Ralf excells again!!

[Glen]

Is Ralf having his customary mid-season wobble? Montoya is back on top, and everyone knows it - including Ralf. Montoya smoked him in qualifying, and gave him overtaking lessons in the race.

[f1manoz]

Ralf has certainly been lacklustre the past couple of races while JPM has certainly been ahead. But Ralf has still been finishing and collecting points (except for Canada) and he is still tied with his team-mate for 2nd overall.

The battle is still close and the margin between JPM and Ralf won't get any bigger. If anything, they will continue to change with Ralf being fastest then JPM being fastest one weekend to another.

[Mania]

fimanoz.

Montoya has finished every race except the last 2. Ralf has also had 2 DNF's in Australia and Spain and the team screwed him in Canada. Still, he has a win and has 27 points. Pretty consistent.

And Valve, the move was good buy hardly breath-taking. I mean, both Kimi and Ralf were off the gas when Montoya went for the pass. You could easily tell they lifted off otherwise both would have received a 10s stop and go penalty.

[neilap]

The issue is RS still has not even made a pass this year. I dont know what people find interesting in his driving to be a fan. He does absolutely nothing but go round and round and hope to make up places in the pits. Sixth was very possible yesterday. He does not know how to pass.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Mania
the move was good but hardly breath-taking. I mean, both Kimi and Ralf were off the gas when Montoya went for the pass.

but how many times did we see 2 other cars line astern going into the final corner and the car in front going straight across the kurb, have to ease off the gas for fear of showing an advantage and the guy behind still not overtake?

[Mania]

It was a gutsy move no doubt. But he put a lot of trust in Ralf and Kimi that they wouldnt squeeze him either - or else he would have been in the wall.

Like I saidm good move but not breath-taking. Not in the same category as the move he pulled on Schumacher at Brazil or Indy - thats for sure.

[R]

Good point, mr v.

Originally posted by neilap
The issue is RS still has not even made a pass this year. I dont know what people find interesting in his driving to be a fan. He does absolutely nothing but go round and round and hope to make up places in the pits. Sixth was very possible yesterday. He does not know how to pass.

That about sums it up, I think. Ralf is nowhere near the driver his brother is. He can be very fast when he's out on his own, most notably when he's leading a race, but he simply can't pass.

And Mania, even with your extremely biased opinion, one would think you would have seen that Ralf didn't drive a good race yesterday. He was unlucky in the pits, but he certainly drove a poor race out on the track as well. He was completely outclassed by Montoya this weekend.

[Mania]

R, I may be biased but we're in the same boat here.As far as the weekend goes,Ralf had set up and engine troubles all weekend while Montoya had a perfect weekend till Sunday afternoon.

There will be weekends throughout this season when one driver is better than the other.Ralf was quicker in Australia,Sepang,Imola,and even Brazil for that matter.Montoya had a better run in Austria,Spain and Monaco, plus Canada till the car let him down.

All I see are 2 drivers with little to choose b/w them. A far cry from the predictions by some of the "experts" here than Montoya would "kill" or "dominate" Ralf on the circuits this season.

Hasnt been that way at all.Ralf may get the set up right one weekend and out pace Montoya and likewise Montoya may do the same 2 weeks later.They are tied on points with Ralf having the benefit of a win as well.Hardly a record of someone who is "out-classed"

[R]

Kudos to you, Mania, for that post. Very well put. Yes, if we look at the season as a whole so far, they are evenly matched. Tied on points, but it looks like Montoya is slowly getting the upper hand on Ralf again, just like he did last season...