either schumi is washed up, or the car sucks - Spoilers

i don't know whats going on, but i'm not too happy. But remember he did sit on pole last weekend.....



E

 

As been said in previous threads, it's easier to go from 20 to 5th in F1 (especially with so many retirements) than say 5th to 1st. It also has a lot to do with your position after the first corner because lap traffic will screw you in the first couple laps. I will say, though, that the 248 isn't the best F1 this season (I give that one to the Renault, very fast AND reliable).

 

I'd say a little bit of both: The 248 seems fast (pole in Bahrain), but not that reliable.

MS seems to loose his appetite when starting from midfield. He did that last year and in Malaysia he wasn't doing much better. OTOH he had a great race in Bahrain.

So as long as the car lets him fight for the podium he seems to be ok. I'm also curious to see whether Massa can actually beat him in qualifying and race on a consistent basis or whether Bahrain (almost beat him in qualifying) and Malaysia were just anomalies. And what does all this to MS' motivation and plans for 2007?

 

I think Ferrari and more specifically, Michael Schumacher, will be fine. I believe they are number 2 in the constuctors standings right now so they are still in striking distance. I think Ferrari was very careful this past weekend due to their engine problems during the week. After they get their engine concerns behind them I believe they will start to push their cars much harder.

Remember in the first race Alonso said he didn't have enough speed to overtake michael during the first part of the race. So michael's car was very good last week. If Schumacher's pit crew were 1-2 seconds quicker on their final pit stop Michael could have have won the race in bahrain.

 

i wouldnt say that i was particularly happy with schumi's performance this race, although it was a decent performance considering where he started from. i was having a discussion about this over the weekend, i the best i can figure is that he has fufilled his desires to get from F1 and there just isnt the genuine passion to win like we saw pre 2005 (although i think the car had something to do with it) also there probablt is something having to do with an older MSC competing against younger ALS and RAI

although i dont see how upon arriving to the 6-7th place position he was never able to gain on heidfeld, despite heidfeld arguably being less a driver than MSC

 

lets hold on, and give a few more races a try...
the opening of the season is one week right after the other; and schumi even said not to expect a lot right off the bat for the F248; and to expect a lot more from its' evolution.

besides, i dont think i was the only one to notice that Michael's first pit was about 2.5 -3 seconds longer then it had to be...

 

Do you think there is an aversion to the pre-European races? MS and Ferrari seem to almost carry themselves like the first three races don't count (unless they do well) and that their training and testing is all geared to the European swing? I think they don't have their hearts in it in these early races which leaves the door open to hungry teams like Renault to jump ahead such as last year and potentially be so far in front that any normal attrition for Ferrari in the European stint leaves them hopelessly behind.

DMAX

 

I can't imagine that is the case with any of the front running teams; they're too professional to have a snobby attitude like that.

It is probably more a case of being prepared for the season or not. I bet we'd see the same outcome if the first few races were indeed held in Europe. The Scuderia had last minute problems with winter testing/preparation for Bahrain caused by bad weather and engine failures.

In general all the teams prefer the European races where they can focus more on the racing and less on the logistics. Fly-away races are hard on all teams.

 

I wasn't really thinking "snobby" so much as "less interested". I wouldn't believe that any of the teams don't take these early races seriousely, just maybe some mental blockage to top performance with a "we'll get it together once we're home" mentality. IMHO

DMAX

 

That'd be a dangerous thought to entertain. All races pay the same ten points to the winner. The early bird gets the worm.

 

Granted!

 

did they show any f-car telemetry during the race? I don't recall. Just wondering if they rev-limited the engine or detuned it a touch in malaysia, until they get the problem sorted out. my guess is the took a bit of power away in malaysia. time will tell...

 

During qualifying they showed onboard camera shots from MS' car and it was heavily rev limited. It sounded simply awful. However I would assume the same amount of rev limiter was set on Massa's car, which started further down the field ending up in front.

 

I think people read too much into raw race results. If you look at lap times we may very well have five teams capable of winning races this year. Development may bring another team into the mix. And as always, tires are the most important factor. Am I the only one who saw Schumacher, M having problems with blistering on his rear tires during his middle stint?

It's early days and all the teams are working overtime. Don't go awarding anybody a championship just yet.

 

The car and engine do need a little bit of work to get to the front of the pack but IMHO it is close.

MS I would say that the desire to win still burns quite strong but i also think that he knows that scoring a few points is better than not scoring any points at all. Also we could see towards the end of the race his tires were starting to blister so i think MS went into survivor mode and saved the car a bit. Also we dont know what went on behind the scenes, perhaps Ferrari saw something on the telemetry and he was told to conserve the car.

 

IMO, i'm quite happy with the scuderia's results in m'sia. given the fact that the amount of trouble the car had over the weekend, plus, just a week between bahrain and here, to get both cars up in the points is a good thing. don;t forget, no one knows whether there'll be a renault 1-2 had:

-webber blocked FA instead of nico
-MS started in 4th
-massa had a good quali w/out and engine change
-kimi was still in the race
-JB was not held up, by terrible traffic and strategy


so, now there's 2 weeks gap between here and aussie. btws, anybody knows if the scuderia will be testing till the next race? i have a feeling they'll settle whatever problems they have before aussie.

 

It's just one race, and a race where the car had problems going into the race. The 248 is not much better than the rest of the field as the F2002 and others were, so the margin for error is not there like it may have been. As far as the last race is concerned, it was one-stop strategy vs two-stop with problems for the first of MS stops (blistering tires). Also recall that Kimi beat JPM last week in the same situation.

I don't think Schu is as motivated as Kimi or even FA (how can he be after 7 titles), but it's waaaaayyy too early to proclaim his demise.

 

Even Hobbs & co. indicated it was rev-limited out of concern for 2-race durability. Regarding Massa, remember that Schu's 2nd stint included blistering tires while Massa had no problems on the hard compound.

 

and of course they'd know...Ross probably rang them to ask advice!

 

We have a bad/slow pit crew this year. That counts for something, even if only a little.

 

They knew there was a problem so why run the fool out of the engine and run the risk of blowing it and getting NO points versus being smart and finishing in the points? seems pretty straightforward to me. I don't think Michael should be "doomed", considered "washed-up" and/or having a lack of motivation, afterall, he did secure driver points and constructor points under the circumstances.

Carol

 

Remy, Aura, others; make all the excuses you want, but 'that's racing', you can't expect anyone to pull over and GIVE a position to anyone.
One persons' blocking is another persons' racing, it's been going on for years, what goes around comes around... We have/had a 'bad' pit crew,
but so do others, stuff happens. I'd like to see them do pit stops with a max of 7 guys over the wall, THEN we will see who is good........

As I said in my poll: dang near everyone had the same 3 guys picked in their top 3, so that tells you something about what we think of the teams, cars and drivers. Or does it ?

 

A couple observations (imho):
- MS was penalized some amount of fuel in the Bahrain qualifying due to the obscure 110% rule in the 3rd session of qualifying. Had that not happened, he may not have needed so much fuel on the last pit-stop and possibly could have hung onto the lead
- in Malaysia, 3 engine changes in the heat could not have bode well - i think F was conservative hoping to get to cooler climates
- the bridgestones may be better on cooler tracks, and so may be reliability of the the engines are having cooling issues. they said something about the piston crowns getting hairline cracks. is it heat? abuse? stress? material failure? who knows - but hopefully it can be fixed quickly

Overall F1 observations:
- i like the new qualifying, but it would be better if session 3 didn't have fuel requirements. the parade to stay within 110% and drop fuel for the fast laps is leading to parades. boring for the first 10min. and if there is a crash in the last 5min, you are kinda screwed at least at the longer tracks - maybe have room for 1 hot lap under light load.
- the v8s sound terrible compared to the v10s (at least on TV)
- the cars overall are somewhat less elegant than before - lots of strange wing shapes, appendages, etc
- i can't tell maclaren from midland on the track
- nico seems pretty composed. if F is looking for a new driver, maybe they should look at him. maybe he is MS at the "benneton" stage of his career.


16 to go - and I'm going to Monaco in person and can't wait!

 

This season looks like it could easily become one of those depressing seasons where the Scuderia is the 3rd best team (remember the eighties!) and we are hoping for good performances at certain tracks rather than over a full season.

I think Michael is not the force he once was. The great thing about him in the past has been his ability to get an astonishing performance out of a less than stella car. So far this season he seems to be getting all he can out of the car - the old Michael might have got more. The old Michael would certainly have utterly dominated a team-mate with the experience of Massa.

I hope I am wrong. I do have some faith. I think we will do better in Australia and stand a good chance of winning at Imola. I have put money on Michael for the championship and I did it today so I obviously don't believe all is lost!

The engine problems are a worry. I hope it is as simple as faulty piston rings and the problem can be easily fixed. In the past Ferrari have carried last year's car over to the beginning of the following season due to reliabilty issues with the new car. I think they probably would have done that this year if they had been allowed to.

We really need the Renaults to crash into the McLarens at the next race!