Why are some so quick to scrap a driver?

Uh, have you watched like, half of the season? It's not like Kimi dominated F1 and just had a bad day yesterday...

 

+1

Plus, there seems to be alot more of bashing the "bad" instead of praising the "good". Makes me not want to read alot of news and oppinnions (or threads) regarding F1 anymore.

 

I´ve made the same comment as this before and got blasted.

But you are 100% correct in asking the question. What surprises me most is not the people here that have never raced, met the drivers long enough to have a serious conversation, met the crews, watched the crews from the garage or the pits, or actually know someone that is currently part of one of the teams. You have to understand their Monday morning quarterback attitude, its just based on knee jerk reactions.

What really surprises me is the people here that I know really have raced, or really do have contacts in F1. To hear one of them suggest that they would have gone for the race win with a crazy move and not worry about the championship points is beyond me. Or the Massa sucks thread, that was really stupid. Or the numerous threads about the Hamilton penalty at Spa, just amazing. Now this Raikkonen trashing.

You actually answered your own question with your lasat sentence, ¨short memories¨. I would add that people like to jump on what they perceive to be the winning bandwagon, so if a driver has some bad moments, its time to dump him. Schumacher got blasted for losing the 2005 championship, and even the 2006 WDC. Neither was his fault, yet now, people want him back. Go figure. And Ross Brawn, people forget the errors he made, not to mention being responsible for the terrible 2005 chassis.

I do not buy into this immediate hype that Vettel, or Kubica, or whomever should immediately be hired by Ferrari. I do not yet buy into the Hamilton is the real deal routine. I have seen too many drivers be hot then become cold as ice the rest of their careers.

The same applies to winning teams, suddenly then can go cold and have bad races or bad seasons. Its called racing.

Knowing since the winter of 2006 that Schumacher had taken Massa under his wing, I had faith in Massa´s future performance. And knowing that di Montezemelo hates to be wrong, I believe the Scuderia had good reason to extend Kimi´s contract and not hire Alonso. I still believe in Raikkonen, and I do expect him to pay back Massa with assistance the rest of the season.

As long as the Ferrari team is Raikkonen and Massa, I will continue to support their efforts, good or bad.

 

well, Kimi sucked big time since France. i thought we saw a bit of the old Kimi in Spa, and with a new contract, i expected him to set the track on fire in Monza. but it was seriously a shameful performance.

when Michael didn't like the car, he stayed on and made sure everything suited him. the problem with Kimi is, the car didn't suit him since his last win in April. what bullsh!t is that?

 

I wonder how much Kimi got to extend his contract?

 

He probably took a cut.

 

+1

forza ferrari!

 

"Think how stupid the average person is, then realize that half the people are stupider than that." -George Carlin
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If there is one thing that is evident to even a newbie like me, it's very hard to fault the driver in F1 for just about anything. I am not saying there is not a spectrum of driving talent, but look at Alonso. Two WCs against that German dude who is supposed to be a decent driver. Now he is stuck mid pack. So obviously the car is a HUGE part. When someone has a good day then a bad day, how can you say it is the driver being inconsistent, when it is obvious the car is such a huge factor?

I don't care which back marker bone head you point to, there is not a single guy in F1 that is not a fantastic driver. C'mon, it's 20 drivers out of 6 billion people, and there was a bit of a selection process to get there...

 

In F1 you are only as good as your last race .!

 

I am assuming that we are talking about Kimster.
Kimster was my driver of choice before and when he was with Mclaren. I took a lot of heat from some because of that but did not waiver.
The kid was on fire. He oozed talent and drive. He had crap for luck. I didnt care. Thats me boyo.
He goes to Ferrari. I am ecstatic. For awhile. Starts off good then..... something happens. The doldrums. Bad car ? Different car ? Tires ? Chemistry ? Alignment of the Stars ? WHAT ?
But wait he's back ! The old Kimster ! Hooray ! Whats that ? Another slump.
Rinse, repeat.
Lap records followed by lacklustre performances. Call me when you get serious again. I'll be watching just not expecting.
In the mean time Your old ride has picked up this phenomenal new kid that actually cares. Gets excited. Gives it all, mistakes included. I can live with that as long as he has the FIRE. That's what I appreciate.

 

We as fans only know what we are told or read somewhere. First hand knowledge of the set up of the car, condition of the engine, tires, etc. are not known to us. There may be things going on with these cars that we just don't know that affect the race. Only the team is in the position of knowing what is what on race day and the days after. Kimi was in position to win at Montreal when he got hit by LH at the pit exit and except for the rain 2 races ago would of won the European Gran Prix. He could of easily had 2 more wins with just a little luck.

 

Good point, it's easy to look super cool when you're in the best car, there is no doubt the cars are far from equal. Overall, I think McLaren probably had the best car last year and certainly this year except for a few tracks where the Ferraris came alive.

One thing to remember about Kimi is that he had one DNF thanks to Hamilton's bone headed stop leaving the pits, and one due to engine failure, neither were Kimi's fault. So instead of 57 points, he could have easily been well into the 70s and at P1. Same story last year, Kimi had to make up for DNFs and amazingly enough, pulled it off. A DNF for Hamilton would make things considerably less rosy for him.

 

He's said the same thing after every race. He can't get the temp into the tires until the end of the race. Hence his 9 fastest laps. That would also explain his poor qualifying as well. It's obviously something in the setup of the car that they just haven't been able to figure out yet. Just because the guy isn't emotional doesn't mean hes not ticked off when he performs bad, and isn't spending time with the engineers trying to solve it.

The only real complaint that I have is that Australia was the only race where he was driving like he had something to prove. Ever since then he has seemed to have lost some of his fire, but I'm not going to crucify him. The guy is an absolutely fantastic driver, and none of you can honestly think that Ferrari is going to willingly devote 2 more years of their time and money and constructors hopes into a guy they don't think is fit to drive for the scuderia. He's under a microscope by Luca just as Massa is. So it's obvious that they know that it isn't entirely his fault.

 

It has always been this way. I am sure that if Ferraichat had been around as long as Ferrari you would be able to look back and see threads titled:

'Why do we have to use the stupid pony from Francesco Baracca's plane?'
'Poll: Nuvolari or Campari - who is ugliest?'
'Engine in the back - stupid idea!'
'Let's get James Hunt on board'
'Why does Villeneuve keep crashing?'
'Scheckter sucks'
'Mansell is too fat'
'Prost is no Ferrari racer!'

etc etc

In fact, although he was seen as a controversial choice by many, I don't think any driver united the tifosi more than Schumacher. I don't remember seeing many 'Schumacher sucks' threads, although there were obviously 'Irvine/Barrichello sucks' threads. So really I think we are just returning to 'normality'. I am sure that if Enzo had been online he would have started a lot of those threads himself!

 

This is a key statement..Schumi gave the team, the factory and the Tifosi someone they could all believe in. His efforts and skills were so great, that it made others who worked with him push to there own limits. Even though he was not the boss, he was a great leader. The fans could sence this!
We now have all these discussions and arguments becasue the Tifosi don't have a leader to follow, and we are all so use to the standards of the Dream team days !


After all, when Schumi signed with Ferrari, it was said, "If we don't win with Schumacher, we will only have our selfs to blame"

 

+2
It seems like I open an F1 thread, read a couple of posts, roll my eyes, and click back.

 

Welcome to the fchat racing section...

One things for sure. All those posts sure make great entertaining reading

 

Actually, what it is, is EGO. You see, it's human nature to "build up" an underdog, conversely, it's human nature to "tear down" acheivers. This ability (faux or not) lends itself to have some sort of emotional control over something they clearly have no control over. Also, forums such as this give the perfect avenue to do just that. We see it all the time in threads. The OP makes a statement, someone disagrees with that statement, insults fly, then the thread dies or gets locked if the insults get "out of hand." Anonymity plays a large role also.

 

Anonymity has nothing to do with it you idiot! If you disagree then why don't you just come over here and I'll kick your ass.

 

+10 well put.