F1 Stories September 4

Auto Motor und Sport, Germany's premiere auto magazine, and French newspaper, L'Equippe, both ran articles that Flavio Briatore has signed a contract with Renault, for as long as two more years. Renault also issued a statement that Briatore was not leaving.

Luca Montezemelo will be the one to announce to the press Ferrari's 2007 driver line-up immediately following the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday September 10.

Jean Todt stated on Saturday that there is no precontract with Kimi Raikkenon for 2007 saying "no one has signed a pre-contract, it doesn't exist".
Is the key word here "pre"?

Using actual 2004 statistics, Jarno Trulli stated over the weekend that he is a better driver than Alonso, and that Toyota will be up to speed in 2007 allowing him to contend for the world championship.

Fellipe Massa stated on Friday that he did not care about winning another race as long as he can help Michael win his 8th championship.

 

there is a guy that really wants a ride with ferrari next year. and he deserves it.

 

i think trulli is a good driver...not as good as FA, but a good driver. it's just that train thing he does that i can't stand..hope he'll block the renault tho this weekend..

 

I SECOND THAT!

I can't blame him for trying to keep his seat. He has proved himself to a minor extent that he should stay around for a bit.

 

I would be willing to wager than 15 drivers in F1 could do the same, if not better, job in the Ferrari as Massa has done. I am not impressed.

Frankly any driver who says that he would rather support MS to an 8th title than win another race is definitely NOT someone I would want driving a race car for me. That's is gutless. I want racers, not valets.

 

ferrari doesn't play that way. they want him to be 2nd driver. he is third in the world. ferrari would probably prefer 2nd, but not bad. he knows the position he is in and is biding his time. where better to learn the trade than at ferrari and from micheal?

 

wetpet is right, but it is not just Ferrari. If you would understand F1, Massa is doing his job, and doing it well.

As for suggesting that 15 drivers could do the same if not better than Massa, I would ask that you name them. I can only think of one, maybe two drivers to which I would give that kind of credit. One is Kimi Raikkenon. The other maybe Alonso, but I am still not sure about him. Personally, I put Massa ahead of all the rest on the grid, he will only improve with time.

So I am curious about the other 13. Thanks.

 

Button could do as good if not better job than Massa. Wurz could. Trulli could.
Coultard could. I'd be willing to bet that Kubica could too.

 

Coultard has proven he can't. Its bad enough that he consistantly slower than not only his own teamate but frequently the STRs as well. Additionally, years ago when Miki Hakanin (sp?) and MS were battling for titles Coultard was unable to keep up in his prime.

As for 15 drivers better....There are 22 on the grid and you can't possibly argue that Ide, Montiero, Yamamoto, and Albers are anywhere close. Currently Massa is one of the top drivers behind MS, FA, KR, and maybe JB.

Edit: You can't be serious about Alexander Wurz....he doesn't even have a race seat.

 

Wurz is probably the best out of all of the names I had mentioned. A team boss stated that Wurz and Michael Schumacher are the two most "perfect" drivers on the grid as far as pure technical levels are concerned (F1 Racing).

 

I really can't see what the hype is about Massa. A good driver? Yes.
A good tester? Probably or Ferrari wouln't have kept him for so long.

A racer? We don't know. We only saw him romp away in ONE GP, with probably one of the best car in the field, never been challenged, never seen him attacking or overtaking anybody (back markers aside), never having to fend an opponent.

So, he is quick, but we don't know how much of a RACER he is. That hasn't come through yet.

 

well. i understand the fact that u are most likely not an MS fan. but the logic part here is, MS and FA are fighting for the title, while massa's not in the running for it. i think it's quite logical for massa to say that, at this point of the season. i'm pretty sure kimi's teammate, or even FA's teammate would have said the same thing should kimi be in MS's position now.

 

i must agree with u on this. but, at the same time, he still deserve some credits and praises for such an impressive error-free drive. even if it's just a one off thing.

i don't think it's easy for massa to wake up every morning knowing that he's in the most successful team in the sport and he's also the teammate of the most successful driver around. there's a lot of pressure for a guy whose more less is my age

 

Formally announced that Briatore is not retiring, remains the boss at the Fisi/Heikki team.

 

Ehh? What about with Sauber then? I think Massa had the best record for overtaking through the field from the grid in 05. I think that counts as racing.

 

You must be joking...

Name them?

How about the entire F1 grid less the Aguri and Midland lineups and Scott Speed. Then there is Anthony Davidson, Alex Wurz, and the McLaren bench. Massa is an unimpressive driver, he couldn't do **** in a Sauber and he is barely competitive in a superior car.

You put Massa ahead of the rest of the field? GF drove circles around him when they were teammates and even JV outdrove him and we all know that guy was at the tail end of his disappointing career.

 

Am I missing something? I assume you would grant me that FA and MS are close to each other in terms of ability (I do not wish to debate which is better it only matters that they are near equals). This said, FA is ahead of MS in the championship which proves the Renault and Ferrari are close in terms of speed, with most people giving the edge to Renault. If GF were a much better driver as you assert he should, in theory, be running circles around a slower less talented Massa. However, Massa has finished ahead of GF in 8 of 14 races and has a 10 point lead over him in the drivers championship. This, too me, is not indicative of Massa being a severly sub-par driver.

But I guess if you would rather have a driver who is consistantly slower than his teammate in Qualifying and will no doubt be blamed for losing the CWC Fisi is your best bet

 

No, I am not joking. But certainly you are, right? Maybe you have only been watchng F1 for this season. Massa has not been competitive? Being #3 in points behind two world championships is not competitive?

Yes, I do put Massa ahead of every driver except 3, maybe 4. That's it.

I am still waiting for that complete list of 15 drivers better than Massa that you mentioned.

 

Fisi while at Sauber, blew Massa into the weeds and that helped get him a Renault Seat. However, I think since that time Massa has matured and Fisi is a headcase when paired with a driver of Alonso's talent. Saying that, JV had the measure of Massa in the second half of 05 when they were at Sauber.

IMHO when Reubens had a superior car he could do more with it than Massa has done, although right now JB seems to have the upper hand at Honda.

I don't think much of DC and never have, I think on one of those days that he is on it, he is pretty good, but they are far and few in between and it has always been that way.

As far as Ralf Schumacher another on and off driver, but I think he has as much talent as Massa as does Trulli. Talking about Albers, he is very talented for the car he has to drive, I think if you put him in the Ferrari he would be right on pace with Massa.

I think Massa in the second half of the year is doing an excellent job, but that is because he is also in the best car and has an excellent team behind him. However, it is naive to think that the rest could do the same job.

 

Fisi and Massa were teammates. You can spend your time trying to figure out an equivalency formula for the Ferrari and Renault. As for me, I will simply look at their performances side by side in the exact same car. Fisi blew Massa away. Not even close. Massa was having enough difficulty keeping his car on the track, let alone trying to keep pace.

As for your points, Tifosi: RB was in the same car as Schumi and finished second in the standings a couple of times. Does that make him the second best driver in F1? Of course not. By that exact same token, Massa is in no way whatsoever the 3rd best driver in F1. I put him in the lower half of the lower half of the field. He is being enormously flattered by the car and the team. Hell, even Irvine very nearly became world champion in the Ferrari.

RB was closer to MS in qualifying and the races in his stint at Ferrari than Massa is now. The point that I was making in my original statement is that at least 15 drivers in F1 could do the same job that Massa is, if not better, in that car.

The list is already mentioned as above.

 

Ah yes, how silly of me...if something was true once it must still be true.

The fact is this season Alonso is beating MS and yet Massa is beating Fisi.

 

The surest way to compare two drivers is put them in the same car. No ifs, ands or buts.

In the same car, Massa was not even close.'

What next...if the Tigers beat the White Sox and the White Sox beat the Yankees and Tampa beats Detroit...then, hey! The best team in the Al is Tampa?!? That is the extent of your logic.

Same car, no excuses. Massa is a 3rd rate driver and Fisi ran circles around him.