Italy is one of my favorite places in the world, the country is an enigma in many way's, wonderful cities, amazing history, fantastic design for cars and fashion, but the entire culture is devisive with criminal undertones, even the the head of the country is being prosecuted. All that said, go and spend some time drinking, eating and talking with ordinary Italians and you will love it, every time I come home to the UK it's not long before I want to go back.
I love Italy, the food's amazing, the cities are beautiful, the weather is magnificent, it's an all round beautiful country. It's corrupt, but where isn't nowadays?! The language is so great, and the people are laid back and chilled out. Yes, it's corrupt, but as long as you steer clear of Naples and other southern places, it's fine. I went to Maranello to see the Ferrari factory the other year, and it's just breathtaking! There's a wall with some of the constructor's trophies they've won over the years, there are so many it's unbelieveable!
Lol I've been to Naples, Rome, Ischia and Capri over multiple visits to Italy and you can see that your walking in a **** hole, but I haven't had a problem occur apart from being acused that out government started the world wide recession which my father laughed at the person. Yet he was still determined to point the finger with determination. I did have an Italian head chef a few years back who told me that the north was a far better place to visit and very nice to visitors.
I understand that the North / South divide exists in Italy similar to the UK except the the North of Italy is allegedly richer than the South, but then again its a matter of opinion. The Almafi coast is pretty spectacular !
The nicest region is Tuscany, the North is nice but a bit bland, and the South is very colourful, but a bit of a ****hole! Pisa is a great city, there's more than just the tower. Listen to me, I sound like a ****ing tour guide!
never met a more distrustful people in my life, trust an Italian, lose your wallet, I often wonder if the Algerians and morroccans get their bad name because they look like Italians.
The chief executive Berlusconi probably doesn't help the image of Italy or it's politics and business ethics They do have some politicos waiting in the wings that could repair this image Miss Mussolini or Montezemolo for example Actually forget that.........
Well apparently they are getting into promotional days again for new parts http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A84171819 Unfortunately this was posted by Czar-Orac so its very probably true
I thought testing new parts was a "gentlemens agreement" between the teams to not use them in promotional crap? and not just a plain rule in the book. I doubt Ferrari would put themselves in a situation where they could get themselves penalised in an already difficult season. It's more like they are taking their gloves off early...
Not sure why this has got onto how bad the Italians are but 2 of the nicest and most helpful men I know are Italian. Can't go generalising a whole nation from one bad experience.
Yes I think it is a Fota agreement governing the components that can be used on these promo tests I wonder if Whitmarsh at Mclaren will complain or break the agreement similarly
Interesting that Ferrari are using Massa for these PR stunts Maybe plan b is in play Maybe a move away from the Alonso centric route taken last year and over winter I hope Massa grabs this opportunity with both hands and let's his true potential emerge Its not like Massa hasn't seen off a highly rated teammate before at Ferrari
What a great tribute sea-man. I hope he sees this at some point. Czar is/was one of the very best…
Flabio is starting to look like a predictive genius as Ferrari have gone backwards since then, instead of close the gap on the leaders, the gap is increasing Even with help from JT on banning the use of engine mapping to achieve 100% throttle even when not physically requested by the driver. This is widely seen as an area Red bull and Mclaren are better at than Ferrari The pace at which Ferrari are going backwards was shown clearly in Spain, at the first race of the season Alonso and Massa were both challengers, last weekend Alonso was lapped in front of his home crowd At this rate Alonso will be getting lapped by Perez at Monza Not sure the tifosi will be as understanding as the Spanish crowd
I was going to ask earlier in the thread why they were having a reshuffle at this stage of the season, having had one already this year - whether it indicated panic or not. CookinFlatSix's point about the tifosi at Monza might be one reason why they hope to get things sorted as quickly as possible, as might having the team in place and working well before 2012. It still feels like another knee-jerk reaction to failure, though.
http://www.ferrari.com/English/Scuderia/Blogs/Alonso/archive/2011/05/30/i-tried-to-the-very-end.aspx Alonso is actually been very pragmatic here He says they don't like to throw in the towel but must be realistic The next race is a chance to win as it's not RB track. If by Silverstone though nothing has changed then Ferrari would indeed be smart to throw the towel in and look to 2012 That would be 7 years without winning the WC if Ferrari can't give him the car for 2012
I think this applies to everyone, not just Ferrari. As the early races have come and gone no one has had an answer to Vettel and Red Bull. Ferrari and McLaren will stay in the fight for wins but when the two biggest teams in F1 are fighting for the scraps from a drinks manufacturer's table then you have to praise Ferrari's realism and wonder when McLaren are going to admit that they're in the same boat. It's clear from his driving that Alonso's not going to let that fluster him, though. From the outside it looks like he's involved in if not actually driving the changes that need to be made to get him back to the front. If we have to suffer a year of Vettel domination in order to witness a monumental battle between him and Alonso in 2012 it may well be worth it.
Ferrari last won the WCC in 2008 McLaren Last won the WCC in 1998 Alonso Last won the WDC in 2006 Hamilton Last won the WDC in 2008
