With over 32 hundred posts in six years reflects a pretty boring life

 

I don't hate Webber. He's not my preferred driver, but I often am cheering for him. We know the Vettel haters like to say Red Bull purposely sabotage Webber's car to make the young German look better. But this is nonsense. Take this last race as an example. With Red Bull needing to out score Ferrari and McLaren in the race to win the WCC (and all the big money that goes with winning) and with Vettel starting the race from the pits, why would Red Bull sabotage Webber's car? I don't know why Webber's starts suck, but they do and that has been a big problem for him. But a bigger problem is his attitude towards the team. With Alonso running ahead of Webber in this last race and knowing the Ferrari is one of the more reliable cars on the grid, Webber was already going to be eliminated from the WDC if the Spaniard was to finish ahead of the Aussie. But Webber still felt the need to fight his teammate on the track. If he had not been called into the pits, who knows what would have happened. No I don't hate Webber, I like the Aussie, I admire his desire to win. But sometimes you have to know when to back down.

Do I hate Alonso and/or Hamilton? Of course not. I don't want to see them win ... LOL ... but that doesn't mean I hate them. Alonso's attitude has seen a huge improvement since that last race in 2010 and Hamilton has also seen a huge improvement this year over previous years. Oh and Vettel appears to be a cross section of Alonso, Button and Hamilton. Vettel can be a smooth driver like Button when he drives from the front of the field, but he can also be competitive like Alonso and Hamilton when he needs to. Heck I could also throw the Iceman in the mix, but seriously nobody is like Kimi. Raikkonen is probably the most naturally talented driver out there, except that he only seems to try when he wants to. Imagine what Kimi could do if he cared about the sport as much as Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton care. So yeah I don't really understand where all the hate come from. This forum isn't nearly as bad as some other forums. But I suspect this is because this is a forum where real world drivers gather (including real world race car drivers). There are some other forums dominated by gamers and some of those people are over the top with their hate.

"Kimi you missed the presentation for Michael" - MB
"Yeah I was taking a ****" - KR

classic Raikkonen ...

 

Or he has too much of life to bother with Rennlist

 

I'm sure this has been covered before in this exceedingly long thread, but this race was fantastic! What a great send-off for the Austin GP next week (which I will be at!).

Easily my favorite quote of the weekend was, of course, from Raikkonen, and he had a few particularly good 'uns:

ENGINEER: "Ok Kimi we need to keep pushing. You're currently in P1 and but Alonso has been one second a lap faster and Sebastian is now in P4. We'll keep you updated on progress."
KIMI: "Just leave me alone I know what to do."



I really enjoy watching Kimi do well. I enjoy his "different" attitude, even though I don't really get it. It's obvious he's one of the most naturally talented drivers out there; just wish he would bother trying every race.

 

I totally agree. He has the shortest competition history in the field, and in my opinion, the most natural raw talent Unlike Fernando, Hamilton and others with long history in cart and other forms of racing in their developing years, Kimi has none Wow!!! What a talent

 

I could counter many of these assertions but frankly it's been a looooong week and I'm shagged. I'll state that I disagree with much of what has been said about Webber here but I suppose unless any of us have absolute inside information or a real connection to factory and industry level information, it's all supposition.
Sure, he appears to make some mistakes but I can't for one minute believe that someone who has set many fastest laps of the race could routinely get the starts wrong all through his own fault. It's also not a matter of sabotaging his car, more that Vettel's would get the prime attention. Why is Webber's car so often having KERS issues when Vettel's isn't?

The first 'issue' with the pass at the chicane was a good pass in my book. Both cars could have made it around that corner. Webber's car was hit at the rear inside wheel by the front wheel of the other car. Webber squeezed him sure, but no more than 1000 passes previously. The 2nd 'issue' was made to look worse because Massa stuffed the rest of his corner up all by himself. Again, both cars could have made it around the corner. The last 'issue' was completely out of Webber's ability to do anything about it nor should he catch any blame for it. Yet, as humans are wont, they add all this up and say Webber is a rogue element in the field. Lol, gimme a break. Sure, he's past his best but he's continually held up as a good driver and very well respected by those in the know. Anyway, I was not going to say anything....meh....

 

It's not that he isn't a good driver it's that he's been selfish/wreckless (unreported bike wreck) and unchecked would hurt Seb's shot at WDC (even though he's out). I may have regained some respect for the guy if he hadn't gone purple with Seb on his six last weekend. Fortunately the team has learned his SOP and boxed him.

 

Webber's start was predictably, laughably terrible - I have heard the argument made that his size throws off the weight balance of the car which is developed around Vettel - allows the ballast to be lower and more neutral for Vettel. I'm not smart enough to know how this would affect the start though. For whatever reason, Webber went backwards and then got knocked out of the race. Vettel went from the back to the podium in a brilliant drive, I don't love Vettel but he is an amazing talent - along with Alonso, Kimi, and Lewis (though he's a head case).

Webber by all accounts is a great guy but he seems to drive like Massa was last year - angry that someone would dare try to pass him, offended that he is not faster. He shows moments of brilliance and has won races but rarely is able to control a race or put his stamp on it. I think personally there is no way Red Bull is responsible for his starts, it is for everyone's best interest in the team (except maybe for Seb) that he does well.

 

I'm just as disappointed by Webber's starts as the next guy. I can't believe every single time it can be purely a driving error. Not possible. These guys are the best in the world.

Everyone seems to forget Webber doing a very similar drive to Vettel last season. Came from waaaay back and carved through the field to almost win. I can't remember which race.

I'm sure there could be truth in him being a bit angry. I guess it's extremely frustrating to come sooo close to winning the world title and feeling like any chance of a repeat is slipping or has slipped away. To most of you, that's a given. To the driver I'm sure he believes he can do it again. I don't see him hanging around just to collect a cheque (healthy as that is!!).

 

Time to get the Austin thread going. Teams have been given one extra set of hard Pirelli's to learn the track and the top teams simulators are in overdrive, except for Kimi who doesn't do simulators--respect.

 

Wait- there's an F1 race in Austin?!

 

Webber's been lobbying Bernie to do NASCAR-style rolling starts for some time now...

There is talk that after he retires from F1 he'll go to Porsche and be one of their LMS drivers for the new 2014 prototype (not a joke). That should be better for him

 

New wheel for Kimi

 

where are the "vodka" and "ice cream" buttons?

 

I'm not sure but if I could find a steering wheel with those both my GF and I would be happy campers.