The guy definitely has talent- you wouldn't win the Belgian Grand Prix four out of the six times you had a car close to the front without it.
I suppose. But it is important to remember that the Ferrari's KERS-assisted braking probably threw Fisi, plus Spa was his last flash of brilliance really. The point is, in Kimi's last two seasons in F1, he underachieved massively, only beginning to succeed when he benefitted from Massa's accident.
Past it in terms of qualifying....yes, past it in terms of race skill/craft and intelligent experience... has he ****.
Opinion: Schumacher has been past it for a long while but he sells tickets and generates revenue for sponsors. He is effectively a 'pay driver'.
I had never thought of it that way. It would appear, as usual, you are correct Master Yoda. About Kimi though. His comeback will be far worse than Schumacher's for one big reason. Motivation. It's common knowledge Mr. Schumacher, though he lacks his old speed, doesn't lack drive and determination, never has done probably never will. Kimi has never been the most motivated driver. Even in his championship season, he only really switched on the performance in the final 5 races. If Kimi can't be bothered, this will be catastrophic. Shame i won't be able to watch him fail...
Yes, I just discovered elsewhere that I've been stalked! You might have a point about motivation here Kyle. There can be absolutely no doubt about Schumacher's determination and work ethic. But the same cannot be said with such certainty about Raikkonen, who can be faster, but only when he feels like it. On the days Raikkonen can be bothered, I expect him to qualify well. In fact if next years' cars were the 2011 cars without any changes at all, I'd expect him to qualify ahead of Schumacher more often than not; but for Schumacher to have the edge in the races (unless Raikkonen feels like racing as well as qualifying!)
Best of luck! With Boullier in charge of the team, anything could happen; but I would expect him to be swayed by sponsor interests - with less regard for actual performances - at least until the end of the whole season. My personal belief is that Raikkonen will race for the whole season, regardless of his performances, unless he chooses to go himself.
At this stage, that would seem a reasonable prediction. However, Raikkonen's tendency toward boredom could actually see him stay in F1 longer than some expect, due to a perceived lack of alternatives! - For instance: did he become 'bored' with rallying, I wonder? - I believe he could have remained there - albeit at a lower level - if he'd felt like it…
Why do you hate Schumacher so much cosi? Why can you not let it go. If you compared Schumacher to a pay driver it would be laughable enough but you went one further and actually called him a pay driver. Pedro Diniz was a pay driver, Schumacher is a 7x WDC
Not sure what you're getting at here Jacky. Why are you so concerned about my opinion, that you mistake it as hatred? Once and for all: I do not hate him! As far as the definition of 'pay driver' goes, Schumacher's situation and status certainly fits the bill. But this is not a criticism of him is it? Am I suggesting there is anything wrong with bringing money to a team? My opinion is that it's a perfectly reasonable, very worthy thing to do! - It helps everyone concerned. Nothing wrong with that surely?.
Well Schumacher is flattered by the fact Merc are in a bit of a performance gap. Way up to Ferrari way down to the midfield... so even when he qualifies 5+ tenths behind his teammate he's only a position behind on the grid. Were it closer he'd be made a joke of this year as he was last year.
Let's have a look at the qualifying for the last few races. Brazil - MS no time. Abu Dhabi - Rosberg 8 tenths faster. India - Rosberg into Q3, 8 tenths faster than MS who didn't Korea - same again, only gap was only half a second Japan - Rosberg gremlins. Singapore - Rosberg 2 tenths faster. Schumacher has shown flashes of genius throughout this season but I do not believe that his comeback has gone nearly as well as he or his fans expected. Especially given Mercedes switched focus to 2012 midway through last season.
A faster car would show the progress in both drivers, because the results in 2011 do not highlight much.
I thought the whole point was Schumacher had the car designed around him and was meant to be one of the great technical specialists. I admit, I was impressed by his performances at Canada, Italy, and Belgium. I still think he made a mistake in coming back and that the same will be true for Raikonnen, though for different reasons.
