Malaysia GP Driver of the Race

[wedge]

Kubica

Trulli

Kimi pit passing Massa has become predictable and tiresome

[markabilly]

kube.....and NH for starting fifth and finishing sixth.........lol

[pettersolberg29]

Perhaps not driver of the GP, as markabilly says, but my input for driver of the year so far is Nick Heidfeld.
Joint 2nd after two races is great, and without a bad first 5 corners in Malaysia, and setting a fastest lap late on, NH could have been on the podium with Kubica.
I predict this partnership if continued next year could win the championship - what about other views?

[ten-tenths]

i would say it is kimi, he outlasted what was a two man race between him and massa. i guess trading fastest laps lap after lap with your teamate had to be grueling. once massa saw kimi emerge ahead of him after the first round of pitstops, mentally he probably checked out.

jarno, hekki and kubiza were impressive as well. too bad hamilton had that miscue during his stop.

[Valve Bounce]

Kimi - he simply did what was required, going fast when necessary, and drove a faultless race.

Reminded me of SchM.

[yodasarmpit]

Like Hamilton in the last race it has to be Kimi this time, he was faultless.

[pino]

Kimi for me :up:

[Cozzie]

Kubica surprised me and was on it all race.

[wmcot]

Kimi for his consistent quickness vs. Massa and then backing off to save the engine when Massa went off.

Webber for showing Lewis how difficult it can be to pass in F1! :)

[markabilly]

come on, clearly the best car for this track and not for Mac, so Kimi should have won. so it has got to be someone other than him who did something special.

AS to championships for Beemer, they will need a driver with some special racecraft, and neither Kube nor NH has shown that to date, so we will have to wait. But the car is clearly there, waiting for someone to take it to the max

[VkmSpouge]

I have to say it is Jarno Trulli. Raikkonen and Kubica had excellent races too.

[stevie_gerrard]

A few great performances, but Trulli's 4th place cannot go unnoticed, a top job from the experienced italian :up:

[osg]

Kimi for his consistent quickness vs. Massa and then backing off to save the engine when Massa went off.

Webber for showing Lewis how difficult it can be to pass in F1! :)

i'd have to agree..... and also Kubica for threading the needle early in the race to end up 2nd.

[Tazio]

I'm giving it to JT.
His defense of p4 in the last two laps of the race was almost as exciting as the first lap!

[AJP]

Kimi - he simply did what was required, going fast when necessary, and drove a faultless race.

Reminded me of SchM.Too True,

He pushed hard when he needed and cruised the rest of the way..

Well done to Jarno, Finally some results for all of the hard work he has put in at Toyota.

[ShiftingGears]

Kimi, for sure. Although Trulli and Webber had great performances. It's a pity Sato held up Webber, costing him sixth though.

[Shifter]

Very tempting to give it to Kimi, however Kubica DID pass 2 cars in one move!

Honorable mentions in order:
JT
FA
MW
HK.

[F1boat]

Kimi - as they say, flawless victory. Webber deserves a mention, too, as he held Hamilton (on track) and Alonso. Kubica also drove very well, but for me Kimi is undoubtedly the driver of the race.

[harsha]

Kimi...no doubt about that

[samuratt]

I had to say that Kimi is the driver of the day. He put in impressive fastest laps to overtake Felipe. Though he should stop making fastlaps when the race is already over... that can eventually cost him a failure some day!

Trulli and kubica had great performances today too.

[janneppi]

Very tempting to give it to Kimi, however Kubica DID pass 2 cars in one move!

I thought that was Heidfeld who got past DC and Alonso?

Trulli impressed me and Kimi perhaps, but he didn't really do anything but drove two fast laps in the race. Rest of the times he was saving his engine. :)

[jens]

Kimi for me :up:

Wow!? What?! No Trulli for you after such performance? :p : What does he have to do to get your vote then? :D

[mirek01]

For me Kimi,Kubica,Trulli,Webber and Heidfeld.

[pino]

Wow!? What?! No Trulli for you after such performance? :p : What does he have to do to get your vote then? :D

I want a podium from him and a little more aggressiveness on track ;)

[Shifter]

I thought that was Heidfeld who got past DC and Alonso?

Trulli impressed me and Kimi perhaps, but he didn't really do anything but drove two fast laps in the race. Rest of the times he was saving his engine. :)

Wow I feel retarded...that's what I get for staying up 'till 5am watching it and then commenting while I am still tired. Lol. I guess I need to go back and re-watch the race.

Ok, Kimi it is.

[ioan]

Perhaps not driver of the GP, as markabilly says, but my input for driver of the year so far is Nick Heidfeld.
Joint 2nd after two races is great, and without a bad first 5 corners in Malaysia, and setting a fastest lap late on, NH could have been on the podium with Kubica.
I predict this partnership if continued next year could win the championship - what about other views?

I agree with you. He had a wonderful start and was set to take 3rd behind the Ferrari's until Trulli made contact and pushed him wide.

[Dzeidzei]

I agree with you. He had a wonderful start and was set to take 3rd behind the Ferrari's until Trulli made contact and pushed him wide.

I dont get you ioan. If youre a Ferrari supporter, how can you NOT think of Kimi as the man of the race? He drove faultlessly, was very quick when needed and then saved his engine when everything was decided already. To me thats perfect. To me thats MS as his best.

And yet you choose to hail Nick? He lost to his teammate. He let Jarno Trulli take him to the first corner. Yes he got the fastest lap when it meant absolutely nothing.

It seems to me Nick will have his hands full this year with Kubica, who at times looks very fast and doesnt make mistakes. As you so well know there are drivers on the grid who can be very fast but who also make mistakes regularly. Those guys will never really win anything.

[gm99]

I'd say Kimi for driving faultlessly this time - in the beginning, he patiently followed Massa and then put the hammer down when it mattered most.

Kovalainen was also quite impressive, improving five positions from his grid position and being quicker than his team-mate throughout much of the week-end.

Honorable mention going to Trulli for not falling asleep after half-time for once and instead putting up a spirited defense against Hamilton in the last couple of laps.

[Corny]

Sure Massa :p

[ioan]

I dont get you ioan. If youre a Ferrari supporter, how can you NOT think of Kimi as the man of the race? He drove faultlessly, was very quick when needed and then saved his engine when everything was decided already. To me thats perfect. To me thats MS as his best.

And yet you choose to hail Nick? He lost to his teammate. He let Jarno Trulli take him to the first corner. Yes he got the fastest lap when it meant absolutely nothing.

It seems to me Nick will have his hands full this year with Kubica, who at times looks very fast and doesnt make mistakes. As you so well know there are drivers on the grid who can be very fast but who also make mistakes regularly. Those guys will never really win anything.

Let's say that Winning by a mile in the best car without any passing move and so on isn't my thing.
Or maybe it's a sign of slight objectivity?
Or I simply liked how Heidfeld drove yesterday, passing 2 cars in one move and so on?!

Be assured, I never give my vote to any driver just because they win in the best car while driving at 99% of their capabilities. ;)

[leopard]

Sure Massa :p smart choice!

[ten-tenths]

Let's say that Winning by a mile in the best car without any passing move and so on isn't my thing.
Or maybe it's a sign of slight objectivity?
Or I simply liked how Heidfeld drove yesterday, passing 2 cars in one move and so on?!

Be assured, I never give my vote to any driver just because they win in the best car while driving at 99% of their capabilities. ;)

wha? you just described michael and his favorite tactic. which used to drive me nuts watching him "passing" people without really passing people.
(long live montoya!!!! errr anyways) yet i have to say michael was brilliant at winning. like Dzeidzei posted kimi pulled a perfect michael shumacher GP i thought. when kimi was behind massa, he was on his arse, yet when massa was behind kimi.. massa couldn't keep up and faded into the gravel. kimi was da man!

[Knock-on]

Kimi drove well but never really had much to worry about.

JT batted above his weight and got a good result.

Lewis battled well in the face of adversity getting from 9th to 5th and unfortunately dropped to 11th or something by a pit fault and then fighting back to 5th. Good spirited drive.

For me, I think Kimi deserves it for 100% owning the GP.

[Dzeidzei]

Let's say that Winning by a mile in the best car without any passing move and so on isn't my thing.
Or maybe it's a sign of slight objectivity?

Be assured, I never give my vote to any driver just because they win in the best car while driving at 99% of their capabilities. ;)

A sign of slight objectivity? Oh I see, you have a smiley there so thats a joke :)

I think youd call Massa the man of the year if he stays on track. Which I hope we´ll see this year. The prob for Massa now is that he´s starting to ruin Ferraris wcc campaign.

His place as the 2nd driver in the team is about as clear as it can get.

Is that slight objectivity for you?

[ioan]

A sign of slight objectivity? Oh I see, you have a smiley there so thats a joke :)

I think youd call Massa the man of the year if he stays on track. Which I hope we´ll see this year. The prob for Massa now is that he´s starting to ruin Ferraris wcc campaign.

His place as the 2nd driver in the team is about as clear as it can get.

Is that slight objectivity for you?

What does your post have to do with the post you are replying to?
I was talking about Heidfeld and why I liked his drive in Sepang, than you come and start talking about Massa and Ferrari's WCC campaign! :rolleyes:

And now the answer to your continuous drivel:
I was and am a Ferrari supporter, and will stay a Ferrari supporter. However I do manage to see that there are other drivers than the Ferrari drivers on the track. And if it happens that a non-Ferrari driver does a better job , given his equipment and conditions, than a Ferrari driver, then I'm willing to give him credit for that.

Heidfeld managed to salvage his own race after Trulli almost completely ruined it. He passed MW and FA on the track, and posted the fastest lap of the race while not driving the fastest car out there! And thus he's 2nd in the standings at the moment!

This is my view of it. You don't like it? So be it, but don't come with rubbish about Massa and Ferrari's WCC campaign, that has nothing to do with Heidfelds good race!

[pino]

Calm down ioan, and remember that most of us are here to have good time :)

[markabilly]

NickHick? I thinketh if passing two cars at once is the criteria, yes, otherwise NOT. Beemer best car behind Ferrari in this race? Yes.

[555-04Q2]

Kimi. Everyone else is just a loser on the day. The driver of the day is the guy who accomplishes what he's employed to do, WIN.

[ioan]

Calm down ioan, and remember that most of us are here to have good time :)

Well, some of the people around here are making that a bit difficult.

[ioan]

Kimi. Everyone else is just a loser on the day. The driver of the day is the guy who accomplishes what he's employed to do, WIN.

You are bit simplistic there.
If Kimi, Felipe, Lewis, Heiki, Nick or Robert wins from pole, 2nd or 3rd on the grid and Sato gets in the points from last on the grid, I'll award it to Sato any day!

[Robinho]

Kimi, purely for those in and out laps,

no-one else was anything more than very good, and i'd reserve that for Kubica and Trulli only

[samuratt]

Kimi. Everyone else is just a loser on the day. The driver of the day is the guy who accomplishes what he's employed to do, WIN.

Wierd thinking

Then everytime he doesn't win he is the looser! Only 16 wins for Kimi in more than 60 outings doesn't make him look like the big thing anyways...

This can be applied to any driver, but probably Hamilton!

:D

[Dzeidzei]

What does your post have to do with the post you are replying to?
I was talking about Heidfeld and why I liked his drive in Sepang, than you come and start talking about Massa and Ferrari's WCC campaign! :rolleyes:



Lighten up, man. Its just so much fun to pick on someone whose man is a loser :)

Anyway, your post is mostly bs. Its very hard to justify naming someone as the man of the race if that driver loses to his teammate. Thats always the real measure, right?

Or are you saying that Kimi cannot be the man of the race, if he beats his teammate? Is Felipe not a good enough measure for that?

The fact is Kimi´s pace forced that error by Felipe. Kimi drove a very MS type of race and in my book thats superb.

But of course you disagree.

You can be the man of the race even if you dont win. But you can also be that if you win. And looking at possible nominees I´d look at the podium first and then the other front runners.

And certainly not the guys who miserably fail to finish at all


:)

[jso1985]

wha? you just described michael and his favorite tactic. which used to drive me nuts watching him "passing" people without really passing people.
(long live montoya!!!! errr anyways) yet i have to say michael was brilliant at winning. like Dzeidzei posted kimi pulled a perfect michael shumacher GP i thought. when kimi was behind massa, he was on his arse, yet when massa was behind kimi.. massa couldn't keep up and faded into the gravel. kimi was da man!

What I think Ioan and all others who aren't giving Raikkonen the man of the race title is that eventhough he drove a great race, in the end his win was never challenged so basically he had it much easier than Heidfeld for example who also drove great and was able to show his skills

[ioan]

What I think Ioan and all others who aren't giving Raikkonen the man of the race title is that eventhough he drove a great race, in the end his win was never challenged so basically he had it much easier than Heidfeld for example who also drove great and was able to show his skills

Someone who's willing to understand plain English! ;)

[ten-tenths]

What I think Ioan and all others who aren't giving Raikkonen the man of the race title is that eventhough he drove a great race, in the end his win was never challenged so basically he had it much easier than Heidfeld for example who also drove great and was able to show his skills


i agree, in my earlier posts i gave credit to hekki, kubica, and jarno. having said all that.... kimi was in a duel with massa, they were in a class by themselves. in equal cars, similar fuel loads, same tires, they were trading fastest sector and lap times in the opening stint until kimi came out in front and massa had car trouble. after that, kimi put it in cruise control. that is as good as it gets in terms of racing for me, there can me no excuses like oh he's in a faster car or he had different tires, or he had less fuel BS. i can't wait for bahrain and see how massa reacts. will he come back strong or has he been cracked by kimi? how will LH handle hekki and will they challenge ferrari? F1 rocks!

[Tazio]

i agree, in my earlier posts i gave credit to hekki, kubica, and jarno. having said all that.... kimi was in a duel with massa, they were in a class by themselves. in equal cars, similar fuel loads, same tires, they were trading fastest sector and lap times in the opening stint until kimi came out in front and massa had car trouble. after that, kimi put it in cruise control. that is as good as it gets in terms of racing for me, there can me no excuses like oh he's in a faster car or he had different tires, or he had less fuel BS. i can't wait for bahrain and see how massa reacts. will he come back strong or has he been cracked by kimi? how will LH handle hekki and will they challenge ferrari? F1 rocks!
Excellent post!

As far as Massa goes:
I wonder how many prognosticators on this forum will leave Massa out of their eight picks for Bahrain?
I think he's sucking air right now, but he ain't mailing it in! IMHO

[ten-tenths]

thanks! wouldn't it be awesome if massa comes back and cleans kimi's clock?
can't wait!!

[Tazio]

thanks! wouldn't it be awesome if massa comes back and cleans kimi's clock?
can't wait!!
Well I must say I don't share your partisanship of Massa over Kimi.
I'm a Ferrari fan, and will pull for whomever they trot out there!
If there is a plus for Massa, it is that his Ferrari has less than 1/2 race on its engine.
This race, and Spain are going to go a long way in defining his season, and future!

[Roamy]

i agree, in my earlier posts i gave credit to hekki, kubica, and jarno. having said all that.... kimi was in a duel with massa, they were in a class by themselves. in equal cars, similar fuel loads, same tires, they were trading fastest sector and lap times in the opening stint until kimi came out in front and massa had car trouble. after that, kimi put it in cruise control. that is as good as it gets in terms of racing for me, there can me no excuses like oh he's in a faster car or he had different tires, or he had less fuel BS. i can't wait for bahrain and see how massa reacts. will he come back strong or has he been cracked by kimi? how will LH handle hekki and will they challenge ferrari? F1 rocks!

I will just go with the above - pretty well sums up how I feel

[ten-tenths]

Well I must say I don't share your partisanship of Massa over Kimi.
I'm a Ferrari fan, and will pull for whomever they trot out there!
If there is a plus for Massa, it is that his Ferrari has less than 1/2 race on its engine.
This race, and Spain are going to go a long way in defining his season, and future!

in no way am i a massa supporter. i'm a huge kimi fan, ever since he beat JPM at Mac. i'm pulling for kubica and hekki as well. and you are right, massa will have a fresh engine. if i was him or his engineer i would crank it up to max revs (the hell to the second race) to make sure i beat kimi next gp. as you said it will be a very important race for his standing in the team.

[ShiftingGears]

in no way am i a massa supporter. i'm a huge kimi fan, ever since he beat JPM at Mac. i'm pulling for kubica and hekki as well. and you are right, massa will have a fresh engine. if i was him or his engineer i would crank it up to max revs (the hell to the second race) to make sure i beat kimi next gp. as you said it will be a very important race for his standing in the team.

1 - There is an engine rev limiter
2 - If you max out the engine you risk it breaking, and Massa can't afford that so early in the season.

[Dzeidzei]

Well I must say I don't share your partisanship of Massa over Kimi.
I'm a Ferrari fan, and will pull for whomever they trot out there!
If there is a plus for Massa, it is that his Ferrari has less than 1/2 race on its engine.
This race, and Spain are going to go a long way in defining his season, and future!

Massa now confirmes that he didnt suffer from the loss of TC in Malaysia. In Finnish MTV3 Massa is quoted to have said: In the first race in Melbourne I had a mechanical problem and then in Malaysia I had other kind of problems which were not TC related.

I think he has 2 big problems now. The first one between his seat and the pedals and the 2nd one inside his helmet. I think the 2nd one causes most of the type 1 problems. He needs to cool down and get the job done.

His running out of excuses. There´s no room for a 3rd mistake in Bahrain.

[Tazio]

Massa now confirmes that he didnt suffer from the loss of TC in Malaysia. In Finnish MTV3 Massa is quoted to have said: In the first race in Melbourne I had a mechanical problem and then in Malaysia I had other kind of problems which were not TC related.

I think he has 2 big problems now. The first one between his seat and the pedals and the 2nd one inside his helmet. I think the 2nd one causes most of the type 1 problems. He needs to cool down and get the job done.

His running out of excuses. There´s no room for a 3rd mistake in Bahrain.If he can get past the first turn without throwing it away.
I have a feeling his concentration once in the field will be improved!
But please don't quote me on that! :)

[ArrowsFA1]

Massa now confirmes that he didnt suffer from the loss of TC in Malaysia. In Finnish MTV3 Massa is quoted to have said: In the first race in Melbourne I had a mechanical problem and then in Malaysia I had other kind of problems which were not TC related.
Not TC related? Of course his problems were not TC related because there is no TC :p : That's his problem :p :crazy:

[Firstgear]

As far as Massa goes:
I wonder how many prognosticators on this forum will leave Massa out of their eight picks for Bahrain?

I left him out for Maylasia and it worked pretty well for me. I was gambling on a wet track spinning him out of the race, but he spun just as nicely on the dry.

[ten-tenths]

1 - There is an engine rev limiter
2 - If you max out the engine you risk it breaking, and Massa can't afford that so early in the season.

well they do have a dial to control the rev limiter and i was thinking there is no point in trying to go conservative the next race. they should max it out all weekend.

[ioan]

well they do have a dial to control the rev limiter and i was thinking there is no point in trying to go conservative the next race. they should max it out all weekend.

Nowadays the week end is reduced to Saturday and Sunday, Friday they use another engine than the race one.

[ShiftingGears]

well they do have a dial to control the rev limiter and i was thinking there is no point in trying to go conservative the next race. they should max it out all weekend.

2 - If you max out the engine you risk it breaking, and Massa can't afford that so early in the season.