FIA Ferrari International Assistance

[Markarina]

All the teams did it and you can bet it still happens now. They just happened to get caught. I laugh every time someone suggests they're bad people for what they did, if that's the case, there are ten teams of bad people in F1!

How very true, a few years back I was doing track support for Arrows and got talking to one of the photographers and basically the teams pay a number of them to get shots of certain cars from certain angles ... especially on test days.

[Keeper of The Kitten]

Worst driver to win a world title = Jacques Villeneuve or Damon Hill (too close to call)

Cheers n

Si

I always thought Hill showed some grit in Hungary ...97 ...in an Arrows. Villeneuve won of course ...in a Williams (I'm pretty sure, Wolfgang, that they're well up with KERS ...we were making their KERS when I was still working!)

Some drivers need a decent car to perform well (Button) ...sounds stupid but it's true, some can't man handle a bad car. But give them a good car and they really perform.

As an aside about the infamous Mansell (he who dares, whines) ...a former colleague of mine had little respect for him until the Monaco race which he ultimately, narrowly lost to Senna ....I had it explained to me that Senna brake tested Mansell on practically every corner. Said colleague had considerably more respect for the man with three moustaches after that.

One more thing ....there seems to be this faintly amusing idea among the anti-McLaren crowd that they are the only team who ever conducted espionage.

All the teams did it and you can bet it still happens now. They just happened to get caught. I laugh every time someone suggests they're bad people for what they did, if that's the case, there are ten teams of bad people in F1!

[s2driveruk]

just found this on sniffpetrol how true....

[rs2jay]

IMO, the Webber / Hamilton issue is not one of yeilding but one of safety, the conditions were not such that there was an option to yield, Hamilton was just a touch too agressive IMO and let's face it, it's not going to help his case for Spa.

So, by that reasoning for safety's sake Raikonen should have yielded to Hamilton at the Bus Stop, and any driver facing a threat from behind should yield "just in case"???!!! If that gets taken up even DC could make a move without punting someone!

Just remember "if you ain't rubbing, you ain't racing" - F1 is supposed to be the pinacle of what is a dangerous sport.

[Mark Halligan]

I just got to see this thread as me and the missus only got back from Milan last night.

LOL @ Wolfgang you've made me smile, I'll say no more as its already been said

What a fantastic race, me and the wife loved it, even though the weather was wet on both days (we got soaked during qualifying).

Even though I am a McLaren fan, I was really very happy to see Vettel and Torro Rosso take the win, gutted also for Bourdais as he was very unlucky with his car at the start and deserved better than to lose out on the opportunity of a good race because of a mechanical problem.

Great team Torro Rosso!

I can't say how much I was entertained by that race and the track itself is fantastic, what a brilliant time we had!

Everyone despite their team allegiances, including all of the Ferrari supporters (about 80% of the people there!) were friendly, which is just as well, considering how much the wife was shouting and jumping up and down everytime Hamilton passed another car LOL.

I will say this though... to name just a few, Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen, Heidfeld and Kubica all improved significantly on their initial grid positions.

Massa started in 6th and finished in 6th place, he should have done better IMHO.

Here is a bit of video I shot on my phone of the race

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dKcvIn2jE4

and here is a pic of the drivers parade and a few taken after we got onto the track after the race.

Cheers

[Rusty]

Reading all this makes me realise that people only see what they want to see - based on who they support. The biggest issue in Spa irrespective of the "advantage" was that Lewsi was not instructed by race control to yield the place.

Comments on Webber/Hamilton seem a little biased too, when Webber attempted to overtake Hamilton into the chicane he was further behind than Hamilton was WRT Raikkonen at Spa and his in car camera footage showed his front wheel hitting the back of Hamiltons - I'm no rocket scientist but that makes him behind going into the corner. Should drivers now yield whenever a car is close behind too?

IMO, the Webber / Hamilton issue is not one of yeilding but one of safety, the conditions were not such that there was an option to yield, Hamilton was just a touch too agressive IMO and let's face it, it's not going to help his case for Spa.

[Rusty]

I'm highly excited by the prospect of Takuma Sato returning to F1, not because he did anything of note or even finished a GP that I can remember but because he's like a Kamikazi in a steering-wheel guided missile who's confused the most advanced motorsport in the world with banger racing Should be interesting who he takes out next year, perhaps he's a tool of the FIA

I hope Vettel builds on his victory at Monza although you can't help but feel he might go the same was at Kubica after Canada and slip back into the midfield with Alonso et al for a bit. Hopefully Red Bull will get a better engine next year so that they're not being fleeced by the second team as tehy ahve been this year! If BMW also sort their car out then there could be some intersting battles as there are plenty of good drivers in the mid-pack who can and should get further up the field but the MacLaren/Ferrari domination has locked them out.

Interesting how things go, MacLaren were supreme in the late 80s, early 90s, then they faded somewhat and Williams took over, then they were once again top of the pile with Hakkinen and then another dip followed by success. And what has become of Williams, they're fighting with Honda... who are also nowhere near where they were with a V10 in the boot.

[rs2jay]

Reading all this makes me realise that people only see what they want to see - based on who they support. The biggest issue in Spa irrespective of the "advantage" was that Lewsi was not instructed by race control to yield the place.

Comments on Webber/Hamilton seem a little biased too, when Webber attempted to overtake Hamilton into the chicane he was further behind than Hamilton was WRT Raikkonen at Spa and his in car camera footage showed his front wheel hitting the back of Hamiltons - I'm no rocket scientist but that makes him behind going into the corner. Should drivers now yield whenever a car is close behind too?

[BRY]

Who is the greatest at running into stationary vehicles waiting at red lights?

[HPmuirt]

REMEMBER HOW FERNANDO WAS TREATED BY RON DENNIS AND LEWIS HAMILTON

REMEMBER ALL STATEMENTS CONTRA FERNANDO FROM RON DENNIS AND HEWIS LAMILTON

No need to shout. Remember, it takes 2 to tango, neither were without blame, but only one threatened his boss with the illegal emails he was writing

i prefer neither alonso nor m. schumacher but these two guys are very quick and excellent racers and this has to be accepted, also in britain.

I totally agree, and again no need to make this an anti-British thing. I was never an Alonso fan when he was at Renault the first time time (an therefore had no British axe to grind as he was racing Shuey ) but he can sure drive, I just think he like Hamilton needs to control himself better. I was not a Schumacher fan, but I loved to watch him race and I remain amazed by his awesome car control. F1 is certainly less exciting without him.

Shall i refer to many british formula one pilots...... for example Damon Hill, Jenson Button, Eddie Irvine (irish i know, but an excellent example for that), johnny herbert, Mark Webber and last but not least DC... Who of these was on top for several years?? AND MANY of these piltos had the cars for that, remember D.Hill, J. Herbert, DC etc etc....

Agreed (all except Herbert) Irvine was just a playboy, Hill was a loser, Button is a loser, DC couldn't win a running race agaist the dead. But FYI, Webber is Australian

Herbert was a great driver who smashed his legs in 1988 and still limps today. He was an excellent F3000 driver who never really made it fully back to his F1 potential so he should not be included. I watched him win in LeMans in 1991 and he was awesome...that is a geat story but too long for here

Kimi is champion, Lewis not yet. You should also ask yourself why Kimi managed the Championship in the first year for Ferrari and why he couldn´t do that in his years with the Mclaren?

Have you ever thought of the fact that many McLaren-Desicions made absolutely no sense? This is the reason for losing the championsship 2007, and of course Lewis´ mistakes. No one sais something against Lewis´ mistakes, but the team decisions were definetely a big evidence of arrogance which made all happen

So it seems we agree on another thing, Lewis/McLaren through away the championship on 2007. Put simply, they made more mistakes that could have been avoided. That that means that Kimi did not win the championship on 2007, but was gifted it

As for this rediculous Anglo German thing you keep bring up....Below is a list off the top of my head - IMHO the best and worst F1 drivers, with a surprising Anglo-German mix that you might like (or at least not argue with): -

Greatest racing driver of the vintage era = Fangio
Greatest racing driver of the modern era = Senna or Schumacher
Worst driver to win a world title = Jacques Villeneuve or Damon Hill (too close to call)
Most successful driver of all time = Schumacher
Worst drivers of the modern age = Ralf Schumacher & Michael Andretti (steel brakes )
Worst current driver(s) = Fisichella & Nakajima
Most exciting drivers to have in a race = M Schumacher & Hamilton (take them out and the race is dull)
Best young raw talent = Hamilton & Vettel

Notice that the following British icons (all world champions) did not make it onto my list: -

Jackie Stewart
Graham Hill
John Surtees (The only person to have won World Champs on both two and four wheels )
Jim Clark
Mike Hawthorn
James Hunt (but he was another playboy drunk anyway)
Nigel Mansell - cannot vote for him with that mastouche

So there you have it, I support Hamilton, I think Schumacher on the edge was fabulous to watch, I think Vettel is a talent for the future (let's hope the Red Bull car is better next year) and I think the FIA should sack Alan Donnelly who is corrupt (oh and Britsh)

Cheers n

Si

[Wolfgang]

hi

No Fernando just stuck to blocking Hamilton in the pit lane and trading design secrets with other teams (do not deny his involvment with that - we have all read the transcripts of his emails and phone calls).

REMEMBER HOW FERNANDO WAS TREATED BY RON DENNIS AND LEWIS HAMILTON

REMEMBER ALL STATEMENTS CONTRA FERNANDO FROM RON DENNIS AND HEWIS LAMILTON

And now tell me that Fernando is unfair, this is/was the REACTION.

i prefer neither alonso nor m. schumacher but these two guys are very quick and excellent racers and this has to be accepted, also in britain.

Whatever there is no sense to discuss these aspects.

WTF did i say about Ralf Schumacher?

Shall i refer to many british formula one pilots...... for example Damon Hill, Jenson Button, Eddie Irvine (irish i know, but an excellent example for that), johnny herbert, Mark Webber and last but not least DC... Who of these was on top for several years?? AND MANY of these piltos had the cars for that, remember D.Hill, J. Herbert, DC etc etc...

My feeling is now that lewis is your only british hope and every anti-lewis statement (no matter in what sense) is nipped in the bud.

Lewis was the fastest the race at Monza and was looking very good for the podium, where was Kimi again?

Ok, one question: Who drove the fastest Lap in Monza? OHH i think it was Kimi... Yery good for the PODIUM??? You know that the last place on the podium is P3, he was in the end at P7. If you want to finish first, first you have to finish.

Lewis was so good for the podium that MARK WEBBER raced against Lewis in the end, who was on P8..

Kimi is champion, Lewis not yet. You should also ask yourself why Kimi managed the Championship in the first year for Ferrari and why he couldn´t do that in his years with the Mclaren? Oh i forgot, there was Schumacher he raced against, and Alonso in the Renault and the FIA he raced against.

Have you ever thought of the fact that many McLaren-Desicions made absolutely no sense? This is the reason for losing the championsship 2007, and of course Lewis´ mistakes. No one sais something against Lewis´ mistakes, but the team decisions were definetely a big evidence of arrogance which made all happen...

Some things mentioned above are in my opinion really ridiculous and not objective.

Wolfgang

[Rusty]

That video is pretty funny, some Spaniard (I guess by the worship of Alonso) has too much time on their hands!

[veneto rs2]

I think Hamilton is a fast pilot i must say that because i's true......
But on the first list posted (very hilarious)....... i liked it actually.... it's been missed the "crane rule" (good help that time eh?)
I don't agree wit the title of the video (too rude) i linked below...... but the contents are absolutely big fun.
The video could help some of Hamilton's fans to refresh their memory thoug.....

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=EXFd525jgIU&feature=related

The kid (Hamilton) has been supported by a massive media campaign in England and he becomed a "Divo" in a matter of weeks, probably he was not ready to all that pressure.
same kind of campaign was developed for Jenson Button.......where's he now?
On the other side he has plenty of experience for statements like.... "he's got no balls"
Hamilton attitude and statements does'nt make him a Gentleman..... he's definetely arrogant in my opinion this opinion does'nt change my believe that he's a top pilot i want that to be clear.

About the McLaren fans.....
The spystory of last year should at least kepp you thinking and quiet for a few championships (at least a couple) about justice and corruption and fairplay and so on......it's been months guys........ months...... not ten years!
It's a miracle (and so not FAIR!) that McLaren Team it's racing this year....... but we all know that the show must go on......
And about "balls" or "guts" as they say in England
I still remember the TEARS from mr Ron Dennis....... do you?

Stefano

P.S.
Talking about beginners....
Vettel yesterday was simply brilliant!

[HPmuirt]

Not even Fernando said such things

No Fernando just stuck to blocking Hamilton in the pit lane and trading design secrets with other teams (do not deny his involvment with that - we have all read the transcripts of his emails and phone calls).

If you are trying to turn this into an Anglo-German thing....do you want to talk abou just how great Ralf Shuecrasher was?

Lewis was the fastest the race at Monza and was looking very good for the podium, where was Kimi again? However Vettel drove a great race and certainly deserved his first win so BIG congrats to him (even though he is a German )

@ Aelred, you take your hat off to the FIA....why, to beat them with it? All the FIA have done is make the pre race and post race arguing into more of a spectacle than the racing Monza was only an entertaining race because it rained. Spa was entertaining because it rained and Valencia was like watching paint dry because it was an FIA approved track and it did not rain. If I were you, I would start doing a rain dance for Singapore

Cheers n

Si
P.S.

The other situation with Kimi in the box is only a mistake from Kimi, no doubt about it. BUT he caused a team-intern damage and the hurt mechanic must be penatly enough for Kimi.

Hmmm, so McLaren were penalised when your boy Fernando held up Halmilton in the pits which also only an inter-team issue and no one broke any bones that time either.... do you prefer the term 'double standards' or 'Hypocrisy'?

[Skull]

a
Nevertheless Hewis Lamiltons statement isn´t ok, we can agree there i think. ( no matter what schu did in the past)

Not even Fernando said such things...

that is why we love him so much!