Raikonnen the Reptile, Michael the Machine, Juan the Unfortunate Chump...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This years Formula 1 season culminated in the United States GP. I say this because effectively, it is over, with Michael Schumacher the world champion for the sixth time (yeah you may argue to the contrary, but the F1 veterans among us kinda had a feeling about this one). Well done to Michael.

But with the ups and downs of last weekend, I have to say that I have formed certain caricatures of the three championship contenders that, however true or false, are now etched firmly in my memory.

That of Raikonnen (who over the past four GP’s and on a broader note, over the course of the season) has impressed me the most. Let’s face it, he was using practically last years car (with new add-on’s I’ll admit) and was still able to stay in contention with the other Big Two, despite the fact that both Ferrari and Williams had improved the pace of thier cars (in the case of Williams, by a great deal). And remember the F-2002 hopelessly outclassed everything last season anyway.

Part of his strength I will give to the Mclaren Pit Crew, who I feel were the out-and-out best strategists of the pack. They pitted Raikonnen at crucial times, releasing him into “clean” air, and made cautious use of thier tyres, opting for reliability and sturdiness as opposed to just going flat-out. I think this accounts for the good number of podium positions Raikonnen had during the early part of the season, combined with his natural driving aptitude of course.

Back to the race in hand, he showed almost reptilian qualities in obtaining pole position last weekend. The camera closed in on him sitting in the car, staring into space with his ice cool blue eyes unblinking, maybe for a good half a minute. Thousands of thoughts must have been rushing into his mind - as far as he knew, if he did not achieve a good qualifying performance, his championship hopes were going to decend into the murky snowy depths of his native Finland.

And so he rolled out of the pit lane, and with calculated precision and aggressive steering, launched his vehicle into P1. He showed this quality of working immensely well under pressure in Austria, where he immaculately drove into (what I recall from memory to be) his first pole position (at least of the season). Had it not been due to his disastrous engine failure, I’m sure he would have finished at least second (I think Schumacher may have caught and passed him, but P2 was almost secure), where he would have picked up an extra 8 points. Oh well.

For me, being at this young age (23 years old) and performing a job like this has been (to me at least) quite astounding. I wish the Lizard well in the future.

What can be said of Schumacher that hasn’t already been said? Brilliant in trying circumstances, but also very fortunate to have had rain at just the right time. Those Bridgestone boys do it again (I can’t believe that Button was leading the race at one point - what must that have been like for BAR fans in the US?). More importantly, they do it when it counts.

He was as robot-like as ever, cautious when he had to be; the early part of the race didn’t suit him at all, and he fell back pretty far - remember seeing the Columbians go wild when Montoya passed him (more like rocketing past a slowing horse) at the end of the long straight? But when the weather chipped in, the rest (as I am told they say) is history. Only an untrained monkey could lose the plot and story now. Fortunately for the Ferrari boys, Schumacher is no monkey. Which brings me on to our third contestant, a certain Juan Pablo Montoya.

Don’t get me wrong, I love his wife, but for me I think he did lose it a little bit. Or maybe a lot, I forget which is which sometimes. OK, arguably the conditions weren’t suited for him, but let’s face it, Raikonnen had the same make of tyres, and he didn’t slide off the road. Championship contenders often have to do that much more Mr. Pablo, and I’m afraid it’s when the cortisol levels go up, he winds up getting into way more trouble than he should.

OK OK, I know… the incident with Barrichello was an accident; but for me, it was an avoidable accident - he may have felt that he had to get across faster than he was currently doing (he’d slipped from fourth to eighth at one point), but I think he can often make the bad to the worse without necessarily any forseeable reasonable risky-payoff. It’s the ability to make good decisions at the right times that is most important, and here I feel he lacks the intuition to go any further. Remember (wasn’t it in Hungary where he won by a minute???) he was leading in one of the races and came to lap Villeneuve near the chicane. Jacques being the man of honor that he is, took his time in handing Montoya the lap. So Montoya goes all crazy ape-man like, and shoves his hands in the air. What the hell is all that about? You’re leading by a minute. Just cool down my Latino bro, we go for some munch and boogie-ing at the Salsa bar downtown Mon Amis (jeez I hope I spelled that right).

Yeah I know. I really wanted to see this particular South Americano in action next weekend with a fighting chance too. He’s exciting, daring and innovative on the track. But maybe it’s not what is required of a future Formula 1 world champion. You be the judge, and hopefully we’ll see next year.

2

WOW! What an OP! I’ll bump it for ya, since I have a definite opinion on the characters in question.

First of all, thanks for the image of Raikkonen as a lizard. That’s hysterical! :smiley: I have to say, that kid’s got talent. To have trundled around in the McLaren all year and still be mathematically in the hunt for the World Championship at the last race takes some serious skill AND a seriously strategic pit crew. He’s cool as ice too. Much like Schumacher. I predict Kimi will be the next multi-championship winner over the long haul. Although, he could use some public speaking lessons. He has the personality of a lizard (a dead one!) in the post-race interviews.

Now to Schumi. Well, I won’t lie. I’m a HUGE fan of his (and his brother too), and have been for years. I don’t care what folks say about his driving style, his wins/poles/WC record speaks for itself. He’s the best damn race driver in the world. Period! Michael is calm, cool, and collected. He’s a scientist on the track. Analyzing, processing, and executing his maneuvers with unbelievable skill in the best (well, second best this year) racing machine in the world. He’s set so many records in his 10-year F1 career, I want to see a sixth World Championship added to that list. But we’ll see. The Japanese GP will put a lot of pressure on the team.

Ah, yes, now to Montoya. In my opinion, he is the epitome of the Latin stereotype of rampant emotion. Montoya wears his heart on his sleeve, and often seems to make his decisions on-track out of passion rather than strategy. The situations you’ve mentioned in the OP bear that notion out. I think he’s a good driver, no question. However, when he’s hot, he’s up, but when he’s not doing so well, he’s way, way down. Is he good enough to be a Formula One Champion? Only time will tell, but I doubt it. He’s a good driver, but that’s only part of what it takes. I mentioned in another F1 thread how he stormed out of IMS after the race without interview and without so much as waving to thank the huge crowd of supporters (MANY Colombians) at the track. Very classless, if you ask me. Shouldn’t a World Champion contender value his fan base, especially at the largest F1 event of the year? Maybe all these rules changes to enhance the spectacle (I have DEFINITE opinions on that :rolleyes: ) will bring it around to him, but in the current climate, I believe this year (and maybe next) will be his best ones. Rumors have him leaving Williams for McLaren. Possibly even Ferrari in a few years when/if Michael retires. God forbid those two are ever on the same team. YIKES!

3

I prefer to call him “the iceman.” :wink:

As I mentioned in the previous F1 thread, I felt bad for my man Kimi (we all saw how dejected he was at the press conference), but some things just lie out of one’s control and in Indianapolis it was the rain - and that played into Schumi’s hands and he knew exactly what to do and he did it. It would’ve been good if Kimi could challenge Schumi for the driver’s championship in Japan, but I guess he should use this as a learning experience to motivate him for the next season. Being only recently introduced to Formula 1, my level of knowledge of the cars, tracks and players isn’t that great, so it’s nice to see peritrochoid and Xavier predicting a dominant Raikkonen in the upcoming years.

Regarding Montoya, I don’t know too much about him… but I agree that he needs to keep his cool and learn not be overly aggressive at the wrong times. Perhaps he could learn something from from the other two. But there’s no denying that these three drivers are the ones to watch, and it’s safe to wager that it’ll be either Kimi or Juan who’ll dethrone the (to-be) six-time champ.

4

Yep, green_bladder, Raikkonen’s gonna kick some butt in the next few years. Personally, while I’d like to see him really challenge Schumi in Japan, I’d also really, really like to see Michael seal up WC #6, just because he’s so close. Kimi’s young enough and good enough that he’s got MANY competitive years ahead of him. And I’d like to see Schumi’s record stand for at least as long as Fangio’s did, but, well, I predict Kimi as a serious challenger. Great to see some other true F1 fans around here.

5

It’s strange, up until about six months ago F1 was terribly boring to me. But a few of my buddies made me watch a race (I think it was the French circuit) and that race piqued my interest. Now, I’m totally addicted. There’s so much more to F1 than what one sees on the surface. It’s a physically exhausting and mentally tiresome sport for the drivers (and the engineers). I do ten 800-metre laps in a go-kart and I can barely move afterwards, I can’t imagine doing seventy F1 laps. Plus, in what other international sport can teams burn billions of dollars for entertainment? :smiley:

6

It was once, IMHO, much, much better. The last ten years have seen a host of rules changes. Of course, they’ve been initiated in the interest of keeping costs down and making it more competitive. Admirable goals, but I feel it has lost a little something in the process. Once upon a time, the engines were turbocharged, pushing out well over 1000 HP (current figures are around 800HP, +/- 50 for the naturally aspirated V10s). In those days, refueling wasn’t allowed. The car started the race with as much fuel as it took to finish. And once upon a time, slicks were allowed, rather than grooved tires. Watch F1 Decade (I think that’s what it’s called) on the Speed Channel to see how drastically the cars have changed. Formula One was, at one time, a virtually unlimited technological R&D playground for engineers that helped develop things like anti-lock brakes, fuel injection, and traction control for our street vehicles. Renault pioneered a pneumatic valvetrain system that has opened up the revs on F1 engines to over 19,000 RPM, and the BMW is predicted to exceed 20,000 RPM in the near future. There was once a time where teams basically “brewed” their own fuels (that might have some questionable side effects). I found those days much more entertaining, though I still love it. I’m a techno-geek and gadget freak though, so a lot of folks didn’t enjoy it as much as I did. But if you can get your hands on some older copies of Autocourse (an F1 annual of sorts) or older videos from those seasons, you’ll find it pretty interesting to compare the cars, drivers, and strategies.

7

I remember hearing at once stage that the McLaren crew found Kimi asleep 10 minutes before his qualifying slot on Saturday. Now that if nothing else says a lot about this man. When he gets anywhere near the level experience Schumi has, I reckon he’ll be unbeatable. Although I’m a self-confessed huuuge Schumachers fan (both brothers too), I have to say Kimi was nearly my driver of the season too, for all the reasons mentioned previously. Remember this guy was given his Super License after only 23 (or was it 17) races. He has exactly what it takes to be world champ, and a great crew around him with Ron and Norbert Haug at the helm. Just give that man time, and he’ll be taking back a few of Schumi’s records I reckon.

As for the last race, yeah the Ferrari boys had it lucky. If it hadnt have been for the weather, I reckon the McLaren strategy would have won. Ross Brawn should go back to the drawing board - I think his king of straegies mantle has been taken away this year. Still hats off to Schumi for doing what he does best, and rewriting the record books again (well nearly anyways!).

[malicious aside] I made a bet with a friend three years agao that he’d do this. The Prize: all expenses paid trip to the Monza GP next year! :smiley: [/malicious aside]

As for JPM. Well I have to admit I dont like him (think he seems okay as a person though). At first it was just cos he was a threat to both Schumachers. but now its cause I’m realising that after all the triumphant fanfare about his arrival to F1 has died down, he’s not really producing the results (anyone remember BAR’s arrival??). Yeah he’s got close, but let’s face it, the Williams is either the best or second best car out there (depending on the circuit), and he’s had far more reliablility than Ralf to get results. He needs to calm down a little. Flamboyance and all out guts are a good thing, but not at the risk of undoing a weekend’s hard preparation just because you get caught up in a red mist. IMO thats what Montoya’s been doing for the last couple of years. Yeah he’s got the upper hand on Michaels in a few tussles, but as we’ve seen it needs dedication and consistency (and tyres!) over a full season to get the result.

Now that Schumi has (probably, hopefully) wrapped up title number 6, I wouldnt be completely surprised if theres a clause in his contract to allow him to retire on top. Jean Todt just happens to manage some Ferrari test drivers, who just happen to not have a drive next year outside the Ferrari stable, so you never know what’ll happen next. Either way, if McLaren get their finger out and stop running second hand cars, I reckon the fight for next year’s title will be between Kimi, Ralf, JPM, with Fernando Alonso snapping at their heels.
One more thing, bring back full slicks, get rid of traction control, launch control, and bring back manual gearboxes. That should liven things up a little!

8

its a shame about Montoya being out of contention. while i cant take away from Schumachers driving ability and record, he still appears to me as a robot, even when hes jumping up and down at winning. this has been the best season for many a year, and sundays USA GP had me on edge. i would have liked to have seen it go down to a 3 way race for the title at Suzuka, but once again, Schumacher seems to take all the luck out of the Ferrari team, while Rubens seems plagued by unlucky incidents. i would have loved to have seen it what happened at Indianapolis if it hadnt rained.
we’ll see what happens next season, with the new circuits.

9

Just a WAG here, but I predict Raikkonen’s and Schumi’s best competition will come from the Renault stables soon. Alonso and Trulli were blisteringly fast at the USGP. I believe that they were the only team not using traction control, and Trulli’s pace (especially prelim qualifying on Friday) was still astounding. Alonso’s future is up in the air, so if they play their cards right, and if they keep their wide-angle engine design and improve their aerodynamics package, Renault drivers are gonna be a pain in the neck for McLaren, Williams, and Ferrari.

10

http://www.itv-f1.com/asktheteam/asktheteam_story/18167

this is a link to a webchat with Ted Kravitz, who’s ITV’s man in the pitlane. He’s very good, and with his personal relationship and ITV’s reputation amongst the teams, he’s usually privvy to good information. Anyways, the webchat mostly covers what happened at Indy. Interesting theory about the Montoya - Barrichello incident.
Evidently it’s been suggested that Rubens held up JPM going into Turn 1 to give Michael a bit more leeway. So the their collision later might have a bit more of a ‘well fuck you too’ element to it.

FWIW I agree with peritrochoid - watch out for Renault next year. Their final developments on the 110 degree engine will give them a great boost. They already have the best launch system, their chassis is only second to Ferrari’s in the bends and alonso is a huge talent.