Bandwagon jumping in the Racing section..

Don't count Kimi out. I think he will find himself this season but it may be the last few races. Massa has been reborn and is doing great. Hamilton came out of nowhere and has done an exceptional job so far. Alonso will be hard to beat. He is showing his determination. I'm really enjoying this season but I still don't like the points awarded for 1st place. That would change the standings a bit.

 

You have stated on Ferrarichat that you are not a MS fan. Now you tell us you own the pole breaker suit. Somehow these two statements don't fit together.

 

Not really - at age 8, he told Ron Dennis he'd be racing for him one day and driving a McLaren. Throughout the forthcoming years, Dennis nurtured him . . .Lewis won several championships and here it is today . . . Even Frank Williams likened him to MS. (Lewis's dad should be commended for doing such a great job raising Lewis and his brother since Lewis was 2 years old.)

Carol

 

I can understand it when folks who know F1 only since the MS era don't see the potential in Hamilton. However I fiind it ultimately funny when so called long time F1 followers don't get it. Funny because in a few years they'll be so wrong.

 

Your right SRT;
Its so much easier to sit on the fence and watch what unfolds.
Years down the road you can say " Yeah.. I saw it coming".
So much safer.

I base my driver feelings not on where they finish in a race but on how they finish/qualify but in comparison to their teamate or others in EQUAL cars.
Nico's and LH's results in GP2 completely show their abilities.
If you cant see LH's brilliance then its time to take the shades off.

 

I don't think most people here doubt Hamilton's potontial, I think that most people here think it is way too early to make such glorified statements about him. I would only judge his true skill when I see him in a mediocre car still doing Schumacheresque driving. I wonder how he will actually perform with the frustration of a secondary car. Its going way too easy for him right now.

For me , at this point, he is nothing more than a Rosberg, Kubica, Vettel, etc, in the best car on the grid. I think any one of them would do as well. Ask me again in December.

 

+1

People who have been following the sport for over 20 years have seen lots of hot shots come and go and the vast majority do not deliver.

It is interesting really because they arrive hungry and change as they get the spoils early on. It is more mental attitude than many people realise and that is where MS and Prost excelled.

Did you pick up on how uncomfortabe LH looked in the press conference? I believe that Monaco's team orders will start affecting him mentally and it will be interesting to see how he rsponds to this.

 

You are right, and I wonder how a series of DNF's will affect him mentally.

 

Hopefully we will all see the end of the 07 season and what it brings. Some of us may have black feathers sticking out of the corners of our mouths. Who that will be is yet to be determined. But none thought LH could be WDC 2007, and he could be. More importantly all of the front runners will return in 2008 without traction control. Then we will really be able to sort these guys out.

Now if the FIA would let these cars be reconfigured to reduce the distance to the convergence of the turbulence off the back of the cars, the real drivers will move forward.

 

Exactly.

I still think that there are some drivers out there driving slower cars that have the potential to be WDC in the right car. In reality most recently you only needed to be faster than your team mate to win WDC. It is all about the car. We all know that MS is the exception to this rule.

I just hope that they make some rule changes to keep the sport alive.

 

I can't wait.

 

Hmmmm...

Not sure I follow the logic here. If Max Mosley suddenly extended the calendar to 35 races and made the points system 100,80,60,50,40,30,20,10, half the field would eclipse Michael's records in a fairly short time. Would that mean drivers like Rosberg and Sutil would be looked upon in the future as being better than MS just because the numbers are in their favor at the time?

 

Its not just a matter of total points. There is so much more to the entire picture of Michael Schumacher's legacy, that I really doubt if the timing will be correct for anyone to beat all of his records.

 

Can't have it both ways.

 

He He He, the power of a mod. Phil is God and in two weeks you will be Andy.

 

MS is the first, only, and last MS . I dont equate Nico or LH as they are their own people. You are putting words in my mouth.
Nico was given a chance and contract to drive for Williams, he took it.
With your 20/20 hindsight he should have gone to ?
LH should be leading the WDC if not for team orders. Again with 2 time WDC champ as favored teamate.
But its safer to see the statistics after the race and judge from there rather than to read between the lines and formulate your own opinion.

 

Mike; you enjoy the races as you see fit. Safely, securely, without assumptions. Fine.
As for me I would rather watch paint dry.
Let me take my risks with LH and Nico.
And do not ridicule me or others for doing so.

 

Are those Bandwaggon wheels I hear turning ?

Forgive the lad; 5 races, 5 podiums, no wins. Obviously overrated.

Your kidding ? Being in a good car actually helps ? Thats a Big statement !
Risky !

Not here. In fact if Ferrari still wants to salvage this season, Sack Massa and put MS back in his true position in the team.

 

Not sure God is the right term, but it does help one's popularity if you have free T-Shirts etc to hand out...


PS: Contrary to popular belief the shirts say FerrariChat and not FelipeChat as some expected...

 

haha

 

Forgive me, I didn't get the memo.

 

LOL

All you guys who want to fall back on statistics ought to be reminded that, statistically speaking, the greatest driver was Fangio. He won nearly half the GPs he entered and 5 championships in how many? 9 seasons?

Senna was the greatest driver I ever saw. That has nothing to do with the number of wins he had (bearing in mind that unlike Schumacher, he drove with WDCs as teammates) or the number of championships he won, it is his sheer mastery of his car and his superior skills relative to every other driver I ever saw. The only other driver who can be compared is Jimmy Clark. Not Schumacher, not Prost, not anyone.

Furthermore, an awful lot of F1 journalists and historians seem to agree with my assessment.

 

I never touted Rosberg as being anything other than a flash in the pan. In fact, I don't recall the hype about Rosberg ever approaching the opinions on Hamilton. Rosberg is just another Massa, nothing more. Occasional speed but incomplete as a driver.

However I firmly believe that Hamilton is the next great F1 driver.
What I find amusing is that so many folks here seem to equate labelling Hamilton as the next great F1 driver is somehow analogous to claiming that he is a better driver than Schumacher.

It is possible that Hamilton may someday eclipse the achievements of drivers before him but that is not the point here. What is the point is that I believe Hamilton is going to be the next dominant driver of his generation. I also believe that when his career is over, he will be among the greats of the sport.

If you somehow think that this opinion is the same thing as my saying Hamilton is right now the greatest driver ever then you are seriously confused.