"Why Won't The Other Kids Play With Me?"

[RussianFriend]

Ferrari had lost its sense of proportion in its team strategy.

Why them don't recruit Bernie to drive for them?

[Liz]

Racing pilots are in racing to win races, not to enable other people to win races by gifting them with points and championships that they did not earn.

Anyone who is in business solely to be a toadie will find that he will not succeed - because the person for whom he toadies will not respect him and neither will anyone outside the swamp where he works. At least I have never heard of any toady getting a lot of praise ...

[Valve Bounce]

Rubens should renegotiate his contract to have a clause put in that he must be M. Schumachers No. 2. And make lots more money being the obvious.

[Liz]

Rubens should take a page from Keke Rosberg's book and, when asked to be another pilot's toady, refuse, resign, and let the whole world know why. Surely he has got enough money for the near term and he would be able to sleep at night knowing he had his self respect.

Let Jensen Button take the job at Ferrari. Obviously he's best suited either for that or for the one that got Tomas Scheckter fired.

Oh wait, that's the same job, isn't it?

[Roy2]

It's pathetic that JPM wouldn't join Ferrari as long as MS is there? You say all he would have to do is beat MS a few times to become Ferrari's number 1? Well that would be like Felix Trinidad beating Oscar de la Hoya if the referee, ring doctor, judges, and Felix's corner were all from Oscar's camp.

Sure he could score a knockout if he were that much better. But no driver is good enough to score the equivalent of a knockout over Michael Schumacher in the same car. It would be a long, gruelling contest of will, guts, nerve, talent, mental resilience, physical stamina, technical ability, and luck, lasting the entire season and not decided until the last race or two.

No world class fighter, no matter how good he is, would ever allow himself to be handicapped in any way against a world class opponent. In fact the contest outside the ring to gain the situational edge (site, purse, referee, ring size, judges, etc), and the psychological edge that goes with it, is just as fierce as the fight in the ring.

Make no mistake about it. A driver who really intends to beat Schumacher will never concede him anything, and that includes the perceived favouritism that the Ferrari team has for him. Why on earth would he, when the contest is likely to go seventeen races and be decided by a few points?

[Tristan]

Well put, Roy.

[Valve Bounce]

The list of "I don't want to play with this guy" drivers grows. Let's see who is left: Mazza, Martin Brundle, Luca Badoer?, McNish, Niki Lauda, ...... I think that's about it. Have I forgotten anyone?
Ot would not surprise me if Ferrari ends up with only TGF as their top line driver next year, with nobody of any real ability to support him.

[Run Free]

This is from a Finnish newspaper:

McLaren boss Ron Dennis ruled out Michael Schumacher driving for his team when he said: "Schumacher is out of the question because we have no intentions whatsoever to build our team around one driver"

This is just for those insisting that Ferrari is a two-car team

[EERO]

Originally posted by Valve Bounce
...It would not surprise me if Ferrari ends up with only TGF as their top line driver next year, with nobody of any real ability to support him.

Bouncey, my thoughts exactly.

Of course, if Barrichello re-signs with Ferrari, your prediction will also come true.

[Valve Bounce]

Originally posted by EERO


Bouncey, my thoughts exactly.

Of course, if Barrichello re-signs with Ferrari, your prediction will also come true.

Here it is - the thread of current discussion.
Yes!! EERO, Rubens did take the demotion with a salary hike.
For all the plebs who have forgotten the wisdom generated in this thread, or who have not had the priveledge to enjoy the measured discussions, so read it and weep. The wise have forcaste well.
Unless this thread gets buried again through temporary indifference, I suspect this topic will rage for years to come until TGF retires.