Would Shumi have let RB win if...

I still think he would have let him win at least one! Did you notice in the interview after the race when they asked him about MS closing in? He said something about both having to conserve thier engines.Yeah right.MS could've passed or at the very least attempted a pass if he wanted to.

 

MS will always take the win when ever there is a sniff of it ... that is the difference between the 2. The idea of MS playing team orders is like asking you not to have sex ever again ... impossible.

Yes he has done it once in the past ... but that was under huge pressure after the team order balls up at Austria.

Pete

 

MS without a doubt let RB coast home. I'm not sure if MS could have made the pass, but no one does. I think they walked the cars in to victory lane.

 

The two were on such different race strategies that it is impossible to know. Only Rubens, Michael, Ross & Jean really know, but Ruben's body language on the podium says it was his win and not a 'give-me'.

 

Man, this kind of talk pisses me off! Why is it when MS slows after the last pit and RB catches him up - it's because that is what happened. THen why is it when RB does the same and MS catches up - it was the team orders that prevented him from passing? MS gifted the win, etc., etc. BS! Did anyone see the lap times RB was cranking out? There is NO WAY MS could have caught him if there had been no team orders. He was too far back and when he did better RB's times it was only by a couple of hundreds. Give credit where credit is due. RB smoked the field and he deserves an atta-boy! He drove a hell-of-a race!
Jim

 

I think MS could have won it if he had made the decision to. He made it through the whole field, do you think that he couldn't have just finished the job if he really wanted to? I'll bet there won't be many more races that you'll see this happen and that is what will prove the point.

 

I really agree! I watched the whole race and RB was tearing that track up...

 

standard policy - no racing after the last pit stop. RB cranked some great laps, was running well, and would have kept his line. MS wanted to be on the podium with Rubens and not in the weeds walking to the pits. MS cooperates because RB is the "best 2nd driver" in the Ferrari camp for what, 20 years? no complaining (well - almost none), supports the team completely, and still brings in the points.

Now, if Michael hadn't gone and spun out and started from the back of the pack, and if Rubens hadn't needed that extra pit stop, it would of been a much less exciting race. Love those Bridgestones - pick 1) slide out on the first 2 & turns, or 2) pit for new tires after 3 laps. Some choice in those exact conditions!

 

RB Deserved it. I think RB won the race fair and square. I think RB gets told all the time to let Schumi win because Schumi brings in the BUCKS!!! RB is in a good position in life. I wouldn't fight it!!! But now that Schumi has it clinched Ferrari says go for it. Schumi said that he would help RB win if he could.

Give RB the benefit of the doubt. He's a great driver. He beat every other car out there. He beat JPM!!! and that makes me happy.

 

Earlier in the race, one Ferrari did pass another. Why? Some great pass move on someone trying to block. NO! He just let him by. Why? Because at that point in the race, one of them was going faster than the other AND they are on the same team.

I often go out to the track and I sometimes pass people and sometimes get passed. In all cases, they are easy passes. Why? Because we can tell who is going faster and we ABSOLUTELY do not want to risk each others cars.

So, now here we are, 10 laps left to go... RB has the fastest laps of the day and is in position to lay down more such laps. MS has been fast, but not quite as fast as RB. But they are in positions 1 and 2. As a team, they could risk both 1 and 2 by encouraging both to run hard to the finish. Or as a team, they could ensure a 1-2 finish by conceding that RB has won the race to that point.

Now, had MS not made a pair of mistakes in the opening lap chicanes, he may have been in front of RB at that point and would have been dubbed the winner.

Think of it this way...

As a team, they could have an agreement that whoever is in front in the last stint when they are in 1-2 positions wins. Its a race to that point... but after that, they cruise to 1-2 victory.

Is that so bad? I don't think so. As hard as it is to pass cleanly in cars with different performance characteristics, it would be nearly impossible to pass cleanly in two nearly identical cars. Mid-race there is variation in fuel load; at the end of the race, even the fuel loads are identical. It would be foolish for teammates not to make the above agreement, IMHO.

 

RB has come in first and second more than any other drivers have come in first except for his teammate. Doesn't that make him the second best F1 driver in the world?

 

I agree, but for RB to establish some credibility it WAS bad. In this case, I wish MS would have said (like in the past), " Rubins was too fast to catch today." That would have have made the win legit and the RB bashers would have nothing to say.
Jim

 

Er, no! Crazy logic.

Kimi and Alonso are obviously a better drivers than RB, but their cars suck.

Pete

 

RB was the better man and I think clearly should of won. Next week MS would may easily beat him at the same track. On that day RB deserved the win and posted the fastest times. The idea of team orders and not screwing the 1, 2 spot is also true. RB clearly pulled over for MS last year and on any given day I do Believe RB can win. Besides his racing skill , he seems like just a great guy with a huge heart. I just hate to think anyone doesn't want to give him the credit he deserves.

 

I'll give RB the credit he deserves, he won that race fair and square. Sure MS might have pushed harder and challenged him at the end, but what driver would risk loosing a 1 - 2 team finish with only a few laps to go, by trying to overtake his teammate. To much can happen: mechanical breakdown, shunt into the wall or grass or a collision with his teammate. I don't think you can say that MS let RB win, Any driver for any team who found himself in that position would have done the same things as MS.