Trulli at Monaco or Raikkonen at Spa - who put in the better performance?

[Yoong Montoya]

Both Monaco and Spa were high attrition races full of incidents and safety cars, and both saw Trulli and Raikkonen respectively take victory at circuits acknowledged as drivers circuits, beating Michael Schumacher in the most dominant Ferrari ever in the process. Who fulfiled the greatest task by winning, Trulli at Monaco or Raikkonen at Spa?

I'd say Raikkonen. Not only did he have to start 10th, he also didn't have a Michael DNF to help him win.

[Tweed]

Raikkonen just edges it for me. Mainly because of his lowly qualifying position and the fact that he had to overtake and was actually faster on pace. Oh, and his downshift problems!

[touringcarnut]

Raikkonen for me too, it was just his confidence when held by the safety car, he showed no fear to Micheal behind, and drove really well on the final laps, really pushing it until the end.

[Paarma]

Räikkönen. I don't really like the guy even though he's my fellow countryman and all, but when I see him race, there's just this strange sense of confidence that I have for him, and he rarely let's me down. When he's got a chance he'll go for it, and in most cases he will deliver.

[Kicking-back]

Raikkonen I'd say, although I don't understand why any achievements have to be categorised into "is A better than B"

[Knowlesy]

Raikkonens was better by a mile.

At Monaco, Trulli had a car perfect for the circuit with no problems at all. And even when he was attacked, he only had to keep his line and he would win.

Still a good win mind, just not so impressive!

[jj2728]

both equally i'd say...trulli drove perhaps the race of his life and may not repeat that effort, but i certainly give him the credit where it is due. at monaco there is no limit for error and he was flawless. kimi drove perhaps his best race today in a car that was not 100% on a track that demands b****out driving. both masterful performances in my book....

[Gt_R]

People say Michael win because he had the best car + luck to go with the skills.

Monaco and Spa are won by Trulli and Kimi precisely because of that, their cars fit the race very neatly.

I won't say which is better. Both are very impressive and for worthy for the win.

[Wrex]

Both great drives, but kimi gets it for me.

Kimi was on a mission yesterday, his speed was sensational.

[ljakse]

I'm too biased to answer this one

[Psycho]

Kimi knows to speeds, stop like hell, go like hell.

Kimi cos' i support him and his low grid slot and safty car starts reminded me of the Hakkinen years.

Trulli at Monaco was a breath of fresh air only because of Shumi's crashbut the track was Monaco which is tough because of the barriers.

Overall i'd go with Kimi because it was a tough track and he didn't get the bonus of Shumi being knocked out.

[climb]

Trulli: he really dominated the whole weekend, being the best in ay aspect: in a ms-dominated year it's remerkable.

Kimi did it great, let's be clear, but he also was a bit lucky, helped by the late punctures who prevented MS from attacking him just when MS's tyres were getting the right temperature.

Once said that, cheers to Kimi. As a tifosi I'm nonetheless happy to see some interesting competition.

[Kicking-back]

You can say Kimi was lucky, climb, but don't forget the previous SC period wiped out a twelve second lead.

"Luck" works both ways!

[Gt_R]

were anyone concerned that the SC helped Kimi wipe out a 20s gap in Silverstone to challenge MS?

[Knowlesy]

Yes, but Michael was always going to pull away anyways at silverstone.

Yesterday, you felt Michael could have feasibly got Kimi.

[Gt_R]

Nah..it's clear that immediately after SC car period, Michelins have a very clear advantage.

The SC car brought out by DC sealed the race result.

[Knowlesy]

True enough.

Raikkonen built a 12 second advantage. Game over.

Then the SC comes out, Schuey makes his final stop and is right behind Raikkonen. This plays right into TGF's hands and he starts closing in after about 3 flying laps.

Then the SC comes out again which played into Raikkonens hands.

So that's even Stevens isn't it?

Raikkonen won fair and square.

[BootsOntheSide]

Raikkonen's win was more impressive, he always looked like the fastest man on the track - as son as he passed Michael early on I was sure he'd get the job done barring a failure. His pace was more impressive than Coulthard's, and he beat Michael fair and square.

[Yoong Montoya]

Originally posted by jj2728
both equally i'd say...trulli drove perhaps the race of his life and may not repeat that effort, but i certainly give him the credit where it is due. at monaco there is no limit for error and he was flawless. kimi drove perhaps his best race today in a car that was not 100% on a track that demands b****out driving. both masterful performances in my book....

Yeah, I'd say they were both pretty equal too. I'd also rate Montoya's win at Monaco 2003 in the same league as well.

But what car problems did Kimi have at Spa? Or are his fanboys just making this up

[Yoong Montoya]

Originally posted by Gt_R
The SC car brought out by DC sealed the race result.

Another backdoor team order he'll admit to in his biography perhaps?

[Adam43]

Originally posted by Yoong Montoya
But what car problems did Kimi have at Spa? Or are his fanboys just making this up

He had gearbox problems on the downshift. He mentioned it in the post race press conference. So, no one was making it up. See here: http://www.formula1.com/race/news/2133/727.html

Kimi
I got some sort of problem with the downshift so every time when I went down to downshift, the car was just pushing forward and the gears were not going in.

[Adam43]

Both top draw victories. I find it difficult to compare. It's like apples and oranges, both are top draw fruits.

Trulli had Monaco, pressure all race and the speed.

Raikkonen had Spa, pressure from Michael, a little problem and the speed.

I enjoyed both of the victories. I guess I enjoyed Kimi's more because I'm a bit of a fan. Although Trulli is a top driver and man.

On the SC helping or hindering Kimi? It made no difference, Kimi always had the restarts, but the 12s advantage was enough. I guess the restarts are a little out of the ordinary and it increased the pressure a little, but it wasn't much of an issue. As for Gt_R's comment, not everyone is as biased as you make out.

[medler]

Originally posted by Gt_R
were anyone concerned that the SC helped Kimi wipe out a 20s gap in Silverstone to challenge MS?

Weren't there backmarkers between MS and Kimi at Silverstone?

[F40_LM]

oh for pete's sake, Kimi won fair and square, even with all the SC and accidents around him, he put his foot down and gritted his teeth through all his own car problems from the first lap.
and I get irritated how some Schumi fans (GT_R) just can't accept the fact that on the rare occasion, Kimi has what it takes (car or otherwise) to beat TGF FAIR and SQUARE.
Look at Schumi at the postrace conf, even he knew he was beat fairly, and good on him for admitting it.

[F40_LM]

and yes, there were backmarkers between kimi and ms at silverstone