Anyone else feeling uneasy?

We have only witnessed three races of what, 17 this year? Too soon to panic. The Ferrari is still faster even if just slightly, still relatively reliable, has two experienced winning drivers and not a rookie teammate as does McLaren and Renault, and because of Massa's attitude within the team there is a motivation at the Scuderia to win even with MS's departure.

I have faith the Kimi will get his act together soon. His integration into the team is taking too long, and that is because he will have to accept the fact that success in today's Ferrari means more than just being fast. A driver has to be respected by the guys in the garage. Kimi has not earned that yet, and the first win came too easily. I would like to think the criticism he received yesteday will have the same effect on him as the result of the flak Massa got one week ago. Kimi will do well in Spain.

 

i'm actually feeling uneasy with the 4 week break.

on paper, the championship is pretty tight. we have Quick Nick, Phil Massa, Lewis, Fred and of cos , The Kimster in quite a close battle. seems it's gonna be a helluva season, but otherwise is happening on the circuit.

i wonder if the front running car's wings are equipped with something that prevents passing. we saw lots of passing in midfield, but hardly anything in the front, Nick's one taken into account.

i got to say Nick's and Trulli's overtaking stuffs were good.

 

this may be the very best season in years...3 races and 3 winners! i really think there will be a bmw to emerge and be podium ready soon.

i think that massa surprised some of his critics yesterday. kimi started to look very racy by posting the fastest laps but it was too late. i am sure he is feeling pressure to qualify on the pole for the next event.

i think there is a real competition between ferrari and mac drivers this year. when was the last time we really saw that?

pcb

 

Not really, the knock on him is that he can't pass and the only way he can win a GP is from the front. About the best thing a critic can say about Massa's performance was at least he didn't pedal backwards as he did in Malaysia.

I found Hamilton's and Heidfeld's performances to be much more noteworthy.

 

+1

If there had been a few more laps in the race Hamilton could've won and Massa would be getting dumped on by everyone. Great season so far and I think the guys with a bit more experience (Alonso and Kimi) will start stepping up to the plate as the season goes on and the pressure increases.

 

I think this season is going to be a great one, I'd love to see it come down to the wire with three or four drivers challenging for the title. I agree that Kimi is a bit lack luster at the moment from all the hype that was created before the season started, but he has another 14 races to step up his game which hopefully he can do.

 

I am a worrier and YES I am worried.

Looks like this season is going down to the wire. May be one of the best F1 seasons we have had in years.

Lewis could win WDC as a rookie. When was the last time that happened?

As in just about any sport, he who makes the least mistakes has the best chance of winning. Ferrari will have to minimize their mistakes if they are going to win either the WDC or the WCC. The competition is really tough and getting tougher IMHO.

 

+1

I would love to see a 3 or 4-way battle right down to the last race.

 

If there had been a few more laps then Hamilton would have done NOTHING. Every leader in a race lets up in the last 10 laps to preserve the car. What amazes me is that Hamilton did not. He has an engine that was spewing blue smoke all day and he now has to use it in the next race. Good luck. What did Hamilton do that was so great. He started 2nd and finished 2nd. If that was Massa then some in here would have been slamming him for not passing for 1st. Someone else in here said that Massa can only win when he starts from the front but he is not very good at passing. Well I remember last year when he started from the back and passed many cars with great precission. Besides I will take him anytime even if he is only good from the pole position because he is the best driver in qualifiying and he will be on the pole more than anyone this year.

 

I think it's great......

I'd like to see this competition all year long.

 

Is anyone suprised about Massa's win in Bahrain?

The facts show he was the fasest driver in almost all off-season testing. Speed (not scott obviously) wins on the race track. I expect many more wins in the Massa collum this year.

Kimi might be fast, but he is a freaking wierdo. I think he seriously had problems when he was a kid. Did anyone notice that Mclaren miracuously started winning races and leading the WC once he left?

 

It seems like the Scuderia have a pretty strong team overall. IMO FM will podium here and there but we'll see KR come into his own and bring up the rear for some solid finishes soon.

 

Hamilton has already made history in F1. Massa has not. Last week Massa went from the pole to 5th place. This week he managed to not embarrass himself. I think this season will turn out to be quite exciting. Why watch if any one team winning is a foregone conclusion?

 

Ditto.

As the season grows the pressure will mount and the knives will come out. When the dust of the mid season settles, two men will be left standing fighting for the title. Those will be the ones who have fought for it in the past.

Not feeling uneasy at all. Actually feeling excited about a season that won't be a walk in the Albert park as I was worried earlier.

 

A three way tie for the lead after three races? The three most popular drivers so far? What could be better? It seems some Ferrari fans miss the good old days where a win was a 90% change and a double title was in the bag.

This is what F1 is like where there are a few teams with decent cars and decent drivers. No F1 God/ Demon in the field means a human race with human mistakes and human opportunities.

 

Surprised with Massa's win, yes.

How is Kimi a weirdo? Because more people act differently than he does compared with the people that do act like him?

As for the McLaren winning, tell me who they have driving for them... do you know? They have the current double World Champion and another guy who is about the best thing to "erection in a bottle" for F1 since the death of CAN AM. Look at the last 6 years with McL, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 5th, 2nd, 3rd. Just 2 years ago McL won 10 races, 2 more than the would be champions. He dominates the driving duties, no matter who his teammate is and is a multiple winner of the years. And how many DNF's did McL have in the last few years due to mechanical failure and just a poor car? More than their fair share. And I don't even like the guy.

Oh and did you notice that Michael Schumacher also left at the end of last year? Another reason why there are actually other teams climbing the ranks.

It sounds like you just don't like the guy.

 

Is that what Todt told you after Bahrain?

Get real. You think the team guys sit around moping and un-motivated if their guy isn't a bubling fountain of personality?

Kimi is a highly paid professional. So are the mechanics. They are all there to do a job. They are all very good at their job. Kimi isn't going to suddenly and miraculously become Mr. Personality. He's always going to be as dry and uninteresting as he's always been. But he is respected because of his performances on the track - not just a few wins, but situations where the commentators were on the edges of their seat in disbelief at the things he did with the car. That's all about all the respect you need, when your job is to drive an F1 car.

I can't believe you are still peddling this "Massa the nice guy has more support within the team and therefore will be faster" BS. I also can't believe you bought into it. It was an opinion article written when there wasn't much going on. What else is Windsor supposed to pontificate about?

All that matters and all that motivates is results. Period.

 

I wish the BMWs would get a little more speed to make it a 6 way battle.

 

Competition is the only thing that makes it interesting (which is why watching F1 can be so difficult sometimes). When Massa managed to capture turn 1 out of the chute and the announcers said "now it is massa's race to lose" (due to the fact passing is SO difficult in closely matched drivers/cars on tight tracks), I realized something HAS to change in F1. Yaaaaaaaawn.

Pray for lots of competition!

 

competition makes it interesting.



I would be bored out of my mind of KR walked away with every race with a 30 second lead

 

Last time he did that he almost fell asleep at the wheel, so you wouldnt be the only person bored.

 

+1.

Massa still looked a little scary under brakes and under NO pressure. Would love to have seen Hamilton catch him with 15 laps to go and reapply the blow torch. Atleast though Massa got the job done this time.
Pete

 

I'm not uneasy about the performances of our drivers and the points collected. But I have to admit I'm a bit uneasy about the Ferrari and its development: The car seems nervous and a handful to control. Even the Speed guys commented on this during Bahrain. This is very different from the picture we saw at Melbourne.

So I'm wondering whether the car development goes into the direction we want it to go. The car from winter testing and early in the season is very much Schumacher's car. As the season progresses it becomes the Kimi/Massa car and I'm not sure either of them knows enough to advance the car.

When we watched Schumacher dominate F1 we always said, well no wonder, he sits in the best car, so of course he wins. True, but he sat in the best car because he made it the best car. If the current driver duo doesn't manage to develop the car, then the whole thing falls apart.

I realize many on here don't like Alonso, but it is my strong belief, that he developed the Renault into the two time winning car and now already shows his impact at McLaren. Yes, the tire change had its own effect, but I do believe he genuinly develops cars he sits in.

So as time progresses we'll see whether the Kimi/Massa combination is capable of developing the Ferrari.

But before I end this doom and gloom speech, there is a glimmer of hope: Remember the banned underbody spring? Maybe that's really what's bothering the current setup (I don't think the Sepang or Bahrain Ferrari had compensated for that change yet). So in 4 weeks time the picture might already look different with a lot less nervous and faster Ferrari.