Formula 1

[Bex]

Good point that Tuftman. Webber is in front of Barrichello in the championship; a guy who raced with Ferrari during the Michael Schumacher heydays, who has vastly more experience than Webber in F1 and has arguably had a better car than Webber for most of this season. Just a shame they cut that race short where Webber only got 1/2 points otherwise he would be even closer to Vettel in the championship.

 

[Honkee]

I was always a bit critical of Webber, it seemed to me that he always blamed is poor results on his car. This happened a few times with different teams, but now he is at Red Bull it seems I was wrong, and I am glad I was.

Good on him!

 

[dibo]

I was always a bit critical of Webber, it seemed to me that he always blamed is poor results on his car. This happened a few times with different teams, but now he is at Red Bull it seems I was wrong, and I am glad I was.

Good on him!

The impressive thing for mine is that he stuck the thing on pole, and when the race went away from him he stuck at it, determined to pick up as many places as he could. He took advantage of Massa holding up Rubens and belted out some great laps in clear air after Rubens' second stop. Then at the end, rather than getting overexcited and falling off or breaking the car, he drove within himself and kept it on the island to take the win.

It was rather like Schumacher for the single-mindedness of it, and the controlled aggression (even if the first corner was maybe a little like petulant old 'bad Schuey'). His joy at the end was brilliant, almost had a tear in the eye.

 

[midfielder]

Did you hear his reaction going over the line ... would love if someone could put a pod cast of it up ... You Farking Little Beauty ... how more Aussie can you get...

 

[dibo]

It was funny when it went over on OneHD uncensored. It was funnier still when it went over ABC Newsradio uncensored at 7.30AM this morning.

 

[tuftman]

For me the impressive thing was when he scythed his way straight onto the back of Rubens after the first stop, when Rubens car would've been 40kg's lighter at the very least. What'd you think of his drive-through penalty? He said in the post-race interviews that he didn't know where Rubens was until he hit him

 

[dibo]

It looks like he was going to block (legal) rather than hit (illegal). At that angle, he can't turn his head right around because of the HANS device and the side impact supports/pads around his helmet, but Rubens' car would have been too wide of him to be seen in the mirrors. Looks bad, but didn't cause either to go off the road.

Alls well that ends well though, except for Rubens and his continuing run of bad luck.

 

[tuftman]

Rubens apparently went a bit rank to the media afterwards, saying his team gave an exhibition in how to lose a Grand Prix. Could be a dead man walking

 

[serious14]

I'm positively stoked that all his problems the last couple of seasons with Red Bull have turned out to be the car and not his driving.  I had to watch the replay on Ten proper in my Brisbane Hotel last night, and I swear I woke up half of QLD on the last lap.  Slightly nervous watching his last pit stop (having seen what happened to Rubens and the fuel-hoe-f*ck-up), but watching Mark pull away during said pit stop and opening up a 17 or so second lead...... ;D

I'm not ashamed to say I was running around my room yahoo-ing and cheering as he crossed the line, and I couldn't help but laugh when the "YOU FARKING BEAUTY, WOOOOO!!!" was broadcast.

Well in son, well in.  8)

 

[tuftman]

I've watched every one of Webbers 129(I think) Grand Prix races, and seeing the way he simply dominated reminded me why he was touted as a future world champion back in the Stoddart Minardi days of 2002

 

[Bex]

He has never lost it. Its just that the average Aussie journo and the average Aussie doesn't have a clue how much influence the car has over the driver's performance in F1. But I guess you would probably already know that; its just frustrating the way the press has criticised Webber's results yet he has put many of his drives in grid positions and finishing positions that they just did not deserve.

 

[tuftman]

SCHUMI'S BACK!!!!!

I know people are gonna say "Cheating c*nt" etc., but you don't cheat your way to 68 pole positions, 76 fastest laps, 91 race wins and 7 World Championships. Forget Adelaide '94, Jerez '97 and La Rascasse 2006. The man was a class of one in the noughties, and his epic battles with Hakkinen in the '98 championship, and for the 2000 championship will go down in history.

I could spam this with a stack of youtube clips(stuff like his qualifying lap in Suzuka '06-full second faster then his championship rival Alonso, or go back to Spa '97- 10 seconds a lap faster then Villeneuve and co. on a wet-dry race track...no really, have a look for yourselves)

I just hope he doesn't come back and embarass the legacy of dominance he left behind.

Apparently the man he's replacing, Felipe Massa, is going home to Brazil on Monday, is walking and talking..so its just a matter of time now to see just how far he recovers

 

[happy]

SCHUMI'S BACK!!!!!

I know people are gonna say "Cheating c*nt" etc., but you don't cheat your way to 68 pole positions, 76 fastest laps, 91 race wins and 7 World Championships. Forget Adelaide '94, Jerez '97 and La Rascasse 2006. The man was a class of one in the noughties, and his epic battles with Hakkinen in the '98 championship, and for the 2000 championship will go down in history.

I could spam this with a stack of youtube clips(stuff like his qualifying lap in Suzuka '06-full second faster then his championship rival Alonso, or go back to Spa '97- 10 seconds a lap faster then Villeneuve and co. on a wet-dry race track...no really, have a look for yourselves)

I just hope he doesn't come back and embarass the legacy of dominance he left behind.

Apparently the man he's replacing, Felipe Massa, is going home to Brazil on Monday, is walking and talking..so its just a matter of time now to see just how far he recovers

It's good to hear that Massa is recovering from that bad accident.

regarding Schumacher: although a lot more Germans will watch F1 now I think that this decision made by Ferrari is wrong.
This is just my opinion as I don't like him!!!

 

[scottmac]

SCHUMI'S BACK!!!!!

I know people are gonna say "Cheating c*nt" etc., but you don't cheat your way to 68 pole positions, 76 fastest laps, 91 race wins and 7 World Championships. Forget Adelaide '94, Jerez '97 and La Rascasse 2006. The man was a class of one in the noughties, and his epic battles with Hakkinen in the '98 championship, and for the 2000 championship will go down in history.

I could spam this with a stack of youtube clips(stuff like his qualifying lap in Suzuka '06-full second faster then his championship rival Alonso, or go back to Spa '97- 10 seconds a lap faster then Villeneuve and co. on a wet-dry race track...no really, have a look for yourselves)

I just hope he doesn't come back and embarass the legacy of dominance he left behind.

Apparently the man he's replacing, Felipe Massa, is going home to Brazil on Monday, is walking and talking..so its just a matter of time now to see just how far he recovers

It's good to hear that Massa is recovering from that bad accident.

regarding Schumacher: although a lot more Germans will watch F1 now I think that this decision made by Ferrari is wrong.
This is just my opinion as I don't like him!!!

Think back a few GP's ago we had one Jenson Button saying he was the greatest driver in history. now he has the chance to prove it! Wonder if that statement from JB had anything to do with Micheal's decision?

 

[tuftman]

Greatest, probably. The Best? Murray Walker would beg to differ if I recall correctly an article from him that I read a year or so back

I think its to do with the fact that a) Schumi will fit seamlessly back into the race team itself, he still works in an advisory role to them, b) Marc Gene and Luca Badoer(pretty sure its still them anyways) are good test drivers, but neither had great race records, so they weren't really considered I don't think and c) If he comes back at even close to his best, he'll still be the fastest driver in the field, and thats something that most drivers will admit away from the camera

 

[dibo]

the test driver/race driver thing's a funny one.

a test driver is expected to have outstanding technical ability and consistency in order to put out 120 laps in an afternoon while making minute adjustments and being able to feel the difference and offer a valuable appraisal.

a racer needs to not just be quick but also have good racecraft - not just tracking a perfect line metronomically but actually fighting for position, pushing faster when needed and conserving when needed.

schumacher's a pure racer, one of the best ever. badoer and gene are there to tell him and the rest of the team if the new additions to the undertray have improved rear-end grip.

 

[tuftman]

Dibo, Alexander Wurz is probably the best case of what you just pointed out. Considered by many to be the best test driver in the paddock, he was given the Williams race seat in 2007 and aside from a podium in the usual battle of attrition that is Canada, Nico Rosberg thrashed the pants off him. Being able to improve and develop a car is one thing, being able to defend your position on worn/wrong tyres, or being able to pressure someone into mistakes, or just scare them off the road is something completely different

 

[Bex]

The only reason Shuey is so hated is because he was so damn good. Sure, if you hate him you will probably always hate him. Personally I always found the hammering he got in the British press somewhat frustrating. Shuey was one of the characters who would say what he thought to the media and he was a bit interesting. In his later years he realised that the media would crucify him for every slight slip up so started to say very little without guarded caution. By contrast, the likes of Raikonnen bores me to tears but I don't hear anyone say they hate him. And then you've got Hamilton who was in the middle of the latest McLaren yellow flag cheatery. But I don't hear people say they hate him either. Probably because he hasn't won 7 world titles yet I guess.

 

[Bex]

Dibo, Alexander Wurz is probably the best case of what you just pointed out. Considered by many to be the best test driver in the paddock, he was given the Williams race seat in 2007 and aside from a podium in the usual battle of attrition that is Canada, Nico Rosberg thrashed the pants off him. Being able to improve and develop a car is one thing, being able to defend your position on worn/wrong tyres, or being able to pressure someone into mistakes, or just scare them off the road is something completely different

IMO, Damon Hill is another example. Sure, he did win a title, but the car was an absolute weapon, due in a large part to Hill's testing and development work. In spite of that, Jacques Villenueve, who was then in his rookie F1 year, pushed Hill in the championship right to the last race after having a slower start to the season.

 

[serious14]

And then you've got Hamilton who was in the middle of the latest McLaren yellow flag cheatery. But I don't hear people say they hate him either. Probably because he hasn't won 7 world titles yet I guess.

I've hated the cheating little c*nt from the start.