What's up with Fred?

[Bagwan]

Sorry Bagman, I remember a radio broadcast from the GP of China JV's first race in the R24, if I'm not mistaken. Jacques asked his race engineer where he was slow, and the response that was (I'm pretty sure) broadcast worldwide was....."Everywhere!"

I remember that , too , Taz .
We all laughed .

But , I also remembering him being just a tenth down on Fred in quals at one of the races , which is better than that guy he replaced , on average .

[jens]

Oh, what an interesting discussion. 2004 and involving Trulli!

Anyway, my 5 cents. Villeneuve clearly didn't perform in those three races for Renault. I don't think we need to find excuses. He was unfamiliar with the car, thrown into deep end and against Alonso. It is worth reminding, how did Grosjean fare in late 2009 in the same situation - he was also nowhere.

Also JV's performance wasn't comparable to Trulli. Trulli was going well for half a year and though his performance dropped, was still leading Alonso in points before getting sacked. Though Trulli was also absolutely nowhere in the 2004 Italian GP, but this was his last race for Renault and I think by that time he already knew he was out and had no motivation.

[Whyzars]

I hope that Alonso is OK. I sat up when I read an article that was querying an electric shock. That surprised me because I had always been confident in the overall safety of the KERS implementation. A couple of early fires but it has been pretty much incident free technology since day one.

On this "Second Impact Syndrome". I actually caught a movie a couple of weeks back called "Crash Reel". Its about snow boarders and one chap in particular who had a terrible brain injury and everything he went through. The risk of a second concussion was top of the list as he recovered.

Definitely worth watching simply as a movie and also for the documentary value for anyone interested in sports injury and recovery.

[Tazio]

I remember that , too , Taz .
We all laughed .

But , I also remembering him being just a tenth down on Fred in quals at one of the races , which is better than that guy he replaced , on average .

Fair enough Baggie. Jacques really did have very little chance of challenging Fred. I think we may disagree on a few things but that is not one of them. I think we do disagree about the driveability of the R24. I've read several articles where both JV, and JT praised its driveability. However, back on topic; I just think that people that live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. JV was rather disrespectful in his latest racing venture, as well as just totally sucking.

"From our side, we're not happy that he has been critical of Albatec or the championship. Albatec is in World Rallycross for the long haul and is in support of [championship promoters] IMG."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116831

So I think he probably should have just kept his mouth shut, considering his replacement did in one race what JV couldn't do all season.

Albatec Seals 2014 With Double Semi Final Performance In Argentina
Albatec Racing brought its 2014 to a close with both two-litre 16v Peugeot 208s reaching the finals in the last round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy. Partnering Albatec Team Principal Andy Scott, 2007 British Rallycross Champion Ollie Donovan joined the Dumfries squad aboard one of its 600bhp Supercars following a successful return to British rallycross action this year, and both drivers made it through to their respective semi finals in the Total Rallycross of Argentina at the stunning Autodromo Rosendo Hernandez

But what amazes me is that people still quote him. His is an opinion he is entitled to, but I put absolutely no credence in it.
Fred gave his all for a very good chunk of his career at Ferrari, and some butt hurt petty Italians are trying to discredit him. His performance at Ferrari is well documented, and his results, especially compared to his teammates is beyond remarkable.

[Koz]

I am beginning to think that Fred is faking it. Maybe he just doesn't want to drive that piece of dog poop?

[zako85]

Having probably seen the Australian GP on TV, Fernando must be really regretting quitting Ferrari by now. There must have been quite a bit of delusion and wishful thinking in believing that McLaren could compete with the big leagues in the first year with a new engine manufacturer.

[donKey jote]

Well he's not the first F1 driver in recent history to get a 30M sabbatical

[Warriwa]

Having probably seen the Australian GP on TV, Fernando must be really regretting quitting Ferrari by now. There must have been quite a bit of delusion and wishful thinking in believing that McLaren could compete with the big leagues in the first year with a new engine manufacturer.

Even if he did stay at Ferrari, I wonder if he would be content with a third place maybe at every race? At least some fans must be happy that he singlehandedly extended Kimi's career.

[Roamy]

stand by the mclaren was quite quick in the corners !!!!

[Robinho]

That's surely a good thing, once they get the engine firing at least as well as the Renault, they'll be fighting STR, Sauber, FI and Red Bull