MATCHETT: Ferrari - The More Things Change...

While I fully agree with Matchett, this is a repost:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143413&page=3

Post #16

 

Interesting. But I don't really think the Schumacher era was so full of fuzzy love like his comments imply. Michael is one of those focused competitors who draws everyone in around him to pull together and rally. They didn't succeed because of some massive Italian love fest. They won because nobody doubted who was in charge, and there were top people in all places. Too much is being made about epic culture changes at Ferrari now that Michael is gone. If they can build the cars, Kimi will bring them home.

 

+1

 

+1

Well said.

 

I also think this is accurate. To use a flying analogy, Ferrari has always had thrust, but needed a vector. I think there is no doubt that Micheal's big leadership strength was his engagement and ability bring a team where there was once near chaos (watch an old clip of a Ferrari pit stop). With strong top cover and leadership inertia from LCdM and Todt, I think my beloved little machine shop finally has the infrastructure to channel the genius and passion into results - an effective chain of command.

I actually think the pairing of Massa and Kimi is quite deliberate and could be quite clever - they both bring different things to the fight.

 

IIRC, early in Schumacher's career, he was also criticized for not being "human" enough. It wasn't until he broke down during the post-race interview at Monza in 2000, as he took the win and the lead his first WDC title with Ferrari, that he was fully embraced by the Italian media. In a way, I think Ferrari had influenced him as much as he had influenced Ferrari, IMO, both for the better.

Give Kimi some time, it was his first race with the greatest race team in the world and automotive history. He has been under the microscope since the speculation started a year ago about his, later confirmed move from McLaren to Ferrari. He was to be "the driver who will replace the legendary Michael Schumacher", and he had to answer all these referrences and questions raised about if he can help and keep Ferrari on their winning ways...etc. Just like all of the great figures in sports, Kimi needs to be Kimi, not the next Schumacher, Hakkein, Senna or whoever.

Massa needs to realize that he no longer has any excuses this year. IMO, this is the year he shows the F1 world that he indeed has the talent to be a top 5 driver in the field week in and week out. In other word, he needs to grow up now because no one is going to be there to hold his hands. Kimi and Massa is in the same generation of drivers, he is not suppose to baby-sit Flipe. Kimi is not suppose to be his role model or his mentor as Schumacher was in 2006.

 

All good points.

I just read a fascinating article in RACER about Kimi and his first days at Ferrari. If anything it sounded more like instant bonding. Anyway, the article makes a point that Kimi in his first meeting with the press as a Ferrari driver started by saying "Bon giorno a tutti" and the press ate it up like honey. RACER states that it took MS years before he uttered his first words in Italian. Also Kimi does state that he intends to learn Italian.

As I mentioned earlier in another thread, Kimi's and Massa's careers are somewhat comparable: They both started around the same time and age at Sauber. Yet look what different paths they took after their first year in F1. One was fighting twice for the title whereas the other spent a lot years test driving and in a midfield car. Ironic that now they're driving for the same team again.