WHAT was Alonso thinking??

[steve nielsen]

there is racing and there is dangerous driving and i.m.h.o. Fernando did the 2nd.

a braketest at the point where he did it??

just too dangerous!

if I was DC I would'nt have bothered avoiding that Renault and had taken him out as well

[Andyc]

Yeah, I think he must have had a major problem if Schumacher could close in on him from about 10secs behind in 1 lap.

[neilap]

Those were my initial thoughts! However I don't think Alonzo did that on purpose. He would have been suicidal to have done so. He had issues. Now he could have pulled off the line to let DC by and avoid any possible accident. However, his job is to race, not move over. It was a judgment call IMO. I think the proper thing to do would have been to let DC by because he became a danger on the track. But like I said, he is hired to race.

[Damon]

It wasn't a break test! He had dire brake troubles and did well to keep it on the road at all, give him some credit I'd say.

[steve nielsen]

that's not what he said, he said he only had problems with the rear tires.

[Hugh Jarce]

He's a racer and wanted points.

I think you are being a bit harsh!

But then he does drive for Renault!

[ferrari_mark]

Alonso moved slightly as DC was about to come along side and that caught DC out. He was going very fast and I don't know whether he would have made the corner at that speed anyway.

[steve nielsen]

like a said: racing is one thing, but this was plain dangerous, he just had luck that DC could avaiod him(and that he wanted to)

DC's story is that Fernando braked about 10 meters earlier than the lap before.

[Jay]

Alonso's moves deserve a looking at, but DC has only himself to blame for going off. He should have pulled out long before his braking point, and the move was destined to end in a collision if it had gone through. I think he left his braking point too late, and when he saw Alonso move he jerked the wheel and went off.

[Dutton]

I don't see what Aonso did wrong.....

Any, apart from anything else, it seems he was having difficulty.

[Hammerwerfer]

Alonso was brake testing Coultard for some time. If he was having a brake or tyre problem, David would have gotten by easily enough. He was making it impossible in the most unsporting and dangerous manner and it was going to end in tears sooner or later. That the final act was where it was shows that this man has no business on a race track!

Alonso deserves to be disqualified, and banned for a few races.

Anyone who had driven formula cars knows what it is like. A braking point is a braking point and if someone brakes ridiculously early, all hell breaks loose.

[BootsOntheSide]

Alonso didn't seem to brake test Coulthard. he was driving defensively, but that's well within the rules. DC was just too aggressive at that point, he was clearly into the braking zone when he started to spin and hadn't hit the brakes. Alonso was on the right line for the corner, doing his job perfectly, and DC made a fool of himsel. Again.

Alonso was superb today. He was the only driver to get anythign from the dirty side of the grid, beat trulli in the running around the first pitstops, and dealth with deteriorating eprformance towards the end.

[Hammerwerfer]

That wasn't the first incident of brake testing. It had been going on in the slower corners for some time.

I would like to hear what DC has to say about it. He is not a man to normally lock up and he had to to avoid running up the arse of Alsonso a few times.

[Damon]

It was because his brakes were knackered! Sheesh! When you have no brakes to speek of you have to start to slow down earlier in order to make the corner. It's the law of physics. If DC had done what JV had on Verstappen earlier in the race and planted the car in position on the exit to the previous corner in the first place, then Alonso wouldn't have been able to come across on him at all.

[f1manoz]

DC would not have made the corner. His entry speed would have been so high he would have flown off the circuit anyway.

[R]

Oh, we have Alonso haters here now as well, not just Montoya, Ralf, TGF and Villeneuve haters!

If you care to read the reports before slamming someone, you would have known that Alonso was having brake problems. Or how do you explain that TGF made up a gap of almost 20 seconds after he was beached? Didn't you see how close TGF was in the end?

It was DC's own fault for going off. Even if Alonso braked a little bit early (due to his brake problems, not brake testing!), DC was going way too fast (the TV images clearly showed this), and wouldn't have made the corner. Yes, it was dangerous, but it was DC's own doing.

[bingman]

Originally posted by steve nielsen
there is racing and there is dangerous driving and i.m.h.o. Fernando did the 2nd.

a braketest at the point where he did it??

just to F*cking dangerous!

if I was DC I would'nt have bothered avoiding that Renault and had taken him out as well

get u'r hand off it... it's racing and alonso clearly had a problem and DC was driving like a piece of crud... he should have got by easily and had many chances but stuffed them all up

[NiceGuyEddie]

DC lifting ON the raceline, while in the knowledge of a faster competitor behind, who is about to lap him, while visability is compromized because of rain, is justified, but suddenly Alonso got it wrong today?

Come on......

[NiceGuyEddie]

Besides, 10 metres earlier isn't really that much. It just means that Alonso braked early, not that he braketested DC, which is obvioudly didn't. DC put himself in that position.

[Hammerwerfer]

If your brakes are knackered you do indeed start braking earlier and gentler. It takes longer to slow and the guy behind you goes by! That is not what was going on at least from my observation. Alonso's brakes seemed to work fine as DC had to lock up to avoid contact at least once.

I practically yelled out "Brake Test!" the first time I saw it and watched very closely after that. Alonso really needs to be grilled on this! I just don't see any excuse.

[Damon]

Dear god will you actually watch the race before posting!? Had DC backed off he could have easily slipped by during one of the many times Alonso ran wide (due to his brake problems). Instead he kept way too close and simply followed Alonso into the same mistakes.

[steve nielsen]

like I said: if Alonso had brake problems why did'nt he say ANYTHING about it when he was interviewed about it after the race(Dutch TV)

[avsfan733]

I don't think anyone at that level short of one or two people (not alonso) would ever think of brake testin anyone to that extent. What happened there was so bizzare that it could only have been the brake problems that alonso was obviously having. Maybe it wasn't just the brakesgoing away maybe it was problems such as the bias changing or maybe something else inconsistent

[zengiman]

If he was having serious brake problems how could he brake so incredibly fast that the driver behind him had no choice but to avoid a collision? BTW he did the same trick a few laps earlier just before the straight. That was in the middle of the corner, almost caught DC out ...
It's just a trick, trying to let the other guy steer of the track. Didn't work the first time, second time he made sure it worked. But relax telemetry will prove what happened.

[Hammerwerfer]

zengiman,

You were watching the same race I was. Bad brakes force a driver to decelerate at a slower rate. Bad bias would have the same effect. Alonso was clearly decelerating early and abruptly and did indeed try it on a few times in the slower corners. As you say the telemetry will tell us exactly what happened. whether or not DC was carrying to much speed in the last incident is a debatable point, one that only telelmetry can tell us.

The other earlier incidents were clearly brake testing though. He was braking in ridiculous places and DC did well to avoid ramming him.

It really was blatant, at least from my perspective.