TBK-Light.com

Nothing wrong with what Ferrari did/do/said their. Just the wording makes it sound worse than it was.

Something to consider regarding Massa is that he's team mates with Alonso & Alonso is able to get more out of a poor car than most just like we have seen Hamilton, Schumacher & many other greats do in the past.

I tend to feel that this year's Ferrari has never been as good a car as Alonso has made it look at times & this has perhaps made Massa look like he's doing worse than he actually is.
Also consider that Ferrari have no doubt been developing the car around Alonso & those developments may not suit Massa's driving style.


Perhaps for his own good he needs to leave Ferrari & go somewhere where he can work on getting himself back to where he was in 2008/Early '09. I think he's still capable of winning races, I think he just needs a better team environment where he's not looked at as been #2 & where he can get his confidence & motivation back.

It was said before the very beginning of the season that Massa and Hamilton might be the drivers that could "underperform" with the new, faster wearing Pirelli tires and Button would be one of those who would gain some advantage. Now it seems that Massa and Webber has suffered the most from the tires, if that would be the ultimate reason.

Also, the Ferrari isn't much of a car this year.

I bet that if Massa doesn't get over his problems during the middle of the 2012 season, there might be someone to replace him.

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"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

I mainly agree with this, but Massa's team-mates since 2005 have all been world champions: JV, Schumacher and Raikkonen. He dealt with them sufficiently, its almost as if Alonso is one hurdle too much.

Another aspect is not just the car being built around Alonso, but the team. That's part of the reason why Kimi felt disaffected. Did a long interview with Finnish journalist last year who said "in 2008 - while Kimi was leading the championship - they came up with a new model in midsummer after two months of development work, a model that suited Massa better." Part of that gained Massa momentum and I think every driver loves having the team built around them (part of the reason Kimi excelled post-Hungary 2009). Now, Massa is the number 2. Still loved, but nowhere near as much as Fernando.

Also, Stefano Domenicalli says that Ferrari is getting Jules Bianchi a 3rd driver role in 2012 to do Friday sessions, most likely at Force India (speculation)

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Ferrari training drivers at Force India seems bizarre when you think the team aligns itself with McLaren in many ways. I would have imagined Sauber would have been the obvious choice.

Where has this Force India/Ferrari/di Resta connection come from? There is no link between them that I can find. And now we're throwing more drivers in?

Sauber already have a driver to do Friday work.

Although, having said that, Sauber don't use him, so there might be a space for Bianchi.

He certainly wouldn't go to Force India. There is no link there.

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Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

it's very curious that generations go by and we keep repeating the same old story. It was the same with Barrichello, he always blamed everyone else for his own mistakes, always the same lame excuse. Massa's doing the same and even worse. I wonder what disease is that, why can't you just say, look I'm slow...I'm not enough qualified for the job. It's a matter of honesty

Right, so if you were struggling in your job you'd really say "I'm just not good enough for this job, that's all there is to it"?

Of course it's the same old story - self-confidence and ego is pretty important to a successful driver, and no driver is going to take full responsibility for long-term lack of performance if there's any way they can keep their ride through deflecting blame.

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And that to me makes it all the more interesting that Webber has basically said over the last few races that he can't match Seb that he has to improve,no real blaming anything from him this year...for an F1 driver that essentially an open message that he is better than me.

Apparently the RB8 is different, according to Newey
http://www.f1zone.net/news/newey-2012-r ... dock/9407/

And Williams think that if they sign Raikkonen, they can get sponsorship from a Qatari bank.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Button stays on at McLaren
http://www.f1zone.net/news/button-exten ... deal/9424/

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Good for Jenson! The way this season is going, he really has a chance to solidify his spot in the team and become the #1 guy. If anyone's going to deliver a WDC for McLaren, it would have to be Button at this point.

Good for Jenson and McLaren.

Here's to leading McLaren to many strong 2nd places over the next 3 years.

Puts pressure on Lewis to improve or be cut, now that the team have got one bonafide top-tier driver. Might even be able to drive his salary down, which would help the team.

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Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

Webber's Classic F1
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson ... ic_f1.html

Some good'uns in that list

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Found this on Atlas - current points system in history

Champion      Year  Pts     Avg
G Farina      1950   93    15.50
JM Fangio     1951  100.5  14.36
A Ascari      1952  150    21.43
A Ascari      1953  139    17.38
JM Fangio     1954  177    22.13
JM Fangio     1955  118    19.67
JM Fangio     1956   92.5  13.21
JM Fangio     1957  136    19.43
M Hawthorn    1958  140    14.00
J Brabham     1959  110    13.75
J Brabham     1960  137    15.22
P Hill        1961  118    14.75
G Hill        1962  158    17.56
J Clark       1963  212    21.20
J Surtees     1964  119    11.90  *
J Clark       1965  150    15.00  *
J Brabham     1966  130    14.44
D Hulme       1967  161    14.64
G Hill        1968  143    11.92
J Stewart     1969  180    16.36
J Rindt       1970  125     9.62            Rindt missed the last few races
J Stewart     1971  178    16.18
E Fittipaldi  1972  176    14.67
J Stewart     1973  221    14.73            Stewart missed the final race
E Fittipaldi  1974  182    12.13
N Lauda       1975  209    16.08
J Hunt        1976  205    12.81  *
N Lauda       1977  220    12.94            Lauda left Ferrari before the end of season
M Andretti    1978  195    12.19
J Scheckter   1979  201    13.40
A Jones       1980  209    14.93
N Piquet      1981  166    11.07
K Rosberg     1982  155     9.69
N Piquet      1983  183    12.20  *
N Lauda       1984  209    13.06
A Prost       1985  233    14.56
A Prost       1986  233    14.56
N Piquet      1987  228    14.25
A Senna       1988  275    17.19  *
A Prost       1989  245    15.31
A Senna       1990  231    14.44
A Senna       1991  274.5  17.16
N Mansell     1992  279    17.44
A Prost       1993  271    16.94
M Schumacher  1994  236    14.75  *
M Schumacher  1995  268    15.76
D Hill        1996  258    16.13
J Villeneuve  1997  222    13.06
M Häkkinen    1998  271    16.94
M Häkkinen    1999  216    13.50  *
M Schumacher  2000  286    16.82
M Schumacher  2001  327    19.24
M Schumacher  2002  380    22.35
M Schumacher  2003  236    14.75
M Schumacher  2004  367    20.39
F Alonso      2005  322    16.95
F Alonso      2006  321    17.83
K Räikkönen   2007  276    16.24
L Hamilton    2008  243    13.50
J Button      2009  239.5  14.09
S Vettel      2010  256    13.47
S Vettel      2011  309    22.07

In the years with an asterisk the following drivers scored more points than the champion:

1964  G Hill      126    12.60   +5 points
1965  G Hill      151    15.10   +1 point
1976  N Lauda     207    12.94   +2 points
1983  A Prost     183    12.20    = points [Prost had more wins]
1984  A Prost     213.5  13.34   +4.5 points
1988  A Prost     301    18.81   +26 points
1994  D Hill      252    15.75   +16 points
1999  E Irvine    237    14.81   +21 points

Prost is a 7x WDC under the 2010-present points system.

I know there are more races now, but it shows how great Vettel's season really is.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Graham a 4 time champion as well. Of course you can argue that the drivers played to whatever points system they had at the time, but it's still interesting.

don't worry, GrowJohn will already be in F1 next year.

Barber has been given a 1T rating

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011 ... s_app.html

So, how's the conctruction in Austin going...?

It will never be used for testing though.

I have a feeling the teams aren't very aware of these things.