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Driving in the wet is a complete skill in itself. Heck, JV absolutely sucked in the rain for many years, and he has never been recognized as mastering it.
But rain sure makes things interesting to the fans.

FLC wrote:Massa is useless in wet conditions?...What are you talking about?

When I say that Massa is mostly useless in wet conditions, I'm saying that his performance drops off big time. For some drivers, that's not the case. In the wet their performance relative to the field stays about the same. That's not the case with Massa.

That's not a knock on Massa from me. I've been extremely impressed with his driving as a whole all season long. But it's obvious he just doesn't have the same skills in wet races.

That's a good point, something most drivers have to work through. To be able to maintain pace all the way through the race is many start out weak on. And I guess the rain is a brand new learning experience. So maybe in a few years Massa can keep it together for an entire rainy race.

FLC, good point, I guees I forgot that aswell as being quick, you need to be consistent & reliable to win GP's.

That said, Schumi did well, but I still think Alonso made a better drive that day. Just my own humble opinion tho.

FLC wrote:Massa is useless in wet conditions?

Maybe he gets shrinkage.

for all of the drivers that need improvement in the rain, is there a test track that has water sprinklers for rain simulations? I realize that races in the rain are rare, but look how schumacher benefited in his career from them. I also think its good practice for safety reasons so we dont have collisions and wipe-outs.

walter wrote:for all of the drivers that need improvement in the rain, is there a test track that has water sprinklers for rain simulations?

Paul Ricard has a system for wetting the track so that teams can do wet tire testing. And any track can be made wet with water trucks.

I mentioned in another thread that wetting certain tracks throughout the season, in effect having mandated wet races, would be an interesting idea, since the only great races we've had this year have been in the wet.

Rain is so unpredictable, it really increases the entertainment factor. Don't forget, the very last lap in China saw rain coming back. One, maybe two more laps and who knows what may have happened?
Personally, I believe rain increases the safety risk a lot. Visibility behind a car absolutely sucks, and when something goes wrong, it usually spirals out of control quickly. Remember that huge multi-car pileup at the start of a race at Spa? About five years ago, and it still makes the highlights.
I have the timing and scoring up and running during the race (about the only useful thing in http://www.formula1.com), and no driver could run consistent laps. You would see three, four, maybe more laps consistent,then a lap three seconds off. Even the best have trouble cutting consistent laps in the rain, and one requirement for a top driver is consistent laps.
So the rookies and younger drivers have real consistency problems. In fact, they all do, but the best of the best, like Alonso and Shu and Kimi have far fewer inconsistent laps in the rain.

boban-mk wrote:I also think that massa did well, except his mistake when he hit DC.

At least now this might stop all the crap that is spouted about Red Bull's favouring Ferrari's and letting them through easily whilst at the same time holding up Renault drivel. (...and breathe)

walter wrote:for all of the drivers that need improvement in the rain, is there a test track that has water sprinklers for rain simulations? I realize that races in the rain are rare, but look how schumacher benefited in his career from them. I also think its good practice for safety reasons so we dont have collisions and wipe-outs.

Ferrari private test track Fiorano has also a water sprinklers system for rain simulation.

Not that ive driven an F1 car before, and i really dont think many of you have either, but id say driving and F1 car in the rain is pretty damm hard if you ask me....

Right, you can find out with your own car :).
I just have a 75hp TDI and if it's really wet and I put the power way down as I usually do, the front end already starts to slide out in 1st and 2nd gear. Take an F1 at +10x the power and you're on a friggin' icetrack.

Scuderia_Russ wrote:At least now this might stop all the crap that is spouted about Red Bull's favouring Ferrari's and letting them through easily whilst at the same time holding up Renault drivel. (...and breathe)

They did favour Ferrari untill engine deal with Renault for 2007 was sigend- now they're favouring Renault

manchild wrote:They did favour Ferrari untill engine deal with Renault for 2007 was sigend- now they're favouring Renault

Manchild, does this means that you agree with conclusion that if some engine supplier sells engine to another team, that it's normal to expect some favours, and that sell is not about money for engines. Because i do.

I don't think that it is good or fair and I'd like to see Renault beat Ferrari without suspicious help from anyone. That post and evil smiley are intended to annoy SR a bit