BBR BBRC73 1:43 2011 Ferrari F150° Italia Silverstone GP Winner Fernando Alonso
With Alonso being the quickest during FP3 of 2012 Silverstone GP, I thought it was a good time to share pictures of BBR's version of the Ferrari F150° Italia as driven by Fernando Alonso to victory in last year's GP.
Coincidentally 60 years ago in the same Grand Prix, Jose Froilan Gonzalez drove his 375 F1 to take the first F1 victory for the Scuderia Ferrari. Much to the delight of the Ferrari fans during last years British GP, Alonso drove a fantastic race to win the race. BBR's presentation of this F150° has one side of the plexiglass cover printed with a layout of the 375 F1 car. This clearly gives us an idea how F1 cars evolved over the years.
Of course, what is F1 without any drama?! Before this GP, the controversial double diffuser was temporarily banned. It was thought that FIA did this to give Ferrari an edge for this race. Alonso was only P2 during the race but after an error from Vettel's pit stop, it allowed Alonso to grab the lead and eventually win the race.
As of writing, qualifying session is in session! Alonso P5 after Q1. Fernando almost crashed during Q2. Now, 6 minutes remaining in Q2, Alonso down in P16. Red flag appeared and I wondered if the session will still continue. Whatever happens in qualifying, it will be a very exciting race tomorrow!
So can Alonso still win this week? With a bad weather in Silverstone, Alonso's consistency and skill, and if he continues to have lady luck on his side as we saw in past races, I would not be surprised if we see Alonso on the podium tomorrow or even a race win.
Not the best start for Lewis during Friday sessions in Valencia. Hamilton admitted he struggled because they did not have a good setup for their cars but is confident they will be able to rectify the problems in time for qualifying. Looking at the stats however, its not really that bad as the top 15 drivers were covered by less than a second! This is how close this season has become.
In FP3, things becomes better for McLaren garage. Button finished the session first and Lewis finished 8th. Although this did not bode too well for Lewis, it is still a good result for McLaren as a team as they were still searching for the best configuration for this week's race. Before qualifying, Lewis was still uncertain where they stand and if they made all the necessary adjustments to qualify higher. Interesting to know that Button copied Lewis' car configuration to help him understand better why he is not able to match his teammate's pace. That is how much Button is lost for explanation why he continues to struggle while Lewis seems to make the most out of his car.
Qualifying finally started with the 2 McLaren drivers easily qualified for Q2. Surprisingly, Mark Webber was the first casualty amongst the top drivers. This was caused by problems with DRS. He was practically trying to qualify without DRS which is probably why he is not able to get that 1 second gap he needed to qualify for Q2. With Q1 being close, Q2 is expected to be more exciting. Again, Lewis and Jenson was able to qualify and the surprise of the session are the Ferrari drivers who neither qualify for Q3. Although Alonso is still confident that their race pace is better and a good strategy should earn them good haul of points for this week. Q3 finally started. It was very intense! The difference between P1 and P10 is only less than 0.9 of a second. For quite some time, I thought it will be either Romain or Nico who will take pole position. Vettel and the team opted to run just 1 flying lap in Q3 to save tyres. I was really focused on watching this because Vettel is a master of qualifying. For some reason, he can find the gap he needs in just 1 lap to get pole position. And yes he did! For the 33rd time, he got pole position. Lewis still had the chance to get pole position but ended up ~0.3 seconds slower than Vettel. Pastor Maldonado qualified 3rd.
It was indeed an exciting qualifying session and of course it did not finish without any drama! We saw Vettel again snatching pole in the last few seconds of qualifying. Nico complained that Lewis impeded him and was not able to do a flying lap where he could have potentially have gone for pole. Button being very perplexed about his situation and what happened in Q3 where again, he cannot find any balance and reported tons of locking he experienced only during Q3. Nonetheless, it was a great drive from Vettel, Lewis and Pastor. Vettel and Hamilton also qualified 1st and 2nd in Canada. So I am hoping for a Montreal part 2. Although chances are, Lewis will drop position(s) in the race as their car is not really suited for high track temperature. Although it will help that Valencia is not an easy track to overtake. And usually, the track produces quite a boring processional race which is why pole sitter here usually goes on to win the race.
Just a shout out. At the moment, Lewis has out qualified Button 8 out of 8 times. Who is the #1 driver again of McLaren? I wonder where are the Lewis cynics now. Last year, they talked trashed about Lewis being outdone by Button. I am not happy that Button is struggling believe me. But I am happy that Lewis was able to prove to the doubters that he can still do it.
Start of the race as usual Vettel increased the gap massively. Hamilton did not have the pace to match Vettel and eventually was passed by Grosjean. Things were looking settled already. That is until the safety car was deployed because of the accident with the Toro Rosso of Vergne. Everyone took this opportunity to change tyres without losing position. However, another bad pit stop by McLaren (nothing new here...) caused Lewis to drop to 6th place. Alonso is now up to 3rd place Grosjean in 2nd. Everyone is thinking that Grosjean will be able to overtake Vettel soon as he is matching the Red Bull's pace. Then things gets more interesting. It started with Vettel slowing down and then eventually retiring due to a mechanical failure. And then it was Grosjean's turn to retire also due to a mechanical failure. At this point, Alonso is leading the race followed by Lewis then Kimi. Lewis was losing grip in his tyres and was eventually overtaken by Kimi. This dropped Lewis to 3rd. He kept the position until Maldonado fancied his chances. In my opinion, Pastor will be able to do it in the correct time as Lewis is very limited by the degradation of his tyres. But Maldonado forced the issue and bumped to Hamilton. Lewis retired from the race while Maldonado was still able to finish 10th even with the damages in his car.
In the end, it was a fantastic effort and strategy by Ferrari and Alonso. From 11th on the grid to 1st is a massive drive from him! He is the first driver to win more than once this year. This also ended the streak of a new race winner in every race at 7. Kimi finished second. Rounding up the podium is... wait for it... Michael Schumacher! After 6 long years, he is finally back on the podium! What a great result for Schumi! Albeit he could not done it alone but it is what it is. Webber finished 4th from 19th! Also a great effort from him.
This was indeed a very exciting race with lots of surprises. Valencia was always known as a track that produces boring race but it certainly is not the case for 2012. As a Hamilton fan, well it sucks! Giving the benefit of the doubt, I will need to know the facts and hear from experts whose fault it is. Is it Pastor's fault or Hamilton's or maybe both? Regardless, this is a race that Lewis should quickly forget and start focusing on the next race. No points for Hamilton this week. And Alonso now leads the championship with 111 points. He is 20 points ahead of 2nd place Mark Webber. Wait Mark Webber? The driver who started from 19th in the race is now second overall? Yes that is correct. Hamilton dropped to 3rd place followed by Vettel.
This season is really turning out to be something different and interesting. I am already looking forward to the next race. Bring on Silverstone and Forza Ferrari!
The start of the Canadian GP weekend cannot be any better for Hamilton. In the first and second free practice sessions, Lewis topped all drivers showing hope that potentially, he will get his first win of the season. But after the third free practice, we saw Vettel lead the pace. Worse for Hamilton fans, Vettel drove superbly and flawlessly during the Qualifying session that gave him pole position. He was the only driver to reach the 1 minute 13 seconds mark. Hamilton qualified second and the revived Alonso in Ferrari got 3rd.
Not too set expectations too high so as not to feel down if Lewis doesn't win (as with every race), I thought at least a podium position will be satisfying already especially with the performance of both Red Bull and Ferrari. And we all know the miscues in the pit stops of McLaren. So it will be hard for Lewis to win this race.
I stayed up late hoping for a good race and possibly a win for Lewis. Race started at 2AM Singapore time. I prepared myself so that I can watch the race. And boy am I glad I did! Regardless who won, in my opinion, it was a very exciting race to watch. And it was even more satisfying for me to see the driver I support win the race in a very convincing way. It is not usual to see any driver, overtaking two world champion drivers in the final laps of the race to take the win!
At the start of the race, Vettel was being... well like Vettel. He quickly created a gap for himself to hold a 3 seconds lead over Hamilton. I thought it will be another one of the boring races where Vettel started from pole, created enough separation, and won the race. And for quite some time, it looked like that would happen. Then I quickly noticed Lewis closing the gap. It seemed the tyre degradation is forcing Vettel not to push so much. On the other hand, Lewis was able to push further. After Vettel's pit stop, obviously Lewis took the lead. But I was happy to see that even after Hamilton's first stop, he was able to jump ahead of Vettel! That is the time I started to think that a win is highly probable.
It became a battle of strategies in the end. McLaren committed to a two stop strategy while Red Bull and Ferrari opting to do a single stop. Over the team radio, we can hear Lewis asking the team what strategy Red Bull and Ferrari are on. They initially said that they believe they are doing the same strategy as they were. So Lewis pitted and came in third after his pit stop. Lewis was surely waiting for the others to do their pit stops but it did not happen. McLaren realized that Red Bull and Ferrari might be pushing to the end with the tyres that they have and urged Lewis to push as much as he can. I thought for sure Lewis would be mad if he lost the race because of their strategy. Note that Lewis was very wary of what the other 2 were planning!
In the end, tyre degradation was too much for Vettel and Alonso. They probably pushed up to the limit of their tyres. Because of this, Lewis was able to easily overtake both drivers to lead the race until the checkered flag. This gave Lewis his first win of the season and continues to have a strange pattern of results he had in Montreal where he either won or retired from the race. To add insult to injury, Alonso lost 3 more places finishing 5th while Vettel finished 4th. That gave Lewis the lead for the drivers' championship by 2 points with 88 points over Alonso's 86 and Vettel's 85 points.
With 1 more week to go, I cannot wait for the European Grand Prix. Hoping to see Lewis win again!
