Fernando Alonso starts [Sky pad]

http://youtu.be/McQKWeidBNo

I think is an interesting video. I hope is OK to make a topic about it.

Spain was pretty awesome, but Singapore was just brilliant. Alonso made Webber, Hamilton, and Grosjean look like Codemaster AI at the start.

Edited by Kingshark, 08 October 2013 - 05:49.

"Especially with Grosjean, yes." 

Alaonso has some amazing starts. I want to say he's probably the best in terms of gaining places at the start/opening lap.

Awesome to watch!

Great watch!  Tx for posting. 

Funniest line:  'In one second you go from genius to idiot'    It has been said before, but drivers seem to think up new and interesting ways to put it and it cracks me up every time.

Great insight. What an arrogant guy, that Alonso. 

Reminds me of Schumacher in his Merc years Alonso really replaced him as best starter, didn't he?

Starts, are a lot down to the car in my opinion. Sure, Alonso's reflexes are in their absolute prime too but Nicholas Tombazis is hugely responsible for the launch and the start systems. I'm trying to hunt down the article, but can't seem to find them. Even in his Renault V10 days, Alonso's starts were something to watch and NT was with Renault then too.

Reminds me of Schumacher in his Merc years Alonso really replaced him as best starter, didn't he?

Again, I doubt it was to do with him. It was the system and his understanding of the system. I don't think F1 drivers are different when it comes to reflexes and reactions. Not at the sharp end anyway. The thing that's magic about Alonso is his spatial awareness and his incisive passes.

The Ferrari's clearly launch well compared to Webber, Mercedes and Lotus. But a lot still has to be done in the following corners, and Alonso is just great at that. However, like he mentions, it's all very much on the limit and the smallest of contact can already have severe consequences (Suzuka '12) in which he's seen as the one who throws it away.

and NT was with Renault then too.

Tombazis has never been in Renault, Benetton at best.

Best part of Sky's coverage last weekend.

Thank you for posting that

Great insight very interesting to hear Alonso explain.

He's really something special with those monster starts

Starts, are a lot down to the car in my opinion. Sure, Alonso's reflexes are in their absolute prime too but Nicholas Tombazis is hugely responsible for the launch and the start systems. I'm trying to hunt down the article, but can't seem to find them. Even in his Renault V10 days, Alonso's starts were something to watch and NT was with Renault then too.

It is not about the get away from the line. Massa is much better at this. It is the actions in the first corners and the first 2 laps where Alonso is great. But it is very marginal sometimes and as he said you can pass to be an idiot in a fraction of a second.

Edited by canaus, 08 October 2013 - 09:44.

Yes, usually Massa is faster off the line and then Alonso is better, look at Korea for example.

It´s the car, both drivers have made great starts. Alonso seems to find a line through the opponents much better than Massa. Credit goes Alonso for doing the moves when those are needed to be done. It seems that Ferrari is getting off the line better than most of the grid....talking about traction control....oh no, this is not a Vettel thread, sorry

He was never very good at the start before 2012 and them ferrari changed the starting system. It's the car.

No doubt the car is a great starter, but it's Alonso working the magic with it.

Edited by Winter98, 08 October 2013 - 12:52.

He was never very good at the start before 2012 and them ferrari changed the starting system. It's the car.

I think this is more about Alonsos ability to position himself well and make the most out of the first couple of turns than it is about getting fast off the line. The car doesn't drive itself now, does it?

Unless you were being sarcastic of course.

Edited by mastermind, 08 October 2013 - 13:07.

He was never very good at the start before 2012 and them ferrari changed the starting system. It's the car.

He was a pain to watch at starts

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=B7FbZWKR77I 

It´s the car

It's the car.

Sure, passing Raikkonen and Hamilton in the outside of T3 is down of how well the car gets off the line.

He was never very good at the start before 2012 and them ferrari changed the starting system.

Edited by prty, 08 October 2013 - 13:46.

He seems to know when to use kers during starts. Or that Ferrari kers is great.

I think this is more about Alonsos ability to position himself well and make the most out of the first couple of turns than it is about getting fast off the line. The car doesn't drive itself now, does it?

Unless you were being sarcastic of course.

 But with Vettel everybody knows, the car drives himself. He is just the ballast, the regulations require.

Seems to me, Ferrari have some sort of illegal launch control. I have no proof, but an opinion. Well, that's enough in this forum, anyway.

 But with Vettel everybody knows, the car drives himself. He is just the ballast, the regulations require.

 

Seems to me, Ferrari have some sort of illegal launch control. I have no proof, but an opinion. Well, that's enough in this forum, anyway.

Ok, so let's remove Ferrari's "launch control" and Vettel's RB "TC" and see what happens 

 [...]Seems to me, Ferrari have some sort of illegal launch control.[....]

Of course. And this launch control heped him greatly to pass cars at turn 2, 3, 4, 5, etc., to put him into the track position he is after the start, etc. .....

He was a fantastic starter with Renault as well. I'm sure he learned how the clutch actuation worked from Renault and brought it with him to Ferrari (I think I read an article about how he brought it to Macca too in 07, but I'm not 100% sure).

The start system aside, he's bonkers on the first lap as well. I still remember Austin '12, 7th to 4th after the first two turns, or something like that, which is what he needed to stay within reach of the WDC.

He's clutch with that clutch 

That is years of experience for you. The race start is definitely his strongest suit imo.

Brilliant video. Thanks so much for posting. Oh how I wish we could have (legal) Sky F1 coverage here in the U.S.

The Ferrari takes off very well, but Alonso makes the most of it by taking a bit more risks than some others, and using his incredible skill for positioning the car at the right place with respect to the others.

I'm generally not a fan of Alonso's personality, which I find a bit boring (but of course I love him as a driver). But in this video I really like how he speaks. He sounds very humble, more than he used to, and explains well what's happening in the cockpit.

Concerning the start in Spain, I remember he said that he found out watching the GP2 race that it was possible to overtake in turn 3, which he thought was too difficult before seeing several passes in GP2.

The Ferrari takes off very well, but Alonso makes the most of it by taking a bit more risks than some others, and using his incredible skill for positioning the car at the right place with respect to the others.

I'm generally not a fan of Alonso's personality, which I find a bit boring (but of course I love him as a driver). But in this video I really like how he speaks. He sounds very humble, more than he used to, and explains well what's happening in the cockpit.

Concerning the start in Spain, I remember he said that he found out watching the GP2 race that it was possible to overtake in turn 3, which he thought was too difficult before seeing several passes in GP2.

Yeah, unlike others, I didn't think he sounded arrogant at all. Quite the opposite in fact.

Forgotten but one of the very best start, Alonso Malaysia 2009 9 -> 3 http://www.myvideo.d..._Malaysia_Start

Edited by ArkZ, 08 October 2013 - 18:24.

It is not about the get away from the line. Massa is much better at this. It is the actions in the first corners and the first 2 laps where Alonso is great. But it is very marginal sometimes and as he said you can pass to be an idiot in a fraction of a second.

I agree, he's very smart at the start of a race with his tactics and positioning of his car. Helped of course by the great launch of the Ferrari.

The Ferrari takes off very well, but Alonso makes the most of it by taking a bit more risks than some others, and using his incredible skill for positioning the car at the right place with respect to the others.

I'm generally not a fan of Alonso's personality, which I find a bit boring (but of course I love him as a driver). But in this video I really like how he speaks. He sounds very humble, more than he used to, and explains well what's happening in the cockpit.

Concerning the start in Spain, I remember he said that he found out watching the GP2 race that it was possible to overtake in turn 3, which he thought was too difficult before seeing several passes in GP2.

Yeah I also remember him mentioning getting that idea from watching a GP2 race. As he said there's some luck but I think his planning and experience help to create some luck and enable him to have such consistently good opening laps and I agree he comes across very humble in this piece.

Starts, are a lot down to the car in my opinion. Sure, Alonso's reflexes are in their absolute prime too but Nicholas Tombazis is hugely responsible for the launch and the start systems. I'm trying to hunt down the article, but can't seem to find them. Even in his Renault V10 days, Alonso's starts were something to watch and NT was with Renault then too.

Seems Fred's been pretty good at the start, too bad the car instantly starts to fade.

PS. Thank you for the priceless comedy gold, you spend every minute saying "it's seb not newey's car" and then jump over here and say "it's Fernando's car not Fernando", that's pretty funny.

Edited by JimiKart, 08 October 2013 - 19:45.

Ok, so let's remove Ferrari's "launch control" and Vettel's RB "TC" and see what happens 

Nothing, 'cause neither of them are cheating.

Nice video, thanks for posting.   Good to see Alonso keeping things in perspective, and not joining in on the hype. He accurately notes that Felipe Massa had an equally good, if not better, start at Singapore - but that Alonso had a better line through T1. He then notes how he misjudged Grosjean's position, and took a wider line into the next corner than would have been necessary. Also good to hear him point out that there's always luck involved, and that the difference between a great move and a great screw-up isn't always very big.

To be fair the Ferrari's have had rocket starts for some time now. Even Massa has some amazing starts.  

To be fair the Ferrari's have had rocket starts for some time now. Even Massa has some amazing starts.  

The car matters for the launch phase, and sure Ferraris launches have been excellent for some time now.

After that, it's up to the driver to make the most of it, and that's were you see the difference between Massa and Alonso. Usually by lapt two Alonso has used his cars excellent getaway to get in front of faster cars 4 out of 5 times, whereas with Massa it's probably closer to 1 out of 5 starts.

The Ferrari takes off very well, but Alonso makes the most of it by taking a bit more risks than some others, and using his incredible skill for positioning the car at the right place with respect to the others.

I'm generally not a fan of Alonso's personality, which I find a bit boring (but of course I love him as a driver). But in this video I really like how he speaks. He sounds very humble, more than he used to, and explains well what's happening in the cockpit.

Concerning the start in Spain, I remember he said that he found out watching the GP2 race that it was possible to overtake in turn 3, which he thought was too difficult before seeing several passes in GP2.

Nice video, thanks for posting.   Good to see Alonso keeping things in perspective, and not joining in on the hype. He accurately notes that Felipe Massa had an equally good, if not better, start at Singapore - but that Alonso had a better line through T1. He then notes how he misjudged Grosjean's position, and took a wider line into the next corner than would have been necessary. Also good to hear him point out that there's always luck involved, and that the difference between a great move and a great screw-up isn't always very big.

The truth is that he sounds objective and humble; many times there is too much hype around F1 drivers, great to see the “arrogant Alonso” (not my definition, I don´t know him personally) being down to earth. Really interesting analysis coming from the driver himself, Ferrari is great at the starts (several quality starts from Massa as well), although it is fair to say that Alonso has extremely good reflexes and great race intelligence (I´ve always said that I like how he uses his brain during the race)

Forgotten but one of the very best start, Alonso Malaysia 2009 9 -> 3 http://www.myvideo.d..._Malaysia_Start

Well, he had a huge advantage of having one of the very few cars equiped with KERS then. Some of his starts before or after 2009 were more impressive for that reason IMO.
 

"Especially with Grosjean, yes." 

<Off-topic>
I think the joke is getting old. Especially when used not only by the fans, but even the drivers!   It's even worse than the "Hamilton's fault".

I was already fed up with TV presenters saying Maldonado and Grosjean might be a threat at every single race build-up last year   

</Off-topic>

Interesting how Alonso keeps hands off the steering wheel during initial phase of the start in these videos.

Alonso is probably the most complete driver of the bunch. Racecraft is a word that springs to mind... :-)

Interesting how Alonso keeps hands off the steering wheel during initial phase of the start in these videos.

Wonder what happens if the car right in front of him doesn't get of the line at all. Probably one of the most idiotic looking start-accident of all time

Wonder what happens if the car right in front of him doesn't get of the line at all. Probably one of the most idiotic looking start-accident of all time

No, because Alonso will take the steering wheel. In the start of Malaysia 2009 a BMW didn't launch and there was no crash.

It is not about Alonso, it's the car and changes Ferrari did few years ago to their clutch etc...also Massa takes equally good and even better starts. Also during Renault years Fisischella took great starts and it was thought Renault has launchcontrol system...Kovalainen was even better starter of the Renault tests

It is not about Alonso, it's the car and changes Ferrari did few years ago to their clutch etc...also Massa takes equally good and even better starts. Also during Renault years Fisischella took great starts and it was thought Renault has launchcontrol system...Kovalainen was even better starter of the Renault tests

It's about Alonso and we didn't talk about the launch, but how Alonso manage to put his car. He is smart.