Hey Byron, I hope you enjoyed it as well. I think Felipe is turning out to be a very good driver, however, I still think Kimi will have the measure of him and bring Ferrari the championship next season. Take care.
Massa was a stiff before he got to Ferrari, he is being enormously flattered by the car (a car in which half the grid could win a GP or two), and he will return to mediocrity once he is let go by Ferrari, probably after 2008 at the latest. He is no different than Irvine and Rubens, neither of whom could win without the Ferrari. Don't kid yourself, Massa is a mid-pack runner at best.
Agree. Toyota is a mess; throw in the amount of $$$$$ they've spent and its an embarassment, especially when you consider that they are about to become the largest automaker in the world...Talk about losing the plot.....they've gone backwards....
No, no no. The Schu will get Minardi back on their feet, drive car 1 to the championship and give me a massive bonus for bring the second car home in 2nd, 3rd or 4th place and winning the Constructors Championship. Now that's a plan! And yes, Eddie Ervine can be the test driver.
I am sure Luca did push him out. I think problem for Luca was that Micheal was becoming way to powerful at Ferrari. The Ferrari image and brand is strong because of Micheal's achievements. This is why BMW is willing to spend 1 billion dollars on Micheal to improve their image. Personally with what he has achieved with Ferrari, I would love to see him go over to BMW or Toyota turn them around into winning teams.
Luca's obligation is to Ferrari, not Michael. Schumacher wasn't going to be around forever and Luca needed to get a top driver in the seat. I don't think he was about to let Kimi slip away because of Schumacher's waffling over a decision. The notion that Schumacher was becoming too powerful at Ferrari is ridiculous, the Ferrari image was strong long before Schumacher ever joined the team. Schumacher wasn't pushed out either. He could have driven alongside Kimi but chose not to.
No, I certainly do not believe Michael was pushed out. He was forced to make a decision about retirement sooner than later. He wanted to wait until the end of the season, Luca wanted a decision that could be announced by Monza. Ferraris market image was/is always strong, but MS did take control of the race team and did change their image substantially with the help of Ross Brawn and Jean Todt. There is no way Michael or anyone for that matter could become anymore powerful at Ferrari that Luca would allow. He is Agnelli's golden boy and a potential political favorite in Italy. He pulls all the strings at Ferrari, have no doubt. Michael is a race driver with incredible talent at motivating the team. But he had an expiration date like every driver, the race team does not. That date was soon approaching so the team had to protect itself. Todt wanted Schumacher for at least another year, and hear rumors that Todt would have quit himself if Michael had been forced out. In an interview in F1 magazine, Raikkonen's manager (a brother team whose names escape me at the moment) indicated that Kimi signed up with Ferrari last May. There was no Schumacher clause. He also indicated that neither Kimi or Michael had any qualms at the time about being on the same team so that was never an issue. He stated in another article that he knew Michael did not have a problem with Kimi on the same team. Schumacher's decision to retire had more to do with family than anything else, and going out while on top. Nothing to do with who would be his teammate.
i dont think he will ever drive competitively again. he already has all the records. anything more will tarnish the image. in the past when he was asked about le mans his reply was "i already drive in the top series in the world" as far as another f1 team? same answer. he already drove for the best team in the world. i dont see him interested in a long term project such as starting at bottom with a loosing team. our best hope to see him race again might be as team owner or in exhibitions.
Exactly. TWK the only thing I think regarding Massa is that he is becoming a pretty good driver in his own right. I think he has a bit of the Mansell thing, after his first win he has become pretty darn quick. I still think Kimi will be faster, but I don't think Massa will lie down for him the way he would for MS. Your right on one thing though, MS could have raced with Kimi and he chose not too. Had he raced with Kimi and beaten him, there would be no doubt in my mind he was the Best of All time. But he chose not too. Again, the only thing that Bernie Eccelstone said about MS, was that he never had a true Number 1 driver as his teammate. The teammates were always guys who didn't do too much until they arrived at Ferrari. Fangio had Moss, Clark had Hill, Prost had Lauda, Senna, and Mansell. Senna would have had anybody race with him at McLaren (McLaren always gave each driver the same car and chance). That is the only thing missing in Michael's fantastic career. I would have loved to see him in the same car as Mika.
good post as usual, Tony. but i think, even though we all know that MS could have continued another season at least, he chosed not to. the man knows himself more than us. nothing like waking up one day and find ur body and mind telling u , ' ok that is just enough '. MS, as speculated could have discussed about this with his family and close frens, before coming to this decision. i don't see how Luca is invoved in all this. he just wanted MS's decision fast...he didn't push MS out. his family was so relieved..his dad and corinna in particular after the Brazilian GP. clearly this shows that the decision was made within the household.
it would be nice to see him return in 2009, maybe with ferrari who knows. i think if he did come back ferrari would be first on his wish list.
I think MS wanted to stick around another year, but decided not to as it would cost Massa his seat in a Ferrari, and he thinks Massa deserves the seat. I would like to see Massa show Ferrari that he is worthy of the #1 seat next year, as he is a great driver who still has many years left.
I think the notion that he retired so that Massa wouldn't lose his seat is the single most ridiculous statement I have ever heard regarding F1. He may have retired because he had enough, he may have retired because he was worried about having a bad accident, he may have retired because he thought he was losing his edge, or he may have retired to avoid driving alongside someone as strong as Kimi, but f there is one thing he absolutely DID NOT do is retire to save Massa's job. Patently ludicrous.
