Posts by steelmaker83

Timothy Castillo6 said:How many laps did they actually cover, how much pole position did they really earn, and how much champagne ended up on the floor? 🤷

You don't ask a Lady those things. You find out for yourself when you get there. 😛

Finally, someone actually understands the point of starting a thread.

stormybadger8 said:And what exactly have you been droning on about for days now?😁
All this nonsense about some weird "what if" scenarios and hypothetical tactics to outsmart your own teammate—it’s honestly exhausting.
It’s actually pretty interesting how hard you’re working on this, considering it was obvious from the jump that your chances were basically zero.😍🤣

I’m only putting in the effort because, occasionally, alongside the usual constructive slapping, it’s necessary to throw a few hard facts into the mix. ☕

In this case, the facts are indisputable, and I’ve documented them in every single one of my posts. The only person who actually provided a coherent response to this topic was graniteharbor502. This back-and-forth with you is nothing more than spinning your wheels. You’ve simply latched onto Alonso because he happens to be another driver that fits my original hypothesis. You conveniently ignored him—and frankly, I won't waste my time analyzing why you did that. 🤣

Look, the odds aren't exactly zero, obviously. But you’re clearly the one working overtime to insist they are—mostly because you can't actually prove otherwise. It's pretty obvious this is just personal for you. You're hurting, and it's clear that Alonso and everything surrounding him is hitting a nerve.

The core issue with that initial post wasn't actually about Alonso moving teams. It was a reaction to all the nonsense being peddled about Kimi Räikkönen having decent pace. I simply pointed out a few interesting facts, which clearly hit a nerve with you.

stormybadger8 said:And why does that even matter?
I said it would be incredibly difficult, but he still had the chance, didn't he?😬

But Monaco is ancient history...
It's time to relax and start coming up with excuses for the Grand Prix Canada😁

excuses

🤣

stormybadger8 said:Jeff and Jules Bianchi might have actually pulled off that brilliant strategy to overtake Hulkenberg, and who knows, maybe even Alonso too. It’s a massive long shot, sure, but nothing is ever truly impossible. 😁

Jules Bianchi was driving better and faster before he joined Scuderia Ferrari, consistently chipping away at Hulkenberg's lead.

stormybadger8 said:So what's the actual endgame here?
Where are you getting the idea that tires are equally warm after xy laps behind the SC compared to a car coming into the pits where the blankets were pulled off just seconds prior...
And besides that, what logic leads you to conclude Kimi's tires would give out at lap 25, while Alonso's would somehow last all the way to 28, 35, 45, 50, or 62...

Get real. Kimi was in the lead, which means he held the tactical advantage regardless of whatever pseudo-intellectual philosophy you're peddling.

It’s easy to play general after the battle is over. It's easy to sit here now and ramble about how long Massa's tires lasted, but that's a completely different story from what was happening during the race.
If it were as simple as you claim, everyone except Massa would have pitted under the SC. Plus, it's highly questionable whether those tires would behave the same way on a Ferrari as they would on a Williams...
And there's also the question of whether those tires would have actually held up for Massa if the SC hadn't appeared. ☕

Exactly. There are too many assumptions for us to be certain. That's why I said it would be extremely difficult. You immediately interpreted that—just like everything involving Alonso—as a settled fact, going so far as to mention some hypothetical overtaking maneuvers on track.....

So, it would be difficult, but not impossible. The indicators are there; I'm simply pointing them out.

stormybadger8 said:Get this through your head: there is absolutely no theory to support the idea that old tires produce faster lap times than new ones during those first couple of laps. It’s just not how it works.
What happened with Massa was a total anomaly that almost never occurs. It wasn't actually his fault; the real issue was Bottas struggling with engine reliability and traffic.☕
Dammit, those old tires aren't actually faster than the new ones. If that were true, nobody would bother changing them at all.🤣

On’s also trying to get ahead of the guy in front by pitting early, rather than waiting a lap or two like anyone with actual common sense would. facepalm
There’s just no theory that supports being faster on old tires than on new ones. The only exception is if the guy who comes out first on them gets stuck behind a slower car or runs into some other issues.☕

That’s exactly the issue. Kimi would likely emerge into clean air, giving him the freedom to hammer out fast laps on fresh rubber. Meanwhile, Alonso would probably get stuck behind a train of slower cars right after his pit stop, completely killing his ability to make use of those new tires.
I told you a long time ago to actually check the gap between the leaders and the backmarkers at that moment. But no, you’re still obsessed with Massa and clinging to that nonsense idea that old tires are somehow faster. 😁

As far as this supposed issue goes, you're the only one seeing it. You’re out here trying to explain things that don't exist in Formula 1, never have, and never will.
So you’re out here writing these profound little essays about how old tires are suddenly faster than new ones, as if you just discovered fire. Truly groundbreaking stuff. You've basically uncovered the secrets of the universe.🤣
Maybe you should just go ahead and join a team. Walk right into the garage, sit down with their head strategist, and explain to them exactly why changing tires is a complete waste of time.
Honestly, they might as well just slap on the tires from the last race. Or better yet, don't bother changing them at all for the entire season.🤣

Are you serious?

Let's look at the data: Alonso's final lap on those old tires before he headed to the pits and the Safety Car came out was a 1:21.851.
Alonso’s first flying lap on the fresh rubber after the Scuderia Ferrari pitted: 1:23.138.
Second lap after Scuderia Ferrari cleared the track: 1:21.989.
It only took three laps to clock a 1:21.072.

So, we’re only three fast laps into the stint on fresh rubber, and even with a car that’s eight laps lighter, Alonso is already clocking faster times than his previous flying lap on old tires and a full tank.

So, here’s the real question: how much life was actually left in those old tires?

Felipe Massa says he’s got about 20 laps left in him. He also claims that his pace on the fresh rubber wasn't significantly better than when he was grinding away on those 43-lap-old tires. In fact, four laps before heading to the box at lap 40, he clocked a 1:20.783—a time he didn't actually beat again until later in the race on the new set. Four times.

So... here we are. This year's Pirelli tires seem to be playing it safe—they're more conservative and tend to last longer than usual. Given that Monaco is a street circuit where tire degradation is practically non-existent anyway, sticking to a long-stint strategy might actually be a smart move this time around.

Is that clear enough for you?

stormybadger8 said:That’s exactly the point you seem unable to grasp...

Specifically, the fact that overtaking is nearly impossible in Monaco, and if you come out of the pits behind someone slower than you, like Bottas did, then you're effectively slow too...

Besides, didn't Bottas have some minor engine issue in his car anyway...

Dakle, just as Bottas was slow because he finished behind slower drivers after his pit stop, Alonso would have been just as slow because he would've ended up behind them too.☕

Good grief...

What is your problem? Why is this so difficult to understand?

Alonso's only shot was staying out longer on track. Who is talking about overtaking? What part of my assumption isn't clicking—that running one, two, or maybe three laps on old tires (MAYBE) could be faster than Kimi on fresh ones, potentially closing the gap enough?

What don't you get here?!

And why are you fixating on that? In my first post, I emphasized it would be difficult—meaning unlikely, but not impossible.
The 7-second lead was clearly shrinking, and it would have been interesting to see how it played out. Nothing more, nothing less.

Christian Harris11 said:What's your take on all these retirements in this race? It feels like they're happening way too frequently. I definitely wasn't expecting this many DNFs, let alone engine failures (if I recall correctly, two Renaults and one Mercedes blew up, plus other issues)... and we're only a third of the way through the season. The hottest and most demanding races for these engines are still ahead.

It’s a bit strange. Based on how testing went, people were already worried about who would actually make it to the finish line... either way, things are going to break.

stormybadger8 As follows:
It’s funny how things change. You look back at previous seasons when teams like Force India or Lotus could pull off a win with just a single pit stop, while now, some of these outfits need two, three, or even four stops just to stay in the hunt.
It’s all the same kid. It doesn't matter that both Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso drove for Ferrari, or that neither of them ever sat in a Williams Racing car. 😁

Emily Patel64, Emily Patel64.

Why didn't you draw a parallel to the cars from ten years ago? That comparison would be just as relevant.

Let's be real: Williams Racing seems to have a car that absolutely shreds tires this season. If Felipe Massa could outpace his teammate while running on ancient rubber, that actually says a lot about how bad the situation is.

Michael Richardson66 said:And who exactly are you to call someone a "legend," if I may ask... and how on earth do you know when someone passed their driving test? I'm a little lost here. Maybe you could clear things up for me? Yeah, Senna inspired me—he was a truly positive influence—and no single YouTube clip is ever going to change that. Sorry to disappoint you...

He was a good kid, he just got screwed over by Senna. He had a weakness for him. Even weaker than his obsession with that other driver he loves, but he can't bring himself to admit it.

The guy has such a documented history of contradictions on this forum that it would leave a seasoned detective baffled. The poor sucker wouldn't even be able to stand up straight after trying to make sense of it all.

stormybadger8 said:Massa isn't driving for Ferrari anymore; he's at Williams now.☕
Your comparison is absolute nonsense... what the hell does Massa have to do with two Ferraris?

Massa himself doesn't matter, but his tires certainly do.

stormybadger8 said:Claiming you can be two seconds faster on old tires than new ones in the exact same car...
I'm sorry, but I just can't wrap my head around that logic. That kind of math only seems to work for certain Alonso fans. 😁

If only Massa could have done that...

stormybadger8 said:Clearly, you find simple concepts too complicated.🤷

You’ve basically cooked up some sci-fi scenario where Driver B overtakes Driver A by trailing him at exactly 3.3 seconds, maintaining nearly identical lap times for several laps, pitting right behind Driver A, and somehow emerging ahead of him despite getting stuck behind slower cars on the exit.
It’s physically impossible, sure, but I suppose Maestro would pull it off with some kind of magic trick.😁

How can he be driving at the same speed if he's driving faster? At that pace, those 3.3 seconds would have dropped to under 2.0 before the pit stops. It’s just a matter of being faster on old tires for a lap or two; that would have been enough.

Impossible?

Hard to grasp?

Is it worth wasting this much time explaining it?

NO.

stormybadger8 said:To put it simply, Alonso only had a shot at Kimi if Kimi’s crew botched the pit stop (like an excessively long stationary time) or if there was someone else on track to get in the way...

Now for the long version... go check fia.com and stop embarrassing yourself...
1. Right before his pit entries, Kimi got caught behind the Caterhams and ended up lapping them, so it's hardly a mystery that he lost time right then...
2. If Kimi had taken a standard 25-second pit stop, he would have emerged right ahead of Hulkenberg and just in front of Jean-Éric Vergne, likely sitting in clear air with about a 5-6 second gap... meanwhile, Alonso would have finished right behind Hulkenberg, or potentially even behind Valtteri Bottas since they were relatively close on track. Even if he did come out ahead of Bottas, he'd have run straight into Hulkenberg immediately after.

Basically, traffic was only going to screw over Alonso. Kimi managed to shake off the traffic (the slower cars) right before pitting to emerge into relatively open space, whereas Alonso was just about to catch those trailing cars and would have certainly dropped behind the relatively slow Hulkenberg and Bottas after his stop. ☕
Alonso started pushing hard at that moment specifically to avoid finishing behind Bottas or Hulkenberg, not because he actually had a chance to overtake Kimi or Ricciardo...

Seriously, why do you waste your time on this sport?

How on earth would Alonso (assuming he could have driven faster than Kimi when the latter rejoined) have finished behind Hulkenberg (and why does that even matter?), if with that exact same driving pace—assuming it actually was faster than Kimi's—he might have finished ahead of Kimi himself. He either overtakes him or he doesn't. Everything else is irrelevant.

Too complicated?

graniteharbor502 said:If you take a look at the lap times from the first stint, it’s pretty clear: Kimi Räikkönen was running faster than Fernando Alonso. To be specific, Kimi put down three separate laps that were quicker than Alonso's absolute best.
http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?p...nando%20Alonso

Look, it’s common knowledge that overtaking in Monaco is practically impossible. If you're the driver in front—in this case, Kimi Räikkönen—you dictate the pace entirely. Kimi is far too seasoned to burn through his tires in the opening laps, so I disagree with the prevailing theory here. Kimi was simply managing his rubber to prepare for one final push before his pit stop. If you actually look at the final laps leading up to the Safety Car, it's clear that Alonso's pace began to drop as well, and the gap between him and the Finn was steadily shrinking. Kimi held a 17-second lead over Kevin Magnussen, a margin that was consistently widening. In just a few more laps, he would have had plenty of breathing room to pit and rejoin the track ahead of the Dane. To put that in perspective, when Massa pitted for the first time, he held a 14.3-second advantage over Kimi, yet he emerged from the pits only 2.7 seconds behind.
After that drop in position following Chilton's blunder, comparing pace becomes a bit of a headache. Kimi was stuck behind Kobayashi and then trailing Gutiérrez. Meanwhile, Ricciardo pulled away from Alonso, leaving him with nothing but clean air ahead. However, if you factor in that Gutiérrez spun out on lap 60 and Kimi was already glued to Button's gearbox by lap 68, we can actually get a decent comparison of the Ferrari pace between laps 61 and 67: Kimi clawed back 3.1 seconds of Alonso's lead. And let's not overlook Kimi Räikkönen's fastest lap. Statistically speaking, only Michael Schumacher (and maybe Alain Prost, depending on how you count those fastest laps following other drivers' disqualifications) stands above Kimi in the fastest lap records. Personally, though, I'm not exactly thrilled. Primarily because it looks like the podium has just vanished into thin air. All the rest of it is secondary. That said, Kimi isn't the one to blame for any of this.

If you’re looking strictly at the lap times, sure, it looks like Massa is outperforming Bottas on those older tires. But you have to look at the actual track position. Massa has clear air in front of him, while Bottas is stuck trailing right behind Jenson Button. You can't possibly know how fast he would be if he actually had the space to breathe. As for Alonso, his pace was dropping on the old rubber—he clocked a 1:21.8 on that last lap before the Safety Car came out. Then just look at his pace on the softs once the Safety Car pulled in. By the third lap—right when Daniel Ricciardo gave him a bit of breathing room—he was already running eight-tenths faster than that. The "undercut" has become a staple of the modern era; basically, whoever hits the pits first gains the advantage by running on fresh rubber. Given all that, I have no idea where you're getting your optimism that Alonso can actually jump Kimi Räikkönen. 🤷

Finally, some actual logic. I’ll concede this point, mostly because I admitted in my opening post that I hadn't factored in exactly where Kimi would emerge or the kind of traffic he’d be hitting. I also made it clear—both in that first post and several times since—that while Daniel Ricciardo would likely overtake him, Fernando Alonso would have a much harder time doing it. It isn't impossible, of course, but apparently, for certain people, a gap of 3.3 seconds is basically a lap ahead.

I’m sticking to my guns on this one: Alonso's pit exit was incredibly close to being perfect, and honestly, it's a shame it didn't pan out the way it should have.

On another note, Kimi really earned that podium in Monaco (assuming the race had actually wrapped up by lap 26). His start and restart were nothing short of flawless.

Jamie Hall said:I have no idea who here is looking for problems where none exist. If the fans of Fernando Alonso are getting this worked up and acting so proud just because he's ahead of Kimi Räikkönen, it really only proves one thing: they know exactly how good Kimi actually is.

And for the record, as if you couldn't tell by the way the other Kimi fans act around here, we aren't out to tear anyone down. We respect others while standing our ground for our own.

Of course he’s good; he’s still a top four driver. He's also arguably the best teammate Fernando Alonso has had since Lewis Hamilton. When the championship isn't on the line, it always comes down to the internal battle for dominance within the team. It works that way in every single squad—every driver wants to outperform their teammate, and frankly, they have to.

stormybadger8 said:Just more mindless rambling.🤣
As I’ve already stated, if Fernando Alonso couldn't manage to overtake Kimi Räikkönen in Spain—where he was trailing by about half a second before hitting the pits, despite all the strategic help from his crew to ensure he pitted first—then it's obvious it was just a bad day. Having a gap of over three seconds meant he didn't stand a chance.☕

Exactly.

🤣

darkmarlin16 said:The start was solid. Fernando Alonso had an excellent launch, but he got blocked by Daniel Ricciardo, which allowed Kimi Räikkönen to take advantage of the open space ahead of him.

isn't being stingy😁 I don't even want to get into that... just let them have something to celebrate, you can tell they need it. It hasn't been easy for them...

Basically, the start and the restart (that jump on Daniel Ricciardo) were great. Everything else...

Jamie Hall said:@steelmaker83/">@@steelmaker83 you've got thin skin, don't you? First you were being somewhat objective, but once you got your answers, you decided Kimi actually showed nothing and deserved nothing.
Maybe try being consistent with yourself for once. 😂

It isn't about thin skin; it’s just irritating to witness the sheer lack of intelligence some people here are displaying. As a rule, Kimi hasn't shown anything this season, and that is a plain fact. He had some tough luck with setbacks, sure, but overall, he has produced nothing.

The race start at the Monaco Grand Prix was certainly impressive and deserves credit. Building a 7-second lead—the first time this season he's pulled away from Fernando Alonso—was also noteworthy. At first glance, it looked phenomenal.

On second thought—and I always like to take a second look—it turns out to be a total illusion. Some people are bothered by facts, some don't understand them, and others simply ignore them. But that doesn't change reality. Here is the fact: Kimi's 7-second lead over Fernando Alonso, and his 4-second gap over Daniel Ricciardo, began to evaporate (and eventually vanished) at the exact same moment and at the exact same pace during the most critical part of the race.

If anyone here can logically explain how that constitutes good pace, I'll happily accept it. So far, nobody has even tried. All I see is a bunch of emojis, fake surprise, and people acting like absolute animals.