I'll take that bet. Massa is an easy target when he feels the race is lost, but when he's contending for the front, he's tough.
Fred will find a reason to complain and ultimately blame someone else for his failure.

The wild card is Mercedes. Ross brawn is the quintescential tactitian so you can't count either of the Germans Nico or Schumi out.
I would not be surprised to see either of them second, behind Vettel of course. :)

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I know there are a lot of laps -- & tire degradation questions -- to go, but so far I am winning the bet! Didn't take long -- what, 2 corners? -- for Alonso to make a good, clean, smart pass on Massa.

Too bad about Vettel. I like him a LOT. I like what Hobbs said about him, "An old head on a very young body". Alonso still ahead of Massa...& Alonso is flying.

Interesting to see Nico ahead of Schumy. Can Schumy press Nico into a mistake? You know how much Rosberg wants to beat him. Will that cause him to make a mistake?

You owe me a beer.

after what Massa has been thru its a delight to see him competing at all.

SmileWavy

Looks like I missed on every point.
Massa didn't beat Fred & Fred didn't get a chance to cry: give it some time
Ross Brawn didn't have a magic strategy
Vettel wasn't the best driver..... oh wait Vettel didn't win.
Oh well. Maybe next time?
I will be back making more predictions based on hopes and dreams.
I must say, calling Vettel ahead of Fred with all the book makers calling Vettel third took some stones. I'll bet on Vettel again.

It was pretty much a given, long before the first corner, given the relative performance off of the line for the two cars. Don't forget that Allonso started on the clean side of the track and Massa on the dirty side. You may have noticed during the race the huge cloud of sand and dust raised by any car verturing off of the clean line. That's the nature of a track like this, which is one good reason F1 shouldn't go to tracks built in the desert, that sledom get used. Anyway, Alonso got a great start and was able to get alongside Massa, something that wouldnt have happened had Massa gotten a normal start. It may have been a moot point, as Massa's car had a problem halfway through the race that crippled his pace, but the pass was more to do with the track than the drivers.

Boring race. Eliminating refueling was a stupid move. Of course, nearly every change in F1 in the last few years had made things worse, so what's new?

JR

Can't totally agree with that. Knockout qualifying rocks though it was more interesting when they had to factor in fuel loads in Q3.

For the record, I never said Alonso isn't a complainer. I just said he would beat Massa. I like Massa, but I just think Alonso is a better driver. I think Massa is a very good driver in a great car, but Alonso is a great driver in a great car.

I actually do think Vettel drove the best race. He is an amazing talent & will definitely be world champ some year, very possibly this year. His car let him down today -- he had everyone covered.

You still owe me a beer.

Not disagreeing that Alonso had the clean side, but he is a great starter, & I think he would have gotten Massa regardless. As I said, I just think he is a better racer. If the Ferraris continue to be fast, he could be world champ this year. In my mind there is no doubt that Alonso will finish the season with more points than Massa.

But it is very early. You can't count McLaren out -- they will get faster. And Schumy will get faster too.

I think the intra-team battles are very interesting this year. After round one:

Nico 1 -- Michael 0 (You know Nico is happy to both outqualify & beat Michael in the race)

Lewis 1 -- Jenson 0 (Jenson can't be happy)

Fernando 1 -- Felipe 0 (Glad to see Massa back, but I think Alonso is just better)

I love F1 but this was Boring with a capital WTF

So with the new rules we'll never see low fuel / fresh tyres again. Just save your tyres for the finish?

Oh ya, of course Doug, IOU a beer, but only a light beer.:)

Uggggh, it appears that the F1 management has found another way to keep any racing from breaking out in one of their parades. This no refueling rule means that nobody dares RACE during the first few laps, choosing instead to protect the tires and avoid flying off the course in the overweight cars. Aint gonna be any late braking into a corner now.

By the time the fuel loads are down to the point that they can actually race, the cars are spread out too much and there is nobody to race. Seriously, what was the most exciting pass....17th on 16th 3/4 the way through the race?

Was refilling in the pits that dangerous? Was it more dangerous than all these drivers cruising around in a bathtub full of fuel?

6 seconds off the pace with full fuel load! What about the tight tracks, like Monaco? These pigs will barely be able to get away from the Casino.

They need to open up engine development again. It's the only way to put some lipstick on the pigs.