Re the Alonso/Massa incident, the way I see it was that a driver who is not on a timed lap has to make way for a driver who IS on one. If it means he doesn't get around in time to make another hot lap, well, that's his problem. Of course, I wear red-colored glasses. And with that in mind, needless to say, I will miss Schumacher. I started following the sport since 1999, and in that time (and for a few years before, of course), it's pretty much been all about HIM. His exit will leave a strange void in F/1, but that's life. The guys on Speed were going ON and ON about how he was 'forced out', didn't leave on his own terms, it was a Ferrari decision, there was a schism between him and the team .... I don't see it at all. I think he just came to the realization that the time was right. He would certainly be fit and able to race another season, but what more could he possibly prove by doing so? By staying, he would only put the screws into a capable young driver who has done everything asked of him as a teammate this year. And he would force Ferrari into a situation they clearly don't like - two #1 drivers. Win or lose in this championship, he's demonstrated that he is still on top of his game ... that last year was an aberration caused by the regulations. What better way to confirm the correctness of the decision than to announce it after winning the final European race of the season, in front of the tifosi.
Like who? Alonso? McLaren beat them to the punch. Who else? There are plenty of talented youngsters out there, but Raikkonen is entering his prime (Ferrari hopes) - AND he's still young.
Button is better than Alonso. I think for all the short success Alonso has had, Button has more potential.
Because the only drivers with more talent than Raikkonen are Schumacher and a bunch of other retired drivers?
Button and Raikkonen are the two smoothest drivers in the field. Alonso is very quick but rough and attacking, his style suits the Renault but it would not suit the Ferrari in its current build. At McLaren I expect him to compete on par, if not slightly below the level JPM was at (very similar styles).
Ferrari will not be the same with out SHUMI, Auf Wiedersehen. I'm sure he will stick around w/Ferrari and help with the development of future cars.
With all do respect to Shumacher he, nor anyone else, had the steel balls that Gilles had. If he had lived a little longer he would have had as many titles if not more. The "King" as you said, died long ago.
I don't like having x-Mclaren drivers joining Ferrari. Call it a misuse of football rivalry merging with racing.
With all due respect - I loved Gilles, he was the driver that got me into F1 and following Ferrari - but, while wickedly quick and entertaining, GV was much too reckless to ever seriously contend for multiple titles. Of course he would've won some (came quite close before getting absolutely screwed) but he wasn't the type that was going to win 7 or 8 championships. He'd have had his share of races, but he was just that, a race driver - not a championship driver.
As a big Schumi fan, I have no shame in believing that Senna was better than Schumi. If only he didn't go out the way he did....
What does Shumacher get paid these days? 100 mil a year or some astronomical shit like that right? If the drake was still alive he would never have agreed to those ridiculous salaries; not even for a second. Gilles was racing ********ing snow-mobiles before he signed up with the fastest racing circuit in the world. Why did Mr. ferrari bring him into the team? Because the guy had balls and raced with his life in his hands every time. Gilles was famous for his driving, but mostly because of the audacity and lunacy that he brought to the racing world. Gilles either won the race, or trashed his car all over the track...either way he was making headlines. He may not have been the most careful driver, thats for sure; but Gilles brought a new dimension to the sport that has never re-appeared in F1 driving even today. I like to think of the old S.A.S British services emblem: "WHO DARES WINS" Thats the sort of thing Gilles was all about and it made him immortal.
The problem is that Gilles' style would never work in today's F1. The rules and regulations, not to mention the cost of the cars...I never saw him race, but if he was constantly crashing cars, how much would Ferrari (or anybody) put up with him (assuming he wrecks - not blows an engine - 5 cars a year)? That is very expensive for the manufacturer. That is why I like Sato and JPM, because they will take risks - sometimes foolishly - and nobody else does and might wreck the car. I can see JPM easily fitting in to NASCAR. As for Shumi, I don't like him all that much, but I have tons of respect for him. I would be surprised if he didn't stick around with Ferrari in some manner. I will be glad he is gone, because it will open up a spot on the podium.
With these new cars...nobody from 30 or even 20 years ago could race in this era. But that doesn't give Shumacher the right to be an arrogant asshole prick who's allowed to transform his crew into human sized monkey-wrenches. All German drivers do is play the number game, they don't "race" but they figure out a way to win.
HHF and Ralf don't seem to have figured this out well...and IIRC, this was very much the style of Damon Hill (and also Nigel Mansell, I think). It's not flashy, but if done correctly, it is very successful. And Michael is very much that.
I agreed. He would have been too reckless to become multi-winner. He could have won in 1979. He honored a prior agreement with Jody Schecker that the first one who took the first corner would take the race and the championship. Schecker took the first corner and Gilles never tried to overtake him. For fans too young to know Gilles.... watch this. A must seen for all F-1 fans. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHOU9mcWblE Gilles is seen here battling with Rene Arnoux for 2nd place to prevent a Renault 1-2.... the race, I believed, to be the first race won by turbo engine.
It's because we Germans aren't human beings, we are just robots really. Look at our football players, the bloody panzers.
Oh, no. Nige was a true racer all the way. Not nearly as destructive as Gilles, but he had brass balls. Ever seen the overtaking move on Piquet at Stowe (the old Stowe, at the old Silverstone, which was a much quicker corner with less runoff)? he was taking his life in his hands doing that. The tifosi love racers - Gilles is still No. 1 - and they loved Nigel w/ Ferrari. Mansell wasn't as crazy as Gilles - he was capable of controlling a race without driving like his life depended on it - but he was a racer. The thing about Michael that makes him so good is that Michael can just strangle the life out of a race like Prost, but he also can dogfight better than anybody else of his time, including JV and Montoya. He's Prost and Senna rolled into one. Anyway, the German stereotypes don't work here. I'd wager most German racers are gamblers more than anything else.
The Midlands definitley turn into Spykers as they adopt a distinctive Oranje livery. At least, they won't be mistaken for Mac Larens anymore.
Everytime I see a Ferrari lapping one I'll have to remind myself that its not Jos Verstappen and there's little chance that they will take out the leaders. Whatever happened to the Arrows chassis? I thought I heard something that the SuperAguri team was running the old Arrows... So basically the team went from Jordan Yellow to McLaren Pewter to Arrows Orange.
Yup, they ran the first part of the season with a 2002 Arrows chassis updated to the current rules. Many thought -Mr Suzuki included- that they would be lapped 5 times or so. Surprisingly, they were not so far from the Midlands. They now run their new SA06 chassis which still pretty much looks like the Arrows but is much more performant. It's unfortunately not reliable for them to fully exploit an interesting potential like the 10th time of Montagny in one of the Monza free practice session seemed to show. I know those time sheets must be taken with a grain of salt with cars running on ifferent weights, but that means you at least got the pace to do it. The Arrows were orange because of the eponymic telecom company (which almost allowed Bourdais to get a F1 seat as a result of Orange being bought by France Telecom...A few weeks before Arrows collapsed). The Spykers are orange because it's a dutch car maker.
I love Fiszman cartoons ! At Monza, Schumi's announcement about his future is eagerly awaited. "C'mon, hurry up, that's the moment !" F1 prepares itself for significant technical changes. It was high time for me to leave !!.. http://www.webringf1.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=569&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=270