Embarrassment for Raikkonen? The Reborn Grosjean...

[siskue2005]

people who were talking about kimi's speed have their tail between their legs i suppose. he is driving pretty well within himself but still scoring points, thats' pretty good for a F1 returnee, comparing the great schumi comeback, he doing way better i suppose

There is a difference
Kimi never stopped racing he was racing some beasts in WRC for 2 years
Schumy was just sitting in his Swiss mansion for 3 yrs and 1 or 2 f1 tests in 2007 thats it!

To be fair Schumacher was actually racing motorbikes and doing a fair bit of karting if I remember correctly.

he did 3 races in motor bikes and crashed in the fourth one and he did that at 2008 after 2 yrs ...and how does motorbikes relate to f1 cars?
and fair bit of karting? is 'fair' a number?
All he did was some karting here and there with kids ....maybe one or two a yr
and the ROC he did every year
all in all MS didnt do any competative racing with professionals in his 3 years absence!

[raymondu999]

The karting was more charity/exhibition events I guess. I don't think he was really kart racing in anger.

[f1316]

Schumacher was also, what, 41? Comfortably older than Barrichello is now. Big big difference between 33 (Raikkonen) and 41, in my opinion. And looks like, with a decent car, he can still qualify pretty well at 43, which I think is amazing.

Unlike Raikkonen, however, he's still no where near his prime and never will be. Raikkonen, on the other hand, I think is already looking like one of the stronger drivers out there.

[lebesset]

people who were talking about kimi's speed have their tail between their legs i suppose. he is driving pretty well within himself but still scoring points, thats' pretty good for a F1 returnee, comparing the great schumi comeback, he doing way better i suppose

There is a difference
Kimi never stopped racing he was racing some beasts in WRC for 2 years
Schumy was just sitting in his Swiss mansion for 3 yrs and 1 or 2 f1 tests in 2007 thats it!

sounds like you have never been to the WRC ...it is not racing but a series of solo events against the clock , a bit like having a few days of F1 qually events on different tracks

[siskue2005]

people who were talking about kimi's speed have their tail between their legs i suppose. he is driving pretty well within himself but still scoring points, thats' pretty good for a F1 returnee, comparing the great schumi comeback, he doing way better i suppose

There is a difference
Kimi never stopped racing he was racing some beasts in WRC for 2 years
Schumy was just sitting in his Swiss mansion for 3 yrs and 1 or 2 f1 tests in 2007 thats it!

sounds like you have never been to the WRC ...it is not racing but a series of solo events against the clock , a bit like having a few days of F1 qually events on different tracks

oh so how is that different from
steering left to turn left? and G-force takes you to right side?
steering right to turn right? and G-force takes you to left side?
Press the brake pedal to brake ? and G-force takes you to forwards?
press the accel pedal to accelerate? and G-force takes you to backwards?

i think i have asserted my point perfectly in my previous post about Kimi and MS...i dont need an "expert's" view in it.

[Giblet]

Schumacher also broke his neck and that was most of the reason he was not racing.


No matter what kind of racing it is, it keeps you sharp. Kubica swears by it. Two very very quick drivers really like rally racing.

Then Kimi comes back, puts an installation lap in the inters, and comes in 6th. I would say whatever he does works, and since F1 drivers are the best in the world, we don't know what we are talking about at all in relation to their wants and needs to remain sharp.

Staying in F1 hasn't helped Massa keep remotely sharp, so it has be taken on a case by case basis. There is no blanket solution to what makes these guys quick, or how they articulate that speed in their own minds.

[Bob Brown]

Kimi broke his wrist 3 months ago, had surgery, and is now racing.

I think some of the people in this thread just don't like Kimi for their own reasons and will always justify their argument against him.

The same can be said about people towards Schumi.

But what we do know after 2 races is that Grosjean lacks experience and it shows. And Kimi is putting the Lotus in good positions at the end of the race.


It's not the huge gap like Alonso and Massa, but there is still a couple tenths gap between Kimi and Romain

[jamsbong]

on the side point regarding rallying. From comments of Kimi, it seems that rallying is so much more difficult/challenging than F1. I know F1 fans out there would probably try to cook up some argument on what I've just said but these are words from Kimi himself.

Generally, I speculate the challenge in rallying is
1. there is no run-offs, i.e. no mistake permitted.
2. You have to listen to the navigator and read the roads. You often have to add corrections to the approaching corner based on how grippy it looks like. That requires years of experience to build up a proper database.

Other bits that are different would be,
1. F1 is very edgy i.e. you have to hit brakes at the very last moment to get anywhere close to proper laptimes.
2. The G-force in F1 is very high. Not only is it comfortable but also affects the way the steering behaves. Most cars would have ever lighter or at least constant steering feedback when the car goes faster. F1, the steering loads get heavier due to aero downforce.

Back to main point. Kimi is back at full steam already after 2nd race. Schumacher is also back after 2 years of below "normal Schumacher standard" performance. Donno why, I love both of them so I'm gonna just enjoy the show.

[sriraj1031]

I have tried local rallying and have done track days too they are extremely different but what matters is that I enjoy driver's like micheal Hamilton Kimi and Alonso for their competitive spirit and no particular order, they drive the wheels of the car given to them and are extremely fun to watch though I feel micheal shouldn't have come back

[Donuts]

Hmm... I really don't know what to think of Grosjean. Maybe it's too early to judge him? But, at the same time, he's not a total rookie, is he? Somehow he's behaviour is that of a retard. He's always smiling and being optimistic, but not in a genuine fashion, more like someone has told him to act that way. He is smiling like a bloody fool even when he's performed really bad. He's also a specialist on blaming others, which driver is'nt? But, he does it even when it's obvious he's at fault. On the Lotus F1 Team homepage he is not even contemplating the last two "incidents", it's Maldonado's and Schumachers fault, end of story. He really needs to score some point in the next couple of races or this will be like his last visit to F1, a short one! I really need to see a more determined face on this young lad...

[stefan_]

They have Jackie Stewart around there, he should give Grosjean a couple of smacks on the face to wake him up a little bit.

[raymondu999]

I guess he would be the person for the job. Jackie Stewart I seem to remember was a driver who always drove at his highest possible consistent level (ie if he could get 95% but not 96% at a consistent level lap by lap, he would go for 95%)

[Lycoming]

They have Jackie Stewart around there, he should give Grosjean a couple of smacks on the face to wake him up a little bit.

I suspect being last in the WDC after 2 races will take care of that. Hell, even HRT have gotten to the checkered flag at least once.

I find it odd that these drivers fresh out of GP2 are so bad wheel to wheel... you'd think they would see plenty of that in a single make series with a skill level just below that of F1, but I guess in terms of talent F1 really is quite a large step.

[raymondu999]

To be fair last year's GP2 was quite dreadful in that regard. I mean - Monaco qualifying was like slot cars. Then as I've said before - Grosjean's Valencia performance last year. He was utterly dominant in one of the races but an absolutely cocked up the other.

[jamsbong]

Hmm... I really don't know what to think of Grosjean.

Eric Boullier will be most critical to Grosjean and he will be swiftly removed if performance is not improved.
The car (Lotus) is not slow at all. Just a fraction behind RB8 I think. In fact, even the Williams and Sauber look incredibly fast at race trim.
Anyway, Lotus better take advantage of this before the top teams got a handled of the tire behaviours.