Anyone agree with JPM?

I agree with Montoya.

Someone's thread mentioned him having faced Senna in '94. Senna only participated in 2 or 3 races prior to his tragic death (having qualified on pole for all of them, only to DNF in all of them), so he did not really race against Senna the year that he won his first championship. I feel that '94 was Schumi's greatest Championship win so far, having done it with a V-8 Ford-powered Benetton.

After that, he went up against Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinen, and Jacques Villeneuve as his most worthy competitors. Combined, the aforementioned competitors shared 4 World Championships. In 2000 and 2001, when Schumi won his 3rd and 4th, there was only Villeneuve (on a very subpar team) and Hakkinen left, 3 WCs amonst those two. In 2002 and 2003, all that was left in terms of Championship winners was Villeneuve.

All of this to say that in the pre-Schumi days of Senna-Prost-Mansell-Piquet, these four fought each other tooth and nail, and had a combined 11 Championships between them, far more than what exists in the field today.

I think Montoya is as talented as anyone. With him, Kimi, Ralph, and Alonso, I believe we will have some very high quality racing to look forward to, along the lines of what we got to see in the 80s and early 90s.

 

The Williams was the car to beat in 94 and the Benetton the underdog challenger. Senna DNFed alright, but why? Because he made mistakes under the pressure from the young German. To the point that it killed him.

So in a sense we have indeed seen the big battle, just wish it had lasted a lot longer and without injuries.

 

In the end, as Hubert said, for JPM to have made those comments makes me wonder what he has been doing since he started in F1. He has been around for a while now and has not been any real competition to MS, just like the rest of them.

Thus MS has not raced and beaten as many WC's as others, but it is time for JPM to stop the talk and start the racing OR get out of F1 and let a real driver have his seat ... that should upset the JPM fans ... hahaha

Pete

 

It sounds to me as if JPM feels the same way that a lot of us fans feel. While other drivers may have beaten Michael to the title over the last decade (a whopping 3, to be exact), he has still stood without peer among the ranks of F1 drivers during that time. 1996-99 were won by far superior Williams and McLarens, and only Michael's sheer talent kept him in the hunt, save for his broken leg in '99. If you turn back the calendar 20 years or so, looking down the grid you really got the feeling that every one of the drivers belonged there--no BS--and once on the track there would be no quarter from anybody. If all the teams today were 110% funded, no financial concerns whatsoever, then how many of the drivers on the grid next month would be different? Plus, it's becoming widely accepted that modern F1 cars are easier to graduate into than those of decades past.

 

The funny thing that JPM doesn't realize , is: that by his statment regarding the lack of competition MS has had to face (in light of his winning record) JPM has made himself look like a total tool. (If I was losing against a competitor, you wouldn't find me so blatently point out the obvious.)
Anyway, where were these so-called terrors last season? Or the season before? Or, the one before that? Because, as I recall, MS was winning titles.
Point is, until one of these knobs WINS a world drivers title, then they'll be able to talk about competition, because presently, they haven't offered sufficent competition to win against MS.
Apparently, Ferrari and MS still have the best combo; therefore, they win. So, by induction, Schumi hasn't had an "competition" because the other teams, apparently, are too busy hiring too slow whiny primadonna wankers to drive, and engineers that couldn't build a ziptie.
Ferrari and schumi win for one reason: commitment.
So, until anyone else on the grid matches their level of commitment to F1, they'll rightly be in a league of their own.

 

Reminds me of the difference between the chicken and the pig in regards to a ham and egg breakfast:

The chicken participated, the pig was commited.

 

Good one Andreas,

One thing to note here it seems as if JPM was bold and trying to make a point his first season. Just look at the passes he made on MS at Brazil and Indy his first year they were bold clean and exciting. Now if we look at his driving style it seems more and more he has to punt the driver off of the track to get around.

Rob

 

Excuses Excuses: Micheal has just had to up his game higher than any1 else that the reason he won those 6 crowns

Simple as hes better than everyone who he has fighted against

 

While we're all beating up on JPM, I'd like to state, that I do appreciate his outspokenness. Even if it means whining at times. Just don't go as far as JV did, please.

As much as I admire Michael for his talent, his press conferences are as interesting as watching a deodorant commercial. With a lot of words he says absolutely nothing. Obviously that's the company line and he is just a good soldier, but it is boring.

Some here lambasted JPM for his "potty mouth" when he used some expletives in the press conference, but I take that any day over a PR regulated statement. No wonder I liked Eddie Irvine a lot.

 

Nothing wrong with outspokenness ... as long as the words turn into actions. I predict that JPM will never win a WDC. There is no way somebody who drives on emotions and not skill could last a whole season.

His passing attempts, even in his first year, are not calculated and skillfully executed, they are desperate manouvers of a man struggling to maintain the pace, etc.

Has he added anything to F1 ... in his first year a little, since then NOTHING! ... close to a one lap wonder.

If Williams had higher caliber drivers then Ferrari would be in trouble, and if Williams can build a fast enough car to put Ralph on pole in every race ... good buy WC to Williams. Ralph is like Hill, if he leads from the start he has a very high chance of winning the race ... as both are not fighters that can lift a poor car.

Pete ... stir, stir

 

What is going to happen to the sport when MS retires?

Will we have for the first time since 1949 a seaons where there are NO current WC's entered? ... does that make a mockery of the WC, and make it a lottery?

Worried, that the media will turn it into a joke.
Pete

 

I will have you know: it took a long time and a lot of invention to create the first ziptie. It just wasn't done by hiring slow whiny primadonna wankers.

 

... no it was probably somebody in their shed out the back, who went about patenting it incorrectly and then some 'quick thinker' stole it and scored the points (er, bucks)! ... touch down!, as you guys would say.

Pete

 

Um, anyone who follows F1 on a regular basis knows not to look too much into testing times. You have no idea who is running what.

 

Do you actually think that the cause of Senna's death was due to him being pressured by Schumey and making a mistake? That is absurd. I guess the whole trial against the Williams team and the modified steering column was just a smoke-and-mirrors show.

 

Actually we had that discussion just recently here on FChat. Until then I believed it was shoddy workmanship on that steering column, but some FChatters made some interesting posts, which indicate driver error: It appears as if he didn't wait long enough to warm up his tires after the restart and hence the tire temperature wasn't up to spec and the car bottom out and he went straight into the wall.

Why would a legend like Senna do such a mistake? I'd say for the same reason he spun out in the previous three races: Too much pressure from Schumacher.

PS: The trial was bizzare and unfortunately this year due to a new EU law we might find ourselves in the same situation again: Teams can now be held responsible in certain EU countries if there is a fatal accident.

 

The low tyre pressures were due to the fact that they had to follow a safety car for seven laps that was going incredibly slowly (for a Formula 1 car). I think the SC was a standard Fiat or Alfa I cant remember which.

Actually Senna had gone out of the previous two races. Interlagos whilst trying to catch Schumacher and then Aida where he was punted off by Larini in the Ferrari at the first corner.

Best
Mark

 

This is just from my leaking memory, but I think Mark is right. Larini drove the Ferrari in 94.