Ferrari Loss or McLaren Win??

[Schume]

I make the current score on this one 2 all.

But, I seem to remember that the first two races of the season were widely trumpeted as McLaren losses and not Ferrari wins.

Don't seem to have heard anything about the last two races being trumpeted as Ferrari losses and not McLaren wins.

In this weeks Autosport a letter has a pop at our beloved Murray on this point. He was one of those who made the original loss/win statement.

My view is that all races are wins, for whoever wins them and losses if you don't.

Ferrari won in Oz because MS went the distance and McLaren broke down. It was a contest to get a car to the finish.

McLaren won in Spain because they got it right in the pits and Ferrari didn't.
It was a contest, but it was fought out in the pits.

A GP is a huge team game that can be won if all the parts work together on the day.

Teams don't lose races, but if their team is not as good as another on the day, they don't win.

[DNF]

It doesn't matter what happens to the rest of the cars. Everything has to click for a team to win and again and again it is reliability that wins overall.

[Red]

I wanted to start a new topic, but I think my message will fit into this one. Read the whole article Memories are Made of This, it's very interesting, but this is what I wanted to highlight: <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>While the team keeps the originals, Mika and David have the option of having replicas made for their personal collections. Jo has good connections with the companies that make them in each country, and usually it's not too much of a problem to get an extra one made. The typical cost is £500-1,000, although the stunning Australian GP designs cost nearer to £5,000! And just in case you're wondering, the drivers have to pay up.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I knew that McLaren drivers do not keep the trophies, but I had no idea that if they want copies they should pay for them! In my opinion, it is Ron's subtle way to remind that his drivers are not just superstars, but first employees. And Mika is a double WDC not because he walked more than 300 km each two weeks, but he drove a McLaren! (It does not change my belief that Mika in a wheelbarrow will beat me driving the mother of MP4/15 or F1 2000)
The bigger part of a win belongs to the team, which builds the car and fits the engine. (Jacques is a good example)
Well done Mr. Dennis!

PS: First three races had each a "Boring race" topic. What happened to the last two?

[Liz]

Definitely Spain was a Ferrari loss. Mika and David were nowhere until TGF stuffed it up in the pits.

But of course you are right, they all count the same.

As far as McLaren pilotes being "employees" first, isn't that what Frank Williams does too, only with considerably less panache?

Finally, do you suppose either McLaren pilote stumped up for copies of their Spanish trophies - copies of the Ferrari steering wheel? Maybe to use as target practice!

[Ed-f1]

I think all the races have been won and lost really. While the team that didn't win made mistakes each time there is no guarantee that they would have won without the problems so in that sense maybe the race was won by Mclaren/Ferrari. Murray and Martin seem to have been cheering for Mclaren all season. I know Martin has connections with DC but I think it's about time that they faced the fact that ferrari have built a really good car this season.

There hasn't been a race yet this season where neither Mclaren nor Ferrari have made a mistake. I really want to see who will win when and if we finally get a fair fight to the end of the race. I really don't know who is the better team this season yet.