Who would you want driving for your team the most?

That's because there were no direct quotes.

I think the "WORST ENEMY" section states the case perfectly. Put aside the injury, easy season unfamiliarity with the team/car and all the other excuses. The fact that he couldn't back up Kimi and help the team win the WCC in the last third of the season shows me that this is still the same old JPM. He is quick, he can win races, but is not champion material.

 

Berger thinks that Rosberg is the best driver to come to F1 in a long time. Gerhard Berger raves in an article on Nico in Motorsport aktuell, 22 Nov.

And Lauda adds:"Nico is one of the upcoming F1 World Champions".

The article goes on stating the technical feedback that Nico Rosberg gave already when he was 17 and first testing the Williams. According to a "Technical Understanding Test" that Williams let all their pilots do, Nico scored better than Ralf, Juan Pablo, Mark, Nick, Marc, Jenson etc.
(highest mark ever on Williams's written driver exam)

And that at the tender age of 17...

The team were really impressed with his race craft and analytical skills.

 

Defenetly Kimi! Not a fan of Alonso, i think hes to cocky. and Montoya? Hes a very good driver, but hes just a plan *******.

 

cocky?....a F1 driver....noooooo

 

I think Alonso and R should be on the same team and duke it out ala early 90s Senna/Prost style.

 

Omar you mean late 80's style (88 & 89). Now that would be great.

 

^^ Sigh....

80s - Mansell, Piquet, Prost, Senna, Lauda, Villeneuve

The best decade of racing ever - the driver quality was amazing. The 30s runs it close for driver quality.

Hope we can get a fraction of the fireworks again - c'mon Kimi, Alonso, Monty and not forget the old boy himself Schumi

 

What are you talking about? Ron Dennis himself said that JPM drove perfectly the last 6 races, that JPM did everything that was asked of him. JPM's not being able to support Kimi had nothing to do with JPM. Either some idiot took him out, or his car let him down.

Taken from the article mentioned on the 1st page;

McLaren boss Ron Dennis, talking to reporters only days before the team dropped the Alonso bombshell last month, spoke glowingly of the Colombian's talent and expected a far more competitive driver to emerge in 2006.

"(The injury) was a massive psychological blow for him," said Dennis. "It took him a couple of races before he was completely fit and devoid of pain.

"And with the championship as it was, like a sailing race with the wind blowing from the beginning to the end of the season, any time you took the sails down you were going to fall back.

"There was no way he was going to catch up. And to his credit, he was the consummate professional in the last six races.

"He did everything that the team asked him to do in the last six races. He drove really well.

 

Oops. A little off, but my point was at least understood.

 

As of 9PM tonight, looking at the poll results to this point, I stand by my original comment about Montoya. He does not belong in the same group as Fred and Kimi.

 

Of course he's going to put a positive spin on things, he's trying to keep harmony in the team while protecting JPM's (fragile) ego.

And that's just the thing, it is always the other guy's fault with JPM. He must be the only driver to have never caused and incident, yet he finds himself in the middle of them all the time. Strange....

The DNF in Spa was not his fault and he did drive well in the other races, but Japan is another story.

Regardless of where you place blame in Japan the bottom line is JPM should have avoided JV all together. JV had half the car and nothing to lose. So he got along side, back out let him past and JPM probably could have been back in front by the end of the front straight. But no, JPM just pigheadedly pushes forward. I've seen it throughout his entire career, not an isolated incident, but another in a long line of pointless collisions or rough driving or just an inability to stay out of trouble.

Like I said, he's fast, and he _finally_ proved that in the McLaren, but I will not consider him Championship material until I see a marked change in his mental game. Regardless of what "Ron himself" says.

 

You know, you Montoya-haters are a passionate bunch. You go out of your way to bash the guy at any hint of an opportunity, and in your eyes, he is NEVER RIGHT. He whines, he complains, he always passes the blame onto someone else, blah, blah, blah.......

I don't understand, nor do I care why you hate him. The man has won 2 CART Championships, the INDY 500, and he has won quite a few F1 races. He can drive with tremendous skill. He has no fear of anyone, nor is he intimidated by anyone. I believe he will continue to mature, and will get better and better, and will win at least 1 WC.

A true F1 fan will judge a driver on his DRIVING, nothing more, and nothing less.

 

I like Montoya.

He is one of the best wheel to wheel combat pilots around - capable of finding overtaking spots that never existed before. He is also fast as hell. Another strength is that he is awesome on cold tires.

The brilliance that he is displays in overtaking sometimes means that he tries stuff that causes collisions - Spa 03 with Trulli. But that is part of the game with him. He tries and sometimes that fails. But at least he tries unlike some others who seem happy to wait for the pits. Montoya is not a percentage player -that is both a good and bad thing.

He is a momentum kinda guy - in a season like 2003 where he is has a shot of winning the championship - he will fight tooth and nail. But in a season where he doesn't have much of a chance he is not going to bother.

Basically he is an emotional character and needs reassurance and support from the team and Ron Dennis. Sometimes his emotion gets the best of him that makes him say silly things on occasion that blows up on him.

I certainly think he is WDC material - remember Ron wouldnt have hired him otherwise.

To me F1 without Montoya will not be that interesting. Monty is a fighter and is one of the elements that makes it entertaining for us viewers.

But net-net, I would rate Kimi and Alonso a little ahead because they are cooler and more resistant to pressure and are equally fast.

 

You seem quite impassioned as well, in fact I'm suspicious if you're motive for posting this thread was simply to bait the JPM haters. Take note, the results of the poll are speaking quite clearly.

Apparently we agree, he needs to mature. But hasn't that time come? He is no rookie, not even in F1 anymore, and yet I still see too many examples of what you would call "fearless" driving, what I consider to be self defeating mistakes. This is the difference btw a driver and a champion.

When does he learn? The clock is now ticking... that was the entire point of the article that was linked above-- how this season might NOT be the end of the road. We shall soon find out....

 

Bait JPM haters? Not quite...........I actually find the bickering between the haters and supporters endless and pointless.

I put him in this poll because I believe he is of the same caliber of driving skill as both Kimi and Alonso, end of story.

I will say that this year is a crucial year for JPM to really prove what he is made of. He now has experience in the McLaren. Barring any off-track accidents, this will be it. Make or break time. I will go out on a limb and predict he finishes the season with more points than Kimi.

 

Agreed.

Best,
JK

PS- we'll see about that prediction!

 

Actually I like Montoya. I just don't think he is on par with Kimi and Alonso over an entire season. Over the duration of one race, yes. IMHO he is like Berger or Barrichello: Brilliant when the black cat passed under the ladder at a Blue Moon.

But I do feel your pain. Almost everybody hates Irvine while I totally admire the guy. C'est la vie.

 

Irvine who?

 

I think once you get deeply involved in a sport it is difficult to be truly objective. Your biases get entwined into one's belief whether driver A is good or bad. Incidents and other facts can be used as proof or ignored at will.

to each their own

 

...or trying to remove bias from anything for that matter....

 

I guess it depends on who you are. I think I have even a fairly objective view when it comes to drivers I feel passionate about (e.g. Irvine, Alonso, MS). Rooting for somebody is something totally different from judging somebody. I won't root for MS anymore, but I do think he is one of the best.

 

You just summed up 95% of all F1 debates!! LOL!