What is up with Rubens? (Possible spoiler)

Why did you think Jenson was slow after the 2004 season? At the end of the season he was easily in my top 5.

 

I thought he did a great job in 2004 but he had the pathetic Sato as a teammate. So I couldnt really make out how much of the credit goes to Jenson or the car for the multiple podia that year. When 2005 rolled in, the car was pretty bad and Jenson didnt score podiums - except for Imola before disqualification. No evidence of a Schumacher lifting a poor car to victories like in 1996

At least now, Jenson has a good teammate and Jenson has dominated him. This wasnt true when he was partnered by Fisi or Trulli who are both pretty good but not truly great.

I feel that Jenson now belongs in the top of the middle tier of racing drivers in my own home cooked heirarchy

Tier 1: Championship contenders
Michael (Complete package, best driver in changing conditions, no longer has any speed advantage over Kimi and Alonso particularly in wheel to wheel stuff)
Kimi (fastest driver, awesome when he is dropped 10 spots, only weakness is that he can overcook it in qualifying)
Alonso (complete package like Michael, no real weaknesses)
Montoya (Capable of awesome performances, best overtaker, he is slipping badly though, has suddenly become inconsistent)

Tier 2: Great but lacking something
Jenson (will be in Tier 1 if he can win a few times)
DC (steady but slow)
Webber (qualifies well but crashes in races)
Rosberg (superb so far, lets see how he goes at Spa, Monaco and Suzuka for a better picture)
Fisi (very smooth driver, mental basketcase)
Rubens (best in the wet, ageing quickly)
Trulli (ultimate qualifier, Slower at racing, mentally weak)

Tier 3:
The rest

 

I agree, except Montoya has slipped tremendously in 2005 & 2006. I wouldn't say he is tier 1 right now.

 

I would agree ... Tier 2 he is then ....

 

Without bashing him, JPM has definitely fallen to that.

Button continues to confuse me: I was his biggest fan in his first season where he drove the wheels off the Williams. He looked like the next MS. Then he fell into a phase of also-runs. 2004 he was superb again. 2005 barely visible. Now he is back, consistent and fast.

I look at drivers being always fast (Kimi, MS, Alonso), always slow (Ralf, Trulli etc) or have a moment of magic (Rubens, Fisico). Button doesn't seem to fit any of this: He has entire years of being consistently fast or consistently slow.

 

I wasn't intending to bust your chops. If I've offended you I apologize.

It seems my post coincides with you statement above, it seems we're actually in agreement.

 

Agree!! Good breakdown

 

It was everything IMO.


Regarding Rubins ... Rubins looked good in a dominant Ferrari because of the car. He has not got that last 5% to make the top (the difference between good, after all all F1 drivers are good, and great).

When he started F1 he had a little flutter of brilliance but like most it dimmed very fast. The good guys, like MS, keep improving until they need to retire (hint, maybe it's time ).

Any good driver would have been able to emulate RB's performance over the years at Ferrari ... Irvine did just as well, etc.

Thus the only reason Honda took him on is to maybe suck enough 'how does Ferrari do it' information ... and then he will be retired out to pasture.

Imagine how good F1 would be if all these non-firers would be replaced with keen young RACERS!
Pete

 

Very well said, Pete. Sameer the 1991 Benetton was not a bad car at all, besides the McLaren and Williams, Piquet won the Canadian GP of 91 when Mansell started waving to the crowd and killed his engine.

 

well, no problems...i just can't wait for the next GP. seems like schumi's not testing this time. luca is in italy.

 

The teams try to give their aces a time to relax and keep them used to the Asian climate and timezones. The test drivers are mending the shop back home. I'm sure also all the equipment went straight from Sepang to Melbourne.

Only Michael Andretti flew back to the US before he'll arrive at the first qualifying session in Australia.

 

I hope Ferrari gets to the bottom of the piston mess. Not that they can do anything about it in Australia as the current engines need to stay on for that weekend as well.

 

Well they could swap the lump (using Matchettese here) for a ten spot penalty.

Somehow I have the feeling the problem is not as easily addressed (hopefully I'm wrong). It sounds so much like the problems we heard preseason from their last testing session (the one where Carol reported they run out of replacement parts for the engines). Merc didn't fix their reliability issues all year long in 2005. What if it takes the Scuderia just as long all the while Renault continues to collect ten pointers.

 

well, i just hope they settle this asap. i'm sure michael and the scuderia can;t just sit back and be comfortable with 4-5-6 positions while the renaults are doin a 1-2. btws, they have to use the same engines from malaysia?

 

Yes, Ferrari will be using the same engines in Melbourne they had in Sepang whereas McLaren and Renault will have fresh ones.

I think there is the biggest headline from the two previous races: No engine blowups for Renault and McLaren whereas everybody else struggled mightily. Something to think about.

 

hope the cooler weather will spark something for the scuderia...however, some rain..heavy rain will do some magic i suppose...

 

There is more than one driver who can handle rain.

 

true, but in 2005, was there a proper wet race? if i recall, spa was drying up...no?

 

Not to hijack this but I thought I'd add this earlier thread from January with similar discussion.
http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89505