How about Honda coming through in the end?!? 4th and 6th to secure 5th in the championship and several million more dollars than they would have had otherwise! Button locked 9th in the driver's championship too. The new engine is finally over 900hp, and over 19,100 RPM - and they both survived the race!

Congrats to MS on the championship. I can't help but love the red, it's just left over from when I was a kid.

Matt

 

Relatively boring race, don't ya think?

Yep, Schumacher is the man, and the boys in red are the team.

Jason-
who was hoping Button would land his first podium, but there's always next year


Modified by Jason Franza at 10:21 AM 10/12/2003

 

Oh man what an awesome race to stay up for. Really good race.

 

good race. the schuey chop comes back after a short hiatus. interesting judgments there by the stewards and the FIA.

Ferrari is steamrolling the competition. For next year i would put my money on the closest 3-way battle we have ever seen in F1. And if it is 2-way, itll be McLaren and Williams, courtesy of Michelin.

in 2005, look for toyota to join the top ranks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NegativeLift &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">good race. the schuey chop comes back after a short hiatus. interesting judgments there by the stewards and the FIA. </TD></TR></TABLE>

The chop is legal, it's one move. As long as he doesn't cut back there is nothing wrong with it. If there was contact he would probably get nailed for unnecessary contact like Montoya did though.

Matt

 

Well the way it turned out, Schumi would've won the championship regardless of where he placed since RB won so I don't think the FIA would make a big deal about it just for that fact. But yeah, it was legal since he only blocked in 1 direction, 1 time, as Matt said.

I freakin fell asleep right after Rick DeBruhl said "you'll be telling your grandkids about this one" and they went to a commercial break ...good thing I taped it.

 

yes it was a very good race and everything, but I was really routing for Kimi. MS drove the worst race ive seen of him and didnt drive like a 6 time world champion at all. Rubens GAVE him his precious 6th crown.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GS-R_nut &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Rubens GAVE him his precious 6th crown.</TD></TR></TABLE>

One race doesn't determine a champion, IMO. Did RB give MS his six Prix wins this season too?



FYI-

MS still would have won the wc if KR had gotten the victory because the top eight spots are awarded points.

Jason-
who, if you couldn't tell, is a big Schumacher fan

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GS-R_nut &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...MS drove the worst race ive seen of him and didnt drive like a 6 time world champion at all. Rubens GAVE him his precious 6th crown.</TD></TR></TABLE>

All I have to say is if I were in Schumi's position where all I had to finish was in the top 8, and knowing Kimi was a threat, I would have been conservative as well.

Not to mention, Takuma "I shunt myself" Sato was ahead of him for much of the first half of the race... Think about it, Sato was all fired up in front of his home crowd and had something to prove by keeping MS behind... I wouldn't have been brave either (unless the opportunity arose for an easy pass) if I were Schumi, just let the boy drive and relish the moment.

Anthony "Mario" Crea

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jason Franza &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

One race doesn't determine a champion, IMO. Did RB give MS his six Prix wins this season too?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have to say I agree with the announcers, it's kind of odd that the championship was this close when MS has 5 more wins. I'd like to see how the points would work out if the old scoring was used this year, but I'm too lazy to do that

 

while the new points system has made things much closer, lets be honest, schuey won what, 6 races? kimi won 1 right? IMO it shouldn't have even been that close.

i thought it was a highly entertaining race. ralf running into the back of michael, BAR making a big move in the last race (and not blowing up), if barichello broke down like he did in brazil, things could've been far different.

here's the question for next year..........is coulthard out? will alonso take his place? will sato be BAR's new driver? will renault make enough progress over the year to mix it up up front on a regular basis? lots of interesting things should happen over the offseason.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speedracer33 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The chop is legal, it's one move. As long as he doesn't cut back there is nothing wrong with it. If there was contact he would probably get nailed for unnecessary contact like Montoya did though.

Matt</TD></TR></TABLE>

oh, i dont have a problem with its legality. i would do it.

the KR 1 win vs. MS's 6 wins is a touchy issue. is the championship about winning only, or consistency, or a mix of both? I think 8 points paying positions with a bigger gap from 1st to 2nd may be in order, but there is nothing inherently wrong with the current system.

its interesting that former Renault tech director mike gascoyne is going to Toyota this December. OF course this will vastly improve their chassis and aero performance, and they already have a strong engine unlike Renault. I would pu my money on Toyota to make the biggest moves up the constructors ladder in 2005, if not next year.

 

For those of us that missed it (I fell asleep somewhere around 12:20 or so last night), the race will be re-broadcast tonight @ 9 PM-11:30 and 1-3:30.

I'm looking forward to watching it, even though I now know the result!!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tnord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">will sato be BAR's new driver? </TD></TR></TABLE>

This was already annouced. Yes.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GS-R_nut &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yes it was a very good race and everything, but I was really routing for Kimi. MS drove the worst race ive seen of him and didnt drive like a 6 time world champion at all. Rubens GAVE him his precious 6th crown.</TD></TR></TABLE>

What everyone else said...

and the fact that in the worst race you've ever seen him drive he ended up in 8th place just shows how good of a driver he is.

Kimi's time will come soon...they're my 2 favorite drivers, but favor Schumi more

JPM has some attitude...did anyone catch his comments in the pre-race interview?

"Who do you want to win the championship?"
"Me."
"Of the people that can win..."
"Oh, I don't care."

I guess it's understandable, but it's such poor sportsmanship.

And this one pissed me off more...

"What was the highlight of your season?"
"Passing Rubens at Indy"



I liked him a little bit before I heard him say all that...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by manveer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
"Who do you want to win the championship?"
"Me."
"Of the people that can win..."
"Oh, I don't care."
I guess it's understandable, but it's such poor sportsmanship. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Why?

IMO that was a stupid question to begin with. What kind of an answer would someone expect to hear him say? IMO what he said was exactly the best answer someone in his shoes could have given.

JPM was out to prove something this race and he most certainly did it again by passing RB so quickly on the first lap and pulling away like he did. I'll keep on saying this: JPM is the fastest driver out there in pure speed, especially on cold tires. He's amazing to watch.

MS however is still the best overall driver of the bunch driving for a very good team. That's why he is 6 time world champion.

 

Equally impressive in the GP at Suzuka was the driving of Cristiano Da Matta and the Toyota. It has been said the Toyota engine has gobs of power and reliablilty but the car is not as good aerodynamically. But I sure as hell couldn't tell the way Da Matta drove. He qualified on the 2nd row and kind of gave Schumi and the Ferrari fits until he realized that he didn't need to get around Da Matta for 7th.

I think Toyota with better chassis/aerodynamic development will definitely be a force to reckon with next year.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by manveer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
JPM has some attitude...did anyone catch his comments in the pre-race interview?

"Who do you want to win the championship?"
"Me."
"Of the people that can win..."
"Oh, I don't care."

I guess it's understandable, but it's such poor sportsmanship.

And this one pissed me off more...

"What was the highlight of your season?"
"Passing Rubens at Indy"



I liked him a little bit before I heard him say all that...</TD></TR></TABLE>

whats wrong with that? why would JPM care who wins? about the comment about passing rubens at indy, that was great! That WOULD have been a key pass hadnt the FIA give him an unruly stop and go. Granted JPM might have had something to do with putting RB out of the race, RB didnt give him room at all, while juan was right next to him. How many other times has that happened without any penalties?? it was a racing incident that ruined JPM's chances.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ITRbroham &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...He qualified on the 2nd row and kind of gave Schumi and the Ferrari fits until he realized that he didn't need to get around Da Matta for 7th...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Did you miss the part in qualifying where the misty/light rain began to fall and the track got all sorts of slick, there slick?

Schumacher tried and got 14th.

Ralf tried, spun, then pulled in.

Trulli just flat out parked it by pulling in from his warm-up lap.

Anthony "Mario" Crea

 

was he signed on for 1 race or for next year as well?

i thought it was just for that race.

 

Nope, Sato was their test driver, and he was announced as JV's replacement for next season. Probably played a large part in why JV got out of the car 1 race early.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hracer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why?

IMO that was a stupid question to begin with. What kind of an answer would someone expect to hear him say? IMO what he said was exactly the best answer someone in his shoes could have given. </TD></TR></TABLE>

It's called "sportsmanship." Instead of taking the high road, Joan Paula Montoya reminds the world of how young and ignorant he is. Why spit venom, when you can hold it inside and use it as motivation? No, instead he comes off as a, excuse me, whiney *** spoiled bitch. Reminds me of another whiney *** spoiled bitch = JV. I absolutely used to like both of them. But as I get older I realize the importance and honor of "sportsmanship."

Hats off to Shuey, Rubeno, and the whole of the Ferrari team. Congratulations!

Another hats off to Button and Sato who drove an awesome race. Don't worry guys, you're day in the sun will come.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ponyboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

It's called "sportsmanship." Instead of taking the high road, Joan Paula Montoya reminds the world of how young and ignorant he is. Why spit venom, when you can hold it inside and use it as motivation? No, instead he comes off as a, excuse me, whiney *** spoiled bitch. Reminds me of another whiney *** spoiled bitch = JV. I absolutely used to like both of them. But as I get older I realize the importance and honor of "sportsmanship."

Hats off to Shuey, Rubeno, and the whole of the Ferrari team. Congratulations!

Another hats off to Button and Sato who drove an awesome race. Don't worry guys, you're day in the sun will come. </TD></TR></TABLE>

That's what I'm saying.

 

We all know is a show and I personally would much rather be entertained by a spoiled egotist then the lump Kim.

Kimi didn’t look like such a good sportsman on the podium to me, Poptart should have been the one to be sour faced on the podium, how many times has he lost out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by honda93 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Did you miss the part in qualifying where the misty/light rain began to fall and the track got all sorts of slick, there slick? </TD></TR></TABLE>

OK, he still drove a great race.