May 17, 2010 8:07:48 PM
- MKSGR
- Rennteam Moderator
- Loc: Germany , Germany
- Posts: 8098, Gallery
- Registered on: Jun 17, 2002
- Reply to: Carlos from Spain
May 17, 2010 8:07:48 PM
ALDO:
Germans have a lot of problems with Alonso. Is it because he won two times before MSC with an inferior car?? I don't know.
Why do you think his car was "inferior" when he won the two titles he got (still five more titles missing to match MS...) In an inferior car he would not have won the championship
MKSGR:
ALDO:
Germans have a lot of problems with Alonso. Is it because he won two times before MSC with an inferior car?? I don't know.
Why do you think his car was "inferior" when he won the two titles he got (still five more titles missing to match MS...) In an inferior car he would not have won the championship
Right....Alonsos championship car was fast and reliable. May be not the fastest...vice versa the fastest cars in 2005 / 2006 had been McLaren and Ferrari, thus it relevant driver (Raikkonen and Schu)...unfortunately not the most reliable cars these years....thats how the story ended...
May 17, 2010 8:53:13 PM
Carlos from Spain:
"Veía a Hamilton, que iba muy despacio y tuve la tentación de adelantarle, pero insistieron por radio en que no podía hacerlo. Cuando ví a Michael que me pasaba pensé 'mejor unos puntos que va a perder..."
Translation:
"I was seeing that Hamilton was going very slow and I had the temptation of overtaking him, but they (the team) insited on the radio that I could not do that. When I saw that Michael was overtaking me I thought 'better, he is going to loose a few points...'"
And Hamilton:
"Creía que habíais dicho que no se podía adelantar estando por detrás del coche de seguridad. Michael ha pasado a Fernando", comunicó Hamilton por radio a su equipo.
Hamilton said via radio, "I thought you said that there was no overtaking while being behind the pacecar. Michael has just overtaken Fernando"
So pretty much everybody knew that there was no overtaking, seems MS is desperate given his mediocre performance in his comeback (only 2 points ahead of Adrian Sutil and less than half the points of his teamate after 1/3 of the season has gone by), and it backfired on him. At least he didn't stop the car in the middle of the track in Monaco's clasification to prevent other drivers from grabbing the pole this year. He is back to his old ways....
There was no great move or fighting spirit in MS; everybody was deliberately keeping in line without overtaking as the rulebook says and MS thought he was just smarter than everybody else and could get away with it... not
He tried to pull a Jean Alesi move
--
Wow, ok that radio talk is good evidence against MS and shows that some did have an idea of the rules. However, you trying to use this as prove that Schumi is back to his old (i read your implying to cheating) ways is absurd. He is a race car driver and fights for his place in the record books. You linking this action as a way out of his "mediocure" start to the year is far fetched at best.
I agree he should therefore not have gotten away with this if it is indeed rendered questionable according to the rules. He gets a lot of hate these days and some may be justified given his past, but that does not take away from the fact that he is the best driver F1 has ever seen. A living legend that is out there in 2010 still driving at age of 41 because it is his passion. Let's see where Alonso and Hamilton are at age 41
indeed shifting is ancient technology - so is a fuel burning engine.. I happen to like both :)
May 17, 2010 9:33:13 PM
MS is one of the greatest drivers of all time without a doubt, he has nothing to prove anymore, he has done it all in F1. That said, he is also a driver known for his anti-sportive driving incidents as well, some drivers are cleaner than others, MS is not amongst the cleaner ones, and has been done some embarrasing stuff to that nature. Since we are on the Monaco GP, remeber when he "parked" his Ferrari in the middle of the track faking that he lost control so that he wouldn't loose his pole? That is why I recognise MS acomplishments in F1 and past driving skills, but I haven't really been able to be a fan of him, I cannot separate moral and ethics from a sport. Same with Hamilton for example, look at the difference with Button, I think Hamilton is faster than Button in most situations but I'd cheer for Button over Hamilton any day for that reason.
MS must be feeling the weight of the whole world in his shoulders right now, at the start of the season he was presented as a title contender, with his tittles to back him up, "dropped" Ferrari for a German team and was paid big bucks to take that german team to victory. And the whole world and his many many fans were expecting of him to bring back the kaiser days. Instead, after 1/3 of the championship, he is batteling in 9th place with Sutil and the gang, with less than half the points of his younger teammate. Mercedes is getting pressure from the sponsors because of the lack of results after what they paid, and as seasoned as MS is, it must be a very difficult situation for him. I think it was a mistake for him to comeback, he is 41, he has been out of an F1 for two years, and the competition in F1 this year is greater than its ever been (Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, Button, etc)... what did people expect?. I may not be a fan of MS but I certainly don't enjoy watching the situation with MS. Still, even though he may not be able to bring the performance he used to bring to F1, that does not take any merit away from what he has done in F1, and there is not driver in the current grid that has been able to match his achievements yet.
--
kashmir:
Right....Alonsos championship car was fast and reliable. May be not the fastest...vice versa the fastest cars in 2005 / 2006 had been McLaren and Ferrari, thus it relevant driver (Raikkonen and Schu)...unfortunately not the most reliable cars these years....thats how the story ended...
No, the fastest car has been the Renault in both years.
In 2005, Alonso won the championship 3 races before the end of the championship and in the last race pulled a 25+ second gap on Raikkonen who couldn't even follow Fisichella. And actually McLaren was pretty darn lucky: 5 engine failures during practice don't have the same consequences as an engine failure in a race.
In 2006, Alonso was comfortably ahead of Schumacher (edited something quite untrue out). Then the FIA started to appeal the decisions made by their own stewarts (this was is still the only time it occured) in order to ban the mass dampers that Renault was using for roughly 10 races. Even so, Alonso could have won the championship 2 races before the end of the season if Kubica didn't get a penalty after the race in Hungary (Schumacher who was out of the points earned one after the race). And btw both Schumacher and Alonso had one engine failure.
Just sayin'.
May 17, 2010 10:05:10 PM
Carlos from Spain:
MS must be feeling the weight of the whole world in his shoulders right now, at the start of the season he was presented as a title contender, with his tittles to back him up, "dropped" Ferrari for a German team and was paid big bucks to take that german team to victory. And the whole world and his many many fans were expecting of him to bring back the kaiser days. Instead, after 1/3 of the championship, he is batteling in 9th place with Sutil and the gang, with less than half the points of his younger teammate. Mercedes is getting pressure from the sponsors because of the lack of results after what they paid, and as seasoned as MS is, it must be a very difficult situation for him. I think it was a mistake for him to comeback, he is 41, he has been out of an F1 for two years, and the competition in F1 this year is greater than its ever been (Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, Button, etc)... what did people expect?. I may not be a fan of MS but I certainly don't enjoy watching the situation with MS. Still, even though he may not be able to bring the performance he used to bring to F1, that does not take any merit away from what he has done in F1, and there is not driver in the current grid that has been able to match his achievements yet.
--
who was the guy supposed to be Ferraris new messias this year? The same who`s life dream come true driving for McLaren 3 years ago, which had been stopped by a Rookie...?
Now that his second dream come true... thus it could be asked why he didn´t won the races Button did in Australia and China? Race wise it would have been possible... Looks a little struggling again...
Walter:
kashmir:
Right....Alonsos championship car was fast and reliable. May be not the fastest...vice versa the fastest cars in 2005 / 2006 had been McLaren and Ferrari, thus it relevant driver (Raikkonen and Schu)...unfortunately not the most reliable cars these years....thats how the story ended...
No, the fastest car has been the Renault in both years.
In 2005, Alonso won the championship 3 races before the end of the championship and in the last race pulled a 25+ second gap on Raikkonen who couldn't even follow Fisichella. And actually McLaren was pretty darn lucky: 5 engine failures during practice don't have the same consequences as an engine failure in a race.
In 2006, Alonso was comfortably ahead of Schumacher (edited something quite untrue out). Then the FIA started to appeal the decisions made by their own stewarts (this was is still the only time it occured) in order to ban the mass dampers that Renault was using for roughly 10 races. Even so, Alonso could have won the championship 2 races before the end of the season if Kubica didn't get a penalty after the race in Hungary (Schumacher who was out of the points earned one after the race). And btw both Schumacher and Alonso had one engine failure.
Just sayin'.
Sure... ...may be. I guess these discussion do end nowhere.
I can give you enough example on how chanceless Alonso was in 2005 vs. Raikkonen/McLaren...there is no doubt its a pick-up victory, depending on McLarens technical issues. Still the one who gains most points is champ...no if and when, same applies to Button in 2009. Any Champion is somehow worth it....Really!
kashmir:
In 2006, Alonso was comfortably ahead of Schumacher (edited something quite untrue out). Then the FIA started to appeal the decisions made by their own stewarts (this was is still the only time it occured) in order to ban the mass dampers that Renault was using for roughly 10 races. Even so, Alonso could have won the championship 2 races before the end of the season if Kubica didn't get a penalty after the race in Hungary (Schumacher who was out of the points earned one after the race). And btw both Schumacher and Alonso had one engine failure.
Just sayin'.
2006...different story.... May be Schu took his chances in Monaco and Hungary (too long out on old tyres, nonsense defense vs. Heidfeld.... in same race Alonso lost his wheel...)
May 17, 2010 10:23:27 PM
Thoma:
http://sport.stv.tv/formula-1/177886-red-bull-almost-taking-the-mickey-hamilton/
If a driver like Webber strolls to victory in Monaco then you can't argue with Hamilton here.
But look at this quote, real class from Button, and compare this to Hamilton's public tantrum after a race earlier this year over the tire strategy that cost Hamilton just a few places
Button agreed that the team had messed up.
"You never expect those sort of things to happen," he said. "I'm sure the person who did it is devastated so there's no use walking around and pointing the finger at anyone.
May 17, 2010 10:25:25 PM
Carlos from Spain:
MS must be feeling the weight of the whole world in his shoulders right now, at the start of the season he was presented as a title contender, with his tittles to back him up, "dropped" Ferrari for a German team and was paid big bucks to take that german team to victory. And the whole world and his many many fans were expecting of him to bring back the kaiser days. Instead, after 1/3 of the championship, he is batteling in 9th place with Sutil and the gang, with less than half the points of his younger teammate. Mercedes is getting pressure from the sponsors because of the lack of results after what they paid, and as seasoned as MS is, it must be a very difficult situation for him. I think it was a mistake for him to comeback, he is 41, he has been out of an F1 for two years, and the competition in F1 this year is greater than its ever been (Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, Button, etc)... what did people expect?. I may not be a fan of MS but I certainly don't enjoy watching the situation with MS. Still, even though he may not be able to bring the performance he used to bring to F1, that does not take any merit away from what he has done in F1, and there is not driver in the current grid that has been able to match his achievements yet.
Fair enough, but i think people should give him a little more time. I was thinking from the beginning that it will probably take the entire season to build a top runner team out of Brawn. A lot of changes were made, and this requires time. Schumi may have also been struggling with an increased level of performance to when he left the scene two years ago. I remain confident that he will once again rise to the top and bring the silver arrows to victory. That would be the repeat of his building of Ferrari back in the days. If he completely fails at everything and never wins a race anymore, i grant him all the props for coming back because he loves to race. Who cares what the world thinks and says.
indeed shifting is ancient technology - so is a fuel burning engine.. I happen to like both :)
May 17, 2010 10:38:18 PM
kashmir:who was the guy supposed to be Ferraris new messias this year? The same who`s life dream come true driving for McLaren 3 years ago, which had been stopped by a Rookie...?
Now that his second dream come true... thus it could be asked why he didn´t won the races Button did in Australia and China? Race wise it would have been possible... Looks a little struggling again...
Alonso is as happy as can be right now and you can tell in his interviews, he is driving the best car he ever has driven (his words) he is in the best and most passionate team he has ever been, nothing like McLaren he says (which he found to be something very different than what he thought, i.e. a scandalous cheating team who's only intention was to promote Hamilton at the expense of everybody else), you can tell they love him there in Ferrari, and he is the only driver who is close behind the RedBulls in the clasification, given the performance of the RedBulls, and inspite of having one engine fail, one race starting from the pits, and one race having his front wing knocked out in the first corner and restarting in 18th place.
May 18, 2010 2:04:41 AM
When Alonso won the 2 championships with Renault, those Renault were THE CAR to beat, there was no equal, EVERYONE wants a seat in those Renault, there is no denying that. Alonso had a DOMINATING car those years. And he needed those advantage.
Alonso NEEDED a top car to perform, put him in a inferior car and he will disappear.
Whoopsy:
When Alonso won the 2 championships with Renault, those Renault were THE CAR to beat, there was no equal, EVERYONE wants a seat in those Renault, there is no denying that. Alonso had a DOMINATING car those years. And he needed those advantage.
Alonso NEEDED a top car to perform, put him in a inferior car and he will disappear.
Who to hell wanted to change to a Renault this days (2005, 2006, 2007)? Tell me one name. You meand Kovalainen???
Remember how FA fighted agian MS in Imola 2005, the Ferrari was one second faster and Alonso hold him half the race behind him. You can also check the comments form formula 1 experts about the Renault in 2005 and 2006 all are saying that is was inferior to Ferrari and Mc Laren. Renault had only one advantage the Michelin tyres, the intermediates performed much better then the Bridgestone intermediates.
May 18, 2010 8:52:16 AM
Carlos from Spain:
MS is one of the greatest drivers of all time without a doubt, he has nothing to prove anymore, he has done it all in F1. That said, he is also a driver known for his anti-sportive driving incidents as well, some drivers are cleaner than others, MS is not amongst the cleaner ones, and has been done some embarrasing stuff to that nature.
As to this reviving discussion about Alonso´s abilities, which one of us is intimate enough with this sport to judge a driver´s abilities from the outside? Which one correctly predicted Schumacher´s or Button´s performance in their new teams prior to this season?
Apart from that, I agree with Aldo that Renault was not the team that people saw as a continuous championship contender back then and nowadays. It only appeared in that position with very good drivers at the wheel, such as Schumacher, Alonso or Kubica.
Whoopsy:
When Alonso won the 2 championships with Renault, those Renault were THE CAR to beat, there was no equal, EVERYONE wants a seat in those Renault, there is no denying that. Alonso had a DOMINATING car those years. And he needed those advantage.
Alonso NEEDED a top car to perform, put him in a inferior car and he will disappear.
The big difference these days is... you only need to prepare the car to qualify in a good grid position and, if you maintain reliability, you pretty much assure yourself a podium finish..!
--
"Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out."
Damon Hill rejects accusations of bias after ruling on Michael Schumacher
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article7129072.ece
May 18, 2010 10:46:27 AM
Carlos from Spain:
MS must be feeling the weight of the whole world in his shoulders right now, at the start of the season he was presented as a title contender, with his tittles to back him up, "dropped" Ferrari for a German team and was paid big bucks to take that german team to victory. And the whole world and his many many fans were expecting of him to bring back the kaiser days. Instead, after 1/3 of the championship, he is batteling in 9th place with Sutil and the gang, with less than half the points of his younger teammate. Mercedes is getting pressure from the sponsors because of the lack of results after what they paid, and as seasoned as MS is, it must be a very difficult situation for him. I think it was a mistake for him to comeback, he is 41, he has been out of an F1 for two years, and the competition in F1 this year is greater than its ever been (Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, Button, etc)... what did people expect?. I may not be a fan of MS but I certainly don't enjoy watching the situation with MS. Still, even though he may not be able to bring the performance he used to bring to F1, that does not take any merit away from what he has done in F1, and there is not driver in the current grid that has been able to match his achievements yet.
--
It might well be that the pressure makes it even more interesting to him...
Just think of the time he went to Ferrari. The car he drove there in the first season was a mess... He (and Brawn) built up everything that made them win 5 consecutive titles later. Let's give MS some more time at Mercedes. He might be a bit slower now that he is 41. However, his speed might still be more than enough to win the F1 championship if combined with the rest of his personality. Let's wait and see
May 18, 2010 10:56:35 AM
Carlos from Spain:
kashmir:who was the guy supposed to be Ferraris new messias this year? The same who`s life dream come true driving for McLaren 3 years ago, which had been stopped by a Rookie...?
Now that his second dream come true... thus it could be asked why he didn´t won the races Button did in Australia and China? Race wise it would have been possible... Looks a little struggling again...
Alonso is as happy as can be right now and you can tell in his interviews, he is driving the best car he ever has driven (his words) he is in the best and most passionate team he has ever been, nothing like McLaren he says (which he found to be something very different than what he thought, i.e. a scandalous cheating team who's only intention was to promote Hamilton at the expense of everybody else), you can tell they love him there in Ferrari, and he is the only driver who is close behind the RedBulls in the clasification, given the performance of the RedBulls, and inspite of having one engine fail, one race starting from the pits, and one race having his front wing knocked out in the first corner and restarting in 18th place.
Alonso sounds much nicer and more relaxed these days. He probably feels "at home" at Ferrari
MKSGR:
Carlos from Spain:
MS must be feeling the weight of the whole world in his shoulders right now, at the start of the season he was presented as a title contender, with his tittles to back him up, "dropped" Ferrari for a German team and was paid big bucks to take that german team to victory. And the whole world and his many many fans were expecting of him to bring back the kaiser days. Instead, after 1/3 of the championship, he is batteling in 9th place with Sutil and the gang, with less than half the points of his younger teammate. Mercedes is getting pressure from the sponsors because of the lack of results after what they paid, and as seasoned as MS is, it must be a very difficult situation for him. I think it was a mistake for him to comeback, he is 41, he has been out of an F1 for two years, and the competition in F1 this year is greater than its ever been (Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, Button, etc)... what did people expect?. I may not be a fan of MS but I certainly don't enjoy watching the situation with MS. Still, even though he may not be able to bring the performance he used to bring to F1, that does not take any merit away from what he has done in F1, and there is not driver in the current grid that has been able to match his achievements yet.
--It might well be that the pressure makes it even more interesting to him...
Just think of the time he went to Ferrari. The car he drove there in the first season was a mess... He (and Brawn) built up everything that made them win 5 consecutive titles later. Let's give MS some more time at Mercedes. He might be a bit slower now that he is 41. However, his speed might still be more than enough to win the F1 championship if combined with the rest of his personality. Let's wait and see
Markus,
personally I was happy to see MS in der Formula 1 back. I was sceptical about his results and I never hoped or thought about that he will fight in the first year for championship. Nor I didn´t think for Alonso or Button. Alonso and Button surprised me positive, Weber, too.
But Michael dissapointed me a little. He and Rossberg had the same car and Rossberg performed much better. We all know that Rossberg is not in the same league like Alonso, Hamilton and co. I started to revise my opinion about Michael. Before I thought he is the best - whatever comes he is the best - now I think that he can only be a superdriver in a supercar. Maybe I am wrong and honestly I hope I am wrong.
ALDO:
MKSGR:
Carlos from Spain:
MS must be feeling the weight of the whole world in his shoulders right now, at the start of the season he was presented as a title contender, with his tittles to back him up, "dropped" Ferrari for a German team and was paid big bucks to take that german team to victory. And the whole world and his many many fans were expecting of him to bring back the kaiser days. Instead, after 1/3 of the championship, he is batteling in 9th place with Sutil and the gang, with less than half the points of his younger teammate. Mercedes is getting pressure from the sponsors because of the lack of results after what they paid, and as seasoned as MS is, it must be a very difficult situation for him. I think it was a mistake for him to comeback, he is 41, he has been out of an F1 for two years, and the competition in F1 this year is greater than its ever been (Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, Button, etc)... what did people expect?. I may not be a fan of MS but I certainly don't enjoy watching the situation with MS. Still, even though he may not be able to bring the performance he used to bring to F1, that does not take any merit away from what he has done in F1, and there is not driver in the current grid that has been able to match his achievements yet.
--It might well be that the pressure makes it even more interesting to him...
Just think of the time he went to Ferrari. The car he drove there in the first season was a mess... He (and Brawn) built up everything that made them win 5 consecutive titles later. Let's give MS some more time at Mercedes. He might be a bit slower now that he is 41. However, his speed might still be more than enough to win the F1 championship if combined with the rest of his personality. Let's wait and see
Markus,
personally I was happy to see MS in der Formula 1 back. I was sceptical about his results and I never hoped or thought about that he will fight in the first year for championship. Nor I didn´t think for Alonso or Button. Alonso and Button surprised me positive, Weber, too.
But Michael dissapointed me a little. He and Rossberg had the same car and Rossberg performed much better. We all know that Rossberg is not in the same league like Alonso, Hamilton and co. I started to revise my opinion about Michael. Before I thought he is the best - whatever comes he is the best - now I think that he can only be a superdriver in a supercar. Maybe I am wrong and honestly I hope I am wrong.
MS was clearly the best in his "main" career: not only is the number of titles he won far above every other driver of recent history (even Fangio just got 5 titles) he always controlled and dominated every other driver (if the material was appropriate) and declassified each and every team mate... You cannot say the same about Alonso, for example. Even Massa is quicker then him from time to time - which tells a lot.
His return might demonstrate that (as in all professional sports) it does make a difference if you are below 30 or above 40 when it comes to performance. I am not sure, though. He started without any (!) experience in today's F1 cars (as he was not allowed to test one before the launch of the season). His team mate and the other drivers had lots of experience and routine with the cars. After four races he seems to be quicker than his much more experienced team mate now.
And in the end: if he would never win a title again it would still need (realistically speaking) about 10 years for any of the current drivers to win as many titles as MS did to date. I would even argue that the chances for MS to win another 1 or 2 titles is far higher than that of any of the other drivers to ever reach MS's current total of 7 titles
You know as it is in life: many people will always say "he is not that good" or "x is even better" etc. The only thing that counts is proven success. And in this regard MS rules them all - by far
ALDO:
Who to hell wanted to change to a Renault this days (2005, 2006, 2007)? Tell me one name. You meand Kovalainen???
Remember how FA fighted agian MS in Imola 2005, the Ferrari was one second faster and Alonso hold him half the race behind him. You can also check the comments form formula 1 experts about the Renault in 2005 and 2006 all are saying that is was inferior to Ferrari and Mc Laren. Renault had only one advantage the Michelin tyres, the intermediates performed much better then the Bridgestone intermediates.
Nobody wanted to drive for Renault for the same reason that nobody wants to race for Peugeot or Citroen. French manufacturers don't pay their drivers like Ferrari, McLaren, Audi, Ford (well a few years ago). It's a cultural thing and drivers obviously don't like that. Something to think about: the Renault engine won 7 titles with 6 different drivers (Mansell, Prost, Schumacher, Hill, Villeneuve and Alonso).
Again, if you think that a driver with an inferior car can win the championship with 21 and 13 points more than the second placed driver with the best car, think again.
If you still doubt that Renault is somehow an inferior team read this (it's from 2005):
Title tally
Let's look at it this way: In 13 years of F1 participation, since 1993, Mercedes has won three titles: two driver's (1998/99), and one constructor's (1998). In the same period Renault bagged 11 titles: five driver's and six constructor's.
But it gets worse (for Mercedes), for Renault also won both titles in the year before Merc entered F1, making it 13 Silver Diamond titles. And this in only 10 years of F1 competition, for the French did not even compete from 1998-2001!
Renault, furthermore, started their comeback in 2002 with a radical 111-degree V10. So severe were the vibrational problems that the team perpetually had to detune the engine by as much as 60-75 kW, just to get to the end of races, to acquire some experience and data.
Jean-Jacques His, however, was just getting on top of the problem when F1 changed to a one-engine-per-weekend regulation for 2004. Viry-Chatillon swiftly brought an end to wide-angled development and reverted back to the old 72-degree block from the glory years in the mid-90s.
And in its second year of development, this particular mill - now geared to run at F1 speeds over two full race weekends - won two titles!
----------
And now there's another Renault engined team that is dominating.
Btw Jean-Jacques His works for Ferrari (road cars) now. So you know, it's ok to like him.
I think people are reading too much into MS. First of all the guy has NOTHING to prove at all. Seven world titles, the most victories. NOTHING to prove. If he doesnt win another race his achievements are still very unlikely to be matched, ever.
The last three years whenever he has been at a GP he has looked like a lost puppy. He is back because he loves it. Everything in his body language, demeanor and interviews suggests he is back to have fun and I think he is. The media make a big issue out of everything but every interview this year, MS has seemed pretty laid back. I don't think he's expecting to win a championship this year but he seems to be working in a methodical direction to push the car and team toward long term goals (as he did with Ferrari which took four years).
The old MS would definitely have been ballistic behind the scenes at the lack of performance (although unlike Hamilton, Alonso and most others apart from Button he has never to my knowledge criticized his team to the media) but 2010 Schumi seems pretty laid back and cool about things. I also think it takes big balls to come back and step right back in, knowing how competitive all the youngsters are these days and knowing the incredible weight of expectation that would be on his shoulders. MS deserves a lot of respect for that. He doesnt need the money and 95% of people in his position would be happy to sit back and enjoy a life of luxury. The fact he chooses to put himself in the sharp end is very creditable, whatever his performance (which seems to be improving race by race as he gets more dialled into the cars btw) and more than anything this illustrates he is a real racer with a true passion for the sport.
May 18, 2010 12:32:48 PM
I don't believe MS is just happy to "particpate", guys like him are extremly driven and result oriented, the NEED to win, and if he decided to come back its because he though he could win, and not struggle at the back of the pack and be outperformed by a younger teamate who hasn't achievened anything in F1 yet. You tell him the phrase, "the important thing is not to win, its to give it your best" and he will look at you like you are a weirdo. Its not about money, its not about fame, its about winning again. So the situation must be extremly fustrating for MS. And guys like him won't give up, and he may get better in time, but the clock is ticking for him, he is only getting older and the younger driver are only getting better, I don't think he will be still racing in one or two seasons IMO.
May 18, 2010 12:40:20 PM
Ordinarily I would say you are 100% right Carlos, but I do get the vibe he is not as upset as the old MS would have been. He always has a smile and seems pretty happy. I would be too if I had effectively finished my career but got a second chance to continue doing what I love with the POSSIBILITY of some amazing days if things go right. We shall see........ I do agree that on his day he still has the super-competitive spirit inside him.
May 18, 2010 1:03:03 PM
He may have a more mature approach than in his earlier days, but what we do know is that he will give it 110% for his team, for his fans, and for himself I just don't think that will be enough, he may get a couple of podiums later in the season but I don't see him in front of Hamilton, Button, Vettel, Webber, Alonso, or even Massa at the end of the championship, and thats 6 places there.
cgt:
I think people are reading too much into MS. First of all the guy has NOTHING to prove at all. Seven world titles, the most victories. NOTHING to prove. If he doesnt win another race his achievements are still very unlikely to be matched, ever.
Perfect summary
P.S.: Not to mention the Euro 600m he made...
MKSGR:
cgt:
I think people are reading too much into MS. First of all the guy has NOTHING to prove at all. Seven world titles, the most victories. NOTHING to prove. If he doesnt win another race his achievements are still very unlikely to be matched, ever.
Perfect summary
P.S.: Not to mention the Euro 600m he made...
I don't think MS is just for fun their. How can Mercedes justify this huge amount of money for someones fun?
Maybe another driver could drive just for fun, Mikka for example but MS is a racer and he think and acts like a racer. I am sure that he will do everything to win races and if not winning some of them, he will not be happy.
Let´s wait few month and we will see.