USA GP

Rinna said:🙄 I switched over to the local sports channel for just a second and immediately heard something ridiculous. I couldn't even tell who was talking, but they were all rambling on about how Rubens had terrible luck in Brazil and how he supposedly had to retire last year because of those supposed hydraulic issues. Then, this guy goes on to claim he probably just ran out of gas and the team was too embarrassed to admit it, adding, "shhh, don't tell anyone." 🙄 Like, seriously? Hello???????

You just don't get it...
Our commentators always seem to have all the inside info. 🙂

SETRA Samoborček said:Jacques had a pretty rough drive there. Honestly, it looked like Sauber really dropped the ball on this one.

I don't know, let's give him another three or four years to actually settle into the rhythm of F1. 🙂

SETRA Samoborček said:Jacques' drive was a total disaster. It looked like Sauber really messed things up here.

FASTEST LAPS

CHINA
Fernando Alonso Renault 1:33.625
Jacques Villeneuve Renault 1:34.950

JAPAN
Fernando Alonso Renault 1:34.279
Jacques Villeneuve Renault 1:35.290


BRAZIL
Fernando Alonso Renault 1:12.118
Jacques Villeneuve Renault 1:12.210

The final race results don't tell the whole story, but Jacques definitely found some serious pace in that last stint. After being over a second slower per lap than Alonso in the first two races, he’s now actually outperforming him in the latter half and snatching fastest laps just a few hundredths behind a guy like Aons, who's had a full year in this car. That’s a massive step up.

Once Jacques stopped sliding around on slicks in the wet—which cost him about 30 seconds thanks to his issues with Coulthard—you could see the gap to Alonso starting to shrink...

It makes me wonder how Schumacher would handle a wet track on dry tires, especially seeing how much he's struggling even with intermediates. Maybe he should just stick to full wets!

🙂

That was a great race. It would have been even better if those two little trains had gone a bit wild at the end and tried to overtake each other, but there was still plenty of excitement as it was.

Robin Fisher53 said:What's that supposed to mean?

You can't exactly force people to admit someone is the absolute best just because they have thirteen wins under their belt; why would you try to force that kind of consensus with just one? 🙂

Well...

I wasn't saying everyone has to concede he's the greatest of all time, just that they should acknowledge he's a damn good driver.
How can we really judge how talented anyone is until they're behind the wheel of the exact same car, or at least something comparable? We saw yesterday that Kimi Räikkönen and JPMorgan Chase are right there in the mix, which is exactly why I think next season is going to be absolutely wild when it comes to those two. 🙂

mistybear87 said:I didn't say they have to admit he's the best, just that they should admit he's good.
It's hard to judge how talented someone really is unless you're sitting in the exact same car. After watching yesterday, it seems like Kimi Räikkönen and JPM are hovering somewhere in the middle, which is why I mentioned next season is going to be an absolute mess for those two. 🙂

You don't even need data to see who's got it and who doesn't. Personally, I don't think Monti has the championship caliber, especially if he's stuck in an inferior car.
Then again, if everyone was driving identical machinery, racing would get pretty dull...
But I definitely agree with you on one thing—next season is going to be a wild ride.

Mr.Ex.President said:Simply marvelous...

The 2.4-liter engines...
Ten days of testing
The rest is just Bernie-shitty colleague nonsense

Colleague, you've got that wrong... those 2.4-liter engines are slated for 2006, not next year..

Michael Schumacher spent the entire race hanging on to 7th place. Honestly, when you're dealing with the supposed "greatest driver" and the best car on the grid, I was expecting at least a little bit of progress... ☕

Congrats to Juan Pablo Montoya. If next season plays out the same way this one ended—with 1. Montoya and 2. Kimi Räikkönen—we're in for a hell of a ride. 🙂

urbanmoose3 said:Michael Schumacher spent the whole race stuck in 7th—given he’s supposedly the "best driver" in the best car, I at least expected him to make some actual progress... ☕

☕ pretty sure we weren't watching the same race.

urbanmoose3 said:Colleague, you got it wrong... those 2.4 liter engines are for 2006, not next year...

Thanks for the correction...

Look, I know the rules, I just typed that out too fast... what I meant was that next year the engines have to survive two race weekends, using just one set of tires for both qualifying and the race, and all that other stuff...

BTW regarding the race, Schumacher climbed from 18th up to 7th. He wasn't just cruising in 7th place the whole damn time like you claimed... honestly, gaining 11 spots is a massive result.🙂

Ashley Cook64 said:☕ I honestly feel like we weren't even watching the same race.

For the last 25 to 30 laps, he just sat there holding onto seventh place. He didn't make a single move past anyone during that stretch, even though we all saw him part of that little "train" our commentators love to talk about—you know, that cluster consisting of Fernando Alonso, Takuma Sato, Ralf Schumacher, and the reigning world champion. From what I could gather while watching, Ralf actually managed to get past Sato, who is notoriously aggressive when he's pushing. ☕ 😎

urbanmoose3 said:Schumacher spent the whole race stuck in 7th. Honestly, coming from the "best driver" in the best car, I was really hoping to see some actual progress... ☕

Congrats to Montoya. If next season plays out like how this one wrapped up—with 1. Montoya and 2. Kimi Räikkönen—he’s in for a ride. 🙂

Yeah... maybe that's how it goes... over at McLaren...
As for the championship? It'll be 1. Michael Schumacher followed by 2. Barrichello... nobody else really matters.

The best car? Maybe if you look at the whole season, but definitely not here in Brazil... I can't tell if it's a tire issue or if Ferrari just stopped refining the thing altogether.

urbanmoose3 said:He was just hanging out in seventh place for those last 25-30 laps... didn't actually overtake anyone during that stretch, even though we all saw him part of that little "train" our commentators kept talking about: Alonso, Takuma Sato, Ralf, and the World Champion. From what I could tell, Ralf managed to get past Sato, who’s always such an aggressive driver.. ☕ 😎

Man, who in their right mind is going to try and pass Ralf?

..............

Damson, I'm sticking to my guns here—Jacques' driving was pretty desperate. So what if he had one fast lap? Who cares about that?😕

Fastest Laps:

1. Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams BMW) - 1'11.473 - lap 49
2. Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren Mercedes) - 1'11.562 - lap 52
3. Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) - 1'11.672 - lap 22
4. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) - 1'11.763 - lap 49
5. Ralf Schumacher (Williams BMW) - 1'11.764 - lap 23
6. Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber Petronas) - 1'11.877 - lap 69
7. Takuma Sato (BAR Honda) - 1'11.941 - lap 51
8. Felipe Massa (Sauber Petronas) - 1'12.066 - lap 68
9. Fernando Alonso (Renault) - 1'12.118 - lap 42
10. Jacques Villeneuve (Renault) - 1'12.210 - lap 68
11. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) - 1'12.435 - lap 65
12. David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes) - 1'12.522 - lap 40
13. Christian Klien (Jaguar) - 1'12.891 - lap 49
14. Ricardo Zonta (Toyota) - 1'12.961 - lap 69
15. Mark Webber (Jaguar) - 1'13.197 - lap 20
16. Timo Glock (Jordan Ford) - 1'13.905 - lap 68
17. Zöld Baumgartner (Minardi Cosworth) - 1'14.743 - lap 45
18. Giancarlo Bruni (Minardi Cosworth) - 1'14.756 - lap 50
19. Nick Heidfeld (Jordan Ford) - 1'15.855 - lap 11
20. Jenson Button (BAR Honda) - 1'24.440 - lap 2

mistybear87 said:Fastest laps:
10. Jacques Villeneuve (Renault) - 1'12.210 - lap 68

Hehehe, Damson 😁😂

mistybear87 said:Fastest laps:

18. Giancarlo Bruni (Minardi Cosworth) - 1'14.756 - lap 50

🙂

driftingnomad68 said:Heh, looks like Damson 😁 😂

I think Damson was simply trying to point out that Villeneuve isn't actually trailing much behind Alonso..

urbanmoose3 said:I think Damson was just trying to say that Villeneuve isn't actually that far behind Alonso..

The real issue is that Alonso is dropping back like ten spots, and then you've got Vill lagging even further behind him!😁

Robin Fisher53 said:Yeah, that might actually happen... over at McLaren.

I honestly think Kimi will outperform Montoya in that same car. There won't be much of a fight between them, especially since Montoya is lightyears ahead of David.

Robin Fisher53 said:As for the championship standings... it's 1. Michael Schumacher, 2. Rubens Barrichello, and honestly, nobody else really matters.

I don't think that's quite how it will play out. We might see Michael Schumacher take the top spot, but I doubt Rubens Barrichello will follow him, mainly because I expect Ferrari to remain strong next season without being quite this untouchable. While they are an incredible team, it would feel a bit surreal if Ferrari maintained this level of absolute dominance next year. At the end of the day, we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars and world-class experts across every single team, so I find it hard to believe everyone else will struggle so much again while Ferrari just cruises ahead.

Robin Fisher53 said:It might have been the best car on the grid when you look at the season as a whole, but that performance certainly didn't show up in Brazil. I can't quite put my finger on whether it was a struggle with the tires or if Ferrari just stopped refining the setup mid-season, but it was definitely a tough one to watch.

I think the first factor is really about the mindset of the teams involved. Some crews have already hit their ceiling and aren't fighting nearly as hard for wins as someone like McLaren or Williams, where every single victory is vital to saving their season—even if just for the psychological boost. Beyond that, I also agree with the point you made earlier.

Mr. Ex-President said:Is the real issue that Hamilton is dropping back about ten spots, leaving Vettel trailing even further behind?😁

True, but I see that more as a Ford issue than anything on Hamilton's part. On the other hand, Andretti showed he hasn't lost his touch; he adapted to the new car quite quickly and finally put together a solid race, which feels like real progress. It makes me wonder how he would've performed if he hadn't taken that break—he might have actually been faster than Hamilton, who we all know is an incredible driver.