Posts by stormyviper11

A Formula 1 track on its own? Probably a money pit. But a multi-purpose circuit? Now we're talking. Especially if you build it somewhere coastal where the weather stays decent year-round. I'm not talking about some local club of Toyota Corolla enthusiasts trying to rent the asphalt for peanuts... I mean actual major automakers coming in for serious R&D testing. And look, if you want those guys to show up, you can't just give them a strip of pavement and call it a day—you need the whole setup, high-end facilities, hotels, the works. You don't even need to obsess over an F1 license right away; just hit the necessary technical standards and make sure the business model actually works. Maybe down the road, you could think about hosting a race if you can get local tourism boards, hotel chains, and other stakeholders to chip in for the entry fees. Honestly though, any smart owner would probably realize that dodging the F1 headache altogether is the move. Forget the public track days too... just focus on the manufacturers and parts suppliers and call it a win...

Roger Wright94 said:Not a chance, because there are way more heavy hitters in the mix this season. Last year he was basically just trading blows with Red Bull Racing.
Now you've got Alonso in the mix too (plus Hamilton, obviously).

Look at it this way:

If the championship title comes down to whether a driver can smash their car through a solid, high stone wall...

...Michael Schumacher would probably just hire a crew to lift the car over the wall and clear it effortlessly.
...Jenson Button would get a crew to help him toss the car over, but then he’d slip on the way and take a tumble, though he’d probably still make it over if he didn't break a leg.
...Lewis Hamilton would just slam full throttle into the wall trying to punch through it, and then immediately blame the wall for the accident.
...Sebastian Vettel would ram the wall at top speed and then spend the afternoon crying to his engineers and the fans about how much of an idiot he was.
...Alonso would organize a whole task force to get over the wall, and he’d likely succeed, but every few tries he’d lose his cool and try to tear the damn wall down instead.
...Felipe Massa would just burst into tears in Smedley's arms and wouldn't even bother trying to scale the thing.
...everyone else wouldn't even be able to find the wall, let alone get past it (though maybe Robert Kubica or Nico Rosberg might eventually figure it out).
...Rubens Barrichello would somehow manage to scale the wall, only to realize someone else had already done it before him.

Roger Wright94 said:It’s totally unfair to blame Sebastian Vettel for losing out to Mark Webber in Barcelona.
Webber was just untouchable—completely in a league of his own. The guy had a perfect weekend, not just a great race.
Props to him, but that's hardly a reason to generalize things, not even close. Let him pull that off in the next three, four, or five races, then maybe I'll reconsider my take on how he stacks up against Vettel.

Speaking of Red Bull Racing in Barcelona, it’s honestly sad, though pretty telling, that everyone is obsessing over Vettel's loss (if you even want to call it that) instead of talking about Mark Webber's flawless drive and victory.
I’m telling you, it’s unfair to both Vettel and Webber.

Yeah, I have to agree, it really is unfair to Webber. But the thing is, most of us have already filed him away in that category of "guys who might pull off a perfect race once or twice a year," kind of like Gerhard Berger, David Coulthard, or even Ralf Schumacher... (though I'd say Rubens Barrichello is more consistent and generally better than those guys...). I still remember the days when the combined force of Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet, and Nigel Mansell couldn't touch Berger, or when Michael Schumacher (the real 😬) looked mediocre compared to Coulthard... But those days were rare and happened only occasionally. And that's the thing with Webber—so far, he hasn't convinced me he can turn those occasional flashes of brilliance into actual consistency. Honestly, I think Jenson Button would be leading the championship if he were driving for Red Bull Racing... 😉 That doesn't mean I think he'd defend the title, but if the leaders keep shooting themselves in the foot and knocking each other out, his consistency could carry him pretty far.

stormybadger8 said:Honestly, I’m just completely fed up with all you guys sucking up to Jenson Button. It’s pretty hilarious if you think about it... before 2009 rolled around, there wasn't a single person on this forum praising him, except maybe for the Stinger fans. Most of you were actually busy making fun of him back then. But now? Suddenly he’s some kind of legendary driver or whatever...🙄

stormyviper11 on Button 2006, right here on this same forum: "Look, Button might not have that pure killer instinct, but he’s definitely matured into a driver who knows exactly how to milk a fast car for everything it's worth..." 😉

Look, I’m not claiming to be some kind of genius here, but anyone who actually watches the races—instead of just viewing everything through those biased fanboy goggles—knew a long time ago that there was way more to Jenson Button than his results ever let on...

Joshua Newman2 said:I'm not even trying to argue here...
I don't know anything about this stuff, so I figured I'd ask someone who actually knows their way around the subject, stormyviper11. I didn't bother asking Joe because I knew I'd just end up getting a side helping of arrogant nonsense, but now that stormyviper11 has popped into the thread, maybe there's a chance we'll get some actual answers...

To be honest, this is the first time I've ever heard anyone talking about controversy regarding Webber's actual age.

Honestly, even Gilles Villeneuve was actually two years older than what his racing license claimed, and Perry McCarthy pulled the same stunt with his age too. There were plenty of other cases like that out there... 😁

Michael Lee4 said:Look, if you’ve got someone constantly whispering "don't do it" in your ear, but you just keep doing exactly what you want anyway, then where's the actual issue?

I mean, how is that any different from basically any kid up until they hit 25? No offense intended, really... Hamilton is still at that age where it’s totally normal to think you’re the smartest, fastest guy in the room and that everyone else is just holding you back. It’s that raw, natural selection thing—the same reason why certain reckless kids end up wrecking cars on the street or even on the track. In NASCAR, guys like that at least get a shot to survive long enough to eventually realize that actually listening to advice gets you way further than ignoring it...

The guy has pure speed and all the right ingredients to be an absolute legend, mostly because he’s pulling the same kind of reckless stunts that Prost, Senna, Schumacher, and Alonso used to pull back in the day... 😉 And plenty of others, obviously, who never quite made it past that phase. 😁 Honestly, I actually love that we have these ultra-fast, ultra-unreasonable personalities like him and Mercedes in the mix—guys who can take a win and then immediately blow it by being too hot-headed. That’s exactly what NASCAR has been missing since the Montoya days. Though, I really hope he doesn't end up stuck at Montoya's level... (again, disclaimer here, I was a huge fan of Montoya and always rooted for him when he was fighting against all those bland, soul-less drivers that took over the sport...)

There’s a massive difference between being fast in short bursts and actually having the pace to close out a race. Sebastian Vettel is still young enough that you can let some things slide, but honestly, he’s starting to remind me more and more of Kimi Raikkonen—just this incredibly fast, talented driver who basically had a world championship handed to him on a silver platter, though he probably wouldn't have pulled it off under any normal circumstances... On the flip side, every legendary driver I’ve ever watched was a total wild card when they first hit the scene. Three seasons is still just the "growing pains" phase for most of these guys. That goes for both Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton too; they both make way more mistakes than the other elite drivers, but I don't really hold it against them given how young they are.

As for Mark Webber, I'll take it if he can just find some semblance of consistency, even if he doesn't strike me as one of those top-tier talents who suddenly becomes a hero once everyone else gives up on him—which makes it hard for people to admit his worth later, kind of like Jenson Button.

Nothing's set in stone yet, we're basically just spinning our wheels trying to find a way out, but honestly? I think the odds are looking pretty slim... 😢

Austin Evans said:Not gonna be watching the race since I'll be out on the field working. ☕

Probably won't catch the race either because I'm on vacation... 😎

Look, once I actually have something worth saying about where this magazine is headed, you'll be the first to know... 🙂

You probably have to grab a subscription... I used to pick it up during the summer when, just like a bunch of other Italian magazines, you could find it sitting on stands in all our vacation spots, but honestly, I’ve no clue if they even carry it once the tourists head home...

mistybear87 said:I’ve got my doubts about whether this actually drops in English... 😬

Man, someone just needs to make a call already... You either get an Italian take on NASCAR in Italian, or an American take on NASCAR in English. There isn't some weird middle ground where they mix them up... 😁

I mean, you’ve got MotorTrend over in the States that covers all the same stuff, and honestly, it's a top-tier magazine...

silvercobra68 said:It’s tough, seriously tough. Our biggest hurdle is just that the market here is way too small. I mean, if one publisher was selling NASCAR (the exact same thing—totally unfair, identical ads) across the whole region—like, covering all of the US, Canada, and Mexico—then we might actually have a shot. But the way it stands now? Zero chance. No magazine survives on a circulation of maybe 1,000 copies; you need to be hitting at least 20,000 to even stay afloat. That’s when things get interesting. Because, you know, once you hit those numbers, advertisers actually start paying attention since their ads get seen by a real audience. You get what I'm saying?

If we could actually collect payment for the copies sold in places like Canada or Mexico, things would look a lot better. Right now, it's a joke. You ship out 500 units, they tell you they only moved 50, and then they don't even return the credit for the unsold stock... it's just throwing money down the drain. That’s why most people just end up sending out month-old issues—basically just clearing out old inventory from our local market so we don't lose too much cash in the long run...

mistybear87 said:Yeah, you’ve got the British Formula 1 Racing—you can flip through it or just grab a copy for like ten bucks at a local Barnes & Noble—plus Autosport. Besides those big two, there's also Motorsport, which has been around since 1924, though I'm not even sure if they're still printing much... plus probably some smaller niche ones out there somewhere.

Motorsport is definitely still coming out, it just focuses way more on the historical side of things...

Roger Wright94 said:wiredtiger8, you really shouldn't have gone there.
Ferrari spent forever looking for two drivers whose names start with the same letter as the team itself. And now we finally have it—Felipe, Fernando, Ferrari. See, that’s basically a setup for success right there. 🙏

So please, don't go ruining the perfect harmony in the garage with these kinds of insinuations.

I wasn't thinking about it like that, but honestly, hearing about those three F's in NASCAR still makes me think of that legendary Alfa Romeo squad back in 1950: Guiseppe Farina, Juan Manuel Fangio, and Luigi Fagioli. To be real, I'm actually hoping Ferrari's season turns out a little less dominant than that one was for Alfa... 😁

Michael Lee4 said:I don't see Massa as some big mystery... the guy knows what he's doing, but he blew his one shot at the top, and he isn't getting another one. He's not exactly a kid anymore either, and now that they've brought in a new "Schummi" type to the squad, he's basically just gonna be like Rubens Barrichello—your typical Brazilian driver, a total sweetheart, super emotional, a crybaby, someone you pat on the back, a glorified waterboy, and forever stuck in second place...

You're probably right, honestly. I'm thinking the same thing—he had his moment and he missed it, which means Fernando Alonso is going to assert himself as the undisputed number one. We'll see how it plays out... I guess I'm staying a little skeptical though, because Massa has pulled off a few things before that I genuinely didn't think he was capable of. He's shown this weird ability to level up way more than I ever thought was realistic for him...

Bradley Nelson2 said:Felipe Massa is already way ahead of Rubens if we're looking at their careers at Ferrari. But what really sets Massa apart from the "they wouldn't let me win" Rubens crowd is how he actually used his time spent with Michael Schumacher to learn something... whereas Rubens just sat there losing to him, only to later successfully jack up his price and rating by playing the second driver role. I expect Nico Hulkenberg to be smoking him regularly in the second half of the season too. As for Rosberg, we don't even know if he's truly elite because his teammates were arguably weaker, but now that Schumacher is here, the rest of the season will show if Rosberg is actually world-class or just pretty good. Vettel is still young and has plenty of time to find his footing since he’s definitely going to be fast and get his shots. But the one driver this season could absolutely wreck any chance of a title fight is Robert Kubica. Renault can be fast right now, and if he doesn't deliver, I doubt he'll ever get another shot. Speaking of massive talents who seem unable to capitalize on their opportunities though, I'd definitely point to Adrian Sutil. My gut feeling is he's headed down that same path...

Yeah, I agree that Massa made the most of his time alongside Schumacher, but honestly, a huge part of that gap was just how open Schumacher was to him—almost like a mentorship, working to make sure Massa would be his successor. I'll never forget this one quote from Schumacher back in the mid-nineties when (as part of his mental warfare against Damon Hill to totally crush his confidence) he said he was just glad neither Mika Hakkinen nor Rubens Barrichello were sitting in that Williams, because then winning the title would have been way harder. Later on, it was much easier—easier than anyone thought—to pacify Rubens and turn him into an unproblematic second driver... but who knows if it would have gone differently if Rubens had been given the chance to drive a top-tier car as the number one driver earlier in his career. Hakkinen got his shot after waiting quite a while and made the absolute most of it. It's not impossible that things could have played out similarly for Barrichello under different circumstances. I kind of get the feeling that Schumacher's comment was genuine and that bringing him into Ferrari was just his way of eliminating a potentially annoying competitor...

I'm with you on Sutil. I think he's a great guy, but the big team bosses obviously see something we spectators don't, and they're letting him hang around in F2. Why they decided he wasn't cut out for the big leagues, I don't know, but I suspect he'll just end up being a "talented" filler for the smaller teams. He's likable now, but Fisico and Jarno Trulli were the same way early in their careers... after a season or two, we'll stop hoping for greatness and start complaining that he's taking a seat away from the younger kids. Regarding Kubica, I'm honestly rooting for him not to follow that same trajectory, though it's definitely not impossible...

Nobody in the top-tier teams is just some average driver; they’re all elite, and at the end of the day, it all comes down to the tiny details. But if you want to know the one thing that decides everything—both right now and in the long run—it’s what Americans call "killer instinct." It's that raw ability to snatch any opportunity that presents itself, whether that's out on the track or just fighting for dominance within the garage. Out of the three guys driving today, I'm certain they've got it: Schumacher, Alonso, and Hamilton. Button and Webber? Not a chance. Though, to be fair, Button is like Damon Hill or Mika Hakkinen—he’s incredibly reliable and lightning fast when he’s in a decent car, and if things line up, he could definitely snag a title. As for Vettel and Rosberg, I’m having a hard time calling it, though I honestly think Rosberg might have it more naturally... it's just in his DNA. Vettel has that god-given talent and pure speed, but I really wonder if he’s ruthless enough to turn that into long-term dominance or if he can actually bend the whole team to his will...

Felipe Massa is the biggest wildcard in this whole scenario. One minute he looks like a legend, the next he just folds under pressure. I really respect how much he’s improved year after year, but man, things are about to get brutal for him. Part of it is just bad luck, because we see it all the time—drivers try to make a comeback and they just lose that extra tenth of a second or that split second of grit right when it matters most... But mostly, it's about his role in the team. He started out as the clear number two that nobody expected anything from, then he fought his way up to being a leader, but he had a teammate who was basically just happy to play along. Now, he's staring down Alonso, who’s going to be just as obsessed with the team as he is, living at the factory from dawn till dusk to push development... Massa has to step up to a level he hasn't even touched yet, and honestly, I'm not even sure he can reach it unless he truly wants to stop being the sidekick...