McLaren boss blames backmarkers for Kimi's title defeat

Agreed....boo hoo, Ron, boo hoo....fix your car!

 

They are a nuisance, but what else is new, start enforcing the 107% rule...

I was curious about how the old scoring system would have changed things (maybe a reason to complain) so I did a quick tally...

----FA-KR
1---6---6
2---5---2
3---2---2
4---1---1
5---0---0
6---0---0
7---0---0
8---0---1
Cur-117-94
Old-101-83

Alonso had 2 retirements and 1 finish outside the points.
Raikonnen had 3 retirements and 2 finishes outside the points.

So, wtf... Yes, McL is coming on strong, and as much as I like them and dislike Renault/Alonso, Renault won it fair and square (as much as someone can in F1...).

 

That's Ronspeak for our car was unreliable enough for Kimi to have blown the diffusers off the Renaults this year.

 

Now Ron thinks that both his drivers are better than FA. I agree that KR is but JPM no way. How many races has JPM crashed out of for whatever reason ? And Kimi ? Hard to think of any for KR and for FA for that matter. Just more sour grapes from RD.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=34182

 

I don't think the 107% rule is still in F1

 

It should be though (again) ... solve a lot of problems.

Pete

 

The time that ticked me was 2 (?) races ago when kimi started further back, and I cant for the life of me remember why, But was held up the first half of the race by JV who qualified at least 2 secs behind, was not in ANY hunt for points yet blocked untill he pitted.
Theres noy enough cars to start a 107% race, All races would look like Indy

 

Sour grapes IMO.
I have been cheering Kimi on for the whole season and Ron should be looking at the team reliability and Montoya's performance.
Kimi would have been leading the points if McLaren finished some of the earlier races in the year with some points together with Kimi retirements when he was leading.
The fact that Montoya screwed up twice when he was second by colliding with backmarkers show that he is irresponsible and no help to his team mate.
Why did he have to overtake them in those corners?
Surprisingly, when he led the races he never seemed to have any incident!
I think he does not want Kimi to finish 1st as that will psychologically put him in the situation of 2nd driver!

 

True.

When being lapped it is YOUR responsibility to get out of the way, not the other way around. Agree JPM needs to realise that there are d*ckheads with super licenses and thus be more careful ... but McLaren do have reasons to moan here.

Saying that, instead of moaning they should be working hard at winning the manufacturers WC and making next years car a winner right from the start .

Pete

 

Totally agree.
Yes it's the backmarkers' job to get out of the way but when he overtook Monteiro at the corner and slammed on his brake then Monteiro had no choice nor time to react but to smash Montoya's disfusser. He had 10 seconds over Alonso with 2 laps to go.
That's irresponsible and similar happened when he collided into Pizzonia.

 

Monteiro missed his braking point, plain and simple ... because he lost concentration with JPM passing him.

There is no way a Jordan can use the same braking point as a McLaren and if JPM was braking then Monteiro should have started braking 30 metres earlier (which BTW would have been before JPM was infront of him and thus the argument that JPM's car took his downforce is also discredited). Thus without JPM in front of him he would have missed the corner ...

The other point that Monteiro did not have time to react can also be discredited, even though irrelevant as he should have been braking anyway ... but guys this is racing, a car does not have to indicate and wait for a 3 second gap before carefully passing you! If the car physically fits infront it is good to go ... JPM did not hit Monteiro when moving over infront of him so he was good to take his line.

We all make mistakes, hopefully Monteiro will learn from this one.

Agree, but rythym is very important when racing ... thus you do not want to loose it.

Not true ... Pizzonia was trying to unlap himself and lost it into JPM. Most definitely NOT JPM's fault this one. Even the FIA agreed and fined Pizzaboy.

Both these drivers have made themselves known to the rest of the grid by these errors ... pity as it will not help their reputation. On Monteiro's side he is new and has made few others, but with Pizzaboy it is just too common.
Pete

 

well...i think ron should look back to basics....it's the car ron!!! not the backmarkers!!!

 

He's a British citizen, thus he does not even realise he is moaning when he is

Thus you learn to ignore the moan part and concentrate on the other content ...

Pete

 

This is the reason why I don't respect McLaren/Dennis. As soon as they get back on their feet Ron begins to whine. Pathetic and disrespectful towards Alonso and Renault.

 

In a weird way Ron Dennis is right. Since the Mclaren needs a new Merc engine every new race, Kimi is set back 10 places and therefore has problems with "backmarkers" (which in reality are competitors with slower but more reliable cars)

 

JPM is probably faster than FA over one lap and when he is on point he's specatular. He beat FA in a straight fight a couple of times this year so it may be closer than you think. JPM needs to be more consistent though.

 

If I'm not mistaken, didnt McLaren just take the lead in the Manufacturer's
Championship with their 1-2 finish in Brazil?

BHW

 

lol...

 

Huh. I wasn't aware that Pizzonia and the other back markers were part of McLaren's engineering team...

 

Do not confuse the drivers and their cars. The McLaren is faster than the Renault, and therefore their drivers to while on those cars. That JPM or Kimi are faster than FA is something that you can't know. Just remember that it was FA who had the pole this last time, and way more times this year than JPM, with a car that was significantly slower.

- Julio.

 

In the times of Ayrton Senna, pole position meant you were the fastest on track. Nowadays it is quite meaningless as it also depends on fuel strategy.

 

The Renault was quicker at the beginning of the year. Now the tables have turned and it's a bit slower. JPM is probably the best racer in F1 in terms that he seems to pull off a passing move where others don't seem to be able to. FA might have had pole in Brazil but JPM went out early so track conditons were not the same. Over one lap the differences between all three is not that great. JPM is still the same man that won 7 poles in 02 against a dominant Ferrari so i have no doubt in his raw speed. He took far too long to get used his new team. Next year will really tell the tale. On a different note how is it in Spain now that Alonso has won the title? Mass hysteria I assume?

Luis

 

So somehow you agree with me that the car defines who is the fastest: I would like F1 had an even lke the Rally Masters, where the pilots race each other on one on one with the same equipment. Now that will be interesting.

I do not dislike JPM, and I have no doubt that he is very fast, I just say that there is no way to compare the speed of 2 drivers in two completly different cars.

Yep, a bit too much, overblown. Alonsomania is invaiding everything. I mean it is understandable to a certain point, is the first Spaniard to win the WC in F1 ever, and with some new records.

But what is disturbing is that people in Spain that 3 years ago never ever watched a F1 race before (not say that they never cared about car racing at all) now pretend to know everything about it and they are blind fans of Alonso and Renault. That part I do not like at all.

However, so you guys understand what this phenomenon has helped F1 in Spain, here is some data:

1. In 1999 the TV audience in Spain for an F1 race was of 2 million viewers. Today is over 7 million viewers each race (this is way over what any mayor soccer event gets, except maybe the World Cup)
2. In 2000 Renualt F1 team merchandising income in Spain was 600,000€. This year so far is over 5,000,000€ and still more to come.
3. In 1999 the Spanish GP entrance was of 62,000 spectators 60% foreigners. This year it has reached the 150,000 (which is the maximun capacity of the circuit) and 80% were Spanish spectators.

And I do not have numbers, but is said that Renault sales in Spain have improved quite significantly the last to years tanks in part to Renault and Alonso success.

I don't know is this would repeat in other places like the US if you had a local pilot. But sure Bernie will like it.

- Julio.

 

To some extent, yes, i do agree, the car has a lot to do with who is fastest. The days of the driver being a huge part of the driving is gone for the moment. Semi automatic boxes, launch and traction control, are all things that diminish the importance of basic driving skills. The new rules that are being phased in, eliminate most of these things and some say the sport is being "dumbed down" but the truth is F1 doesn't need such things. It should be about the drivers and cars not who has the best computer. I tend to rate JPM's raw speed because of his past record and being able to get pole laps in a car that was probably a bit slower that the Ferrari and MS (2002). Alonso seemed to get outqualified a lot by Trulli when they were teammates.

I'm too young to remeber but when Mario won the world title i don't know if there was hysteria here. I'm sure an american driver would help.

Luis