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As thrilled as I am to see Nico out there doing the business let's not loose sight of the fact this is FP1 and the drivers were almost certainly running different programs to pool the data at the end of the session.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dzeidzei
That said - GO NICO!
Congrats, you have failed your first lessons about F1.Quote:
Originally Posted by Firstgear
Last year in FP1 Rubens was in front of Jenson, Kimi in front of Felipe, Heikki in front of Lewis, Mark in front of Vettel. Let's not jump into conclusions.
It doesn't matter really but I'm still wondering why MS has stuck to his Ferrari red helmet design :crazy: Given that he moved away from his original German flag design to the red to match a team that was very much his for many years, it seems odd, now he has joined Mercedes, not to revert back to the original, or at least a version of it.
FP2:Quote:
Originally Posted by F1boat
Nico 1.55.409
Michael 1.55.903
Thats pretty close to 5 tenths again. Should we jump into something now?
Mercīs looking good.
The Ferrari pit signals and telemetry are still connected to his helmet! :p :Quote:
Originally Posted by ArrowsFA1
I repeat my earlier statement; GO NICO!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dzeidzei
But still too early to say - both in the GP weekend and in the season. We don't know fuel loads, tyre compounds, testing program etc.
If Nico blows schu's doors off I'll be overjoyed but I'll (and I'm sure Nico will) be keeping feet firmly on the ground until it becomes a regular situation.
Free practices have never been a valid method in driver comparisons, so let's calm down and wait for qualifying. ;)
I'd still wait for tomorrow and Sunday, before making conclusions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dzeidzei
I know but this conclusion Im aching to jump to. It would be great to see that the God is mortal after all :)Quote:
Originally Posted by F1boat
It would only mean that like the thunder god Thor, Michael can not beat age IMO. But I really hope that even if Nico wins qualy, Michael will beat him in the race with his experience.
He's probably an undercover Ferrari spy :p :Quote:
Originally Posted by ArrowsFA1
With regards to the Nico vs Michael debate:
How many times have we seen Rosberg at the front of free practice and quali only for him to finish at the bottom end of the points positions :?:
Gonna be interseting to see how Michael competes against young Rosberg this season. Nico is fast but has proven to be inconsistent during races.
I haven't been this pumped up for an F1 season in a looooong time!!!
Topping FP was a joke but he arguably out-drove the car/drove solidly because he got solid points last year.Quote:
Originally Posted by 555-04Q2
Unproven in that he has never had a good team because he's a better driver than he was in 2006.
*SUPER NICO FAN TO THE RESCUE!*Quote:
Originally Posted by 555-04Q2
Ok, gonna have to pull you up on that one. Nico had 8 consecutive points finishes last year, only one driver did better - Jenson Button.
If that's not consistent then I don't know what is!
The main frustration with Nico is that sometimes (from nowhere usually) he pops up with fastest lap of the race when he's been mid points and you're like - well where'd that come from. Hopefully in a WCC team that can become a thing of the past.
Up to now Nico's real potential has now been hidden by the car and this year I hope he breaks his duck.
Actually that argument of inconsistency during races has some merit. He was in podium position in Australia, but dropped to 6th (OK, he had soft tyres in the end, but arguably destroyed them more with his driving than should have); was leading in Malaysia, but dropped to 8th with rain; dropped to 8th in Spain, while Williams was expecting P5. Then again Nico had a string of very strong drives in mid-season, when there were no signs of inconsistency.
We know that Rosberg has the ability to be very fast. It was evident already from his very first F1 race. But the big question is whether he can put together a consistent highly-competitive season.
So why did Ferrari hire him and not someone else?Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic
Massa was always a very fast driver he only needed to improve his consistency.
Rosberg IMO is neither fast nor consistent enough to get some special results without lucking into a largely superior car like Button did.
Wise words. :up:Quote:
Originally Posted by F1boat
He is mortal and his fans always knew this. Only the fans of his competitors are making him a god in order to cheer their favorites as Gods on the rare occasions when they managed to topple him. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Dzeidzei
In the same way you may ask: "So why did Ross Brawn hire Nico and not someone else?" Double standards in comparing Massa and Rosberg. ;) Actually Massa's reputation pre-06 was lower than Rosberg's now.Quote:
Originally Posted by ioan
I cannot speak for Ferrari, but I would guess there weren't too many candidates willing to be second fiddle to Schu.Quote:
Originally Posted by ioan
Funny you mention Nico and Button in the same breath - I'm hoping to be as smug and self satisfied as St.D come the end of the year! ;) LOL.
Actually Massa had beaten Villeneuve in equal cars not Nakajima, before he got into the Ferrari, so I fail to see how his reputation was worse than that of Rosberg who up to now showed little but his fathers name and a couple of good races in 4 years.Quote:
Originally Posted by jens
Take last year for example when he drove one of the 6 DDDifusser designed cars and was pretty much anonymous.
You are right only 50% of the grid would have jumped to the chance of driving for the team who had won 5 consecutive constructors championships, no matter if in the other seat was MS, FA or Prost in his glory years. Still Ferrari chose the guy who went on to dominate Raikkonen in 2 seasons out of 3 together, strange. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Sonic
Because Mercedes wanted German drivers, Heidfeld was looking to get into McLaren and MS kept them waiting with his decision.Quote:
Originally Posted by jens
TBH I would have taken Sutil over Rosberg, but probably the Rosberg name is much more marketable for Mercedes than Sutil.
Well, when Massa's move to Ferrari was announced, many people were surprised and it was said that "he was hired only because his manager is Todt Jr". When Rosberg was hired by Mercedes, no-one was really surprised. Massa beat Villeneuve, but nobody made a big deal of it, because everyone considered JV to be well past his prime. Massa was still viewed as the same driver, who had been beaten by Heidfeld and Fisichella in previous seasons. Massa rarely appeared in the list of Top10 drivers in 2005.Quote:
Originally Posted by ioan
Just goes to show how people prefer stupid conspiracy theories instead of making use of their brains.Quote:
Originally Posted by jens
And still he went on to become a championship challenger to the uber hyped Hamilton and only lost by one point. Which again only points to what I said above.Quote:
Originally Posted by jens
I think that, because of his vast experience, SchM will be able to be more cool under close racing conditions. I feel that it will be all about saving tyres as well as going fast. I predict SchM for the podium.
Well, I am not that critical of Nico. In my opinion he is the third best German driver on the grid, after Michael and Vettel. He is fast, maybe not amazing, but fast and, from what we saw last season, consistent. He also seems to be able to improve, which is a very important characteristic of a driver and one in which he is not dissimilar to Felipe Massa himself. Nick Heidfeld for example I think has reached his peak and can only go down. IMO he won't return in F1 if Michael is OK with his neck and his fitness. Sutil can be very fast, but is also crashaholic and in the one race in which FI had a great car last year, Fisichella owned him badly. So I think that Nico was a sound choice, although if I was sure with Michael driving I would have picked a solid number two driver like Heidfeld or Ralf Schumacher. But as MGP was likely not sure that Michael is coming back, Nico was a very good choice.Quote:
Originally Posted by ioan
Yes, I think that he may disappoint today, but will strike back tomorrow. I am very interested to see his battle with the Ferrari drivers and Button, who may be in similar position, and the Red Bulls and Lewis, who might shine today and disappoint tomorrow. I am not sure what will happen with Nico, though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Valve Bounce
Maybe there won't be a battle; he may just play a Prost type race game and come in for the kill when they all bugger up their cars or their tyres.Quote:
Originally Posted by F1boat
MS is 0.5 seconds of the pace but to be fair to him when Hakkinen came back after a few years he was 4-5 seconds off the pace.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
What has Sutil ever done? got beaten by his teammates like old fisi? He is nothing special. I dont consider rosberg as one of the top pilots overall, but he is by far better than Sutil.Quote:
Originally Posted by ioan
Well, to be fair to him, they said afterwards that he was not really going for times at all and was on heavy fuel and the same tyres all day long.Quote:
Originally Posted by ioan
The gap to Nico is narrower in FP3. In the end, I won't be surprised if Michael beats him in qualy.
For goodness sake - SchM is right up there among the faster runners. What are you talking about?Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
And one not shared by Jean Todt, Ross Brawn or Michael Schumacher. The 2003 season Massa had as Ferrari test driver had already revealed the talent that was yet to be refined.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
Still, what do they know compared to you?
Probably something to do with the quality of your posts.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
If you don't like it, leave.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
Not that I want to start a war here, but........Quote:
Originally Posted by tamburello
Henners did quantify his remarks by adding the phrase "IMO". Everyone's entitled to one, hence why we're on a forum in the first place.
Peace and love :)
Yes, he did, and indeed everyone is entitled to an opinion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic
But those opinions are also subject to debate and subject to analysis and criticism..... and he seems to get very upset when people point out the abundant flaws in his opinions, not to mention the lack of facts (a particular speciality of his).
Therefore, be it an opinion or a comment, until the quality of what he posts improves he can only expect criticism.
However, I think we can safely say he won't improve and he'll just cry "troll" whenever anybody highlights the inaccuracies and inadequacies of his musings.
Bloody Hippy!Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic
Let's get back on topic, eh. ;)
About half a sec slower than Rosberg in practice, only 0.3 sec in qualy. To me that's an indication that the come-back will be successful. I think he'll match Nico no later than in China. And then...