interesting comments about Kimi. specially when you consider he is in first place for the wdc.
nope. my point was, if Ferrari wanted him just to warm the seat during MS's final season, why didn't they sign someone up like Fisi?
nope. my point was, if Ferrari wanted him just to warm the seat during MS's final season, why didn't they sign someone up like Fisi?
With all the one eyed MS fans who populate this board I take my hat off to such a brave comment. Plenty on here hoped and prayed this year Ferrari won nothing at all so they argue MS must come back............
Allow me to repeat myself. "None of those drivers have a manager who's dad is the big boss at Ferrari". Also, Fisi isn't exactly Kimi or Alonso, hell he isn't even Barrichello. So there is no point in replacing a mediocre driver with strong connections with another mediocre driver who got destroyed by his teammate.
Fisi outpaced Massa when they were teammates. Furthermore while Fisi was outpaced by Alonso, Massa has been outpaced by every driver he has been paired with. I think the fact that his manager is Nicholas Todt has everything to do with his seat at Ferrari. If you read the F1 press at the time of Massa's original signing, there was an awful lot of headscratching over Ferrari's choice. Sonce then, Massa has done nothing to suggest that he has achieved anything more than Rubens had before him. In fact, allowing Rubens to go and replacing him with Massa, in my opinion, cost Ferrari the Constructors' title last year.
Yes I agree that Rubens would have performed better, certianly in wet conditions like Hungary last year. Thing is though, comparing Massa to Fisi is like comparing a Toyota Corolla to a Honda Civic, both mediocre, but they can fill the job of getting you somewhere competently. When you need something extra though, passing power, fast and stable handling, better sound, then you can't count on them.
Just have to get my 2 penneth worth in! Firstly i do not believe ms would run scared of any driver.In the words of irvine "its like being hit over the head every weekend". He is the complete package, and if michael had wanted to continue his career with ferrari he would have done. If there was any bad feeling and ms wanted to continue racing he would have joined another team. Fact is he has had enough,has 2 kids,more money than he can spend and has more than proven himself time and again. The rossi scenario was never that serious.Vale said repeatedly in mcn that his future lay in bikes, and without spending at least one season testing and seeing if he can perform he would never get an f1 drive,certainly with a championship contender. Kimi as is known signed very early for ferrari...his place in the team was assured.That leaves massa's place as the one under threat if ms wanted to continue. This is only my opinion, but i do think he is improving. His results last year were not as bad as some have described, and no better or worse than i imagine rubens would have managed. I am sure that todt's managerial connection has a large part to play in his selection,but lets give him the benefit of the doubt-this year at least! If he makes a balls of it-there is no excuse, he has the car and the team,experience to prove himself.For motivation he need look no further than his team mate.This is a crucial year for him...its sink or swim time
You were doing well until this! Lmao! Rubens is actually quick in the wet, something that Massa isn't. At hungary last year, on the crap bridgestones Michael was up front racing. Massa on the other hand, was in the back passing and getting repassed by Ralf! So based on wet weather ability, and maybe even overtaking ability, Rubens is better. The only way Rubens couldn't have done significantly better is if he was so fed up with the second fiddle role, he was totally unmotivated and unwilling to commit.
I will agree on the wet weather, but how many wet races do we get these days? Rubens can let his motivation drop and all his ability seems to go out of the window.When he is motivated he does stunning drives like at silverstone in 2004. I think some mistakes will come from massa's hunger and lack of experience-maybe he will try an overtake where rubens would not.I saw an interview with coulthard who said that when you are younger you certainly take more risks than the more mature drivers.Maybe this is the way to go someone prepared to have a go? Both drivers have their merits, i am just saying lets give him a chance.He is the only one who can prove himself and if he makes a real hash of it he may not get a second chance-but then he knows this. I remember when he first came to f1-he was quick but his style was so erratic, he made lots of small direction changes all the time and was so "busy" in the cockpit he gave himself a lot of work to do.Now his driving style is markedly better than it was....with the team supporting him i think he can continue to develop and bring more points home for our beloved scuderia! .
Another question we should ask ourselves is who else could replace him? Fisi has been shafted by alonso so he is out.Alonso and kimi would be good but i cannot imagine them "working" together,button in my opinion overrated as is hamilton-who is handcuffed to mclared anyway.Wurz blew his chance first time around, webber promised so much but never quite delivered.Kovalinnen maybe?,after buying out his renault contract.The only guys i really like who are young enough (kimi excepted) and could have taken massas place are the polish guy who looks a bit like he has been dug up-kubica-i really like him!And rather controversially i expect "Heidfeld".To me he never got a fair crack of the whip.He seemed to match kimi at sauber-very little between them and seemed to spend time at struggling teams such as prost.I would like to see him in a top team, although this year it looks like i will get my wish.I think bmw have 2 excellent drivers and a hell of a car!
For the exception of guys like Sato, Davidson, Albers and Sutil, I think everyone else on the grid would do as good or better a job than Massa in that car. Ralf, Jarno, Jenson, David, Mark would all be able to match him I think.
JPM is at the top of the list but there are easily half a dozen drivers on the grid who would do better than Massa behind the wheel of a Ferrari.
Rain is the great equalizer, it allows the truly talented drivers to show through. The fact that a driver struggles in the wet simply magnifies problems that he is experiencing less apparently in the dry. Whether or not we have many wet races this year is irrelevent, what is relevent is that the weaknesses Massa possesses whih are exacerbated in the wet may be costing him a position or two here and there during dry races as well and, given that Ferrari lost the WCC by 5 points, those small deficiencies add up over the course of a full season. Massa had three 9th place finishes last year, had he finshed a mere 7th in each of those races, Ferrari would have won another WCC. It is not a question of wet or dry races, it is a question of driving deficiencies which are only being visibly magnified during wet races.
maybe Michael sprayed his visors before the wet races? on the serious side, i consider Rubens a good rainmaster, hows ur opinion on him?
I wish Ferrari kept him last year, they probably would have won the WCC if they had. I really like the guy, I think he is one of the class acts on the grid. He was never really a title threat but he was a solid and dependable driver, I would rank him in the top third of the current grid though well below the front-runners. The problem is he is on the backslope of his career and, like Fisichella and DC, regretably won't be around too much longer. He is a solid #2 and of all Schumacher's teammates, was probably closest to him in terms of speed and results. He deserves to finish his career on better terms than what he is likely to see at Honda. My fondest memory of him might well be his emotional reaction to winning his first GP, I believe he dedicated that win to his hero (and mine) Ayrton Senna.
