Didn't he (his agent?) demand too much money the first time round? I certainly don't know, obviously, but did they approach him a second time? Probably true. He's been in F1 a while now, and hasn't really done very much. Time to go grab a "top seat" in the minor league. As do many other "failed" F1 drivers. Good for him. (and them ) Don't get me wrong - I like the guy. But the "savior" of Ferrari? Not IMO. And what's "relevance" got to do with anything in racing? Is he? Again, I dunno - He certainly "burst onto the scene" very well, and seems like a decent chap. But, he's now being beaten by the worst driver in the history of the sport if you believe some here..... I think "useless" may be a little harsh. But yeah, many, many guys have impressed early, only to subsequently disappoint. If I were in charge (!), I'd keep Kimi one more year and see what young Max does - He looks like the real deal to me, but it's too early to know....... Cheers, Ian
Kimi who? I would rather have Bottas racing in red but then again I lost caring about what Ferrari does after MS left.
+1 Especially on the last bit...as Arrivabene says, it's not just about one thing but many factors. How he goes about everything, the harmony in the team they currently enjoy. If he finishes a comfortable 4th in the championship I see no reason to sack him, since that realistically is the target Ferrari have, 3rd and 4th... With Ferrari saying they are keen to supply RB/STR with engines I suspect they might want to have Max as an option. Another season in STR before bringing him to Ferrari would be perfect...They missed the boat with Vettel before (they tried to get him after his Monza win), I'm sure they'll try not to do that again!
Yes...he's had a tough start with RBR but really stepped his game up and regularly outqualifies and outraces Ricciardo. That's a pretty bit feat! Shame it goes unnoticed because they're not in the spotlight anymore....
I'm not underestimating Ricci. He was fantastic last year and has great overtaking skill, spacial awareness to rival the best (a rare treat). However, he is struggling this year which is disappointing.
Most drivers are difficult to evaluate when they are driving bad cars...take Mika and D.C for example, at the first couple of years at mac, before they where w. chmapionship contenders there wasn't much between them, after tha car was top notch, there was a world between them!!!Some guys just give it an extra push when they sense they can win....Last year Seb clearly wasnt motivated and Ricci was doing everything to earn his place
And yes. Seeing Kvyat drive circles around Ricci is as puzzling as what Ricci did to Seb last year. And Seb had at least the excuse of lack of motivation
Does the driver select it, or is it pre-set by the team (timed FIA required programming?)? If it is a driver-selected setting, then I find it to be a big oversight considering the Canada incident. One would think a veteran F1 driver would learn from past mistakes...
It's a setting used at the race start that last for 90 seconds (quite why so long I don't know, car's certainly don't line up for 90 seconds!). I'm unsure if it's immediately switchable to a different setting.
Driver activates and usually deactivates it. It serves the purpose of letting wheels spin easier in order to warm tyres up more quickly. Hamilton, for example, gets systematically reminded to engage it and disengage it before and after each start but Kimi probably just wants to be left alone.
I thought it did the opposite; i.e. gave a less-responsive throttle-position mapping to prevent excessive throttle application. Then, when deactivated, switched to a more-responsive throttle-position mapping.
It would make sense to use iy only during the warm up lap I suppose. Only top 3/4 teams are said to have this option.
Not so sure on that. Force india had it as well...It's a relatively simple setting too so no reason other teams can't have it.
Is that really the case? It's sort of become a "factoid" here to say/believe that after his struggles against Fred. But, does he actually really "suck" as many claim? Rather, it seems to me he's driving as well as ever. Maybe even "flattering" the Williams & dragging it ahead of where it should really be. Kinda like Fred was (supposedly) doing with Ferrari. He drove a marvelous race last week - I think the Viz noted that he exhibited some great racecraft and showed his value & experience. There's nothing wrong with Phil! A very fine jockey IMO. Sure, he was dominated by Michael, but I reckon any of them would have been. Michael, at his best, was quite simply without peer. Ian
