2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bull!!

[MattS]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

One heck of an F1 race this last weekend, though a big thanks for Mercedes for having issues which caused the excitement at the end. Good for Ricardo, bummer for Massa. How far has Ferrari fallen........

It was a tough one for Massa. I'm not so sure that Perez deserved a penalty there but I am going to assume the Stewards know more than I do about it.

It's also great that Montreal signed a 10-year contract with Bernie.

This is very good news. I think the Canadian GP is one of the best for the past few years.

As for Ferrari, they are officially "just another team" now...

Sad for me but true. I'm not so sure it is horrible for F1 as long as it doesn't last too long. It's nice to see the resurgence of Williams and the continued progress of Force India.


It's been a long time since a Austrian GP has taken place. I'm excited for it!

[MattS]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Awesome to see Massa on P1 and a Williams front row!!!!!!

And I forgot how much I like the A-1, er, I mean Red Bull Ring.

[alfablue]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Great to see Williams making the events an actual race. As pointed out, now that they are up there, they now have to pay a lot more attention to strategy- both Botas and Massa were brought in too late, which lost ground on the Mercedes team. They had the speed, especially in a straight line!

And it's funny to hear the commentators add fuel to the Rosberg-Hamilton fire- they 100% missed the fact that the two of them embraced quite warmly when both got out of the cars. Come guys- their battle isn't the only drama anymore- Massa and Botas have shown at least one other team has made big progress.

Beyond that +1000 to Alonso- to take a car that isn't exactly showing speed to close on Massa at the end is pretty impressive. I like Kimi a lot, but Fernando is demonstrating who is better with this car. Perez- to take that kind of penalty, and then turn that result in was pretty awesome- I will hope that it means that we will see half the FI team along with half of Ferrari competing against Williams and Mercedes.

Theoretically, one would think Red Bull would be right up there in my assumptions, but their incosnistency is really interesting.

[MattS]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

That was another good F1 race. Williams threw the race away with their poor strategy. I think Massa or Botas could have won or at least gave Mercedes a run for their money but the pit strategy was very poor. Besides that I do find it refreshing that Mercedes is allowing Hamilton and Rosberg to race each other. At least if there is going to be a dominate car the team is letting them race each other and not be that BS from RB of the past few seasons.

Anyone else enjoying Vettel's continual bad luck this season?

I agree with Alfa about the Hamilton / Rosberg controversy. It's BS at this point in time. Anyone else notice that it was Lewis who came over to Nico to give him the man-hug? That didn't look like a bad relationship to me.

To continue on the Alonso mention....I don't know how anyone can think that he's not the best driver in F1. He has for the past three seasons gotten the best out of a dog of a car(s). Alonso reminds me a lot of Dale Earnhardt Sr. in that he can get a lot out of a bad car. I always thought that Dale was the absolute best driver at getting the most out of a bad car. He could take a bad car/setup and still get a top 10. I always felt that there were drivers that could drive better with a perfect setup but nobody got more out of a poor setup than Dale could. I feel Alonso is doing the same thing at Ferrari. It makes me wonder what he would have done in the 2012/2013 RB or this season's Mercedes.

I can't help but wonder how Massa would be fairing compared to Kimi if he was still at Ferrari. Who would have thought that a move to Williams would have been a good one for Massa.

[Timothy A]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Anyone else enjoying Vettel's continual bad luck this season?

It actually makes me a little mad because had this back luck been more spread out over the last 2 years he may not be the 4 time champ. The piling on of bad luck is pointless now. Save some for next year.

Schumi....I wish the family would just come out and tell us what kind of condition he is in and the prognosis so those of us who care about him can come to grips with his condition and then move on. Not knowing is harder than knowing and accepting.

[alfablue]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Schumi....I wish the family would just come out and tell us what kind of condition he is in and the prognosis so those of us who care about him can come to grips with his condition and then move on. Not knowing is harder than knowing and accepting.

Maybe the family is trying to tell you something else. As in "it's really none of your business" at this point. Just because he is an international star does not totally eliminate a family's desire for privacy.

Which is another way of suggesting- just accept and move on. There's noting you can do.

[MattS]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

It actually makes me a little mad because had this back luck been more spread out over the last 2 years he may not be the 4 time champ. The piling on of bad luck is pointless now. Save some for next year.

I'm hoping that this run of bad luck will destroy his confidence and he will never win again!

[Timothy A]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Maybe the family is trying to tell you something else. As in "it's really none of your business" at this point. Just because he is an international star does not totally eliminate a family's desire for privacy.

Which is another way of suggesting- just accept and move on. There's noting you can do.

I get all that, but I am the curious type. I'm not looking for a ton of info, just his basic condition. My mom in law had a stroke a few years, I'm reckoning his condition is similar to hers. Overall a sad deal.

Vettel...yes, let's crush his confidence, I'm all for that.

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

I'm hoping that this run of bad luck will destroy his confidence and he will never win again!

Bad luck won't wreck his confidence. Ricciardo constantly beating him might...

[Timothy A]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

What an entertianing Indycar race yesterday. It was the best street curcuit race that I can recall. It had it all, a shocker winner, awesone passing and great strategy calls. Too bad the Russian kid screwed Sato and Rahal Kanaan. The only downer was finishing under yellow, but that's racing. Had it gone green with 2 2 go, it was going to be an epic finish the way Montoya was just holding on to 2nd the TK and Rahal charging like they were. I don't think the winner would have been any different though.

[solovsfett]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

http://www.racer.com/f1/item/104961-...-to-drop-monza

Losing Monza really would be akin to losing Long Beach for Indycar. Bernie must be out of his mind. Ratings have dropped precipitously in Italy sure, in part that may be due to the lack of competitiveness of Ferrari but it's also largely due to the fact that tradition in F1 is over. Bring back Portugal, bring back Imola, retain Monza, retain Europe as the bread and butter of F1. Bring the noise back and sure bring the sparks back if you want.

But each time he flouts tradition he pushes more fans away

[joecct]

http://www.racer.com/f1/item/104961-...-to-drop-monza

Losing Monza really would be akin to losing Long Beach for Indycar. Bernie must be out of his mind. Ratings have dropped precipitously in Italy sure, in part that may be due to the lack of competitiveness of Ferrari but it's also largely due to the fact that tradition in F1 is over. Bring back Portugal, bring back Imola, retain Monza, retain Europe as the bread and butter of F1. Bring the noise back and sure bring the sparks back if you want.

But each time he flouts tradition he pushes more fans away

Methinks El Supremo is trying to extort more money from the promotors. If he drops Italy, could Ferrari then follow through with its threat of starting a competing championship (all based in Europe?)?

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Methinks El Supremo is trying to extort more money from the promotors. If he drops Italy, could Ferrari then follow through with its threat of starting a competing championship (all based in Europe?)?

Yeah, it's all about the negotiating.

Who would join Ferrari? There are plenty of teams who wouldn't mind if Ferrari and their favoritism took a hike from F1.

Besides, the Ferrari will leave F1 threats means nothing anymore. Where else is Ferrari going to make their money? (Remember, the road car businesss is now totally separate from their racing business.) You think Shell and the other sponsors are going to pay Ferrari just as much money to compete in the WEC instead of F1? No way. What other series will bring in the sponsor money like F1? Indycar? Hell no! FE? Not a chance. Touring cars? They don't even have a package to compete to their rules. And thus, no way can Ferrari ever leave F1. It's the bread and butter for their racing business.

[MattS]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Yeah, it's all about the negotiating.

Who would join Ferrari? There are plenty of teams who wouldn't mind if Ferrari and their favoritism took a hike from F1.

Besides, the Ferrari will leave F1 threats means nothing anymore. Where else is Ferrari going to make their money? (Remember, the road car businesss is now totally separate from their racing business.) You think Shell and the other sponsors are going to pay Ferrari just as much money to compete in the WEC instead of F1? No way. What other series will bring in the sponsor money like F1? Indycar? Hell no! FE? Not a chance. Touring cars? They don't even have a package to compete to their rules. And thus, no way can Ferrari ever leave F1. It's the bread and butter for their racing business.

While I do not think Ferrari is going anywhere anytime soon. The "no way can Ferrari ever leave F1" (bold is my emphasis) is short sighted thinking. Ferrari will be in F1 as long as it makes business sense which I think is what you were alluding to. Ferrari will leave F1 when it make no more business sense for them, and I think the biggest reason for them to eventually leave will be uncompetitiveness and thus sponsorship losses, and not which tracks are raced at.

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

While I do not think Ferrari is going anywhere anytime soon. The "no way can Ferrari ever leave F1" (bold is my emphasis) is short sighted thinking. Ferrari will be in F1 as long as it makes business sense which I think is what you were alluding to. Ferrari will leave F1 when it make no more business sense for them, and I think the biggest reason for them to eventually leave will be uncompetitiveness and thus sponsorship losses, and not which tracks are raced at.

True to a point and I accept your clarification.

Just one thing I disagree on -- unless Ferrari totally sh*ts the bed, they will always be able to get better sponsorship than most teams simply on name value alone. Unlike most other teams, their performance is barely tied into their success at getting sponsors.