Well, hi everyone.
I have just found this thread and I feel like I want to reply to some statements.

Facts in hand, this is simply not true. Ferrari has the second or third budget and the difference with some of those teams that are behind is irrelevant.
Renault has won 2 championships with much less money, which demonstrates that funds are not very important if you know what you're doing (and cheat at some times as well, but that's another story).
If you have any idea of how F1 is, you'll know that the advantage that Ferrari has this year is mostly dependent on the tires, which they have used for many years more than all the other teams.
As far as Raikkonen being "talented enough"... that's an understatement to say the least. In 2004 and 2005 he has finished the championship in second place. In 2004 he lost by 2 points (really 1, but the tie would have favoured Schumacher) at the end of the last race and in 2005 he lost because of the sketchy reliabilty of his McLaren. Considering how badly in overall performance he has bitchslapped Montoya, which was by many considered to be the new God of F1, I think his credentials speak for himself.



I'll start saying that 2005 was a season in which you cannot draw any evaluation on Schumacher or Barrichello or Ferrari, since their inability of being competitive with one set of tires was way too obvious for somebody not to understand it. Fact is, however, that the lethargic Schumacher finished behind a Renault and a McLaren, which means that, even in those conditions, he managed to beat 2 drivers that were clearly driving a better car/tire package than his.
As far as last year goes, well we could write a book. I'll stop at this: Schumacher retired while leading the Japanes GP. That win would have clearly allowed him to put serious dibs on the championship. Considering that Renault last year had a better car for the better part of the season (first 11 races) and considering that there were some decisions taken by race stewards (rightfully or not is a different story, but they certainly didn't help Schumacher), saying that he was somewhat lethargic and that he had hit his retirement point already before is a statement that is pretty hard to prove.


OK. It was Eddie (Irvine) and not Barrichello to pass Salo. I believe that nobody would object to the fact that any driver could have a good day and look like a million dollars. I wonder if you remember what Salo did in the other races he drove for Ferrari that year. I also wonder if you remember how Irvine did in all the other races of the year, he was driiving for Ferrari and he had been turned by faith, into the no. 1 for the Maranello team. Lastly, I believe that in one of the last 3 races (Sepang? I cannot remember), Schumacher drove to make Irvine win. He was on a different strategy, slowed down Hakkinen for some time, and at the end of all the pit-stops, he was still ahead of both Hakkinen and Eddie. I guess it is not just a matter of what car you drive...

Now, on to Alonso. I don't like him at all.
But, to say that he's not that great, well, that's a bit steep. Alonso is a very intelligent driver and he's probably the equivalent of a Niky Lauda or an Alain Prost. No frills, not a lot of flashy stuff, but:
a) He brings the car home in the best place possible and,
b) He can deliver the performance when it's needed.
That's what a real champion does.

Massa: he's probably the most underestimated driver in F1 at this moment.
In Australia he had several hurdles to overcome, which might have been missed by many. He started the race in last with a lot more fuel than everyone else, on soft tires. In other words, he was in the worst predicament one driver could be at that race, that day.
It is irrelevevant that his lap times were slower than Raikkonen's given the conditions I just mentioned and considering that everyone that the Finn caught up to moved out of the way, while most of those that Felipe tried to outbrake had no intention at all to move out of the way. Having finished 6th proves that he can bring the car home and make up spots, which was one of his weaknesses until last year.
Massa will start tonight's race from pole as he's done 4 times in the last 7 races. That must mean something when your team mates have been/are Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen...

Just to get back for a second on Schumacher's being lethargic, I cannot help it thinking about the fact that last year the German finished 5th at Monaco after having started the race dead last. If you consider that the performance advantage of Ferrari last year was not as clear as it is this year (in comparison to the average performance of the pack) and that passing at Monaco must be at least 1000 times more difficult than passing at Albert Park, Schumacher's skills and determination of the last years can be even better understood

To those who find F1 not entertaining, I'll say this: there are plenty of "minor" formulas that have all the wheel to wheel you are hoping for. Who knows why they're minor, since they can offer so much of a spectacle for the audience.
It could be, perhaps, because it takes more skills to do a perfect lap in a Spyker than to win at Daytona in a Nascar car or an IRL car?
It really looks like most of the world feels that way, since 1 F1 race draws statistically the same amount of spectators an entire season of Nascar draws...

 

I was born in Malaysia. Almost got to visit this track once, hopefully will someday. Looks like a great track, and a hard physical challenge.

Anyways, qualifying went more or less as expected. But Renault definitely not looking good, and same with Honda (their B-team performing on-par is a little embarrassing).
The little battle for pole/top row was interesting.

Let's see what happens now.

Oh, on a related note i saw the ITV coverage for qualifying. Again i prefer that or SPEED's coverage over TSN (well, the non-race stuff i guess for TSN). Actually sometimes i prefer the ITV coverage over SPEED.

 

Hi everyone.
First off, one quick comment about today's race: it appears that something didn't work on the red cars, and it looks like Alonso, once again, was more than ready to pickup the pieces (and what pieces did he take home!).

Second, I wanted to apologize if my comments/rebuttals were somewhat argumentative, provocative, aggressive or even offensive.
I love F1, I've been following it since 1970 (a lot older than the rest of the crowd around here I imagine...) and I get really heated on a good discussion.

So, if I did offend you in any way, please accept my apology. But let's continue the discussion, with all the objections and disagreements possible. Discussions make everyone grow and allow everyone to learn other points of view...

 

Whoa...me too! My dad was at the inaugural race.

 

Heh, small world.


So, the race. I knew Mclaren would be strong this year but that was domination today. It was more a tactical win more than outright performance though as i think the Ferraris are still very slightly faster pace-wise, but i thought the drive by Hamilton was great. And he made Massa look like a fool.
There was a decent bit of wheel-to-wheel action and passing also, despite the unwillingness of these cars to follow behind another car. I think though they do still need to change the aerodynamics design regulations to have the cars less dependent on aero assist.

 

Well I set my alarm for 2:30am but I didn't actually open my eyes until 3:30am so missed the start but then caught it in the replay. It takes committment to follow this sport, which often conflicts with the alcohol intake of the previous evening.

Anyhow, I feel bad for Massa, it was like you could see his heart sinking in the car as he lost spaces.

I think the Ferrari's were nursing these engines to the end. We'll have to wait till next week to really see where everyone is at since everyone will have fresh engines for Bahrain.(which is less than a week away)

Gio64, I thought your post was well thought out and articulated. But I still disagree with your perception of Massa. I think he is uber talented but I think he is missing the essential winner instinct. But heck he has the whole season to prove me wrong.

I agree with your comments of Alonso being Prost like, the thought had crossed my mind several times while watching him over the past couple of years.

Did I hear correctly when one of the commentators said that Hamilton was Ron Dennis' God son?

Hamilton's comments during the interviews where he said that he tricked Massa into braking late and then apologized for it were shocking. I have never previously heard anyone explicitly explain an on track incident that way and frankly I think it wasn't a very tactful thing to say. He is assuming that Massa fell for his trick rather than just driver error on Massa's part. I think I would be pissed if I was Massa listening to those comments, especially from a rookie.

 

I second that. Plus, it sounds like there was more to the performance (or lack of thereof) than meets the eye, at least based on what Raikkonen and Massa were saying/not saying

Thank you. I don't disagree with you on Massa, really... I feel there's lots there, but it has to come together. Certainly, he could have had 20 points at the checkered flag today, that has to be considered...

I think I heard that too...

I am not sure he meant it that way... Or I should rather say, that's not the way I took it. I think he was trying to say that he resisted and braked as late as he could, to induce Massa to push it past the point of no return.
But, if he meant it the way you interpreted, I'd agree with you on that as well.

One more week before we can see what really is going on...

 

If they did say it, it was more a metaphore than fact. Hamilton has been Ron Dennis's protege since 1998 - when McLaren and Mercedes started their Young driver Support Programe and signed the 12 year old karter. Since then he has followed the guide book to F1 success and had climed the ladder perfectly: Karting, Formula Renault, Formula 3, GP2 and F1.


I'm enjoying the current battle between Ferrari and McLaren, and hope it continues throughout the season, and if BMW could make the next step to joint them it will be great. Unfortunately I doubt they will be able to, and if they win a race it will be an inheretid "lucky" victory like Button's in Hungary last year.

Speaking of Honda - they are in serious trouble. The drivers are badmouthing the car (RB called it a "Parachute" lol) the aero team is fighting the chassis team and Honda keeps piling money into stupid ventures and misplaced hirings/firings. Now I see they are talking to Ross Brawn, but the only way he'd take on that sinking ship is if he'd be able to start with a clean slate - and that wont happen.

I'm really happy to see Williams improving, and watching Wurz come up through the field was great. I met him once and he was a really nice guy - I was worried his stint as a tester would hurt his "racecraft" but he seems to be getting right back at it.

 

Bahrain

Well IMHO that was a very interesting race.

Massa has proven that he will not always choke.

Hamilton is becoming a bona fide sensation.

Heidfeld is showing that the bimmers may have something yet, his pass on Alonso was great.

Alonso? Kimi?

 

I agree.. That was a great race..

That pass on Alonso was awsome. I think the BMW's are gonna be a big factor later in the season. This was just one race though. I cant wait to see what happens in Spain. It really has been Ferrari vs Mclaren, with all 4 drivers competing to win. Its a 3 way tie for first place in the points and Massa is only a few points back.

 

good race. lots of close racing.
it's very tight at the top now, but lower down some teams are really having troubles.
i didn't expect BMW to be this good this early in the season. good job for them.

 

Well the schedule for the 2007 Montreal GP is out:
http://www.grandprix.ca/horaire/EN/index.html

i don't see the Star Mazda race scheduled. that sucks! i loved seeing/hearing/smelling that race.
anyone know anything about that?

 

Man, gio64 sure knows his F1.

 

And I am sure he and the rest of you know that the Spanish Grand Prix is on Sunday. Looking forward to it. I watched some of the practice this morning and saw that Schumi is spectating this weekend in the Ferrari paddock.

 

Well he's on the Ferrari payroll with an "as yet undefined role" so they may as well get him to come to a race or two for the marketing value! lol
Anyone going to either North American races this year? Montreal is less than a month away!

 

Qualifying was pretty exciting this morning.

Massa just go the pole by 3 hundredths of a tick. Alonso will be gunning for a home circuit victory so corner 1 will be very interesting.

Saturday Qualifying Session
POS DRIVER NATIONALITY ENTRANT TIME
1. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 1:21.421
2. Fernando Alonso Spain McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.451
3. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari 1:21.723
4. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.785
5. Robert Kubica Poland BMW 1:22.253
6. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota 1:22.324
7. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW 1:22.389
8. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Renault 1:22.568
9. David Coulthard Britain Red Bull-Renault 1:22.749
10. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Renault 1:22.881
11. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 1:21.968
12. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda 1:22.097
13. Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 1:22.115
14. Jenson Button Britain Honda 1:22.120
15. Anthony Davidson Britain Super Aguri-Honda No Time
16. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari No Time
17. Ralf Schumacher Germany Toyota 1:22.666
18. Alexander Wurz Austria Williams-Toyota 1:22.769
19. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1:23.398
20. Adrian Sutil Germany Spyker-Ferrari 1:23.811
21. Christijan Albers Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 1:23.990
22. Scott Speed United States Toro Rosso-Ferrari No Time

 

yup i got my tickets for Montreal. but i still want to know how come there's no Star Mazda series this year.

anyway, i thought Spain was a great race. no shortage of interesting moments and some good racing. for whatever reason i thought it was the best race of the season so far.
too bad for Raikonnen again, that guy doesn't have the greatest of luck.

 

Great! what stand are you in? I'm in the hairpin this year in Montreal.As for the Star Mazda - it's all about money. F1 charges huge fees for support races, but that's not the main thing. Since Mazda put their money into the CCWS and Atlantics, the Star Mazda series is better served as a support race for them. The weekend of the Canadian GP the CCWS is in Portland where Star Mazda will be a support race.

 

Ah that explains it. i knew someone here would know the answer.
That's too bad, i really enjoyed those races and going to the support pits to check the cars out.

I'm in hairpin 31 this year. I did 33 last year and decided to try another grandstand.
Hairpin would be nice but i can never get my friends to organize in time to get 34. And the other hairpin stands i don't want to pay for, heh. One of these years though i will be in them for sure.

 

I felt really bad for Raikonnen too. I think Schumi did something to his car while he was in the Ferrari pits. It's always Schumi's fault, that is my story and I'm sticking with it.

Rest of the race was quite good with BMW being the team that looks ready to be the next contenders.

 

Got my Indy GP tickets!

 

Me too! Where are you sitting?I'm on the outside of turn 13 top deck - right at pit-in. There are some awesome places to watch the qualifying and Porsche Supercup races, so we usually wander around the place on Saturday to watch the action!

 

I got my 3-Day, but I'm in Front row, Grandstand H, right in front of corner 1. Passing action anyone? =P

 

I watched qualifying from there the first year. It's a pretty good spot. My only complaint there was that the cars all come into turn one up against the outside wall, so you don't really see the cars until the make the dive into turn 1. But then you get all of the turn 1-6 complex, so it is a good spot. If you like wandering around to see the action, the corner 6 terrace grandstand is really good. I also like to stand on the outside of turn 4-5 on the access road. The F1 cars fly through that complex!

 

Hmm....I'll think about that. I didn't know that you couldn't see the cars from that position. That sorta bites, but I'll be moving around saturday and sunday anyway.