Damn, what is "cool" ? Massa does everything the sponsors want, Shell adores him. Why? He is a team player, loved by his own team, performs as expected, does not make stupid Hamilton comments about his own team when a race does not go his way, and they know the effects of public appearance, or commercial with Massa can be used for more than one season. He has legions of followers, and most of all, the people in the garage know his ability and have faith in him. Their opinions are based on fact, not those I read here from a peanut gallery that is making guesses from watching a television monitor. It seems just being a team player in any professional sport, winning races, performing on track, makes you cool. I mean come on now, Kubica is one dry SOB, Alonso does nothing memorable on the podium. For a Spaniard he just without passion. And please, I would guess that the same people that criticize Massa's on-podium show also thought Kimi was cool. That borders on an oxymoron. I don't think he was called the IceMan because of the termperature. Give me Massa any day over Alonso, Kubica, Button, Hamilton, etc. Now Rosberg has that Leonardo diCaprio look, sort of like the Cevert thing, that would qualify for cool. Other than MS, there is no other "cool" driver in F1.
That's why we're fans. It is supposed to be emotional. You're certainly right when it comes to me. Kimi is the personification of cool. Everything he does.
I agree. As a manager myself, being a team player is cool. Makes everybody's job easier. Prima donna's are a real pain. You didn't mention Vettel. This young man always seems to have a great big smile on his face. Maybe that's because he is having fun blowing the doors off of so many on the race track. Never heard of any problems with any team. And my understading is that he does not have a manager so he handles all his own negotiations. What's not to like here?
The peanut gallery doesn't know what they are talking about... one of them swore, right here on this very forum, that they KNEW for a fact that Alonso would NEVER drive for Ferrari, ever! You'd take Massa over Alonso or Hamilton? I think he must have compromising pics of you somewhere Ron He's a nice guy, but being nice doesn't get you wins in F1. Being fast and aggressive does. Massa is fast.... in qualifying, and off the starting line. It's everything that happens between that and the checkered flag that he's been having a problem with.
Phil, You and I both know you would take the salesman who brings in $1mm a year and is a real ****** over the guy who brings in $200k but is the nicest guy ever.
I remember being surprised that they re-signed Kimi a couple of years ago when he was performing relatively poorly and seemed unmotivated. Things got worse and it cost them a bomb to get out of. Ferrari seem to do some strange things. Off topic, I saw Kimi being interviewed during a rally he's doing. He still wears his trademark dumb hat, but at least he had a big smile.
I saw that interview as well ... he was a real "laugh" wasn't he ?? toss up between a brick and kimi who is funnier
In theory I should agree with you. I loathe the altar boys normally. They deserve to get bullied and live a life of sadness. But somehow I like Massa. Barrichello was always a bit of a pee u esse esse why...always crying on the podium. I think it's a little bit because I dislike Alonso and therefore I prefer a Massa win. Yeah they've had their share of cool drivers. DC referring to titties on live air, Irvine punching his way through the field and rolling out of clubs at 6am, Button is now the playboy of the field. Hamilton isn't cool. When he was caught doing a skid in Melbourne he shouldn't immediately have apologised and got on his knees to the police officer begging for forgiveness because it would ruin his reputation... What he should have done is get busy on the back seat with his girl and light a cigarette afterwards instead, lol. My favorite F1 driver remains Kimi Raikkonen. Particularly because during the week of the launch of the MP4explosive128 when he went to a stripclub in London where he first chatted up all the girls and then got drunk and went on the podium himself. Schumacher had his moments....completely trashing a hotel room in Suzuka after winning his 5th (??) WDC....including stealing a forklift truck, throwing over the fridge and throwing a TV out of the room, all whilst wearing a Toyota shirt, lol. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2WKdmbVmG0 Seems like he's funny there....'I think I broke it' lol.
Mansell, cool??? For God´s sake, he had a moustache, was fat, and was always shouting at someone (preferably Piquet). And if Massa is the altar boy, Hamilton is the altar boy of Ron Dennis, wich is worse. I wouldn´t say that´s cool. But I thought we were talking about race drivers, not Hollywood actors, so who cares about coolness?
Still not as embarrassing as Barrichello's fake "falling over" routine and then crying on the podium though!. I know it's quite emotional winning a race but watching Barrichello on the podium always made Me think: "Get a grip, please!". Mansell, cool?, in America maybe but not in the UK. Far too miserable, whinging and whining about everything, struggling to get to the end of races without collapsing whilst other drivers looked fresh as a daisy, forever announcing his retirement from the sport when his cars had problems and a voice that could that could turn Mickey Mouse into a manic depressive!. I agree with you about Hill, especially uncool stood on the podium at the Belgium GP with that bit of tape still stuck to his ear. I'm not sure even Steve McQueen could have made that look cool!. Now say: "alumin-i-um" As for Massa, he's a nice guy (sometimes too nice in races), and for some people, nice guys finish last. Sometimes I think he's racing in the wrong era as he reminds Me of the likes of Moss and Hawthorn. He's that rare thing in motor racing these days, a gentleman driver. Should Ferrari have dropped him after his accident?, only if it was shown that he wasn't fast enough anymore, but he's proved that he's more than capable of going fast enough. Holding up Alonso too often?, that's Alonso's problem, afterall, he's there to race every other driver, including his teammate. Replace him with someone else?: if it ain't broken, don't fix it!, don't rock the boat!, don't upset the applecart! etc., etc. At the end of the day, as I have posted before, Ferrari went to a lot of trouble to get Alonso for a reason, they felt they needed him to help develop the car. The attention they've heaped on Alonso tells Me that they see him as their No.1 driver and Massa as a suitable No.2 which they've not said publically but I suspect it to be the case. I also suspect that Massa knows it too and lives with it because he knows Ferrari are still his best chance of ever winning a WDC. Alonso's comfortable in the knowledge that he can outperform Massa over a season and both drivers seem to get along fine, added to which, they are both capable of scoring a good haul of points at each race. It's also obvious that when it comes to Ferrari, Massa is very much a "company man" and as he has shown in the past, when required, he's a team player. When you take all that into context, it's quite easy to see why extending Massa's contract makes perfect sense.
aaahhahhahahahahahahaha Wait. Let me get this straight. You don't like Massa because, according to you, he has no charisma or personality. But yet you LOVE kimi.... I understand if you don't like the guy. But the reasoning you cited here is beyond ridiculous.
I think some people look for excuses to not like Felipe Massa. He is a very valuable asset to the team. The fact is that he is a top driver in F1 today; not the best, but definitely in the top 25%. Being a former test driver, he has a great ability to develop a car: to diagnose its problems and communicate with the team (who doesn't love the camaraderie shown in the dialogue and interactions between Felipe and Smedley). Another important thing is that he (along with Alonso) show the passion every Ferrari driver MUST have about the team for which he races. You can tell how proud he is to be wearing red. In my book, that is essential to being a Ferrari driver. That is more than we can say about Kimi. Kimi won a championship but with go unappreciated in history because of his lack of pride, commitment, and motivation when it came to his time at the Scuderia. As for the "5 year old" comment, I guess the best way for me to think about it is: kid in a candy store.
Maybe not funny, but definitely shows the guy smiles a lot, and talks a fair amount in the video as well. I don't expect you to understand...Being American and all . - RE: Mansell and Hill: Mansell, He retired from F1 when I was about 4 so don't know to much about him, but from what I have seen he was always whinging, even if he won the race by a country mile, to make him look like a hero I suppose. NEVER liked Hill, I can't imagine a more boring person in the world. Monotone voice, drives boring, he always stares into the distance...Christ I'd rather watch the 2010 Bahrain GP for 24 hours straight than to listen to him for 1 minute.
This is exactly why I think Kimi is cool. Did not take the opportunity to turn it into an instant marketing session, answered even the politically incorrect questions and remained totally unaffected by all things Ferrari. Too bad only 5 million or so will ever have a chance of understanding the inner beauty of that piece, but I don't think he really gives a sh...
cool: unexcited, calm, fairly cold, etc ... cool headed: restrained, relaxed, unemotional, lackin zeal, etc... In what way is Massa not 'cool' ?
Exactly!! This is after all motor sport, and not a soap opera. Mansell was a bloody stick in the mud who never left cherished memories in any team he raced for. Probably he must have qualified as 'cool' in some circles, but people just tolerated the arrogant **** as long as he brought results, and even then ... Frank Williams didn't even bother to renew the contract of his 'cool' world champ!
