Schumi's Threats?

[Kenny W.]

Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but was TGF's last comment in the Post Race Interview a very thinly disguised threat to put RB back in his place?
RB was going faster and faster approaching TGF until the final lap where he may, or may not have attempted to pass if he had the chance.
TGF replied with :
"I also want to mention my team mate, because he protected me at the end there when I was going slow to play safe. He's a good man and one day I will pay him back for it."

[Rated R]

Protect him from whom? GF was way back. With his demeanor on the podium and during the press-conference today RB showed he doesn't want to play friendly with Schuey. Apparently he's still possessed with the phantasm of him being better than MS-which I think he's not. Hope RB at least has a vague idea of the dint he's getting up against. MS is neither Irvine nor Herbert and can easily eat his head for breakfast.

[Sharky]

(I'm guessing TGF is Schu)
I'm pretty sure that MS will pay back Rubens. After all he's such a kind person. I'm positive that if by the time they arrive at Sepang MS has the championship in the bag then he'll be "kind" enough to let Rubens beat him. But until that day comes RB will have to get used to drive behind MS and avoid making any "funny" moves.....or making controversial declarations about it...

[Gerard]

And then what, sharky?
When Michael gives Rubens a victory in let's say Sepang, what will that make Rubens?
A real Grand Prix winner?
I don't think so. I would be ashamed if my team mate gave me a race victory.
I have never been in favour of Grand Prix victories given as a present nor as a result of team orders.
Let the best man win the saying goes, and I will cheer for Rubens whenever he wins a race fair and square, but not when it's given to him.
I really hope Michael will find another way to pay him back.

[Sharky]

Yeah. I know that sucks. I was just being sarcastic. But you know that's how things work in the Ferrari team. They'll probably let Rubens win a couple of races at the end of the season just to quiet the critics comments about the humiliating role that Rubens has to play at the team.

Rubens does deserve to win some day fair and square and by his own means but as long as he has Schu as his teammate that will never happen. I think he made a big mistake moving to Ferrari.....but then again....he can't say that nobody warned him about it.
[Edited by Sharky on 19th June 2000]

[TimD]

Being gifted your first win is the ultimate killer for a driver's reputation.

Look at Hakkinen. There are still plenty of people who, two championships down the line, are still saying "Well, of course he would never have started winning in the first place if he hadn't had his first two handed to him on a platter."

[Regs]

I don't think Rubens had any illusions about what he was getting into when he joined Ferrari. I do think there are times perhaps when he feels he is faster. But with Schumacher you never know, he could be running a "moderate" pace for himself and then pour it on if he needs to. And he'll do that to Rubens if need be to put him in his place. Perhaps he's waiting to do that too someday. On the otherside, I feel Rubens needs to feel he can challenge Schumacher. That he is indeed faster. Thats what will keep him going on the long run. Simply driving for Ferrari is a thrill that lasts only so long. Winniing for Ferrari, thats the dream.

[Schume]

It would have been very interesting to see what would have happened if Rubino had overtaken MS and won the race. My guess would be at least a "horses head in his bed" if not a "sleeping with the fishes".
MS always does just enough to hold position when he has a race won and under control, which is exactly what he was doing in Canada. No doubt Rubino had been told that he was taking it easy and just to hold position. Having Rubino suddenly go whizzing by would have "slightly upset" a few people.

The comments after the race could be looked at as veiled warning/threat.
But MS has always said that if his team mate was faster then he doesn't mind him winning. But by the time Rubino caught him the race was over.

I would suspect that MS will be handing out a masterclass to him in the near future.
If Rubino has any doubts about what could be in store for him he should have a look at the Sepang video and see the master at work.

[fatbloke]

About an hour from the end of the Le Mans race at the weekend, which was looking set to see them take a historic 1-2-3, the Audi Sport boss was quizzed by a Eurosport reporter about team orders, "non, no, we let them race", he said. A collective cheer went up around the world.

As the commentators said when they cut back to them, "so nice to hear that people are still here to race. In these days of corporate spin and image, nice to hear that there are still team in it for the racing, not the corporate image."

Absobloodylutely!

Hard to believe that Schumacher, Haug and Todt all came from that exact same area of the sport. It's so sad to see them offering victories around as some sort of reward

[Liz]

Totally agree. After watching sports car racing and seeing that 'gentlemen racers' are still welcome somewhere, I can only pray that everyone in F1 who wants to RACE (hello, Jean Alesi?) will go to Sports Cars and leave Bernie to play with his politically correct toy cars and all the seven figure bank books therein.

And on the topic again, if TGF is so sure he is the greatest pilote the world has ever given birth to, why does he feel it necessary to humiliate every teammate he has ever run with by making condescending remarks in public about them? Does he really believe that "nobody is allowed to join Ferrari unless I get to say when he wins races" is the way to prove he's the greatest? Is TGF frightened of the day when someone will appear (paging Jarno Trulli) that he can neither intimidate nor beat, and he will have to trudge off down pit road and reap the humiliation from others he has so abundantly sown?

Rubens will go to McLaren and win races on his own, and TGF will be trounced by Trulli who will be an Italian boy in a Red Car and just exactly what racing at Ferrari is all about. And I for one will rejoice to see TGF get what he has earned. I hope his money will console him for the overwhelming dislike of his fellow pilotes.

[fatbloke]

I wonder what Enzo and Bruce would make of it ?

[Schume]

The last of the "gentlemen racers" left F1 when Ken Tyrell departed the scene. If anyone has seen his "Surviving F1" video, they will have heard the comments made by Murray, Martin Brundle, Jackie Stewart etc....
I'm sure that there are many people turning in their graves these days....

[KC]

I think that RB's animosity toward MS wasn't about the race as much as it was about the qualifying. Apparently RB was blocked on his fastest qualifying lap, which was as fast or faster than MS's, by his very teammate at the end of the session at Canada. Whether he was a match for MS or DC at the beginning of the race was a moot point as both he and MH allowed JV to slip through.

[Rated R]

It would have been very interesting to see what would have happened if Rubino had overtaken MS and won the race.

HiHi-that made me laugh-he couldn't overtake the slow BAR for 20 laps for Christ's sake. You honestly think he could have overtaken Schumy?

[Murph]

Gee.... I guess some of yunz guys have fond memories of Imola '82 and wanted to see it repeated yesterday.... not I.

Enjoyed the LeMans domination by Audi on Speedvision. As far as the "racing" was concerned..... Did the Audi's all finish on the same lap? Also... in the last hour of the race, wasn't McNish told to back off 'cuz he couldn't catch the #8 car and it was better to preserve his 2nd place?

Can't speak for Enzo.... but I do remember seeing the Bruce & Denny show in CanAm....

Wow......looking forward to Reubens victories for McLaren and Jarno's trouncing of his Ferrari teammate, Herr Schumacher (the older)......hmmmmmmmm... will this happen before or after HHF has won his WDC for Eddie Jordan?

[Sharky]

There's a pretty good article I read last year called "The importance of being schumacher". You guys can find it at http://www.formula-1.co.uk/info/Gues...enling-003.htm

But we all know that Schu needs a #2 driver who will settle for being an "accesory" in the team. Not only on race day but behind the scenes as well. It's no mistery for anyone that the Ferrari is designed for Schu's driving style...not Rubens or Irvine's style plus almos all engineers and mechanics focus on him. Let's not forget Herberts declarations in 95 when he said "MS is the worst teammate anyone could have. He doesen't share any information with you and all the team focuses in his car only".

Rubens always wanted to race in Ferrari.....but the price he is paying is certanly too high.

[Liz]

After. HHF has to trounce Trulli to inspire him to go to Ferrari.

No, Nishi was not told to back off - he just did it, and sensible of him too as the two stupid Porsche pilotes proved when they took each other out on the last lap trying to be first across the line.

[fatbloke]

Wasn't Imola 82 another example of team orders/pre-agreements gone bad ?

Audi ? Yes and no. The first two cars were on the same lap, but there were no team orders issued until they were ordered to form up for a traditional team formation finish just over a lap from the end. Talking of 'stealing' a race win from a team mate at the end, how tempted must Mr McNish have been ?

[fatbloke]

Wow! Popular topic - sort of suggests people want to see 'honest' racing a bit more often...

[Murph]

Imola '82 was the result of one man's treachery.

"When Rene blew up at Imola I took the lead and we got a "slow" sign from the pits. You get a "slow" sign and that means "hold position.' It's just not true there are are no team orders at Ferrari... Imola was going to be my race because I was in front of Pironi when Arnoux dropped out. If it had been the other way around, tough luck for me....I would not have tried to take the lead away from him. Jesus, we've been living together at Ferrari for a year and a half. I thought I knew the guy. Our relationship had always been good and I trusted the guy.
"People seemed to think that we had the battle of our lives! Jesus Christ! I'd been ahead of him most of the race, qualified a second and a half ahead of him. Where was my problem? I was coasting those last 15 laps. HE was racing. I think I've proved that, in equal cars, if I want someone to stay behind me... well, I think he stays behind.
"I guess it looked like that I was mad finishing second. Okay, I'd have been mad at myself for not going quick enough if I'd been plain beaten. Second is one thing, but second because he steals it, that's something else." taken from VILLENEUVE The Life of the Legendary Racing Driver by Gerald Donaldson

As far as Reubens (and the concern many seem to have for his well being at Ferrari....gosh I can almost "feel the love") year so far with the Scuderia..... I too got caught up in the pre-season Rubinho hype ...... but alas I now agree with Peter in that it is exactly what it was... hype. Rubens has got more testing time in the car then EI had during his first 3 seasons with the Scuderia. (MS was in the states on R&R while Rubens tested at Foriano for the Canadian GP). Gee....The Ferrari is designed for MS's "style" instead of Rubens? well let's see...... MS had 35 wins under his belt going into the season compared to Reubens "0".....hmmmm...... sorta makes sense to me.

IF/WHEN Reubens is leading a GP with 15 or so laps to go AND he is ordered to let MS by to snatch Reubens victory away from him...THEN he (and his faithful fans.....feel the luv )) is fully entitled to go ballistic. BUT to get into that position he actually has to drive faster then he has recently shown.... grab the lead early ( like Silverstone) then drive off into the sunset (didn't do this at Silverstone.....) so that he is in the position that nothing/nobody can deny him the victory. He just hasn't done this as of yet. There are those that "talk the talk" and those that "walk the walk".... and some that have made the transition from mouth to feet... For example..DC has picked up his game this season (he has got his walkin shoes on now).... maybe Reubens will do so in the near future... but to this point of the season, he (and his supporters) are just a 'talkin.

take care all,

Murph

[Minardi fan]

Rubens does not have what it takes to become a WDC.

As for the last gentleman racer, what about ol' Ukyo???

[AL Racing]

Great post Murph, I agree totally.