Phil wrote:iotar__ wrote:I really enjoy the hypocrisy
I seriously think you need to quit the attitude. As I have already stated now numerous times, I wasn't giving an opinion on what is 'right or wrong' - but merely questioning what problems the driver lineup might pose. I also don't think that one of the Ferrari drivers will find himself with that large a point gap as Alonso did with Massa. When you have a driver severely underperforming (like Massa has), it's a bit easier to form the moral argument within a team that you're effectively going to support the leading driver more midway through the season. The sole reason for hiring Kimi though is to have a stronger driver pairing, which will also (potentially) increase the chances that both drivers will both get more points - and as a result be closer together.
If we take Hamilton / Button in 2010 or even Alonso / Hamilton in 2007, you could see how evenly matched two highly competitive team-mates can be. Are we to expect Ferrari to simply let them race it out as McLaren did, or will they ask one of their drivers to drive at the expense of the other if lets say at Singapore one is in the lead slightly (slightly being 10-30 points of each other). In this case, both drivers would still be very much in the race to win WDC mathematically (as are the top 5 drivers now relative to Vettel, even if the chance is slim), so the point of view does vary. A team might feel the best bet is to support one of its drivers (if the situation demands it), but the driver might feel differently because in his view the points gap might be too small.
There is no right or wrong in light of it being a team-sport. As a spectator, I would *hope* that Ferrari is similar to McLaren in that regard - or the way they [Ferrari] handled the situation in 2008 when Massa was clearly their best bet towards the end.
Look, I didn't start this "what if" game when it comes to driver's reaction to team orders at Ferrari 2014-2015 based only on which driver you like. I gave in response to speculations event that had happened - Singapore team orders, ridiculous circumstances and ridiculous reaction of the driver that benefited from them. Now you tell me what you think would have happened if this team order weren't given? Nothing, because unlike Alonso he's such a team player? On the similar note: watching Germany 2012 not mine but commentator's reaction was that giving team orders to Raikkonen wasn't possible because of contract negotiations and him being possibly unhappy about it. Never mind not giving him a couple of undeserved ones and having a chance to win the race.
So if I ever hear again about this pure racer not interested in politics I'm going to puke. You can believe whatever you want including outright lies (split strategy) and fake marketing image but Lotus was the most politicly driven team in F1 in recent seasons. "Pure racer" not interested in politics, unless it's a half a dozen exclusive, major updates or half a dozen useless team orders, he hates those. These are not speculation but real events, politics is fine as long as it's in your favour. Is this attitude OK
?
About examples you gave: 2007 was a pathology, biggest failure in terms of losing championship, driver management and manager's stupidity, it was 100% Ron Dennis's fault and McLaren are still paying for it (speculative and based on how much they compromised 2009 fighting in 2008), bringing it into discussion about any sane team/season makes little sense. I don't recall 2010 being especially interesting.
I repeat, overall I expect Ferrari to do what they did in 2007-2013, with two first season as best examples if needed (big IF). You can run your drivers more or less independently for a long time if there is a will. Now my suspicion is Ferrari don't expect their biggest trouble will be driver equally matched based on performance in 2012-2013. They play along with hype and say Raikkonen is better than in 2009 which is a bit strange. We'll see, it's too early to dissect some specific scenarios or argue here which one is better: driver nr 1 and 2 vs 2 strong ones, IMO Ferrari 2014 is in the first category.
