And for the real record, Armoux was the fastest car in the field that day, but got a poor start and dropped back to 11th. He carved his way thru the field while Gilles led throughout most of the race. It was Gilles car that began to faulter and slip back, eventually to 2nd place where Arnoux caught and passed him for that position. Arnoux did not hold position (2nd place) and lost it back to Gilles where Arnoux eventually finished in 3rd. Arnoux failed to hold position. I'm glad that you could dig up a subjective article to support a engine hestitation of the Renault, but the fact is Arnoux never complained of an engine miss in post interviews. Did you actually see this race or the last 3 laps? I did. I do owe you an apology for crossing over my Massa comment with your Gilles opinion. It was uncalled for. And it was a load of crap.
...the guy had a great weekend, in one if not the most slippery GP of all, sand all over, high wind speed...and still he managed to qualify in front of kimmi with a tad heavier car... ..he´s performance was great, and did ZERO mistakes...GO MASSA! Both Ferraris were great, Kimmi did a good job attacking when he could, and being fast when needed... Forza Ferrari...what a Great weekend. ...I havent checked, but some will say that Hamilton is worthless and needs to be replaced given he just forgot to put the car on race mode at the start (daaaa...), and then rammed Alonso?...what a wreck this race was for Hamilton. ...he´s prone to mistakes too, and even bad luck...on the other side Alonso is the luckiest driver I remember seing on F1...after that crash, he´s rear spoiler should be prone to fly on its own, or be severly damaged, or could have blown the minute Hamilton hitted him...not to talk about his rear tire, his differential, his rear right axle...
I haven´t seen the whole race, and I don´t know what Arnoux said 5 minutes after the race. And I don´t care if you´re older than God and have seen all the races since the second car was built. But I can read. And I´ve read in many respectable books and magazines written by people who actually was that day in Dijon-Prenois, and who talked with the guys who build the car... that Arnoux engine was failing. So for me it failed. Nice job for Arnoux. And just for finishing the controversy: Villeneuve said that his tires were finished, so he was also having a hard time. Nice job for Gilles too. That race showed clearly the hunger for victory (or 2nd place, who cares) of those two drivers, even more clearly than his skills.
So now you don't care? All I did was express what I saw that day, and you elected to challenge it based on an article you read. Then you decide to attack me based on my age. You didn't even watch the race! IMO it is still the single best wheel to wheel action over the last 3 laps of any F1 dual I have ever seen, despite all the short comings that you have decided occurred. Had you ever seen Gilles Villenueve race before?
I know that I´m being childish... but you started this. I´m not guilty of being younger than you and just because you saw it live on TV doesn´t mean that your arguments are better. Ah, and I didn´t intend to "attack you based on your age" as you say. After all, experience is a good thing. But remember that experience is not the same than knowledge. And I agree on that, it was the best wheel to wheel action I´ve seen too. But I don´t know if that day Gilles showed his speed (which he surely had) or just his bravery.
What he doesn't understand is that Irvine and Rubens won too. It is not the occasional win, it is the ability to deliver points consistantly. The last thing Ferrari needs is a driver who wins once in a while when he is not spinning off the road or destroying cars by barrelling into other drivers. Championships are won on CONSTISTANCY. Massa looks like a world-beater one weekend and finishes 9th the next. That is worthless, a LOT of drivers can win in a Ferrari. Collecting an average of 3 points a race is not going to bring the WCC to Ferrari.
I like Massa for the fact that he can get pissed about stuff then drive better due to it. I'm very glad he is part of Ferrari and has not set a bad example for the team.
Alonso will never win a race in a Ferrari simply because he will never be allowed to put his boney littl ass in one.
Ok, I was being a little mean. I could see him going to Renault or Williams for a swap of Alonso or Rosberg, maybe even STR for Vettel (if Vettel can finish more than 2 laps in a race this year).
I've always been in the middle about Massa...and I think he is a decent #2 man. Two races certainly does't make a career. And I really didn't have a solid opinion, other than I do believe that DC is a bigger jerk with less talent and was the main contributor in their wheel bagging incident. And that was from an objective point of view. But when Senna3xWC stated that Alonso would score more points than Massa, I was in, from an objective point of view. I never had a dog in this fight. But comparisons to Gilles is reaching quite a bit...
My feeling is that people who think like this either only love Team Ferrari when they win every race, and hate them when they don't. I think that after this last win he will really bounce back as well.
I stuck with Ferrari through the entire 21 lean years between championships, from Scheckter in 1979 to Schumacher in 2000. I am not, nor have I ever been, a fair weather fan. I take exception to your comment. That would be a nice change. Normally he follows up a win with an incredibly poor showing the following event.
Almost consistent as a rule. However he did have a back to back win last year. Turkish GP 2006: Win Following race: 9th Brazilian GP 2006: Win Following race: 6th Bahrain GP 2007: Win Following race: Win Following race: 3rd Turkish GP 2007: Win Following race: DNF Brazilian GP 2007: Win (well technically a 2nd) Following race: DNF Bahrain GP 2008: Win Following race: ??? It is also interesting to see what tracks he is good at. Seems to be the same ones every year.
