F1 Championship News

F1 ‘small guys’ can fight for title

After finishing first and second in Bahrain on Sunday, Felipe Massa and
Lewis Hamilton insist that they are genuine championship challengers.
Former triple world champion Niki Lauda pointed out after the race that
both of Ferrari and McLaren’s "small guys" had simply driven better at
Sakhir than their more highly paid and rated teammates.


It raised the interesting question about the drivers’ championship, and
the obvious fact that a team supporting one driver more than the other
usually has a better chance of beating its opponent.
Massa, whose new teammate Kimi Raikkonen replaced Ferrari’s undisputed
‘number one’ Michael Schumacher in 2007, reckons that winning in
Bahrain would not have swayed a decision about which of the Ferrari
pair will enjoy the role later this year.
"I think we will not see any decision until the championship is almost
done," said the Brazilian, "so I think the team has to work like we are
doing now with both drivers, trying to put both cars in front of
McLaren."


The message out of McLaren, however, was even clearer, as sensational
rookie Lewis Hamilton made history by becoming the first ever driver to
finish his first three grands prix on the podium.
Asked if he has the same chance as world champion teammate Fernando
Alonso to go for the ultimate prize, he said on Sunday: "Yeah,
absolutely, I don’t see why not.
"I have the same car and I seem to be as competitive as him, (and) I
feel a lot more comfortable now that a win is going to be possible."
After the 22-year-old genuinely outperformed Alonso in Bahrain,
McLaren’s chief executive Martin Whitmarsh agreed that Hamilton is "now
a serious title challenger".
"He’ll want to go better now and win a race," Whitmarsh added. "I don’t
think anybody doubts that he will do that this season."

(This season, Kimi has probably the most tough challenge of winning the world championship despite driving a Ferrari. He is still having teething problems with his new car despite the amazing debut weekend he had in Australia, so perhaps this is why most fans claim to see not the same Kimi of a few years back. Now, he has THREE title contenders, unlike in 2003 and 2005. But come on, we support him because he IS the fastest driver on the grid and his new safe yet deadly quick approach will prevail, hopefully. I don’t know, but can you imagine how frustrating he must feel seeing that his ex-team McLaren are performing just as good as Ferrari? He could have stayed at McLaren, with the car he knows best and whup these guys asses! Just a thought. Its only a matter of time though and we have a looooong way to go yet in this championship fight. If Kimi can finish on the podium with a car he is having handling problems with, then just imagine how he is going to blitz the field when he handles it right! Come on Kimi!)

Bernie still thinks Massa can win title

Five rivals sit higher than Felipe Massa in the drivers’ world
championship, but F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone still thinks the young
Brazilian can take out the title in 2007.
Ferrari’s Massa, although quick, has had a difficult start to the
current season, and in Malaysia threw away his pole position advantage
by making two driving errors in the race.
But the 25-year-old is again on pole at Sakhir, moving Ecclestone to
remain defiant on an earlier prediction that Massa could beat all
comers to 2007’s ultimate prize.


Asked by a reporter for the Austrian newspaper ‘Kronen Zeitung’ who his
title favourite is a few races into the season, Bernie said: "I remind
you of what I said in the winter.
"Massa is stronger, faster and better than a lot of people think."
76-year-old Ecclestone also played down the effect on his sport that
the retirement of seven time world champion Michael Schumacher has had.
"I am happy," the Briton insisted. "We are having a fantastic
championship. Today’s drivers are doing a very good job.
"We have hardly lost a single TV viewer because of Schumacher; only in
Germany, and there it is only 17 per cent."
Bernie said: "Nearly everywhere else we are doing better.

(Yes, Massa can win the title. But he still hasn’t got the experience or skill to ‘fight’ for the title. When he did have to fight, I wasn’t suprised at his performance in Malaysia. Perhaps he is improving race by race, but honestly its going to take a lot more of that racer instinct and bravery to beat Kimi in the championship. Three races in, and its 3-1 to Kimi as in regards to podium finishes, so can Massa keep consistancy up to Kimi’s level? So far, it hasn’t been the case.)

‘No Number One At Ferrari’

Felipe Massa insists it’s still too early to say who is the number one driver for Ferrari this season. Both Massa and his new team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, have claimed one victory a piece this season. However, Raikkonen’s two additional podium finishes compared to
Massa’s none, means that the Finn is the lead Ferrari driver at
present.

In fact, Raikkonen is tied for the lead in the Drivers’ standings on 22 points, along with the two McLaren drivers. But despite the Finn’s five point advantage, Massa says there’s no number one driver at Ferrari – at least not yet.

"Every result is important for me, Kimi and for the team and so
I think there will not be any decision until the Championship is almost
done," Massa said after his Bahrain victory.

"The team has to work very hard to put both cars in front of
McLaren which is quite difficult and our target is the Championship. We need to keep pushing very hard as a team, trying to improve everything to get even better."

(Great team talk and all that. Kimi also mentions ‘we’ all the time. Its all great. But is it? Its obvious, Jean Todt favours Felipe more than Kimi, Todt being the brother of Massa’s manager, Nicholas Todt. And then there’s that huge fallout Brawn, Schumacher and Todt had with Luca Di Montezemolo over the signing of Kimi. Massa is currently the faster, better driver at Ferrari, but that was expected as its a whole new experience for Kimi, but he’ll get better at it. As long as Kimi is beating Felipe on track and in the points, thats what matters. Kimi made it clear before he joined Ferrari that he doesnt like favouritism, he wants to race to win, and they better listen to him, because they’re paying him 51 million smackeroos for it.)