On top of that, Peter Windsor suspects that he's running potentially a 1-stopper vs McLaren on a 2-stop. If that's the case, he really is sitting in the catbird seat.
How true - Massa saves the day for Ferrari for sure. Let's hope he's carrying a heavier fuel load than McLarens and that will play into Ferrari's hands tomorrow. GO FELIPE ! ! !
Don't bother because you won't get it. Massa wouldn't even be given credit by people on this board if he won the championship. He did do a good job though; out qualified his teammate by quite a large margin. Kimi needs to focus and stop these little mistakes. Mark
Kimi blows it again and this time its his fault. He will be gone next year..wait and see. Even if Ferrari did build him a tank...it wouldnt fit on this track LOL. Race day shows an 80% chance of rain so that will make things intresting. Massa is looking good and will give the Macs some trouble but as usual this track is very hard to pass on for the closely matched cars. Pit stops will be everything tomorrow especially if the rain is off and on.
Not just that, but with the potential of ran tomorrow. You don't know when you're going to pit for tire change (wet to dry or vice versa) so taking on that much fuel is rather pointless.
and if the race remains dry, a one stopper would mean that he has to do half the race on softer tyres. Ain't gonna work.
Based on his comments in the interview room, neither can I. Perhaps SPEED is grasping at straws to keep the race interesting. You can tell when a team feels confident about their chances in a race...when they say "hope to score points and get a podium", that's definitely not the sound of confidence. This will be a battle between Hamilton & Alonso, and Hamilton's sounds like he can't wait for the race to start. Alonso would rather the race disappear from the schedule, so we'll see what happens.
How true. There was no stopping the McLarens in qualifying today and for a moment I though Massa was going to split them but at least he's in third and did another terrific job for Ferrari. Carol
Hasn't Hamilton had better starts than Alonso this year? Tomorrow's start could be interesting, which of them will go for the lead at turn one. If Hamilton takes a slight lead would Alonso try to pass him as he did Massa in Spain? Of course, I can not discount Massa, I do believe he has more fuel than the McLarens. Again my theory is that in equal cars he would still outqualify Alonso and Hamilton, so even at Monaco, Massa should have been on pole. With rain Sunday, this could be a three stop race, with more fuel, Massa may be able to do it in two. I have to believe that the Ferrari team has considered rain and the benefits of making less stops for fuel, especially since they do have more experience with Bridgestones. Hamilton could push Alonso into error. I think Raikkonen will at least finish 5th Sunday. Also I still believe the BMW will podium, except maybe in Kubica's hands, not Heidfeld as I orginally thought. Williams will be a factor, but not podium. Coultard will finish top 8 if the Red Bull does not break. Honda just lucky to be there. Giancarlo must be on a super light load, just do not see the Renault coming in beyond 6-7th. So race podium prediction is now: Massa Hamilton Kubica This all just opinion. This may end up being the best real race of 2007.
It seemed to me that Lewis can't wait to get it on tomorrow. FA may be worried about him Massa seemed a bit down. He should be very happy, hopefully he has a lot more fuel if it stays dry. Does the FIA weigh the cars before Q3 to figure out the amount of fuel?
Lewis also says that Mark Webber held him up and cost him half a second. Apparently Mark cost him the pole, and I wouldn't be suprised if Lewis gets Fernando into the first corner.
Ferrari might leave Monaco with no points tomorrow. It'll be hard for Kimi to come forward and if it rains it will be equally hard for Massa to maintain 3rd. I'm rooting for the rookie. Would be neat to see him get his first win. Would also throw a monkey wrench into the McLaren team strategy.
here's what happened . . . "Raikkonen admitted the problem was caused after a driving error of his own. "It was the slow part coming into the corner," he added. "The rear of the car got a little bit out of shape and just touched the inside there. It was just hard enough to break the steering on the right. "It is quite high-speed there and you don't need to hit hard [to damage your car]. Sometimes you can hit quite hard and damage nothing, and sometimes you hit a little bit less and you damage it. It's just one mistake." Carol
me 3!! I hope Hamilton takes this one!.....too bad for Kimi, i wish it was him in 3rd and not Massa, but (for all the massa lovers who would like to see all non massa fans off the board) I hope Massa makes the best of where he's at and can exploit any mistakes done by Hamilton or Alonso........or in the case of rain, I hope he can maintain 3rd..........feel better? I said something nice about Massssssser...... Hamilton ftw!!
Damn.. after seeing practice on Thursday I knew it was going to be a 1-2 for the Macs (although I saw it the other way around Ham/Alo), but didn't anticipate such an ugly outcome for Ferrari This isn't going well at all.. further and further away from WCC.
This may be his LH's victory. Said he loved the place. Also he was not too bent about Weber's unintentional block and seemed very upbeat. Alonso looked like he found the surprise in the punchbowl.
Dumb move by Kimi - based on his 1st sector time he had the speed to take the pole or at least P2. Schumi came screaming through the field last year, and if Kimi is really happy with the car, then most likely he can do the same this year. A win is not likely, but maybe a podium. I highly doubt Massa is on a 1 stop - highly doubt. Good quali job for him though, maybe he'll get lucky and Alonso will lose his temper and take out Hammy at turn 1? Hamilton had pole but the moving chicane (Webber) stymied that idea. I think he's faster at Monaco than Alonso. The BIG question is Fernando. You KNOW he has tons of motivation to beat Hamilton, and you just know that he is gonna go for it all in the first turn. The only thing that will temper than aggressive 'tude will be Ron telling him VERY firmly NOT to take out Lewis Will he do it? We'll have to wait and see - but I think Fernando is gonna play hardball and I think Lewis is gonna play hardball and I would not at all be surprised to see one of them come a cropper tomorrow, possibly both. And that might be exactly what Massa needs to snatch the win. BMW are an unknown - they could end up taking a couple of podiums if one or two leaders has a problem. Gonna be an interesting race for sure, good luck to Felipe and Lewis, and let's hope Alonso farks it up.
While I've been one to say that Kimi is hard on the car, I can't really fault him for an error in Monaco -- it happens to the best of them. Ironic where he wound up, though. (See? That *is* a tough corner. ) I get the impression that Massa's car is set up for a dry race, and the McLarens are set up with light fuel for rain. So I'm guessing that Massa will get ahead when the McLarens pit, but whether he can pull out enough to keep it at his stop will depend on the weather (and traffic). (Which, admittedly, aren't Massa's strong suits, yet.) So I'll guess that Massa might win in the dry, but Alonso might win in the wet. And what of Hamilton? I've been watching this amazing rookie doing his "2Fast, 2Furious, Monaco Drift" stuff all weekend. If it rains, Hamilton could well be leading when he stuffs it into a fence. Can he dance that car through the eye of the needle *78* times, without an error? In the dry, maybe. In the wet -- perhaps. But I suspect he'll either have to slow down behind Alonso, or he'll go for the win and misstep. In the rain, he could simply take second, and settle for being tied with Alonso for the championship lead .... without ever winning a race. Hamilton may be hoping for a mixed race -- dry start to let him get out front, then rain to slow Massa. But I wonder at the effect of Ferrari's new paint job? People on the grid were in the habit of getting out of the way of the old red. Will the new paint (and the other red colors on the grid) cause just a little hesitation in cars being overtaken? How will that influence Kimi's race? Of course, as a Ferrari fan who does watch the makes championship, I should probably be hoping for the McLaren boys to take each other out at turn one. ... Nah. I like Hamilton, even if he *is* in the wrong car.
