»-(¯`·.·´¯)-> !! 2011 Korean Grand Prix -Race- *-*-*SPOILERS*-*-* !! <-(¯`·.·´¯)-«

Indeed.

I can honestly say I've never been bored watching an F1 race!..... I can always find *something* to analyze and enjoy. Live timing helps.

Incidentally, did anyone else think the world feed was really good this race? Whoever was directing did a great job cutting between the chopper & cranes, the onboards and the standard cameras. Kudos to whoever was in charge of the feed!

Cheers,
Ian

 

We beg to differ, which is fine of course.

For a "declining hack" to out qualify the mighty team leader takes some doing. He's fast, reliable, the team loves him and he generally brings it home in one piece.

Kobicrashy is just that and I don't see anyway he'd do better than Phil.
Young Sergio? Not yet at least.

And why do they need a "young gun"? - That's never been Ferrari's MO; Hire the best, and pay the money. They're not in it for driver education.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Ferrari need a consistent points earner at the moment to drive alongside Alonso and neither Kobayashi; Perez; Sébastien Buemi or Jaime Alguersuari are anything like consistent enough. There are flashes of brilliance from the Sauber pair at times but it just doesn't last long enough, two corners later there are front wings missing!.

As for the Toro Rosso pair, they are currently struggling to remain in the Toro Rosso team so that's hardly a glowing resume to entice Ferrari's interest.

As for feeder series, how many drivers have dominated in the lower formula's and then been mediocre in an F1 car. That's a gamble Ferrari cannot afford to take at the moment.

I agree that Ferrari will need a young gun rather than "a has-been or barely-ever-was", but at the moment their hands are pretty much tied as I see it.


(If only Vettel hadn't said: "No, not now thank you!")

 

[Dons flame suit ]

I'm not even convinced those guys would do better!.... (Even leaving aside egos etc)

- Sebs good, sure, but so's the car. He's dusted Mark, but he's always been a 'hack', so that's no great endorsement.
- Lewis? His heads not right.
- JB? Would get my vote, but I'm not convinced he's quicker than Phil.
- MW? See point above.



Cheers,
Ian

 

The "marbles" are ruining racing. A one-lane Grand Prix after 10 laps? Give me a break.

 

I think Massa before his accident was one of the top drivers in the field. The accident has really screwed him up and isn't the same driver he use to be. I agree there are quite a few other drivers that are better right now than Massa that would be good number 2. Di Resta, Hulkenburg, Kobayashi and even both Toro Rosso drivers( both very young) can be replacements. By the way, after yesterday race, Vettel again was in a class of his own. Its pretty bad that we are all getting excited about how close the racing is for second spot. Webber and Hamilton race was great, but still they were 11 seconds behind Vettel. I don't care what anyone says, IMO Vettel is amazing no matter how good the car is.

 

Petrov is driving the Lotus, not Alonso. Blaming Alonso, even partly, is a bit of a stretch. Yes, Alonso might have been a distraction for Petrov, but to repremand him would be out of place.

 

He's so screwed up he's out qualified the generally accepted fastest jockey on the grid a few times this year......

I (rather obviously ) beg to differ. I just don't see any of those guys being quicker than Phil - He's almost as quick as Fred for goodness sake!..... (unless Fred is turning into a hack of course )

I guess you don't remember 'the Schumi years'?...... *All* we had back then (& many other times, truth be told) was battles for the lower places!

Cheers,
Ian

 

Just because Massa outqualified Alonso a couple of times doesn't make him a fast driver. It makes him a one lap wonder at best.

The more telling story is the points difference: 212 to 98

As the races progress, Massa starts to fall apart and go backwards. And that's even without the rain.

At least before his accident he mostly held the position he got in qualifying and raced away. Not anymore.

 

Personally I'd like to see P di Resta in a Ferrari seat.

 

I'm not sure how JB would fit in at Ferrari, I think it would be too much of a culture shock TBH.

I don't want to upset anyone but I agree about Lewis, this weekend he seems to have taken a dark turn in his personality which I find a little bit worrying for him. I would not be surprised to find out one day that he does suffer from depression (I hope for his sake that's not the case but things seemed to be affecting him badly on Saturday outside the car. I was actually hoping to see the old, full of confidence, in your face Hamilton after the race that usually annoys Me so much, but it wasn't really there!).

MW?: just too old and not on Ferrari's radar.

For Me, Seb is the ideal candidate.

As for Massa, he's always been known for letting his head drop when things didn't go right but today, as I've posted before, considering the cars and drivers who finished ahead of him, 6th was always going to be the best he could achieve, as I see it.

 

You do?

Apparently not...

 

Hi Im DF1 and Im a 'hack-oholic'

Ive posted before that Heiki Kovalainen would be a great pairing with FA. He's been the #2 at a major team and has a win to boot with said major team.

Clearly no threat to the fragile one and he knows the business. Great demeanor and affable just the way sponsors like it. No one else comes close.
I love all the Kobayashi talk. He is not ready and way too ambitious still.

#2 at Scuderia Alonso must be willing to wear the collar of obedience no question just like FM does. That my friends is not negotiable. FA will not be allowing threats. Ever.

 

It gets old because people like the guy. I think he seems like a nice guy too - but there is absolutely nothing that can be said that will justify his having 90 points to Alonso having over 200.

That represents a *huge* opportunity lost for Ferrari. McLaren has the ideal situation, two fast guys, with one being more aggressive/faster and the other being reliable but still fast. Mercedes has a pretty good situation too.

Ferrari has something like McLaren did when Heikki was there. Massa is just sooooo slow.

He can't pass. He can't qualify well. He can't improve his situation in a race. He is good at one thing - qualifying on pole when he has the fastest car, and staying in the lead. If he was at Red Bull this year next to Webber, he might be doing fantastically well. And if Ferrari were back to the MS years when they were light years ahead in speed, he might be doing OK.

But Ferrari needs someone who is fast and reliable, who can pass and who can put in a solid effort and who may be 25% behind Alonso, but not 110+ points behind.

If we're talking established guys, they need someone like Button, or Rosberg, or Kubica. Or they can take a chance on a promising guy in a lower team like Kobayashi, Perez, Sutil.

And frankly, there are only, what, 24 drivers racing. Take out the top guys (Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, Schumi) - obviously take out Massa, and Barrichello since they've done it. That only leaves 18 left. Some of them are on the decline and dropped through the slower teams... Heikki, Trulli and a few others. That leaves a pool of maybe 10 guys who are even viable choices.

And out of those 10, I named 6 of them as being better choices than Massa.

That means a lot of people would be better than Felipe.

Time to send him packing. He sucks and he is costing the team millions with his crap performance.

 

Now tell us how you really feel about Massa

Massa is sixth in the championship. Right now the Ferrari is the third car so expecting anything more is not realistic. It just puts Alonso's performance into perspective but even that is helped by having a clear #2 driver.
The way things go these days is as a #2 driver your race is screwed from the beginning. It seems it's very hard for a team to get both drivers up the racing order during a race, unless you have a really, really good car.
Massa isn't costing Ferrari the WCC, the car is.

 

Right now the Ferrari is the 3rd fastest car, but it wasn't the 3rd fastest earlier in the season - for most of the middle, it was the 2nd fastest car.

And it's not like Massa is a close 6th. He is 100 points off the top guys, who, excluding Vettel, are within 30 points of each other.

Alonso has put that car on the podium 8 times. Button put the McLaren on the podium 9 times. And Massa hasn't been able to put it on the podium even once. His best finish is 5th, and he regularly gets beaten by the Mercedes', Renault and even a Force India.

He has cost Ferrari millions and millions of dollars this year because they would otherwise be 2nd in the WCC. Even if he was driving for free, it wouldn't be worth it.

 

Case closed.

Yet we have to endure another full season with this midfield driver.

 

LEAVE HAMMY ALONE!

 

It'd be awesome to see Vettel in a Ferrari next year. If I were him, with fame and fortune at 24, I'd like a new challenge. He's just in cruise mode at RBR now. I don't know if Ferrari would take him now with Alonso there, but it'd be great too see them struggle with that decision . They'd be crazy not to IMO.
I just can't think of any driver not wanting to drive for Ferrari during their F1 careers, and that moment might not come when they want to. Oh well. I know that's not going to happen, but a huge shake up like that is what F1 needs right now. Good day folks.

 

If you call a race where Vettel drives into the sunset exciting than I pity you. My favorite driver got taken out by a moron, and I got to watch Webber drive around behind Hamilton for 30 laps with Button and Alonso right behind, none of them able to break the little train. So they were "wheel to wheel" for a few corners, big deal. That track sucks, and it was a boring race. As per usual, however, the Hamilton defenders pathetically try to pin my boredom on that fact that Hamilton got a podium (LOL).

You keep asking people to name replacements for Felipe and people keep doing it, including myself. 1/2 the field would be a suitable damn replacement. Then again, you think being behind McLaren by a full second is satisfactory so apparently you're OK with Ferrari sucking.

 

Apparently someone actually stayed awake and watched the race! You'd think from most responses on here that the LH/WEB fight was for the lead. Seb was by far the star of the show...

 

Come on man lets face it MS got rear ended, and your p!ssed off fair enough, it doesn't mean everybody thought it was a boring race.

 

I could see it being fun if you're a LH fan or a Webber fan since they were on the screen for 90% of the race but honestly, a 30 lap procession for a meaningless 2nd place other than some DRS-aided BS does not make for an exciting race. The LH and Web battle when they got out of the pits was really good...for 30 seconds and then...SNOOZE.

There have been few exciting races this year but races like Canada come to mind if you want an example...

EDIT: Also, Fast_Ian, doing a search with my name and "awesome race" or "great race" turned up pleeeeeenty of results. But hey, if a procession at a concrete wasteland Tilke-drome is thrilling for you, you should try NASCAR. I imagine you'd love it.

 

Meh - weak comedy - I had that in my sig for months. Originality counts!

It was just pretty funny that you got irritated that the LH bashing had turned into such a joke, but couldn't resist doing it. LOL!

As for the race - some parts like the LH/MW duel were exciting. But it all boils down to what kind of fan you are. Some people aren't real fans of actual racing, and just like their chosen driver to win. They are in it for the result. Other are in it for the race itself. I love watching racing - it could be Sutil and Massa or Perez and Barrichello - I don't really care, so long as it's entertaining to watch.

You'll graduate to that point some day