Malaysian GP***Spoilers***

+1 Now they are saying the Ferrari's also had issues with the gearbox, remember they told Kimi on the Pre Grid.

 

Yeah you're right, i'm just glad the next race is this weekend, this 3 week break was ridiculous. After the next race, there is a 4 week break!!!! wtf!? Stick Suzuka or Imola back in!!! The idea of a 4 week break seriously sucks.

 

20 Race Season and put a cap on testing.

 

i apologize for the posts being driven by too much annoyance. lately i've been really irked...various things. i'm sorry that came out towards you. having said that, i hope you offer more opinions and discuss more, not just in topics pertaining to FA.

you are riight about the qualities of FA. and i don't think anyone here disagrees. he is one of the top drivers today--i have said that myself (even though i don't care for his 'off track' antics, but that's another topic). but, we also can't forget the context of his successes. that goes for other drivers too--and their lack of success as well. talent/skill alone is not enough, and results of their performances need to be looked at in context, before we hail them as king or sheep. in 2005, when the new tire regs went in, Michelin beat the crap out of Bridgestone. not taking anything away from FA, but that big factor (and McLarens blowing up every other week--Kimi was just as fast or faster when the car didn't break) was important in his first WDC. anyhow, it is just one example of a point--not judging only what a driver does, but how, when, where he does it. how he does when his car is not the fastest or most reliable, etc. through which we also gain perspective on their skills and mental competitiveness. this season, i want nothing more than to see McLaren and Ferrari build equally fast and reliable cars, so that Kimi and FA can really 'race' to their abilities. that's probably not realistic, but it would be great though. now, back to Massa bashing...

...just kidding.

 

just 4-5 days before the Bahrain GP. i'm expecting a Kimster win. nothing less.

 

I think it's clear (I know, it's only two races - but we've seen enough) that Ferrari have to follow McLaren's lead and put Massa on more fuel for qualifying so that firstly, he stays out of Kimi's way at the start and secondly, so that he can protect Kimi's back from the McLarens when the Ferraris are faster (like Heidfeld did in Oz).

 

It was a bit odd that, with all the notions of the detuned engine, what they asked about on the out-lap was the gearbox.

And downshift issues with the seamless box might explain why massa had to suddenly dive for a wider line under braking for turn one.

But if there were gearbox issues, trying to dive down the inside of Hamilton, twice, ....
If that came from the pit tacticians, maybe Kimi's radio going out in Australia was a *good* thing.

 

No way! You're dead wrong on this. Remember Windsor's article "Massappeal"? The team loves him. They're 100% behind him because he was taught by the master and because he is such a nice guy. And whatever bits of Italian he speaks, they sure came in handy when he was passing, err trying to pass Hamilton. No Massa is the chosen one. No doubt and he will be WDC this year. You just wait and see. Windsor told us so, so it must be the truth.

PS: I can't wait till the end of the season when I'll send that POS article back to Speed TV along with the final points standing of 2007.

 

What I want to know is why pole started on the left when turn 1 is 180 degrees and to the right? It seemed P2 and P4 in qualifying put you in a better starting position than P1 and P3...or is that just me?

 

You actually had me about halfway through that post

 

You can't carry water in front of the racehorse.





Kimi WDC 2007

 

Sounds like a good strategy.
Ferrari should make FM be the best teammate on the grid.
Let one driver be a marathon man the other a sprinter.

 

It would seem to me the pole driver should get to choose the lane.
Outside is actually a faster position durring the race as it is already closer to the turn-in point.
In drag racing (dont start) the "pole" guy gets to choose as sometimes one lane has better traction than the other.
Perhaps the outer grid position had better traction.
Regardless FM should have been more agressive.
However that was last race.
Hopefully FM, KR, and Ferrari can all get togeather and pull as a team. If not Mclaren is going to take all the cookies this year as they seem to have an equal car and defined strategy and marching orders.

 

+1

ROFL. Great post!

 

what everybody is forgetting about is that both pilots' first pit stop was three seconds slower than Mercedes. We ran the heaviest cars in the second stint and at the end we made the second second pit stop at the same time that Mercedes did; so, instead of blaming Massa and Kimi for their own mistakes, we have to realize that the big failure was the whole team's.

 

No problem, and point taken.

A part from that, I see a lot of comments about Massa, but relatively little discussion about the Ferrari strategy in Malaysia. With Kimi's "hot" engine and the heavy (?) start, should we not be talking more about team failures and Yellowbird's point instead of focusing so much on the drivers?

Cheers,

Julio

 

Same here! Funny post tifosi12

 

Did you see todays Qualifying? I think you will be surprise on who has the most fuel during the race as well.

 

1 Fernando Alonso Spanish McLaren-Mercedes 22

1= Kimi Räikkönen Finnish Ferrari 22

1= Lewis Hamilton British McLaren-Mercedes 22

4 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 17

5 Nick Heidfeld German BMW 15

6 Giancarlo Fisichella Italian Renault 8

7 Jarno Trulli Italian Toyota 4

8 Robert Kubica Polish BMW 3

9 Nico Rosberg German Williams-Toyota 2

10 Heikki Kovalainen Finnish Renault 1

10= Ralf Schumacher German Toyota 1


Like I said possible ROOKIE CHAMPION!

 

I don't deny that Hamilton has talent. He absolutely does. I just think calling him the next MS is ludicrous. MS has so many qualities that make him an awesome driver, blistering speed was one, which Hamilton appears to have. He also had awesome racecraft, which Hamilton appears to have too. MS was also amazing in the wet, could put out performance like it was just a setting on the car - need more? Sure! He just turned it up a bit. He had a voracious appetite for F1, motivating the team with late-night calls to discuss various aspects of the car. He had the ability to surround himself with great people and get them to gel and do great things. He was fast, even in a not-fast car.

Does Hamilton have 2 out of Schumi's probably 20 great talents? It appears that way

Does he have all of MS's talents? There is absolutely no way to know until we see a lot more of him. I mean a LOT more - like a couple of years at least. How will he when Mac falls from grace again and Alonso moves on? Will he show as well as Webber or will be still be able to wring performance from the car? We shall see.

There's nobody who wants Hamilton to win more than I do. I despise Alonso and I would almost prefer to see Lewis win the WDC this year just to shove it up the azz of Alonso who would have no excuses.

He may be the real deal, he's got speed, but that's only a part of what made Schumi great.