Ralf's gone crazy!! Or has he..?
Well, just read an apparent quote from Ralf Schumacher stating that he thinks that apart from Alonso and Raikkonen, he has 'no reason to hide behind anybody' (else).
Well, when I read the hyperbolic title (Ralf think's he's one of F1's top three) I thought he'd lost the plot, but his comments provoke a bit more thought...
Who the hell else is there!?! Fisichella? Ralf and he were pretty equal and he's never really going to go anywhere nowadays!
But then again, neither is Ralf (and I like, yes, like the guy!), by the same token (sorry Pino!), neither is Trulli, and personally I'd say Ralf and Jarno are pretty even on balance over a season.
Virtually everyone else in in the same boat(worryingly heading towards has-beens), or a rookie!
I think Ralf is completely delusional when he says Toyota's F1 title is only a matter of time (except when F1 becomes too expensive and all the manufacturers leave and Toyota wins like they did in IMSA by being the only people with a half-decent budget!).
However, Fisi is fast, no doubt, but not champion material. Wurz is no better than him, as team-mates neither were Ralf, Heidfeld, Massa or Sato. Button was slower, Barrichello's slower than Button, Kubica's no quicker than Heidfeld, Kovaleinen no quicker than Fisichella!
So, by a convoluted, and completely subjective(!) approach, the only drivers better than Ralf are, indeed, Alonso and Raikkonen.
There is a vague point to this thread, perhaps just to say two things;
Drivers change over time, and so it will be interesting in particular to see how the rookies, and Kubica and Massa perform and develop over the course of the season.
It will in all probability be a great season, hopefully very open for the drivers title and race wins.
But also, it's quite regrettable that apart from McLaren and Ferrari (excluding Hamilton, as a rookie), isn't it a shame that F1 seems a little lacking in depth this season, just as it seemed to in 1994, when the only top drivers were Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna?
Only time will tell whether we have a new Hakkinen in amongst the unproven drivers, and who will match their potential, and who will be the Lehto's and Alesi's of the grid.
Either way, I'm not placing any money on Ralf to be 2007 champion! ;)
