The F2003 wins on its debut, but I don't *think* that's what we'll talk about....

[Tristan]

What about Alonso then??

(and ANOTHER good race in 2003!!)

[enemy-ace]

What about that Renault! Freaking Brilliant chassis! A few more horses out of that powerplant and you have a Ferrari beater. To me Renault stole Ferrari's thunder today. And yes Alonso did very well also, shame about Trulli being knocked out so early. Watch out for Renault at Monaco.

[Mania]

Alonso did a great job..all credit to him. From what the commentators said, he was also on the softer of the two Michelin tires which compounds the misery for the Williams team who were on the harder tires and yet managed to wear them out once again.

That said, this is an aero circuit and Renault are probably the 3rd best aero team after Ferrari and Mclaren so their competitiveness comes as no surprise.

What I would like to see though..is how they do in Canada and Monza..high speed circuits...should be interesting.

[Raven]

I wonder what Kimi could've done had it gone a bit smoother. Ferrari ain't cleaning house like they were this time last year. A great drive from Fernandoe, but a shame for JT, he always seems to find an accident.

[Tristan]

Yeah, it would have been nice to have Trulli still in the race as I feel that would have thrown a spanner in the works. I'm fairly sure he was on a different strtegy to Alonso.

[BootsOntheSide]

Originally posted by Mania
Alonso did a great job..all credit to him. From what the commentators said, he was also on the softer of the two Michelin tires which compounds the misery for the Williams team who were on the harder tires and yet managed to wear them out once again.

It's the same as last season, Williams wering out their hard tyres faster than other Michelin teams do with the softs. I actually think Renault's areodynamics may be better than the McLaren, and they're certainly a country mile ahead of Williams. The engine will handicap them too much at the power circuits, but there aren't many of those nowadays. Don't be surprised if Alonso wins at Monaco but is lower-midfield in Canada straight after.

[gttouring]

like i have said in threads before- Alonso and his renault are going to do some big damage to the current order, the car is better than most, maybe he needs a BMW or Ferrari motor in it or maybe not. when it becomes sorted out, Renault wil walk away from the field, its frightening how good it was, he had grip to spare chasing ralf! he didn't have the minerals in that car though.

[Fish_Flake]

Alonso is going to win sometime in the next five races. The Renault is definitely getting faster, and Alonso is too young to slow down any. That's a dangerous combination...for the other teams. It also goes without mentioning that he's a draw for Formula 1. I want to hear the attendance figures for today's race; that's the largest crowd I've seen in a long time, and the most people I've ever seen in Barcelona.

He's gonna win before England. Mark it down.

[jetsetter]

It wouldn't suprise me if Alonso won a couple of G.P.'s this year, he is the sleeper in this years race for the championship.

[Irv the Swerve]

Isn't there a link with the Renault engine and the good performance of the chassis?

Don't they run a very high vee angle that means the car has a lower centre of gravity and handles like a dream, but is down on power. In that case, a BMW wouldn't work in it.

Although, they could have abandoned that experiment and I could be talking out of my ar se.

[Tristan]

Spot on, Irv.

[Jordi]

Mates, I was at the track all 4 days... 46.000 on Friday, 86.000 yesterday and 96.000 today...! Coupled with the Thursday pitlane visit, it makes for 240.000 people during all four days. Last year the record was at 98.000 raceday, but less people came on the other days...

And Alonso may well destroy the field at Monaco or Budapest...

[Glen]

As soon as we saw the Renault going miles quicker than any other car in the twisty sections of Interlagos I decided to back them at Barcelona. My ten quid on an Alonso podium is now £110. Don't you just hate it when people say "told you so"?

Not sure about their next big chance, possibly Monaco... although that isn't exactly their strength. They seem really strong on the aero circuits with medium to high speed corners - Magny Cours might be a good bet. However, Alonso is driving so beautifully that almost anywhere is possible.

[Smokey 6 litre]

Is the Ferrari a development on the 2002 car or is it a whole new design?

[Glen]

All new.

[RWC]

No you're mostly right irv.

And a VERY good point glen.I did wonder about the renaults inability to go better in some situations -you've saved me doing some serious analysis.