More to the point, it was possible to overtake without the use of DRS!

Alonso proving we don't need it. If a car is genuinely faster it will pass if the driver is good enough and we get to see top notch racecraft between two drivers. I think that F1 is the best it's been for a very long time. The only ones crying out for more durable tyres is Red Bull and personally I'd do nothing to help them out otherwise we could end up with Bridgestone and Schumacher all over again. No one wants that.

Excellent race, really enjoyed it. The amount of overtaking all over the place, DRS or not, proves in my eyes we have a rather good (not perfect by any astretch of imagination) formula now. MacLarens did well considering, Lotuses were stunning and Ferrari had all the bad luck allocation for the season in one race... However Fernando showed the driving masterclass again and if it wasn't for the blooming flap sticking he'd have won I think. I wish I could say Vettel did not desreve to win but he did everything picture perfect ... Dissapointed with Mark a little bit though.

Paul DiResta showed his talent and he was clearly overjoyed with his performance - Force India made substantial progress it seems.

As for the tyres I think it was bad luck as Pirelli Motorsport Director said in the interview - all failures were due to cuts by debris and not structural failures of the tyres.

I'd have to agree.... as much as I dislike vettel, as well as not really rating him, this season I think he has raced his socks off, last race when catching hamilton he was driving his a$$ off and again the beginning of bahrain he did so again and then did everything right to take the win.... may have been a different story if alonso hadn't had his drs issues though. Shame to see rosberg fall back so quickly but on the flipside Hamilton moved up the order.... so was it down to driving style? Or set up that meant hamilton lasted a bit better? Or did Hamilton have more new sets of tyres? Lotus really are looking good though, if they can keep up with the development.

Have to agree that it shows the current formula works... Before changing everything for next year!

I think Rosberg wrecked his tyres in the first few laps and this was his demise. Fully loaded Mercs simply do not work as well as other top runners. They are very good with low fuel but awful fully loaded. Hamilton had the same amout of tyres, just idn't have to wreck his qually set fending off Vettel's and Fernando's advances .

I am looking forward to next year - I love forced induction and all that comes wtih it!

Pirelli will be giving teams an extra set of "prototype" tyres in practice this weekend, a prototype hard compound.They are already making a tweak to the current hard compound to make it slightly more durable.

Pity, I liked that additional variable...

I think Rosberg wrecked his tyres in the first few laps and this was his demise. Fully loaded Mercs simply do not work as well as other top runners. They are very good with low fuel but awful fully loaded. Hamilton had the same amout of tyres, just idn't have to wreck his qually set fending off Vettel's and Fernando's advances .

I am looking forward to next year - I love forced induction and all that comes wtih it!

I recall Rosberg senior running round old Silverstone in qualifying mode with probably around 1400 hp out of his 1500 cc engine and lapping at over 160 mph average.

Today's F1 cars have amazing corner speed but have a lower top speed than almost all other top motor racing ie Indy, Le Mans, MotoGP, NASCAR and Superbikes which often hit 210 mph plus.

Hopefully we will return to less rules, no DRS and more freedom to develop even smaller engines and more hybrid technology to help develop better road cars.

It was delightfully ridiculous when they were spinning wheels going uphill in fifth at Spa. the main problem they had back then was to fing alloys stron enough to withstand over 3.5 bar bootach!

I recall Rosberg senior running round old Silverstone in qualifying mode with probably around 1400 hp out of his 1500 cc engine and lapping at over 160 mph average...

...and a slow puncture, on a set of tyres that were going off by the time he reached Abbey.

Lots of moaning about tyres from Red Bull. Always the same when they don't win by miles. If anything that's a good reason not to change them. Only Kimi gets the tyre situation. It is what it is and you get on with it. Got another 2nd yesterday so still consistent. They are a bit soft but if they were the same specs as last year I don't there would be a problem. The reason Ferrari won and Kimi did well was because they raced on them and pitted when they wore them out and carried on. The Mercs do eat tyres but being easy on them didn't help either.

It's bl00dy ridiculous.... yet again this weekend we had tyres delaminating! (not in the race)... You have comments from people like Kimi, saying "It is too easy to overtake, so no point to really fight" and Hamilton saying "i can't drive any slower" and Button saying "But when we're going round doing laps three seconds slower than a GP2 car did in qualifying, and only six seconds quicker than a GP3 car did in the race, there's something wrong. This is the pinnacle of motor sport." "When I see a car behind I let it past because I'm doing a different strategy and I don't want to damage my tyres. If I block I might destroy my tyres. It's the same thing we had in China, waving each other past so we don't destroy our rubber while hoping that the guy who's overtaking will"

Sounds brilliant doesn't it.....

In 2011 Vettel did 4 pit stops to win the race and now all of a sudden he's moaning about it. Bet he wouldn't be if he won. The should go back to last years tyres but even so that's only because they know how they work. Once teams other than Lotus and Ferrari get a grip of these new tyres then it will be the same again.

I felt sorry for Lewis as he was trying to look after his tyres as asked by the team but going further back each lap was not good for him.

Thing is that Pirelli were ASKED to provide the tyres lasting 20 laps! That was their design brief and that is what they did. That was known last year. Now, some teams designed their cars to that spec and have no problems (Ferrari, Lotus, Force India ) and some simple were not able to. F1 is not karting or GP2 where kit is exactly the same and pure driver skills are tested. F1 is is immensly more complicated, where strategies play as much of a role as dirvers outright speed. Some say that it is ridiculous that the fastest car in qualifying was overtaken by an icecream van on the track. Well, if you design the car to be the fastest on a single lap and not to win F1 Race then this is what you get. Changing rules mid season (where changing tyre design amounts to that) is simply wrong and penalises teams who designed their cars well to work within those rules.

As for that sorry, grumpy sod Hamilton - he has very aggressive driving style which uses tyres more and drives a car which munches through tyres. Nico wasn't whinging nearly as much for some reason...

Wonder if Ferrari and Lotus take legal action. It's like making the goal posts closer together mid game because the keeper is too short. It absolutely stinks. Me and a friend wrote a bit about it http://www.standingstart.net/index.php?threads/dietrich-mateschitz-tyres.226/

Some interesting reactions to this whole tyre debate and along similar lines Martyn, The Horse Whisperer (Ferrari's annoymous blogger) has come out with this take on it:

These are difficult times for people with poor memories. Maybe it’s because of the huge amount of information available today that people are too quick to talk, forgetting things that happened pretty much in the recent past. Or maybe the brain cells that control memory only operate selectively, depending on the results achieved on track by their owners.

A classic example of this is the current saga regarding the number of pit stops. Voices have been raised to underline the fact that various teams, some of whom got to the podium and others who were quite a way off, made four pit stops in the recent Spanish Grand Prix, making the race hard to follow.

It’s a shame that these worthy souls kept quiet two years ago when, at the very same Catalunya Circuit and on the Istanbul track, five of the six drivers who got to those two podiums made exactly the same number of pit stops as did Alonso and Massa last Sunday in the Spanish Grand Prix.

In fact, there’s nothing new about winning a race making so many pit stops, even discounting those where it was down to changeable weather. One only has to look back to 2004, when Michael Schumacher won the French Grand Prix thanks to what was a three stop strategy, later changed to a four stopper. That was the key which allowed the multiple champion’s F2004 to get ahead of the then Renault driver, Fernando Alonso, who made three stops. And on that day and we remember it well, our strategy and the tyre supplier were showered with praise for allowing us to get the most out of the car.

Today however, it seems one must almost feel ashamed for choosing a strategy that, as always for that matter, is aimed at getting the most out of the package one has available. On top of that, if this choice emerges right from the Friday, because all the simulations are unanimous in selecting it, then why on earth should one feel embarrassed when compared to those who have gone for a different choice, only to regret it during the race itself.

That last paragraph really hits the nail on the head for me - you choose a strategy based on the package you have available, and clearly set the car up accordingly.

Whilst I am very disillusioned with F1 at the minute (haven't even watched the last 2 races) I am pleased that this issue has almost levelled the playing field so to speak. Red Bull's previous tactics were to go all out in qualifying, secure the front row, win the first corner in the race and sit back without having to race. They haven't adapted and don't like it.

Some interesting ... haven't adapted and don't like it.

Columnists in this weeks Autosprout are making pretty much the same point; All that Vermillion Male Bovine are interested in is "them winning".

That's pretty much our take on it. I wouldn't change anything purely because some teams haven't adapted. That is their problem. If they don't adapt they'll lose. SImple.

http://www.standingstart.net/index.php?threads/pirelli-and-the-next-act-at-the-circus.227/

Mercs and Ferrari are looking strong for the weekend, although the Pirelli Procession Company will no doubt bring the race down to yet another borefest.

Raikkonen was the only driver to set 1:18.xxx on race pace runs from what I heard in commentary. Being only Fp1+2 , pinch of salt may be taken as we don't know fuel loads etc, but being Monaco qualifying is crucial and Lotus don't generally qualify where there race pace is unfortunately.

Yes, unless something clever is done with strategy I'm not sure how they'll pass.

Pirelli tyres definitely aren't responsible for a procession... But the circuit. But nobody cares because it is Monaco. Guaranteed a few good accidents!

Also, seems that Pirelli will not be allowed to change the why the hard tyres behave - only to make changes based on safety after the FIA intervened.

I'm one of the people who'll give Monaco a mulligan on the basis of history.

OTOH I don't see why the Hunboringring seems to get one.

Yes, unless something clever is done with strategy I'm not sure how they'll pass.

Pirelli tyres definitely aren't responsible for a procession... But the circuit. But nobody cares because it is Monaco. Guaranteed a few good accidents!

Also, seems that Pirelli will not be allowed to change the why the hard tyres behave - only to make changes based on safety after the FIA intervened.

They might surprise us and get it together for quali . Need to keep reminding myself I have an extra day to wait for the next part of this weekend.

Glad they weren't allowed to change it, tyres are the same for everybody, why change it to suit the characteristics of certain teams because they don't have the best 'complete package' in terms of car. To me, that defeats the point of having a single supplier .