed on the straight and make passing easier. I believe R/B said Webber took this approach in Korea, Hulk may have also. Even though he was not at the back of the grid, he may have felt the advantage on the long straights was worth giving up a bit in Sector 3. He said after that this was his best race ever, so I don't think he was bothered by possibly blocking some of his rivals. Didn't keep Kimi back.

[John S]

Oh I'm sure you're right Lonny saying Sauber and the Hulk set the car up with less downforce, though I can't agree it was just changed slightly, and they certainly reaped the reward for making it work. The real miracle of Nico's performance was managing to stick the car so high up the grid, that's where the real merit lies. 

Set up, tactics and strategy all play a big part in the outcome of any race.
Wrecker Roman also used an ace to get past Lewis on the first lap, he deliberately stayed off the Kers leaving the line and bided his time to surprise Hamilton with it full blast after a couple of corners. Obviously someone at Lotus had been studying Vettels mugging of Lewis at Spa.     

All such things come into the decisions teams and drivers make at each circuit and I have no problem with it at all. However I have a problem with the drive by Nico being heralded as amazing and a real David v Goliath battle, his performance was good but so was Vettel's - yet we all dismiss Seb's victory with "he's clearly in the best car in the field". Sauber and Hulk got the settings spot on and made the car almost impossible to pass - so shouldn't we be saying "Nico clearly had the best set up in the field to deny overtakes". Puts a whole new spin on it don't you think?