Massa: A familiar story...
03-29-2012, 04:22 PM
#31
Ironman 140.6
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Don't forget Senna and Prost each crashed the other out of a race to win the championship. As for respect Prost would not drive with Senna on the same team after they left McLaren. Somehow I'm not too sure Senna would have wanted Prost as a pallbearer or a trustee to his charity.
03-29-2012, 05:00 PM
#32
King of Cool
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Don't forget Senna and Prost each crashed the other out of a race to win the championship. As for respect Prost would not drive with Senna on the same team after they left McLaren. Somehow I'm not too sure Senna would have wanted Prost as a pallbearer or a trustee to his charity.
There were no agreements that one of them was clear No. 1, would have to move over no matter what, nor was there a driver who was clearly less skillful than the other.
Others might thing it's smart to demand No. 1 position, to have sub-par team mate and all that but these guys had *****, unlike couple of examples mentioned earlier, and for that, I respect them much more.
03-29-2012, 06:19 PM
#33
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But if the two drivers finish 1-2 in each race, why would team care which one is 1st & which is 2nd? In the end one of them will be WDC, and the other will be 2nd while the team wins constructor's.
I remember at some point Williams had a "policy" that both drivers could battle and there was no team orders until the last 5 or 10 laps (can't remember what it was), the order was "frozen" and the guy behind was not allowed to challenge. In the end something like that is best for the sport, from fans & "sporting" point of view, nobody wants to see the fiasco such as Rubens having to let Schumi by.
In the end the fans watching is why the Circus is possible at all. If F1 becomes boring and nobody watches, there's no money to run them.
I remember at some point Williams had a "policy" that both drivers could battle and there was no team orders until the last 5 or 10 laps (can't remember what it was), the order was "frozen" and the guy behind was not allowed to challenge. In the end something like that is best for the sport, from fans & "sporting" point of view, nobody wants to see the fiasco such as Rubens having to let Schumi by.
In the end the fans watching is why the Circus is possible at all. If F1 becomes boring and nobody watches, there's no money to run them.
As to your question of "Why would a team care which one is 1st and 2nd", I think in certain situations, they do. Case in point, and I've never admitted this until now, but I absolutely agree that Ferrari wanted to show the world that they could make anyone a WDC in 2008. Kimi won in 2007 and I think that Luca wanted to be King Maker and make Massa WDC and nearly pulled it off.
03-29-2012, 06:54 PM
#34
King of Cool
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I always wondered why Ferrari started to favor Massa, developed their car to his style etc. while Kimi was a current WDC and a better driver. It just didn't seem to make any sense but the point you make, makes perfect sense. Knowing Montezemolos attitude and mentality, that seem strangely logical.
Very interesting take Pete.
03-29-2012, 10:15 PM
#35
Pro
Massa is not a very good F1 driver at present - he seems to always be moving backwards through the field and blocking people or crashing people out of the race. I think he has lost his confidence like a pitcher or a batter in a big slump. I am surprised that Ferrari haven't said something like, "We are thankful for all that Felipe has accomplished with the Scuderia, we have reluctantly accepted Felipe's decision to move on at this time. We are confident that he will experience much success in the future."
The team's support for him seems to suggest, to my surprise, that they will keep him all season as the statements don't seem to leave the window open for his replacement anytime soon. This is too bad as I think it is better for the sport to have somebody more competitive in the second Ferrari.
To my mind if I am Ferrari management - what do I have to lose by letting him go - he is never going to challenge for WDC again - sure you have to pay out his contract but I can't imagine that is that big of a deal from their standpoint, a new driver would create a lot of interest in the team and would be interesting for us all to watch. Instead we get to watch Felipe put in a string of uninspired drives as he destroys his tires while trying to block other cars. I wish him well, but I wish he was out of F1.
The team's support for him seems to suggest, to my surprise, that they will keep him all season as the statements don't seem to leave the window open for his replacement anytime soon. This is too bad as I think it is better for the sport to have somebody more competitive in the second Ferrari.
To my mind if I am Ferrari management - what do I have to lose by letting him go - he is never going to challenge for WDC again - sure you have to pay out his contract but I can't imagine that is that big of a deal from their standpoint, a new driver would create a lot of interest in the team and would be interesting for us all to watch. Instead we get to watch Felipe put in a string of uninspired drives as he destroys his tires while trying to block other cars. I wish him well, but I wish he was out of F1.
