"Why Won't The Other Kids Play With Me?"

[Liz]

TGF has professed himself puzzled and hurt that the top tier of the current field (read: MONTOYA) have come out and said they'd love to drive for Ferrari, AFTER HE'S GONE. "They say I'm a bully and they know they will be treated as No. 2 drivers and have to give way to me. Where did they hear such a thing?"

Um, from EVERYONE WHO EVER TEAMED WITH YOU? Little by little the light begins to dawn.

P.S. Although he did mention that DC was one of those who said he'd never drive for Ferrari while TGF was there, DC denies it. He says the reason he won't drive for Ferrari is that he's got a contract with McLaren.....

[Daffy_Duck]

Hey Liz!

Why don't you go for the drive? I think you would really get on together.

You'd be better than Villeneuve, surely.

[Liz]

Nope, i don't want to play with him either.

[laxman]

well liz,
you have to admit that he has never really had a teammate who is as fast as him or nearly as fast.people say RB is teh best to date but look at his performance in spain.
I think no one (at least till now) can beat TGF in the same team.And the first thing you try to do when racing is beat your teammate.Notice how mr. toya was saying after qualifying that he "could have gone as fast as ralf"...or was it after practice....whatever.
And i really dont think he drove better than ralf in the race.He however kept his cool throughout and this I appreciate.

[Minardi fan]

Irvine is his only teammate to get to a point where they could actually beat him - and the second he did he was booted out. TGF can profess all he likes - he knows exactly why no-one wants to be his teammate.

[EERO]

I actually think he IS faster than any of the drivers he has teamed-that's why the "Clause" is so ridiculous. He could beat them on his own merit. His sucess is tainted if the second driver isn't given the chance to compete on equal footing. In Montreal last year, Barrichelo had to hold station behind TGF's stricken car, anyone else in another car would have been by him in a flash. If Schuey "lost" the races he shouldn't win, the whole thing would be much less suspect. Good for Montoya.

[senna12]

Did Michael not bring Ross and Rory with him from Bennetton? Perhaps he thinks that since he has so much invested in building a championship, he should have first call and priority on anything to do with the car. But it does seem a bit silly to extend this to your teammate, effectively denying him any opportunity to win, unless thru mechanical gremlins or injury. It's true Eddie was the closest, and it's a credit to him that he was able to get away with making no bones about the situation, and landing on his feet at Jaguar. Being Michael's number 2 can't be that much fun, despite driving the best equipment heaps of money can buy. He is just so bloody quick.
But the new batch of fast young'uns is different, I think. I could imagine that JPM, Kimi, Fernando, or Luca, among others, would be extremely competitive in the car. But it wouldn't be enough to change the rules on the track, and that's the problem. I don't know which of these individuals would choose to play with Michael, do you?

[Minardi fan]

Good point - Luca's race career would go nowhere if he was signed as Ferrari No.2, as he'd have to follow TGF all the time.

If they offer him a seat, it's going to be catch-22. Does he continue as a test driver, gaining himself yet more kudos for working so hard and knowing that it is he who contributes so much to TGF's success, or does he race for the team but as wing-man for TGF???

[Maxmil]

Interesting subject. Seems to me that the real question for team management is: "Do I have a better chance for the drivers' championship and/or the constructors' by favoring the "better" driver or by treating them equally?" There is obviously no simple answer to this, but Ferrari certainly subscribes to the King and Flunky school, while McClaren may be more of a democracy. So far, in the current battle, McClaren may also be coming out ahead, (2 out of the last 3) but we have the rest of this season, and maybe next to see the game play out.

Then again: If a team really wants the drivers' title it should pretty clearly support its best driver all the way, but if it really wants the constructors', it may be better to let them both do their very best short of taking each other out. But the price of employing a great talent may be to field a weaker team overall. When Eddie I. had his chance, he came up short.

[Liz]

But what if Michael had not come back at all in 1999? Would the team have continued to support Eddie and allowed him to win the championship? They'd have to be flaming insane if they did otherwise. If they had pulled the three-wheel-trick on him and thwarted him from winning the 1999 championship when he had the best chance of anyone, surely they would not have been able to employ ANYONE to race with Michael after that. Or at least, anyone they might want. (Johnny Dumfrees isn't available, I suppose.)

[riusnow]

MS has said that other drivers may be his equal but, that a team should be built around one man- the faster of the 2. Noone in F1 wants to be 2nd! And why should they? Maybe he just understands the politics of F1 than most.

[Wrex]

Originally posted by senna12
It's true Eddie was the closest, and it's a credit to him that he was able to get away with making no bones about the situation, and landing on his feet at Jaguar.

You call driving for Jaguar landing on your feet , what series are you watching?

[laxman]

Irvine is his only teammate to get to a point where they could actually beat him - and the second he did he was booted out. TGF can profess all he likes - he knows exactly why no-one wants to be his teammate.

sorry,i dont think so.Irvine was doing 'better' than TGF only because TGF wasnt racing!!Didnt TGF drive better than him in his comeback race.He would have won it easily but he allowed irvine to win.


As for the mclaren team....

they too have a no1 and no 2.
MH no1 DC no2.
and for good reason.Because MH is faster than DC in out right soeed.

(Now for thouse who are planning to attack me compareing this with my previous post wherei said i haveno respect for hakkinen,thats different.HE cannot drive fast if he dosent have a perfect car...but he can surely do so in a mclaren...which is almost perfect)

[Valve Bounce]

I think very few drivers are prepared to be a Schu shine boy. They all have aspirations, and when they are lucky enough to qualify well, they don't want to be told they must let the other guy win.

[Liz]

I have a video of Sir Frank Williams saying this very thing in respect of Mansell and Piquet - that you cannot tell one of your drivers that no matter what he does, he cannot win today.

That would indeed be the end of any hope of a "Team".

[senna12]

By landing on his feet, I was referring to him ending up as Jaguars' no. 1, however unfortunate that might be, as opposed to being a tester somewhere or finding himself in CART (not that that's a bad thing, mind you). At least he's on the track on Sunday. Eddie's not a young lad anymore, there are many waiting in line for an F1 seat.

[Wrex]

Fair enough Senna - What your really saying is "It could be worse"

[Peter Mallett]

On the subject of team mates coming close. Didn't Brundle spend an awful lot of his time at Benneton running very close to Mickey the Shoe?

As to RB being as good a second Ferrari driver as Irvine. Well .................. I think I'd better leave that one alone.

[Red]

Ahhh, now we know why Schumacher doesn’t sleep well at nights. Anyway, did anyone asked JPM or DC to drive a Ferrari?

Actually that clause is not at all ridiculous. Indeed he is clearly better than all the teammates he had, but under some strange circumstances he may find himself behind them. (Austria 98 for example). It’s no point to have a fight with your teammate when it is not clear that both Ferrari cars are candidates for the first two places in the championship. Or even worse, to risk a stupid collision (McLarens in 99.... okay, they were special cases) Of course he wins on his own merit, just the mere fact that such a clause really exists says it all.

[RussianFriend]

Irvine had staked on the wrong stable. He should to accept Jordan's invitation. (Of course, to get Honda as the privat official car after Ferrari was too much for his playboy's pride)

Eddie made very stupid mistake in 1999. He belived in his leadership whereas Ferrari had been considering him as a king for a day. If he dad held his tongue, he might be WDC. Just several phrases like " I'm not Shummi, but I have to try to help the team" "I'll do my best untill he return" " I looking forward seeing him in cockpit again"...

[Bononi]

Ferrari won't play as Williams, with 2 drivers fighting for the WDC and losing in the end (Mansell/Piquet).
Michael is far better than his teammates ever, but he won't give a single chance to let them show the contrary.
The number one clause is for the worth of both team and driver. If TGF had failed last year, maybe (AND THAT'S A BIG MAYBE) Ferrari could consider giving a chance to anyone else. BUT NOW TGF is stronger than ever, and the rest are just the rest.

ANY OTHER DRIVER WILL BE A CHAMPION IN FERRARI AFTER TGF'S RETIREMENT.

[Tristan]

Actually, I doubt that. Ferrari have a WONDERFUL talent of turning a promissing situation into a right royal balls-up! *sigh*

If JPM replaces TGF I will spuff my PANTS!!

Oh and by the way, in TGF's contract there is NO superiority clause. It's all lies! There was under Irvine, but Rubens demanded "equality". Whether he gets it or not is a different thing. But then again, isn't that the same in many other teams?? McLaren always seem to be more behind Mika (especially after Ron's "brain-fade" speech), Fischo seems to always be on top under Flavio (oo-err!!) and I'd hazard a guess Fernando, Jean and Eddie have an unofficial #1 status within their respective teams, much like TGF.

[Bononi]

With these #1 drivers you metioned, that means $ or equipment ?

Irvine, Alesi....

Who's number one Sauber ?

[Damon]

We must remember that Herbert was as quick as TGF in '95 but TGF didn't like that so he did not allow Herbert access to his car data and poor Herbie fell back. The only thing TGF's good at is winding teams round his little finger.

[Bononi]

Ok. Herbert was denied to receive information of TGF's car, so he couldn't drive as fast as TGF. But could not him worked on his own data, and smash TGF ?
These are things that amaze me...