Canadian GP ***Spoilers***

idd, cos if it would work on that basis then shep34 himself should not complain. unless we pay big bucks here we only get the race on sunday and it's not even live .

bild saying schumacher to extend contract for some reason i just don't see mercedes building a decent car in the near future, is he really that curious and hopeful?

No, he's just bored!

If Mercedes were clever they'd not keep him unless he improves. There are plenty of drivers more capable than he is right now who would happily race for free to be in that car.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

I was thinking the other day, do you think Mercedes want to keep Schumacher not for his speed, but for his car development abilities?

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You know you want to. [judgegrudge.mybrute.com]

Forza Ferrari... i hope they stay clear of each other tomorrow, Fernando and Felipe...

looking good, looking good... closing gap on Red Bull, not gonna be easy tomorrow for Seb.. race gonna be really good

lol , Massa looks like a baby in that medic car.. the guy's improving the last couple of races, it's a shame result's have not shown that but he's getting closer on Fernando and that's gotta be good



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2011 08:07PM by Slash.

That's by far and away the only time I've seen Massa doing even a decent job since Hockenheim. Credit to the guy, because I really didn't see that coming.

the start will be important as always, hoping to see schumacher have a good one as he so often does and it will be interesting to see how much webber can limit his losses in the start. surely a sc or two .

good for massa and ferrari but it doesn't really make much of a difference in terms of the championship imo - vettel still has it locked and going by what horner's saying it's one of their weakest tracks yet they're still on pole and 4th(without kers), their advantage is just too great too far into the season for ferrari or mclaren to bounce back.

chet Wrote:
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There are plenty of drivers more
> capable than he is right now who would happily
> race for free to be in that car.


...and this you relised how exactly ?? because he was today .05 behind his teammate, who many consider as good as hamilton and vettel ?

And i specially checked for you, chet, that the last year at qualy here in montreal the gap between nico and michael in qualy was .450. I dont want to sound annoying, but how exactly is michaels today qualy not an improvement compared to the last year ? Or you think nico its just nico getting slower ?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2011 08:33PM by mitadumapaga.

Was rather dull tbh, I was hoping Massa would beat Alonso but stunning laps by both and Vettel.

Let down by Mclaren, if it does not rain tomorrow god knows what will happen with them.

Alonso should lead into turn 1 if he makes the start like he has been doing.

The race will be interesting I think with the DRS thing, trying to pass into the last corner is going to be risky.

How did Massa not get a penalty I dont want him to but come on others have for doing less.

Quote
marcl
How did Massa not get a penalty I dont want him to but come on others have for doing less.

He didn't get a penalty because technically he didn't impede Schumacher. He would have distracted Schumacher, but it's technicalities that get penalties, not just being in the same post code.

So must have changed then from a few years ago when they were giving them out for that type of thing, thats ok as long as its the same all the time.

I can remember Alonso, Lewis and other getting them for just being infront but not getting in the way.

mitadumapaga Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> chet Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> There are plenty of drivers more
> > capable than he is right now who would happily
> > race for free to be in that car.
>
>
> ...and this you relised how exactly ?? because he
> was today .05 behind his teammate, who many
> consider as good as hamilton and vettel ?
>
> And i specially checked for you, chet, that the
> last year at qualy here in montreal the gap
> between nico and michael in qualy was .450. I dont
> want to sound annoying, but how exactly is
> michaels today qualy not an improvement compared
> to the last year ? Or you think nico its just nico
> getting slower ?

It doesn't really deviate from the fact that Schumacher, a 7-times world champion, is still behind Rosberg.

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GPGSL: S6 - TafuroGP Tester (14th) /// S7 - ART Tester (6th) /// S8 - Demon Driver (13th) /// S9 - Demon/Snake Driver (13th) /// S10 - Snake Driver (???) ///]
"My ambition is handicapped by laziness" - Charles Bukowski

Quote
marcl
I can remember Alonso, Lewis and other getting them for just being infront but not getting in the way.

Erm, that's almost the exact opposite to what happened today.

The Alonso one (I presume you mean Monza) was the clearest one given on a technicality, in that Ferrari supposedly had telemetry to demonstrate that Massa was held up through following Alonso. Don't get me wrong, I still think it was absurd that Alonso was penalised, but that's probably the clearest penalty given on purely technical details.

Today, if anything, Schumacher could have theoretically benefited from following Massa down the back straight, and wasn't held up at all in the corner. Of course, the mind doesn't work like that - you see a car ahead and you're not sure if it's on the racing line or not, you're travelling at 200mph, you're 42... instinct tells you to back off.

Was Schumacher held up? Yes. But only mentally. From a purely technical point of view, the only way such a rule book can surely work, Massa didn't do much wrong... apart from being a bit of a plonker and not just going off to the right and backing off along the straight.

As I said though we have seen them given for that though in the past, a driver has not held someone up but has put them off which is why Lewis was not happy at Monaco as he felt Massa had got in the way etc.

I do agree with what you are saying btw, just as long as they stick to this.

Just read an interview with Lewis he recons they have got their gearing wrong and are to slow down the back straight, maybe they have done this for the race?

Quote
marcl
As I said though we have seen them given for that though in the past, a driver has not held someone up but has put them off which is why Lewis was not happy at Monaco as he felt Massa had got in the way etc.

Erm, the sole example you give is one where a driver didn't get a penalty?

Sorry worded that really badly lol.

What I meant was Lewis was saying Massa held him up but Massa did not he just put him off just like with MS today. So this is why Massa has not got a penalty at either race as he held no one up just put them off.

I just remember years ago when people were given them for putting people off. Lewis got one in France one year and even Webber said Lewis did not hold him up. Last year MS held up Rubens and got no penalty either. It does not bother me as long as they are stick to it and not give them out if others do the same etc.

Its hard to explain what I mean tbh.

mitadumapaga Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> chet Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> There are plenty of drivers more
> > capable than he is right now who would happily
> > race for free to be in that car.
>
>
> ...and this you relised how exactly ?? because he
> was today .05 behind his teammate, who many
> consider as good as hamilton and vettel ?
>
> And i specially checked for you, chet, that the
> last year at qualy here in montreal the gap
> between nico and michael in qualy was .450. I dont
> want to sound annoying, but how exactly is
> michaels today qualy not an improvement compared
> to the last year ? Or you think nico its just nico
> getting slower ?

Yeah, sure he's looked good this weekend but generally this year he has been no better than last year. He is being out-scored by both Kobayashi and Petrov!

Schumacher was great. He was the best but now he's just taking up space to full fill his own needs. He has weekends where he performs well, but then he has weekends where he just looks out of place. I just feel that there are guys out there who would be able to do more, more of the time. It's no good having Schumacher quick some of the time. He needs to be quick all of the time, and he isnt.

IMO he just loves the sport too much. After stopping driving he was some sort of Ferrari employee. What use he had I dont know because it looked to me like he was just taking up space on the pit wall! Then he decided to come back, and for the most part looked like a man out of place.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

not to sound like a (gay)fanboy but i think it's fun having him around, he does unpredictable stuff and it's entertaining to watch and discuss . i'm pretty sure if there ever was a sportsman, who could allow himself to arse-about like this,
then it's him. but, for the record, i'm not digging the idea of extending his contract, even if by some crazy miracle mercedes would be fighting for podiums next season.

plus, if you were to put aside the dislike for the guy, then you'd likely discover that there are some far more important seats waiting to get rid of unconsistant below-par performers (and i'm quite convinced that mercedes gp is not a dream-team for the rookies to be in atm - the pressure is more immense than in the case of the even slower teams who don't really have (as) much to lose).

flame on

Michael's ok, he still brings good money to the team besides car is not good enough anyway, no matter how much effort Rosberg does and gets 3rd place on qualys, he still ends 5th 6th or 7th, which is where Michael usually qualifies and finishes.

i enjoyed watching today Michael a lot, he seemed consistent and was attacking corners really good.. car looks hard to drive still, it seems mechanical grip is not the strongest area of that car either, another guy i enjoyed watching a lot was Di resta.. slowly becoming a fan, the guy just flows with the car.. yeah sure he locked up at one point but he looked flawless all around the sessions and the way he approached corners was excellent, and to top it all he's beating Sutil quite good..

one that really should leave the grid, even quicker than Michael is Algersuari.. that's it, he ain't getting any better, in fact it seems he's getting messier, really looked out of shape today, like he couldn't handle it.. i think he had his opportunity, time to get another candidate in

gav Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's by far and away the only time I've seen
> Massa doing even a decent job since Hockenheim.
> Credit to the guy, because I really didn't see
> that coming.

For one, I'd say the Chinese GP this year? I still think he's a bit underrated after Hockenheim last year (Hungary, Monza, Spa, Korea), but that's another story.

It's odd that this year he's going well at the circuits he's done badly on previously (Shanghai, Montreal), and not so well at his most successful circuits (Istanbul, Barcelona). If he had not gone slightly wide at the final chicane and if he'd taken the obvious short cut along the straight he may have got 2nd.

His record at Montreal is really abysmal. He has never qualified above 5th before at Montreal, and has never out-qualified his team-mate! Also, his best finish is 4th in the Sauber.

It's the same Top 3 on the grid as Hockenheim 2010. Fingers crossed Massa either finishes wherever he does on merit and there are no team orders.

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X (@ed24f1)

Quote
chet
Schumacher was great. He was the best but now he's just taking up space to full fill his own needs. He has weekends where he performs well, but then he has weekends where he just looks out of place. I just feel that there are guys out there who would be able to do more, more of the time. It's no good having Schumacher quick some of the time. He needs to be quick all of the time, and he isnt.

In qualifying pace alone, he can't be much further off of Rosberg than Button is to Hamilton.

Then he goes and makes up for his poor qualifying at the start... it's what happens after the first lap which is slightly disappointing.



Still, I don't think he's performing horribly. He has some shockers, but then everyone does... his are just analysed far more.

He's 42. To put into perspective how relatively old that is, only 10 drivers have won a race in their 40s. With the exception of Mansell (Adelaide 1994, and that was an inherited win), the last driver to win a race in their 40s was when Schumacher was aged 1.

I'm just dying to know what he would be like if he had a car which could genuinely challenge for a pole or a win. For that reason alone, I'm desperate for him to continue. Would his attitude change, and the older rawer, more determined Schumacher glimpse through?