Official Formula 1 thread!

Your right, I have to agree with you! But I say positive things about Mclaren only because I want to keep my spirit up. Mclaren have been weak for a while now, but you can´t blame DC for that. He have tried but the car haven´t been optimal yet. And should I tell you why Hakkinen wheren´t so good last season? That was because his wife should get a child and he didn´t want to risk to much in the races then...

yeah thats why hakkinen quit, because he was terrified of smashing into a wall like senna. and i can't blame him really. he made his money and family comes first.

I completely disagree with you guys as to why Hakkinen quit last year. First of all, he saw, he could feel, that the car was weaker than it used to be and that Ferrari are going ahead. Hakkinen is the sort of driver who can do more than the car can in the most competitive car, if you know what I mean. But in a slower car, he can´t do almost anything. He has the persistance and the nerves to pursue and put every advantage a car has to work. But with a worse McLaren than the Ferrari, he knew he would not win. To add to that, Hakkinen is not the type of person Schumacher is. He did not have the motivation to win the third title, because he did not want it as badly as he wanted the first two. You have to remember that at the time the ambition they all had was to surpass Michael, which meant 2 titles in a row. And Hakka had done that. Now that there wasn´t much more to pursue, he did not take the same chances as before, he seemed bored of speed. And he left because Ron Dennis did not understand things his way. Dennis wanted a driver to win and he knew Coulthard was not enough to do it, so Hakka announced a sabbatical, which I think will turn to be complete give-up.
Now Schumacher on the other hand has a family and has had it much before Hakka even got married. He takes pride in winning for his children, he´s gone through a very big crash with the aid of his daughter and his wife and he is unstoppable because of this mentality. That´s how I see Hakkinen and Schumacher as character... they are not identical and that´s why they don´t behave identically. While Schumacher wins and takes chances for his family´s pride and to give them a famous name, Hakkinen doesn´t want to take the chance of racing without winning and be away from his family as much as the F1 drivers´ training and racing requires.

Check out the objective F1 thread, I just posted some interesting news about Ecclestone´s F1... i felt it didn´t really fit in here with the argument about Hakka...

IU can´t really agree with what you say Crisonete. It´s true that the McLaren became worse, but that´s not the reason why he stopped driving F1. Think of what he said in many intervjues: I will take a "dadvacation" so I can see when my son is growing up....

I will soon be back and at moredeatails about the Hakkinen discussions!

either way hakkinen is gone and the McLaren is still rubbish. ron dennis has a lot of work to do for next season, starting with a new car and a replacement for coulthard.

Sheva Milan Fan, what people say in interviews is not always true, they have to say some things because it is good for their image... or at least it is though it is good for their image.
Ron Dennis has A LOT to do if he wants McLaren to be competitive... I don´t know... if they continue that way he will have to jump into the car and do some testing by himself...

ron dennis vs schumacher, i would pay to see that.

Today Hakkinen declared that he will stopp driving F1. But I still happy with Mclaren, the last weeks they have been growing a bit and it was just an experience question that stopped Kimi from keeping Michael waiting of the Champion place. But now another season it´s over, OK OK, not really over, but it´s decided. And I beat that none of the other teams will beat Ferrari in thew costructors championship so...
But all by all this have been a pretty interesting season, BMW have growed upp to a really strong team this season. Also last year they were strong but not like today....
It´s only sad that the season was decided so early. But I have to admit Schumi is fantastic. In a German song there is one point that aren´t good for the German fans: "Und eine kleinigkeit ist noch verkerht, und zwar das Schumi kein Mecedes färht, Mercedes färht.."

It means: "and one small misstake is here wrong, and it´s that Schumi no Mercedes drives, Mercedes drives.

Congratulation Ferrari, great work!

But MM will be back next year.

The new F1 season is soon under way... we just have to wait some more weeks!!

Here is some facts about the World Champion Schumacher for those who has patiens to read...

Michael Schumacher is universally regarded as the most talented driver of his generation, with wages at Ferrari which are allegedly more than twice those of the next best-paid driver. He made his Grand Prix debut in 1991 with Jordan, driving one race before being snapped up by Benetton.

The following year he won his first race in Belgium and finished third overall. In 1994 he won his first Drivers' Championship title and successfully defended it the following year. In 1996 he joined Ferrari, finishing third overall despite ever-present aggravation from the car. A year later he was stripped of second place after an incident with Jacques Villeneuve in the last race of the season.

His supreme self-confidence, which is sometimes interpreted as arrogance, and extreme will to win occasionally means that he courts trouble. The most notable incidents being several on-track tangles with Damon Hill during 1994 and 1995, the 1997 event in Jerez with Villeneuve and being prevented from punching David Coulthard in the Spa pitlane during the 1998 Belgium Grand Prix.

1998 and 1999 proved frustrating seasons for Schumacher. In 1998 he battled against Mika Hakkinen for the drivers' title right up to the last race in Japan. He stalled on the starting grid and, in accordance with FIA regulations, had to begin the race from the very back. However, he put in a stunning drive and soon worked his way up to third place, but it was not to be. A shard of debris from an earlier accident punctured his tyre and left him sitting by the side of the track while the Finn collected the title of World Champion.

In 1999 an accident at the British GP left him with a broken leg, and unable to compete in a race until the Malaysian GP. He then faced the worrying prospect of team mate, Eddie Irvine, taking home the crown after he had worked so hard to be the first Ferrari driver to win the championship since 1979. The German returned from his recuperation period in Malaysia vowing to help Irvine, and put in a strong drive to prove his point, but once again the title slipped from Ferrari's grasp at the last race in Japan.

2000 was different, however. He won the first three races of the season, and continued to battle hard for his chance at a third championship crown. A mid-season slump in fortune looked worryingly like it may prevent him, yet again, from taking home the spoils, but an emotional win in Italy, followed by two straight victories in the USA and Japan saw him crowned World Champion for the third time, and the first with Ferrari. His win in Malaysia then helped them retain the constructors' title. The jubilation across Italy reached immense proportions, and Schumacher quickly became a national hero.

In 2001 he once again took the drivers' title for Ferrari, but this time it was in one of the most dominant seasons he had ever produced. The German won the first two races of the season and continued this winning streak at seven other Grands Prix. David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen, Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya were the only other drivers to win races, but Schumacher had wrapped up both championships by the Hungarian GP in August and he broke just about every record standing in the process.

This year Ferrari have produced the innovative F2002, and the German has spoken of taking his fifth title to equal only Juan Manuel Fangio in the history books.



Career Highlights
2001 Stays with Ferrari and wins his second consecutive drivers' championship with 123 points. He also breaks Alain Prost's records for taking the most points and the most wins. One more world championship will put him on a par with the previously unbeatable Juan Manuel Fangio in the history books.
2000 Wins Ferrari's first drivers' championship since 1979, and helps secure the team's constructors' title.
1999 Drives for Ferrari. Crashed out of the British Grand Prix and broke his leg. Won the San Marino and Monaco Grands Prix and finished 5th in the drivers' championship with 44 points.
1998 Drives for Ferrari. Six race wins, two 2nds and two 3rds got Schumacher so close to his third World title, after seemingly having no chance in mid-season. Unfortunately 1998 may be remembered more for his rage in the pits at Spa, and his stall on the grid in Suzuka, than his valiant but ultimately unsuccessful challenge for the title.
1997 Drives for Ferrari. Finishes second in the Drivers' Championship but is disqualified by FIA after colliding with Jacques Villeneuve in the final race of the season.
1996 Joins Ferrari and manages third spot despite a series of mechanical failures.
1995 Wins his second F1 title on the spin with Benetton.
1994 Drives for Benetton. Wins his first Drivers' Championship in controversial style after a collision with nearest rival Damon Hill puts both drivers out of the final race with Hill threatening to pass.
1993 Drives for Benetton. Finishes 4th in the Drivers' Championship with 52 points.
1992 Drives for Benetton. Finishes 3rd in his first full F1 season, winning his maiden grand prix at Spa, Belgium.
1991 Makes his Formula One debut with Jordan, driving one race before moving to Benetton, where he finished the season with four points.
1990 Wins F3 German Championship
1989 Finishes third in F3 German Championship behind Karl Wendlinger and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.



Source: www.f1.com


Are there anyone who has an idea if we should have a prediction game like that one on xtratime.com or something??

i make my prediction now then shall i.

schumacher to win the title with 5 races to go in what many will later consider to be the most boring F1 season of recent years.

Yeah I also think it´ll be so but what we probably have to concentrate on this season is the places after Schumi!

well barricello 2nd obviously after that probably a williams 3rd and 4th and after that is anybodies guess.

I am not so sure if Barrichello gonna end up on the second place... I think one of the Williams driver gonna give him a really hard fight! And I also believe one Mclaren can come up to at least a 3rd spot... they still have teh capabilities to do that! It´ll be an exciting season with only the 1st spot already finnished.... but of course then I´ll be bouthered of Schumis wins but I have to look forward to the exciting fights after him!

it'll just be a parade like last season. mclaren have a lot of work to do on their cars. williams have a lot fo work to do on their unpredictable drivers.

We´ll see we´ll see.. at least I hope on DC!