Is Kimi being favored by Ferrari?

As did Michael. Or wasn't it his job to clinch the title and pick up enough points to secure the WCC championship? In fact, everyone at Ferrari, from the junior mechanic up to Jean Todt and Michael Schumacher, failed to reach their goals. No need to put Massa up as the only one who failed in accomplishing the goals Ferrari had set for itself.

 

+1

They came short only 5 points in the WCC, so it is not like Massa didn't score anything all season long.

As Todt said in his interview: The blame lies on the reliability of the 2006 Ferrari. One less engine failure in Suzuka and the history books might look differently altogether.

 

Still desperatly trying to forget

 

Michael's post race interview at Monza said this exactly. He had made up his mind by Indy and communicated his decision to the team. The team chose to defer the decision till Monza.

 

I just looked it up and you're right. Obviously I didn't pay much attention to the Monza aftermath.

Also came across a bunch of Ferrari statements denying anything about his retirement post Indy and prior to Monza. They simply lied to us.

 

Actually he wasn't, because he scored Renault's only win that year at Monaco. At the end of the season Fernando only had a few more points than Jarno, eventhough he was replaced by Villeneuve the last three races. Was he beaten? Yes, although he was leading Fernando in points for the first two thirds of the season. So I wouldn't say he was "blown away", and from what I've read, Flav sacked him more for political reasons.

 

Leaving the door wide open on the last turn in the last lap of Renault's home Grand Prix and thus allowing more red than blue on the podium had probably something to do with it as well.

 

Here it is lol....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIfC6EZediA

but let's remember, he did win at Monaco.

 

A couple of points;

I would have liked to see Fissi as #2 at Ferrari based soley on his love for the team. As he repeated often and probably in the wrong ears.

I think MS chose Massa, not Ferrari. I can bet there is a provision in his contract. And no, I cant prove it; dont ask. Just read between the lines.

Its too early to pick a #1 and #2 at Ferrari ? Time to wake up.

Massa's drive to 6th in the fastest car on the track was lacklustre at best. Someone compared MS's 6th at the final race as similar. "They finished in the same position so therefore the drives were equal" Watch that race again. MS's drive was heroic. Credit where credit is due.

 

Agreed, but MS also had his fair share of less than great drives in Melbourne. 2006 for instance.

 

So what if Kimi is being favored, why shouldn't he? Kimi will be their main driver until proven otherwise. You don't think Ron Dennis does the same over at McLaren? He can talk all he want about treating the drivers equally, fact is, we are all human, F1 team principles included, you WILL favored one driver over the other, just more of less. Looking at the situation at McLaren now, I am sure that RD is happy that FA is driving for his team, but I bet you that there is a part of him wanting to see Hamilton destory FA and everyone else on the grid. I only wonder how long it will take FA to leave McLaren, ala Prost after Senna's arrival.

Disclaimer: Not saying Hamilton is going to be the next great F1 driver, just saying if he stays on course and does become as fast if not faster than FA, I wouldn't be surpised if FA starts to "suspect" about unequal equipments etc.

 

Are you seriously implying Ron Dennis is human?

 

Him being an alien is only a rumor, not factual. Not according to Elvis at least.

 

Certainly.

When there are very few distinguishing characteristics between Massa and others in this vast 2nd tier, they can choose Massa for other reasons such as, but not limited to, his familiarity with Ferrari, his manager's relations Jean Todt, etc.

Because I can see that he's not any better than many other drivers on the grid?

And this is quite false. A cursory look at the scoreboard would show differently.

 

*I haven't read this whole thread*

When Massas car let go in qualifying, did they give him a new one for the race or just repair the transmission?

I think Kimi is the better driver, but Massa is no slouch

 

yea, i already suspected MS told the team about his decision. but i guess, Ferrari is/was impressed with Massa's 2006 performance. if not, why did they renew his contract for 2 years? this means his current contract expires at the end of 2008?

Fisi was offered just a yr contract by Renault. if Ferrari thought that Fisi was a better deal than massa, they would have just offered massa a 2007 contract and approcahed Fisi about a 2008 drive, at least. from wat i see, thats never gonna happen, so i'm still convienced that Massa is a better deal than Fisi

 

contracts are not indicative of anything set in stone...they are far from it actually. many examples of drivers coming/going in middle of so called 'iron clad' deals....i have no doubt that if the circumstances were right with other drivers, someone else would be in that red car... nevertheless, still hoping Massa has the season of his life...

 

I have to agree with that now. Since they knew as far back as the USGP, I can't use the "spare" driver argument anymore. They obviously had choices and decided to stick with Massa.

I still don't understand why they had to blatanly lie to the media. I can see why they prefer to make the announcement at Monza, but if you're being asked, why lie about such a thing? "No comment" would have sufficed. Besides: Whether MS would retire or not had zero impact on the title challenge.

 

well, according to MS, he wanted to announce it ASAP, but JT urged him to hold the decision till monza, with the excuse that Monza is a special place for Ferrari.

MS agreed, saying that it was no big deal.

 

No big deal?

It was the #1 question every journa had and what fans were wondering all year long.

 

haha..yea, i laughed to myself when i read it. but then again i guess, maybe deep down, MS knew that everyone is correct about the fact that he's gonna hang up his helmet.

 

I always wondered what retired racing drivers actually do with their helmets. Do they keep them around, put them in a display case, give them away?

We know MS has a trophy room, but I never heard whether he has his own "memorabilia" collection. Anybody know?

 

from wat i know, he gave his suit ( last race suit ) away to a team member. dunno bout the helmet tho...

 

Its been more than a week since this was posted. Am I the only one seeing something wrong in the above statement ? Namely that Kimi came THIRD in Bahrain, starting from last. He didnt WIN. To the best of my knowledge no one has won starting last. (unless its from the pits). The best I know of is John Watson coming from 22nd to win, but at that time 22nd wasnt last place.

 

I've been scratching my head over this one as well. He never won at Bahrain.