No he is not and he is not *bashing* Massa eventhough he is basically saying his win wasnt deserved...
LOL ...I got a few dollar's left from my hol's mate I send them you ,they ain't worth cashing in over here....
Massa deserved the win, I think the way Ferrari went about giving it to him were strange. What I mean is Ferrari never gave Kimi a fighting chance to challenge Felipe.
yes, i thought Kimi coming WAAAY early was a bit peculiar... Ferrari's not telling...hmm... but, Massa drove a solid race, got the win. Kimi drove a solid race with less than perfect car setup. Now leads WDC, can't complain.
Even know that Ted and I have disagreed on many things in the past, but one thing is for sure, he knows what he is talking about. There are a few tracks that Massa has been strong at, but with BMW-Sauber becoming the 3rd power and Williams-Toyota and Toyota lurking and may play the part of a spolier, I think the magic number here for Massa is ~4 race wins this season. With that said, don't discount the 4 wins as a low expectation, especially if you divide up the # of races among 3 main challengers (Kimi, Hamilton & Massa) and then factor in the unexpected wins by other drivers that usually happens during the season. At this time, I can only think of 2 more tracks that seems to suit Massa best, one is Turkey and the other is Brazil.
KImi has been complaining that he's car wasn't perfectly balanced all weekend. he just couldn't find the proper balance. it's not to say Kimi was a king in this circuit. he's highest place finish was 3rd.
I said it before the race the Massa was heavier than Kimi in Quali and it was proven to be so when he came in earlier for his first stop. If Massa can build up a few wins in the next bunch of races then he may gain the confidence he needs to win it all. Sometimes thats all it takes. If Kimi cant take Massa then he may dive back into the bottle hard BTW why is it when I read some comments on here that I feel I was watching the wrong race LOL
I have the feeling that Kimi just might be saying that because he was told to. On the other hand, Felipe thought his car setup was perfect, very very strange.
That is an assumption only. Kimi could still have had fuel left when they pitted him. They would do this either to ensure Massa won, or to shorten the time in the pit as they have to put less fuel in. So only Ferrari really know who had what fuel in the car . Pete
i don't find it strange. both are different drivers, different set of engineers, etc. Kimi was slower than Massa since practise.
+1-The commentators have continually been wrong about fuel loads and pit strategies over the years and this past race was a prime example. Nobody really knows except the teams.
Kimi seemed off all weekend. That being said, he still finished second. Massa did a great job, but there is the difference between the two drivers. When Kimi is off, he finishes second, Massa on the other hand, when he's off, he's usually way off. Like in the gravel.
Cool thread, but I'd be surprised if either one of you owned up and shelled out $10k over a forum dispute. I know I wouldn't bet someone whose only representation is a bunch of letters on a screen.
Kimi does not strike me like the kind of guy who would say anything just because "he was told to". I would say though, that finishing second, only behind your teammate, on a bad weekend is not too shabby, so Kimi is looking good so far (i.e. Massa's biggest threta for the WDC )
Still looks like he was joking to me, although I never said his post was bashing Massa - it just seems we were watching different race weekends. I can not see how anyone can seriously say that Kimi looked the better Ferrari driver over the weekend?! The first pit stop showed that Massa did a great qualifying, actually beging heavier than Kimi - not sure how to explain the early second pit stop though... Saying that chances are slim that Felipe will remain with Ferrari for 3 more races right after he won his first race of the season also seems like a joke to me, although time will naturally tell
That's exactly how I saw. But Kimi's comments led me to believe that Ferrari did botch Kimi's first stop (took too long but didn't get as much fuel in as the Speed commentators thought), and that pretty much decided it. One of the things I like about Kimi, though, is that he doesn't do stupid things like try overdrive his car and spin out with no one around (ahem) or run into the back to someone (LH). Nonetheless, Massa was on fire and his qualifying speaks for itself. Kimi admitted they were struggling with the weekend.
Kimi seems to be a straight shooter when fessing up to driving mistakes. So I'm going to assume his statements on car set up are correct. It does seem weird that Massa's car was fine but Kimsters could not be dialed in. Kimi was catching up but set it on cruise control not to screw up his or his team-mates weekend. Another day.
I wonder if Ted is getting his check book out....What is really interesting is if he pays up....I say no.