Alonso had a thirty second lead before Rikknen's error brought out the safety car and he quickly moved away from Jenson's car, before Button began to close him down again. Sadly the mechanical failure of the wheelnut, (it wasn't a human error, the saftey mechanism didn't work properly, so the nut was effectively ripped off by the pit stop and could not go back on properly), meant that we didn't get to see if Jenson could have hunted down and passed Alonso - something I would have liked to have seen, even though I'm delighted that Jenson got his first win. I'm lost as to how Alonso's performance at the weekend, plus a mechnical problem that was a one-off, as opposed to some issue with the car design or engine = Alonso going to pieces. It's the first time Alonso hasn't finished since Canada, last year, and to come we have Turkey, Italy, China, Japan, Brazil, which resulted in points of 0-0-0-2-5 for Michael in 2005, (Compared to 8-8-10-6-6 for Fernando).
Qbert: It was a driveshaft failure for Alonso according to Renault late Sunday. Not a wheelnut as first thought. That's what Speed Reports said anyway. Apparently by "middle of the action" you mean "trying to take anyone out who tries to pass him". He tried with Alonso, tried with Pedro, and then took himself out on Heidfeld. Michael is crap most of the time he's stuck in the midfield. And I'm equally as bored when Alonso romps off into the distance. And saying "wipe him out" to Alonso, clearly you don't watch F1 for the right reason, hoping drivers sink to the same level as Schumacher. Go watch NASCAR. I do not want to see ANY driver sink to that wankers level. Since Schumacher got into the title hunt, Alonso's attitude has changed. He bitched and moaned about Schumacher cutting him up in the pit at the last race, and now this absolute insanity with Doornbos. This is NOT the laidback Alonso that won the title last year. There's been all sorts of little things in recent races that just aren't the Alonso from last year. And Alonso's lead was 40 seconds when the safety car came out I think, not 30.
As mentioned above, Pat Symonds of Renault has confirmed it was the wheelnut, Drood. It wasn't that someone didn't do their job putting it on, though - there's a safety mechanism to stop them coming off, that's supposed to disengage when they put the air gun on it. It didn't trigger, so the air gun effectively ripped the wheel nut off. So there was no way it was going back on properly... cue Alonso's exit. The lead being 40 seconds rather than 30 makes it seem even less like Fernando's losing it... He was walking it, before Rikknen's moment and the wheelnut came off. Obviously everyone puffs their chances when they have opportunity, but all the noises coming from Renault are positive. They were back, in Hungary, after three races off of Ferrari's pace, they were much more competitive than Ferrari last season in Turkey and they have a package of aero changes coming for the race. Bad luck can always changes things, (and obviously Ferrari won't be standing still), but I don't see Fernando cracking, although it wouldn't surprise me if Fisi's form lost Renault the constructor's title.
trying to take anyone out who tries to pass him Where's Michael interest in this? Alonso is already out. He needs to finish the race and make some points. The way I saw it, he was giving the guys behind him an aggressive but fair fight. I didn't see the Heidfeld pass, though. I only saw the Speed replay, and they cut off parts of the race because it ran too long. Uncool of them. And saying "wipe him out" to Alonso, clearly you don't watch F1 for the right reason, hoping drivers sink to the same level as Schumacher. Go watch NASCAR. I do not want to see ANY driver sink to that wankers level. Blah. You're the guy who's always whining about the evil that is Schumi, and you wouldn't like to see just once someone serving him some of his own medicine? I call bullshit. I'm not talking about hurting him, just taking his car out. It's raining, it can easily pass as an accident. If Fernando had done it, he'd still be 11 points ahead in the drivers championship (he was lucky Michael DNF'ed), and he would have shown Michael that he's ready for a fight in the trenches.
Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna would have done it in a heartbeat. See: 1988, 1989 and, err, 1990.
