But seriously, what did we witness today?

race aficionado · 14 Apr 2002, 14:49 (Ref:260062)

Reminiscent to most races last year, Michael just takes the pole, starts the race in front and rides into the sunset.
He even lapped DC!

Is this another case of "Is it the car or the driver?"

Some will say it's Michael's brilliance,
others will say "give that car to my driver and things would be different!"
or as many others will say, Both?

Have we just witnessed what we will repeatedly see for the rest of the year?

Has the F2002 finally come here to stay and seriously ass whip all the rest?

I hope not, but I'm not that optimistic either.
I've just been whipp assed and I don't like it.

Dang!!!

paulzinho · 14 Apr 2002, 14:51 (Ref:260069)

Well no-one has beaten the F2002 in a race so far, not bad really!!

But the other teams have got a lot of work to do if they're going to catch Ferrari.

f1manoz · 14 Apr 2002, 14:52 (Ref:260070)

We witnessed nothing as most of us probably fell asleep or turned the bloody thing off!

Quite frankly, if Ferrari don't walk it, I'll be surprised.

Damon · 14 Apr 2002, 14:55 (Ref:260079)

The F2002 is unbeleivably quick. It's incredible that they can get the car straight out of the boxand have it half a second quicker a lap and reliable.

Raven · 14 Apr 2002, 14:58 (Ref:260087)

Bridgestone were the better tyre this weekend. Sauber ahead of both Renault's in qualifying, BAR much more competitive, Jags, Toyota(on Michelins) not having great runs etc...

Tony_Simpson · 14 Apr 2002, 14:59 (Ref:260092)

Just look at how much the Williams was slowing RB up, and luck when Irvine held RB up on one lap, the next he set a fastest lap and cruised to the back of Ralf again.

EERO · 14 Apr 2002, 15:05 (Ref:260104)

Yes, here they were quick, but every weekend is a new one. The prognossis is for a ferrari walk-over this year, but I suspect we're in for a least a few surprises.

That said, I would venture that its a combination of both Car and driver. That German Fellow gets the best people to work with him AAND he gets their best performances out of them. Its a team effort, led by a charismatic and talented man.

Wrex · 14 Apr 2002, 22:54 (Ref:260429)

Quote:

Originally posted by Damon
The F2002 is unbeleivably quick. It's incredible that they can get the car straight out of the boxand have it half a second quicker a lap and reliable.

Yes, but it stayed in that box for a while did'nt it. Although it 1st appeared in a race atr Brazil, the car has been lapping circuits for as long as anyone else.

True EERO, its' not looking good, and I suspect it will be a similar year to 2001 for Michael and Ferrari.

That said, Williams (and even the Mac's) did win races last year, and on some circuits, wiped the floor with the Ferrari.

Valve Bounce · 14 Apr 2002, 23:02 (Ref:260434)

First of all, there is no denying that the combination of MSch and teh F2002 will be very difficult to beat. To make things worse, the track temperature was only 21 degrees, and that didn't help Michelin. However, unless Williams can find another half a second, I think they will be pushing it this year.
The most interesting drive of this year was Jenson Button beating DC. If someone had told us a year ago that Jenson would beat DC in a straight fight a year later, we would have laughed ourselves silly.
But for the guess the result competition, I would have gone to bed after the first 5 laps.

That was the only thing that kept me awake.

Glen · 15 Apr 2002, 09:32 (Ref:260767)

It's difficult for me to understand how so many can viwe this display of excellence as a bad thing! F1 does not need Ferrari and MS to be worse - it needs Williams, Mclaren, Renault and Sauber (etc) to be better.

What we saw was total excellence - excellence in engineering, teamwork, management and driving. Don't forget - this circuit is exactly the kind of track that Ferrari hated last year and they totally dominated yesterday.

I do think the circuit is dull, however. The race was a pretty boring spectacle - but when you see that Rubens couldnt get close enough to Ralf to pass, despite having a vastly better car, you realise how poor the track is for racing.

gusdaq · 15 Apr 2002, 09:50 (Ref:260782)

I know I am biased, but please lets not take anything away from the Ferrari team or Michael (or Rubino come to that) I have arrived in the office to all the usual 'boring' 'predicatable' comments, but lets not miss the point here, firstly Michael, who was a full 1/2 second slower than his team mate in qualifying, had to snatch pole in the dying seconds of qualifying hour, then make a good start, then lap consistantly in the 1.24s, make 2 stops etc etc, thats pretty bloody superhuman in itself! So predictable it may be, but thats what you get with the best engineered and designed car on the grid driven by a guy with Michaels talent, dont knock it, just appreciate what he has and how lucky we are to be able to watch him in his prime! Racing folks will be talking about these days for years.

Wrex · 15 Apr 2002, 10:31 (Ref:260803)

Quote:

Originally posted by gusdaq
I know I am biased, but please lets not take anything away from the Ferrari team or Michael (or Rubino come to that)

And after looking at all of your previous posts, its obvious you are bias.

Welcome to the forum gusdaq

calais · 15 Apr 2002, 10:50 (Ref:260825)

in my view the weakest link at williams and mclaren is........................michelin.
if you cant make a tyre that works in cold conditions, like we had at imola, and also make a tyre that needs to be half worn before it starts to have any effectiveness, you have serious problems

f1manoz · 15 Apr 2002, 10:53 (Ref:260828)

Good point calais. Michelin aren't really up to scratch at the moment. You would think they'd have a handle on all sorts of conditions now, but they are still lacking.

But lets remember they provide equal tyres to their customers. Bridgestone don't.

apex · 15 Apr 2002, 10:58 (Ref:260832)

i think the fia should ban testing, ferrari is this fast because they have the money and rescources, they have two test drivers, thats why the f2002 is so quick and ther doing tyre testing all the time.

Ferrari has tested in imola to so they had the data and right setup for this weekend.

strad · 15 Apr 2002, 11:06 (Ref:260845)

thats pretty bloody superhuman in itself!
--------------------------------------------------------
just appreciate what he has and how lucky we are to be able to watch him in his prime! Racing folks will be talking about these days for years. [/B][/QUOTE]
--------------------------------------------------------
See you were doing fine,, then ya have to go and make OTT statements like those....

ljakse · 15 Apr 2002, 13:50 (Ref:261114)

At the beggining of '98 season we had a similar situation with Macs, but as the season progressed it didn't look that good for them. I sure hope we'll see that again.

If not, I might re-introduce Sunday afternoon nap to my body.