Rate the race: 2013 Spanish Grand Prix

2013 Spanish Grand Prix

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What did you think of the today’s race? Share your verdict on the Spanish Grand Prix.

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought of every race during the season.

Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (5%)
  • 9 (5%)
  • 8 (13%)
  • 7 (21%)
  • 6 (18%)
  • 5 (15%)
  • 4 (10%)
  • 3 (6%)
  • 2 (3%)
  • 1 (4%)

Total Voters: 778

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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Do you think F1 has got the balance right with DRS and tyres this year? Have your say here:

See the results for past seasons here:

2013 Spanish Grand Prix

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Image © Red Bull/Getty

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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291 comments on “Rate the race: 2013 Spanish Grand Prix”

  1. 7. Good race, almost ruined by constant moaning about the tyres.

    1. “almost ruined by constant moaning about the tyres.”
      +1 on that. It used to be fuel strategy when refueling was allowed. Not it is tyre strategy. Get used to it – to Sky/Brundle.

      1. Today was the first time they’ve really moaned about the tyre situation in commentary and I suspect they were told to do so by Sky because they think the fans want their opinions echoed back from the TV.

        1. No, you guys aren’t seeing other coverage. The US coverage team did nothing but gripe about the tires as well. The tires ARE the race right now, and I didn’t tune in to watch the “Pirelli Cup”. I thought I was watching the Spanish Grand Prix and I am sick of this nursing-home racing.

          1. James Allen (@jamesallen1705)
            13th May 2013, 9:04

            Agree with all the above, I have been watching the BBC coverage, was the same thing, I think every other message, conserve front left/ keep your rears in the window/manage tyres. Couple that with DRS and there was a lot of overtaking but very little racing.

      2. jimscreechy (@)
        12th May 2013, 15:02

        You’re missing the point. It isnt an issue of strategy. fuelling strategy didn’t force the drivers to plod around the track a like they were driving miss daisy. This isnt racing this is an exercise in tyre conservation. The drivers are not really racing each other, they are trying to get from start to finish as fast as possible with the least amount of pits stops.

        1. This isnt racing this is an exercise in tyre conservation. The drivers are not really racing each other, they are trying to get from start to finish as fast as possible with the least amount of pits stops.

          Very well said and captures the issue excellently!

          1. Actually, this isn’t all true. They ARE trying to get from start to finish in the lest time. The number of pit stops is secondary, although an important contributing factor.

          2. @kbdavies “This isnt racing this is an exercise in tyre conservation”
            ————–
            Yeah I suppose that was what Hamilton was thinking while Alonso overtook him.

          3. kbdavies (@kbdavies) said on 12th May 2013, 15:10
            This isnt racing this is an exercise in tyre conservation. The drivers are not really racing each other, they are trying to get from start to finish as fast as possible with the least amount of pits stops.

            Very well said and captures the issue excellently!

            —————–

            Solution to that it is really esay, Prepare your cars the way Lotus did year and stop moaning.

      3. @f1lauri
        how can you not differentiate between ‘tyre strategy is important in f1’ and ‘tyre strategy is everything f1 is all about’ ? this is too much.

      4. jimscreechy (@)
        12th May 2013, 15:05

        Also, you saying sky/Brundle should get used to it and stop moaing, but every radio transmission was a tyre related conversation, should the drivers stop moaning too?

        1. yes, you didnt hear alonso moaning. its not like they are “plodding around” as one comment above says, they are still going bloody fast, just to a different limit, the best drivers will learn that limit and not moan.

          1. jimscreechy (@)
            12th May 2013, 15:45

            The best drivers can’t do that because it is fundementally dependant on the car how much the tyres wear and perform. The mercedes is the fastest car and probably the worst on it’s tyres, there is only so much the drivers can do. Christian horner was asked, “What was the race about today?” His response “Tyres tyres and more tyres”.

          2. Jimi (@hendrix666)
            13th May 2013, 0:57

            We dont get every transmission, its possible Alonso could have been moaning. Maybe in Italian. One thing this tyre situation has done is opened up some really great opinions and differing viewpoint. I enjoy reading everyone’s comments. Me, I like having an unpredictable race for the most part, but would rather it be thru other means. I would kind of like to see the cars look like Clark’s era again. Racing seemed pretty good then! I think they have to really do some major car specification changes to get back to “may the fastest car win”. The tyres definitely spice up the show, but it becomes a chess game instead of a 100 yd dash.

      5. Sadly I have to agree that Brundle (and Crofty) constantly complaining about that was the worst part of the race.

        1. No. It was difficult to see cars plod around the track like a warm up lap ! I don’t know about you , but I wan’t F1 to be fast . Otherwise I would watch chess If I wanted strategy alone .

          1. 2005 was tyres that needed managing but also driven very fast. But you had to make sure you didnt flat spot them. If you really misused them they would be gone for the last 10 laps. Remember monaco, imola and suzuka!

            The racing was fantastic wheel to wheel, to the last lap action.

            Bring back 1 set per race and refuelling. It worked it was the best season in years compared to what went before it.

      6. That’s why I gave a 6. Too much “tyreness”! Some stuff I don’t quite understand. For instance why did Gutierrez pit when he was doing the same lap times of the front-runners and was leading the race?

      7. 4 stops? C’mon. Let this people race, I sick and tired of those tyres. It’s killing the sport. People attack for 3-4 laps and then pit asks then to look after the tyres… I doubt that’s what FIA expected.

      8. There is no strategy to these tyres. It’s about lucking in on the window. Vettel dominant last race. And this race 40 seconds behind Alonso and way behind Massa. Even if Alonso wouldnt struggled at Bahrain Vettel would at least have been fighting him. Doubt Ferrari brought 40 seconds worth of upgrades to the car

    2. I think I’m done with this kind of racing saving tires and no racing. I say give the teams double the current allotment of tires and let them race. The strategy will be go hard all out or save tires and therefore the need to pit.

      1. @rocky but then the pit crew will get a backache every race …if all cars go flat out , there will be like 6 pit stops or even 7 ( merc ) …so scrap the tyres is the only solution .

    3. @alehud42 There is a disconnect you seem to be having, when drivers are told to back off and slow around the track to save tires, just to set up a strategy and hopefully chance into a spot based on the stars aligning it isn’t moaning. If you like watching tires be used to the nth degree, maybe you should see if Pirelli will sell you tickets to their testing sessions or live stream to you.

      The issue as said by @jimscreechy is this is not a race but more of a demo, of how the tires perform. Teams and drivers have been going back and forth about tires all race long. Hell rosberg had to save his tires from lap 2 onward and was one of those drivers to luck into 6th. It isn’t moaning, and how quickly you forget about the fact that Pirelli actually have issues noted as several tire failures, so yes tires are an issue and better be addressed.

      1. Your rant is right on. It is not a race but a tire technology testing session. Very, very sad.

    4. 4. Potential for good race ruined by tyres made from swiss cheese. The tyres have been one the edge of too much since pirelli entered the sport but this is just too much. Having drivers come on the radio to say its ‘not possible for them to drive any slower’? that’s just not ‘f1’. And even if it is now considered ‘f1’ then it’s certainly not the kind of racing i’m interested in and if it isn’t fixed i’ll be voting with my feet and watching / subscribing/ travelling to another race series where driver actually race each other and car with the fastest ultimate pace wins rather than one that is easier on its tyres for reasons the designers dont even understand.

      If mercedes and redbull dont know why they have such problems with eating tyres do you really think that lotus and ferrari have any real understanding of why they have such few? no they’re just on the lucky side of the fence.

      Make 2 pitstops mandatory and ask pirelli to make tyres with the durability of the bridgestones.

    5. “Constant moaning about the tyres” you mean like front row starter Hamilton ” I can’t drive any slower”, yes it’s pitiful, F1 has always been about driving slowly, if Hamilton can’t learn how to drive slowly he should retire and make way for someone who can.

      I know all you Nando and Kimi fans have had a disappointing couple of years, I am also happy to see RBR of the podium but not at the cost of real racing.

  2. Traverse (@)
    12th May 2013, 14:46

    Fantastic race! 10/10. A great performance from the Mercedes, they’ve made genuine progress this season. I also loved it when McLaren gave Perez a coded team order to stay put and not overtake Button…Loved it!
    Note: Today is opposite day ;)

    1. You almost gave me a heart attack :)

    2. I’m surprised everyone is being so negative about the race. I thought it was around a 7. Yes there was a lot of problems with tyres and the latter half was a bit dull; but that first 30 laps were excellent. Watching the Mercedes hold out in front, the epic performance by Massa and Alonso. There were some great overtaking moves. The contrasting strategies helped build the tension for me. Yes I would like to see it being over a 2 or 3 stop rather than a 3 or 4 stop, but it still played out nicely, plus Vettel didn’t have too great a result which is good for the standings.

      7/10 from me.

      1. @nick-uk

        I’m surprised everyone is being so negative about the race. I thought it was around a 7. Yes there was a lot of problems with tyres and the latter half was a bit dull; but that first 30 laps were excellent. Watching the Mercedes hold out in front, the epic performance by Massa and Alonso. There were some great overtaking moves. The contrasting strategies helped build the tension for me. Yes I would like to see it being over a 2 or 3 stop rather than a 3 or 4 stop, but it still played out nicely, plus Vettel didn’t have too great a result which is good for the standings.

        7/10 from me.

        I wholeheartedly agree with this comment.

        1. Have you seen the first GP2 race on Saturday? If you’ve seen it you wouldn’t be so sure about your 7/10. That was a race on the edge!

      2. Yes, it was interesting, but no, it was not exciting. Really what is the difference between F1 cars circulating to an easily achieved target time calculated to minimise tyre wear and your local car clubs weekend time trial, 250kmh in a F1 car or 100kmh in the family hack is a very similar challenge, the big difference is you can actually be involved rather than be a spectator, I know my preference.

    3. You’re just upset Vettel did not even get o the podium :-P

      1. @bascb

        You just touch the right Button I think ..:)

      2. Traverse (@)
        12th May 2013, 16:30

        @bascb
        Vettel!? Pfft, I couldn’t care less where The Vet finished. He’s rude, untalented and doesn’t deserve his 3 WDC’s, I hope he retires ASAP!

        Note: It’s still opposite day :P

        1. you forgot to mention that he only wins because of having the Ab-So-Lute-Ly fastest car of the field for at least 3 years now @traverse, it practically drives itself to the win ;-)

    4. I was shocked to see a 10/10 for this nonsense . Then As I read I LOLed. Guess Mclaren can’t say we ” don’t follow team orders” anymore . Sad , I actually liked them only for that . Now , even that is screwed because of their “NO 1” driver

    5. “Save tyres” is hardly a coded team order. Do you have any factual information on this or is your statement just guesswork?

    6. Melchior (@)
      14th May 2013, 11:18

      LOL.
      I want a set of those tyres to put on my daily driver.

  3. 5. Good race up until some cars magically got the pace.

    There’s something wrong with F1 at the moment…

    1. Hail Hail Mercedes for making it such a fun afternoon to watch. Impressive how wrong it can go…

    2. @fer-no65

      There’s something wrong with F1 at the moment

      Ferrari is winning ?

      1. No the Tires. and a Team was getting Poles and Locking front row was no where to see in sundays

      2. Yeah that too. ;)

    3. “There’s something wrong with F1 at the moment…”
      Yeah, and it is called “Emperor Ecclestone” and his minion, “Darth Pirellius”… lol
      Don’t get me wrong, I love Pirelli as a road tire, but they are giving themselves a bad name with all the current tire issues in F1.
      For me, not only is the “racing” boring, but it is becoming a matter of safety. What would have happened if Grosjean’s tire blew up going into the first corner or if he was on a straight with another car on either side of him?
      I am telling you that if this doesn’t change soon there will be a driver that gets injured because he decides to push the tires too far out frustration.
      I really want to say that I am sick of this and that I will quit watching, but the truth is that no matter how boring it is I will keep watching and so will millions of others. The decision makers of F1 don’t care if we complain and moan because they know we will keep watching anyway. And that to me is the really sad part. They have us addicted and staying up all hours of the night watching this so called “racing”

      1. @irejag

        What would have happened if Grosjean’s tire blew up going into the first corner

        Grosjean didn’t have a tyre failure, he had a suspension failure.

        1. Oh, then which driver am I thinking of then? I know there was one whose tire blew…

          1. @irejag JEV I believe – his delaminated, or VDG – his came off!

  4. My initial reaction to that race was that was a borefest, very little action up front where it matters. 4

    1. My vote of 7 purely came from Alonso’s pass on both Hamilton & Raikkonen at turn 3. And also for Ricciardo holding off a charging Guiterrez to score a point.

  5. Nice race, lots of action in the beginning, a bit boring in the end. So, a 7 it is. Really like Alonso winning his home grand prix. Remarkeble how much race speed Mercedes is missing…

  6. today i felt hos Alo fans feel when Seb wins a race by miles :D

    But there have been other races where Alo has won which have been exciting. This was so booooooring. Tyres tyres tyres.
    A good drive by Massa though.

  7. That was a pretty awful race I thought: good for the championship battle I suppose but when a three time world champion is told “not to go racing” and when drivers have to legitimately make 5 stops, the tyre influence has gone too far. 2.

    1. Indeed. A three time world champion told not to race, the pole sitter questioning wether he should race, and another world champion saying “I can’t drive any slower”. Not good. Oh, and team orders at McLaren too to top it off

      1. @jleigh that was the first race in a long time (possibly even since Germany 2010) that I actually considered turning off. I am not one of those people either who says that half-heartedly for the sake of emphasising distaste: I just genuinely was not excited by that race at all after the first 3 turns.

        1. @vettel1 I agree, that was the first race I can remember since I was an easily distracted child that I was waiting for it to end.

          1. I’ve got to say even a Bridgetone race might have been better than that: at least then drivers wouldn’t be saying on the radio “I can’t go any slower”!

    2. I’ve just looked at the ratings and 9% of people have voted this a 9 or a 10: I’m sorry but either they are so clouded with the Ferrari love affair that they see a race win as a godsend or they weren’t watching the same race as everybody else!

      1. @vettel1: That always happens, whether Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen or Button or whoever else wins a race, for that matter.

        Not everyone is rating these races objectively. It has nothing to do with Ferrari in particular. You’re just reading too much into it.

      2. turbotoaster (@)
        12th May 2013, 16:28

        That’s rich coming from the Vettel fan

        1. @turbotoaster that doesn’t blind me though: I’ve not rated any races so far this season a 10 and if I recall correctly I gave China a 7, despite it being a pretty dominant show up front, because I thought the racing was still okay and I enjoyed watching it. I didn’t enjoy this one at all.

      3. @vettel1

        That’s an unfair accusation. Firstly: I voted it 7/10. And to me it really was a race worthy of a 7.

        It was a good drive by the Ferrari guys 5th to 1st and 9th to 3rd. The opening stint of the race was brilliant in my book. You are perhaps mad because your man got stuck behind Rosberg and was thus unable to break free from Alonso’s grasp. Meanwhile Alonso made short work of Rosberg. I’m certain had Vettel won this race you would have at least voted this a 8.

        1. @snakalp a 7 isn’t a 10 though is it? I can understand a 7, an 8 at a stretch, but a 10? Really, what did this race do to justify a perfect score? The only race I have voted a 10 in the last two years was the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix because that was the greatest race I have ever had the pleasure of seeing live. This really wasn’t, even if I view it from every perspective.

          I get it always happens @tony031r but this was particularly bad.

          1. *@sankalp88 rather. Basically though, I really don’t see how this could be rated – by any stretch of the imagination – the perfect race. For me it was easily the worst of the season: I can see how that could be disagreed with quite easily, but I shall emphasise further people (a fair amount) thought this race was perfect?

            Again though, I get it’s not unique to this race – I just found it particularly surprising on this occasion.

      4. @vettel1 looks like some drivers have accounts in f1fanatic ! Or maybe some teams :P. Just need to find ’em. I find 7/10 itself a bit overrated.

        1. @hamilfan perhaps about 40 or so of the Ferrari team have accounts ;)

          I feel 7/10 is overrated also but at least I think that could at a stretch be justified. I challenge anyone to have a stab at justifying rating it a 10 out of 10 – I could use a laugh…

      5. I’m a Ferrari fan and rated it one. This was not a race as much as a Pirelli testing session. When drivers are being told not to race but stick to a delta time I get mad. All the drivers were basically driving with one hand on the wheel picking their noses. THIS IS NOT RACING!!!

      6. @vettel1, they must all be celebrating “opposite day”

    3. Ben (@scuderia29)
      12th May 2013, 19:21

      if vettel had won you would have thought it was a great race, lets be honest.
      Germany 2010 just happened to be another race where vettel was beaten by both ferrari’s, if anyones voting based on where their favourite drivers finished its surely you.

      1. @scuderia29

        Germany 2010 just happened to be another race where vettel was beaten by both ferrari’s

        You make me laugh. Team orders deciding the outcome had nothing to do with the low ratings of that race then?

        1. Ben (@scuderia29)
          12th May 2013, 19:47

          @david-a
          im making a entirely different point to max jacobson

          1. @scuderia29 which also happens to be an entirely wrong one. @david-a was correct in what he said: that was the reason I disliked that race. @dasman +1

    4. when a three time world champion is told “not to go racing”

      I have seen two world champions pushing their cars pretty well this race
      I don’t know where were the people supporting this “tyres moaning campaign” when we saw in last couple of years the exhausts ruined racing with the Red Bull drivers setting untouchable times in qualifying and returning to the pits knowing that no other driver could even bother them, is that called good racing ????

      1. @tifoso198 I would rather have one dominant team over this. At least that way the other teams are forced to actually upgrade their cars to try and beat them and it is a lot more exciting when someone finally does beat them. A lot more exciting then what we are seeing now.

      2. @tifoso1989 Red BUll have never really been “dominant” in the sense of Ferrari in the early 2000’s or Williams in the 90’s though: even in 2011, the racing was still generally pretty good even though Vettel often won by more than 10 seconds. I’d say that was better than it is now anyway: at least then they could still race somewhat.

        The two world champions you’re referring to weren’t really pushing either.

        @hohum +1!

    5. I don’t see the problems with Vettel not putting up a fight with Kimi. It was the smart thing to do. It’s not like you can keep someone behind you with DRS. You also want to avoid a potential retirement through both cars coming together. Last year this was a really weak circuit for Red Bull last year and a really strong one for Ferrari and Lotus. Red Bull had the third best car today (like they have had all season). They got the maximum they could. It was a great result.

      1. No it was the clever thing to do in the circumstances anon, but the circumstances were wrong! That was a soft place to give up – Martin Brundle said it himself: “how often do we see Vettel giving places like that?”. That’s what was wrong about it: Vettel simply couldn’t fight, for fear of killing the tyres. That’s the same reason I don’t like mega-powerful DRS (although interestingly Circuit de Catalunya is one of the few tracks in which I think it has a place, along with the Hungaroring and possibly Suzuka).

  8. 4. Worst race of the season. Don’t know if we’ve been spoiled so far this season or what but that was not such an enjoyable race.

    1. Mr win or lose
      12th May 2013, 23:16

      It was a GREAT race! There was very little artificial overtaking, the tyre strategies were great, there were some botched pitstops and in the end there was a great winner. I don’t understand why everyone’s complaining.

      1. It was obviously still Opposite Day when you posted that @mr win or lose…

  9. 6/10, interesting… I was going to say race, but there was only a bit of that. It was an interesting spectacle lets say. I enjoyed watching it for what it was, but probably the worst ‘race’ of the season so far. Still good to watch.

    1. I agree with your review. It was interesting more so for the overall championship and also for the fact that there were genuine improvements for some teams (Toro Rosso for example, not to mention Ferrari) and it’ll be really interesting when we head to Monaco. If Mercedes nail their awesome quali pace in Monaco and hold the field up for the entire race it might make things interesting.

  10. 6/10. Not a great race by any means, but better than previous Spanish Grands Prix 5+ years ago.

  11. 6/10. Nothing special, I’d say. Some good racing, but overall not too much excitement.

  12. Tyres… ’nuff said.

    1. ruth517 (@spanishconnection)
      12th May 2013, 15:28

      ditto
      Whatever happened to drivers going flat out and actually racing!!

    2. Really enjoyed watching the tyres today, fantastic stuff, the more close ups on tyre-graining the better. A bit of marbling, the excitement of imagining that tyre-wear telemetry data being processed by the teams. Just awesome. Looking forward to the day, in fact, when we can have tyre-of-the-race, points for which tyre performed best, and even see tyres on the podium instead of those tedious drivers!

      I’m going to be really honest here: I’ve stopped watching Formula 1 with any real interest. Just a bit of qualifying and the start, then I’ll tune in later to see the result or look on the internet. The whole thing with DRS and tyre wear just seems entirely fake.

      1. Good joke man, but the problem here is not so simple. The problem is that F! is a competition of teams and drivers. Some teams did a very good job preparing their cars for this season (Lotus in example) and others did not (Mercedes / McLaren) so their cars just destroy more tyres than fire. And some drivers know how to drive as best as possible in these kind of situation (temperature / distance / curves) for example Nico and others does not (Hamilton).

        How you explain the differences between the 2 Mercedes? Easy, the driver. And between Lotus and McLaren? Easy the team (car).

        1. There’s something fundamentally wrong when Hamilton, probably the fastest driver in Formula 1, in a fast car, is being forced to drive slowly. Of course we could have a competition where everyone drives around on eggs with tyres made from cheese to see who ‘nurses’ their tyres best. Me, I prefer seeing who drives fastest and full-stop.

          DRS is also a fake addition for drivers who can’t overtake despite being faster on track. It adds ‘show’, like the frequent tyre stops, but I feel overtaking has been cheapened, dumbed-down, and lost its excitement.

  13. 6 in total.

    The first half would get an 8 but the second half was no better than 4.

  14. Something is going wrong with F1. The tyres are wearing out too much, DRS is destroying too many battles and big teams are out of the contest. I admire what Alonso and Raikkonen did today but the race was dreadful. In the opening laps with 6 cars trailing behind Rosberg we didn’t see a single overtaking manoeuvre. And that’s as bad as anything.

    1. I agree that the race was a bit boring, but what you’re remembering isn’t what I saw on my screen.

      I saw the opening laps with Rosberg heading the field, and then Vettel made a great move to get past him. Alonso took two cars in one corner. Those weren’t the only moves from those two, either. The best drivers find a way.

      1. I was talking for the firs 3-4 laps when the DRS wasn’t enabled

        1. Where you even watching the race? The vettel/ alonso overtakes Alex mentioned where in the first lap

  15. Great race for Fernando.
    But when someone has to use 5 sets of tires from 6 of possible i’d say this is pure crap.
    20 laps into race and it was impossible to say what was happening – 30 laps into race and everything was clear and fixed. Unless someones tyre delaminates because of “debris”.

    1. @nmsi thank you for saying it I’m tired of the “debris” excuse from the Italian company…I mean what delusions do they need to put up? Are they that afraid of losing the contract with F1, that they can’t admit the tires failed outright?

  16. 2. Terrible. The drivers are going about 60% if that. Only thing that could’ve made it worse was if 283 DRS ‘overtakes’ occurred.

    1. worst exageration i have ever heard. they are all driving very very fast, more like 95%, and they all have it the same way, so it is still a race! this was much better to watch then the boring barcelona races that have occured over the years.

      1. Someone with some sense!!!

  17. 1/10.

    As they discussed on the sky broadcast today there’s far too much tyre management, drivers been told not to race, always running to a lap time, been told to slow down, 4-5 pit stops, Delaminations… Its getting ridiculous.

    Many occasions where DRS again made things too easy.

    I hate F1 as it is now :(

    1. I actually don’t think you’ve exaggerated it, that’s the thing. The only proper racing throughout was with Di Resta and Rosberg, and that didn’t even amount to anything.

  18. Only Alonso truly shone. Otherwise a terrible example of where F1 should NOT be.

    5/10

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      12th May 2013, 18:26

      @psynrg Alonso shone at the beginning. True that. Then he had to keep tyres like everybody else. The little advantage could be the “clean air” for being first.
      Tyres are a disaster

  19. I thought it was a great race to have on in the background while I made a delicious breakfast. F1 is doing a tremendous job in filling the “Top Gear re-runs” gap in my weekend schedule. 2

  20. I’ve been around long enough to know that you get races that are processional, and I’ve been around even longer to remember when every race was processional… You get good races and bad races, its still a sport, thank god…

    1. I feel very much the same. Not a great race, but certainly not all bad with some really nice passes we did get to see.

  21. Decent opening stint. Good strategic fight. A solid 7/10

    1. Finally someone with a simple, yet accurate opinion! +1

  22. Tire Tire Tire …… What a bore …. Holy cow if Pirelli had not changed the tire specs to the harder compound for medium. It could have been a disaster . something must be fixed soon.

    1. Good point. Pirelli dodged a bullet by changing the tyre allocation and supposedly making the hard tyre more durable yet still the tyres were farcical this race in my opinion.

      1. Except the hard tyres weren’t any more durable.

  23. This race was farcical. Yet another tyre delamination demonstrating that Pirelli need to rework their rear tyre construction at the very least. Rediculous levels of degradation meaning that drivers don’t push for the vast majority of the race and an inverse correlation between qualy pace and race pace for most teams. Hamilton will probably put this down as one of his worst races as he was clearly plagued by horrible degradation and an inherent lack of pace. Reminded me of some of Button’s tyre woes last year at Mclaren.

  24. Well it wasn’t a great race 7/10 for me.

  25. Great race from Alonso and Massa.
    But a bit boring. Gave it a 5.

  26. Terrible race. Saving tyres from lap 3, another delamination, no real racing, tyres, tyres, tyres.
    Fell asleep, and stopped watching half way through. Congrats to Ferrari though.

    On a different note, Mercedes should sack whoever came up with their latest upgrades. It achieved excatly the opposite of what it was meant to do – increase race pace, and lessen quali pace.

  27. dull,dull, dull
    When the pole position car loses a second a lap during the race there’s something wrong with the formula.
    Too much fiddling with rules and not enough genuine racing

    1. Agreed, the tyres need sorting out, but that’s got absolutely nothing to do with the pole sitter losing a second per lap and everything to do with Mercedes car setup.

      1. Yes but ‘formula’ implies several ingredients needed to make the perfect combination, right now it’s all about one ingredient.
        I can’t imagine how the Pirelli marketing department can get any benefit out of tjeir involvement in F1, ‘We make tyres that last 25 miles’ .

  28. First part of the race was good when it looked like there were a few drivers fighting for the top spots, but as soon as Alonso got out front it was a foregone conclusion.
    Boring couple of hours. Bring on Monaco where at least there’s some tension to the processions with the walls waiting to bite.

  29. 6, I watched the start, predicted what will happen at the end, ate lunch, came back for last 15 laps and watched my predictions from the start coming true. Not necessarily exciting.

    Btw. there was so fuss about how tires get revamped to suit Red Bull’s demands. Red Bull now are neither the fastest in qualy nor the fastest in race trim.

    1. *so much fuss

    2. Tires did not get revamped to suit red bull. They got revamped so that all the cars can finish the races . otherwise those cars would be slower than the scooters that run around the track to pick up drivers during retirement on the track.

      Horner already mentioned that he is not happy with the changes. Imagine the teams spending millions to get 1/1000 of a second and eventually have to drivebthw car slower than their potential.

      The good thing is about this race is that it gave a chance for the McLaren to score some points and compete against the other teams with their super disaster car of this year.

      1. Imagine the teams spending millions to get 1/1000 of a second and eventually have to drivebthw car slower than their potential.

        yes, well isn’t that one of the problems, that they spend so much – and don’t want to stop spending it?

        1. I dont believe that is a problem honestly. It is upto the teams. If this was about restricting spending 1) it is already being done 2) what the point of calling this formula 1. I am all for less restrictions. I mean what is the point otherwise.

          I had always felt F1 was superior than NASCAR but over the last few seasons i had felt that F1 is getting super controlled and manged that this has become some sort of charity show.

          Like Jimme Johnson won 5 championships in a row. Almost won it last year and is leading this year. No body every complained the races are boring or worried about stuff that happened today in spain.

    3. same (about predictable)

  30. Some of the onboard camera shots were just painful to watch today – coast, back off, watch the tyre wear on that corner, careful on the throttle, watch those tyre temperatures. I can’t believe they were pushing at even 80% most of the time. Very unsatisfying to watch (and drive, I imagine), even if the result is good for the championship.

    1. if they were driving at 80% they would be doing lap times of 1 minute 45, which they werent. geez everyone is jumping on this tyre wear bandwagon and saying it is not real racing. it is still a race, and still real, alonso still finished first ahead of drivers with the same conditions. its another element, and is showing up greedy driving, the drivers need to get accustomed to the conditions, like rally drivers do. Alonso and Raikonnen are proving their worth this year by how they have adjusted.

      1. that’s also a false comparison though, just because a car is doing 90-95% of its ultimate pace doesn’t mean the driver is even trying at all. Remember when luca badoer was in a ferrari after massas accident and was 3 seconds off the maximum race pace because he wasn’t a very good racing driver? well how would you feel if he was driving today and qualified 20th or so (he’d still be crap so bad qualifying position) but managed to score good points because the pace he was capable of running due to being late on the throttle out of corners etc was actually the right pace to keep the tyres in their operating window? Personally i’d be horrified. Well, that pretty much IS what’s happening.

  31. tyres were absolutely rubbish, i can’t believe that the best machines are racing on such horrible rubber. Pirelli should own up the mess and provide better rubbers. 5/10 everyone was just trying to get home.

  32. 5/10 – first 4 laps were pretty great and the first 2 after the first pit stop but then it became a boring race. And again they told drivers not too race – Vergne’s race was literally destroyed by Pirelli – and 4 stops are definitely too much considering they still had to lift in turn 3, 4 and 9.
    But a great performance by Ferrari and both drivers and great to see Massa back on the podium.

  33. 4/10.

    Boring highway passes in the main DRS zone, not much of interest elsewhere.

  34. 5 for me – average in terms of racing but I’m not as concerned as some others about the number of pitstops and the tyre degradation. Happy to see Alonso win his home race, but shame about Grosjean and Vergne retiring. Almost gave it a 4 for Jordan’s gormless ad-lib questions about “the embrace of the crowd” during the podium interview.

  35. 4. Its Barcelona. A good race here can go up to 5 or 6. But with hard tyres that go just 12 laps ths was just a long snorefest. Add the drs to the mix and you have the saddest F1 that I can remember.
    On the bright side, superb driving byAlonso,Kimi and Felipe. Mercedes in general and Hamilton in particular provided the LOL of the weekend.

  36. 6. If someone could point me towards something out of the ordinary that happened in this race, except maybe for Gutierrez not plunging into someone and Hamilton sinking way too deep in the midfield, I would be forever grateful. Even the DNF list looks ordinary…

    I think it’s fair to assume, this season is about when and where each of the top three teams (Ferrari, Red Bull and Lotus) can find something to capitalize on. This time it was Ferrari. Next time it could be Lotus or Red Bull. Other than that, I can’t forsee any changes at the top of the charts.

    I’m gonna say 6 for the first one and a half stints, almost having a Ferrari 1-2 at the end of the race and for how the result reflects in the standings so far.

    Welcome to “average season”, brought to you by Pirelli.

  37. Happy for the podium places as they fought for their spots. From 4th and back it was really messy. One of the more disappointing races I have
    watched in a while. I normally don’t mind the tyre challenge but this was getting a bit silly. Unless merc can get the race pace looks like a three way fight for Alonso, Rai and Vet for champ

  38. 5/10

    The most boring race of the season so far by quite a margin, although I’m expecting Monaco to beat it in boredom.

  39. 4. great ALO.

  40. 3. Great start and first stint with first 6 keeping it close. then it was just dull.

    If u are doing 4 stops you should be able to be doing qualifying laps the whole race. They were still coasting to do 4 stops!! They’ve gone too far…

    I don’t blame pirelli too much because they’re doing what they’re told but it was awful today.

    Also if the tyres are going to be so sh*t then they don’t need drs at all.

    1. If u are doing 4 stops you should be able to be doing qualifying laps the whole race. They were still coasting to do 4 stops!! They’ve gone too far…

      Indeed!

  41. There’s no pleasing you lot. If they removed DRS and degrading Pirellis and went back to processional races you’d still complain. Every race can’t be an Interlagos 2012.

    1. This

      We’re too spoiled. If that race happened in 2004 we’d all be giving it 10/10

    2. The last 3-4 seasons have been great without extreme tire degradation. As it is know its getting redicilus, I think thats obvious for most people….

    3. If they removed DRS and degrading Pirellis and went back to processional races

      @spawinte: I’d take a processional race where everyone is pushing for most of the 50-some laps over a processional race where everyone is pushing for 5-10 laps at most, any single day…

  42. 5/10
    In contrast to many here, I’m quite happy to follow a tactical race – but when cars are four stopping and still having to nurse new primes just to get through the stint (eg Hamilton “I can’t drive any slower !”), something is just a bit wrong.

    Congratulations to Ferrari, though – it’s good to see the championship open up again.

  43. decent race i guess. i knew the mercedes couldn’t hold thier positions, it actually made me pretty mad, seeing as they were just sitting ducks all the time, holding up faster drivers like this. di resta should’ve gotten 6th.

    anyways great drive from fernando and kimi, shame they couldn’t fight for the win. a shame about grosjeans retirement aswell, he could’ve battled webber for 5th surely!

  44. 6. Nothing like the bore-fests we got in the past, but I’m really not a fan of the tyres dictating the race like that. Yes, tyre management should be an important part of racing, but that was too far. It affected my enjoyment of a race which wasn’t great to begin with.

  45. A complete borefest, as most races at Barcelona are. Tyres are very bad. I actually don’t think DRS was an issue this race, most of the highway passes were down to the tyres, not the DRS (as was demonstrated in the opening laps with Rosberg and Vettel).

    The only thing that stopped the race from being a complete disaster was Alonso winning in his home country (and this is coming from a Hamilton fan).

  46. 4/10 – Very little action to get excited about and it really made the coasting the drivers were having to do to look after their tyres all the more apparent.

    1. It’s not really a a ‘formula’ is it when 95% of the influence comes from one ingredient.

  47. Gave it a 6.

    Wasn’t exactly a snoozefest but the number of pit stops were way OTT. At least Alonso didn’t get a Santander turd trophy for winning his home GP.

  48. Wasn’t spectacular… 6.

  49. 4.
    The first stint was interesting and it was very good to see crowd go mad for Alonso, even if I’m not spanish and I don’t support Alonso.
    Nothing really happened in the middle, the tyres were just ridiculous. Very disappointing, the grid was really interesting, I would have loved a fight between the top 5.

  50. Motor_mad (@)
    12th May 2013, 15:20

    Gave it a 3. Yes there were some good overtakes, but the field quickly spread out. This made it very boring to watch. With about 10-15 laps left the top 6/7 places were decided.

  51. 4, it is not racing just a procession where drivers are not pushing. if this continues F1 will loose fans.

  52. Imagine if Pirelli had not changed the hard compound, it would have been 6 stoppers all the way – and some car started tyre saving from Lap 3! And another delamination. More durable my foot! Merc, the team that was most expected to benefit went backward like Jack & Jill down the hill. Saying the tyres have become the running joke in F1 is an understatement.

    I can’t wait for Monaco when they will be using the Soft/Supersoft….less degradation or not, It’s gonna be a cheese party all around!

    1. @kbdavies + 1 A Cheese Party Lol .. I love that …..

  53. Well done to Alonso, Raikkonen and Massa. But with 80 plus pitstops it was a farce and a joke of a race. Much more of this and I’ll start watching NASCAR instead.

  54. 4. I’d rather have a processional race where the drivers are pushing, than a processional race where the drivers aren’t pushing, and the only people who are working on the limit are the pitcrew!

    1. +1 spot on, spot on there !

    2. Races being won in the pitlane was EXACTLY what people were complaining about in the 00s. Michelin tyres being dominant was a complaint throughout the 2005 season. I don’t like Pirelli, but they really can’t win, can they?

      1. Yes Pirelli can win, There is no need for 3-4 stops. The racing towards the end of 2012 was excellent in my opinion. Why can’t they just be moderate?

  55. Why did this get rated so low? The team that pushed to the max and went for the extra stop won. They did not conserve, they went all out from the beginning and won. I thought it was the best race of the year so far.

    1. They did not conserve, they went all out from the beginning and won.

      Alonso was conserving, You saw that when Massa started pushing flat out later in the race to catch Kimi & was lapping 3 seconds faster than Alonso was right upto the point when his tyres started to fall apart.

  56. Not a great race at all. To many pitstops, drivers weren’t able to push and race at all it seems. 5 out of 10 for me.

  57. After the first pit stop there were some good racing but it was a race of more about who can save how much tyres. The worst race of the season by far. But hats off to Alonso his opening sector to overtake both Kimi & Hamilton was EPIC. & also Massa the boy is back

    1. i voted 5

  58. Alonso winning and Vettel not even on the podium, yet people are upset. Ha. That’s a first.

    1. If you think people are said because Vettel didn’t win, you are in the wrong place.

  59. Michael Brown (@)
    12th May 2013, 15:34

    4/10 – The start was the most exciting part, as it usually is, especially when Alonso is there. But after the first few laps tire management stepped in to ruin the racing. Well, that was more down to the track being bad for overtaking but with the tires the way they are I wasn’t convinced the drivers were even pushing to make an overtake. I nearly fell asleep and it wouldn’t have mattered if I missed 40 laps.

    Monaco’s going to be an absolute bore if things stay the way they are. The 2011 Pirellis were the best.

  60. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
    12th May 2013, 15:35

    Alonso’s superb performance was the only thing that made it worth watching. They need to find a balance with the tyres. I don’t want to go back to 2010 but I don’t drivers having to trundle around 5 seconds slower per lap than they are capable of.

  61. Dwayne Knight
    12th May 2013, 15:38

    Hamilton needs to get back to the old Hamilton, Drive aggressive, drive hungry. could you believe Mercedes is stifling him. Let the man drive

  62. I hate the tires too. But today Alonso didn’t have a tires problem. From the lights to flag he was a beast. We saw an epic race from one of the greatest drivers ever. I’m not a ferrari fan. But you have to recognize brilliance. 9.

  63. ‏@PaulHembery
    We aim for 2-3 pit stops. Today was too many, we got it wrong, too aggressive. We will make changes, probably from Silverstone.

    1. Even the tyres are a lottery for the manufacturers. If they don’t understand their own tyres, how do they expect the team to understand them??

  64. I rather liked the first half, it became a bit of a procession after the 3rd-ish round of stops.

    It was great to see the top 6 stick together over the first stint and then Kimi and Alonso being able to go like the clappers for once.

    I think some of this tyre talks a bit coloured by fans supporting merc/ red bull – those cars may have gone backwards but the Ferraris, the Lotus (sorry Grosjean), toro rosso’s and McLaren seemed to be rather good.

  65. 1

    I feel sorry for the fans attending that race who go for the pure racing spectacle. Sure the Spaniards would be happy but it was just a snooze fest.

    Tyres need to go back to last years compounds.

  66. I hate this PIRELLI = ITALY = FERRARI = JEAN TODT = FIA tyres, simply the drivers goes like in a Procession…

    1. hahaha, i was missing the ol’ good conspiration theorists… <3

      1. *conspiracy

    2. Now that is an Interesting Conspiracy theory. Never thought about that deep connections……

      Hmmmm ….. is there something cooking up here ??? Did Ferrari get to know about these stuff before hand during winter and hence made their cars to suit the spec !!!!!!! LOL that sounds something there….

    3. Look at their titles in 2011 and 2012. Something really fishy about those wins and 1-2s.

    4. Best comment I’ve read all day :P

  67. Gave it a 6, wasn’t mindblowingly amazing but not awful. There were some good overtakes at the start, Fernando’s overtake on Lewis at the start was immense. Kimi was top draw and drove a very good race as did Massa. Say what you will about the extremities of the tyre deg, but ANOTHER delamination on JEV’s Torro Rosso is just an utter joke. We have seen cars before fly on Staurdays and not be as quick on a Sunday, but for Mercedes to drop like a stone, due to their tyre wear is ridicolous.

    Properly buzzing for Fernando to win in Spain.

  68. Gave it a 5. The track that was boring already had been ruined by the most rubbish final sector on the calendar except Abu Dhabi. The balance is wrong tire-wise. Not much at all was right at this race. It gets as high a grade as this, purely because some drivers did all they could to spice it up. Some great performances, notably by Alonso, Kimi, Massa and a great steal of a point by Ricciardo, who is really overachieving with that car. Webber also had a good race after an awful start, only lost 3.8 seconds to Vettel from the end of lap one to the end(9.7 in total), being more in traffic

    Wonder what kind of a race we’ll see at Monaco with these tires? Most would say, a horrible procession but I’m not so sure. Might end up being similar to 2005(with its no tire change rule), had a crazy end of race

  69. Gave it 3. Great drive from Alonso but from spectator view nothing spectacular.
    There was some action, and opening laps were somehow intense but there was nothing going on since second stints.

  70. 3/10 for me . I don’t usually rate but this one made me to .
    To sum it up . It was ” Tyring ” . The only silver lining was Alonso ( not vettel ) winning for me . Hamilton just blew it in the first corner and then yes he got “tyred” as well . I can’t call it a race . It was a procession .

  71. Jared H (@thejaredhuang)
    12th May 2013, 16:02

    People need to stop talking about the tires. If Lotus can do a 3 stop with 3 stints on options and get a 2nd then others need to stop complaining about the tires and go back to their drawing boards. Honestly I don’t think Pirelli should do anything different from what they’re doing now.

    1. But Lotus are not the only team in F1…so just because the tyres suit Lotus does not mean they are ok.

    2. If Lotus can do a 3 stop with 3 stints on options and get a 2nd

      Yeah, exactly. It’s just Lotus who does that. That’s the problem.
      If it was Red Bull or Ferrari doing the same thing the Lotus fans would be literally on fire now…

  72. Nigelstash (@)
    12th May 2013, 16:12

    I fell asleep.
    I don’t blame the drivers, I blame the tyres. Don’t tell me it has always been the this because it hasn’t. Overtaking isn’t exciting when it is inevitable. Drivers aren’t even bothering to defend.
    I gave it a 3 and they are all for Fernando in the opening lap.
    zzzzzz

  73. Nigelstash (@)
    12th May 2013, 16:14

    “Like this”

  74. Any good race for Alonso is a good race for me, but after lap 13 when he snuck past Rosberg it was a bit of a bore. Tires have made these races more, not less interesting. Seeing Kimi finishing second on a three-stop strategy with the Ferrari’s in front and behind taking a four-stop was proof that both can be effective. Mobility of Webber was interesting as well. I wish Mercedes had a better outcome, but the car just isn’t working right yet. There is still plenty of season to go, but this was better than average. I give it a 6.

  75. sucked

    1. @wackyracer one lewis fan to another :( . It was saaad .

  76. 5/10 at best, was like watching a train go by with the odd overtake.

  77. 5 – pretty boring to be honest. Doesn’t really compare to GP2/GP3 does it?

    1. @graham228221: Did you watch today’s GP2 sprint race? It was the exact same tyre borefest but at a more amateur level. The only difference is that F1 drivers don’t climb on each other’s rear wings when they’re driving in a compact group, a couple of tenths apart, on worn tires.

      The only reason why GP2 is more entertaining is because are more reckless / don’t-care-about-potential-consequences drivers on the grid there, than in F1.

      1. It was the exact same tyre borefest but at a more amateur level.

        @tony031r Could not have summed that up better myself

        1. @tony031r @andae23 au contraire, F1 is boring because drivers can’t be at all reckless – they have to be totally risk-averse. The teams might take a risk in strategy, but drivers are tiptoeing around at 70-80% (except for a couple of laps per stint where they’re allowed to push, if they’re lucky) and not fighting against opponents DRS’ing their way past.

          Sure the standard of driving is lower in GP2/GP3, but at least you have drivers taking risks, attacking and defending on the track instead of driving to computer-calculated lap deltas.

  78. Very good race from Alonso and even Massa.

    The firsts lap were exciting with brave manouvers from both Ferraris.

    The tyre management is too much: “take care of the front left” was the mantra of the day. I think drivers aren’t not happy about this.
    I read an interview of Hakkinen were he stated that in his era the only radio message was “push”.

    I would like to see a F1 race where the only radio-messages allowed are to inform the driver when to pit and for security-related issues. I’m sick of: “tyres to hot”, “brake too cold”, “save the tyres” and so on. It is up to the sensibility of the driver how to manage and handle the car throughout the whole race. The first version of the Pirelli was fine, bring them back!

  79. Nigelstash (@)
    12th May 2013, 16:34

    We have probably the best set of drivers on the grid ever. I want to see them racing at the limit of their cars not having a chat with their engineers about how fast they are allowed to go. Teams have always had to build cars with the tyres in mind but not to this extent. I’ll be hoping for a wet race every weekend from now on. At least the racing will be about driver skill.

    1. I fail to see how Pirelli tyres are disregarding talent. If anything, the talent is even more apparent currently as drivers can’t mindlessly push 100% all the time but have to consider everything thoroughly: when to push, when to conserve, when to battle, will they just keep on doing the same thing if it doesn’t deliver or if to change driving style, the way you approach corners and the way you exit them. In Sam Michael’s words: “it’s a thinking man’s game.”

      If you think it’s any easier to win races this year than it has been in the past just look at how many of the top five finishers are world champions at every race this year.

      1. @tmekt

        I agree with you to an extent, except that I don’t think the tires are consistent enough for it to be a true thinking man’s game. Today you get it right (great thinking driver) the next race you get it totally wrong (even though it’s the same driver). And a lot of it is how the car inherently handles the tire.

  80. 6/10
    I hope my rating isn’t biased by the result. We had a battle for the lead and two different strategies working out, we had some nice overtakes but too much difference in performance because of the tyres. Each driver was on his own race, defending was useless both strategically and as it was impossible if your tyres weren’t as fresh as the other driver’s.

  81. dodge5847 (@)
    12th May 2013, 16:44

    A good solid race, without very much excitement, 6/10.

  82. Great race today! Boo hoo- who cares if the tyres go off? Alonso obviously didn’t and drove them into oblivion and just changed to a new set. Saving tyres for the sake of saving tyres is rather like saving fuel. save consumables only to the extent it serves race strategy. I must say that instead of being afraid of tyre wear, Ferrari’s attitude & strategy paid off. Ok, so there is a limit to how many stops ‘seem’ reasonable, but 4 stops isn’t at the limit. 6 yes. 5 – hmm, who knows?

  83. This race was pretty bad.
    The first part at least until the first pitstop was quite good. Pretty old school in some way. Less mad overtakes, more hard work and the overtakes needed to be setup properly. Quite exciting. But then when both the Mercedes cars threw in the towel and let everyone go the race just became a borefest. Nothing happened. By the end the whole top five had a minimum of 10 seconds between each of them.
    That said, I am not the kind of guy who only looks at what happens at the front, but there was not a lot going on at the back, and for a lot of the time we didn’t get to see the chases lower down because the TV director thought it was more fun for us to look at the top three cars cruising around on their own piece of track.
    So yeah. 4.

  84. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    12th May 2013, 17:22

    I think this race warrants a zero to be added to the list of available scores… I lost interest after lap 3.

  85. I fell asleep after 32 laps…

  86. David not Coulthard (@)
    12th May 2013, 17:27

    6.5

    I know that it’s supoposed to be rounded to 7 but I went with 6 instead. Not good, but since it wasn’t bad either it doesn’t deserve too bad a score.

  87. David not Coulthard (@)
    12th May 2013, 17:30

    Oh, and may I add that it was a Bridgestone-esque race, only with too many pitstops instead of too few. Not that I was one of those who whined during the Bridgestone era! I didn’t!

    1. David not Coulthard (@)
      12th May 2013, 17:32

      And it’s not , not Note

  88. 23kennyboy23
    12th May 2013, 17:34

    4/10. I generally see the benefits of DRS, tyres etc but today was just stupid. 2011/2010 tyres please.

    1. What possible benefits are there of DRS other than allowing a driver to pass another driver without using any skill what-so-ever (pressing a button in response to a beep isn’t a skill) Obstacles are part of F1 – If you can’t get around them then that’s your problem. Tyre deg and Kers is enough to help you in those situations.

      1. Agreed. Just say NO to DRS. Why would you give a reward to the guy behind?

  89. Meant to vote a 7, clicked on 8 somehow. The first half of the race was good, there were a fair number of battles, but near the end, when it became clear the battles that were still going on weren’t going to be won by the hunters, the race became a bit stale.

    For all the people complaining about a procession and what have you, go find a race on this track pre-2010. Good luck staying awake beyond lap 3, because nobody overtook, people rarely had to stop and McLaren or whatever team tested most on the track during the season won.

  90. Make no mistake about it – These are dark times for F1. It has never been as bad as it is right now. It’s wrong on so many levels that there is no hope if it being fixed short term. If it isn’t DRS ruining the on-track battles then it’s drivers cruising around desperately trying to hang onto tyre life. Let’s not even mention the tedious qualifying format… For once i’m sitting here considering whether it’s worth my while switching on the TV come Sunday afternoon. I managed it once around 2004/5 but boy i had no idea how good i had it back then! I can only describe this season as utter trash so far.

    Ok, off to watch the race for a second time (i need help!)

    1. 2004 and 2005 were crap except for the engine noises which are irrelevant, as far as I’m concerned. If I wanted to go listen cool, very loud noises, I’d go to a rock consert.

  91. I actually found myself turning to my revision during the end of the race. Revision! What has the world come to?

  92. I have to admit… this is the fifth race this year and… every race, apart from the Malaysian one, is now a faint memory. I do remember them, but not for the epic battles I have seen on track, not for the heroic comebacks or champions fighting each other at the absolute maximum of their abilities. I was thinking about it last week and so far the strategic battles have been fascinating, but none of 2013’s races has had that ‘spark’, or ‘X-factor’ to use a fancier word.

    When the new rules were introduced a few years back, I liked this new formula: it was exciting, the races were memorable and everything was great. But we’ve had these regulations for a few years now and to be honest, I just want those ‘boring’ races from pre-2009 back.

    The tipping point for me were Hamilton’s messages over the board radio and also post-race: it was pathetic listening to a man not enjoying his profession and during the post-race interview, I actually felt sorry for him. He wasn’t enjoying it, I’m sure a lot more drivers aren’t enjoying it and I’m not enjoying it. I think the entertainment should be drivers driving 100% all the time, not 80% – the overtakes that we see should be seen as a ‘bonus’. I’m sure I will enjoy watching 90 minutes of on-board camera shots of this new formula a hell of a lot more than the current formula.

    Just one more thing: a few weeks back in one of the ‘rate the race’ articles, a reader said after a very long time of watching he finally decided this wasn’t the formula he has enjoyed watching for so many years. I’m still a relatively young fan but I have to say: F1 really should get her act together if I’m still interested in watching it in five years’ time.

    1. im sure Alonso and Raikonnen enjoyed it. Mercedes have not learnt in 4 years about tyre wear, and have produced a car that is only fast for one lap where tyre wear does not count. Ive watched f1 since 1994 and will watch it forever, i am loving this year! it is so much better then the 2001-2004 schumacher ferrari era where Bridgestone made tyres just for ferrari and ferrari had unlimited testing.

      1. Must agree to this. I started watching late -70 but got really hooked in the -80. But after some of the MS years I stopped watching and have recently been coming back. Last years first half was the best I’ve seen for ages. Loved it and saw the full season again during the winter.
        I don’t mind if my favorite driver doesn’t do well as long as not the same driver wins every race.

        I remember the horrid Trulli Traines as well.

        This was a 7 for me.

    2. Really looking forward to Monaco by the way.

    3. In their minds, all drivers can outdrive their engines, tyres, suspension, race-strategies. Doesn’t make it so.

      BTW, I absolutely loved the comment by LH “I can’t drive any slower”. Kimi, more over- we have a new tee-shirt caption writer!

    4. I have to say: F1 really should get her act together if I’m still interested in watching it in five years’ time.

      @andae23: If F1 keeps to the same concept, as a series, for another season (and by that, I mean past 2014 with the engine and regulation changes and all) I don’t just see it losing fans but interest from the teams, drivers, sponsors and the lot as well. And with the way ACO are setting up WEC’s future, they might just be the big winners in terms of popularity on both sides (spectators and constructors / drivers’ involvement), in this equation.

      Bernie is making a huge mistake by considering F1 infailable as a series, in my opinion…there are world class competitions that have taken a bigger blow for less / that have proven things can go wrong incredibly fast. WRC, MotoGP, WTCC and FIA GT come to mind.

      1. @tony031r

        I don’t just see it losing fans but interest from the teams, drivers, sponsors and the lot as well.

        Yes, like a house of cards.

        Regarding your second paragraph: that’s indeed a very good comparison. F1 is still infailable in a way that I’m sure it will exists as long as the FIA exists, but indeed there will come a point where die-hard F1 fans will say “that’s it, this has gone too far.”

      2. Very well said.

    5. Agree 100%. I really never thought I would miss those days.

  93. i give this race 7/10
    the drs i still dont like, the tyres i love!
    the tyres give this whole new element to f1 – and the team and driver that gets the best out of them still comes out on top. I watch rally and see them with so many more different conditions, ice, gravel, tarmac etc, and think this tyre debacle and moaning is nonsense. the teams just need to get to know the tyres, they did last year as the year went on and they will this year (and mercedes will not as usual!)
    tyre wear is not a new thing in f1, people are just spoilt with recent knowledge, ie the era from 90s to 2000s.the same people complained about processional racing (and threatened to stop watching, but kept watching). Think back to the 80s, download some old races… and you will see this is nothing new with tyre wear. these are world class teams and world class drivers. today we saw a masterclass from a great driver showing up the rest of the field. we do not hear him moaning about tyre problems, because he gets on with the job, analyses and works out how to be the best driver in the situation. last year we saw him often driving a bit slower on purpose, and then speeding up during races, as he read all the elements correctly. there are too many moaners in f1, they need to adapt.

    1. +1. I am suprised by all the negative comments regarding the tyres. I personally loved the 3-4 stop strategies as it kept the race intresting to follow. Of course not everyone enjoys trying to firgure out who is where, what gap they need to get the strategy working etc. My sister only ever watches the opening lap as is has the highest chance on crashes…

      I rewatched the first 2 races of 2005 and I like it so much more the way it is now!
      Overtaking was near impossible and I could just skip to the pitstoprounds. In the current format, the driver has a huge influence on the result. Partially due to the field being close but also because of the challenge the tyres give.

      As far as this race goes, it wasn’t my favourite of the year but I enjoyed watching it and wasn’t bored for a moment!

  94. I went for a seven and let me justify it. I ‘ve been watching since 1985 and I have to say that this era isn’t as bad as it looks. People have short memory, let me remind you SPA 2007. It is the Ferraris 1-2 Mclarens 3-4 and what happens? We have 3 great drives Alo/KImi/Ham and another pretty decent one the 2006-2009 version of Massa, running in circles for 44 laps with the Ferraris lapping constantly 3-4 tenths faster, in what is supposed to be (I agree also) the best circuit in the calendar. The competition is so far back and really nothings happens for the whole race! Do you wanna go back there? I sure don’t.
    As far the great ’80s check with wikipedia and you ‘ll find out that the difference between the pole position time and the fastest lap of the race was even greater than today. What that means? That the drivers had to do even more nursing, tires, engines, transmissions and mostly fuel. The ’90’s? after the old guard left Senna (tragically), Prost, Mansel, Piquet it was a Newey fest and thanks be to Schumacher we had some competition but only between 2 teams each year, save 1997 were Mclaren and Benetton was also compettive alongside Williams and Ferrari. So explain my statement yes the race wasn’t brilliant but I think it was just that: a mediocre in the good year for F1.
    P.S. It was great for the championship too. We have 3 drivers and 3 teams fighting, Monaco and Canada is coming, cheer up!

    1. a mediocre in the good year for F1

      I’ve been a fan since the 60s & I’ve found very little ‘good’ about f1 this year.

      the passing is uninteresting, unexciting & boring to watch because of the drs & the drivers are no longer ‘racing’ there lapping to a pre-set laptime nursing the tyres.

      martin brundle raced in the 80s/90s & he said on skys coverage today that when he was racing in that era while managing fuel/tyres was a factor he never had to run as far off the pace as they do today to look after the tyres.
      Niki Lauda has said similar on german tv as have other past f1 drivers of the pre-refueling era.

      Also consider a big difference, In the era you mention drivers had options on how they ran there race because they had complete freedom in what tyres they ran.
      If you picked the soft’s you ran flat out (Or close to flat out) expecting to need to stop for tyres, If you ran the hard’s you did drive conservatively knowing you had no scheduled stops so needed to keep some life in the tyres for the end. You also had medium compounds which were somewhere inbetween.

      Now you no longer have these options because all the tyre compounds wear (At similar rates this year) & your forced to run the compounds Pirelli tell you to & must run both compounds in a race.

      Welcome to the FIA Formula Pirelli World Artificial Gimmicks Championship! :(

      1. Yes they nursed mechanical parts instead of tires and that’s what bothers many that Pirelli gets mentioned far more than the teams. After all it is the teams that fail to make interesting so to be imposed rules like this.
        What I am saying is that choosing from a dismal race to judge a whole era is unfortunate in light of the fact that we have had some outstanding races in 2012 and some pretty decent so far in 2013. Barcelona is a bad example because is well known that is hard on tires. Another damning example of the previous spec tires is Monza 2010: Vettel running for 52 laps comfortably on the softer compound and changing to the harder one on the last lap.
        I would too prefer the tires to have a much lesser role but until we discover the next big thing that spices things up, avoiding processional races I ‘ll put up with it because yes, we ‘ve seen worse.

  95. Todays race was the final straw for me, I will not be watching the rest of this season & have cancelled my tickets for the Canadian & American GP’s.

    I will also NEVER put Pirelli tires on my road car.

    1. Pirelli make excellent road tyres, and if you don’t like f1 don’t watch it. Better yet, stop whining and acting like you not watching affects the sport in any way. I’m a fan of every era of f1, and while its not perfect at the moment, I think a lot of people are overstating it and making it out to be much worse than it is.

  96. Tyres made it more interesting. If you compare this to the most Spanish GP we’ve had in the past it was definitely more exciting with at least some wheel-to-wheel action. Had the same race happened in 2010 (when the tyres were bulletproof) for example you could’ve predicted the top 5 result on Friday: 1-2 for Mercedes by a country mile, Ferrari 3-4 and Kimi occupying the 5th place.

    Even though there still was a largely dominant car (which made it too easy for Alonso), tyres and DRS together provided at least some variance to strategies and made it possible to gain positions on-track even.

    In terms of what the races have been like in 2012 and this year, though, it was too processional for me to give it anything above 6.

  97. Alonso’s first lap double overtake infront of his home crowd, you could hear them

    Alonso taking the lead, and going on to win his home GP – crowd going wild, I hope he get’s a world championship at Ferrari

  98. maybe if i get a good batch of tyres on race day, things will go my way.

  99. I want to see driver fight each other, not fight the tyres

  100. Good race a 3/10, also My driver of the day was Hamsy, the way he overtook all those cars in reverse was second to none.

  101. Hasn’t the whole season been an exercise in tyre conservation. And is it fair to punish Lotus and Ferrari for doing the best job with the tyres?

    Anyways as someone who sat through many Spanish GPs this was probably one of the better ones.
    But I agree that there is nothing worse than seeing cars not pushing when behind a fellow car in order to take a position in order to save tyres.

  102. Rubbish!
    I would love to see a driver just loose it and go as fast as they can for the entire race and burn all the tyres up just to prove a point.

    1. Anele (@anele-mbethe)
      12th May 2013, 21:53

      Now that would be hilarious…and for some reason I pictured Hamilton doing it.

  103. zak misiuda (@)
    12th May 2013, 21:55

    it comes to something when Paul Hembry is dictating how many stop are possible on the sets of tyres. let’s all face it, this is no longer a championship for the best drivers in the world its a championship for tyre conservation and is getting a bit ridiculous. And seriously another de lamination of a tyre this race!! sort it out Pirelli please for the good of Formula 1

  104. Not too much action but I wasn’t bored at any point. 6.5/10.

    Thankfully, there wasn’t too much moaning about the tires from the ORF commentators. The Pirellis are fantastic at the moment.

  105. I gave it a 5. I would have given it a good rating for Fernando even though I’m not a big Alonso or Ferrari fan. But he deserved the win. But the domination of the race by tire issues??? No, I would give the race a “1” for that aspect.

  106. Considering I fell asleep some time after lap 40 and not knowing what the hell was going on, I have to give this race a 5/10, purely for the fact that it was sleep-inducing. Wasn’t a particularly bad race beforehand though.

  107. 4. Another race where it was purely manufactured racing and there wasn’t even that much over taking. DRS was ineffective. Only passes were related to tyres. They were conserving yet again right from the beginning of the race. F1 is really becoming a joke. I scale an average race at 5 so I judge this as slightly below average.

  108. Up until now, I’ve been happy to stick with the tyres. In the first four races there has at least been on track overtaking. Spain however, was an entirely different story.

    It wasn’t a race, it was verging on a farce. We’re watching the best drivers in the world start on some tyres, drive around at about 60% – if that – until they’ve run out of rubber and then pit for some more. That process is repeated until the specified number of laps have been completed and people see where they end up.

    It’s ridiculous. I’m glad Paul Hembrey has acknowledged they got it wrong today because boy did they ever. I’ll be the first to say I don’t want to go back to one-stop races that Red Bull dominate, but what was wrong with the tyres as they were at the start of last season?

    Seeing as we won’t get a change until Silverstone my only hope is that tyres won’t be a significant issue in Monaco, what with the low wear rate. I also see at this rate though, Pirelli changing their allocation for Canada to Soft and Medium, simply so we get the desired 2/3 stops, not the ridiculous 4/5.

    As for my rating, it was a three today. Worst of the season, worst in a while, and Vettel didn’t even win!

    1. I’m afraid of Canada. Anything could happen there. Our only hope is the rain.

      I’m now questioning the value of any result… this isn’t racing… and the more ridiculous to me was what I saw yesterday morning in GP3. 17-lap race and tyres have gone off in about 5-7 laps!! Their last laps were about seven seconds slower than their best.(the commentator said it was 10 in the first race…)
      They should have come to the pits for new tyres.(would’ve been quicker) But Pirelli only gives them TWO sets for the whole weekend… ridiculous.

  109. Funny to see the vettel fans complaining so much, didn’t see that coming lol. Someone complained about a three time champion being told not to race, they conveniently forgot the part where seb was told to ‘use’ his tyres, after which he went absolutely no faster than he had been up to that point. So many times when seb was on screen he was making mistakes, I watched him run wide, miss apexes, and stuff his braking point numerous times. Not bagging him out, maybe he got the set up wrong, but he had a very average race. Seeing obvious vettel fans going off about this race makes me laugh, nothing went wrong for him, he stuffed his own race, but every driver has those days. Massa had far better pace for most of the race, and it had nothing to do with his car being easier on tyres, Massa struggled for most of the race with graining just like vettel. I though Alonso did a great job, he showed excellent race craft, consistent speed, and still managed his tyres well, certainly a lot better than his team mate. I saw a lot of racing (racing doesn’t have to mean constant overtakes kids), a lot of great performances and a thoroughly exciting first half of the race. Obviously with such consistent pace Alonso made the race up front a bit boring toward the end, and I see a lot of vettel fans complaining about the lack of battles up front, funny how they didn’t complain about Bahrain, considering it had far less action up front than Spain, no double standard there! Lol. Seriously though, this was a really good race for catalunya.

    1. …I rated it a 7 by the way, I found it surprisingly exciting for a Spanish gp

  110. I’m going to say it was boring, but maybe not for the same reasons as everyone else. Well, ok it was certainly boring in terms of the ultimate result, which seemed determined by the first set of pit stops. However, whatever excitement there might have been was robbed by the TV directors again. I thought we’d seen some improvement of late but today we were back to looking at the frontrunners speeding in clean air while interesting stuff further down the field was being ignored.

    I’ve still no idea how Perez was within DRS of Button for about 10 laps and didn’t get past on fresher tyres. All the stuff around p8-p12 ish looked (from the timing screens) to be pretty tight all race, but we could have seen a lot more of it.

    So based on what I was allowed to see, a very boring race. Based on what we might have been allowed to see, possibly better.

  111. 2.
    One point for each noteworthy non-DRS overtake I remember: Alonso on Raikkonen and Hamilton, and Vettel on Rosberg.

    Really, I don’t mind “strategic” races. But there was no strategy here – huge gaps between each of the top 7 or 8 drivers, and just no scope for anyone to do anything. Ferrari and Lotus were slightly better on tyre wear so ended up ahead.

    Drivers nursing tyres on 4-stop! I wonder why nobody tried a 5-stop whilst ignoring the tyres (I guess you would still have to nurse them)…

    First race in ages where I kept nodding off (I admit I was tyred).

    1. No one had the tyres to do a 5 stop. They start Qualifying with 6 so the idea of also using all 6 in the race is pretty unthinkable.

      1. Don’t think so – they have to use some tyres that were used in qualifying anyway (mostly for 1 or 2 hot laps only) so not sure why the last set of tyres could not be used either?

    2. Confused by ‘huge gaps between each of the top 7 or 8 drivers” and “Ferrari and Lotus were slightly better on tyre wear”. Here is the gap-to-leader chart for the top 5 finishers. Looks like Ferrari and Lotus dialed it in and everyone else just got it wrong. http://bit.ly/10syiZq

      1. sorry for the bad link. This one works: http://bit.ly/YEqAyR

        1. But it is because of the nature of the tyres that most teams seem to get it wrong. And yes, there were huge gaps between the leaders – after the second stop, it had all been played out if you take into account the 3-stoppers time. And it was more boring than ever – not only did we have a leader with a huge lead like so often with Vettel, but there was no potential for action in any of the top 6 or 7 positions after only 1/3 of the race.

          Whilst 2011 was often boring with Vettel leading a lot, at least there was always some tension about the other spots on the podium.

    3. Alonso on Raikkonen

      Just a shame that Kimi didn’t bother actually racing him & basically just let Fernando go by him.

  112. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    13th May 2013, 1:33

    4

    Pros:
    – Alonso winning in front of his home crowd.
    – Massa on the podium
    – Vettel not on the podium.

    Cons:
    – Tyres really were too fragile. They’re supposed to drive as fast as possible, not drive so slowly and cautiously that they cant even race the next car in front, regardless of if it’s their team mate or not.

    – DRS down the pit straight seemed a bit too effective. Could’ve done with being 100m shorter. Mind you i suppose it’s becase the teams have optimised DRS terrifically this year.

    – Lewis going backwards.

    I really didnt enjoy this race too much. There were a couple of good fights at the start and towards the end, but other than that, there wasn’t too much to say “Yahoo” to. Just too much tyre management and pitstops.

    I know that Catalunya is a high wearing track anyway, but 4 and 5 stops is just too much. It makes it difficult to follow.

    I could live with 4-5 stops if the drivers were pushing 100% the whole time. But they looked like they were just out for a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive.

    Also, hopefully the tyres wont be such a cruicial factor in for the rest of the season (aside from silverstone) because the tracks from here on are considerably less tyre hungry.

    1. @tophercheese21 “They’re supposed to drive as fast as possible, not drive so slowly and cautiously that they cant even race the next car in front, regardless of if it’s their team mate or not.”
      ——————

      Excuse me but, What race did you see? Yesterday won the fastest driver, the driver who overtook 4 cars in the first laps, the driver that did 4 stpos instead of 3 (as did the second one) so yesterday on top of the podium there was a driver that won the race driving faster than the second one, overtaking him twice in the circuit and in the second position there was a driver that tried to preserve his tyres (what allowed him to finish ahead of Massa).

      And behind the third position finished a driver (vettel) that planned a 3 stops strategy -planning no to drive as fast as possible- and he had to change it whe he realized that to Alonso was not going to stop driving qualification laps…

      Yesterday what Ferrari did was to show the rest of the teams/drivers that it is possible (and it was the way to win the race) to go as fast as possible during the hole race, and mostly at the begining.

      1. and he had to change it whe he realized that to Alonso was not going to stop driving qualification laps…

        Watch a qualifying lap of one of the top qualifiers this weekend. Then watch Alonso’s (or anybody else’s) laps during the race. If you do not see a difference, I urge you to make an appointment at the optician.

  113. 1/10 The worst F1 race I saw ever! Stupid is the least you can say! 5 pit stop to change tyres!!!! No word can describe such kind of race, it is no race at all, worst than an oval race in USA!!! A shame.
    Bye bye Formula 1!!!

    1. Podium:

      1st position: Alonso 4 stops
      2nd: Kimi 3 stops
      3rd: Massa 4 stops
      4rd: 4 stops
      5th: 4 stops

      Next time swicht on the tv during the race, it is better to wacht the race before writing a comment.

      1. % stops, 4 stops, 3 stops, it is the same! Stupid way of make races happen.

  114. I fell asleep, b/c the race is at night for me and also b/c I was tyre-d

  115. Abdurahman (@)
    13th May 2013, 2:47

    Nice to see people really waking up to the situation of reality now in F1. This race really hit it home. Tires should not have a “cliff”, is part of the problem I think. Tires should go away sure, but, in normal type conditions, where the driver can still push and then use their skill as the tires go off, just not being timid because they know the tire is just going to go off a cliff at any moment.

    Ridiculous amount of pitstops, might as well bring back refuelling at this point!! Spice things up a bit. The technology is there to make it completely safe. Look at INDYCARS, they still do it. It’s pretty nutty, but Indycar races are starting to blow away F1. THAT IS NOT HOW IT SHOULD BE…………………………….

    Hmmm, does Jacques Villeneuve still seem like some sort of nut with dumb comments now that YOU ARE STARTING TO AGREE WITH HIM??

    1. Tires should not have a “cliff”, is part of the problem I think.

      I agree

  116. 4/10
    I thought it’s gonna be an amazing race in the first few laps. But then after that, it’s not just boring, but somewhat stupid to watch.

  117. I’ll stop my pay TV (sport package), but i wont stop watching f1, just watch it on free-to-air, even if it only the race with lots of ads. f1 has lost its mojo… i dont blame pirelli, just bring back the refuelling!

  118. Grading on the curve that is Circuit de Catalunya, I gave this a 7. The track could be a little better, (or just revert to the late-90’s layout,) but for what it is, I was thrilled to see SOME life in the early stages.

    If I wasn’t grading on a curve, this would be about a 4 or a 5.

  119. 9
    + Alonso wins home race!!!
    + Kimi holds 2

    – 1 because of all the tyre managment elbonian-jiberish >> at least they all got the same tyres and also “I can’t race any slower” << what??

  120. Well, I’ve been worrying for a few years, and I’ve finally found the answer.
    If you want to watch a top-flight, premier race with good background knowledge, then watch F1 on the BBC.

    Seriously, none of this tyre moaning like NBC/Sky reportedly had, just one small mention by Gary Anderson (a real find) that the race is likely to be a 3-4 stop race, never said anything bad about it, and that’s how the race panned out. In the end, Alonso’s 4-stop beat Raikkonen’s 3-stop, so trying to conserve the tyres obviously isn’t always the right way to go about things. Ben Edwards and DC barely mentioned the tyres other than the different race strategies seen by teams using different compounds.

    The tyres last 6 laps in China, people moan. The tyres last 10-12 laps in Barcelona, people moan. I can’t understand where people want these tyres. They’re the same for all the teams, the teams have to drive around the problem, not drive straight into it and hope it goes away.

    1. The BBC did just as much complaining about the tyre situation post race, Especially on the red button forum.

      DC who has traditionally been quite supportive of Pirelli was very critical of them, He did also mention during the race when they had an incar camera about how slow everyone was cruising.

      1. Slow?

        Well instead of lookimg at the incams you shoul look at the times,

        Race time 2013 1:39

        Race time before pirelli (2008/9) 1:38 and 1:37

        1 minute difference over a total distance of 307 Km (hell of a difference!)

    2. I actually have no problem with 4 stops at such. However, with 4 stops, there should really only be a minimal amount of saving tyres.

  121. don’t usually do reviews of races, but after following F1 for 33 years and going to 30 + races, I feel I need to say something. The racing isnt racing , you can analyse the detail to death with no result, F1 is now a Bernie entertainment centre, a circus, a worldwide event. The “racing” is contrived with contributions from – DRS, KERS, tyres, team orders, even whose birthday it is – remember Maldonados one and only victory in Spain on Franks birthday. So, it is a case of accept “the event ” as it is, or go and support your local motor club/ track/ lower formula racing, which is more basic and honest. Oh by the way beer @ £7.60 a pint at the track in spain adds more pain to the insult. Will I continue to spend money on going to races ?? Its a bit a bit like a 50 a day person giving up smoking

  122. Turned the coverage off when it was obvious that no-one other than the little guys at the back was actually racing. The front runners were competing in a tyre saving competition which was interspersed with a pit stop time competition. Get rid of DRS and limit pit stops to necessary repairs / adjustments only and let the drivers race.

  123. 2 out of 10
    boring, predictable, artificial and 4 stops. I’m sorry but for me a race needs to be more then the few first laps

  124. Melchior (@)
    14th May 2013, 11:27

    The race got a Generous 4 from me.I recon a set of Cinnamon Donuts would work and last better than those excuses for tyres that they are using at the moment!!
    It would be nice to see some real flag to flag racing for a change instead of this constant tyre conservation.

  125. I only gave it a 6, there were a few moments of excitement but overall I found it quite dull.

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