Sack Rubens!!!

I will agree his heart might not be there right now, he did start 15th and ended up 10th or something. Mikey started 5th and finished there. The fact is this season was bad all around, but dont blame just him, or just the tires, or just the areo package. Its a team sport, and right now, this team is not firing on all cyl like in the past. I vote Rebens should stay another year. Fisi is old also, and Trulli is the one lap wonder, it would take both of these guys more than 1 year to sort out the ferrari anyway. they need to stay the course.

 

rubens also started on different compound tires. he is still one of the best drivers in the field and I would never want ferrari to replace him unless it was with jenson button or kimi. fischi would just stall the damn car in the pits every race.

 

unfortunately, ferrari's performance was once again deplorable. The fact that Schumi couldn't hold on to his position was discouraging as well. Hopefully they will be back in full force next year.

As for Barrichello......i'd love to see Button in there.

 

He had an off race, happens to the best of them. He's been closer to MS this year more than most others.

 

Sack RB yes ... but don't look at Fisi or Trulli to replace him, they all are about equal and seemingly as uninterested in racing.

One has to wonder who else needs to be moved out to pasture ... same old team for a long time now.

Pete

 

I think it may be time for Ferrari to move MS out of number one and offer it to Kimi, with his McClaren problem I think he might be willing to make the move. If anything they could have him and M.S. together that would make one very awesome rivalry and fight all season long.

 

I think a lot of people put too much stock in the desire to drive for Ferrari. McLaren has a long and storied past too, and for the few years that Kimi has been there, they have really only had one off-year. There are no guarantees Ferrari will be back with anything strong next year, so if I were Kimi I think I would stay with McLaren, ESPECIALLY when you're faced with going to a team where

A) You would always be the #2 driver so long as MS is there
B) Things have been in decline and they can't even seem to figure out why
C) A talented group of people who USED to be able to make a fast car, can't seem to do it again, even given unlimited resources
D) Said talented group of people are probably going to be leaving anyway pretty soon


If I were Kimi I'd be staying at McLaren.

 

Even more wise words ... I also do not think (unfortunately) that Ferrari will bounce back to winning and especially dominating ways next year. They need to regroup and rebuild ... and that takes time.

Pete

 

KR seems extremely upset that the McLaren, although the fastest car out there, keep breaking.

 

Rubens advanced more places than the Big Chin today ,what race were you watching?

In his defense how tiring must it be that he has had to be the Big Chin's bltch all those years. He can't win even when he had the better car because the Big Chin & The Frenchman will not allow it. Since it looks like he going somewhere else next year , I hope he has some "fun" before he leaves a dying ship.

 

True, however this is expected when a winning car craps out and leaves a driver in a bad spot who was in line to get a championship under his belt. The theories that he's POed and is looking to other teams are wild speculation. He's NEVER said that, nobody at McLaren has said it, it's just wishful (and grandiose) thinking.

I think Kimi is in the best spot for a WC car there is on the grid. McLaren definitely learned their lesson last year and I think they will be very careful not to make that mistake again.

Who would each of us rather be with? A team with a blindingly fast car that isn't as reliable as it should be, or a team with a dog of a car who are saying "we don't even know why it's slow - we have no ideas on how to make it faster". I'd WAY rather be with former.

 

This is such a STUPID topic for debate I almost should not dignify it with an answer.

1) Rubens was on a different tire strategy and fuel strategy than Michael.
2) Rubens choice of a harder tire compoud meant that he chose reliability over pace.
3) Rubens has ALSO been in situations when he has ended up on the podium after starting from the back of the field.

WOW! How short is human memory!?

 

And stay a glutton for punishment ? How many years has he been there and McL has had reliability problems ? Every one. Is he supposed to just hope that (like Red Sox used to) next year will be 'the year'.

If I were him I'd want out of there in the worst way. His talents are being wasted in a car that although fast this year continues with reliability problems when it wasn't fast the last couple of years.

Ferrari OTH have had 1 off year in the last 6 with almost zero reliability problems throughout.

 

I really dont think that Rubens result was 100% his fault. Ferrari is doing so poorly this season like i have been saying is Ferrai needs to throw in the towel and start developing for 2006.

Give Rubens and Michael a much needed vacation put Badoer and Gene in the car and let then test experimental bits for the rest of the season. Fall back in the points so they can take advantage of the 3rd driver in 2006.

This may not sound like the most popular of options but it takes the pressure off of the entire team. Lets MS and RB enjoy time with there families and recharge the racing batteries. Reward the test team with some race miles for all of the behind the scene work they have done over the years.

If i was in JT position i would be thinking seriously of doing this.

 

By gosh, I think you've come up with the solution!

Carol

 

I have not been privy to the private conversations between KR and Ron Denis, but there certainly are RUMORS going around that they are not on the best of terms...

 

I think RB has every reason to be frustrated. He's worked is ass off all these years for MS and now has to deal with a car that isn't too competitive.

Let's face it. Ferrari had a winning design they that they honed like a knife. When it came to design a new knife they haven't been able to do so. McLaren on the other hand seem to be able crank them out almost at will. If one doesn't work... give them a few months. They'll make another one. Product development at McLaren is head and shoulders above Ferrari at this time.

Why would Kimi want to go from the fastest car on the grid to a mid-pack runner? I'm sure he's frustrated but I have no doubt the reliability will come.

I don't think Button's going anywhere. If he'd wanted to go to Williams I'm sure he doesn't now. And if they do have him on contract for next year I think a deal for Honda engines in order to let BAR keep him would be the wisest thing to do. So that's one less person to take RB's spot.

Truli... even with Toyota's poor performance these past few weekends they're still a match for the Ferraris. Why would he go from being on equal terms to being a No. 2? He's staying put. Unlike Pete I think he's one of the faster guys on the grid.

Fisi. To piss Pete of a little more I think Fisi's also one of the other fastest on the grid. Now you never know how Flavio's mood is going to be when he gets out of bed but, let's face it. Fisi's had a good deal of bad luck this year. "But the wanker stalled twice!" Bla, bla, bla, apparently everyone’s favorite Alonso has almost done the same thing as many times... so say's Renault. If their using hand clutches I feel for the guy. They’re not easy to use. Anyone know?

Short story here is I don't think any top driver is any hurry to get into a Ferrari these days. The current regime might all be heading out the door in just a couple of years and then what? Sure if MS leaves (fat chance) you could be in a good position, if everyone else stays. MS success is as much JT's and the designers as it is his. Who wants to move to a mid pack team that's having problems and then have 1/3 of the top management leave? Seems that they'd be in a much worse place then.

If anyone takes RB's place my guess it'll be one of the test drivers who've put in the seat time.

If that happens the best place for RB will be next to DC at Red Bull. I think both of them would have a ball racing with each other. They'd also probably give some very spirited drives because of it.

my .02

 

Kimi might be a good driver, but he's definitely not a good sport. That guy is a whiny sonofa***** and his attitude has no place in a gentlemen's sport.

 

With Todt in charge of the production cars and having a new bride, How devoted to the race team can he be??

 

Gentlemen's sport? What world are you living in? That's like saying soccer is a gentlemen’s sport. (we always used to joke when I played that soccer was a gentlemen's sport played by ruffians and rugby was a ruffians sport played by gentlemen.) From the grand stands it may seem that way but down on the turf there's plenty of discrete elbows, cleats firmly pushed into opponents feet, hacking, I've gotten a rabbit punch or two... I've also "walked" a few competitors out wide on the track as well. Altered my line, breaking points, turn in points, "bogged" at the apex, and just driven a very WIDE car altogether when it's been necessary to hold a position. The gentlemanly thing to do would been "to have conceded that the other chap was faster and thus undeserving of the position continue give way to the superior driver of the day and then continue on forthright knowing that I've taken the moral high ground and done the gentlemanly thing! Good show old boy!"

As far as his attitude goes, world champions have never really been nice guys. A general sense of entitlement and over self confidence is always needed to get the job done in competitive arenas such as this. It's one thing to act a certain way at the track but it's another to take that attitude with you when you leave. I've heard nothing to the contrary about Kimi. Well, except for his love of the bottle every now and again.

 

I am glad the announcers finally said what I have been saying all year - Jean Todt's too busy with that girlfriend and not focused enough on the team . Get her out of the pits - please

 

She is no more of a distraction than any other Girlfriend in the pits. and pointing the finger at JT is way off base.

Ferrari,s issues is with the the design of the suspension and the tires not being in harmony with each other. JT did not design the suspension nor the tires, laying the blame on him is like saying that Ron Dennis is the fault of McLaren's reliability issues.

 

How do you know that? I think there are probably many factors at play here. I think if it was just suspension geometry, it could easily be fixed. I think there is something wrong with the chassis itself. Maybe the way the engine or suspension or the aero parts are mounted, the chassis flexes under load and makes the aero less efficient (or too efficient), maybe it flexes and changes the suspension geometry a tad which is bad on the tires. Maybe the tires are doing something under heavy use which changes the contact patch and gives less grip... who knows! The problem is that Ferrari doesn't know - and that is a big problem indeed.

Last year when McLaren were bad, they knew what was wrong and how to fix it, but what was needed was such a radical change that their current car at the time was pretty much un-fixable and they acknowledged they would need to wait for the new one. I wonder if Ferrari isn't in the same position? They did something - maybe shaved off too much weight and the chassis has too much flex, or tried to make some part a little too light and threw several other things out of balance.