The end of an Era

The end of an era will be the last race in 2006 when Michael, Rubens, Ross and others will leave.

The current situation is a temporary setback. Ferrari will be back and win a race this year.

I don't think Michael will win his 8th title this year and quite frankly, that is perfectly fine with me. Seven is plenty, time for somebody else to take the crown. I just hope that particular somebody will start the new era with Ferrari in 2007.

 

Though I am a Ferrari fan, I have to admit Im happy to see DC get some points and look like a decent leader for Red Bull, speedy quick Trulli place high, and Ralf do well... but I think Im the only one.

I don't think Ralf got his drives based simply on name. Given his rough luck with the press, family issues, speeding/crash tickets, always living in the shadows of a legendary brother, it has to effect the way he approaches things. To see him in a decent make it or brake it role and get some points I think is good. Wasn't DC in an airplane accident that claimed the lives of some friends and later saw the brains behind Illmor racing die also in a air accident? Yet people would bash him on net forums saying he has no leadership or even driving skills during these times. Is Fisi the only true patriot who in my opinion wants Ferrari so bad not just because of their top team status but for countryman type pride? If the era has to change, I want the others to grab just one bit of glory and not a complete switch to just one guy.

However, Shuey winning one last championship this or next season and right afterwards retiring to his Swiss/German land would be great. Go beyond the "its better to burn out than to fade away" quote with a crown.

Alonso as the start of a new era, I can definitely see and like that. Seems like a simple racer with no head case, attitude baggage. If he is constantly challenged by the Ice Man, so much the better for all of us.

RocketBoy

 

I'll check back here mid-season with my thoughts.

 

16 more races to go.

It is actually nice to see Ferrari lose for once! I dont know how many races during 2002, 2003, 2004 I just skipped because I could already predict the outcome. This season should be full of unpredictability (unless Renault keeps their pace!). Whether Ferrari will win the championship, who knows. I strongly believe they will still be a major contender this year. I think next race we will see a turn around (mind you, thats what I said before Bahrain )

 

Yeah! Don't hold your breath on that one, you may turn blue.

Formula 1 is always Ferrari era, no matter if they are winning or losing. F1 is only around because Ferrari have decided to stick to it for so long. Ferrari will always be in the forefront and limelight even if they decide to bring F430s to the track and race them in place of the F2005!

Also, you do not need to wish us luck for Imola. Luck has nothing to do with winning and Ferrari know that. It is teams like McLaren, Renault, Toyota and BAR that base their strategy on luck!

 

Hmm, there is an interesting thought. Never looked at it that way. Not sure I agree though: Le Mans e.g. is still around despite Ferrari being part of it on and off. Obiously that's only one race, whereas F1 is a series.

Thinking back on the "pirate races" where F1 temporarily split and Ferrari, Alfa and Renault run one series and the British "garagists" another. Both survived temporarily. But in the long run? Interesting question.

 

I like this guy!

However, I dont know about everyone else, but if there was one team and one driver I would want to win instead of Ferrari-Schumacher, it would be Renault-Alonso. I hope one day Alonso is in red.

 

The Renault team for the past few years has had the potential for greatness....but things just didn't go their way. I think it was only a matter of time before they got it all together. But I didn't expect them to be so strong as they are right now. I too enjoy seeing them succeed. Ferrari will get things together soon.....don't count 'em out yet!

 

McLarenPower,

Talk about underachieving....You should do more research into F1 budgets my friend. McLaren spends within about 5 million dollars of Ferrari and Toyota spends more than Ferrari now. We can count the number of wins by McLaren since 98' on one hand.

 

One word: Kimi.

 

That'll be one of those 22 fingered hands will it?!
In the 99 - 04 seasons McLaren won 22 times.

I think Jean Todt would agree with you there and he's a man who's used to getting what he wants:

http://www.homeoff1.com/news/item.aspx?id=10994

 

Quite frankly, I think that Formula One is getting boring because the same driver keeps winning every race

Bernie and the other teams have manipulated the rules to neutralise the all-conquering Ferrari team and they've been successful...for now. Let's check this thread again in mid-season.

I hated the feeling I had last Sunday when watching the race - it reminded me of the 21 years in the doldrums between 1979 and 2000. Not a pleasant feeling at all

Cheers, MARK

 

Nope...I can't agree with you. For 21 years I backed a losing team and 2000 through 2004 has just been an absolute pleasure.

MARK

 

Sorry did I miss that McLaren win total....I was referring the the post Mika era.

 

Dont get me wrong. Im not saying it would be nice to see Ferrari lose the championship, only a few races here and there . Makes the season more interesting.

I can imagine where your coming from, however. I am relatively young and new to the sport of F1. I wasnt with it during those dry times, so, I guess its a lot easier for me to say its nice to see them lose once in a while than it is for you.

 

If Michael win for 8th..then 9 if it reaches 10. We should change the sports' name to MS instead F1.

 

100% behind you on this Mark!!!

I sat thru all those years, lost 2 wives , 3 houses, 14 cars, and the only constant was Ferrari losing....I never want to go thru that again, bugger the garagisti

 

This is true but they are taking a hard look at Kimi as well. Button may actually have an outside shot , i think RB rates him highly too. Considering Flav and Ron may not like the idea of thier drivers going to the scuderia maybe Button isn't such a long shot. Who knows, anything can happen.

 

Actually the trend of their relative performance is improving. As for reliability, you should know better than doubt Ferrari's reliability, they have rewritten the laws of what was once considered possible. Whatever minor issues they had with the prematurely release F2005 will be resolved shortly.

I think they will still have a fight on their hands because Renault have done a great job over winter, but your reports of the SF's death have been grossly exaggerated.

ps- Forza!

 

He-he!! I'm with you John....they were bleak years indeed. When the tide turned, I bought my first Ferrari!

Cheers from the Isle of Mud,

MARK

 

Ibloodywellhopeso!! MARK

 

Hey Omerta...no problem!! But from my perspective, to hell with "interesting" seasons...sport is about business, and business is about winning! The lean years were terrible, and for the past three races I've been experiencing the same dark, depressive, sinking feelings of hopelessness. It's terrible and the sooner the Scuderia gets back on track, the better my state of mind will be....

Lose?? NEVER....

MARK

 

What exactly is "Mclaren Power"? Is it Mercedes? Or Illmor? Or Peugeot, or Ford, or Honda or Tag/Porsche? Mclaren are what I call engine whores. Williams is no better, witness how well they did with Judd power and then Mecachrome. There are only 3 teams in this years constructors championship, namely Ferrari, Toyota (kudos on building the whole thing from scratch, including their ingenious use of industrial espionage to rip off Ferrari) and maybe Renault. Everyone else can't even build their own engines.

So while we're talking about Ferrari's budget, compare it to Mclaren + Merecedes or Williams + BMW. As if anyone even knows what the budgets of non-publicly traded companies are anyways. What a load of BS.

I don't know how many of you watched the last race but it sure looked to me like Schummy was being held up by Alonso before his mechanical. A 6/10 sec. gap is about as close as you can get these days with the aerodynamics. If you think Ferrari is going to roll over and die after losing 3 racing, keep dreaming.

And IF we do start getting beaten, we aren't going to pull out to avoid it like Renault did (twice), like BMW did and others.

I will give Mclaren this, at least they are serious about their racing and have been around for a long time, even if they can't build an engine (a somewhat important component in a racing car).

Ferrari is special. They are the only ones.

 

This so reminds me of 2003. Shumie DNF'd the first two races, and all of a sudden there was talk of him being over the hill. Then Michael won the 2003, and 2004 championship. Don't count Ferrari out just yet. Ferrari's problem was that they took things for granted, and got caught with their pant's down. I think that the last two slaps in the mouth woke them up. LOL. So we shall see how they respond. Give it a couple more races. But one thing that is for sure, this season will be no cake walk.