50 replies to this topic

[SpamJet]

The three current top dogs are M. schumacher, Alonso and Raikkonen. Since Spain FA has been seen to be the biggest threat to MS in the long term. But it was'nt too long ago that KR's driving style was being described as being similar to MS. I just wondered what differences between their driving styles are. Anyone?

S

[Arrow]

From F1 racing in 2001 it seems like Alonso drives like michael,in terms of being a front end,early apex, turn in the brakes type driver.
Kimi is a oversteer driver like mika was.

[The RedBaron]

Kimi uses stationery cars to brake sharply, Alonos prefers rolling tyres whilst Schumacher is infactuated with Trulli's rear-end!

[BuonoBruttoCattivo]

Originally posted by Arrow
From F1 racing in 2001 it seems like Alonso drives like michael,in terms of being a front end,early apex, turn in the brakes type driver.
Kimi is a oversteer driver like mika was.

The closest guy in terms of style to MS is JB, but FA is not far off, although I suspect FA is smoother, atleast more so than JT which is a pippa.
Kimi is simmilar to MH, although MH was more in control at all times. But MH had more ecxperience, I guess KR will soon get there...

RB is the smoohest one of them all IMO, he's like a blast from the past, whilst JPM is quite unique, always correcting. I would say JV and JPM are quite simmilar, yet JPM is more talented than the two.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Actually id say MS is the smoothest. You cant drive a car with that much oversteer without being very efficient with your controls

[bock16]

Originally posted by SpamJet
The three current top dogs are M. schumacher, Alonso and Raikkonen.

Slightly off topic I know, but you state that as if it were established fact (unless you're just referring to the points standings, in which case, apologies). If you did a poll I don't think you'd get a majority of people saying they were the top three drivers.

[speedy]

Originally posted by The RedBaron
Kimi uses stationery cars to brake sharply, Alonos prefers rolling tyres whilst Schumacher is infactuated with Trulli's rear-end!

FA prefers to neglect yellow flags and runs into wrecks

[Menace]

From Bernies F1.com

Renault's Pat Symonds, Michael Schumacher's engineer when he became champion in '94, says it is the German's smoothness that is the basis of his speed.
"He brakes and turns in very smoothly," he says. "He is off the brakes lightly and slowly. He turns the steering little by little, but can correct things very rapidly if they go wrong. Then he gets on the power early and slowly feeds it in, controlling it with the steering. His control is so sensitive I think he can feel what all four of the wheels are doing individually."

Comparisons have been made this year between the five-time champion and McLaren's new boy Kimi Raikkonen. Their style seems to defy traditional belief that there is either 'fast in/slow out' or 'slow in/fast out' and never the twain shall meet. In fact they have a style that can only be described as 'fast in/fast out'.

Raikkonen turns in a fraction early, reaches the inside of the track carrying the speed in, then manages the minutest of flicks to oversteer the car into the perfect trajectory for the exit. That way he is early on the power. Except it is not a slide and, somehow, miraculously he maintains the momentum. Team mate Coulthard takes a wider, more traditional line. He either brakes earlier or goes in deeper to scrub off the speed. Both cost time.

"You have to be very confident in yourself to be able to do that - it requires incredible car control," said former Indy lights champion Steve Robertson, who is also Raikkonen's manager. "Generally it is true to say that having an understeering car is the way most drivers prefer it. It's safer. But if you can do it, having slight oversteer is faster. But most drivers' couldn't live with it. I couldn't."

McLaren technical director Adrian Newey agreed: "I don't think anyone likes oversteer but the really good drivers cope with it better. It is that way with all the top drivers: Senna, Schumacher, Raikkonen."

The reasons are obvious: the punishment for a fractional miscalculation with oversteer is a rear end spin and a lot of time lost getting back on the track, while a touch too much understeer only results in the nose continuing to go straight on rather than turn the bend. The solution is simple: lift off the power. But with oversteer, lifting off the accelerator is not the solution. Quite the reverse. If you lift off you can lose the grip at the back and make the situation worse. The solution is to be found with the steering wheel.

"I don't think Kimi does that intentionally," said Button. "It is just that he sets up his car a little bit oversteery." The Renault driver believes all the analysis from those standing on the sidelines is phooey, but the in-cockpit television shots are a different matter.

"With in-car cameras you can see Michael looks really similar to Jarno, they are both smooth on entry but they are not in same car so it's difficult to compare. There are always going to be slight differences in the line drivers take unless they are in the same car. If there are different then, someone is going the wrong way."

There are exceptions. Takuma Sato shows incredible control, but has crashed frequently and were it not for his control it would almost certainly have been far more. "He's not learning," said one driver. "He's just on the ragged edge trying to control the car. He's all over the place and can't possibly be learning anything. He's too ragged."

"Overdriving is a common problem," says Symonds. "Paradoxically some drivers would go faster if they slowed a little." But the basic laws of physics apply. "The closer you are to that verge of instability the quicker you can make the car go," he adds. Oversteer takes you right to the edge of the precipice, understeer gives you a margin for error.

[maclaren]

Kimi's style is to turn in early and come out of corner sideways, not sliding much though.


Schumacher has more round lines, with much oversteer.

Alsonso is driving roundly too. With understeering setup he hardly makes corrections at all. He cuts inside kerbs well to save distance. In Imola Trulli drove with Alonsos setup and was seemingly late on gas, because of understeer.

Alonso has lower mid-corner speed than the others.

[michaelab]

Well, with traction control, being able to get the power down early and have a fast corner exit doesn't require as much skill as it used to. Most people reckon that Schumi gains the most over his rivals with the speed he carries into corners and trail braking (finishing braking at the same time as starting the turn) and so making optimum use of the tyre's friction circle.

In fast sweepers (like at Suzuka) he gains with his car control by keeping the car constantly on the limit all the way around. His car control is also what makes him often so much better than the rest in the wet or on cold tyres - he can find the limit of grip and use it so much more quickly than the others.

Michael.

[Moanaman]

whilst were on cornering speed. The incar footage from the Spanish GP, when Alonso was following RS, did anyone else notice how much speed FA was carring through the corners?
Or was it that Ralph was parking his Williams on the apex?

[SpamJet]

What is a friction circle?

It seems that the drivers seem to have some aspects that are similar e.g fast-in/fast-out, round lines etc. It sounds like KR is fastest over one lap but MS/FA would be able to take care of the tyres better over a race distance. Also they might be less error prone in the wet.

[HSJ]

Originally posted by maclaren
Kimi's style is to turn in early and come out of corner sideways, not sliding much though.


Schumacher has more round lines, with much oversteer.

Alsonso is driving roundly too. With understeering setup he hardly makes corrections at all. He cuts inside kerbs well to save distance. In Imola Trulli drove with Alonsos setup and was seemingly late on gas, because of understeer.

Alonso has lower mid-corner speed than the others.

It has been said of Alonso's style that it is not very well suited to overtaking. Apparently the guy points his car at the apex with some understeer, and because of the understeer he must stay on the chosen line to make the corner. If he tries to change the line mid-corner, he will have to either lift off or go off the track because of the understeer. Clearly this makes overtaking a bit difficult as he can't react so well to the defender's changing lines. Is this true? Certainly FA seems to drive in that fashion, and has taken longer than e.g. MS, KR, or JPM to overtake other cars, he seems less aggressive because of it. It may also not allow him to put the guy in front of him under as much pressure, which again makes overtaking and lapping slower cars more difficult and time-consuming. However, FA's style MIGHT be the fastest on a empty track, just like MH's was (IMO ).

Speaking of MH's, KR's, and MS's styles, MS basically uses the same approach to all corners, both slow and fast, i.e. takes more speed into a corner but also increases throttle less rapidly coming out of a corner, balancing the car with little corrections near the apex. Whereas MH used a more traditional method of braking quite late and thus trying not to lose too much time before the corner, but taking a bit less speed to the apex, but again being earlier on the throttle out of the corner than e.g. MS, made possible by a slight induced slide. MH's style was better for faster corners, and MS's for slower ones, probably. KR's style is a mix of the two, using MS's style for slower corners and MH's for faster ones. (This is not originally my analysis, it was in Autosport some time ago IIRC.)

[HSJ]

Originally posted by michaelab
His car control is also what makes him often so much better than the rest in the wet or on cold tyres - he can find the limit of grip and use it so much more quickly than the others.

B.S. Perhaps true prior to KR, JPM, and FA being around, certainly not anymore. I really don't know why people make this blanket statements about MS. "Oooh, he's so much better, quicker, whatever, blah blah blah".

[Ghostrider]

Originally posted by HSJ
B.S. Perhaps true prior to KR, JPM, and FA being around, certainly not anymore. I really don't know why people make this blanket statements about MS. "Oooh, he's so much better, quicker, whatever, blah blah blah".

Rabid fan fanatism. Like you with Raikkonen.

[HSJ]

Originally posted by Ghostrider


Rabid fan fanatism. Like you with Raikkonen.

[Williams]

Originally posted by SpamJet
What is a friction circle?

The friction circle is the theory that says that tyres do not work only in the directions of left/right turning, braking and traction, but that tyres work in all directions. That means that a driver going into a corner gets the maximum grip from his tyres if he is using combinations of braking/acceleration and turning in every-changing proportions as he traverses a corner, thus treading the circumference of the "friction circle".

The classic style of brake first then turn does not take full advantage of the grip of the tyres because the tyres are not working at the edge of adhesion at all points throughout the corner.

[SiegSchumi]

Originally posted by SpamJet
It sounds like KR is fastest over one lap but MS/FA would be able to take care of the tyres better over a race distance. Also they might be less error prone in the wet .

Yeah! Like Interlagos -03.

[michaelab]

Originally posted by Williams
The classic style of brake first then turn does not take full advantage of the grip of the tyres because the tyres are not working at the edge of adhesion at all points throughout the corner.

Great explanation and I'll just add a little bit:

Basically if you do all your braking first and then start turning, the moment you transition between braking and turning the tyre is not working at all. If you can do the transition smoothly by starting to turn at the same time as gradually coming off the brakes then the tyre transitions from maximum forward/backward friction to maximum left/right friction (grip) without ever giving up grip - in the middle of the transition the friction (grip) of the tyre would be equally split into left/right and forward/backward components.

AFAIK Jackie Stewart was one of the early pioneers of this technique of cornering. BTW, it works especially well in karting

Michael.

[HSJ]

By the way, I think we should bring JPM into this discussion as well. Anybody have a good analysis of his style?

[maclaren]

Originally posted by Moanaman
whilst were on cornering speed. The incar footage from the Spanish GP, when Alonso was following RS, did anyone else notice how much speed FA was carring through the corners?
Or was it that Ralph was parking his Williams on the apex?

The corner itself is quite long, and there are many possibilities to take it. Alonso gained in praking and lost in acceleration with his normal line. I think Ralf concentrated on good exit and it worked there.

[maclaren]

Originally posted by michaelab
His car control is also what makes him often so much better than the rest in the wet or on cold tyres - he can find the limit of grip and use it so much more quickly than the others.

Michael.

Well, wasn't it Kimi the one who was immediately fast when SC went out in Interlagos

Then DC + MS catched faster pace but it took some time

[michaelab]

Originally posted by HSJ
B.S. Perhaps true prior to KR, JPM, and FA being around, certainly not anymore. I really don't know why people make this blanket statements about MS. "Oooh, he's so much better, quicker, whatever, blah blah blah".

It's no more BS than your statement. The fact is that no-one really knows how fast MS, KR, JPM and FA would be in the same car.

IMO the only driver since '94 who looks like really being "the next Schumacher" is FA. KR and JPM are both very good but I think that both FA and MS are a level above them. FA vs. MS could hopefully become one the classic rivalries of F1 like Prost vs Senna etc. Given that JT is one of the drivers that MS himself rates very highly I wonder what he thinks of FA!

Michael.

[maclaren]

Originally posted by HSJ
By the way, I think we should bring JPM into this discussion as well. Anybody have a good analysis of his style?

His aggressive overtaking is impressive. Tyres smoking sharply right in the corner entry -> succesfull pass without mistake

[michaelab]

Originally posted by maclaren
Well, wasn't it Kimi the one who was immediately fast when SC went out in Interlagos

Then DC + MS catched faster pace but it took some time

You can't make judgements on the basis of one event in one race - who knows what other factors were at play? In general, MS (and JPM) have shown over many races in many conditions to always be right on the pace with changing track conditions (one reason they are both so good in single lap qual - something that KR is not so hot at ).

Michael.

[maclaren]

Originally posted by michaelab
You can't make judgements on the basis of one event in one race - who knows what other factors were at play? In general, MS (and JPM) have shown over many races in many conditions to always be right on the pace with changing track conditions (one reason they are both so good in single lap qual - something that KR is not so hot at ).

Michael.

Remember Silverstone 2002 too, where KR was immediately fastest whe rain started. And Brazil 2001 when real rookie Kimi in Sauber was lapping as fast as Michael when the rain begun

[logic]

Originally posted by SpamJet
The three current top dogs are M. schumacher, Alonso and Raikkonen. Since Spain FA has been seen to be the biggest threat to MS in the long term. But it was'nt too long ago that KR's driving style was being described as being similar to MS.
S

LOL
How can human mind be so blind

[SpamJet]

explain yourself logic.

[F]

Originally posted by michaelab
IMO the only driver since '94 who looks like really being "the next Schumacher" is FA. KR and JPM are both very good but I think that both FA and MS are a level above them

WHY!! Why we should consider FA as the next MS?
Certainly FA is incredible, we have see 3 or 4 incredible drives from him BUT how many incredible drives have we seen from KR and JPM?

I don’t wish FA bad but i´m only expecting how he will cope with bad times. He’s currently in a very sweet honeymoon.

[Todd]

Originally posted by Menace
From Bernies F1.com

"I don't think Kimi does that intentionally," said Button. "It is just that he sets up his car a little bit oversteery." The Renault driver believes all the analysis from those standing on the sidelines is phooey, but the in-cockpit television shots are a different matter.

When Pat Symonds discusses Michael and Fernando's driving styles, he does so with the benefit of time spent discussing set up preferences and studying telemetry traces for the drivers in question. The same is true for Adrian Newey discussing the driving of Kimi, DC, Senna, Hakkinen etc... They aren't standing on the sidelines, they are speaking from the perspective of having tried to engineer cars that behave in the corners as these drivers desire, and having seen documentary proof as to whether they carry speed deep in the corners, pick up the throttle as early or as completely as they say, and when they do their braking. I would say that they are as well placed to discuss the drivers' styles as anyone.

[Menace]

Originally posted by Todd


When Pat Symonds discusses Michael and Fernando's driving styles, he does so with the benefit of time spent discussing set up preferences and studying telemetry traces for the drivers in question. The same is true for Adrian Newey discussing the driving of Kimi, DC, Senna, Hakkinen etc... They aren't standing on the sidelines, they are speaking from the perspective of having tried to engineer cars that behave in the corners as these drivers desire, and having seen documentary proof as to whether they carry speed deep in the corners, pick up the throttle as early or as completely as they say, and when they do their braking. I would say that they are as well placed to discuss the drivers' styles as anyone.

Agreed!

[Cojayar]

Originally posted by Todd

Originally posted by Menace
From Bernies F1.com

"I don't think Kimi does that intentionally," said Button . "It is just that he sets up his car a little bit oversteery." The Renault driver believes all the analysis from those standing on the sidelines is phooey, but the in-cockpit television shots are a different matter.

....

When Pat Symonds discusses Michael and Fernando's driving styles, he does so ...

Who is in this report "the Renault driver"? It seems it's from last year and Button being the Renault driver. Can someone confirm it?

[karlth]

Originally posted by Todd
When Pat Symonds discusses Michael and Fernando's driving styles, he does so with the benefit of time spent discussing set up preferences and studying telemetry traces for the drivers in question. The same is true for Adrian Newey discussing the driving of Kimi, DC, Senna, Hakkinen etc...

Although that very often is the case we also have examples of technical people close to the drivers providing insufficiant or simply wrong information on the drivers' techniques. A case in point being numerous Williams technical personal saying that Ralf and Juan hardly differ at all in their driving.

The article posted by Menace had a very interesting but at the same time typical comment:

[Raikkonen's] team mate Coulthard takes a wider, more traditional line. He either brakes earlier or goes in deeper to scrub off the speed. Both cost time.

Considering that Coulthard has been at least Raikkonen's equal in pace makes that statement look a bit silly. Where is Coulthard then supposed to be gaining on Raikkonen? During pitstops?

Generally, and this if course only my opinion, I think that most of the top drivers can be classified by how late they brake. On one hand we have the late brakers like the Schumacher brothers and Coulthard and on the other hand we have the early brakers like Hakkinen, Raikkonen and Montoya.

Brake late and then setup the car for the exit during the corner. This technique of course allows for a higher entry speed but at the cost of having to turn the car during the corner which means later acceleration. Brake early and then setup the car for the exit on the entry to the corner, which of course means lower entry speed but allows the driver to step on the gas earlier than the late braker.

What happens when the car is understeers? Who suffers? The early brakers, especially with an exit understeer as the car's direction was already set during the entry, which means either a steering wheel correction or more likely a slight lift. The late braker on the other hand simply turns the car slightly more where there is more space (in mid corner) and powers away. The opposite happens in a generally oversteering car. The early brakers more smooth driving line allows him to compensate more easily whereas the late braker's more ragged mid corner entry and exit can cause him to suffer greatly.

Another point mentioning is that although TC probably helps the late braker more it does not erase the disadvantage of ragged acceleration as Coulthard pointed out. The TC cuts out the cylinders and hampers engine power out of the corner, so TC never compensates fully for a unprecise driving.

Then there are those tidbits about the drivers that only the technical insiders can reveal. Michael Schumacher's ability to quickly turn the car in mid corner, Montoya's and Raikkonen's talent to hold an oversteering car, etc.

[ebin]

Peter Windsor wrote about Monty's driving style in last month's F1 Racing. Said Monty was essentially like Mika Hakkinen. Very wide on entry, small movements of the wheel to keep the rear in.

[Fastcar]

Originally posted by Moanaman
whilst were on cornering speed. The incar footage from the Spanish GP, when Alonso was following RS, did anyone else notice how much speed FA was carring through the corners?
Or was it that Ralph was parking his Williams on the apex?

Ralfs bargeboards had come off pay more attention please !

[bock16]

Originally posted by karlth

[Raikkonen's] team mate Coulthard takes a wider, more traditional line. He either brakes earlier or goes in deeper to scrub off the speed. Both cost time.

Considering that Coulthard has been at least Raikkonen's equal in pace makes that statement look a bit silly. Where is Coulthard then supposed to be gaining on Raikkonen? During pitstops?

The problem here is that it's one thing to discuss different driving styles and say that X is closer to maximising the use of the friction circle than Y, but it doesn't actually tell you that X will be faster than Y. That's something that Peter Windsor doesn't seem to understand.

[Jacar�]

Originally posted by bock16


The problem here is that it's one thing to discuss different driving styles and say that X is closer to maximising the use of the friction circle than Y, but it doesn't actually tell you that X will be faster than Y. That's something that Peter Windsor doesn't seem to understand.

I think Windsor is interested in why Michael Schumacher has been the dominant driver of the last decade and is looking for evidence of why "X was faster than Y".

[bock16]

Originally posted by Jacarñ

I think Windsor is interested in why Michael Schumacher has been the dominant driver of the last decade and is looking for evidence of why "X was faster than Y".

It may well be true that Schumacher's driving style comes closest to maximising the use of the tyres etc. but it does not mean that someone who drives like him will automatically be better than someone who doesn't, see e.g. DC v MH.

[black magic]

windsor's article while very interesting in no way answered as the title erroneously claimed why one driver was faster than the other.

even as ms fan many would argue that ms was "faster' than mika. certainly more successful but faster? not always.

the cosistant feature however was that ms is more vulnerable when pushing from tyre wear and it is this aspect that the article in fact explained. ie ms uses his tyres to the max and therefore more likely to wear them out when pushing than mika.

another feature evident and probably as if not more important is tha accuracy and consistancy with which michael takes corners in that lap after lap he is much more consistant in the path he takes through the corner. whilst it seemed that kimi had improved from 2002 - 2003 at melbourne he was still far less consistant with one of the less consistant being jpm imho.

[SpamJet]

By Menace : Comparisons have been made this year between the five-time champion and McLaren's new boy Kimi Raikkonen. Their style seems to defy traditional belief that there is either 'fast in/slow out' or 'slow in/fast out' and never the twain shall meet. In fact they have a style that can only be described as 'fast in/fast out'.

I finally got to see qualifying this morning, and it looked like Kimi was easily fastest through turn 1. The above quote makes perfect sense now. The boy was quick through there.

[karlth]

Originally posted by SpamJet


I finally got to see qualifying this morning, and it looked like Kimi was easily fastest through turn 1. The above quote makes perfect sense now. The boy was quick through there.

I don't think that has anything to do with the mythical fast in, fast out general technique. Kimi Raikkonen is simply bloody impressive through some corners by keeping his foot down when others lift. It was the same through the corner that threw off Schumacher and Montoya at Interlagos, you could see how he gained on the rest there. Personally I think that it is his ability to control the rear of the car so he is able to throw the car faster into some corners faster than the rest of the grid without doing a 360.

[SpamJet]

Karlth, you make it sound like KR is fast into corners but slow out. Surely if he controls the back that well, then he can throw it into a corner very fast and then get on the gas early because he can correct the car before he accelerates? Stream of conciousness : I feel sorry for Juan Pablo, he deserves a win.

[karlth]

Originally posted by SpamJet
Karlth, you make it sound like KR is fast into corners but slow out. Surely if he controls the back that well, then he can throw it into a corner very fast and then get on the gas early because he can correct the car before he accelerates? Stream of conciousness : I feel sorry for Juan Pablo, he deserves a win.

I think that Raikkonen's and Montoya's driving styles are similar, i.e. classified as slow in, fast out. They also both have immense ability to hold the car on a knife's edge when most other drivers would lose it, which I think is unrelated to how they attack the corners.

Now it is important to remember that compared to a regular race car driver every single F1 driver is a fast in, fast out driver. These classifications are all relative to the top of the grid. Now just because both Kimi and Juan are excellent in controlling an oversteering car mid corner doesn't mean they are as good as Ralf or Michael in deep braking, i.e. throwing the car into the corner. Montoya infact mentioned that he was unable to brake as late as Ralf, simply because he couldn't control the car on entry and under braking as well as the German.

[m__schumacher]

Originally posted by SpamJet
The three current top dogs are M. schumacher, Alonso and Raikkonen. Since Spain FA has been seen to be the biggest threat to MS in the long term. But it was'nt too long ago that KR's driving style was being described as being similar to MS. I just wondered what differences between their driving styles are. Anyone?

S

Download the video that explains Michael Schumacher's technique from my site www.formula1onboard.tk It is at the "random clip" section, "page 4"

[lanius]

This thread about different driving styles gets me more and more convinced that KR&JPM would be a magnificent duo.

DC to Williams with RS and JPM to McLaren with KR.. Perfect pairings.. No crying about oversteer or understeer...

Montoya should be a Rontoya is my new slogan..

[HSJ]

Originally posted by karlth


Considering that Coulthard has been at least Raikkonen's equal in pace makes that statement look a bit silly. Where is Coulthard then supposed to be gaining on Raikkonen? During pitstops?

Oh come on Karlth! Setups affect a lot too! DC is pretty good at setups, and if he finds a better balance than KR then he can attack corners better etc. keeping more momentum going and accelerate earlier and whatnot. But talking about this year, KR was faster in Melbourne, Sepang we didn't get to see, Interlagos KR was faster in the wet, DC in the dry(er), KR faster in Imola, Barcelona we didn't get to see, KR faster at A1. No mystery here!

[maclaren]

Originally posted by karlth
I think that Raikkonen's and Montoya's driving styles are similar, i.e. classified as slow in, fast out. They also both have immense ability to hold the car on a knife's edge when most other drivers would lose it, which I think is unrelated to how they attack the corners.

Now it is important to remember that compared to a regular race car driver every single F1 driver is a fast in, fast out driver. These classifications are all relative to the top of the grid. Now just because both Kimi and Juan are excellent in controlling an oversteering car mid corner doesn't mean they are as good as Ralf or Michael in deep braking, i.e. throwing the car into the corner. Montoya infact mentioned that he was unable to brake as late as Ralf, simply because he couldn't control the car on entry and under braking as well as the German.

Yep, it's noticed a long time ago Ralf is a late braker and controls the car on brakes into corner. But we have seen it's risky affair with unstable FW25 :

[karlth]

Originally posted by HSJ
Oh come on Karlth! Setups affect a lot too! DC is pretty good at setups, and if he finds a better balance than KR then he can attack corners better etc. keeping more momentum going and accelerate earlier and whatnot. But talking about this year, KR was faster in Melbourne, Sepang we didn't get to see, Interlagos KR was faster in the wet, DC in the dry(er), KR faster in Imola, Barcelona we didn't get to see, KR faster at A1. No mystery here!

Hold your horses my feathered friend.

Until the A1 ring Coulthard felt at least on par with Kimi. There really wasn't anything between them in Melbourne and Imola while on the whole David seemed slightly quicker at Interlagos and in Sepang.

But that's for another thread.

Now what I was commenting on was the original statement that implied Kimi being "Fast in and Fast out" while David was "Fast in and Slow out". A very silly proposition, unless perhaps David is "Much faster in and slow out".

I would believe the original statement if Kimi was a second quicker than David, but that obviously hasn't been the case this season.

On slightly different note though. There is no denying that Kimi's A1 qualifying lap was highly impressive. Montoya seemed a bit shell shocked in the qualifying press conference, I don't think Juan believes anyone is quicker than him but Kimi most certainly was through turn 1.

[masterhit]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
Actually id say MS is the smoothest. You cant drive a car with that much oversteer without being very efficient with your controls

Not sure if he is the smoothest, but I totally agree that his feel for just how far to push the car and no more is something else. His mental application during a race and competitiveness is still astonishing too.

[maclaren]

Originally posted by masterhit
Not sure if he is the smoothest, but I totally agree that his feel for just how far to push the car and no more is something else. His mental application during a race and competitiveness is still astonishing too.

Not even talk about how Michael can run 400m steep uphill without sweating and getting out of breath ;)