MC GP: It only rains on Ferrari...

[SD_GR]

Well there goes another MC GP. Alonso simply ran away with the race, leaving Hamilton to win the impressions and the Ferraris to win the wrath of the Italian press, not to mention the Italian people. Let's face it, AC Milan sent at least the north of Italy into a multi-day party last week, but this GP is enough for at least a day of mourning.

Massa collected his points and avoided collecting any walls or other cars, but being almost a minute behind Alonso isn't the most PR-friendly way of doing so. Had the GP lasted another 30 minutes, Kimi would have been lapped... All of Fiat's money and all of Fiat's men weren't enough to get Ferrari on the podium again, and Schumacher is either laughing at night at his successors, thanking his good fortune for getting out while the getting was good, or avoiding the phone in case it's Jean Todt begging/pleading/crying for him to get behind the wheel.

David Coulthard managed to ruin Kovailanen's day and IMO it was his fault, not the pits' fault, since at the end of the day he was the one out there with his mirrors full of Renault and the decision to block was his alone. Ayrton or even Piquet would IMO have punched him, and while we're on the subject, if Jackie Stewart really wants to wear funny hats and pontificate, maybe he ought to talk to his countryman? Another point regarding qualifying: loved the way Hamilton spent so much time sideways and finally did figure out just where the track ends and the armco starts. I was shocked he didn't let go of the wheel when he saw the barrier coming. He seemed unaffected in the GP and slid around a lot then too like nothing had happened. He's unflappable basically. They're in trouble with him around...

Anyone else notice the great Jean Reno on the tarmac before the race? He was terrific in "The Big Blue" and "Ronin" and I liked him in "Leon: The Professional" as well (just avoid the USDM versions).

Newsflash, at least for me: Keke Rosberg's son is somehow German, and Keke now speaks English better than Richard Burton (I recall Keke in the MC GP in 1982 or 1983, and his English then was on a par with Tarzan's). Another observation -- the more time goes by, the more Hobbes sounds like Ozzy Osbourne and the non sequiturs keep coming too. At some point they were all reduced to yelling "woah!" if someone went off or hit the wall, and I really didn't need that, I could see the car in pieces on my own. Somebody ought to pay more modern former world driving champions to comment on TV (especially now that Rosberg sounds like Prince Charles and Michael isn't too busy with Ferrari).

[cavallino333]

Yeah it was definitely a depressing race.

Ferrari seemed way off the pace they've had in earlier races. Hamilton's multiple near collision excursions to the barrier had me on the edge of my seat. Whether it's luck or skill he's definitely got something.

A podium finish for Massa looks ok on paper but not one thats over a minute behind a 1/2 Mclaren. My only hope is that Ferrari was being cautious in an effort to salvage something out of a poor weekend and perhaps be more on pace in the next round.Consistency and reliability are a big issue it seems both Ferrari drivers can't do well at the same time.

[SD_GR]

I don't know how kind the press will be to Kimi most of all. The whole yacht-in-harbour, car-in-wall, and no points, no pace, no problem thing is going over like a fart at a funeral with fans everywhere at this stage. I'm not saying it's fair to Kimi, it probably isn't; I'm just saying what I think most people's reaction to him will be. On paper he's as fast as Alonso but in practice he's only as rich.

[Cheers]

At least Massa made a decent showing...I just wish Hamilton had tried to race Alonso at the end...(I have not seen it yet, since I just downloaded it, but I was "monitoring" on F1-live.com)

[SD_GR]

Hamilton ended up with paint on this right wheels at the end, so he was going as fast as he could. He did try to win. I could see him trying to pass Alonso some place like Bahrain, where the track is enormously wide, but in MC and on the final laps, when the person winning is a teammate, it'd be idiot move of the century to try something and have one or both go out. Keep in mind Alonso would have raced Hamilton if Hamilton tried to pass, he'd not have given in.

[cavallino333]

I don't know how kind the press will be to Kimi most of all. The whole yacht-in-harbour, car-in-wall, and no points, no pace, no problem thing is going over like a fart at a funeral with fans everywhere at this stage. I'm not saying it's fair to Kimi, it probably isn't; I'm just saying what I think most people's reaction to him will be. On paper he's as fast as Alonso but in practice he's only as rich.

Yeah I was expecting Kimi to really be great this season, I thought we'd be getting the next next thing to Schumacher but now I'm starting to wonder if he's really worth the money. Massa is supposed to be the lesser driver yet with exception of his Brazil incident has been doing quite well. It can't even be blamed on "driver favoritism" by the team because if anything Kimi is unofficially supposed to be the lead driver.

[blackshadow]

Where's the faith?

Kimi had no chance after qualifying, and everyone knew it. The Ferrari's could have kept up.. if at least one had started from somewhere on the first row...


Rosberg dissapointed, or rather, I was impressed early on, but finishing 12th wasn't as good as it could have been.

Massa dissapointed, he clearly can't keep up with either Alonso or Hamilton, though admittedly the combination of track and car wasn't ideal.

Liuzi, well... lets just assume he was celebrating a lot, and the alcohol made him drive a bit out of the groove and into the wall..

The only surprise was that Fisichella did so well. Sauber did good as well thinking back.

And Spyker well... Albers is lucky to be paying for his own seat, cause people are getting fed up..

[Cheers]

This is the first time that the Ferrari's did not have the pace...and this is not a track that Massa has done well on in the past, so I don't think it is fair to say that the Ferrari's can't keep up. Kimi would have made a better showing then Massa if he did not screw up in the qualifying.

Like I said I have not seen the race, the updates I was reading made it seem that Hamilton and Alonso were not pushing at the end. Of course making a move on Alonso at the end would have been stupid....but I would have loved to see

1- Hamilton make the pass
2- Hamilton take them both out of the race trying for the pass.

[cavallino333]

Where's the faith?

Yeah your right, perhaps I'm just cranky about it this morning. Still allot left in the season.

This is the first time that the Ferrari's did not have the pace...and this is not a track that Massa has done well on in the past, so I don't think it is fair to say that the Ferrari's can't keep up.

Agreed I think they were being careful in this race. After qualifying it was obvious Kimi wasn't going to getting allot of points, so perhaps they were taking it easy with Massa, 3rd place is allot better than no place which is highly possible at Monaco where passing is frequently difficult. Kimi did move up a decent number of spots.

[blackshadow]

Like I said I have not seen the race, the updates I was reading made it seem that Hamilton and Alonso were not pushing at the end. Of course making a move on Alonso at the end would have been stupid....but I would have loved to see

1- Hamilton make the pass
2- Hamilton take them both out of the race trying for the pass.

Team orders. Hamilton was told essentially that he was getting 2nd unless a safety car situation were to appear. Mclaren put them on different strategies, where if a safety car would come out then they were guaranteed to keep at least one fuelled-up car near the front.

Safety car didn't come out so he had to stay back from Alonso.

[SD_GR]

I think the problem at Ferrari is often simply that Kimi is not Michael. Recall that Schumacher nearly cleared the entire field last year after his own personal fiasco at qualityfying. He managed to pass sixteen cars one way or another, and none of those ways involved him hitting a wall for the second time in the weekend. In the end, he got points. Kimi did not.

All that aside, the last thing Ferrari need right now is someone as arrive-and-drive as Kimi. Even if he's the fastest on the field, the lack of interaction with other staffers (they're all employees, after all) won't help develop something faster than McLaren next year. Meanwhile, BMW remains strong and may improve with time, and it's unlikely Renault will just pack up and go home, they'll come back strong also.

[Cheers]

I think the problem at Ferrari is often simply that Kimi is not Michael. Recall that Schumacher nearly cleared the entire field last year after his own personal fiasco at qualityfying. He managed to pass sixteen cars one way or another, and none of those ways involved him hitting a wall for the second time in the weekend. In the end, he got points. Kimi did not.

All that aside, the last thing Ferrari need right now is someone as arrive-and-drive as Kimi. Even if he's the fastest on the field, the lack of interaction with other staffers (they're all employees, after all) won't help develop something faster than McLaren next year. Meanwhile, BMW remains strong and may improve with time, and it's unlikely Renault will just pack up and go home, they'll come back strong also.

I agree with you and remember a quote from someone at Ferrari last year saying that they are keeping Schumacher on to develop the cars since they did not believe that Kimi was capable of that.

I also heard that Kimi is paid 5 times what Massa is...that must be awesome motivation for Massa to win and stick it in Kimi's face.

[SD_GR]

Last year around this time I was among those wondering what the hell Alonso is doing to his career by going to McLaren. I was wrong. I think the events since then have shown that what Alonso lacks in popularity among non-Iberian fans he gains in his ability to put his head down and work, and in his ability to take advantage of assets and work around shortfalls. McLaren and Renault are both transformed this year and it's no coincidence I think.

Ferrari will be back and in a few years they'll have hired Hamilton. Too bad they'll have to pay world champion salary by then.

[cavallino333]

Last year around this time I was among those wondering what the hell Alonso is doing to his career by going to McLaren. I was wrong. I think the events since then have shown that what Alonso lacks in popularity among non-Iberian fans he gains in his ability to put his head down and work, and in his ability to take advantage of assets and work around shortfalls. McLaren and Renault are both transformed this year and it's no coincidence I think.

Ferrari will be back and in a few years they'll have hired Hamilton. Too bad they'll have to pay world champion salary by then.

Yeah Alonso has proven this year that it wasn't just the Renault team that was winning the races.

I'd like to see Hamilton drive for Ferrari, though given the amount of work that McLaren has put into getting Hamilton into F1, I think it will be a while before he "jumps ship".

[SD_GR]

Yeah Alonso has proven this year that it wasn't just the Renault team that was winning the races.

I'd like to see Hamilton drive for Ferrari, though given the amount of work that McLaren has put into getting Hamilton into F1, I think it will be a while before he "jumps ship".

It will. They may miss him entirely. They've made massive mistakes in the past when it came to hires (Ayrton never wore red!) but most of the mistakes have been forgotten since they hired Schumacher. If they hire Hamilton they'll win a title every year for a decade. The question is how much he'll cost them. Fiat has more money than Ron Denis but Hamilton has already been there for almost a decade, so that might be a hard bond to break.