Larry Herman

+1 and in an interview HK stated that he was trying to defend his position.

BlueRiver86

Ouch. I wonder what he was thinking...

wanna911

????

A cop out on Massa's behalf? Almost getting killed by random debris, being in a coma for weeks and it's excuses?


You sound like an armchair superhero. People that talk the toughest usually aren't.

A.Wayne

No, Heiki placed the car in the middle of the track to defend his position , Webber was the one weaving around trying to figure which was his best way ...

RajDatta

No need to make personal attacks.
What happened last yr has nothing to do with his performance this yr. If he couldn't deliver the goods, Ferrari would not have given him a contract extension. It's just that Alonso is that much better than Massa.
And in case, it is affecting his performance, he does not deserve a seat at Ferrari. No need for people to axe one guy while keep making excuses for the other. Same equipment, same team, results are world's apart.
Compare Alonso's performance to the only person he can actually be compared to, his teammate.

Raj

Flying Finn

How can anyone deny that Massa's performance isn't different than what it was before the accident?

If you look at him and the way he drives, it's quite "lame" compared to what his driving was before Hungary 2009. Clearly the accident affected his performance.
Last year's Ferrari was a dog to drive, yet he was fighting and giving it all. This year's Ferrari is much improved and easier to drive, yet he never fights and his driving is "keeping it safe", rather than "giving it all".

RajDatta

And he gets a pass for it by you guys, nice!
He is, as per you, not "giving it all" and yet he gets no flack yet we here can all agree that Alonso is "giving it all" and has made some mistakes. In the end, who has more points by a wide margin?
Would you prefer Alonso "keeping it safe" and make no mistakes and scoring just as many points as Massa? I guess then we will never see how much Alonso is over achieving with that car. He has made mistakes and that is exactly what happens when you push the car beyond it's limit. He is under a lot of pressure to perform and is giving it 110%. I would take his 110% anyday over not giving it all.
We have to measure both drivers with the same yardstick. We can't give one a pass and shove it under the rug by saying that he is "not himself". If he is not himself, then as racing fans, we should be more upset with Massa than Alonso. We should all appreciate a 110% effort everytime by Alonso. Lewis had to do this last yr and on a few occasions, lost the car in the process. This is the exact same thing, Alonso is overidriving to make that Ferrari look more competitive than it actually is.
Regards.

Flying Finn

Raj,

Regarding Massa, I think you misunderstood me.
I don't give Massa a "pass" at all, what I meant was quite the opposite. He's been the most underachieved driver (with Schumi & Senna although he is a rookie so you always give a little bit of a "pass" to rookies but still) of this season and should've been let go instead of re-signed but as I believe the reason for his underperformance is the accident, that also was the reason he wasn't let go.

A.Wayne

Not true !

Massa has attacked when he could , in the beginning of the races, for some reason this changes by midrace he takes on a very pedestrian role. Funny that he attacks Alonso more than others and is very much in love with Schumacher. Every time he get's behind Schumacher he sits there...

Massa has not lost pace, he is still as fast as he was when he was beating KR, again he does seem not to be able to race the whole distance so physically he must be struggling and it is still 2 early to judge his comeback, I'm sure Ferrari took this into account when they resigned him ....

I wanna believe he will be a bigger force by year's end or next year .




There is some truth to Massa's re-signing in what you say , but just to be clear on your position , are you saying Massa should not be extended the same 3 yr courtesy that was extended to Hakkinen after his accident. MH was outpaced by Coulthard for 3 yrs before he finally started winning, if not for RD patience and Mclarens ability to fix a broken chassis every other race MH would have been nothing but a footnote ...


Ahhh some Bias there Finny ! .....

RajDatta

Agreed FF. I doubt that if Massa's keeps performng the way he is, he will see the 3 full seasons of his current extension. I think they will can him after next yr at max.
Look at all the other front runners. Both drivers are on par and are hauling in points for their teams. With ferrari, it's mostly been Alonso doing the work. It's unfair to the team but unftortunately Ferrari had to do the "right thing" by resigning Massa.
Regards.

wanna911

Personal attack? Lol.

I see you are just an Alonso apologist trying to divert attention. They have both been in a bad car for several races. Massa finished the first two races on the podium so he isn't out there on mercy.

The simple piece of common sense that is missing is that the guy that causes the most controversy and and talks the most smack, get's the most ribbing, it's fairly simple and proves to be true over and over every time.

Felipe hasn't made mistakes as much, he just hasn't been as aggressive, which can easily be attributed to what happened last year. But your attitude towards someone who's fighting back after what happened to him last season is laughable. Internet tough guys crack me up.

RajDatta

Maybe we need to meet in person then!
You call me Alonso apologist, wouldn't that make you a Massa apologist?? lol

wanna911

Sure..............


I'm not a Massa apologist, I don't even really like him as a driver all that much, but your heroism as if you or anyone else for that matter wouldn't take some time to get over a near death experience is pretty funny. Guys that that are always the soft ones from my experience. Talk a big game, but that's about it.

ltc

OK guys, trying to manage one "Sir A.Wayne situation" per forum is enough of a challenge...there can only be just so many clowns under a circus tent.

Let's focus on the beloved circus that is F1, not on each other...

A.Wayne

.^^^^........

I guess Mercedes seeing it differently from the amigas ...........


By Jonathan Noble Thursday, July 15th 2010, 11:09 GMT

Michael Schumacher has been urged to keep 'plugging away' with his Formula 1 comeback, despite having not yet delivered the results that he or his team were hoping for this season.

That is the view of Mercedes GP CEO Nick Fry, who reckons that Schumacher is continuing to improve on his readjustment to F1 - and says the outfit is not losing faith in the German even though he has yet to finish on the podium.

"I think Michael has just to plug away at it," Fry told AUTOSPORT. "It is not coming together clearly. We have fits and starts and last weekend had some good points - like the second part of qualifying - but then the final part of qualifying was a bit disappointing.

"During the race there were points where we thought we could put in a better result here, but it didn't quite work out at the end.

"Clearly everyone expects the best of Michael Schumacher because he is seven-time world champion, but on the other hand you've got to say he is still a top ten driver which, on a global scale, is pretty impressive.

"He is still learning and we have still got confidence in him and he has confidence in himself. So I am quite optimistic."

Schumacher himself reckons there was reason to feel more bullish about his chances for the rest of the season after his Mercedes GP team made a step forward in performance at Silverstone last weekend.

"Certainly the car was working more true to its normal car/tyre combination, because I think that a lot of the problems in some of the events are down to some tyre issues that we haven't understood," said Schumacher.

"Clearly in Valencia we made mistakes with the car that we didn't do at Silverstone, and therefore we performed on normal levels."





Rumor has it that during the race last sunday , Schumacher had radioed Brawn demanding to have Rubin move over ....