RENAULT Releases Alonso For McLaren Test

Its amazing how a couple of GP wins can make a mediocre driver look heroic. The only reason I want Massa to win is because Ferrari must take the championship this year....but I have no delusions as to FM's ability. It ought to be painfully obvious who the #1 driver is.

 

+1 Sam

 

Barrichello was a midpack runner before he got in the Ferrari and he is a midpack runner after leaving Ferrari, as was Irvine. He, like Massa, was extraordinarily flattered by the strength of the car. That being said, I think Barrichello is a much better driver than Massa.

As far as Button is concerned, it may have taken him 100 GPs to break his duck but at least he was running at the sharp end of the grid before then. Button has talent and is a threat to win with the right car under him. Massa is far less talented and can ONLY win in a Ferrari and ONLY in a race where Schumacher had problems.

Mark my words, there is NO chance that Massa will beat Kimi in an identical car in a straight-up race. The only way Massa wins next year is if Kimi has trouble.

When Massa is replaced by Ferrari and he goes back to driving for a backmarker team (assuming he can even stay in F1), he will go back to being a tail-ender...just like Rubens...just like Irvine.

 

Exactly...The quality of the car today is (sadly) sooo much more important than the quality of the driver...and that is why I liked F1 more in the 60s and the 70s...

 

You bring up a very good point.

With the development of the cars today, so much is out of the drivers' hands. I do miss the days of manual transmissions, no traction control, etc. It was much easier to separate the wheat from the chaff then.

 

I remember Lauda saying he had to change gears approximately 2200 times during the Monaco GP and that his hand was blistered after the race...now they flick a finger and a computer does the rest...

 

+1 Kimi is the real deal.