Michael on Webber, Kimi, and Juan

Inigo Montoya · 14 Apr 2003, 18:14 (Ref:569291)

This is from www.TSN.ca, but the original interview was with Gazzetta dello Sport

"I expected McLaren's drivers to be fast. Nobody trusted me at the beginning of the season when I said they had become very competitive . . . Raikkonen is a very good driver with a great potential."
Schumacher said Australian Mark Webber and Spain's Fernando Alonso looked like the most promising drivers in the initial championship races.
"Webber has been consistent, precise. He's undervalued ... Alonso proved very strong. I expected it."
About Williams' Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya, Schumacher said "he has been somewhat disappointing. He has not improved . . . he promised more."

R · 14 Apr 2003, 18:56 (Ref:569331)

I think he's spot on with his comments. And kudos to TGF for picking up on Alonso's potential prior to the season as well: "Alonso proved very strong. I expected it." Yeah! So did I.

Inigo Montoya · 14 Apr 2003, 19:03 (Ref:569338)

Are people around starting to like Michael, now that he is not winning???

Didn't think so...

chezza · 14 Apr 2003, 19:22 (Ref:569349)

His comments are spot on, however just because he is right and has also admitted that ferrari's poor form has been partially down to him i don't think people are gonna like him anymore than they do already. I for one don't.

**garcon** · 14 Apr 2003, 20:26 (Ref:569407)

He's very astute. Nothing terribly controversial, but you can't entirely trust that what he says is honest. MS is, after all, still very much a player, so he can't be entirely objective.

The fact he talks JPM down suggests to me that he maybe still thinks he's a threat. Psychological warfare, Sir Alex Ferguson style

Yoong Montoya · 14 Apr 2003, 20:48 (Ref:569434)

Quote:

Originally posted by Inigo Montoya
Are people around starting to like Michael, now that he is not winning???

Didn't think so...

Well people tend to cheer for underdogs, and MS was an underdog himself in 1996

neilap · 14 Apr 2003, 21:07 (Ref:569461)

I think he is far off base. Kimmi has not outshone DC. In fact his mistake gave the win to GF. Its not the first time he has choked under pressure either. I am not saying KR is not good but he has not proven to be special. I think GF is special but not Kimmi, not yet. DC has qualified well. He won the race in Australia, his car let him down in Malaysia and as for Brazil, a Minardi could have won the way it turned out.

Webber has had one really good race so far. I don't know enough about him to say here nor there.

Alonzo, was already a know quantity from his time at Minardi. I agree with him about that.

As for JPM, when has MS ever had anything good to say about him. MS is just trying to make his brother look good. If JPM is a disappointment what does this make his brother, who by the way makes much more than JPM? I think it make him a liability. As far as I am concerned he has began to speak a little too much. He needs to shut up and begin to win races, he still has the best car, best team and the 2nd best budget.

Snrub · 14 Apr 2003, 21:24 (Ref:569492)

I think MS knows that JPM is the only guy who can truely take him. Kimi could conceivably win the championship, but I'm not convinced he's better or faster than MS. The variable in question is car and JPM won't have a good enough one atleast this year. Safe to slag and put down your fiercest competitor when he's down.

Inigo Montoya · 14 Apr 2003, 21:58 (Ref:569525)

Naah - Michael is right. Juan *has* been a disappointment (and so has Michael himself). I am sure both of them will bounce back - they are far too talented to not reach the podium so many times in a row.

Mattracer · 14 Apr 2003, 22:19 (Ref:569539)

JPM's pass at Brazil in 2001 shocked the **** out of MS, and no one has been more brazen in their contempt of his "I'm the boss of this sport" attitude.

Kick him while he's down.

Wrex · 15 Apr 2003, 00:34 (Ref:569623)

Quote:

Originally posted by Inigo Montoya
Naah - Michael is right. Juan *has* been a disappointment (and so has Michael himself). I am sure both of them will bounce back - they are far too talented to not reach the podium so many times in a row.

Agree with all of this.

As for Michaels comments, I'm curious to know in what context the questions were given. It appears the above were answers to specific questions.

Would love to know what he thinks about Ralfs performance so far (if he thinks Monty is underperforming).

I am noting the JPM fans getting in early this year with the excuses though.

Snrub · 15 Apr 2003, 01:50 (Ref:569674)

Actually the FW25 is the match for the field. Last year the FW24 was WAY better than the Ferrari in the races. He's only capable of putting in a fast lap in qualifying. In a race he is incapable of putting in even that. JPM just sucks that much @ss!

Hmm...How do we justify that when the conditions where tough in Brazil, JPM was the fastest guy on the track in a lesser car?

Ultimately a lot of people have to see results, it doesn't matter what the circumsances are. Fisi is a perfect example of this. The guy has been overlooked for years, gets a result and suddenly it's recognized that gee maybe this guy doesn't stink. All these Fisi "fans" were wrong until the actual result occured.

neilap · 15 Apr 2003, 02:06 (Ref:569686)

I am always amazed how jaded and biased people can be. Even when the truth slaps them in the face they still turn away and pretend nothing happened.

If anyone has underachieved its Ralf Schumacher. He is the worst excuse for a F1 driver I have ever seen. Alex Yoong was a known quanitiy last year. He had his seat because he brought money to the team. What has RS done in F1 that any other driver in the current line up, given similar equipment cant do? Answer that. I dont understand how achieving 7 poles can be made into a bad thing. I bet if he had 10 he still would not live up to the "expectations" of some people because they are jaded.

Bahhh... I saw this movie before, read the book too.

Oh before I offend anyone, I was speaking about MS not the people posting here.

Jukebox · 15 Apr 2003, 04:27 (Ref:569750)

What's with the constant bashing of Yoong being a pay driver since he's already left? where's the relevance in relation to the topic?....this year witnessed the most number of pay drivers in the circus. Shows that he's not the only one.

Montoya was truly an overhyped driver...sure he got 7 poles last season, but does that mean anything at the of the race weekend? This is the 5xWDC giving his comments on the younger generation of drivers nowadays. So there are credibility especially when it's from him....

Don K · 15 Apr 2003, 04:44 (Ref:569761)

Quote:

Originally posted by neilap
What has RS done in F1 that any other driver in the current line up, given similar equipment cant do? Answer that.

Winning 4 races during 2 seasons that were dominated by Ferrari.

**Peter Mallett** · 15 Apr 2003, 05:37 (Ref:569783)

Whoops. It started off as a thread pointing out what I've always said so I must be a potential WDC. Unlike JPM.

However I see we have quickly diverted to a let's bash Ralf thread again.

Wrex is quite correct. The responses from MS could have been taken out of context just for someone to make a point. Not that anybody on this board would do that would they?

Also both JPM and Mickey have been unimpressive this year. However JPM is consistently unimpressive (I see we come back to Brazil 2001 yet again). But Mickey does seem to be able to make a better fist of things in adversity. I don't know if that's because he makes his own luck (to use an old racer's phrase) or he's just very, very good.

f1manoz · 15 Apr 2003, 05:41 (Ref:569786)

I agree with what TGF had to say about Mark Webber.

He'd be an asset to any team. Under-valued and under-rated.

MiniMe · 15 Apr 2003, 06:22 (Ref:569807)

well I s'pose Michael can play the elder statesman of the sport and evaluate his competition, I'll give him that. Gotta watch those x-Minardi drivers, they even got Schumi taking notice!

I disagree on Montoya - he has got to be one of MS's main rivals and has certainly matured from that gung-ho driver of a couple of years ago. Montoya is still world champ material and I read this as part of MS's effort to undermine Juan's confidence.

Valve Bounce · 15 Apr 2003, 06:45 (Ref:569822)

I think this season, so far, has seen the evening out of the capabilities of the cars with several makes improving substantially.

I firmly believe the absence of qualifying engines and qualifying setups has evened out the field during quals more so than the new 1 shot qualifying, and is probably why the two Ferraris are not dominating the front row anymore.

SchM's mistakes in all three races so far were sorta basic, and I maintain that the Ferrari is still very fast - so if anyone expects SchM or both Ferraris to be struggling for this year are naive in their thinking.

However, Renault has improved, and so have McLaren. I am still not sure how good the Williams is but don't write them off.

So this year, there will be battles for the limited 3 places on the podium from any number of people ranging from the Ferrari drivers, Mclaren, Williams, Renault, Bar and even Jaguar depending on the circuit and suitability of the particular car and engine and tyres for that circuit. I wouldn't write off Jarno, Bunsen or Webber for any race, and of course this is probably the best year that jacques has to impress after he left Williams.

We will be entertained for the rest of this year, of that I am sure.

twig · 15 Apr 2003, 06:54 (Ref:569825)

Quote:

Originally posted by Don K
Winning 4 races during 2 seasons that were dominated by Ferrari.

Good point, but i dont think its all it seems.

2001 - Imola - He did a good race, but his brother didn't finish.
- Canada - He deserved that race.
- Germany - Again, his brother didn't finish, and JPM should have won the race.

2002 - Malaysia - Not only did he have MS taken care of after having to take care of his front wing, but again, his team mate should have won it, had he not had the stop go penalty. (Not sure of the time difference)

So, he practically should have only won 2 races, all in 2001.
And at that time, JPM would/should have won 4 in that year,
-Brazil
-Germany
-Italy
-United States GP.

Against Ralf's two.

Jukebox · 15 Apr 2003, 07:03 (Ref:569829)

should or would does not matter...it's the way they end the races that matters most and that means on top of the podium.

Mark Webber · 15 Apr 2003, 08:58 (Ref:569888)

I Think MS has hit the nail on the head with those comments

BootsOntheSide · 15 Apr 2003, 09:39 (Ref:569920)

If Michael didn't fear Montoya, he wouldn't be putting him down like that. I still feel that Montoya has pushed the limit out of the car this year, and that no one else could've got onto the podium in Australia in the car, not even Michael, maybe Kimi without the penalty. Criticising someone for spinning while leadign,a dn recovering to finish second, then praising someone for spinning twice en route to 8th, is the strangest logic I've seen here.

Michael has indeed been raving about Alonso for many years, and of course he's being proved right, even if circumstances have gone in Fernando's favour a little, in terms of not losing third in Brazil, and the strategy-affected Malaysian pole.

I've yet to see anythign taht really amrks Webber out as a future champion. The Brazillian performance was affected by the fact that he got a chance at the right time to set his Friday lap, which let him go last on a well-rubbered track on Saturday. Yes, he was impressive, but I'm sure Irvine would've done at least as well. It's all too easy to lose sight of the fact that Pizzonia beat him in Malaysian qualifying, and that he was trounced by Wilson in 2001 F3000.

**Peter Mallett** · 15 Apr 2003, 10:15 (Ref:569947)

Quote:

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
If Michael didn't fear Montoya, he wouldn't be putting him down like that.

Hmm. Er no. He's obviously really frightened because he remembers Brazil 2001 and then again who ran into the back of him in 2002?

Quote:

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
I still feel that Montoya has pushed the limit out of the car this year, and that no one else could've got onto the podium in Australia in the car,

Yeah we hear that all the time. No proof though.

Quote:

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
Criticising someone for spinning while leadign,a dn recovering to finish second, then praising someone for spinning twice en route to 8th, is the strangest logic I've seen here.

But that's not in MS' quote is it?

Quote:

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
Michael has indeed been raving about Alonso for many years, and of course he's being proved right, even if circumstances have gone in Fernando's favour a little, in terms of not losing third in Brazil, and the strategy-affected Malaysian pole.

Oh I see he's not really as good as he looks because he was lucky?

Quote:

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
I've yet to see anythingn taht really amrks Webber out as a future champion. The Brazillian performance was affected by the fact that he got a chance at the right time to set his Friday lap, which let him go last on a well-rubbered track on Saturday. Yes, he was impressive, but I'm sure Irvine would've done at least as well.

They all have the same chance to shine and he shone in Brazil.

Quote:

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
It's all too easy to lose sight of the fact that Pizzonia beat him in Malaysian qualifying, and that he was trounced by Wilson in 2001 F3000.

My point when talking about our Columbian Superstar. Its all to easy to lose sight of the fact that he really hasn't been much of a factor in the WDC and now that the flying Finn is getting it together its unlikely that he will be in the future.

But then again that's because Team Willy won't give him a nice easy car to play with.

ASCII Man · 15 Apr 2003, 10:24 (Ref:569952)

Quote:

Originally posted by Peter Mallett
Hmm. Er no. He's obviously really frightened because he remembers Brazil 2001 and then again who ran into the back of him in 2002?

When Jos ran in the back of JPM was in 2001, the pass on TGF was also in 2001. JPM lost his front wing in 2002.

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