Malaysian GP***Spoilers***

It was great to see Kimi prove that he is the ice man. He kept his head and brought his car home. Kudos to Kimi

 

I think two conclusions may be drawn from the Malaysian GP:

1) Hamilton is the real deal

2) Massa isn't.

Last GP, we heard how Massa was handicapped by starting at the back of the pack. This weekend he starts on Pole, where are the excuses now? I have never seen a more pathetic performance these past two races by someone so overwhelmingly praised as the next WDC by this board. I took a lot of flak pre-season for my criticism of Massa and now it appears I am owed an apology by more than a few.

Massa demonstrated why he has no business driving a Ferrari this weekend as clear as anyone could possibly see. Not even his most jaded supporter can come up with a plausible excuse for his mediocrity. First to fifth?!? Can't complete a pass?!? This is the performance of a "future WDC", this is the guy Tifosiron claimed may be better than Senna?!? Absolutely pathetic.

Maybe Ferrari should poach Heidfeld, he has done more with less this season than Massa could ever dream of. Massa is going to cost Ferrari AT LEAST one championship this year, if not both. Get rid of him and get someone in the seat that knows how to race before the season is lost.

 

Agreed on the conclusions.

Criticism goes both ways. The die-hard Massa camp is taking a lot of flak right now. Nobody is owed anything either way.

IMHO there isn't really anybody around to replace Massa at this moment. Any other available driver wouldn't do better. At least I can't think of anybody (short of hiring Montoya or bringing MS back). And I doubt Ferrari will break the 2 year contract in 08 given the Todt Jr. connection.

 

I was being facetious

MS won't come back, not to partner Kimi anyway.

I would LOVE to see Ferrari bring JPM in, I think the car would suit him better than the McLaren and he would certainly push Kimi more than Massa is.

 

Probably true.

Personally I'd love to see Villeneuve come back and get the 2nd Ferrari seat. Not that he would know what to do with it, but just for sentimental value: To see that name once again on the Ferrari....<sigh>

 

First the Ferraris were faster, second Damon's opinion is much better than anyone of this or any other forum. Third it's not just Damon, all of F1 is buzzing from Hamiltons performance. No rookie has driven this well in over 40 years. Facts are Facts so for me its your opinion that is pretty much worthless in this discussion.

 

WOW, so many jumping to conclusions so early in the season. Maybe we should crown Alonso WDC right now and Hamilton the Rookie of the year. Lets get rid of Massa because he is surely useless. Oh wait.....sorry I see that there are 15 races still to be run.

 

Massa has how many career starts? How many more do you need before you recognize that he is mediocre?

 

Good points. And I'm not so sure I agree with the Speed channel commentators that FA doesn't have any improvements left to realize.

I'd really like this season to teach him what he needs to learn most: How to lose gracefully.

But some people around here are so quick to condemn both FA and Massa that I have to wonder if it's from having a wife run off with a latin lover.

I'd have to say that, at this point, what does seem pretty clear is that Hamilton does seem to be much better at reacting to surprises than Massa.

Massa was under pressure this race, and didn't seem to handle it very well. I'm not sure that means that he'll never be any better. The Ferraris seemed to be down on cornering performance and Massa didn't adapt as we might have hoped.

We've gotten spoiled by having a driver that was so professional that everyone assumed that any mistake Schumi made *must* have been "on purpose" (e.g. Monaco).

This is racing: whoever makes the fewest mistakes wins.

 

actually, as the dust has settled.. it's only when we realise that it's only 2 races. MS made some scrappy start too, 2003 comes into mind.

right now, i don't think it's just massa as the problem.. i think it's the team who can't perform under pressure. i mean, whats the deal with Kimi's stop when they sent him out stuck behind Fisi?

those kinda scrappy decisions are gonna cost the Scuderia big time. i mean, i can't recall when we last saw this kinda decision when Ross was in charge.

i hope the whole team, will bounce back the next race. from what i saw, Sepang was really demotivating stuff. to be beaten by a rookie has given the team a wakeup call.

p/s : when was Mac's last 1-2?

 

Turkey 06

 

Brazil, 2005, when Montoya beat Kimi

 

I think Button would be a very good #2 driver for Ferrari in 2008. He's a smooth driver and certainly a team player. He would be an asset to the Scuderia, Kimi and might even pull a win or two with a competitive car.

 

Right, the year where Kimi ended up with almost twice the points Montoya made. And with more than double the amount of victories compared to JPM.

 

What a poor performance! Felipe still has a long ways to go! Michael would of won this race from the start by closing the door on the McLarens. Felipe was so worried about Kimi beating him he let the Silver cars by. I'm very happy to see Fernando win, he is the real deal! You don't win 2 championships by being lucky. Kimi now has to respond by being the fastest. He cannot count on Felipe for anything. I still can't believe Felipe drove so poorly. If he doesn't get his act together, Lewis will help FA win another championship this year.

 

I was never a Massa fan (Italian GP last year schooled by Kubizca was evrything I needed to know) but I was willing to give him the benefit of a doubt but yes his race yesterday was a total clusterfcuk.

Enzo would have been pissed....

 

+1!
IMHO....I feel that Massa should be a Ferrari test driver. It seems that if the car is perfect and he's either in front or not in traffic or in qualifying needing to only have one fast lap, then Massa can drive pretty good....but that's not a F1 race driver.
Now, give a guy a "not-optimal-running car", put him in traffic or even at the back of the grid (more than once), and watch him fight...watch him make amazing pass after pass (not just use a good pit stradgedy)...watch him pull so much speed and handling out of that car to the point where the engineers are scratching their heads wondering how thats possible because the telemetry figures just don't add up....and watch him podium or even win!....now that's an F1 race driver!
I think I just described a driver who's racing in F1 right now and thank goodness he's racing for Ferrari!....and no, it's not Massa...nuff said

 

So much speculation, so little data.
Let's all just relax, take a deep breath, wait another week (until after the next race), then see where everything stands. If what Kimi said was true [engine turned down], then he should be back to 1+ second lap times over his competitors. If he cannot keep up with the McLarens with a fresh engine, then it's time to worry.

 

Thank you, and +1. Alonso has a long way to go in the behaviour department. Despite the idol worship in Spain, people who have dealt with him, including good friends in my industry, think he is a bit of a jerk, ungrateful and too anglicized. His driving on the other hand... Glorious!

As for the latin aspect, I think you might be right. Perhaps their wife ran off with a latin lover (an illegal immigrant!), or they are afraid that one day she will.

Cheers,

Julio

 

Agreed!!

Anyway, by reading these 18! pages of discussing drivers, i guess there will always be something.... If Ferrari pulls a one-two, there will still be people crying for some reason....


FORZA FERRARI

 

Performance was poor but at least Massa tried something.

 

If that is all you have to hang your hat onto...

Ferrari needs to start looking for a replacement for Massa. I can't see him lasting the season with what we have seen thus far.

 

We have 73 datapoints on Massa, how many do you need?

 

Well waht else was there for Ferrari ? Massa screwed up but tried, Kimi screwed but never tried.

Both disappointed but at least Massa showed some aggressive driving.

 

Massa screwed up by loosing pole and the race.

Kimi drove a potentially sick engine home. He drove exactly as told. Had his engine quit (for whatever reasons), this forum would be full of the "I told you so, Kimi doesn't take care of his car" posts.

At Bahrain everybody gets a fresh engine and the tide will turn again. Unless the spring removed from the underbody really gave Ferrari a half second advantage as Matchett said on Speed Tv. That to me is the much bigger concern than what any driver (Ferrari or McLaren) currently did, does and will do.