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easy_rider911 said:
Here's my 2 cents guys:

First of all, many congratulations to Fernando Alonso. He made the most of superior tyres and a superior car (with exceptional reliability) in the first part of the season and ultimately a 25 point defecit proved too much for even MS to overhaul. Fernando made v v few mistakes all season and, in the end, consistency of performance by the driver, the car and the team usually wins. As the season began to approach its climax and when certain controversial decisions went against him, Fernando was under great pressure. He is mature beyond his years and he managed to keep his act together right till the end. He hasn't just outdriven his team mate all year, he has made people question whether Fisi should even have a career in F1. Fisi's performance yesterday was extremely poor and was typical of his performances in 2005 and 2006. I think he will be glad to see Alonso depart so that next year, he won't look so bad in comparison. I don't expect Kovaleinen to set the world on fire. Despite testing for Renault this past year, Kovaleinen was outdriven in testing at Jerez(?) by Nelson Piquet Jr whom Renault should try to sign up for 2008 in place of Fisi. Renault aren't the kind of team that likes to pay top dollar for already established drivers. Flav likes to spot talent (he's v good at this) and harvest it while it's still young and affordable.

I think it will be interesting to see how Alonso reacts when he has an unreliable car race after race with 'McBroken'. It will be frustrating at first. Will he just say to himself, 'Well, I moved for the money so I shouldn't complain. Kimi put up with this for 4 years', or will his ego make him react like a wounded lion with hurt pride. I would expect that Alonso signed a 2 year deal with an option to extend for another 2 years. I would expect him to go to Ferrari after 2 years if Kimi hasn't delivered 2 drivers titles to Ferrari by then. I just hope that Alonso becomes a nobler champion, less arrogant, more willing to give fair credit to his rivals, less swift to complain about his own team.

Michael. What can one say? I have watched every F1 GP race for the last 27 years since I was 9 years old. F1 is my passion. I have cheered on MS for many years for 3 reasons: (1) it's human nature to find a reason to support a winner, (2) I love Ferrari (and something doesn't feel right with the world when the prancing horse is not on top), and (3) MS is a rare talent purely based on driving ability (witness his many comeback drives, his superiority in the rain and how he seems able to juggle so many other factors in his mind whilst controlling a car at 300kph). We all know of his records and achievements. It may be a very long time before someone (even Alonso) actually overhauls his records - MS himself has had a 16 year career - but achievements and records don't tell the whole story. They paint a partial picture based on objective data. Where MS has singularly failed is in the way he has gone about winning. Sure, he needed to be ruthless and competitive but he has regularly behaved on track in an unsporting, even unfair, manner. The incidents are all well known to us all so I won't list them again. Somehow, some of us have been prepared to close our eyes to all this because he is the most successful champion of all time.

Is he the 'best'? What do we even mean by the term 'best'? Do we mean the greatest in terms of victories or the greatest in terms of epitomising what we look for in a champion? From a narrow statistical point of view, he is definitely the greatest, due to his record. But from a wider viewpoint, taking into consideration the various intangible elements that together combine to form our esteem for a retiring champion, I think Senna and Prost were greater. I certainly think they were nobler men. What is it about a champion that we need to see something more in them than what we expect from the also-rans? My view is that we feel a basic human need to see in them something to aspire to, something to hold up as an example of perfection. People whom we can respect more on a personal level. It is for this reason that the way MS has won races leaves me with a slightly sour taste even though I have supported him for so many years. In tennis, I always loved watching the pure artistry of Sampras and it fills me with great joy that a noble man like Federer has succeeded his mantle.

Coming back to the F1 season, Kimi has disappointed me. Not only did he lose heart with all the unreliability of his car race after race, but he has also shown himself to be of poor character. When asked yesterday whether he went to see the presentation by Pele to MS on the grid before the start of the race, Kimi replied to ITV's Martin Brundle (knowing that millions of people watch the ITV footage) that he was "taking a sh*t". Maybe I'm overreacting to one comment, but I would expect more from him than that. His 'robotic' inteview style hasn't won him any friends. Could you ever imagine going out for a drink with this guy? There would be more atmosphere in a cemetery.

Massa has matured greatly this year and I hope he has a bright future ahead of him with Ferrari in 2007. I think he will give Kimi a real scare. He has already settled into Ferrari and will force Kimi to have to adjust in double quick time as a result. If Massa leaves Ferrari in 2008, will he do well even if he is no longer in a good car? It seems doubtful. He still needs to grow as a driver so that he can haul himself to the front just by sheer dint of force of character alone. It's easier to win when you have the best car. But extracting more than 100%, figuratively speaking, from a car that isn't the best is what sets the real winners apart.

Button did very well to win his first GP even though his car was far off the pace all season. He just needed a good amount of luck to compensate for the performance disadvantage. Barrichello has shown that he has struggled in an inferior car. He has matched Button only sometimes this season. He won many races at Ferrari more because of his equipment than because of his skill. He just needs too many things on his side before he really performs.

BMW have done well in their first season in F1 as both an engine and chassis producer. Villeneuve was living off his past glories and his time had come. Kubica has shown he is hungry and able. He has forced Heidfeld to raise his game. That can only be good for BMW.

Williams prove that F1 racing cannot be done cheaply (except by Renault!). Webber has been exposed for the poor talent that I always knew him to be. He 'talks' a good race but in F1, eventually, everyone wonders "when is this guy finally going to deliver?". The same fate befell Montoya. Both Webber and Montoya were expert at finding something or someone else to blame for their failures.

Rosberg's debut season started well but went downhill steply after that. Was he ready? Maybe. Was Williams the right place to start? Probably not because now, nobody talks about him as an exciting 'new' talent. He has already been labelled a failure just as he was getting started.

I have been amazed by how Super Aguri improved following the launch of their new car. Yesterday they were lapping only 1-2 seconds slower than everyone else. That's excellent progress for a team in its first year of existence.

I am looking forward avidly to how things turn out in 2007. I think we all need a month or so to get over the tension and drama of this season. It's been a great year. Around December, I am sure we will all be suffering from withdrawal symptoms badly!

Hope I've been objective in this post...



Brilliant analysis, I agree point for point of what you said.