Black Wizard Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Holy Cow! Schumi and the Iceman driving for Ferrari. Cool. Will be interesting to see the next race.Regarding Alonso, I too believe that he will drive for Ferrari, but I think it's more like in 2011. Haven't both Raikkonen and Massa signed deals not to long ago? They have contracts written for next season. I know that in this business, deals can change in an instant, but since both Massa and Raikkonen are pretty big, could they really just push one of them aside? I know that Raikkonen dabbles in rally, but getting a drive there just when you have done one or two races? Pretty unlikely.Two points:1. Massa may never race again, thus leaving his seat empty for 2010.2. Finns grow up driving on the roads they use in the Rally of Finland, it's second nature to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Especially Toyota. They've poured in massive amounts of money, and still they've got nothing to show for it. I expect some Japanese bosses are getting mighty frustrated.I wouldn't be surprised if Toyota did leave as well, I'm sure never before in the history of F1 has anyone spent so much money without a single victory for it - I couldn't really blame them if they decided to stop throwing their money at a racing team who seem incapable of achieving anything. In de nineties it was the private teams dropping like flies, now the big factory teams are also looking for ways out. There isn't going to be much left. Drastic budget-cuts (or perhaps a system like IRL, which is the exact opposite of some of F1's defining qualities) seem to be necessary for bare survival as a racing-class.I don't know if it's necessary to be quite so apocalyptic yet, at the moment there are 24 cars scheduled to be on the grid next year, it's been a while since there have been as many as that and it is possible that someone (maybe Sauber again, IIRC there was also an Austrian team trying to enter this year who would be just over the border from the BMW base) will buy what was BMW as well. Even if other teams do drop out (which is certainly possible) it's not going to be the end of F1. That said, cost-cutting measures are definitely a good idea. Holy Cow! Schumi and the Iceman driving for Ferrari. Cool. Will be interesting to see the next race.I've never been a Schumacher fan, but I do quite like the idea of a brief comeback - it will be interesting to see him racing for the first time against Lewis Hamilton which otherwise would never have happened.It won't - because if Kimi beats him people will just say 'yeah, he's old, out of practice and unused to this car'. It's pretty much lose-lose for Kimi- Schumacher gets the attention either way and if he does well he nabs plaudits, whereas if he doesn't no-one really cares.I've never gotten the impression that Kimi cares what anyone thinks or says about him.Anyway, I'm pretty sure he will have driven this car somewhere along the line. Just not in competition, obviously.They have very strict limitations on the amount of testing anyone is allowed to do in the cars this season. It said in the BBC article that MS hasn't driven an F1 car since April last year so he can't have driven this year's car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJDonegal Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 I tried to make a post after the Hungarian GP but the internet connection I was using went duff just at the wrong moment and by then it was 2am so ugh!... Anyway, quite an eventful week or so we're having now in the F1 world.- Massa is put into a coma and his racing career hangs in the balance.- McLaren return to form with a fine showing for KERS both off the start line and in the overtaking of Webber.- Brawn are nowhere.- Red Bull should be a bit more somewhere than they are, but their pit stops let them down.- BMW are gone.- Michael Schumacher is back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 - Massa is put into a coma and his racing career hangs in the balance.The latest news on that sound quite encouraging, he's about to leave intensive care and his doctor was sounding very positive about his future prospects:And Massa's own doctor, Dino Altmann, is so encouraged by the Brazilian's condition that he is convinced the Ferrari star's motor racing career is far from over."I have no doubt Felipe will race again. I'm sure of that," Altmann told Gazzetta dello Sport."The situation is still delicate but I believe his life is not in danger anymore."From the beginning I felt the trauma wasn't as extended as it was believed but the improvements have gone beyond our wildest expectations."Hopefully his assessment is accurate, although even if it is the beginning of next season is probably the earliest he could return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJDonegal Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 Well that's good news, for sure.But the question then is would Ferrari be willing to wait and see if he is going to recover fully by the start of next season? Was he even in their plans next season or did they hope to replace him with Alonso? If he was out of the 2010 Ferrari plans, is another team going to take a risk on a driver who has suffered a huge accident involving the head? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 But the question then is would Ferrari be willing to wait and see if he is going to recover fully by the start of next season? Was he even in their plans next season or did they hope to replace him with Alonso? If he was out of the 2010 Ferrari plans, is another team going to take a risk on a driver who has suffered a huge accident involving the head?Of course we don't really know what Ferrari's plans were. The rumours were certainly suggesting that Raikonen was the most likely to make way, given their performances over the last couple of years I'd definitely have preferred to keep Massa than Kimi.As for the head injuries, he wouldn't be the first driver to return to racing after serious injuries - see Hakkinen or Barichello for examples of drivers who nearly died but then returned to be more successful. Of course, I'm sure any team would give him a very thorough medical before hiring him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Wizard Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 I'm pretty sure they will wait for Massa to recover fully. He's been with Ferrari since he entered Formula One, even when he was racing for Sauber he was just 'on loan' because he'd been a test driver before. He's Ferrari's equivalent to Lewis Hamilton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJDonegal Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 I agree. I think Raikonnen was the more likely to be dropped if Alonso was to come in - I'm just posing the questions is all. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Wizard Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Nelson Piquet Jnr. has been sacked. No surprise really. I kind of feel sorry for him, according to him Briatore treat him like shit. I wouldn't be surprised if it's true. He's only ever loved Alonso really. Trulli, Fisichella, Button and Kovaleinen have all had a tought time working with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJDonegal Posted August 3, 2009 Author Share Posted August 3, 2009 It was very clear at the last race that Briatore had no respect for Pique Jr. when Briatore left the race track early having watched Alonso's race literally fall apart. It was a very public message that was probably a little uncalled for, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerold Hightower Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Schumacher has to call off his comeback. I guess competing in those motorbike races wasn't that great an idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Wizard Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I think I'm going to sit in a dark room and cry.Who else other than their test drivers can they use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burnt hound Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Not good. Can't Kubica jump ship already? With BMW out, can't he race for Ferrari for a few races. Anybody else than the test drivers would be better.I cannot believe that I am this sad about Schumi not being able to drive for Ferrari... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Not good. Can't Kubica jump ship already? With BMW out, can't he race for Ferrari for a few races. Anybody else than the test drivers would be better.I cannot believe that I am this sad about Schumi not being able to drive for Ferrari...I was never a Schumacher fan, but I'm disappointed he's not going to make a brief comeback after all, because it would have been interesting seeing how he competed against the current drivers. They've now confirmed that Luca Badoer (the record-holder for most F1 starts without scoring a point) will race in Valencia, I'm unclear whether they have decided he will deputise until Massa returns, or if they might change it for future races. For Valencia it did make sense to use a test driver at this stage, rather than running around to find a replacement for Schumacher who would then have hardly any time to prepare - at least Badoer has driven the car before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Wizard Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Is it possible that Schumacher's neck could be ready for some of the later races? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revan Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I don't mean to make any Schumacher fans angry at me, but I was glad that he didn't get to race again.I don't know if this was discussed before, but why did he need to come back anyway? Money, he had... Glory, he had... Titles, he had... Skills, he proved he had.l.. What else was there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Wizard Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Team loyalty mabye?I read an intersting article in The Sunday Telegraph that suggested he might have tried to return because he wants to be loved. He was described as a "racing robot" in the article and it also said "his achievments never quite translated into mass popularity". I see the value in this argument because he never had the personality of Senna and he was all work (typical German eh?). Although in his defence he has twice the personality of Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen combined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerold Hightower Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Although in his defence he has twice the personality of Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen combined.That would still be zero :P Not everybody has it in them to retire with 37. Schumacher obviously hadn't. Given the series of accidents he had there, motorbike racing probably wasn't the right thing so why not return to F1 in some capacity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 He was described as a "racing robot" in the article and it also said "his achievments never quite translated into mass popularity".I'm not actually sure how true this is- despite being German (strike one, since I live in England), really dominant (strike two, especially against English opposition) and a cheat (strike three, again especially against English opposition) I've never met an English F1 fan who won't admit to liking him, albeit sometimes grudgingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJDonegal Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 I admire him, but I didn't like him. He single handedly stopped me watching F1 by winning everything.I can respect that, but I don't like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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