I know I was hoping that Kimi would be able to pull it out this season, but how do you not love his diminutive teammate Felipe Massa? Here he is on the center spot of the podium after the Turkish Grand Prix. Bravo on pole and a solid victory. Felipe is the real deal.
Ferarri started this year fastest and then all this nonsense with the spying and the cheating and the in-fighting (at McLaren) came up. It may generate copy and keep people interested during the summer break (which has just ended), but it's silly and it takes away from the racing. I read a great interview in the August issue of
F1Racing with Pat Symonds, top racing engineer at Renault. He suggested, and editor Matt Bishop agreed, that McLaren had gotten a bit luck with their aero calculations this year and ended up with a car that was slightly faster than expected. Good for them, I say. But would Ferrari, now without the other-worldly focus and talent of Michael Schumacher, lose itself and its advantage in light of unexpected success from McLaren, and partciularly Lewis Hamilton? It sure looked that way a month or so ago. Then, as all the silly-ness of the scandals and the egos and the pouting, Ferrari quietly suggested that it might very well win the rest of the races this year. Well, that's one down, 5 to go.
P.S. Symonds also suggested that the best thing Schumacher could do now is offer his services as a driver's teacher so that these cowboys, these daredevils, these egomaniacs (not all of them) could learn the artistry and the engineering and the humility that brings success in this sport. What a wonderful idea!!
