Raikkonen signed five-year deal at Ferrari!

[Pupik]

Perhaps with the exception of the Senna/Prost years at McLaren, you can bash about every single world champion in modern F1 on how superior his car was compared to the rest of the field (especially when you don't like him ).

Anyone else remember 1994...The Benetton-Ford was in no way superior to the Williams-Renault driven by Damon Hill, but the better driver eventually won the title in that car, despite every chance the FIA had to disqualify him. I wonder where that Benetton driver is today?

The '99 title went to the best driver in the second-best car; although Mika contrived to almost throw it away. Ferrari pretty much threw away the driver's championship after that title-winning Benetton driver in '94 injured himself mid-season.

A driver's skill goes a long way towards developing the potential of a car, but all F1 driver's championships seem to be 70%-car, 25%-driver, and 5%-luck.

 

[Carl.]

Good point (although I'd say 94 was a rather messy season...).

I doubt anyone will question which is the better driver between Schumacher, Hill and Hakkinen. What I'm saying is that it doesn't mean that [insert driver other than MS/Senna/Prost here]'s WDC has no merit because of how superior his car was.

 

[Law93]

This is absolutely huge! 👍 Hopefully Ferrari will be able to provide Kimi with a fast and reliable car.

oh yeah, now Kimi will be able strut his stuff in red! 👍

 

[GilesGuthrie]

A driver's skill goes a long way towards developing the potential of a car, but all F1 driver's championships seem to be 70%-car, 25%-car, and 5%-luck.

Did you mean to ascribe 95% of the Championship to the car?

 

[Small_Fryz]

Did you mean to ascribe 95% of the Championship to the car?

It worked for JV in 1997

 

[Pupik]

Did you mean to ascribe 95% of the Championship to the car?

Depends on the car, of course!

 

[Appie]

Depends on the car, of course!

but what about the 1995 season? Williams and Benetton were almost even and still had Schumacher kicked Hill's ass

 

[Pupik]

but what about the 1995 season? Williams and Benetton were almost even and still had Schumacher kicked Hill's ass

The Williams was likely the best car, as Coulthard ran close to Hill's times. Herbert was rarely as quick as Schuey. I feel the Benetton wasn't quite as good a car as the not-quite as reliable Williams that year, but it's a toss-up since most of the engineering effort at Benetton went to developing MS's car rather than Johnny's. Since they had the same engines, I feel that Williams was the best team, but the drivers made a few mistakes along the way.

 

[Der Meister]

This is sad sad news!!!

If Brawn is out then it is most certain that Schumacher is too, because without each other they're not really going to work well.

Unless there's a big plot that Schumacher will go race for his old buddy Alesi's new team, hehehe... but unlikely.

Big problem that Ferrari have if that Raikkonen can't fill the hole Schuey will leave, they'd need to employ an extra 5 test drivers to bring in the work level Schumacher gave alone. Don't get me wrong, Raikkonen is quick, but Formula 1 isn't about the 2 hrs spent on a Sunday going around in circles, Kimi's going to have to step up a gear and take things more seriously if he's going to wear red.

 

[Blake]

Big problem that Ferrari have if that Raikkonen can't fill the hole Schuey will leave, they'd need to employ an extra 5 test drivers to bring in the work level Schumacher gave alone.

You do realise that when Michael Schumacher was dominating with Ferrari he did barely any of the work off-season, right? The 2005–2006 off-season was the first time in a while that he’d put serious work into developing the car…

 

[<_Spike_>]

Kimi to renault prehaps? According to reports he does have an option to join Renault should Schumahcer prolong his F1 career..

Kimi's best choice is stay still, listen to Mika...but that doesn't seem likely.

 

[Dougboy]

Ferrari is gonna make an announcement after the monza race. I dont think they will be making an announcement if things arnt final. Im guessing the raikkonen deal is final?

according to this http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=37185&PO=37185

Kimi's best choice is stay still, listen to Mika...

Stay at mclaren and drive a slow car along with his 2005 rival? Mika is an ex-mclaren ace and he does drive DTM for mercedes...so his opinion is obviously biased

 

[<_Spike_>]

True, but you know McLaren, crap for 4 years and blinding for 2...if the pattern continued he could very well become a double world champion, but if he went to Ferrari and they decided to have another 2005 and churning out poor races and retirements gallore, he wouldn't be much better off. Just watch, he'll leave, McLaren will turn it up and Alonso/de la Rosa/Paffet/Hamilton (whoever drives along side him next season) will be pulling out the magic.

 

[Kylehnat]

Okay, everyone who thinks that MS and Ferrari are actually going to make their announcements at Monza, raise your hand...

 

[Pupik]

Okay, everyone who thinks that MS and Ferrari are actually going to make their announcements at Monza, raise your hand...

There's recent precedent for Ferrari to annouce new drivers at Monza:

1989 - Alain Prost
1990 - Jean Alesi
1992 - Gerhard Berger
1995 - Michael Schumacher

It also used to be one of the last races of the season; Enzo Ferrari used to make sure that all the good drives were already taken (according Niki Lauda), so they'd have to choose Ferrari. Enzo could usually broker a deal in his favor because of this.

Also, announcing a deal just before the Italian GP is a great way to ensure a few more Tifosi show up to cheer on their new driver (and in some cases, even jeer the out-going Ferrari driver...if he wasn't doing so well).

 

[Blake]

But the announcement is scheduled to be made right after the race. Many are speculating that it means Michael is leaving, as they don&#8217;t want to dampen his last Italian GP with news of retirement.

 

[Der Meister]

True, but you know McLaren, crap for 4 years and blinding for 2...if the pattern continued he could very well become a double world champion, but if he went to Ferrari and they decided to have another 2005 and churning out poor races and retirements gallore, he wouldn't be much better off. Just watch, he'll leave, McLaren will turn it up and Alonso/de la Rosa/Paffet/Hamilton (whoever drives along side him next season) will be pulling out the magic.

I think everyone needs to realise the reasons for Ferrari's success... 2 words:

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

The guy does the workload of 10 men, his ability to analize a car and improve it is second to none, without him, and I am dissapointed to say it, Ferrari will flunk.

Raikkonen isn't the worker that Schumi is, but he is blindingly fast, faster than Alonso, so it is difficult to say how Ferrari would work... maybe MS would be able to handle not being in a car and take up Ferrari Test Driver roll

 

[Blake]

Michael Schumacher usually doesn&#8217;t do much off-season testing, you know&#8230; He usually turns up just before racing starts, does a few laps and says &#8220;Good job, chaps.&#8221;

No doubt he can work really hard, as he did this season to help bring the team from the situation they were in last season, to the one they are in now. But when Ferrari were dominant he didn&#8217;t.

 

[<_Spike_>]

Der Meister, that's a very good point and one I can agree with (as much as I dislike the guy...) he is probably the hardest working driving in the sports..

 

[Lee]

But when Ferrari were dominant he didn’t.

Not that MS really had to..

 

[darkfinal]

but he is blindingly fast, faster than Alonso

Let me doubt it. He may be blindingly fast, but that doesn't make him the fastest one

 

[zoxxy]

Let me doubt it. He may be blindingly fast, but that doesn't make him the fastest one

Kimi, along with Michael, are the fastest and smartest drivers in F1 at the moment. Just look at how Kimi takes every corner with millimetre precision, smoothly turning the wheel and applying throttle and compare it to Alonso's aggressive, tyre consuming wheel motion. Alonso ain't bad, but both Kimi and Michael are better.

 

[Blake]

Michael is driving much worse than Alonso or Kimi at the moment. He is making driving errors, and he can&#8217;t afford to do that with the gap he has to bridge.

 

[darkfinal]

Kimi, along with Michael, are the fastest and smartest drivers in F1 at the moment. Just look at how Kimi takes every corner with millimetre precision, smoothly turning the wheel and applying throttle and compare it to Alonso's aggressive, tyre consuming wheel motion. Alonso ain't bad, but both Kimi and Michael are better.

Sorry, but I had to read this twice... You tell me Alonso has an agressive and tyre consuming wheel motion?

Nürburgring '05

Also, I've seen Kimi and Michael doing many more mistakes during those last 2 years than Alonso. I can see Kimi doing a perfect driving line, but Alonso will take his car to its limits by doing zero mistakes.

Also, if Kimi was the smartest driver along with Michael, he'd have won past year's World Championship. If Alonso wasn't the fastest one on 2005, and hadn't the best car, he obvously won the championship by being the smartest one. And no one can deny that.

 

[Blake]

Sorry, but I had to read this twice... You tell me Alonso has an agressive and tyre consuming wheel motion?

Yes, he has a subtractive driving style.

 

[Kylehnat]

Alonso takes what the car will give him. He definitely has an aggresive style with steering/throttle/brake inputs, but it doesn't seem to slow him down. If he were truly wrestling the car too much, it would show up in the second half of races. Also, last year, with only one set of tires, he seemed to do just fine. He'll take what the car gives, but not more.

 

[Blake]

Alonso takes what the car will give him. He definitely has an aggresive style with steering/throttle/brake inputs, but it doesn't seem to slow him down. If he were truly wrestling the car too much, it would show up in the second half of races. Also, last year, with only one set of tires, he seemed to do just fine. He'll take what the car gives, but not more.

It&#8217;s not a bad thing. It just means that he&#8217;s exploiting all the car has. The problem occurs when they make the wrong tyre choices, then his style makes it more difficult for him to cope towards the end of a stint.

Remember Monaco and Germany?

 

[Kylehnat]

In both Monaco last year, and Germany this year, both Alonso and Fisichella had problems with the rear tires. This suggests that the car itself was not suited to either race track/tire combination. It happens. There have been a couple races in the last couple of years where Fisi has outpaced Alonso, perhaps due to driving style, but it's rare. It will be interesting, however, to see how Alonso's driving style fits (or doesn't) with the McLaren next year.

And for that matter, if Kimi steps into a Ferrari next year--a car largely developed around MS--it will be interesting to see if another top-notch driver can be as fast in a car that wasn't designed for him.

 

[Tedehur]

Ferrari is gonna make an announcement after the monza race. I dont think they will be making an announcement if things arnt final. Im guessing the raikkonen deal is final?

according to this http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=37185&PO=37185

It looks indeed like this season will be Schumacher's last in Formula 1 :
http://www.bild.t-online.de/BTO/spo...ritt-monza/michael-schumacher-ruecktritt.html (page in german)

 

[Brett]

I also have a link that says that Bild reported that. ESPN.com has reported that Bild has reported that Schumacher will retire at season's end. The only reason I bring it up is because I can't read German.

ESPN.com Link