Michael Schumacher got back into a Ferrari race car for the first time last week at Jerez, and immediately went .5 seconds faster than Felipe Massa in the same car, and faster than anyone in the test.
This is why he's the 7-time World Champion.
One day, we'll all tell our grandkids that yes,we saw Michael Schumacher race. And he WAS that good.
Don't forget to tell tham that even though he only won 7 World Championships, it could have easily been 9 or 10, had he had some luck in 1997, 1998, and 2006.
Friday, November 23, 2007
SpyGate II
McLaren has produced documents that show one of its ex-engineers downloaded 33 files containing over 780 technical drawings to Renault's computer system. If true, Renault's protestations that this is much ado about nothing will be proven a bit of an....understatement.
This also casts doubt about where Fernando Alonso will go in 2008. He's been coy about his next seat, but it appears that he's going to bide his time and see where this goes.
If McLaren's penalty for possessing Ferrari's data is any indication, Renault may be excluded from the 2008 championship. If so, Alonso may need to find a seat elsewhere.
Red Bull? Not yet, as they still use customer engines.
Honda? Ummm, with the disaster that befell the team this season, Alonso would be crazy to take a flyer with them. He'd also have to face Jensen Button, a driver who would show him no mercy. Alonso is defuintiely faster that Jensen, but he doesn't want another situation like 2007.
No other teams have open seats, at least none that are publicly acknowledged.
It's been widely reported that Alonso has a signed deal with Ferrari for 2009, but I would discount those rumors. I don't see Maranello putting themselves in McLaren's position by having both Alonso AND Raikkonen, especially since Raikkonen is the new World Champion.
Unfortunately, Alonso's only logical move is Renault, even with SpyGate II hanging over their head.
Prediction: Alonso goes to Renault, AND Renault gets excluded from the 2008 championship. Kavalainen goes to Mclaren.
This also casts doubt about where Fernando Alonso will go in 2008. He's been coy about his next seat, but it appears that he's going to bide his time and see where this goes.
If McLaren's penalty for possessing Ferrari's data is any indication, Renault may be excluded from the 2008 championship. If so, Alonso may need to find a seat elsewhere.
Red Bull? Not yet, as they still use customer engines.
Honda? Ummm, with the disaster that befell the team this season, Alonso would be crazy to take a flyer with them. He'd also have to face Jensen Button, a driver who would show him no mercy. Alonso is defuintiely faster that Jensen, but he doesn't want another situation like 2007.
No other teams have open seats, at least none that are publicly acknowledged.
It's been widely reported that Alonso has a signed deal with Ferrari for 2009, but I would discount those rumors. I don't see Maranello putting themselves in McLaren's position by having both Alonso AND Raikkonen, especially since Raikkonen is the new World Champion.
Unfortunately, Alonso's only logical move is Renault, even with SpyGate II hanging over their head.
Prediction: Alonso goes to Renault, AND Renault gets excluded from the 2008 championship. Kavalainen goes to Mclaren.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Todt Kicked Upstairs at Ferrari
With the breakdown in negotiations with Ross Brawn, Ferrari has moved quickly to reorganize the team.
Jean Todt has been promoted to a management position. He had been under fire from Luca De Motezemolo for the team's poor start to 2007, and although Kimi Raikkonen secured the World Championship in the final race in Brazil, it was mostly because Lewis Hamilton made some rookie mistakes coming down to the wire that handed the cup to Kimi.
Another issue that erupted during the year was the breakdown of the Ferrari wind tunnel, which cost them 3 weeks of development mid-season, when McLaren was beating them regularly. It was believed that poor maintenance was the cause, and De Montezemolo blamed Todt for the failure.
Todt is being replaced with Stefano Domenicali, who was Todt's second in command and Sporting Director for the team. He is very respected, and has been looking to move up in the team.
Todt has been unavailable for comment, which is never a good sign. Look to him to tow the company line for a few months, then retire after the New Year.
Also up in the air is the future of Felipe Massa, who recently re-upped with Ferrari for 3 more years. He is managed by Todt's son, and some speculate that Todt did a deal with Massa without De Motezemolo's knowledge; leading to the break. Ferrari may yet deal Massa to Toyota, as they were not happy with his lack of consistency this season.
Jean Todt has been promoted to a management position. He had been under fire from Luca De Motezemolo for the team's poor start to 2007, and although Kimi Raikkonen secured the World Championship in the final race in Brazil, it was mostly because Lewis Hamilton made some rookie mistakes coming down to the wire that handed the cup to Kimi.
Another issue that erupted during the year was the breakdown of the Ferrari wind tunnel, which cost them 3 weeks of development mid-season, when McLaren was beating them regularly. It was believed that poor maintenance was the cause, and De Montezemolo blamed Todt for the failure.
Todt is being replaced with Stefano Domenicali, who was Todt's second in command and Sporting Director for the team. He is very respected, and has been looking to move up in the team.
Todt has been unavailable for comment, which is never a good sign. Look to him to tow the company line for a few months, then retire after the New Year.
Also up in the air is the future of Felipe Massa, who recently re-upped with Ferrari for 3 more years. He is managed by Todt's son, and some speculate that Todt did a deal with Massa without De Motezemolo's knowledge; leading to the break. Ferrari may yet deal Massa to Toyota, as they were not happy with his lack of consistency this season.
Brawn In at Honda
When he failed to come to an agreement with Ferrari, Ross Brawn wasted no time in accepting the Team Principal job at Honda. It's been widely known that Honda, Toyota, and Ferrari all wanted Brawn's services, but Ferrari failed to close the deal.
Brawn, who came to Ferrari from Bennetton with Michael Schumacher in 1996, was a central figure in the Italian team's resurgence, leading to an unprecedented 5 straight World Driver's and Constructor's championships with Schumacher.
When MS retired at the end of 2006, Brawn took a sabbatical to recharge his batteries. He had been tipped to replace Jean Todt, who's been running the Ferrari team since 1993, but the deal never happened.
Brawn is a technical and organizational giant, credited with bringing discipline to the notoriously unorganized Ferrari squad, and quelling the infighting that marked the 80's and early 90's at Fiorano.
The 2007 Honda was a complete disaster, and their 2008 car is largely finished already, so Brawn will have his work cut out for him. I imagine he will concentrate on reorganizing the team and then start on the car. Button and Barrichello are both ready to leave, but are under contract for 2008. I had thought Barrichello was going to retire, but with his old mate coming in to run the team, Rubens may stick it out one more year.
Brawn, who came to Ferrari from Bennetton with Michael Schumacher in 1996, was a central figure in the Italian team's resurgence, leading to an unprecedented 5 straight World Driver's and Constructor's championships with Schumacher.
When MS retired at the end of 2006, Brawn took a sabbatical to recharge his batteries. He had been tipped to replace Jean Todt, who's been running the Ferrari team since 1993, but the deal never happened.
Brawn is a technical and organizational giant, credited with bringing discipline to the notoriously unorganized Ferrari squad, and quelling the infighting that marked the 80's and early 90's at Fiorano.
The 2007 Honda was a complete disaster, and their 2008 car is largely finished already, so Brawn will have his work cut out for him. I imagine he will concentrate on reorganizing the team and then start on the car. Button and Barrichello are both ready to leave, but are under contract for 2008. I had thought Barrichello was going to retire, but with his old mate coming in to run the team, Rubens may stick it out one more year.
Monday, November 5, 2007
So What Do We Do Now?
Hey, it's a new blog, and so you may be wondering that we do for the off-season.
So am I.
We'll keep up with the happening i F1, and there's lots of Silly Season stuff yet to happen. There will also be preseason testing, new teams (Force India, ProDrive, etc.), and other things to report on.
I'll also throw in a few non-F1 things that interest me. Music, the auto business, whatever I feel like blogging about.
I promise I'll try to keep away form political blogging, even though politics is one of my passions. Frankly, it's too polarizing to blog politics; you immediately alienate half your audience. No to mention those who don't care about politics.
So am I.
We'll keep up with the happening i F1, and there's lots of Silly Season stuff yet to happen. There will also be preseason testing, new teams (Force India, ProDrive, etc.), and other things to report on.
I'll also throw in a few non-F1 things that interest me. Music, the auto business, whatever I feel like blogging about.
I promise I'll try to keep away form political blogging, even though politics is one of my passions. Frankly, it's too polarizing to blog politics; you immediately alienate half your audience. No to mention those who don't care about politics.
Williams Drops The Hammer
Williams announced that Nico Rosberg (Son of 1982 F1 World Champion Keke Rosberg), widely considered the front runner for the McLaren seat vacated by Fernando Alonso , is under contract to Williams for 2008, and his services are not for sale at any price.
Of course, in F1-speak, this could mean one of two things:
- Ron Dennis hasn't offered enough money to buy out Rosberg's contract, or
- Frank Williams has Rosberg under contract on the cheap, and Frank LOVES cheap.
Let's face it, Williams and McLaren have a rivalry that goes WAY back, and there's certainly no love lost between Ron Dennis and Frank Williams.
Over the past 5 years, though, the teams have been on very different trajectories.
McLaren has ridden a wave of Mercedes-Benz money and engine development technology to the top of Formula One. They've secured the services of the best drivers in F1, including Lewis Hamilton, arguably the best young driver in a decade (maybe ever).
Meanwhile, Williams has gone the other way, in a big way. Their partnership with BMW was a disaster, and when that broke up, Williams was left without a factory engine deal, which is critical to any success in today's Formula One. They spent a year with Cosworth engines, then moved on to Toyota.
Toyota's engines are highly regarded, but they're not free. This is a financial drain on the team, and Williams has struggled to keep pace with the mega-budgets of McLaren, Ferrari, Honda, and Toyota. As they've fallen off the pace, they've also struggled with sponsorships. History and a famous name only gets you so far, and Williams is trying to stay at the sharp end of the grid and avoid the fate of so many other privateer teams.
So, when Rosberg's name was floated as a replacement for Alonso, Williams again found themselves in the catbird seat. Believe me, Frank loves jerking Ron's chain.
So what will it be? I predicted Rosberg for the McLaren seat. If McLaren wants Nico bad enough, they can afford to make Williams an offer they can't refuse. The money Mercedes can throw at the issue is substantial, and Williams needs the money badly if they want to stay competitive.
And if Williams refuses, they've got a pissed off driver on their hands who will bolt as soon as his contract allows. Rosberg knows that driver only has a few chances to move up the grid, and the opportunity to drive for a team with a real chance to win the World Championship may only come once, if at all. F1 history is replete with great drivers who never had the chance to drive competitive cars (Jean Alesi, anyone?), and so Nico knows he NEEDS this chance; it may never come again. He wants this drive.
On the other side of the argument, Frank Williams was stated categorically that he will never sell Rosberg's contract, even to go as far as saying that he's sell the team if he sold Rosberg. According to WIlliams, Rosberg is the key to their resurgence.
The other name being bandied about for the McLaren seat is Heikki Kovalainen. It makes sense for McLaren and Renault to work a deal to swap drivers, but McLaren doesn't want to be seen as taking Flavio Briatore's rejects. Even though Kovalainen has drastically raised his game this season, he remains a second-choice driver for McLaren. However, he's still ahead of Adrian Sutil, the Spyker #1. While Sutil has shown great promise, he hasn't driven for a front row team as has Kovalainen.
So, I have to retract my prediction that Rosberg will go to McLaren. It's going to be Kovalainen and Alonso in a a switch between McLaren and Renault, with Rosberg left at the altar.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Alonso's Out - Captain Obvious Is Unavailable For Coment
As expected by EVERYONE ON THE FREAKING PLANET, Fernando Alonso and McLaren have agreed to part ways, effective immediately.
It became obvious that Fernando was on the way out when he threatened to blow the whistle on McLaren over the SpyGate e-mails during the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying fiasco. He and Ron Denns haven't spoken since, and Alonso had been effectively shut out of the team for the past 4 races.
He's been offered his old ride at Renault, and I expect that's where he'll go. He's been offered rides at Honda and Toyota, but he would be crazy to join either team. Honda has effectively ended Jensen Button's career, and Toyota, despite the largest budget in F1, has not accomplished anything but burning through roughly $1BLN.
Ferrari: Nope. Raikkonen is the new World Champion, and he would hardly want to compete with Alonso. And Massa's just re-upped through 2010.
BMW: Nope. They have some pretty deep talent in Robert Kubica, and some good drivers in development. Could happen, but I doubt it.
Williams: They cold do a swap, since Nico Rosberg is widely thought to have the inside track on Alonso's McLaren seat, but Frank would never spend the money on Alonso. Heck, he may not HAVE that much money anymore.
There are no other teams he would even consider, even if they can afford him.
Nope. Fisi's out, and Kovalainen and Alonso are in. It's all over but the shouting. And a large chunk of Carlos Ghosn's money.
It became obvious that Fernando was on the way out when he threatened to blow the whistle on McLaren over the SpyGate e-mails during the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying fiasco. He and Ron Denns haven't spoken since, and Alonso had been effectively shut out of the team for the past 4 races.
He's been offered his old ride at Renault, and I expect that's where he'll go. He's been offered rides at Honda and Toyota, but he would be crazy to join either team. Honda has effectively ended Jensen Button's career, and Toyota, despite the largest budget in F1, has not accomplished anything but burning through roughly $1BLN.
Ferrari: Nope. Raikkonen is the new World Champion, and he would hardly want to compete with Alonso. And Massa's just re-upped through 2010.
BMW: Nope. They have some pretty deep talent in Robert Kubica, and some good drivers in development. Could happen, but I doubt it.
Williams: They cold do a swap, since Nico Rosberg is widely thought to have the inside track on Alonso's McLaren seat, but Frank would never spend the money on Alonso. Heck, he may not HAVE that much money anymore.
There are no other teams he would even consider, even if they can afford him.
Nope. Fisi's out, and Kovalainen and Alonso are in. It's all over but the shouting. And a large chunk of Carlos Ghosn's money.
McLaren Pisses Up A Rope
McLaren has announced that they would challenge the results f the Brazilian Grand Prix after it was learned that the BMW and Williams cars may have had fuel that was too cold, implying a performance advantage.
The FIA tested fuel samples form both teams and found them to be outside the allowable deviation from ambient temperature. However, there's some question as to what the actual ambient temperature was and where it is measured.
Sadly, McLaren is pursuing this. If they succeed and the FIA exclude BMW and Williams from the race, Hamilton moves up three places and would become World Champion.
Not a freaking chance, Ron.
If this happens, I'll never watch F1 again.
McLaren, hot on the heels of embarrassing the entire racing world with the SpyGate scandal and resulting $100MM fine, is now looking to finish the job of destroying Formula One with this idiotic gesture.
Take your lumps like a man and shut the f**k up, Ron.
Jayzas, could this get any more stupid?
The FIA tested fuel samples form both teams and found them to be outside the allowable deviation from ambient temperature. However, there's some question as to what the actual ambient temperature was and where it is measured.
Sadly, McLaren is pursuing this. If they succeed and the FIA exclude BMW and Williams from the race, Hamilton moves up three places and would become World Champion.
Not a freaking chance, Ron.
If this happens, I'll never watch F1 again.
McLaren, hot on the heels of embarrassing the entire racing world with the SpyGate scandal and resulting $100MM fine, is now looking to finish the job of destroying Formula One with this idiotic gesture.
Take your lumps like a man and shut the f**k up, Ron.
Jayzas, could this get any more stupid?
Raikkonen Rules the Roost
Kimi Raikkonen won the Brazilian Grand Prix, and with it, the 2007 WorldDriver's Championship> In a stunning turn of events, Raikkonen came through from third on the grid to beat his teammate Felipe Massa (who engineered his final pit stop so Kimi could win), and Fernando Alonso, driving what is likely to be his final race for McLaren.And where was Lewis Hamilton, who came to Sao Paolo leading the championship? He finished a lowly 7th after first going off trying to hold off Alonso's charge through at the start, and then he suffered an electronic problem with his transmission that left him limping around hunting for gears. He drove an impressive race to come back through the field, but it was for naught. He finished 1 point adrift of Raikkonen, and tied at 109 with Alonso. Hamilton takes 2nd by virtue of having won more races than Fernando.
Remember, all Hamilton had to do was finish 4th, and no matter what anyone else did, he'd become the first rookie World Champion in he modern age of F1
It was a day that Raikkonen and his fans have long awaited. He's been considered the fastest driver in F1 for the past 3 seasons, but hasn't had a ride that could go the distance. He was robbed of a likely title in 2005, when the McLaren was easily the fastest car on the grid, but the Mercedes engines had a nasty habit of grenading within sight of the finish. Not so this year, as he overcame some uncharacteristic fragility in his Ferrari to win the Championship.
As for the race, Nico Rosberg finished 4th for Williams in what had to be seen as a chance to impress Ron Dennis in case Fernando Alonso leaves, as we all expect he will. Nico was followed by Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld in the resurgent BMW-Saubers. They have come on strong this season, and must be seen a a force for 2008.
As for the rest, Honda's whole season could be summed up by the fact that Super Best Friends again beat the factory Hondas in what has been a disastrous season. In fact, "disaster" almost seems too kind. For Honda, one of the most storied names in F1, this season has been a complete, utter, and total failure. There is not one good thing to be said about it.
So Kimi Raikkonen is World Champion 2007, and the whole of the British Empire lies in ruins as Hamilton has failed to win a Championship that was all but guaranteed.
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