Bottas...
I know practice isn't much but he was ahead of Maldonado. F1.com put in a nice word for him in their practice analysis too.
I know practice isn't much but he was ahead of Maldonado. F1.com put in a nice word for him in their practice analysis too.
He's alot better than Maldonado. We all know that.
I don't think we know anything of the sort.
Fixed.
great start today, especially considering he doesn't have nearly as much time in the car as the other two 
If you think Maldonado isn't one of the worst drivers of the current F1 Grid you need your head examined.
I rarely watch recorded events. They just don't have the same feel for me.
I'm ready for an event to start at a time other than 4 AM in the morning 
What makes you think he's so bad? He had only two, arguably three, self-induced retirements last year. His performance wasn't too far off Barrichello. His GP2 results - including consideration for experience and team quality - indicates he's pretty much at the same level as Grosjean, Senna, and Perez.
As for Bottas, he looks like he's doing a good job, and it's cool that he is/was an LFS player. But that doesn't automatically make him better than Driver XYZ.
I'm not saying that I feel Maldonado is bad because of Bottas, I'm saying it based on his race craft. Anyone can be quick, any driver that makes it to F1 has to be quick to get there, but we've all seen drivers fall into the ether because the talent wasn't really there. Ide, Salazar, Délétraz and many more.
I think you could put Valsecchi or Van Der Garde in his seat and they'd do a better job.
Time will tell, and if I end up eating my words I'll be happy, but so far I just see him as an unsafe liability which is an opinion that started when he turned in early on Hamilton @ Monaco and was confirmed when he also rammed Hamilton in Q @ Spa last year.
The fact it was Hamilton is irrelevant, just thought I should point that out before someone responds to this out of context.
Completely agree with you on this one. When I was a kid there was this german driver that showed up one day because one of the Jordan drivers got arrested for punching a cab driver or whatever and, sure enough, he got the speed, but when he collided with Ayrton Senna at one of his first races I knew, even as a toddler who could barely stand on both feet by himself, that he'd get nowhere. Poor sod is in his forties nowadays and keeps trying to show some talent, but, what's most shameful, he keeps getting beaten by the woman his team hired as his teammate.
Yes, because ALL of your examples scored points and were up there with double World Champions. I do applaud you for your excellent examples.
Well they took less than 4 years in feeder series under F1 to get there...
The Ferrari of this year is shit, the Williams of this year is very good. The only comparison we have is his past results.
You have a very warped knowledge of Formula One and it's drivers.
You mean, P5 Ferrari no finishes for Williams?
You mean, P5 Ferrari no finishes for Williams?
You compared Maldonado, who scored a point on his debut season and had the opportunity/pace to race double world champions (Vettel, Alonso, Schumi) reasonably close to drivers who never even seemed to have the speed to do it on a consistent basis.
Actually, you have no knowlege. Deletraz was 31 and was in touring cars when he bought his seat, but had been in F3000 for 3 seasons, Salazar was 26, but racing as an amatuer and Ide... well quite honestly he'd been an active driver in Japanese Motorsport for 12 years before he reached F1.
Aka, Maldonado has a far superior record in junior classes than any of your mentioned drivers.
I hear Ferrari is considering a cometely new car for the second half of the season. If that's the case, they must really have no hope with the current car.
Any stream for the GP2 race? please!
Rodolfo Gonzalez is unbelievably shit.
Kimi wdc pole! Well not really but Lotus looks kinda strong in FP3. Hopefully we see a proper slug match between rbr and mclaren for the pole. Looks like anyone who wants the pole needs a perfect lap to get it. Midfield is really closer as well.
Trust Britney to show off.
I have a feeling that Merc will go for a race-optimised configuration at the expense of qualifying performance. They learnt their lesson in Melbourne, and Brawn isn't one to repeat them (and neither is Schumacher). So perhaps they might either split the Red Bulls behind the McLarens, or take up the third row. McLarens will, almost for sure, take the first row.
Renault and Williams look threatening, and one of their drivers might have a stab at the third row (I think either Grosjean or Maldonado, because Kimi still has steering problems and Senna doesn't quite have the outright speed of the Venezuelan oil champion).
I've never been a fan of Ferrari, but it's embarrassing to watch them struggle so badly.
For the race, high temperatures and tyre degradation will play to Button, Vettel, and Kimi's hands. If anyone knows how to nurse their tyres, those three do. Webber's softer rubber usually goes off around one to three laps before Vettel's, and Hamilton's nursing skills are pretty mediocre, so they will need to be careful with their strategies.
I have a feeling that Merc will go for a race-optimised configuration at the expense of qualifying performance. They learnt their lesson in Melbourne, and Brawn isn't one to repeat them (and neither is Schumacher). So perhaps they might either split the Red Bulls behind the McLarens, or take up the third row. McLarens will, almost for sure, take the first row.
Renault and Williams look threatening, and one of their drivers might have a stab at the third row (I think either Grosjean or Maldonado, because Kimi still has steering problems and Senna doesn't quite have the outright speed of the Venezuelan oil champion).
I've never been a fan of Ferrari, but it's embarrassing to watch them struggle so badly.
For the race, high temperatures and tyre degradation will play to Button, Vettel, and Kimi's hands. If anyone knows how to nurse their tyres, those three do. Webber's softer rubber usually goes off around one to three laps before Vettel's, and Hamilton's nursing skills are pretty mediocre, so they will need to be careful with their strategies.
Damn this anti-finnish bias with fia. Both finns have 5 grid spot penalty.
LOL
Kimi's penalty is fair. He changed his gearbox. Kovalainen's seems a bit harsh, but it's not going to make a world of difference really.
Kimi's penalty is fair. He changed his gearbox. Kovalainen's seems a bit harsh, but it's not going to make a world of difference really.
2012 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix
(319 posts, started )
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