Who will be 2012’s Petrov, and will Alonso pass
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2010, 19th race of the season, Sebastian Vettel on pole position, locked in a championship battle with Fernando Alonso.
The race starts not great but alright for Alonso, but focussing on the wrong Red Bull driver, he suddenly finds himself back in 7th place. With Vettel leading the race, he needs 4th to win the championship. All that stands between him and the championship are the Renaults of Vitaly Petrov and Robert Kubica and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. We all know what happened.Fast-forward to 2012, and we start the 19th race of the season in a somewhat similar situation as half-way through Abu Dhabi 2010 race. Vettel is in front, with Alonso further back the field: 8th place on the grid. If Vettel wins, Fernando needs at least a 4th place finish to still have a shot at the title in Brazil.
Between Alonso and 4th place are Nico Hülkenberg, Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher and the Renault of Kimi Räikkönen (with Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton ahead of that). It’s probably safe to assume that Felipe will be told to roll over and die and Nico will fall pray to the Spanish bull as well, but then he also needs to catch both Schumacher and Räikkonen.
The similarities are spooky. Will he be able to overcome Abu Dhabi 2010, or who will be 2012’s Petrov? (i.e., the guy finishing just ahead)
Formula One is more overtaking friendly these days, and Alonso has finished on the podium a few times this season from lower down in the top 10. With that, I don’t think we’ll see anyone play the role of Petrov in todays race. Schumacher and Raikkonen may cause some problems, but I don’t think they would be able to keep Alonso behind anywhere near as long as Petrov did in 2010. I see Alonso finishing 3rd or 4th.
@slr wow – I never thought I’d see the day that Raikkonen or Schumacher were said to be lesser defenders than Petrov :P
However I do appreciate what you mean – especially with DRS in the mix.
Schumacher, he’ll be pitifully slow but difficult to overtake.
That being said most drivers will be easy meat if Alonso gets close enough in the DRS zone.
it’s quite funny to see 2 Ferrari/Alonso haters commenting and laughs about how Alonso will lose the championship…but at the end of the day they are right, they route for the best car and in one way or another Newey will win his third championship in a row…it remember me the 2000-2004 period as fan of Ferrari i was in the same mode laugh about the others…but remember in formula 1 things change quickly (and i know something)…
Congratualtion to Newey he has done an amazing job, he deserve this title…no doubt no contention.
But sooner or later (i personally think soon) Ferrari will take the lead…and Alonso will finally had a “Schumi car” or a “Vettel car”and by then we will see who will be the one to laugh…P.S in Abu Dhabi 2010 you really need some average level about f1 to understand that overtaking was impossible in that race against the speed trap of the renault engine as Hamilton vs Kubica (with Kubica in 40 laps used tires) has shown…with no kers no drs and with the brigestone rules…everyone in Petrov place will be able to defend his position and everyone in Alonso palce will not be able to overtake
Please stop it with Newey wins the championship.
Alonso could have had his pick of a car, and he chose Ferrari to seek more glory. Schumacher made it work without Newey, Alonso didn’t.
Vettel could have had his pick after his great Toro Rosso season, and he chose Red Bull, who were then slower than Toro Rosso. It was the right choice.
That’s part of the package when you want to be a World Champion.Vettel could have had his pick after his great Toro Rosso season, and he chose Red Bull, who were then slower than Toro Rosso. It was the right choice.
He had no choice. He was a part of the Red Bull program, and you have any idea how much Red Bull were spending.
@mnmracerAlonso would have a lot of extra WDC chances left in his career if he didn’t burn as many bridges.
You mean Mclaren? When has Mclaren, since 2008, been any better of a than place to be at than Ferrari? Of course, the best place to be a driver at has been Red Bull. Obviously that can’t be debated.
That being said, I predict Vettel to retire on lap 1 after colliding with Massa, who doesn’t even bother to brake into turn 1. 70 long laps go by. Near the end of the race, Alonso lies fourth with three cars ahead of him, Hamilton being one. On the final lap, when it looks like Alonso lost it, Lewis deliberately spins out and gives Alonso the championship. Now that would be quite a story and a would most certainly crash the F1F site.
I could see Maldonado in that role, although it would more likely end in tears. It would be harder at Interlagos than at Abu Dhabi to keep a better car and driver behind you. How about this year’s Timo Glock circa 2008, to sneak in between Vettel and Alonso with 3 laps to run and upset the standings?
@kingshark wow that’s a hell of a prediction. Lol.
For whatever reason, I have a sneaky suspicion that the Brazilian Grand Prix will smash certain preconceived assumptions. What assumptions? I don’t know yet. Just a gut feel.
I also think that people are calling for rain and underrating the Red Bull + Vettel package in the rain though. Which would, in a way, also match my previous statement of smashing preconceived assumptions.
I’d like Mark Webber to be this year’s Vitaly Petrov.
I can see it now: Vettel is taken out early by an alternator failure, and while the McLarens dominate the race, the final podium position comes down to a race-long tussle between Webber and Alonso, with Webber running in third. This would put Webber in an interesting conundrum, because he is good friends with Alonso. If he finishes third, Vettel is champion. If he finishes fourth, Alonso wins overall. It would be very interesting to see what he does next – whether his loyalty to his team or his loyalty to his friend will influence his race.
In the end, he’d probably make Alonso work for it and come out on top. Alonso probably wouldn’t stop being friends with him if Webber beat him in the race and Vettel won the title; Red Bull, on the other hand, would probably be considerably less forgiving if they thought Webber let Alonso through. But if I were Webber in that position, then looking back over the way Red Bull have abused him in the past and the way they are now betting everything on him so that Vettel can win, I’d be tempted to run a little wide now and again …
Saw this on Twitter lol. Note that it’s *fake* Helmut. Just in case someone didn’t catch that.
https://twitter.com/fakeHelmutM/status/270275221209100288
https://twitter.com/fakeHelmutM/status/270402112087797761
https://twitter.com/fakeHelmutM/status/270402158854283264If there’s going to be a ‘Petrov’ in the last race then it’ll need to be reversed so Vettel gets stuck behind someone and Alonso goes on to win.
Of course that’s pretty unlikely since Vettel will most likely be on pole in the first place and with DRS it’d be harder for someone to hold him off.
I think if Vettel doesn’t win the title then it can only be because of mechanical failure or a crash. There’s no way Alonso can finish far enough ahead of Vettel at this stage of the season without something going very wrong for Vettel and Alonso getting a bit of luck/
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