Comments on: Massa wants shorter F1 races

By: manatcna

manatcna — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:02:57 +0000

Would Massa, or any other driver, like a pay cut?

Maybe a 5per cent cut for each lap the race is shortened by?

By: The Limit

The Limit — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:25:18 +0000

What we must remember is that these words completely undermine the feelings of F1 fans everywhere, including Massa’s.
When Massa lost the title in Brazil, he behaved in a
manner fitting in any sport. He showed grace, compassion, and professionalism in defeat. He was a worthy representative to his country, who turned out in their droves to see him crowned champion.
In the end, he was undone due to circumstances beyond anyones control. His defeat was down to the weather
changing so rapidly, it caught people off guard, created
indecision.
To be quite frank, you have to look at the facts. And they are that F1 are the shortest races in timespan of all three of the top racing series. In saying that, I would hate to see four hour races at Valencia or Hungary, but an hour or less of racing is just not on.
These drivers, and Massa is not alone, need to remember who ‘REALLY’ pays for the yachts, the girls, and the globe trotting. The fans and the sponsors.
All this talk that they are there just to drive is
garbage. They represent their teams, and inturn Formula One. Murray Walker once said back in 2007 that Raikkonen wasn’t paid ‘to be a comedian’ but to drive.
Fair point Mr Walker, but is it really that difficult and taxing to give interviews and press statements on a reported $45 million a year?
Is it? I rest my case Your Honour!

By: Mussolini's Pet Cat

Mussolini's Pet Cat — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:50:16 +0000

i guess there’s only one race he wished was shorter (by 1 lap) : Brazil 2008
hahaha

By: Damon

Damon — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:28:38 +0000

PJA: “As people have already said if you get rid of the last 15 laps, the new last 15 laps will then have the same problems,”

- No, no, no. You are all not thinking properly. The longer into the race, the more spread apart is the field. Duh! The cars are obviously not spread apart on lap 35 as they are on lap 60. This is why the last laps may often be boring.
The reason for this is that F1 is a (very) uncompetetive racing series, and also because there aren’t many cars in the field.

By: GeorgeK

GeorgeK — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:21:25 +0000

Just when I start to develop some respect for Felipe, the way he handled losing last year, he then goes and says this junk!

I think its a form of Post Traumatic Syndrome, and he can’t control himself any more. He may a danger to himself and others if all he wants to do is quit early, ban the rascal I say!

By: John H

John H — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:56:45 +0000

Testing is testing. Racing is racing.

One is research. One is application. What’s so difficult to understand – NO, a ‘testing championship’ does not make any sense.

By: Carl-Robert

Carl-Robert — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:54:16 +0000

Felipe is the driver, you are a journalist. Who deserves to be heared first?

By: graham228221

graham228221 — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:41:45 +0000

weren’t there similar suggestions along these lines at the end of last season?

sounds like everyone has forgotten this:

http://www.f1technical.net/news/10632

maybe massa isn’t so crazy after all, as he’s not the first to have suggested making practice sessions more competitive.

although this was raised by the teams before the in-season testing ban was made, presumably they would now rather be concentrating on serious testing rather than trying to set the fastest time.

By: sas

sas — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:21:54 +0000

wait so a 15 lap race on a track which is quite costly to run due to the poison dwarf charging a lot for races. And the track might be tedious eg Bahrain and plus the money which you mwould spend, air travel money would be a waste and not a huge attendance due to location and prestige.

By: Mari

Mari — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:18:23 +0000

If you’re going to have a testing competition, it should really challenge the mettle of the drivers and the cars!

How about during the winter testing season, somewhere north of Montreal? Teams could certainly check out the front wings really well (what is the best shape for snow – that should get the CFD simulations humming), Bridgestone could do some serious testing of its rubber in the cold, drivers could pace themselves against the locals, human and otherwise. The commentators can have a great old time rubbing their hands looking for maybe another Gilles Villeneuve… You can be sure there will be crowds (especially if it coincides with the Quebec winter carnival).

Add this Winter Test to the oval race and you might truly find The Compleat Driver.

By: Curtly A

Curtly A — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:01:56 +0000

||In which case my opinion is that we all ignore Massa’s suggestions, and instead file them under “things we’ll pretend he never said”||

By same logic having treated (neglected) Fan’s opinion identically the way the blogger had quoted here ever since they have taken control of F1 Bernie/Max have done great job I guess. No doubt their conscience always stays clear when they seek to stick to powerful positions in the sports though the Fan’s perceive These two senile Men have “harmed the sports”

The Score
Arm Chair Experts – 1
People in Sports – 0

By: Keith Collantine

Keith Collantine — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:30:03 +0000

I thin it’s just because people expect F1 drivers to enjoy racing – not talk about cutting back on races and making testing more important. He seems a bit out of touch with what F1’s appeal is.

By: PJA

PJA — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:04:17 +0000

It seems everyone is agreed that Massa should stick to driving and not try to come up with any ideas about changing F1.

As people have already said if you get rid of the last 15 laps, the new last 15 laps will then have the same problems, that after the last pit stop teams turn down the engines and stop racing. F1 should stick to the current distance/time rules for a Grand Prix length, personally I am worried that Bernie and Max will decide to introduce gimmicks such as shorter races, reverse grids etc and other ideas which they would claim would improve the spectacle for TV.

What I thought was the stupidest comment was to include testing in the championship, if that happened testing would just turn into another race weekend with a different format, teams wouldn’t use the track time to test new and risky ideas instead it would be more like free practice.

I don’t know if the cost argument about getting ridding of Friday practice to have a few big tests in the year works, or if race goers themselves would prefer it. Before the testing ban was announced I always thought of getting rid of mid season testing and make Fridays a test day free of engine limits and other restrictions. Or how about having a testing session the Monday after some GPs like MotoGP do.

By: sumedh

sumedh — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:03:38 +0000

Seems to me that Felipe has learnt a few things from Hamilton here.

We all give you the same advice we always give to Lewis; Felipe. ” DON’T TALK TOO MUCH; D-R-I-V-E “

By: ajokay

ajokay — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 08:58:18 +0000

I’ve always thought that. He’s a Sauber test driver, at best.

By: Mari

Mari — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 08:55:29 +0000

This is utterly fascinating. I expected to see lots of idea-bashing but we get so much more Massa-bashing.

By: ajokay

ajokay — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 08:54:00 +0000

With regards to Jenna Jameson brushing her teeth, I’m sure there is a collective of people out there would would pay plenty to see that.

By: ianwilkins

ianwilkins — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 07:53:11 +0000

I never like him. Full of air. Remember 2008 Brazilian GP pre-race? Kept saying that he would be a fair and worthy champion ……while conveniently forgetting that Belgian GP was handed to him on a plate + plus some other FIA decisions that always seemed to deliver him some free points.

With all that help, he still cant beat Lewis… Put Vettel or Kubica in his car and they would stroll to the title effortlessly…. Massa is lucky he still has a seat at Ferrari and probably because he is Schumacher’s biggest boot-licker… something worthy races like Herbest, Barrichello and Irvine would never stomach.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:29:58 +0000

How about they only race at turkey, bahrain and brazil as well…so you can win a championship? Massa shouldn’t be in F1, let alone ferrari.

By: scunnyman

scunnyman — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:27:42 +0000

I dunno what planet Fillipe is from, but he needs to shut his trap and go back there.

In my serious opinion all races should be at least 2 hrs long. that way the tv companies know exactly how long their show is gonna have to last (say 4hrs long to cover race build up and after race reviews and interviews). And talking about the last 15 laps being boring, it’s only because of team orders not letting team mates battle each other after the last pit stop and having to save engines and tyres. But as has been said already there have been some really good races where the last 15 laps or so have been amazing.

And a final note i believe Massa is a one trick pony and last years championship is gonna be the closest he’s gonna get the the trophy now.