and it's not because Schumacher has sucked all year (admitted MS fan, but
ready for a change of scenery for us all)

The WDC will be Alonso. This is in spite of the Raikkonen being the superior
driver in the superior car.

1. New engine rules have placed Kimi 10 spots back in many races due to
engine failures. The best he could do was second few times but in the old
days his engine failures would not have penalized him.

2. Single-lap qualifying. Not only boring to watch, but the rule
establishing the order by finishing place in the last race is doubly-penal
and Raikkonen has been victimized by this rule as well. His qualifying
positions have been substantially compromised where in the old system his
average starting position would have been much better. Starting position
seems to have more of an impact than ever with the tire rules...

3. Tire-changing rule. Stupid. Again, Kimi has been victimized by this rule
more than anyone (save Schumacher perhaps?!!) But without giving teams a
chance to change tires the in-race strategy is boring and there is never a
chance for any bonzai-like hot lapping at any point since everyone is just
saving their tires. Hardly the pinnacle of motor racing.

4. Alonso. While he is talented I think his driving style is clearly
specialized to the unique nature of F1 cars. He never would have progressed
to F1 in the past because his style would not have lent him to good results
in lessor series... the fact is that he never was special in anything but
karts and then F1 having been the lucky guest of Minardi in 2000 at age 21.
I liken him to a video game driver. Massive binary inputs requiring a unique
type of car to be effective. I don't find him superior to the field and WDC
seems less valid with him than having Schumacher in the best car winning it
five years. Also, WHO DID HE BEAT ALL YEAR? He never raced a serious
challenge in any race-- he either won it going away or was smoked by
Raikkonen when his bad luck was on break. The closest we had was Schumacher
dogging him in the final laps at Imola but that proved to be a one-time shot
thanks to a lemon of a Ferrari with slippery tires for the balance of the
season. At least Schumacher RACED someone in most years that he won the
title. Hill/Hakkinen/Raikkonen. This year was a snoozer IMO in spite of what
people are saying.

5. Points system. Thanks to a formula that was supposed to keep people in it
longer and keep a runaway from happening you now have a situation where the
WDC is all BUT mathematically locked since a driver can simply finish in the
top 4 or 5 for the second half of the season while another can win out,
without losing your points lead. Stupid.

All these rules were intended to slow the Ferrari and Schumi combination
down on the surface but in fact they prevented the more deserving
team/driver from winning while Ferrari stubbed their own toes somewhere,
just like they said they would. (I hardly believe they are struggling only
because of tires... I think they missed some key points on their car or else
we would be seeing glimpses of speed at some point- tires are more easily
fixed than the cars. They screwed up their 2003 car a little and admitted it
and I think they did worse this time.

All in-all F1 is now the pinnacle of racing only due to its (still) enormous
cost, not its level of technology or the challenge it presents to its
drivers. The technical regulations result in too specific of a car now. And,
they need to get back to the old rules: open session qualifying on Saturday,
tire changes (give me grooves while you're at it) and though it will never
be I want the old points system.

"JH" <JH (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

I don't normally make it to the end of long posts but this was a good one. I
agree.

Great post, and I want to congratulate you for being a MS fan but able
to admit that he's not God (which is rare in RASF1).

JH wrote:

"JH" <JH (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

rasf1 haven't been to an F1 race in years but still love the sport.

I've paid attention to this group for a while now and still enjoy reading it.
Strange that it's not all about F1 some of the time. Start a discussion
Lemans, WRC or classics at Donnington and you'll meet people who have been to
more F1 races before 1989 going back to the genesis of the sport than in the
latter days.

Back in the day, (1988) most were excited over changes in power and glory.
Everyone knows how many times the idea of "making it more competitive by
changing the formulae" has been a rabbit pulled from the hat.

Everyone still pays attention.

"T C" <tomcanada (AT) canada (DOT) com> wrote

day".

The season would have been much better if:

1. Kimi had a more reliable car. This is biggest tragedy. Sadly for
Kimi the last 3 years have been like this.
2. JPM had not screwed up playing tennis in the first quarter of the
season. I used to think he was an accident waiting to happen but he
has really matured recently.
3. Fisi getting an unreliable car while the boy Flavio manages gets a
car that never fails. And Flavio jokes about Fisi unreliable Renault
in today's papers.
4. Ferrari had been a bit better.
5. Williams slow car.
6. Toyota almost getting it right but still not fast enough.

The Renault is the superior car without a doubt. They have a car that
is fast AND reliable.

"JH" <JH (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> escribió en el mensaje
news:-4udnZ2dnZ0PRSTxnZ2dncFhvN6dnZ2dRVn-zZ2dnZ0 (AT) comcast (DOT) com...
You cannot stand a spaniard on top. (with his "horrific" driven style) Thats
the real reason.

Todays results in second free prac. Saturday 11:00


1 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:46.307

2 9 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:46.641

3 16 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:46.681

4 10 Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 1:46.858

5 6 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:47.049

6 17 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:47.054

7 3 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:47.419

8 4 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 1:47.507

9 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:47.773

10 2 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:47.991

11 8 Antonio Pizzonia Williams-BMW 1:48.092

12 11 Jacques Villeneuve Sauber-Petronas 1:48.204

13 7 Mark Webber Williams-BMW 1:48.213

14 12 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 1:48.551

15 14 David Coulthard Red Bull Racing 1:48.866

16 15 Christian Klien Red Bull Racing 1:48.877

17 21 Christijan Albers Minardi-Cosworth 1:49.166

18 20 Robert Doornbos Minardi-Cosworth 1:49.208

19 18 Tiago Monteiro Jordan-Toyota 1:50.740

20 19 Narain Karthikeyan Jordan-Toyota 1:51.594

It's true. Reliable car is MUCH more important than fast driver in
today's F1.

"lee anderson" <leeanderson (AT) ESTONOmundo-r (DOT) com> wrote


Uhhh, that's why it's called "practice". And there's nothing I've said that
says anything about disliking Spaniards (rediculous) nor did I use the word
'horrific'. Don't know why I am even replying to your post.