Sergio Perez. Mexico's greatest driver since Pedro Rodriguez? - Page 3

Super Hans · 27 Mar 2011, 08:06 (Ref:2853967)

A very impressive debut from the young man in my avatar. He is a Ferrari junior, let's not forget - if he drives like this all year he could pip Jules Bianchi to Massa's seat for '12.

NaBUru38 · 27 Mar 2011, 08:15 (Ref:2853972)

Now who's a ride buyer? Checo? The Vyborg Rocket? Things got interesting.

My view is: with so many talented drivers, I can't blame smaller teams like Sauber to accept some extra millons. Picking number 10 or number 50 won't make as much a difference.

Peralta · 27 Mar 2011, 08:28 (Ref:2853982)

How he managed those tyres with those competive times was highly impressive on a one stopper. At one point he had fastest lap during the middle of the race. No mistakes whatsoever. Impressive. He showed maturety for his young age. Could land at Ferrari next year if he keeps this up.

Mr V · 27 Mar 2011, 09:40 (Ref:2854036)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peralta

How he managed those tyres with those competive times was highly impressive on a one stopper. At one point he had fastest lap during the middle of the race. No mistakes whatsoever. Impressive. He showed maturety for his young age. Could land at Ferrari next year if he keeps this up.

Taking Massa's seat sprang to my mind straight away when i realised the race Perez had on a one stopper.

**chunterer** · 27 Mar 2011, 17:09 (Ref:2854300)

We'll have to wait a couple of weeks to see how much his performance was down to an illegal car and how much was down to his shrewd driving early on to make the tyres last.

My money is on the latter (I.E. i don't think the rear wing maade a lot of difference).

He is going to shake some reputations up this yeat that's for sure!!

**Bononi** · 28 Mar 2011, 13:53 (Ref:2854870)

Experience says; One race and you'll go to Ferrari and the other you might end up going nowhere. 18 races to go, isn't F1 amazing ?

Nice race by the way.

I quite remember Kobayashi making us all excited sometime, a while ago.

**chunterer** · 28 Mar 2011, 19:59 (Ref:2855058)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bononi

Experience says; One race and you'll go to Ferrari and the other you might end up going nowhere. 18 races to go, isn't F1 amazing ?

Nice race by the way.

I quite remember Kobayashi making us all excited sometime, a while ago.

I know exactly what you mean Bon, I wouldn't go as far as putting his name down for a Ferrari drive just yet but there's definitely something there.

**Bononi** · 28 Mar 2011, 20:33 (Ref:2855085)

Yes, I'm with you on that, but that's F1, and we know so well how things can go wrong.

**Born Racer** · 28 Mar 2011, 20:52 (Ref:2855092)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr V

Taking Massa's seat sprang to my mind straight away when i realised the race Perez had on a one stopper.

A good idea but Alonso wants a lap-dog. Would Perez be prepared to be that?

**chunterer** · 28 Mar 2011, 21:05 (Ref:2855097)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Born Racer

A good idea but Alonso wants a lap-dog. Would Perez be prepared to be that?

I think we should be looking a bit further into the future regarding all this.....

There's little doubt that Massa will be replaced either end of this season or next, but Alonso too could be gone at the end of 2012.

Ferrari may well end up signing two new drivers.

As for this year, I can't wait to see how Perez fares against Kobayashi next time out. A circuit both already know.

Mr V · 29 Mar 2011, 05:51 (Ref:2855204)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bononi

Experience says; One race and you'll go to Ferrari and the other you might end up going nowhere. 18 races to go, isn't F1 amazing ?

Fact of the matter Bon is, unfortunately, Felipe isn't the driver he was pre-Hungary 2009. He can't get anywhere near Fernando and the team have publicly stated that they weren't happy with his performance last year and expect more this year. Sundays race wasn't an indication of that. Perez is on Ferrari's books, he seems the obvious choice as a replacement if Ferrari decide to make changes. For a team to go public shows their level of disappointment imo.

Nat. · 29 Mar 2011, 10:18 (Ref:2855290)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr V

Fact of the matter Bon is, unfortunately, Felipe isn't the driver he was pre-Hungary 2009. He can't get anywhere near Fernando and the team have publicly stated that they weren't happy with his performance last year and expect more this year. Sundays race wasn't an indication of that. Perez is on Ferrari's books, he seems the obvious choice as a replacement if Ferrari decide to make changes. For a team to go public shows their level of disappointment imo.

Completely agreed - the only other two drivers I could potentially see replacing Massa would be Hulkenberg, and to a lesser extent, Sutil. I think the former would be young enough to hope that he could eventually take Alonso's place and Sutil would just be happy to get out of Force India, so I think he wouldn't mind too much being Alonso's *****.

Perez looked superb on his first weekend, good luck to him. It's going to be a fascinating battle at Sauber. But before we really pencil him in for a Ferrari drive we need to see how he does over the course of the season. The same goes for Felipe - Australia hasn't exactly been his best track over the years. Let's wait and find out how he's doing at Tilke tracks, with everyone getting a real handle on tyre strategy etc.

**chunterer** · 29 Mar 2011, 11:30 (Ref:2855313)

I certainly don't think we've seen the last of Massa as a competitive force. It's just that Ferrari seem to have returned the team management to Schuey days, with a defacto number one.

Felipe will almost certainly have to go to another team to rekindle any hopes of regularly winning races again. Problem is he will find it difficult to rebuild his reputation and attract a rival team boss in the current contractual situation..... classic catch 22.

Mr V · 29 Mar 2011, 13:27 (Ref:2855394)

We're going way off topic here but i think it's worth pointing out that Fernando is, as you say, defacto number 1, but that's because the team know he can get the job done, Felipe can't, it's as simple as that and unless Felipe can get himself sorted out, no big team is going to want him and Ferrari are likely to replace him.

It's ironic really, but the only time that Felipe managed to get in front of Fernando, (other than Australia) the team asked him to move over, Felipe didn't get anywhere him - properly- all season.

Mr V · 29 Mar 2011, 13:28 (Ref:2855395)

Nat - i can't honestly see Ferrari going for Sutil either.

**chunterer** · 29 Mar 2011, 14:02 (Ref:2855412)

You're right V it has gone off topic but it's difficult when tangents occur which then follow on and on. You know the rest, you've been on here for yonks!!

What we can say about strong debutants is that it is normally a sign that they are going to be around for a while, and more often than not become a contender in future years.

Possibly the only times when this isn't the case is if a newbie who wasn't in the mix goes on to nab points in a debut race when hardly anyone has finished. Sergio wasn't in that category on Sunday.

Marbot · 29 Mar 2011, 14:21 (Ref:2855423)

Is it possible that Massa could be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? It certainly wouldn't be the first time that this has hindered someones racing career. Probably not the last either.

It's that nagging little voice in your head that's telling you that **** can happen at any time. A racing driver with an imagination is a slow racing driver.

Mr V · 29 Mar 2011, 15:35 (Ref:2855458)

Quote:

Originally Posted by chunterer

You're right V it has gone off topic but it's difficult when tangents occur which then follow on and on. You know the rest, you've been on here for yonks!!

I wasn't pointing at you taking it off topic but that the post i was making was taking it off topic

**Bononi** · 29 Mar 2011, 17:07 (Ref:2855501)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr V

Fact of the matter Bon is, unfortunately, Felipe isn't the driver he was pre-Hungary 2009. He can't get anywhere near Fernando and the team have publicly stated that they weren't happy with his performance last year and expect more this year. Sundays race wasn't an indication of that. Perez is on Ferrari's books, he seems the obvious choice as a replacement if Ferrari decide to make changes. For a team to go public shows their level of disappointment imo.

I guess everyone misunderstood my post. I wasn't defending Massa. I was simply saying that any driver that makes a good racing in a weekend is promptly linked to a move to Ferrari. Like it or not (and I don't !) Ferrari is the top within F1, and this has been like this since I can remember watching it. And, being so, the same one can fall into disgrace on a ruined weekend. What I meant to say is that it's too early to jump into conclusions like that, "experience says"...

Regarding Massa, I don't have any expectations about him, after what happened last year in Germany, and I think it's a waste of time, space and thread if you all fall into a discussion like this again. It's all pretty much like my opinion on Teflonso's character (as if he has one) and TGF's.

But I can always exercise my options if this happen.

Super Hans · 29 Mar 2011, 17:16 (Ref:2855507)

Part of the reason people are linking Perez to Ferrari is that he is already linked to Ferrari through their young driver programme. Massa is likely to move on at the end of the year, so speculation will be rife.

Belatti · 30 Mar 2011, 23:31 (Ref:2856137)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marbot

Is it possible that Massa could be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? It certainly wouldn't be the first time that this has hindered someones racing career. Probably not the last either.

It's that nagging little voice in your head that's telling you that **** can happen at any time. A racing driver with an imagination is a slow racing driver.

Maybe... Kinda like Wendlinger?

**chunterer** · 31 Mar 2011, 09:58 (Ref:2856286)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Belatti

Maybe... Kinda like Wendlinger?

Good example, Lehto was possibly another one. There's quite a lot who were never the same after a big shunt or being involved in some catastrophic event around them.

**Bononi** · 31 Mar 2011, 13:05 (Ref:2856354)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Belatti

Maybe... Kinda like Wendlinger?

Quote:

Originally Posted by chunterer

Good example, Lehto was possibly another one. There's quite a lot who were never the same after a big shunt or being involved in some catastrophic event around them.

I think it's quite possible.

In 1987, Nelson Piquet crashed heavily in Imola, same place where Senna died. He pushed on the next races and went on to win that season championship over Mansell, it was his third title. Many years after, he told that after that crash he never returned to be the same. He said he lost his sense of approach (or something like that) and started to look at the signs in the track before the corners to have a better perspective of the distance. That affected him permanently for the rest of his career though he fought against it until the end.
The difference about Massa is that he keeps saying that he doesn't remember a thing about the accident. But I guess that this is something subconscious.

Marbot · 31 Mar 2011, 14:54 (Ref:2856393)

Ralf Schumacher was never quite the same after he hit the wall at Indy. Some say that he was already too slow before that.

Anyway. Perez - 38 laps on the soft tyre - outstanding!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90348

**chunterer** · 31 Mar 2011, 17:11 (Ref:2856438)

Don't wind up Ralf's Girl Marbot for goodness sakes......

Yes, further supporting evidence that Perez is a great driver in the making.

Again we need to see how he copes in some more vairbale conditions and whether he's even more adept on circuits he knows.

Sepang could well offer up as many of those variables as possible, and all in one race!

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