[E90SLAM]

..

[happos2]

the new stealth look is maybe so nobody notices how bad Mclaren is? Going under the radar?

[E90SLAM]

.

[AW335TT]

Lotus just released its 2016 car.

[Mtxzptlk]

Loving the new Macca livery.

Looks fast, now they only need to actually be fast.

[solstice]

Nice quali results, should make for a good race tomorrow. Lewis chasing Nico and then Vettel in a car that is kind to the tires putting pressure on the Benz duo.

It must be straining on McLaren's finances to run a bottom team and having to pay Alonso the fattest contract in F1 over 3 years. And it must be straining on Alonso to be the best driver in F1 in one of the worst cars. It doesn't seem like Kimi want to retire yet but the rumors is he's out in favor of Bottas next year.

Here's a solution to all these issues. Make a deal to have Kimi swap seats with Alonso.
- McLaren will likely get Kimi to accept half of Alonso's salary if he get a 3 year contract.
- Alonso get into a car that he can win races with.
- Kimi get to stay in F1 3 more years.

It's such a waste to see Alonso in that POS McLaren and think it can go on for another 3 years is sad.

[MrPrena]

My prediction to the race is that, there will be a crash for top 6 grid drivers. It may not be at the 1st corner, but someone will push harder on some corners. [Looks to be] Most of the guys were struggling more on the mechanical grip than aerodynamical grip.

During the grooved era, dirty air was a huge issue here.

[hellrotm]

Ferrari get your slow crap wagons out of the way, so we can see a battle for the lead.

[Elsabor67]

Not a bad race as long as you were watching the battles between 4th-18th.

Highlight of the race was Grosjean launching his front jackman into the air and him holding for dear life while trying to jack the front of his car

[solstice]

Yeah that wasn't all that exciting. Monaco next, let's hope for some rain to not make it all about P1 and pit strategy.

[NickyC]

That Lotus jackman took it in the BALLS. They showed him later with an icebag over his junk trying to laugh it off. He went for a ride and he's lucky his balls weren't jammed back up inside him.

I didn't mind the race too terribly, at least it was a beautiful day there on one of the best tracks in F1. Very bummed out Ferrari seems to have fallen way back though. I think the best we can hope for this year is for Hamilton to crash out in Monaco while Rosberg wins it, to at least add some intrigue to who is going to win the Championship. Nobody else is even close to Mercedes now.

[solstice]

Originally Posted by NickyC

That Lotus jackman took it in the BALLS. They showed him later with an icebag over his junk trying to laugh it off. He went for a ride and he's lucky his balls weren't jammed back up inside him.

I didn't mind the race too terribly, at least it was a beautiful day there on one of the best tracks in F1. Very bummed out Ferrari seems to have fallen way back though. I think the best we can hope for this year is for Hamilton to crash out in Monaco while Rosberg wins it, to at least add some intrigue to who is going to win the Championship. Nobody else is even close to Mercedes now.

That long straight in Barca favors Benz power. I think Ferrari might still be competitive on high downforce, high tire wear tracks.

[954Stealth]

Not a bad race but let's pause for a moment and be serious. There is another reason we like racing and THIS is it....

[SenorFunkyPants]

Its a bit of a sad day when you think the BTCC races were a better event than F1.

[E90SLAM]

Lotus front jackman has bigger balls than McLaren jackman!

[E90SLAM]

Minor injury suffered in botched Romain Grosjean pit stop

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/...sjean-pit-stop

A Lotus mechanic suffered torn ankle ligaments after Romain Grosjean missed his pit mark during the Spanish Grand Prix.

At his final stop Grosjean carried far too much speed into the pit box and sent two men, including the mechanic holding his front jack, flying backwards. During and after the incident cameras focused mainly on the front jack man, with a moment of light relief later in the FOM broadcast when the smiling mechanic was shown sitting in the Lotus garage holding an ice pack on a rather delicate part of the male anatomy.

But after the race Lotus confirmed to F1i that a different crew member had suffered an ankle injury and had been sent home to recuperate, meaning he misses this week's test at Circuit de Catalunya. After the race, Grosjean admitted he owed his mechanics a beer or two.

"It was a tough and eventful race," said Grosjean, who still managed to finish eighth. "Firstly, I'm glad to say that no-one was seriously injured in the pit stop. The rear tyres were experiencing a lot of degradation and I just couldn't stop in time. It was a really scary moment for me, but probably more scary for the crew.

"I checked everyone was okay and I certainly owe them some beers! I lost fourth gear during the race which made things a bit of a challenge. It was a tough race but it's good to be in the points for the third race in a row and we can be proud of what we've achieved today."

[E90SLAM]

Mercedes won't tell me to stop racing Rosberg again - Lewis Hamilton

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/...lewis-hamilton

Lewis Hamilton was not happy with Mercedes' radio message asking him to back off in the final stint of the Spanish Grand Prix, saying he ignored the call and will make sure it is not made again.

Hamilton's race was compromised by a slow start from second on the grid and a slow first pit stop, which meant he had to adopt a three-stop strategy to get second place back from Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. After his final stop he was comfortably ahead of Vettel and had fresh tyres on which to attack an 18-second gap to race-leader Rosberg.

When he asked the pit wall about the possibility of catching Rosberg, his engineer, Peter Bonnington, said it was "impossible" and told him to back off. Bonnington proved to be correct, but it was not what Hamilton wanted to hear.

"It's not nice for a driver to hear that," Hamilton said. "I'm here to race, not to finish second so actually I ignored that. Then I was really putting the car on the edge and when I realised that I had seven laps to go and there was still 13 seconds and I was only 0.7s per lap faster, I had to take the smart approach and bring the car home. Still, it's not something you want to hear so I will definitely be making sure that is not said again."

Asked whether he could see Mercedes' point that he should look after the engine, he added: "I think the engine is fine. Naturally, by me pushing he [Rosberg] has to push and that puts both cars at risk I guess."

Hamilton is in no doubt he will fight back at the next round in Monaco.

"I know that I can rectify things at the next race and that's what I plan to do. I've not won that race for a long, long time and this is going to be my third chance with this great team and with a great car. Hopefully third time lucky."

[E90SLAM]

Dominant win is proof Mercedes is out-developing Ferrari - Nico Rosberg

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/...i-nico-rosberg

Nico Rosberg says his dominant victory at the Spanish Grand Prix is proof Mercedes is winning the development battle against main rivals Ferrari this year.

Rosberg took his first victory of the season in Spain, which is crucial in his battle against Lewis Hamilton, but also showed the gap to Ferrari on an aero-dependant circuit. Rosberg finished over 45 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel in third, and by the time Hamilton had switched onto a three-stop strategy he easily got the upper hand on the Ferrari to finish nearly 30 seconds clear ahead of Vettel.

The victory was made all the more sweet for Rosberg by the amount of changes Ferrari had made to its car this weekend that appear not to have had the desired effect.

"[Our advantage was] much more than we have seen in recent races," Rosberg said. "It was much more than Bahrain, much more than Shanghai and much more than Malaysia. It's really a big step in the right direction for us, but it shows that we have an awesome team at the moment and everybody is doing a fantastic job. In the development race we won this weekend compared to Ferrari, so that's an important indication for the rest of the season."

It was also Rosberg's first victory over team-mate Hamilton this year, closing the gap to 20 points in the drivers' championship.

"Yeah, it's seven points [gained on Hamilton]. At one point I thought maybe Sebastian could keep Lewis behind, which would not be good for the team but in terms of my points it would be better - of course that's always a compromise.

"That's the way it is but seven points is better than nothing and a fantastic team result today to be first and second. After the two and half week break everybody brought upgrades and still we are dominating in such a way, which is fantastic to see."

[E90SLAM]

Tear-off visor the likely cause of Fernando Alonso's brake failure

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/...barcelona-test

A tear-off visor appears to be to blame for Fernando Alonso's brake failure at the Spanish Grand Prix, which saw him come close to running over his pit crew and resulted in his retirement from the race.

McLaren identified the issue during Alonso's second stint and called him in for a pit stop to change tyres and investigate. When he arrived in the pits the brakes failed to stop the car and the front-jack man had to leap out of the way as his equipment flying was sent flying. Mechanics later discovered a tear-off visor covering the right-rear brake duct, which likely led to the brakes overheating and failing.

"It was scary for the guys but luckily we didn't hurt anyone and the team were very fast with their reaction so next time hopefully everything works fine, " Alonso said. "We had no brakes for the whole in-lap but then on the pit stop, even less, so it was deteriorating but everything was fine."

Alonso said the issue was separate to the ones he faced in qualifying yesterday and that now McLaren must make "double steps" to keep up with a challenging season ahead.

"Today was a new problem. Yesterday it was one disc - it was not getting temperature - and today I had no brakes - so it's different, definitely. It was the rear disc - it stopped working - so I only had front brakes, which meant I had to retire the car. I couldn't brake in the corners and I couldn't even brake in the pit."

Speaking on his retirement, the crowd favourite added: "It was a disappointment but there's nothing we can do now just prepare and do an investigation in what happened to the brakes and in Monaco come back stronger."

The double world champion completed 26 laps in the race before he retired from what proved to be another difficult weekend for McLaren.

[E90SLAM]

Star of the race IMO!