So what was up with Sauber?

[alesi95]

The same engine, last years gearbox, near identical chassis and same tyre information. I didn't expect Sauber to be in the top six but I didn't expect Fisi to be following a Jordan for so long. (I did expect Massa to spin.)

[Redblurr]

Massa has been offered a job as an off road tourist guide

[ASCII Man]

The only thing that amazed me about Sauber was the fact that Massa was able to keep up with Raikkonen so easily, sometimes even catching him.

I fear that this years Mac is a real stinker...

[Dani Filth]

looking at the fastest laps .. Fisichella was as quick as the BAR cars . his problem was poor start . getting on the grass . in a simillar way to JPM .. Massa .. was on pace with the McLaren's eartly on ..

[GP Racer]

I expected Sauber to do much better with this car. Its Ferrari roots, and Saubers state of the art wind tunnel, should have combined to make this car far more competitive.

I have a question, that some may scoff at, but, here it is. Could Fisichella have been stuck driving "slow" cars for so long, that the Sauber maybe more than he's used to handling in a race situation? I mean, he looked thorougly awful for most of that race, and I'm just wondering if its the car, or partly him?

Anyway, right now, neither Fisi, or Massa, look ready for a Ferrari ride...

[Knowlesy]

Nothings up with Sauber. They were being their usual anonymous selves!

[gttouring]

the car is too "fab" to be it, the drivers are showing they don't have something-this race. Sauber has no excuse being so messy and not performing. The Jordan, minardi, toyota even should be no trouble- the Saubers with all their tech and good equipment should be right behind the renaults if not over them behind mac and williams it is believed the car is the GA2003 with some new suaber bits? well the drivers really stunk it up i think

[santori]

I always said the best thing about last year's Sauber was the driver line-up.

[santori]

And am I misunderstanding Fisi or is he criticising Nick for racing him?

[f1atic]

I think that Sauber were most hampered by poor starting position on the grid. They were clearly quicker than a few of those in front of them. Before Felipe's day ended he was moving up and Fisi too was improving. I think that we will see better results from them over the next few races.

Fisi wasn't blaming Nick, but I do think he was a bit frustrated at not being able to quite get by as quickly as he wanted. He was faster, but not faster enough.

[EERO]

I had high hopes, but Fisichella's performance was an embarassment. Not only could he not Heidfeld, he was well behind Massa. Massa was as ragged as ever and Fisi wasn't even all that smooth in comparison...

Its baffling.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by EERO
I had high hopes, but Fisichella's performance was an embarassment. Not only could he not Heidfeld, he was well behind Massa. Massa was as ragged as ever and Fisi wasn't even all that smooth in comparison...

Its baffling.

Sorry but he's living up to my opinion of him. Hope he gets a great drive to prove me wrong.

[Kicking-back]

Sauber, Fisichella and Massa just has AVERAGE written all over it.

I'm not in the least bit surprised.

[GTRMagic]

Originally posted by ASCII Man
I fear that this years Mac is a real stinker...

When will we see the MP4-17H?

[Inigo Montoya]

Ahhh, the Fisichella doubters are back at it again. To deny this man has outstanding talent shows an alarming level of ignorance. Go and look up his performances against his teammates over the years. Especially you Button fans...

[mjolnir]

Originally posted by EERO
Massa was as ragged as ever...

think u hit the nail on the coffin there - he may b a sponsor's dream (camera kept coming back to him going off somewhere every couple of laps), but i remember thinking "he hasn't changed at all, has he?"

[bosch!]

There has to be so much bad blood between heidfeild and fisi, Jordan and Sauber that they were swapping virtual punches through out the race. Great racing! Jordan will be happier with the outcome i would think.

Did anyone get a look at the revs ferrai/ sauber and Jag/ Jordan were running, Jordan were about 1000 down on jag didnt get a look at sauber. Maybe this is the issue with sauber.

[DriverT]

Originally posted by Kicking-back
Sauber, Fisichella and Massa just has AVERAGE written all over it.

I'm not in the least bit surprised.

Average? They have the F2003-GA!

[Wrighty05]

Fisi was quicker than Massa all weekend, except he made a blue in second qualifying and got pushed back on the grid.

In the race Heidfeld was holding him up, Fisi had a slow puncture then managed to get by and for the rest of the race he was running with the Williams cars.

I would be waiting a while before you write this bloke off. Imagine what he would be doing in a BAR, especially if Button is doing the job that he is.

[Teretonga]

Having a Ferrari copy isn't the same thing as a ferrari, even if you built it from the Ferrari drawings. They won't know at this stage how to get the best out of itwithout brawn and Byrne looking over their shoulders. even with the bridgestones their performance was very average.
Still their performance was appalling in light of Hiedfeld's Jordan drive. How galling it must have been for Fisi to struggle getting past a Jordan when he had a Ferrari 'replicar'. Maybe the Jordan is a significant improvement on last years car.
If the MP4-19 is an improvement on the MP4-18, then we know why McLaren didn't use it last year! However my bet is that it is the engines that are the 'weakest link' in this partnership, not McLaren engineering.

[RWC]

thanks for you guys that explained it properly-that Fisi had probs and his lap times were great otherwise.

"the Mac is a real stinker"
When massa was dicing with Kimi,the mac had sky high engine temperature.

I look forward to more representative races to show the pace (or lack of...) of the Fer..oops,the saubers

[Glen]

Originally posted by Wrighty05
I would be waiting a while before you write this bloke off (Fisi). Imagine what he would be doing in a BAR, especially if Button is doing the job that he is.

What's that supposed to mean? As far as I can tell Button is doing a fantastic job. By the end of his (awful) year as Fisi's team-mate Button did eventually get things back together - I think that season was more of a reflection of a young guy dropped into a champagne lifestyle with not quite enough guidance than anything to do with his speed which is almost as good as any driver out there. He emphatically has got his act together now though.

[Smokey 6 litre]

i would've though Fisi would've done bettter, Massa did well but showed little signs of this apparent 'maturity' that he'd achived.
I guess the car will develop over the season well with help from Ferrari.

[climb]

Originally posted by GP Racer
I expected Sauber to do much better with this car. Its Ferrari roots, and Saubers state of the art wind tunnel, should have combined to make this car far more competitive.

...

GP Racer,
from what I know, Sauber's new WT has started just a pocketful of days ago, second half of february; therefore it's early to expect results from it.

[bumpsteer]

Originally posted by Inigo Montoya
Ahhh, the Fisichella doubters are back at it again. To deny this man has outstanding talent shows an alarming level of ignorance. Go and look up his performances against his teammates over the years. Especially you Button fans...

Fisi will never get a drive with a top team. His technical feedback is non-existant. When Heidfeld tested the Jordan for the first time he told the engineers more about the car in one day than Fisi did all year. The top teams know about this which is why they chose to ignore him.