Japanese GP **spoiler**

So will Micheal.

 

MS is just playing mind games with FA. I give up, yea right. If the reverse of what happened today, happens in Brazil, MS wins. And it is not too far fetched considering that Renault has lost more engines than Ferrari.

MS gives up with one race left in his carrear, I don't think so.

 

Ferrari need a 1-2 finnish in Brazil and one of the Renaults has to DNF(hopefully Alonso) for Ferrari to win the constructors and Micheals 8th crown.

 

Saw the race live last night, so freaking depressed that I didn't feel like making a post about it until this morning. I still believe in MS and Ferrari, as long as there is still a chance mathmatically as anything can happen.

Anyway, it was like re-living the 1990 season when Prost lost the title to Senna, the feeling of disappointment that is. I for one am glad to see the Japanese GP moving to Fuji, not only because I have always preferred Toyotas over Hondas, but I just don't have a lot of great memories of Suzuka.

FA won the race fair and square. I have always respected FA's on-track ability, even more than KR's. But his off-track comments this year made it really hard for me to be a fan of his, and going to McLaren next year just seals it for me as I just hate McLaren.

 

Easier said than done. It was a rough night sleeping, replayed the blow-up in my dreams over and over again. I was hoping it was all a bad dream! Damn! I feel worse today than last night. Time for a fchat therapy session!

 

My heart just sunk last night when I saw the engine let go. He had just made his final pit and still had a good lead on Alonso, then blamo. I just stared at the tv in disbelief.

It looks as though Fernando will repeat. But, it ain't over till it's over.

No matter was the out come of the final race is, Michael is still the greatest driver of all time. The legacy that Micheal will leave behind at Ferrari will be talked about for decades and decades to come. Micheals time at Ferrari IS the glory years, and I was lucky to have been able to witness it. I seriously doubt that his accomplishments will ever be eclipsed, and IF they are it will be a very, very, very long time before they are.

Thanks for all the fantastic memories Micheal.

 

very well said. good post.

i'm depressed for the title virtually out of Schumi's grasp now. a lot have been said that MS could have crowned champion here in suzuka this weekend, and FA will fail to score. it turns the opposite way.

but then again, all these years, i've never known that Schumi will give up. even last year. how hopeless this year is compared to last year? but Schumi never gave in easily last year. what makes everyone thinnk that he's giving up this year?

yea, like someone mentioned, he is playing mind games. 2 weeks break, lost of testing to do, and 78 laps of the brazilian GP? remember if it rained like how it rained 2-3 years ago...anything can happen. it's just too close.

i might say that it's still a 50-50 chance for MS to win the title tho. he knows that, and we all know that. whatever happened to MS today can happen to FA in brazil.

but i still hated his post race celebrations. it's just too fake. he just made some negative comments about the team few days ago, and now he's jumping into their arms. i hope he will get the Shanghai/hungary wheelman again, yup. the right rear wheelman!

 

Thanks! This post made me laugh. Time to call Ray and see if he wants to race around with our 360s. I need to get out of this funk else my Sunday (and week) will be ruined!

 

Yes, this most likely cost Massa 1st place. It caused him to pit early and the timing caused him to come out behind FA. I think it was .2 seconds at the time.

 

As most of us I was pretty devastated seeing Michael's engine go up in smoke. Especially at such a crucial race. Michael had every chance of winning this GP, going to Brazil with a two point lead over Alonso. Now he is ten points behind, and yes, the driverschampionsip is pretty much settled.

Be that as it may, I take comfort in the fact that right up to his last season, Michael put up a strong fight for the championship.

Let's see what Kimi can do at the wheel of a Ferrari.

 

There are no ifs and buts in F1 racing. The only reality in racing is hard facts.

Michael is 7 time F1 world champion. He lost his chance to win the 8th title at Suzuka in 2006. He is the greatest racer of all time. That is what the history books will always say.

Never say never!

Ferrari 1 - 2 at Interlagos. The rest is up to Renault and Alonso!

 

i just love ur never say die attitude Impy! kinda gives me hope

 

You are missing the big picture

FA is one of the last drivers who will be able to claim- that he was winning races while the GREAT MS was still in F1

If he can win.. two years in a row against MS...that would be huge for the crop of young drivers that are all taking over F1 (from the old guard) and will never have a chance to prove themselfs against a driver like MS

 

Ferrari has too much class to pull that crap. And I think that is why we all have Ferrari sports cars........instead of sh1tbox Renaults.

It ain't over till the "Fat Lady Sings" and I'm sure the team will give it 110%. But to plan on taking someone out, they won't allow that thought into their camp.

Anything can happen, and I've personally won and lost many races on the last lap of the race due to mechanicals or events by other drivers/cars. It's called racing not winning just like fishing is not called catching.

Thanks for the video link Impy, good stuff

 

His stats are facts. As far as being the "greatest racer of all time", that's an opinion shared by many but not a fact. Perhaps the greatest F1 driver, but still arguable as you could throw Fangio, Senna and others into the argument. "Greatest F1 driver or our time" might be more appropriate.

As far as "greatest racer" there's a lot of others that deserve mention:

Earnhardt and Petty had seven championships each. John Force has thirteen. Petty won 200 races. AJ Foyt and Rick Mears have won 4 Indy's. Jeremy McGrath has won how many Supercross and Outdoor titles?

As you can see, I'm a fan of racing, period. I am not an MS fan, but I respect his acomplishments. Saying he's a class act is ridiculous. He's done way too many other stupid things in his career to say that. He went out on top of his game with a good team. Of course he shook hands and hugged his boys because thats the right thing to do and he knows he rode his last rodeo and is riding off into the sunset.

I like to see good racing. Dont care if it's F1, NASCAR, NHRA, MotoGP, whatever. Frankly, last night's race was a typical F1 yawner and another case of "follow the leader" until MS imploded and blew his shot at the title, thus creating the drama played out here and on TV. So, a guy leading a race, blowing up and handing the lead to second place is not what I'd call "good racing".

You guys like to bash JPM. Anyone watch the ARCA race the other night? JPM did an admirable job. Finished third and stayed out of trouble. How many lead changes were there? While I realize there were only left hand turns and the "boredom" of driving in a circle, the racing was better than last night's F1 race.

Finally, as a race fan who likes to see good racing, I dont wish bad luck on anyone. Wishing someone to take FA out is retarded and hoping he blows up is asinine. As a true race fan, I was disappointed to see MS's motor grenade last night as I would have preferred to see two racers race for the title rather than see one hand it to another on a platter.

 

Yet Senna did this and won a championship is the process. Maybe good ol' Kimmi could give Micheal a going away present. After all it wouldn't be in a Ferrari.

 

I am sure you're just joking with the "class" thing, especially at the Monaco. GP.

 

Quite honestly.... For the past 6 hours, my stomach has been rejecting everthing that enters it.

I have faith, but the phrase "Not like this" keeps coming to mind. I feel like we've all been cheated of a special finale.....

 

Is it me, or do these two sentances contradict one another? Me thinks they do.

The facts are the facts pal, and the facts on Micheal's record PROVE that Micheal IS the greatest F1 driver of ALL time.

 

u have a point there...

 

hehe...yea. especially i hope he drives while he's drunk. someone posted him being drunk in another thread...

edit : here it is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VW2oAkjcJ4

 

I think the race after Hungary Red Bull had another Ferrari engine failure, which Ferrari attributed to running traction control in the wet, and China was a wet race as well. So Ferrari may did it to themselves - they had a warning but ignored it.

 

I suppose if you suffer from Ferrari Myopia, you may be correct.

 

I'm still of the opinion that Monaco was just an honest error. (And that Alonso's "blocking" penalty was a bit bogus, too.) (FIA does have to get some consistency into its penalties.)

But I wouldn't count Monaco as a lost MS "win" -- Alonso *might* have gotten pole without MS in the way -- and it's a lot easier to pass back-markers than leaders, especially at Monaco. Michael doesn't have the greatest record at Monte Carlo: from '00-'05 he won once and DNF'd twice.

And it was trying to keep P3 that caused Schumi his troubles at Hungary -- if he had let the faster cars by, the best he could have gotten was P5 (P4 after Alonso went tricycle mode).

Of course, if you want to play "what if", Schumi's '03 championship was won by the two points Kimi lost when the Brazilian GP was red-flagged a lap before his pass of Fisi became "official" -- because Alonso missed the yellow flags and spread his car across the track.

It's racing: S(k)it happens.

 

Interesting comment by the Speed TV guys about Ferrari maybe having pushed too hard with their engine in favor of the upcoming homologation.

A dilemma I mentioned a couple weeks ago: Do you want to play it safe and win this year's title, but forfait your future chances or come up with a powerful engine now that will help you down the road but you risk loosing this year's title.

It'd be interesting to hear what caused the engine failure. Not sure we'll ever learn about it.