jenk12m

i feel he will podium at some point but not win

multi21

That's a very interesting comment Finn! I do seem to detect a little bit of apprehension or nervousness about the old man pairing against Kimi? Maybe just a little bit. I'm not saying anything, but I've got to believe Kimi is the one under the pressure now. It's one thing to be slower than Massa, it another to be slower than a 40 year old that has been retired for 3 years.

Interesting, I was just looking through my 2006 Indianapolis GP race guide and was surprised to read that Schumacher was the oldest driver at that time. Here he is 3 years later and by far, he's the oldest. When was the last time a guy 40+ years raced in F1?

Flying Finn

Pete,

Nervous or whatever? Sorry but no.

I'm glad Schumi is back, even though only temporary, this is awesome kick for the season that has been pretty boring (although the last 3 races have been much better) and I'm especially glad that he's Kimi's team mate now.
Kimi too, he said even though he doesn't really care who drives the other car (typical Kimster) but he's happy that Schumi is coming to the team.
Pressure is on but remember this is what Kimi has (with us Finnish Fans) waiting for from the moment he signed for Ferrari.
(Kimi signed his contract in 2005 and at that point, Schumi was to be his team mate. It was in late 2006 when Schumi decided to not continue and Massa was pulled in).
But the crap that he needs to test the current car for "safety reasons" is bull****. To give Schumi better chance to be competitive, yes and why not but there's no need for it for safety reasons.

Old F1 drivers:
Schumi is pretty damn old in today's standards but you know how long he would need to keep racing in order for him to be the oldest ever to race in F1? Until 2024...
Can you imagine that, someone racing there at the age of 55!?
Man the times have changed!

P.S. Massa will have an TV interview tomorrow.

wanna911

MS means too much to F1 to have him out there with no test at all. If the new kid made a mistake and hurt himself, it wouldn't be a big deal, however if Schumi did it and got injured, whoever let him come back would be flamed to no end. Plus a driver from their team was almost killed, meaning he did not have to be mentally prepared for this like Jaime did, who knew what was coming before it happened. Plus he's old and had an injury. Your body doesn't recover or resist impact at 40 like it did at 20.

I will say that Vettel had a similar situation a couple of years ago replacing Kubica, but they were also testing then, so he'd been in a car recently which is what allowed him to do so well.

Alguesari(sp) and Schumi are two completely different situations, both for the driver and for the team. Schumi can't go out and finish at the back and be ok because he made a fast lap. There is no break in period from Schumi. I mean look at the polls, everyone expects more out of him than out of a World Champion and near WDC winner.

You can't compare the two situations.

Flying Finn

This all comes to the stupid testing ban which, as I have already expressed, is in my opinion very bad for safety.
If there was no test ban, there would not be a debate about Schumi testing F60, nor FIA investigating the test he did in F2007.
When will FIA wake up?

BTW, Webber just voted for Schumi to win in this season.

ew928

But testing ban is saving the teams money.
Just like all the development dineros for KERS. Make teams adopt a tech.
Neuter the tech to limited output and time usage.
Ensure there will be no trickle down of tech advancement to anywhere Sigh.


Thought part of the F1 allure was the incessant rabid development of a racecar from hour to hour.



The tifosi will just erupt if MS podiums.
And they'll go nuts when he passes someone for podium step.

Flying Finn

Well, we can't stop the discussion, Williams just "vetoed" the test so Schumi can't test the current car.
(I understand their point as they are only 15 points behind Ferrari in constructor and position in Construction's Championship pays money).

BTW, did you hear Coulthard's comments in discussion with Eddie Jordan & Christian Horner when asked if he could've replaced Massa for the races he'll miss? "I couldn't keep up with Kimi when I was in McLaren so what chance in hell I would've had now?
Nice to see DC being so brutally honest.

multi21

We support Schumacher's test - Haug
Norbert Haug is in favor of Michael Schumacher getting the controversial test with the Ferrari F60 before the European GP later this month, even though testing is strictly prohibited inbetween Grand Prix events. The Mercedes motorsport boss believes that it is only fair for Schumacher to get some mileage in the new car before joining his teammate with thousands of kilometres more.

Speaking to 'Autosport' Haug said, "Whatever we can do to support him we will do. I just think it is fair. This is an exception. If Michael had said he would come back under the condition that he could test, everybody would have said yes."

Haug also believes in the old saying 'ask and you shall receive', "Maybe even a newcomer should get a test. If I would be asked to make an exception for a young guy, I would say yes.

"Giving Jaime [Alguersauari] a test would have been justifiable, but having said that I don't think there was an official request."

John H

I hope he beats both Williams cars.

ew928

Maybe Kaz will run into Nico at the start.
Even tho Nico deserves better.

Flying Finn

Also Red Bull & Toro Rosso are against Schumi testing with F60.

They applied to get an extra test for Jaime Alguessari before GP in Hungary which was denied so they're saying why Schumi now should be granted a test when they just got denied. I agree.

So his test with the current car is not gonna happen but I don't see that as a problem, testing with F2007 is perfectly fine for him to see how his body copes, for safety etc. (F2007 is faster than F60) and since he's been involved in F60's development and, I don't see him having difficulties in setting it up on Friday in Valencia.

Schumi's paycheck is a cool million euros per race, and another for a win.
(plus his normal salary of 5 million euros per year from Ferrari still applies).

ew928

So which Red Bull/Torro Rosso driver was injured and needed Jaime to drive instead?

Will Ferrari get extra tires? I'm guessing Schumi may want to do a few hot laps in the practice sessions.

Flying Finn

Neither of them was injured, and your point is?

Ferrari could've used a driver who has recent F1 experience (Fisichella, Bourdais, Gene, DC etc.) but chose not to do so.

va122

The G's alone would cause more damage.

ew928

Isn't Bourdais the only one with 2009 F1 car experience.
Thought the 'backup' drivers were all mainly doing straight line tests.

Would anyone dare put Bourdais in a F1 car?