I think someone 'sapued' belacan on his car. Too early to say anything, he could be going for a low-fuel strategy since this is his home race. I still say BMW is faster , this speed could be temporary but excited for tomorrow. Alonso will not win tomorrow no matter what, Ferrari still ahead Probably a nice finish, that's about all.

My bet is for Alonso being among the earliest to pit tomorrow.

He IS on low-fuel. Over at the official team website, we can pretty much conclude he is fueled at LEAST 5 laps lighter than Kimi. However Piquet is on a heavier stint.

"Had a look at the times, it certainly points to a significantly different fuel load to that of piquet because until then piquet was close or matching alonso throughout.

It will interesting to see how the shark fin affects his speed in the start fast sweeping turns, he can be usurped by anyone following close behind at that section.

The start will be important or else the hard effort will be laid to waste. But even with that it will be highly difficult to keep the BMW behind for long, either in the pits or on th track they will start looming large on alonso's mirrors.

Anyone underestimating BMW will be doing so at their peril.

If alonso stop way to early it will leave a sour taste in everyone mouths.

But estimates for now i would say he is 4 laps lighter than kimi and 7-8 laps lighter to the leading BMW"

Yes, regardless how light-fueled he was, he did a superb job in qualifying! Without a grain of doubt, Renault has definitely improved on their package. I predict a P4 at best and qualifying top is crucial to ensure that you have a better position during the race. I doubt he can maintain his pace for long, one BMW will get ahead of him and also a Mclaren[maybe]. Remember this, no matter how good you are at defending your position how long can you resist the challenge from the better car? You lose advantage if you cannot build a comfortable gap from your closest rival on track, especially when you pit. The R28 is nowhere as superior as the R25/R27 yet. They made improvements but so did everybody else. Just preventing all Alonso fans from getting their hopes up too high, as always it's better to think of the worst and take delight if it turns out the other way!

Tomorrow promises an interesting race.

You have to understand that guy! He's driving a Ferrari and loses out to a Renault. The common conception is Ferrari, Mclaren Mercedes & BMW are in a different world. Renault is actually a budget car manufacturer in France. So a luxurious Ferrari losing to Renault...er...it's insulting[Must be what Massa is thinking].

Still long to go before tomorrow's race. Can't wait anymore!

That's a more realistic way to put it in perspective. Ferrari is 100% the guy to beat, plus how can you expect a Renault to be better than BMW or Mclaren; what more the Ferrari! I'm sure many realized that after Renault won the championship in 2005 and 2006,more than 20 key personnels left the team to join BMW/Mclaren/Ferrari and even Red Bull. They obviously received a better offer from other teams coupled with the departure of their 'hero driver'. Renault sucks big time at maintaining their top engineers. No surprise in their recent slumps. They had the audacity to lay the blame on 'inaccurate tunnel readings'


The suspicion that Fernando Alonso was light on fuel in qualifying for the Spanish GP has been all-but confirmed by Renault's Pat Symonds.

By the way, it's normal for local supporters to support their own heroes. If we have our own Malaysian F1 driver I'm sure our medias will only write wonderful things for him.

It is worth it, provided that Alonso builds a comfortable gap before going into the pit; if he fails to do it, it's history. It's obvious that Renault knows they have nothing to lose so they go all out by giving Alonso the more aggressive strategy. In fact Alonso himself predicted that he'll finish P7, behind 2 Ferraris, 2 BMWs and 2 Mclarens. Anything higher that P7 is a bonus. Realistically, I doubt Renault is any faster in raw pace than the aforementioned teams. Again, starting in the front row gives you an edge.

It'll be a Ferrari 1-2, provided that Massa make it to the finishing line. Hopefully he's calmer today and not attempt any risky maneuvers. Kimi is flying in his Ferrari, the champ again this year. The champ doesn't need help, he's a genuinely fast guy in the fastest car on the grid=unstoppable.

This post has been edited by PearlyLPU: Apr 27 2008, 01:33 PM

No, but you have to give credits when credits are due. Kimi does a great job in F2008.
Controversial, let's hope nothing colourful like that happens again! Just hope that Massa will stop moaning too much when thing doesn't go his way.

Good effort, can't wait for the race tonight...about 5 hours more to the Spanish Grand Prix!
It's nice to see how well the BMWs perform today, people have high expectations for that team.

You know what, it seems that whenever someone tries to overtake or get ahead of Couthard, an accident happened! Comeon guys! We should give him a trophy. He probably set the world record by now

Anyway, it was awful; what happened to Heikki! Glad that he is OK. I think we can expect more action at the back of the field Interesting eh? The fight at the back...be thankful that Couthard is here to give us some entertainment!!!

Yeah, brilliant idea! Newey is known to sacrifice drivers' comfort to push the maximum of the car. DC would be pissed to know he won't be able to fit in the cockpit. I think this should be his last year in F1. Vettel is going to replace him since Vettel is signed to Red Bull company and what more Toro Rosso is now up for sale!

Yeah, cost-saving measure!

Congrats to the iceman for his superb driving and his win in Spain! Massa did well too, he managed to drive his Ferrari to the finishing line. Regards to BMW for choosing the wrong setups. But since the next circuit is more to Bahrain, hope to see more teams competing with each other or else the race is so dull. More actions can be expected from Toyota/Williams/Renault/Red Bulls [the mid-pack]. Though at this moment congrats to Renault; since they're now the fourth fastest team in term of raw pace but it's pointless if their engineers fail to fixed the engine problem. Which means they have to sacrifice speed for reliability. Supposedly the night before the race the engineers modified their 'cooling system' to give them an edge over speed but cost them reliability.

Hamilton is under intense pressure by the Brit media to perform the best and since he's no longer in his 'rookie years' all mistakes, even if it's little is highlighted even more. Obvious disadvantage but it's only 4 races into the season. Too early to predict anything other than the fact that Ferrari is ahead of the pack. Or maybe BMW will win a race.

One thing is Renault is in big problem. During testing, twice did their engine broke down and it ultimately broke down during the actual race day. The problem is definitely caused by the increase of horse power in the R28, but they have poor cooling system. From RF1 Paddock Pass, they said that if Renault cannot find a solution to cool their engine; they'll have to cancel their upgrade. What's the point of being fast if your cars have bad reliability?

And aha, Ferrari is using the car with that hole in the nose.

Poor Nick, if he didn't go into the pitstop he risked having his car stopping on track. What's up with that stupid 'pit lane rule'. Don't tell me it's better to run out of fuel than being penalized for 10 seconds?

About Alonso's technical input, he's good at setting up his car but he's not an engineer. There is only to a limit that he can try to set-up the car to suit the track but the most important thing that Renault doesn't have right now is competent and experienced engineers. There is a fine line between technical input and revamping the car. To all Alonso fans don't 'overdo' it. [I'm one too but at least I'm realistic as to his chances]

Edit* Renault has certainly improved and Alonso said that he can now start enjoying the races. But let's hope they can keep this up. Wishing all the best to Renault team & Alonso/Piquet!

This post has been edited by PearlyLPU: Apr 28 2008, 06:36 PM