The main reason why any european round is dropped is Money, its simple because every european event is always a sell out. Italy is in a very bad economic state right now, so i doubt imola(San marino is basically italy) will come back any time soon(unless they rotate with monza).
I didn't think they've ever had "Locked" diff's,as drivers adjust it on the fly,so it couldn't be locked,or it wouldn't be able to be adjusted. I meant take the adjustability away completely and lock the diff. They'd lay a wicked burnout at least!
It was actually a Live Axle, im pretty sure which means the rear suspenstion was extremely twitchy under load.
Live axle means the diff moves up & down with the suspension. The point i was trying to make is that the cars should be making the drivers drive, surely we don't really want another Schumacher era.He was good,but a lot of his speed came from being the best at adjusting the driver aids on the fly. He literally would change the settings for every corner so that he could just stomp on the brakes at last second turn in,clip his apex and nail the throttle,with ridiculous regularity.He wasn't necessarily the fastest driver outright,shown when he came back & couldn't match Rosberg in a car with no aids.I swear i saw him lock the fronts more times in the two years of his comeback than in the whole ferrari time! Not saying he did any wrong to win his titles,(except for some dirty driving against Hill & co.),but he simply had the ability to use the technology and not fight it. Mika Hakkinen said "it is more difficult to drive fast with the driver aids than without,simply because you have to make yourself not correct slides,lock-ups,etc yourself,you have to let the aids do the work,which is opposite to what you've always done."
Comparing a mid 40s Shumi to a 20 something Up and coming isn't a fair comparison tbh, the driving aids wouldn't of mattered that much though as he already had 4 Titles with non T/C cars(94,95,00,01).
In that era most cars had TC of some sort,despite it being illegal,that's why they legalised it in 2002 because they found it impossible to police at the time,so he did have aids in that period,they just weren't advertised or named as such,they used names like Torque delivery control,or Engine response balance control,etc,( those are made up). I disagree that it's not fair to compare with Rosberg,Seeing as the car was not a front runner,Schui's experience should've given him the advantage over Nico,if not in qually,at least in the races,but it didn't. Anyway,i think you maybe misunderstand me a bit,i'm not a Schui hater,actually i'm the opposite,have a look at this That's a genuine autograph,not a print,attained at the 2001 AGP at Albert Park. So as you can see i'm not a schuy basher,i'm a long term fan,but i do realise the reasons he got so many WDC's. In 2000-01 he may not have had TC officially,but he,along with all the other drivers did have it in one form or another,his real advantage at this time was the Bespoke Bridgestone tyres,the only team to have such.Well not exactly,some teams had the same tyres,but they were essentially designed especially for the ferrari,the other teams,like MW's, Jaguar had little or no input into the construction,compounds,etc,they had to like them or lump them.Get the drift of what i'm saying now? Essentially Schuy had the advantage that the car & tyres he used were custom made to suit him.If he said "i want a pink steering rack,it'll be faster",he got a pink steering rack. where-as Massa had to fight to have his pedals moved closer in his car,because "Michael didn't need them there" He was good,but had a big advantage over his competitors in equipment.His best championship wins are probably his Benneton ones,but even these still had Driver Aids as cited in the records "of breaking the FIA-imposed ban on electronic aids. Benetton and McLaren initially refused to hand over their source code for investigation. When they did so, the FIA discovered hidden functionality in both teams' software, but no evidence that it had been used in a race. Both teams were fined $100,000" Do you really think it wouldn't've been used?
I've been watching Sky Sports F1 over the weekend and the cars do sound a bit rubbish...like DTM or Indycar. The howl has gone...
The age may give experience but what I meant is it limits the physical part badly, your reactions are much slower. The guy had talent though just look at his first seasons, as a rookie thrown in at the deep end mid season in 1991 he instantly started dominating Nelson Piquet. There was no question he was peerless in the late 90s early 2000s though there honestly was only Hakkinen who was at his level at the time, JV and Hill lacked the spark of those two and it was obvious, as the Williams of that time was beyond all the cars easily till 1998. Can't compare different generations though, Shumacher was at least 5 years past he's use by date as a top level champion when he came back, and in 2012 still managed to get a pole(even though he had an engine penalty).
This comment has had me wondering when they actually stopped using live axels so today I asked a customer of mine who was the crew chief for jaguar F1 back when mark webber drove for them and he said they stopped using the live axle in the 1940's before the war then used a rear beam dead axle until the early 1960's and have used a transverse rear differential since then
Can't compare different generations though, Shumacher was at least 5 years past he's use by date as a top level champion when he came back, and in 2012 still managed to get a pole(even though he had an engine penalty).[/quote] I know what you mean,i'm 45 and can't golike i used to!LOL. Remember tho,Mark wasn't that much younger than Schui!
The guy had talent though just look at his first seasons, as a rookie thrown in at the deep end mid season in 1991 he instantly started dominating Nelson Piquet. There was no question he was peerless in the late 90s early 2000s though there honestly was only Hakkinen who was at his level at the time I wasn't saying he wasn't talented,just that he actually wasn't as good as most think,as they don't understand how much he had going in his favour. I beleive the only reason Hakkinen couldn't match Schui was getting his head cracked in three at Adelaide! LOL,But seriously,it was probably more to do with a decent teammate,Schui had 2 teammates that were extremely good,& willing to be #2,in Barricello & Massa.DH never had any fight,he only won because he had Senna's car & JV was the same.
I think Hakkinen was faster than Michael over 1 lap, but Michael was a much better racer. Yes, Hakkinen pulled a mega overtake at Spa, but no one has had racecraft like Michael in recent times. Out of the modern era drivers, I'd put Schumacher JUST ahead of Senna (purely based on racing instinct and the desire to win). Then I'd have Alonso, Raikkonen, Hakkinen and Hamilton. I still don't rate Vettel in the elite. Yes he has 4 world titles won under similar circumstances to Schumacher, but I haven't yet seen a really outstanding drive from him. His win in Monza was weather driven which levels the playing field somewhat. Haven't seen him really battling wheel to wheel or making really good overtakes like Alonso, Hamilton or Raikkonen... I think Rosberg, Massa, Ricciardo and Bottas have the potential to be world champion. Massa had more right to win in 2008 than Hamilton, but the cards just didn't fall his way (that engine failure in Hungary...my heart broke for Felipe that day!). Bring on the new season I say! I'll be seeing what Sky Sports F1 has to offer throughout the season, should be some good shows to watch!
Just reading breaking news about a statement issued by Schumacher's agent. Apparently showing some small, encouraging signs. Good news, really hoping he can pull through.
