Formula 1 Gran Premio de España Santander 2012

[csmeteora9]

But as I said, winning ONE race, with no "decent" opposition, does not make him a consistent driver automatically.

No decent opposition? What do you call Fernando in the Ferrari then? Are you aware of the updates that the F2012 carried in Barcelona? It's certainly not the fastest car in the field, even after the updates; it has gained quite a bit of pace however. Now the Ferrari is much closer to the pace of the two Lotus cars (as seen by how Fernando was able to challenge them in qualifying) and Williams have made improvements too. Both teams are very close in terms of performance now so to say he had no decent opposition isn't true.

Also I am aware having one race like he had in Spain doesn't make him a consistent driver, but then I never said it did. I simply said he drove a smart and consistent race in Barcelona. Oh and I am British, not Venezuelan.

 

[hornet_burnout]

Yes, he has matured over the winter from my point of view, at least. He no longer made stupid lunges, super-aggresive blocking, idiotic rage after qualifying and all of those stuff he made last year. He has become much more of a racing driver now.

True though, he needs to maintain this performance up but by the looks of things this season, that ain't the case. One car can be strong while some of the rest struggles. Comes Monaco, like last year, he will be strong. With the Williams being much more competitive, I have no doubt that he can show something for us there. The next couple of races remain to be seen surely.

Australia this year was still "bad" Maldonado. But I too hope to see more of the "good" Maldonado.

No decent opposition? What do you call Fernando in the Ferrari then? Are you aware of the updates that the F2012 carried in Barcelona? It's certainly not the fastest car in the field, even after the updates; it has gained quite a bit of pace however. Now the Ferrari is much closer to the pace of the two Lotus cars (as seen by how Fernando was able to challenge them in qualifying) and Williams have made improvements too. Both teams are very close in terms of performance now so to say he had no decent opposition isn't true.

Also I am aware having one race like he had in Spain doesn't make him a consistent driver, but then I never said it did. I simply said he drove a smart and consistent race in Barcelona. Oh and I am British, not Venezuelan.

McLaren messed up, Lotus lost a huge chance to win with the fastest cars (running 1.26 in the race) again. That's 4 very decent cars out of the way. And Alonso, even if that Ferrari could be considered half decent opposition, got slightly held up, lost the lead in the pits and has a WDC to rightfully think about (2nd gave him the lead) so he settled for 2nd instead of risking destroying his tires and fall into the hands of the Lotus team. No one never actually pressured Maldonado "up his gearbox". That is the race I saw.

Maldonado held the lead he inherited (both on qualifying and in the race), and did one good clean managed race. He deserves that credit. And it is a lot of credit for an ex(?) hot head as him that 4 races ago was crashing alone in the last lap instead of assuring points.

My point is that DNF DNF 8th DNF WIN (to mention this year alone) is not consistency, which is something that a successful F1 driver must have. And a win, as awesome or consistent as it may have looked to your eyes, doesn't make him a great driver for me. Or grant him the status of WDC contender some already wrote about. In the press even. Not yet... If ever.

What Fernando Alonso is doing with a Ferrari thus far, that is an achievement from a great driver. In my opinion.

 

[gorsad]

McLaren messed up, Lotus lost a huge chance to win with the fastest cars (running 1.26 in the race) again. That's 4 very decent cars out of the way. And Alonso, even if that Ferrari could be considered half decent opposition, got slightly held up, lost the lead in the pits

I agree with everything you said except with the comment "lost the lead in the pits". Alonso didn't lose the lead by having a bad pitstops, he lost it after Maldonado set a genuinely good lap time. He drove well to set that lap time, not only did he make up a 3 second gap (before the pitstops) but he was 2 seconds ahead when Alonso exited the pits. Also, how can Alonso not be considered decent competition?

 

[hornet_burnout]

I agree with everything you said except with the comment "lost the lead in the pits". Alonso didn't lose the lead by having a bad pitstops, he lost it after Maldonado set a genuinely good lap time. He drove well to set that lap time, not only did he make up a 3 second gap (before the pitstops) but he was 2 seconds ahead when Alonso exited the pits. Also, how can Alonso not be considered decent competition?

Granted. Maldonado and the Williams team won the pit game and the tire management, saving the tires for the right time. He even had a margin in my opinion at the end, had Alonso gotten closer.

Alonso with this Ferrari is not decent competition... it's a miracle

 

[Prince.M5]

Australia this year was still "bad" Maldonado. But I too hope to see more of the "good" Maldonado.

Not quite "bad" because if you ask me about the incident with Grosjean, it wasn't Maldonado's fault as he was committed to the inside while Grosjean also tried to cut back to the inside, thus Maldonado brushed the front right of Grosjean. He lost it behind Alonso was just a lapse of concentration but yes I'd say that was kind of "bad".

We saw the "good" Maldonado in Spain, I would guess we will see more because he doesn't seem to look like a Maldonado of 2011.

 

[csmeteora9]

McLaren messed up, Lotus lost a huge chance to win with the fastest cars (running 1.26 in the race) again. That's 4 very decent cars out of the way. And Alonso, even if that Ferrari could be considered half decent opposition, got slightly held up, lost the lead in the pits and has a WDC to rightfully think about (2nd gave him the lead) so he settled for 2nd instead of risking destroying his tires and fall into the hands of the Lotus team. No one never actually pressured Maldonado "up his gearbox". That is the race I saw.

Maldonado held the lead he inherited (both on qualifying and in the race), and did one good clean managed race. He deserves that credit. And it is a lot of credit for an ex(?) hot head as him that 4 races ago was crashing alone in the last lap instead of assuring points.

My point is that DNF DNF 8th DNF WIN (to mention this year alone) is not consistency, which is something that a successful F1 driver must have. And a win, as awesome or consistent as it may have looked to your eyes, doesn't make him a great driver for me. Or grant him the status of WDC contender some already wrote about. In the press even. Not yet... If ever.

What Fernando Alonso is doing with a Ferrari thus far, that is an achievement from a great driver. In my opinion.

Lotus obviously had the fastest car during the race, I never denied that. What I said was Ferrari (or at least Fernando) are able to challenge them a lot more closely than they had done previously.

Alonso didn't literally get right up the gearbox of the Williams but he closed down the gap to Pastor and was close enough that he had use of the DRS on a number of occasions. Did you not see that? He did make a few attempts at overtaking too although he was more or less having a look most of the time. Nonetheless, he was pressuring Maldonado (until he backed off a few laps from the end, realizing the WDC points were more important as you said) and Pastor kept his cool. Why can you not accept that?

Again, I never said he was a consistent driver. I said he was consistent throughout that race. THAT RACE! Now do you understand? That race.

Granted. Maldonado and the Williams team won the pit game and the tire management, saving the tires for the right time. He even had a margin in my opinion at the end, had Alonso gotten closer.

Alonso with this Ferrari is not decent competition... it's a miracle

Nonsense, I'm sorry. Alonso is decent competition in any car providing he can get it to run up front, as he did at Barcelona.

 

[CarolinaBlue704]

My point is that DNF DNF 8th DNF WIN (to mention this year alone) is not consistency, which is something that a successful F1 driver must have. And a win, as awesome or consistent as it may have looked to your eyes, doesn't make him a great driver for me. Or grant him the status of WDC contender some already wrote about. In the press even. Not yet... If ever.

You can't blame Maldonado for his retirements in Malaysia and Bahrain.

Maldonado drove a fantastic race on Sunday. Winning his 1st career Grand Prix. But all you seem to be doing is downplaying his performance. With the race on the line he did not make one mistake even though Alonso was breathing down his neck. That was Maldonado's first time in that situation. Yet he drove like a veteran who had been there dozens of times. That's impressive regardless of what mistakes Maldonado has made in the past.

Will he drive like he did on Sunday more consistently? I don't know... But I will give Pastor the credit he deserves for driving a great race in Spain.

 

[Chqr]

All I can say is who would've thought the Spanish Grand Prix would have almost 1000 posts on the GTP thread.

From a neutral, I'm enjoying the spectacle of F1 more with no car dominant, a competitive grid and a long schedule.

Undoubtedly the team and driver who wins this year will have to be the most consistent. Of course, you don't have to be fast to be consistent but it helps to have a fast car to be consistent.

Fernando Alonso has punched way above his weight in a car that we all know struggled at the start of the year. We all know Ferrari are struggling if Domenicalli himself admits they are and he has a huge amount of pressure on his shoulders right now. I feel that consistency is the key this year, not a fast car or being able to grab a win every four races. Hats off to Maldonaldo for an excellent performance but that performance does not make him Championship mettle nor does it prove that he will be able to maintain that level of performance.

 

[hornet_burnout]

Lotus obviously had the fastest car during the race, I never denied that. What I said was Ferrari (or at least Fernando) are able to challenge them a lot more closely than they had done previously.

Alonso didn't literally get right up the gearbox of the Williams but he closed down the gap to Pastor and was close enough that he had use of the DRS on a number of occasions. Did you not see that? He did make a few attempts at overtaking too although he was more or less having a look most of the time. Nonetheless, he was pressuring Maldonado (until he backed off a few laps from the end, realizing the WDC points were more important as you said) and Pastor kept his cool. Why can you not accept that?

Again, I never said he was a consistent driver. I said he was consistent throughout that race. THAT RACE! Now do you understand? That race.

You apparently didn't understand when you quoted my consistency paragraph. I was making a point that one race, doesn't make a driver. Especially on consistency.

Nonsense, I'm sorry. Alonso is decent competition in any car providing he can get it to run up front, as he did at Barcelona.

What Alonso is doing, is close to "a consistency miracle". Doesn't mean he had a chance of winning this race. Not without Maldonado messing up.

You can't blame Maldonado for his retirements in Malaysia and Bahrain.

Maldonado drove a fantastic race on Sunday. Winning his 1st career Grand Prix. But all you seem to be doing is downplaying his performance. With the race on the line he did not make one mistake even though Alonso was breathing down his neck. That was Maldonado's first time in that situation. Yet he drove like a veteran who had been there dozens of times. That's impressive regardless of what mistakes Maldonado has made in the past.

Will he drive like he did on Sunday more consistently? I don't know... But I will give Pastor the credit he deserves for driving a great race in Spain.

True, it wasn't all his fault. Your last sentence is the key. He earned some serious credits last race. Let's see if it's a new Maldonado from now on. I hope so because I like his driving, when he's not messing up.

 

[Jav]

Completely OT, but the best race recap I've seen:

 

[Chqr]

Completely OT, but the best race recap I've seen:

Perfectly not OT at all. 👍

 

[csmeteora9]

You apparently didn't understand when you quoted my consistency paragraph. I was making a point that one race, doesn't make a driver. Especially on consistency.



What Alonso is doing, is close to "a consistency miracle". Doesn't mean he had a chance of winning this race. Not without Maldonado messing up.

But that's my point, I never said one race did make a driver. And yet you seem to be implying that that is what I said. Which I didn't.

And of course he had a chance to win. He was right with Maldonado (before he had to back off) during the later stages and attempted to pressure Maldonado into a mistake, as racing drivers do. Not saying there's anything wrong with that, it's what they're supposed to do. But Maldonado held up. Being in Maldonado's dirty air for too long effected Alonso's tires. Had Pastor made a mistake sooner as Alonso had hoped then he would have taken the lead and Pastor would have been the one whose tires were suffering from the dirty air; that is assuming he would have caught up with Fernando after. Of course though, that didn't happen.

 

[astrosdude91]

Perfectly not OT at all. 👍

Unless he means "On Topic".

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Yeah, he meant off topic. I agree with you Jav that was a funny one.

 

[RX-7_FD3S]

Completely OT, but the best race recap I've seen:

That was awesome, thanks for sharing

 

[hornet_burnout]

But that's my point, I never said one race did make a driver. And yet you seem to be implying that that is what I said. Which I didn't.

And of course he had a chance to win. He was right with Maldonado (before he had to back off) during the later stages and attempted to pressure Maldonado into a mistake, as racing drivers do. Not saying there's anything wrong with that, it's what they're supposed to do. But Maldonado held up. Being in Maldonado's dirty air for too long effected Alonso's tires. Had Pastor made a mistake sooner as Alonso had hoped then he would have taken the lead and Pastor would have been the one whose tires were suffering from the dirty air; that is assuming he would have caught up with Fernando after. Of course though, that didn't happen.

You think it was an "immense" feat. I think what he did was "just" hold #1 for one race (and that was quite a lot).

This difference comes from the fact that not only do I not see the races "with my eyes closed", I also watch them with both my feet well planted on the ground.

Nice video Jav 👍 Pretty accurate!

 

[gorsad]

Completely OT, but the best race recap I've seen:

Ha, I love this series.

 

[csmeteora9]

You think it was an "immense" feat. I think what he did was "just" hold #1 for one race (and that was quite a lot).

Immense is an over-exaggeration (on your behalf) but you completely fail to realize what it takes to withstand pressure from a driver such as Fernando. And as much as you want to downplay it, as much as you wish to deny it; Pastor did come under quite a bit of pressure from Fernando. Add to that the fact it was his first time on pole and his first time leading, he did a great job not to crack and make a mistake.

Want to deny some more that Alonso wasn't pressuring Maldonado?


Or was the presence of Alonso's Ferrari less than a second behind Maldonado just an optical illusion?

 

[hornet_burnout]

That, as I said before, it's a still struggling Ferrari. One that despite the advantage of DRS didn't allow Alonso to even begin to make a move on Maldonado.

 

[RX-7_FD3S]

That, as I said before, it's a still struggling Ferrari. One that despite the advantage of DRS didn't allow Alonso to even begin to make a move on Maldonado.

If alonso couldnt make a move it wasnt because of the car since he was faster than maldonado, it was because Maldonado did very well using KERS only when Alonso was really menacing. He managed his tyre well, he pitted at the good time, he managed to stay in front of Alonso even when Fernando was faster. Nothing to say, I dont really like that driver to be honest, I still remember some bad move in GP2 and on Grosjean at the first race of the season but for that GP he did very well, no one can deny that if you're honest.

 

[Seismica]

The nature of the circuit also helped him keep Alonso behind (Though one would ask how Alonso let him get past in the first place). But that is irrelevant, Maldonado won in a Williams. He held off Fernando Alonso, arguably the best driver in F1 at the moment, in a car that is at least as good as the Williams. Nobody saw it coming. To try to rationalise his victory by saying he had the better strategy, or Alonso got held up by backmarkers (Which also happened to Maldonado on more than one occasion too) or that Alonso's car wasn't quick enough is quite simply, idiotic.

When Perez came second in Malaysia I don't recall people trying to bring down his performance, despite him gaining 10+ seconds from going on the correct tyres 3 laps before anybody else. Maldonado won on merit and people are still trying to put him down.

Before this last race I rated Maldonado as the worst driver on the grid (Well, after Karthikeyan). He wasn't particularly highly rated among the press and various F1 pundits/experts, but he sure showed everyone what he can do.

 

[hornet_burnout]

A good point worth discussing! Was Alonso really faster? I don't think so for 3 reasons:

a) I believe his fastest lap (slighly faster than Maldonado) was when he was chasing him for a couple of laps using DRS and risking his tires
b) A couple laps was all he could afford to be momentaniously faster, without compromising his speed over the remainder of the race and his final result (tire management)
c) he couldn't qualify ahead of Maldonado.

But please feel free to correct me with facts if I'm wrong, since I didn't see all the live timing data.

Maybe why this result does not come as a surprise to me is beause it's mostly how he won GP2 in 2010. He "finaly" (press words) learned how to make a good start from the front line, and to manage tires, the car and his race. Winning quite a few races starting and finishing first, or gaining the lead in the pits. So being in the fastest car (considering the 4 faster were virtualy out of contention) he did one thing he already showed us he knows how to do. Hold on to #1.

It is still an accomplishment.

This is what I think is the "idiotic" bit:

Before this last race I rated Maldonado as the worst driver on the grid (Well, after Karthikeyan). He wasn't particularly highly rated among the press and various F1 pundits/experts, but he sure showed everyone what he can do.

One day a no-one and a crasher, the next day "he showed everyone".

He was and still is a very fast driver. Now he won ONE race with LITLLE opposition. He showed he can hold on to #1 in the faster car. That is all he showed.


(again... "all" in this case is quite an accomplishment)

 

[Pupik]

The nature of the circuit also helped him keep Alonso behind (Though one would ask how Alonso let him get past in the first place). But that is irrelevant, Maldonado won in a Williams. He held off Fernando Alonso, arguably the best driver in F1 at the moment, in a car that is at least as good as the Williams. Nobody saw it coming. To try to rationalise his victory by saying he had the better strategy, or Alonso got held up by backmarkers (Which also happened to Maldonado on more than one occasion too) or that Alonso's car wasn't quick enough is quite simply, idiotic.

Oh, so it's not just me. Whether this was just a man, machine, and his weekend that gelled perfectly, or a sign of things to come is something we'll literally have to wait and see.

 

[SagarisGTB]

Before this last race I rated Maldonado as the worst driver on the grid (Well, after Karthikeyan). He wasn't particularly highly rated among the press and various F1 pundits/experts, but he sure showed everyone what he can do.

Really? You thought a GP2 champion that was somewhat close to Barrichello was the worst driver on the grid?

Because fans pay less attention to the midfield, it seems to me that people just assume that the midfield has equal cars and that whoever is doing better is the better driver, which is complete baloney. People rated Sutil and Di Resta for getting points in (possibly) by far the best midfield car and lambasted Rubens and Maldonado for struggling in last year's terrible Williams. Maldonado probably didn't improve over the off season, he just got a better car. I just can't stand that fans can judge drivers with no (or ignoring) reference points and without looking at the bigger picture.

 

[csmeteora9]

The nature of the circuit also helped him keep Alonso behind (Though one would ask how Alonso let him get past in the first place). But that is irrelevant, Maldonado won in a Williams. He held off Fernando Alonso, arguably the best driver in F1 at the moment, in a car that is at least as good as the Williams. Nobody saw it coming. To try to rationalise his victory by saying he had the better strategy, or Alonso got held up by backmarkers (Which also happened to Maldonado on more than one occasion too) or that Alonso's car wasn't quick enough is quite simply, idiotic.

Agreed! 👍

 

[Seismica]

A good point worth discussing! Was Alonso really faster? I don't think so for 3 reasons:

a) I believe his fastest lap (slighly faster than Maldonado) was when he was chasing him for a couple of laps using DRS and risking his tires
b) A couple laps was all he could afford to be momentaniously faster, without compromising his speed over the remainder of the race and his final result (tire management)
c) he couldn't qualify ahead of Maldonado.

But please feel free to correct me with facts if I'm wrong, since I didn't see all the live timing data.

Maybe why this result does not come as a surprise to me is beause it's mostly how he won GP2 in 2010. He "finaly" (press words) learned how to make a good start from the front line, and to manage tires, the car and his race. Winning quite a few races starting and finishing first, or gaining the lead in the pits. So being in the fastest car (considering the 4 faster were virtualy out of contention) he did one thing he already showed us he knows how to do. Hold on to #1.

It is still an accomplishment.

This is what I think is the "idiotic" bit:


One day a no-one and a crasher, the next day "he showed everyone".

He was and still is a very fast driver. Now he won ONE race with LITLLE opposition. He showed he can hold on to #1 in the faster car. That is all he showed.


(again... "all" in this case is quite an accomplishment)

But how do we know that the Williams is faster than the Ferrari? I know Alonso is quite a benchmark for the limit of a car, but who is to say that maybe Pastor got a little more out of the car than Fernando did? I rate Alonso highly, probably the best driver on the grid. But you have to think that all season Ferrari have been ahead of Williams. Both teams brought update packages to Spain. The cars were very close; very evenly matched. but Maldonado won.

And whilst this isn't directed at you, I re-iterate the aftermath of Perez's second place in Malaysia. Everybody tipped him to take Massa's seat when the inevitable happens, he's proclaimed as a future world champion and the best young talent in the sport since Vettel. Maldonado wins in a dominant performance and people say he had a faster car. Well I guess nobody likes a winner. We don't know which car was faster because each drivers' teammate made a hash of qualifying (Though Massa was faster than Senna), so the only benchmark we have is the two drivers themselves.

But I respect your point of view; you're not likely to jump on the Maldonado bandwagon (nor am I) and we should reserve judgement until after the next few races. Perhaps the upgrades did actually push the Williams car further forward in the running order, we will see. All he's showed is that he is capable of winning in a reasonably fast car; this is something you can't understate because there are plenty of drivers over the years who have had fast cars who haven't been able to do any good with them.

Oh, so it's not just me. Whether this was just a man, machine, and his weekend that gelled perfectly, or a sign of things to come is something we'll literally have to wait and see.

Indeed. Maldonado is fast. If the car is good enough in future races he should be able to challenge for wins. If he's just a flash in the pan and this whole weekend was a fluke, we shall soon know.

Really? You thought a GP2 champion that was somewhat close to Barrichello was the worst driver on the grid?

Because fans pay less attention to the midfield, it seems to me that people just assume that the midfield has equal cars and that whoever is doing better is the better driver, which is complete baloney. People rated Sutil and Di Resta for getting points in (possibly) by far the best midfield car and lambasted Rubens and Maldonado for struggling in last year's terrible Williams. Maldonado probably didn't improve over the off season, he just got a better car. I just can't stand that fans can judge drivers with no (or ignoring) reference points and without looking at the bigger picture.

He's always had pace. What he hasn't had is the consistency and quite frankly, the temperament. There is also the occasions in 2011 where he drove like a complete amateur. Two examples i've given in this thread are driving in the marbles on the straight in Sepand and getting in the way of the leaders so much in Abu Dhabi that he got two penalties for it. I remember Hamilton doing the same thing with driving on the marbles though so that perhaps may have something to do with GP2 drivers in general, perhaps it doesn't affect those cars as much.

Maldonado has improved massively in my estimation after this race. In the first 4 races, he wasn't too great, making a few mistakes here and there, but if he can perform like he did in Barcelona on a regular basis he could put himself in with a shot of the championship. Like I said earlier in the thread, his win echoes that of Vettel in 2011; but in 2011 Vettel had a dominant car.

 

[niky]

A good point worth discussing! Was Alonso really faster? I don't think so for 3 reasons:

a) I believe his fastest lap (slighly faster than Maldonado) was when he was chasing him for a couple of laps using DRS and risking his tires
b) A couple laps was all he could afford to be momentaniously faster, without compromising his speed over the remainder of the race and his final result (tire management)
c) he couldn't qualify ahead of Maldonado.

But please feel free to correct me with facts if I'm wrong, since I didn't see all the live timing data.

I had Live Timing and that was pretty much it, but more complicated.

The laps when Alonso was catching up, Williams were telling Maldonado specifically to slow down in certain corners. From live timing, you could see that Alonso was bunching up behind him in certain turns, then Maldonado would put in a monumental third sector to increase the gap to over 1 second at the start-finish straight.

The Ferrari was very fast today, but it simply didn't have the outright pace of the Williams at any time. This is not like Alonso's run behind Perez, where he had a legitimate chance to overtake.

Not to take anything away from Maldonado, because I thought it was a masterful drive.

 

[Matty]

I had Live Timing and that was pretty much it, but more complicated.

The laps when Alonso was catching up, Williams were telling Maldonado specifically to slow down in certain corners. From live timing, you could see that Alonso was bunching up behind him in certain turns, then Maldonado would put in a monumental third sector to increase the gap to over 1 second at the start-finish straight.

The Ferrari was very fast today, but it simply didn't have the outright pace of the Williams at any time. This is not like Alonso's run behind Perez, where he had a legitimate chance to overtake.

Not to take anything away from Maldonado, because I thought it was a masterful drive.

Didnt happen today, but I'm just nitpicking.

Yes, Alonso was much faster then McDonalds through the first two sectors, and then McDonalds picked up the pace in the third. Helped him save his tyres as well and it really paid off in the end as Alonso had to settle for 2nd to stop himself going over the cliff and dropping like Kimi did in Shanghai.

McDonalds is Maldonado

 

[niky]

Didnt happen today, but I'm just nitpicking.

Yes, Alonso was much faster then McDonalds through the first two sectors, and then McDonalds picked up the pace in the third. Helped him save his tyres as well and it really paid off in the end as Alonso had to settle for 2nd to stop himself going over the cliff and dropping like Kimi did in Shanghai.

Yet the only reason Hamburglar was faster was simply tire conservation. Pastor was setting fastest laps throughout the race, and the Williams garage were constantly having to tell him to slow down.

Alonso was gambling. He knew that Kimi was too far back to catch him, and he knew that Pastor's older tires were a handicap, so he pushed as hard as possible to try and trip him up. But he didn't. He'd underestimated the raw pace of the Williams.

It was an interesting clash of strategies... but in the end, the Ferrari simply wasn't the right too for the job. Still... Pastor was out to prove something out there, and until halfway through the second-to-last stint, he was pushing like a maniac.

Now you're making me hungry.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

It would have been interesting to see how the race would have went if Alonso always pitted earlier. I have a feeling his tires still would have gone off.