Yep, the Phil bashers appear to have gone pretty quiet right now..... AFAIK, The championship has always been about consistency and right now, LH is the most consistent driver out there - Good luck to him (After SFM of course!) Cheers, Ian
Congrats to Massa. The boy's done good No pushover at the 1st corner anymore! He has to want it and give 100% Massa is looking more like the man to beat for WDC 2007 Shame about Kimi. He has been able to under impress so far this year which will hopefully turn around in Monaco if he can just lay off the booze and focus, maybe he can turn it around. The points system should reward the winner more IMHO I did prefer the old system 10pts 1st 6pts 2nd although it does sound a bit like sour grapes when everyone is working to the same system. Great job to Mclaren for their reliability but Ferrari definately have more pace unlike what many FChatter's predictions were. I like the fact that Alonso was beaten by Lewis and Lewis was killed by Massa. Beautiful Job Scuderia Ferrari.. Well done DC for a stella drive today. Looking forward to Monte Carlo.
I don't understand. I'm no Felipe Massa "basher," but I still don't think he's nearly as good a driver as Kimi Raikkonen. He was fully expected to win the race starting from pole -- do you have any clue how disappointing it'd have been had he not won today? Kimi hardly had a fair crack at it; nine laps wouldn't even have caused him to break a sweat, as evidenced by his 20 minute take-off (no shower). The Massappealers themselves admit to Kimi taking some time to get "used" to things (which I personally think ridiculous for someone making his cash). Massa has a year on Kimi with this team. I'd say Raikkonen is doing better comparatively than Massa last year.
Wrong he had fastest lap at Malaysia. He's also the only driver to place on the podium at every race this year. Hammi is also the only top drive for the WDC that hasnt been passed on the track. Yet he also pass ever other WDC on the track not the pits. Yeah what a points scoring system.
I'm not a Felipe "basher" nor a "fan", but to me, I'm not thinking about him. I'm thinking about Kimi and what the heck he's (not) doing in the Ferrari. I've expected more other than the inaugural race. As far as I'm concerned, Massa is winning races because Michael is not there. I don't think anyone here can convince me otherwise. He reminds me of Rubens, but without Michael as a teammate. I know...I know...he's not really like Rubens, but I can't tell right now. Both weren't anything incredible outside of their Ferrari rides and once they step foot into the house that Mike built, they start being competitive. I just can't let go of that fact anytime soon... Don't be too hard on the guy. He corrected himself in a later post noting that Lewis had the fastest lap in Malaysia.
+1 I think it's time to stop selling this guy short and in the same breath crow about how elite and difficult F1 is. He's a rookie and he is performing beyond anyones wildest expectations. This does not come down to luck.
i'm usually a big fan of ITV-F1.com's coverage of formula 1. i enjoy reading peter alan's "verdict" after each race. but today i had to read thru 36 paragraphs before he, well... actually mentioned the winner of the race. i recall the tifosi (which i consider myself one of) complaining about the new point system a few years back, which had kimi & mclaren mathmatically alive for the drivers championship in the final race of the season, with only one victory under their belt. the FIA did everything to keep MS from clinching the drivers championship in june. but MS is gone, can we get back to the 10-6-4-3-2-1 point system already? nothing against hamilton. he's already shown he's for real. but let's make winning the race at least as important as promoting the new talent. my rant for the day. joe
Awesome drive by Felipe today and bad luck with Kimi unfortunately. I'm just watching the post race interview, and you can tell Fred is pissed that Felipe didn't move over for him in the first corner, and that he couldn't even beat his rookie team mate. Edit: Sato got a point!!
So, where the hell this "1 second less per lap" that Ferrari had supposedly come up with go? Where did "The car is finally handling the way I want it to" (I'm talking about qualification) from Kimi go? I really thought that we would qualify 1-2 and ultimately finish 1-2, so what happened? Massa looked great in qualifying and the race, but it DEFINITELY wasn't 1 whole second faster, and Kimi still hasn't improved his qualification speed enough. I understand that Kimi's DNF wasn't his fault, so did Ferrari forget to make sure the car could finish the race instead of worrying about "gaining a second per lap?" Sorry, I'm just a little disappointed in Ferrari today, but I am VERY happy for Massa. He is really shutting the people up that said he couldn't be as fast as Kimi or Alonso. Hamilton seems to really think he can win in Monaco (Autosport.com), so Ferrari had better get their act together in terms of reliability, and Kimi needs to improve his one lap speed and figure out a way to pass some people and not let Lewis pass him on the first corner again. Argh...
Isn't "car handling the way I want it" from Kimi maens it have to fall apart in first laps so he can go home ?
points are points. if i were those Honda guys, i'd frmae up that pic beside their earth car in the factory
John, while i understand your frustrations, don't forget other teams have improved too. look at red bull and Super Aguri. Chill mate...still got a long way to go
it seems, Robert can pick up where Nick left off... good for them. i just wished the team didn't screw up Nick's pitstop, if not, i think he'd be in 3rd.
Agreed, I felt horrible for him once I saw the front right guy fumbling around and watched the nut roll off to the Toyota guy (good stop by him tho haha). At least he had the other failure to offset the crappy pit stop. With regards to the 1 sec per lap advantage, I think that it's a valid statement. At one point Felipe had a 17sec lead over Hamilton, if you think about it that means he can afford to lower the revs a little bit and not strain the engine as much. Too bad Kimi's car gave out on him otherwise I think (well at least I hope) he would have passed Hamilton.
I already said that Massa did great. Ferrari has 2 drivers, not just Massa. I was expecting Kimi get 1st or 2nd in quali and then at least finish the race. The race wasn't Kimi's fault, which is why I said I was expecting more from Ferrari. Ugh...
We have found the problem... Aha, wiring to the alternator. Let's just hope that Ferrari can fix this and Kimi can improve in quali (and not letting Lewis by in Turn 1) in time for Monaco. Lewis has won before at Monaco (of course not in F1), which makes me even more nervous.
