Post here all non technical related topics about Formula One. This includes race results, discussions, testing analysis etc. TV coverage and other personal questions should be in Off topic chat.
Hmmm, I like Red Bull/Coulthard/Webber, but not for a title. Same with BMW/Kubica.
I must admit that I am pullling for Button this year. Honda is pretty stable and wasn't terrible in '06. But I think Ferrari and Kimi will have the titles in the end.
I would really like to see Williams come back to form in '07.
He'll get slaughtered by Alonso next year lose all self confidence and never win a WDC (my be a bit harsh just think he'll follow the example of DC and Button) big mistake by Ron not sticking him in a team without potential to get wins unless the big guns drop out of a race (Hungary 2006 anyone?)
No doubt theoff season is pretty dull, so here's a debate to spice things up, very off the current topic but I had nowhere better to put this...
Lauda should have been 1976 world champion!!!!!
No, this has nothing to do with Hunt at the British GP, Lauda's crash or the final race of that championship at Fuji where Lauda gave up the fight for the championship because he feared it was too dangerous (one of the bravest moves F1 has ever seen IMO)
The third GP of that season was the introduction of new rules including a limit on the width of cars to that of the widest car in 1975. Hunt won the event at Jarama in Spain although his car was illegal by being 1.8cm too wide (a large gap in F1). He was promptly disqualified but reinstated 2 month laster after an appeal by Mclaren. Had he not been given this win Niki would have won the championship with 71 points to Hunts 60.
Surely Hunt should have been disqualified for this as it was blatently outside the rules, although Mclaren claimed that the car was too wide because of a change in profile of their goodyear tires.
Your comments please.
Murphy's 9th Law of Technology:
Tell a man there are 300 million stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.
Having been to young for that era. If his car was breaking the rules the car should have been disqualified. Or at least a comprimise met whereby Hunt got the points as it was beyond his control and McLaren didn't get any from that event. I think the former would have been the better though
Spyker MF1 wrote:He'll get slaughtered by Alonso next year lose all self confidence and never win a WDC (my be a bit harsh just think he'll follow the example of DC and Button) big mistake by Ron not sticking him in a team without potential to get wins unless the big guns drop out of a race (Hungary 2006 anyone?)
I agree. Look at what Senna did to Michael Andretti. Lewis had better learn to enjoy the short lived headlines he enjoys because they will suddenly end in March and by June the press will be questioning Ron's decision. Flav stuck Nando at Minardi for a year and had enoufg confidence in him to replace the then resurgent Button with him against much criticism. It can never hurt a good driver to spend some time in a slow team but it can hurt a good one if things happen too fast.
For sure McLaren have their proven ways but one way that is proven is to get a driver from another great team and inquire about hir prior team's procedures and adopt some while rejecting others. This will make Fernando more the center of attention in the garage and at tests. All poor Lewis can do is listen. Over time this will wear on him and he will loose assertiveness and his influence will wane from nil to less than nil. He is in a no win situation. unless he has loads of mental durability and buckets of real talent, he will never reach full potential. While McLaren claim to have equal driver status, just ask DC or JPM what they think. Lewis had better get used to a "Barichello" role for the duration of his tenure at McLaren because Nando is the most talented driver of the last few years (including MS!). His race-craft and ability to handle pressure are also unsurpassed. He is in a league of his own, comfortably ahead of even Kimi in my book.
Innovation over refinement is the prefered path to performance. -- Get rid of the dopey regs in F1
Totally agree with you there apart from the short lived headlines bit. He could fail to finish a race in his whole career through crashing it himself but it will constently be "is this going to be his race" scenario. In exactly the same way as Button. When maybe people have eventually realised he is a lost cause he wins a race and "OMG better get him in ROC ad Sports personality of the year"
[quote
While McLaren claim to have equal driver status, just ask DC or JPM what they think. Lewis had better get used to a "Barichello" role for the duration of his tenure at McLaren because Nando is the most talented driver of the last few years (including MS!). His race-craft and ability to handle pressure are also unsurpassed. He is in a league of his own, comfortably ahead of even Kimi in my book.[/quote]
im sorry, but you just simply cannot compare the role of 'second driver' at mclaren with that of barichello's situation at ferrari.
Of course if you asked DC or JMP they would have something to say, but then they would, wouldnt they. The field is as level as it realistically can be at mclaren.
I think this talk of second driver status for most teams, other than ferrari, is vastly over rated. At the very best, the advantage would be having a few bhp more from the engine, perhaps pick of strategy for qualifying..this is nothing that would handicap a truely top flight driver. Once qualifying is over, mclarens policy is to let their highest grid position driver take preferance of race strategy.
If lewis is good enough, he will be able to show it.
It's veering a bit OT, but I wouldn't worry unduly about Hamilton (at least not yet). I don't think the Senna/Andretti comparison is valid. Andretti (IMHO) was not a top drawer driver (unlike his father), he was not fully committed to F1. Look at Mika - he arrived and out-qualified Senna, then took ages to win his first race (a gift from DC) - I expect Hamilton will follow a path more like Mika's. Just give him some time and don't worry about Alonso.
nudge, every team will have a favorite, the driver who gets the best merchanics, newest parts, latest updates. In some of the smaller teams it will be the one who proides the most money, Super Aguri would alwas have given prefference to Sato over Montagny for example even if the Frenchman was a better driver, because the money Japanese customers bring in to watch Sato do well is what keeps SA alive. Mclaren always favored Mika over DC because he had been in the team longer and was more experienced with the team, therefore he was always more likely to suceed and bring results for the team. Alonso will be a favored driver because he has 2 world championships and is one of the greatest on track today, Hamilton has it all to prove at the moment, although that position may well change in a couple of years because of Mclarens long term interest in him.
As far as I can tell the most equal team at the moment is probably Honda. Ferrari will always favour their lead driver (who will it be this year) but now they have a situation where they have 2 outstanding drivers on the team so again team experience may come into play. Renault will be grooming Fisi for a while till Hekki comes good. BMW will probably favour Nick because he's German and at the end of the day BMW is only in it for the money, so a successful German driver will make more than a successful Pole. Williams will probably go for Rosburg as he is the rising star. Toyota seem to favour Ralf usually, although the drivers are pretty even. As I said before, Honda are gloriously even, but Button has the lower number on his car. Red Bull will most likely go for DC because he has the experience, although its all pretty even. Spyker, still not clear who there drivers will be next season. Tora Rosso, ditto. And SA, as previously mentioned, Sato. Although I hope Davidson will beat his red and white Samantha Kingz socks off in 07.
Murphy's 9th Law of Technology:
Tell a man there are 300 million stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.
[quote="Tom"]nudge, every team will have a favorite, the driver who gets the best merchanics, newest parts, latest updates. In some of the smaller teams it will be the one who proides the most money, Super Aguri would alwas have given prefference to Sato over Montagny for example even if the Frenchman was a better driver, because the money Japanese customers bring in to watch Sato do well is what keeps SA alive. Mclaren always favored Mika over DC because he had been in the team longer and was more experienced with the team, therefore he was always more likely to suceed and bring results for the team. Alonso will be a favored driver because he has 2 world championships and is one of the greatest on track today, Hamilton has it all to prove at the moment, although that position may well change in a couple of years because of Mclarens long term interest in him.
quote]
i dont think teams consider they have a good set of mechanics for one driver, and lesser so for the other. I dont think in this day an age one driver gets 'new parts' before the other....the only time that happens with the big players is merely down to the long life engine regulations.
For most of DCs time at mclaren, he had the engineer considered their best, Pat fry.
I simply dont agree that having a 'favoured driver' means that the second driver dosnt have every chance of performing if they have the talent to do so.
Most teams, assuming they dont have a big performance advantage, simply want to win races...if one driver is performing better at any given meeting, they will get the support. DC did this from time to time at mclaren, and the team was perfectly satisfied with his wins im sure. I actually think that considering just how good mika was, he did very well to win as often as he did....and thats the point, Mika was quicker, braver and more consistent than DC ever was....so its a chicken and egg situation. Is he favoured because he is better, or is he just better so he's favoured.
podium and win is possible,but not the title....
