Glimmer of hope

[Railbird]

at least Juan was able to match Schumis pace last night.

Still a lights out to flag win for the red barron but at least they had to consider someone else.

Good to see boy band on the podium but Honda still isn't living up to expectations.

[oddlycalm]

Honda hasn't lived up to expectations since Mr. Honda passed away 'bird, and I'm not holding my breath. I'm honestly surprised they are doing as well as they are, but given the time and money invested I suppose that was inevitable.

oc

[Insomniac]

What's up with Ferrari running both compounds? Are they trying to cover their bases so one driver will have the better car?

[stroker]

BAR's looking much better than I expected, Williams, McLaren and Renault worse.

It's going to be a very long season... :(

[Ziggy]

Face it, Michael is just a bad @ss. Im a Juan fan, and he drove his tail off. He came in second.........

72 wins....... dang

Ziggy

[indyfan31]

Face it, Michael is just a bad @ss. Im a Juan fan, and he drove his tail off. He came in second.........
72 wins....... dang
Ziggy

My wife's a big Schumy fan and even she's hoping it isn't a runaway like 2 seasons ago.
The fights in the middle of the pack were fun to watch though.

[Hard Driver]

I hate that pointy chinned bastard, but he is fast. I wonder where Rubens Bendover would have been if he had been on the same tire/pit strategy. Instead it seems his race was a tire hedge that made him less competitive. But that is his role. Of course Rubens thinks this year is his best shot.

Montoya looked pretty good. I missed the very start, but he seems to have had the pace. Hopefully that means that there will be a chance for some battles for the lead in some upcoming races.

[indyfan31]

Either the Bridgestones are better now or the Michellins are not what they used to be in the heat. That giant "staple puller" of a car was scary quick in it's first half-dozen laps on new tires, then the Ferrari would slowly pull away again.

[Ziggy]

You can call him all the names you can think of. I doubt very much he cares, or waste's his time on Internet Message Boards.

Until someone takes the fight to him, all the other drivers are his bitch

Juan did it one time, and the benefits are still following him around. He is the "best of the rest". The Williams/BWW may have been fast the first couple of laps, but was still firmly in the Ferarri's mirrors. After Juan got into second, and got NEAR Schumacher, That dude just motored away.

To see Michael still get worked up over winning his seventy second GP, his pure joy and emotion, its very hard for this corner to anything but embrace his talent.

He's just that good.

Ziggy

PS - I been watching F1 for quite sometime, and can name MS transgressions chapter and verse.

[fourrunner]

Honda needs to Drop their IRL program and concentrate on their Formula 1
ambitions. ;)

[Railbird]

Being a fan of the history of the sport I've always loved Ferrari, even when I wanted them beaten by my favorite shoe I always felt the race itself was better for having them in the field.

While Schumi isn't my favorite by any means he and his group have managed to turn the wonderfully disorganized behemoth into an absolute machine that finaly is taking advantage of it's massive recources/budget.

Not to mention that he is without a doubt the best of his era.

I just have a hard time cheering for the favorites.


btw, let me touch on something Zig mentioned.

One thing I do like about MS is his enthusiasm on the podium, after living through the Senna/Prost/Mansell/Piquet era, seeing someone actually celebrate a victory is nice. (I know Hobbs said it better after the race but I had to mention it)

[RTKar]

Being a fan of the history of the sport I've always loved Ferrari, even when I wanted them beaten by my favorite shoe I always felt the race itself was better for having them in the field.

While Schumi isn't my favorite by any means he and his group have managed to turn the wonderfully disorganized behemoth into an absolute machine that finaly is taking advantage of it's massive recources/budget.

Not to mention that he is without a doubt the best of his era.

I just have a hard time cheering for the favorites.


btw, let me touch on something Zig mentioned.

One thing I do like about MS is his enthusiasm on the podium, after living through the Senna/Prost/Mansell/Piquet era, seeing someone actually celebrate a victory is nice. (I know Hobbs said it better after the race but I had to mention it)


Yes, it really wasn't that long ago that Ferrari was the typical caricature of the bungling Italians. Overweight V-12's, beautiful cars but not quite competitive. Without a doubt this is a special era we are watching in F1. Last years USGP was something to behold. Absolutely one of the best races I've seen in person. Like I've heard said regarding other sports, it's not getting to the top that's so hard, it's staying there and right now Schumacher gives no indication of stepping down from the top.

[Hard Driver]

PS - I been watching F1 for quite sometime, and can name MS transgressions chapter and verse.

Then you must value talent over principles. Personally, people I admire must first not be dirtbags.

[Forza Lancia]

btw, let me touch on something Zig mentioned.

One thing I do like about MS is his enthusiasm on the podium, after living through the Senna/Prost/Mansell/Piquet era, seeing someone actually celebrate a victory is nice. (I know Hobbs said it better after the race but I had to mention it)

I know that David Hobbs always brings this up, but I don't really think it's a fair rap, at least as far as Ayrton Senna is concerned. I'll admit that I don't have any particularly strong memories of Prost, Mansell, or Piquet on the podium, but I recall that Ayrton always celebrated pretty exuberantly -- waving the Brazilian flag, spraying champagne, and even dousing himself with it.

[Joe in LA]

I know that David Hobbs always brings this up, but I don't really think it's a fair rap, at least as far as Ayrton Senna is concerned. I'll admit that I don't have any particularly strong memories of Prost, Mansell, or Piquet on the podium, but I recall that Ayrton always celebrated pretty exuberantly -- waving the Brazilian flag, spraying champagne, and even dousing himself with it.

Prost was pretty dull most of the time, but Mansell and Piquet were usually pretty excited--however, they weren't as fit as Schumacher, and the fatique often showed. The real constrast would be Lauda who considered the ceremony stuff to be B.S.--he wanted to win the race and move on to the next task.

[JT265]

Then you must value talent over principles. Personally, people I admire must first not be dirtbags.

I can rag on the pointy-chinned bastard with the best of 'em, but having said that, I agree with Zig that you have to admire the talent and leadership the man possesses and the exuberance he shows on the podium even if you question his ethics (or lack of them) in the early years.

[Ziggy]

Im not so sure his ethics have changed. Someone has to get close to him to see if his race craft has gotten any better!

Whatever happened to Damon Hill??????~~~!!!

Ziggy

[mapguy]

Whatever happened to Damon Hill??????~~~!!!



http://www.autosport-international.com/images_library/damon%20hill.jpg

[Railbird]

Then you must value talent over principles.

Just call me an old tradtionalist but I don't care if the guy stuffs his teammate and shags the widow after the funeral, he's without a doubt the best of his era.

[Insomniac]

Then you must value talent over principles.

Just call me an old tradtionalist but I don't care if the guy stuffs his teammate and shags the widow after the funeral, he's without a doubt the best of his era.

Geez. I wondered what all the talk about his ethics was.

[TrueBrit]

Then you must value talent over principles.

Just call me an old tradtionalist but I don't care if the guy stuffs his teammate and shags the widow after the funeral, he's without a doubt the best of his era.


That may be the case...but he's still a pointy-chinned, chopping, dirty bastard.... ;) :D

[TrueBrit]

http://www.autosport-international.com/images_library/damon%20hill.jpg


Obviously doing a fairly decent job as a George Harrison look alike in a Beatles tribute band... :D

[mapguy]

'Bird-

I respectfully disagree. While the point-chinned, dirty, cheating bastid may be the most talented and complete driver right now I do not, nor will I ever, consider him a great driver. Same with Senna. Great drivers never have to resort to blatantly stuffing their rivals into the wall. Gilles, Jimmy and Stirling never did that.

TB-

If Paul and Ringo ever need to do a reunion tour all they need to do is call Julian and Damon!

[JT265]

I believe you nailed it Mapster.

(about the Beatles reunion I mean)

And I suppose that it's been a couple of years or better since Mika took the fight to the Chin, but good sportsmanship aside, Herr Chin still celebrates a podium like it's the 1st one, whereas I'd be rather bored and counting the cameltoes long before now. ;)

[FRANKY]

'Bird-

I respectfully disagree. While the point-chinned, dirty, cheating bastid may be the most talented and complete driver right now I do not, nor will I ever, consider him a great driver. Same with Senna. Great drivers never have to resort to blatantly stuffing their rivals into the wall. Gilles, Jimmy and Stirling never did that.





Gotta agree.

[Railbird]

I respectfully disagree. While the point-chinned, dirty, cheating bastid may be the most talented and complete driver right now I do not, nor will I ever, consider him a great driver. Same with Senna. Great drivers never have to resort to blatantly stuffing their rivals into the wall. Gilles, Jimmy and Stirling never did that.


For sure it was Senna who ushered in this era of rough play, but I've always felt it was more of a reflection of the times than anything else. Much safer cars and massive runoffs/sandtraps brought wheel wanging more into play than any dastardly attitudes of the competitors imo. The ability to stuff someone, even if it meant taking yourself out in the process, certainly isn't the deterent when the final result is mearly a long walk back to the paddock.

Not that I could imagine Clark ever resorting to such tactics, but in his era the fragile cars and tree-lined circuits either made the drivers think twice or killed them, simple as that. Jimmy was one of the true greats at a time when only the best need apply, and I doubt we will ever be blessed with a time such as that again.

as far as Sir Sterling and Gilles go I have a hard time comparing them to multiple champions given that neither captured a title with both being beaten to the crown by their teammates.

.

In the end I beliieve all this full contact nonsense could be brought to quick halt if the powers that be had the nerve to deal out of few penaltys. Schumi's chop move on the starts wouldn't be repeated if they resulted in a ten second stop and go. But once again we are looking at a time when bazilion dollar sponsorships take precedent over on track ethics.

Regardless I still consider Senna number two all time to Fangio and MS as the best of this era.



P.S.

Villeneuve? come on, I seem to recall a full contact dance with ol' Arnie Renault during the French GP many years back. Couple that with the maneuver that sent him to his grave and I'm thinking in all likely hood he would not have felt totally out of place in this day's bump and grind.

[indyfan31]

If Paul and Ringo ever need to do a reunion tour all they need to do is call Julian and Damon!

Have any of you seen Dhani Harrison? That kid's resemblance to his dad is downright scary.
http://entimg.msn.com/i/wi/04/03/15/55056/2398700.jpghttp://george-harrison.info/george_harrison_5.jpg

[mapguy]

[B]P.S.

Villeneuve? come on, I seem to recall a full contact dance with ol' Arnie Renault during the French GP many years back. Couple that with the maneuver that sent him to his grave and I'm thinking in all likely hood he would not have felt totally out of place in this day's bump and grind.

Actually, if you watch the video of that last lap you will notice that most, if not all, of the wheel contact between Villeneuve and Arnoux was due to the slipping and sliding off and on the track due to two sets of shot Michelins. Never once was any of the contacts intentional.

[jonovision_man]

Actually, if you watch the video of that last lap you will notice that most, if not all, of the wheel contact between Villeneuve and Arnoux was due to the slipping and sliding off and on the track due to two sets of shot Michelins. Never once was any of the contacts intentional.

He was ridiculously aggressive... even when you thought Arnoux had the position, there was Gilles sticking his nose in and getting back along side when no other mortal would have dared. There was bound to be contact in various places on that circuit by the nature of going side-by-side through tight corners.

One of the most amazing battles I've seen. :thumbup:

jono