Key words bolded. You also seem continuously to forget that Kubica has been injured and if he makes it to the grid at all it will be a miracle; it is bound to affect his pace tremendously.
what have i repeatedly said about kubica ever since i started the thread tom -- i think you will find i have repeatedly said his return will depend on the dexterity and movement his hand has that will or will not allow him to return --
I still think it will be fortunate if Kubica ever ends up racing an F1 car again. His injuries are are as severe as those suffered by Alessandro Nannini and he never raced in F1 again. Maybe with power steering the efforts required to steer an F1 car are less than they were some 20 years ago, I would be surprised if Kubica were able to come back in 2012. Yes his injuries may be healed, but best part of two hours in an F1 car is going to be a huge ask with the injuries his hands & arms sustained.
With the merging of threads, I have not found the comment which proposes that Raikkonen and Kubiça could be the strongest driver pairing on the grid. However, with neither of them having been driving recently and with Kubiça's injuries (even if they are eventually overcome), this is a preposterous suggestion. There is already a driver pairing on the grid which I believe would still be better than a fully fit (uncrashed) Kubiça, even if teamed with a theoretical Raikkonen who'd never left!
WOW! Popped back to check on current stories here, and find my original thread has now been upgraded to "The Kimi Raikkonen Megathread" The Honour! --- The Strongest Driver Pairing, irrespective of results or infighting if you took a fantasy f1 approach was without a shadow of doubt: Alonso & Hamilton for McLaren..don't think that will be argued against. Now if we consider the strongest current pairing, which will work together and not attack the other verbally or on the track, has to be Hamilton & Button (Reason: both now used to having a strong team-mate and they have learnt to get along, also Vettel/Webber is breaking down on Mark's side, and Kimi/Kubica is now not happening since Grosjean is now in) Kimi & Grosjean: an interesting pairing, both with a lot to prove, kimi after his rallying (handle changes no refuelling, pirelli tyres, motivation in a 2nd tier car, helping the team develop the car, fitness) and grosjean (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/16105103.stm, won GP2 last year while Renault's reserve F1 driver, returns with high motivation, clearly kept his racing skills up to scratch, young, should be a good foil to kimi who enjoys being the centre of attention for the team)...this should cover most of the points in this thread! Kimi & Schumacher: the most obvious difference is one continued with racing at the highest level for 2 years whereas the latter did not, losing peak physical fitness and mental sharpness (FACT! maybe not much but still true). Age being the case, regaining that F1 required fitness is much more of an issue in the case of MS. I would expect that KR returns at a higher level than MS, simply due to this fact...now comes the issue of the car, which admittedly I don't know much about "Lotus 2011", but it was at a lower performance level than "Mercedes 2011"...so comes the issue of raw speed. It is widely accepted that Kimi's raw pace when he is motivated is one of the highest in F1, having 10 fastest laps (in a single season...twice!) is evidence of this and should not be taken lightly...true he is not going to get on the podium straight away but qualifying should be exciting! Kubica: just like Massa, it is pointless to make predictions about his return and potential performance, he has been seriously injured in a similar vein to Massa, and quite clearly the latter isn't at the same level as in 2008, pre-injury. Hope the former returns as his old-self because even though I wasn't a huge fan of his, I still enjoy the presence of a strong driver on the grid, who provides some exciting moments
So I assume that Hammilton only won in 2008 then because he had a weak teammate (points wise) and the 2 Ferrari's took points of each other? Button only won in 2009 because, Vettle and Rubens took points of each other. Vettle only won in 2010 because Webber, Hamilton, Button and Alonso took points of each other?
That's an illogical argument for any number of reasons, but I'll summarise the key ones: 1) In 2008, Massa quickly became Ferrari's number one driver - Raikkonen didn't take points off him 2) In 2009, Button dominated the first half of the season, beating out the only man in a competitive enough car (Barichello) to challenge him, whilst Vettel's reliability let him down. 3) In 2010, we had the most competitive championship for some years, which Vettel mainly won through having the best car at the right time. 4) In 2007, meanwhile, Raikkonen was well out of the title race with some races to go, until first Hamilton (through his crash at China and his spin in Brazil) and then Alonso (through his sabotaging of the team) capitulated to give it to him.
Well, Kimi's only 32 so he has a good few years ahead of him if he gets off to a good start. If this new ride height system by Lotus proves to be as good as they hope then he's certainly timed his comeback well.
You claim that Kimi's victory in 2007 was not primarily because of other drivers' failures and illustrate your point with two examples that don't make sense. I was pointing out the reverse.
