neonviper8 said:With this roster, plus Kopljar and Slišković... we're among the top favorites to grab the gold at home next year.
In my view, Pavlović is the biggest loss; it's a shame about his injury because he's excellent when we need someone to spark creativity in the offense. Obranović can also be quite useful if he finds his rhythm... Regardless, we have a real shot at finally securing that European gold we've been chasing... Even though we've missed out on several gold medals, reaching this semifinal brings us to an incredible statistic: From 2003 to today, across major tournaments (World, European, and Olympic), the US has reached the semifinals 15 times in 19 tournaments—a truly unparalleled achievement! Even the formidable France has "only" managed 14 semifinals during that same span, despite having 8 golds.😁
I’ve always been against Fernando Alonso, but his tactical intelligence is nothing short of brilliant. At the start, he lets Pierre Gasly take a spot simply because he refuses to dive recklessly into the pack, prioritizing safety to avoid any unnecessary contact. He doesn't even bother forcing overtakes on track to save his tires, knowing full well he'll just leapfrog him during the pit stops. Unfair critics would probably claim: "Alonso lost ground to Pierre Gasly at the start, so he's clearly too slow to pass on track and needs a pit stop strategy to win." If it's considered fair game to laugh at Sebastian Vettel for being outpaced by Lewis Hamilton in a much faster Mercedes-Benz, then we should equally laugh at Fernando Alonso for being overtaken by Felipe Massa in a similarly superior car.😁
David Anderson72 said:He had momentum at the start, but you clearly aren't watching his other races where he consistently carves through the field one by one. The only thing he can't overtake is Adrian Newey's design work.
Look, I’ve watched almost every race from back in '92 until now. In all that time, I've probably missed maybe ten races, if that... I'll say it again: Alonso is elite, and he frequently pulls off great overtakes and displays high-level racing intelligence. But it bothers me when every single move he makes is treated like a miracle, even the ones that don't actually deserve that much hype. It isn't even fair to Alonso himself, because then his truly brilliant, world-class maneuvers lose their impact... I am genuinely curious to see how Vettel performs once he has as much Formula 1 experience as Alonso does. A huge part of Alonso's success relies on that massive veteran experience... So, we will see if Vettel continues to improve with age and eventually reaches the same level as Alonso. That remains to be seen...
Fernando Alonso is a master and arguably the best driver out there, but you guys are really overhyping him, what was actually so legendary about it? Sure, he had a solid launch, and maybe he got away just a fraction faster than the field, but nothing spectacular happened, you can see it clearly in the onboard footage from his perspective. He just floored it straight down the line without making any maneuvers before the first turn, and he got lucky because Romain Grosjean, Mark Webber, and Lewis Hamilton were all fighting and blocking each other ahead of him, which basically did the heavy lifting for him... There’s no denying it was a clean start, but it isn't anything special enough to warrant 800 emojis and hype... It would be nice if we could just have a civilized discussion about F1 on this forum, instead of constantly reading endless bickering and teasing about "dirty driving," "whining," "cheating," or "true champions" and so on... I’m not even an Alonso fan, yet I find it easy to admit he’s the best. So why can't everyone else look at race situations realistically, or at least try to? If Sebastian Vettel was "two seconds faster per lap" today, who's to say it's all the car? Isn't it theoretically possible the car provided 1.8 seconds of that gap while Vettel earned the remaining 0.2 seconds himself? 🤷
Fernando Alonso is definitely a top-tier driver, but some of you are being incredibly childish with the worship, treating every little thing he did as if he completely dominated the field. Even just passing slower cars using DRS on a long straight is being labeled as him "outclassing" them. It’s honestly ridiculous... It just feels like people are venting their frustrations over how Sebastian Vettel is performing. Sure, Alonso climbed from 9th to 3rd, but let's look at the reality: Lewis Hamilton had a tire failure, Felipe Massa had a tire failure, and Sebastian Vettel dropped out. Right after the first pit stop, he lunged right in front of Ricciardo because his crew took about 7.4 seconds to swap tires. Then, in this final stretch, he "outplayed" Kimi Raikkonen simply because Lotus left him on old tires, plus Sergio Perez moved in a way that caused another tire blowout. (To be fair, Perez probably would have stayed ahead anyway, but he could have held him up just enough to save the rubber. And even then, beating Kimi would have been tough if he had changed tires too.) Given all those lucky breaks, he earned that 3rd place spot. We need to be realistic—praise his brilliant moves when they happen, because he certainly makes them, but don't try to turn him into a hero based on a race like this. To me, the real hero of the race is Lewis Hamilton; if the SC had come out just a few laps earlier, he easily could have overtaken Fernando and fought his way onto the podium despite all that lost time with the tire issue.
Given how things were playing out, Pastor Maldonado and Lewis Hamilton were both major threats to his position. If they hadn't collided, he could have easily ended up behind one of them. If I recall correctly, Romain Grosjean retired while he was still ahead of him. It was just lucky enough that his only real run-in was with Sebastian Vettel. That’s basically an extra 25 points for Vettel that he didn't lose for nothing. And if we assume Fernando Alonso would have definitely taken at least 2nd place had Vettel not dropped out, that gives Alonso another 7 points too. Essentially, in this single race, the momentum swung 32 points in Alonso's favor over Vettel—and today, he's leading by 29... For instance, Vettel gained 7 points today thanks to Lewis Hamilton's retirement. But Fernando Alonso also walked away with a 3-point boost. So, looking at the math, Vettel actually had 4 points more luck than Alonso did today. 😁 It's a huge question whether Alonso would have even stayed ahead of Pastor Maldonado if the driver hadn't run into those issues, which would mean Alonso picked up another 3 points there. Bit by bit, he could potentially pull this off all the way to the title...
I guess you didn't quite catch my point. Sure, in Valencia, Alonso started 11th and ended up 1st. But what I meant by him moving from 5th to 1st was specifically regarding how things unfolded for him after he made that solid jump from 11th to 5th, which then set the stage to let him clinch the win... That's all I meant when I said "from 5th to 1st."
What can I say? I think there’s a real chance we’ll see three drivers heading into the final race with a mathematical shot at the title. That’s exactly the kind of drama we all love to see. If I were to stretch it, given how the McLaren is performing right now, even Jenson Button could potentially close the gap to within 25 points or less before the finale. Or perhaps, more realistically, Kimi could jump back into the fray since he's much closer and really needs to finally grab a win this season. If he manages to snag a few more podiums, who knows? It might even surpass the chaos of the 2010 season when Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton all had a legitimate path to the championship going into the last round. 😁
That's pure intuition, which is exactly why Fernando Alonso is the best. But that doesn't change the fact that he’s had the most luck this season, and that’s how he built up such a massive points lead.
It’s true that within the current driver lineup, there isn't anyone better than Fernando Alonso, but he really does have an incredible amount of luck on his side. His only real setback this season was when Romain Grosjean took him out, though Lewis Hamilton suffered the exact same fate then, and in all the other races, Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel faced much tougher struggles. As if it wasn't enough that Hamilton had to retire today, now Pastor Maldonado is out too, which saved him from having to fight for 3rd place. There's no need to list all the mishaps Vettel and Hamilton have dealt with this season; anyone following the sport knows. You only need to look back at Valencia when Alonso jumped from 5th to 1st. Vettel was leading until his car pulled aside, Grosjean's car failed, and then Maldonado knocked both himself and Hamilton out just a few laps before the end. If that race had finished "normally," Vettel would be ahead of Alonso in the standings right now. And let's not even mention last race, where Vettel lost about 10 crucial points due to a mechanical failure. Kudos to Fernando, but luck can't follow him forever through the rest of the season, so the title fight will likely stay wide open until the final race...
Honestly, why are some of you spending every race weekend calculating possible triangles or four-way collisions? It’s almost like you're watching Formula 1 just to see the wrecks. Sure, most of it is just harmless fun, but be careful not to invite bad vibes; you might actually end up feeling guilty if a nasty crash 🤔 actually happens. It can be entertaining when someone gets squeezed off into the grass, but don't go wishing for accidents at this circuit 🙂
Jason Clark14 said:I think they were even lower, maybe around 2.8 seconds.
It is entirely plausible that McLaren was hitting 2.8 while everyone else struggled to stay under 3.3. The crux of the matter is that they improved by half a second compared to the field, 🙂 and they did it during a phase where it supposedly didn't even matter for their final standing. When the battle for the podium gets intense, though, his team tends to leave Lewis Hamilton 😁 out in the cold.
I’m not much of a fan of Fernando Alonso, but kudos to him for the entire weekend. That pole position was well-earned, followed by a solid race performance. Honestly, he deserved today's win more than his previous victory. He really squeezed everything out of those tires and held his ground at the finish. If it had been any other driver, Mark Webber probably would have lapped him two or three laps earlier. On a lighter note: whenever Sebastian Vettel wins, people always claim it’s just because of the car, as most critics suggest. But how do you explain today? The Ferrari was so fast that Felipe Massa managed to grab fourth place.😁At this point, anything less than a podium for Alonso would have been an embarrassment. His second-place finish was simply the result of a lightning-fast car, which is the bare minimum he should have achieved here.😬
Olivia White25 said:It might sound wild, but out of all the teams playing, Mexico has definitely shown the most potential so far 🤷
besides them, maybe just Spain...
What’s even more surprising is that despite Mexico being the first to clinch a semifinal spot, they actually scored the fewest goals among the remaining 12 teams in the tournament! So, rather than saying they played the best, it’s more accurate to say they had the toughest defense. Or perhaps just the roughest play, which might be getting a pass because they're playing at home. (The teams in our group have one fewer game played and only a few goals less than Mexico, so by tomorrow, everyone will likely surpass them and my little stat will be history!) For instance, Canada scored 89 goals over 3 games counting the previous round plus this one against heavy hitters (France, USA, Iceland). Meanwhile, Mexico scored 91 goals in 4 games against what was arguably a weaker lineup (Poland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark)!
I'm not trying to insult the Mexicans; I'm just pointing out a crucial fact that could cost them when they go for the gold, which looks like a real possibility right now.
It’s a shame the Mexicans fell short at 25:27 after holding a commanding 20:13 lead. That goal differential might come back to haunt them. They really need a rematch, especially after that unlucky call where a goal against Germany wasn't awarded right before the buzzer, followed by that last-second breakaway goal conceded to the Danes... If they had secured a win in the final round against the Mexicans—who have nothing to play for—they would be 100% locked into the semifinals. It’s a pity given their solid play and the fans. But there's still hope. 😁 It was also a tough break for the Canadians, who let a victory slip against France yesterday despite leading the entire way. Regardless, it is still theoretically possible to see a North American semifinals, where Mexico, Mexico, America, and Canada all advance. 😬 Now that would be quite the spectacle. 🍿
Michael Roberts16 said:If we lose to the Frenchmen, we're realistically out. 🙄
Ivano Balić. 🙂
It’s possible, but then the French would have to face Iceland. That Iceland team beat the Canadians by 6 today, while the Canadians beat the French by 3. So, the French can't just bank points against Iceland ahead of time. Beyond those stats, they just aren't playing well. Quite a few games in this tournament have ended in ties or slim margins. The French struggled—losing by 3 to Spain and losing by 3 to Canada. It seems like they are an easy target to beat. 😁 Then today, they barely scraped by the Canadians with a bit of luck. My take? If we play our game, we have a solid shot at beating the French or grabbing a draw that keeps us alive if we beat the Canadians. Plus, Spain still has to earn their points against Iceland and Canada. This might be the most unpredictable tournament we've seen in a decade, maybe even longer. The second group is pure chaos too; everyone is fighting everyone, and anyone can advance.