DC wins from 7th!

[Tristan]

Now who'd have thought THAT?? Great race though, 1st to 6th together for the first 15 laps or so! Top!

Well done DC. He was the only one to get the fast laps in both before and afeter the pitstops. TGF's race scuppered by JPM (but sitll, JPM IS the daddy!)

[Damon]

Nice one Pablo, you the man!! Do you think if it had been any other driver than TGF he would have let him have it?

[Tristan]

Nope! I don't think he cares who it is!

[Ralf's Girl]

DC coming from 7th was nothing that spectacular. Two of the people in front stalled, JPM and TGF took each other off and Ralf retired...hardly drive of the century.

[Tristan]

RG: granted. I think today was particularly flattering on DC. On their outlaps, Rubens got stcuk behind traffic and TGF made a silly mistake. That's what the race hinged on. Would TGF have won were it not for Monty?? May be. But that's not the point!

[R]

No, it isn't, and DC certainly seems to have the necessary luck this year that he has lacked before. TGF may have won today bar that situation, Montoya certainly would have won in Brazil if it weren't for Verstappen, and both times DC has been there and picked up the win.

DC's current form and fluency is starting to smell like a championship, people!

[Wrex]

R - You R an optimist

Ralf's Girl - You summed it up perfectly.

[EERO]

Driving quickly and cautiously waiting for others to make mistakes IS a strategy to win championships. It may not be flamboyant, but it brings results. The fact is DC has had a consistently good record this year and even in Brazil, was never very far behind Montoya.

[Airhead]

Ralf's Girl and Wrex,

Shame on you both. DC wins / Ralf retires. Such is life people.

David seems top have to fly through the air with a 'S' on his chest before people will give the guy some acknowledgement for doing a damn fine job. He was matching TGW and his side kick for pace lap after lap. He (or the team) had a better pit strategy.

Look through the grid and ask yourself how many drivers have won 11 GP's? They don't give them away at the bottom of Wheaties packets!

[RussianFriend]

Mature drive and well-deserved win!!!! I'll be happy if he wins WDC this year.

Maybe his drive wasn't a firework like Monty's, but it's more fruitfull. Go on, David!

[Wrex]

Originally posted by AMoffat
Look through the grid and ask yourself how many drivers have won 11 GP's? They don't give them away at the bottom of Wheaties packets!

OK Moff, I'll go with this, but a question for you:

How many race wins have DC's team-mates won while he was claiming his 11?

Hmmmmm

[Airhead]

Interesting Wrex,

Cast back the mind to - let's see, Melbourne what? Two or three years ago. DC hands win to Mika due to gentlemans agreement.
The loyal number two in two teams with good competitive cars.

Now this weekend, Austria, TGW takes second because Rubens is told to ride the brake through the last corner. The undisputed number one if the mealey mouthed comments from Rubens are anything to go by.

[Wrex]

Muffy Muffy Muffy, you are a lost sole. Gee, McLaren would never do this would they (sense the sarcasm ) and I would like this post reserved for a later part of the season (even the next race) when Mika returns to form.

For the record Moff, the answer to how many GP's did DC's team mates win while he scrounged up his 11, is 27. Oh yeah, and 3, count em, III, World championships. And one of them was the biggest disgrace to the WDC, Damon "will I retire or not" Hill.

[Airhead]

Really Wrex,

My point is that he was the number two driver. He was paid to let the other guy win. As is Rubens, as was Eddie. Funny then that he won less GP.

Now Damon may have gone out with a whimper but he won one WDC fair and square and was nerfed off the road to loose another. Not bad at all really.

[KC]

DC used a ittle of the MS luck, strategy and tactics to take that win. He did not appear to have the car early to beat MS but hung around until the fuel load lightened. He then stayed out until MS and RB pitted and then picked his time to pit and exit with very little traffic. His two ultra-fast laps came perfectly for him and illustrates how is becoming a smarter and more disciplined driver.

MS should have won that race and would have had he gotten around JPM. However, he learned a valuable lesson today. JPM is not a starry eyed rookie that is intimidated by the red machine in his mirror. He does not see any other driver as better than him and does not care what they think he should do. MS had a right to be angry at JPM's reaction but that is what the man does. He is as ruthless and hard as MS and is willing to do whatever he sees fit to maintain the advantage. Funny how that tables get turned sometimes.

[ozywoodwards]

Wy did TGF making a stupid mistake take away from DC's victory, Tristan. Surely by not making any mistakes he was the better and more deserving driver on the day.

[Tristan]

No no, that's my POINT. DC didn't make the mistakes, TGF did (on his out lap), thus DC deserved it.

KC, it is likley that if it weren't for the collision TGF WOULD have won. But that's motor racing. Tough! You NEED a bit of luck! Just ask TGF after Brca!! Dragging an ailing car to 2nd only to win?? Bit jammy!!

[Airhead]

Well said big fella!

[Raoul Duke]

I havn't posted here for a while, but I just had to respond to this

Originally posted by AMoffat

David seems top have to fly through the air with a 'S' on his chest before people will give the guy some acknowledgement for doing a damn fine job. He was matching TGW and his side kick for pace lap after lap. He (or the team) had a better pit strategy.

I could not have put it better myself, AMoffat.

DC did a great job. Maybe luck was on his side a little bit. But he still maintaned pace with Barrichello, and did not crack under the pressure that was being applied by TGF. Yet that still doesn't seem to be good enough for certain people.
He won that race fair and sqaure. Ok, so maybe the pit stop stratigy worked in his favour, but that's all just a part of racing. I seem to recall a certain TGF last year winning at Suzuka(and clinching the WC) because the team brought him in to the pits at the right moment.

[Orange]

Here is my take on this...

DC won the race. that definately says something. However, what I think should be debated is the "quality" of the win. As RG pointed out earlier, the win was more due to others mistakes, rather than by brilliant overtaking and inspired driving. This does not make the win any less valid, it is still a win, but it gives ammunition to the arguement that DC is perhaps not on of thte mmmost tatlented drivers on the grid... Did he deserve the win? yes. Could it have been better? most definately!

[Liz]

Prost won a lot of races and at least one WDC by being the most careful pilot on the piste and still running at the end when his more flambuoyant comrades in arms were flying off and nerfing one another off - he always said he wanted to win with the minimum speed possible, and he is according to Prof. Watkins the only pilot he never had to treat because he didn't have big flying crashes on the circuit. (The one injured wrist at Kylami being his total.) And as Phil Esposito used to say when accused of being Bobby Hull's garbage man (that is, scoring goals on rebounds of Hull shots) "They all count the same."

And as Murray says with wearying frequency, "To finish first, first you must finish." So there you are.

[Tristan]

Which is why I like to watch Senna, Alesi, Montoya and, yes, TGF. Drivers with balls and guts and stuff!! It may not ALWAYS work out, but at least they're the ones in the action!! A neutral's dream!!

[Damon]

Add Mansell to that list as well...

[Tristan]

May be, but for me, damon Hill would NOT make that list. Sorry!

[enemy-ace]

Originally posted by Tristan

KC, it is likley that if it weren't for the collision TGF WOULD have won

Isn't that kind of like saying "If the ball had gone into the net I would have scored" ?
As for the quality of the win, isn't that being a little nit-picky, what does the guy have to do, pass on the last lap going sideways with full opposite lock for it to be a quality win. Isn't winning a Grand Prix, let alone 11 quality enough.
Coulthard hasn't always been my Favorite but he is a quality driver who is improving, and is exciting to watch regardless of what people think, lest we forget France and Indy last year, and Brazil this year. Hell! He is second in the points in what could be argued the third best car on the grid!