34 replies to this topic

[Joe Fan]

that he has scored as many points (44) this year as Mika Hakkinen did last year through nine races. He is only 4 points shy of scoring as many as he did all of last year (48). Keep in mind that he has had at least 10 points taken away from him by FIA's rules and rulings, none of which were his fault. In the French Grand Prix, he demonstrated that he can pass Michael. He has also outscored his WDC teammate and is qualifying ahead of him lately. All of this with a near-death experience to boot.

All in all, he is the biggest surprise so far this season. It is time for all the critics to throw some praise his way as he has surely taken a beating the last few years, some of which was justified. But so far this year, you have to give him credit where credit is due. Way to go David and good job!

[911]

For sure, DC is a different driver in 2000. Last year there were times when he showed some hesitation when it came to passing.

However, this year - especially since his near fatal plane crash - DC has been on fire. It looks as if he is driving w/ a statement. He clearly has a lot of momentum going in his favor. Also, his confidence must be at an all-time high right now. If Schuey doesn't watch it he will lose the title to Coulthard.

911

[Montre-AL]

You are correct Joe - I've been a harsh critic of DC but am happy to see the guy turn his career around. It's a shame that it took a near-death experience to shake him out of his mediocre lethargy but better late than never. It will be interesting how he handles himself when crunch-time arrives near the end of the season - pressure pressure pressure!!!

[Andy]

Anyone else notice that Mika's career took an about face after his huge crash in Australia, now DC's turns around after a plane crash...

What is it with crashes and post-crash on-track performance??

[Mobile_Chicane]

What's so different about him? I don't think the plane crash has affected his driving one bit.

Last year he was already pretty damn aggressive. At Austria he went to pass his teammate in a place where it really wasn't possible. In this case he made it through but his teammate didn't.

At Hockenheim he tried a few moves on Salo, but came off worse.

Then at Spa he out muscled Mika at the first corner where they touched. Mika was peeved off as hell after that. DC won the race and Mika sulked on the podium.

Then at Malaysia he took on MS and again muscled and opponent out of the way.

That is three agressive passes already last year and two of those were on his teammate.

This year hes pretty much continued the same thing he started doing mid last year or so and the only difference now is that hes car is not braking down and he is not having similar shunts where he damages his own car like Hockenheim where he rammed into Salo after another pass attempt.

The only reason he is infront of Mika is because of more reliability this season.

good luck to him though. At least hes providing entertainment. Mika on the otherhand is happy to site there a bide his time and not even attempt passing.

[Cociani]

I don't know whether the plane crash affected DC or whether that is just us romantisising a harrowing expirience. DC is driving very well but what has really impressed me is his tonasity. This year he overcomes adversity and pushes hard never giving up and is reaping the rewards where when somthing goes wrong for Mika he seems to give up unless he sees a golden opportunity. DC deserves every point he has this season, he is working for them. I have been very critical of DC in the past and last year I often said that I did not think he deserved his ride. This year I think he deserves his ride more than Mika does. I hope this season goes to the wire it should be very exciting.

[molive]

Cociani is right.

Many here have hoped on this "DC, the survivor" wagon, and now, because he makes less mistakes and benefits from an equal treatment environment at McLaren (something RB can only dream about), coupled with the fact that Mika has sucked big time lately, suddenly DC has been upgraded from "Cubey" to "DC the Lion".

I give DC credit for his win and for finally deciding to step up his game (nothing like having your higly prized McLaren seat in doubt to make you move your arse and do something, huh?), but I still expect him to be just DC after all and feck up come crunch time. MS will win this year's WDC, no escape from that. Maybe DC will be allowed to win one in 2001, but not this year. The only way DC could have a shot at MS this year, is if McLaren started enforcing team order as of now. Ferrari is already openly playing the team card, they have chosen their candidate for WC, and so R.Dennis and his team should do, if they allow MH and DC to take points of eachother they will be handing the CC in a silver platter to MS's team.


That's IMHO anyway.

[davy boy]

It's only a hunch, but I honestly think DC will take the WDC this year, his car is quick enough, MH isn't bothering, he only needs to beat MS (which he's shown he can)and the title is his. I think his days of clowning it are over, given reliability he's going to win it.

Anyway, Ferrari can win it next year, as usual

[Thunder]

Davy , can you show me how you saw he can beat MS. He couldnt overtake him during 9 laps with a car 3 seconds a lap faster. Is it beating?
DC was lucky it didnt rain.

[MacFan]

Thunder,

1. Only 1 overtaking place at Magny-Cours
2. Straight before Adelaide corner preceded by a fast corner - difficult to stay close enough coming on to the straight unless the driver in front gets it wrong
3. Schumacher's, ahem, "vigorous" defence of his position

These points should be familiar to anyone who's been watching F1 over the last few years.

DC did well to get past MS as soon as he did.

[Thunder]

MacFan vigurous or masterfull. Dont worry to say it. MS had one of his best races of his career . Now i rate him more near Senna. Senna could surely defense his position more laps but not till the end. For me now he is the best after Senna.

[JaqFan]

I've criticised him in the past, but I have to say that he is definitely improving, either through more skill, more luck, or both. Although I'd like to see RD give team orders to allow MH to gain three consecutive WDC, it'd be a hard decision for hiim to make in light of DC's good performances of late.

[lomond]

Originally posted by Thunder
Davy , can you show me how you saw he can beat MS. He couldnt overtake him during 9 laps with a car 3 seconds a lap faster. Is it beating?
DC was lucky it didnt rain.

Thunder,

Where did you find the data that stated DC & MH were running 3 seconds a lap faster than MS. Schumacher was not running that far off the pace.

If I recall correctly, DC, after passing RB was running approximately 1 to 1.5 seconds per lap faster than Schumacher. Keeping in mind the Macs had, and were, hauling in the Ferraris extremely well under breaking conditions, this time factor is a logical figure per lap. Therefore, Michael Schumacher was not that far off the pace of David Coulthard.

David Coulthard out paced, out maneuvered, and out classed Michael Schumacher fair and squarely. DC passed both Ferraris with aggression and style. (This is not the first time DC has outmaneuvered your great one.)

So for once in your F1 fan club career, can you not give credit where credit is due. DC won the French Grand Prix in grand style by out driving Schumacher. It was a great duel.

BTW. I find Schumachers blown engine a bit suspicious.His Ferrari locked up pretty good on the down shift going into the corner. Two or three seconds later poof, high revs, engine gone.

Take care.

[man from martinlaakso]

I think, that DC had a very strong week-end. He had major problems with the car before the time trials on Friday and Saturday, but he overcame them and was a worthy winner with two good passes. Congratulations to David !

However, to say, that DC outpaced MS is somewhat inaccurate, because Michael had SERIOUS problems through most of the race. His tyres were pretty bad after some 15 laps, and his engine leaked oil for nearly 30 laps. So Michael in fact did rather well to fight against the mighty Macs so long. But if your car is not working properly, you just can't win.

[samanloinen]

Yes I jumped on the "the survivor" bandwagon. I did not think much of DC before the plane crash, but respect him a helluva lot more after his performance immediately after that crash. Anybody who thinks something like that has no effect on a guy has obviously lived in the baby crib too long.

Joe fan - good topic, but I beg to differ on the 10 pts lost not out of his own fault. I'll give you 6 pts for the disqualified wing, but the start was his own mistake. HE stalled it.

Cociani - "romanticising a harrowing experience"? Have you ever been in a plane crash or any crash where someone died for that matter? If not, then YOU'RE romanticising. What was your most harrowing experience? Compare.

Mobile_Chicane - That is some of the most blatantly biased attempts to back up an arguement I've seen in awhile. Only topped by Thunder (see below). It puts everything else you write in a stupid light.

Thunder - 3 seconds? Schumi was in the red car, not the yellow Minardi. Why make such a silly statement? (especially without any backing evidence)

[Donny]

Hi,

As a big MS fan, allow me to say that we can not make any excuses for MS at the French GP. He was well and truly beat. That he did not know set up his car as well as DC so that he could preserve his tyres is his problem. In the interview DC made it clear that he was running less wing so that they would have more speed in the strainght and under braking. Less wing around that circuit was obviously going to help tyre wear.

However, to say that DC has shown himself to be capable of overtaking MS without looking at circumstances is being optimistic.

In Barcelona and France, DC's car had a clear advantage, regardless of whose fault it is, and it is under these circumstances that he was able to overtake. Very much similar to MS overtaking MH in Brazil. Yes he had to work for it but it was always possible. But we were not comparing apples with apples. When DC is able to do that in a fight fo r the lead (not a Malaysia type race) such as MS did to MH in Nurburgring, then I will call it a class drive. At Nurburgring, the driver ability made the difference and it was clear to see.

[Joe Fan]

Samanloinen, DC is a professional driver. I would put more faith that that something was wrong with his car rather than the idea that he stalled the car himself. It is not like he stalled the car getting off the grid, the car stalled way before then.

[mtl'78]

according to DC himself, he tried to release it a different way and it just stalled. But kudos to DC, and it isn't 10 points, it's 12, he was a clear 2nd at Montreal (in front of the JV mobile chicane) so you can say he would have been 2nd, and then there's Brazil, 6 pts lost! that makes it even with MS this season!!!!!!!!!!!

[MacFan]

Thunder,

Subtlety is obviously wasted on you. "Vigorous" is the most polite word I can find to describe Schumacher's usual defence of his position."Masterful" I would reserve for somebody who has the ethics to go with his talent.

Were you watching the same race as me? I guess you're taking the piss by suggesting this was one of MS's best races. If you're not, please seek professional help

[Garagiste]

Oooh,
MS's tyres had gone off, so DC didn't really pass and beat him (and RB), fair & square?
For once Ferrari have really come up with an excellent (bloody red) car this season.
If DC (here's hoping) wins the WDC this year, what's the betting that "it was only because he had the best car"?

PS:
Get well soon Murray!

[BuzzingHornet]

DC did a number on Mika, Rubens and Michael last weekend. He was the best driver out there...

I hope this carries on in Austria, I can't wait!

[Cociani]

Samanloinen, in no way was I trying to minimise what happened to DC. All I am saying is that you or I nor anybody else know how that event effected DC everybody reacts differently to adversity. All the media have gone on and on about this but it is all pure speculation. I doubt that this is the reson DC has improved this season what he seems to have done is reached a new level of commitment to winning and just does not give up. I have the utmost respect for what he has done this year.

OT my most harrowing expirience happened when I was skydiving. It was my 6th jump and my first clear and pull.(means the instructor is not deploying your parachute you must deploy your ownafter clearing the plane this is all done at reletively low alltitude 3300-3500 ft). I crawled out onto the strut and we told let go, after a second I reached down grabbed the piolet chute and tossed it than tried to go back into my arch. I looked up no main chute worse than that having no freefall expirence I was out of position and tumbling through the air out of control after about 15 seconds I mananged to find and deploy my reserve chute and landed the little round chute with a resounding thud. My back was hurt but I was alive and shaken. The intructor in the plane said what had happened is that I had not thrown the reserve chute far enough and it had looped around my neck making it impossible to deploy the main chute. Samanloinen I believe everything that I expiriense changes me to a degree but for me even the most dramatic event have changed me one little bit at a time. I can only speak for myself in fact I think we all can only speak for our selfs when it comes to the effect of truama. We are not little robots who react all alike. I hope I did not offend anyone.

[IRISH]

From reading the papers and hearing the news,I feel a lot of people are being biased towards Coulthard.People are actually saying that Schumacher did something wrong when Coulthard attempted the overtaking moves.People are being blinded by the fact that he had a plane crash (it is bad,and I've sympathy for that)and by the fact that he was number two to Hakkinen for so long.If Schumacher did the moves that Coulthard did,he'd be critisised by everyone.

[Williams]

I prefer to take DC at face value when he says he is not doing anything differently, he has just started getting a reliable car and a les bad luck. And I really don't think that you say anything about his plance crash other than to say that he showed his mental toughness by not letting it affect his driving. I don't believe that near-death experiences make a better driver, just a more philosophical one.

I also believe that DC is looking so much better simply because his ill-fortune of last year and the beginning of the season has forced him to raise his game. He realized that in order to catch up in the Championship that he needed to concentrate a bit more consistently, train a bit harder, spend a bit more time on his setups, communicate a bit better with his team, practice a bit longer. Then, when his car was reliable, and he caught a few good breaks, that little bit of additional effort began to pay off in spades. It is something the way a coil spring, which, having quietly built a store of potential energy, and is suddenly released in the right circumstances, can have a huge impact.

Although I have always fallen into the camp that says that DC needs to leave McLaren to succeed, I have always thought highly of him for his mental strength. After one of his trademark bonehead mistakes, he seems to be able to spring back with, "OK I screwed up, now let's get to work on the next race." This his allowed him to maintain the self-belief, which seems to be now paying off for him.

[GaryG]

I too think that DC's plane crash was alife-defining moment. I think he has a new found resolve and toughness he lacked before. Right now, I'd say the race for the WDC is MS's to loose and DC's to win.

[aross]

If DC has shown more resolve lately, I think it probably has more to do with the fact that he has come to the realization that he's not the "new kid" anymore and probably doesn't want to go down as one of the most promising drivers on a top team NEVER TO HAVE WON THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.
That must be a truly sobering thought: Grandpa, how come your teammate won the worlds twice and you don't have one of those nice trophies? . . .

[Ray Bell]

In a thread mixing pathos, rhetoric, debate, fan mail and nonsense, I think aross has made the most sensible contribution after Joe's initial post.

[Chuck C]

Do people simply not understand English?
MS was NOT beaten "fair and squarely".
Firstly, DC clearly stated that he had less wing. This helped hin in the run down to Adelaide from Estoril. MS was unlucky in his setup because he couldn't have forecatsed that the tyres would be used after 10 laps or so. MS is good, but he can't predict the future!!!!!!
Also, the on board footage on the MACS clearly show oil leaking from the rear of MS car from lap 30 onwards. I'm not a genius, but surely this means that the engine in the F1-2000 is not in optimum condition- unlike DCs. Therefore, it WASNT a fair fight.
MS was a sitting duck, yet DC still had to have a stupid overtaking attempt around the outside before finally passing some laps later.
Simple. When you think about it.

CHUKC

[MacFan]

Originally posted by Chuck C
Do people simply not understand English?
MS was NOT beaten "fair and squarely".
Firstly, DC clearly stated that he had less wing. This helped hin in the run down to Adelaide from Estoril. MS was unlucky in his setup because he couldn't have forecatsed that the tyres would be used after 10 laps or so. MS is good, but he can't predict the future!!!!!!

I suppose the option of low downforce was not available to MS?

Also, the on board footage on the MACS clearly show oil leaking from the rear of MS car from lap 30 onwards. I'm not a genius, but surely this means that the engine in the F1-2000 is not in optimum condition- unlike DCs. Therefore, it WASNT a fair fight.

MS didn't complain about loss of engine power after the race.

MS was a sitting duck, yet DC still had to have a stupid overtaking attempt around the outside before finally passing some laps later.

As I have said elsewhere in this BB, it is possible to pass round the outside with a faster car. If the driver you are trying to pass keeps to the inside, what are you supposed to do?

Simple. When you think about it.

Maybe you should...

[Ray Bell]

Now what has an oil leak got to do with anything?
The 'think about it' line certainly applies here. The engine will run absolutely unhindered by a depleting oil supply until it no longer gets its full feed. This might be almost a whole race in some circumstances, as with JV's debut race at Albert Park. The lubrication of the engine only depends on there being sufficient oil at the pressure pump's pickup at all times. Low levels will lead to surge, but the tanks are designed to cope with very low levels before surge becomes evident. Most of the oil carried is to ensure temperature control, but please don't get the idea the engine was starving for oil for all that long. I would say a few hundred yards... but I'm only guessing.

[JaqFan]

All hail ChuckC! We have yet another blind, narrow-minded, excuse-making, MS-fan newbie on this BB.

MS had the option of running less wing, he chose greater stability over speed. This is just put down to driver preference and setup. DC's overtaking move was not stupid, I don't know what you're problem is. Is it just that your god got overtaken, and you're unable to handle it?

[Mobile_Chicane]

samanloinen,

What is so blatantly biased about what I wrote? DC himself has said time and time again that the accident has not changed him as a driver. In that respect he said he is the same DC as before. I make it pretty clear that I'm only talking about his driving. Just read the first sentence.

I wrote nothing how it has affected his life. Of course something like that has a psychological effect and can make you a stronger person or in many cases weaker mentally as some never recover after traumas like that.

[Donny]

Jaqfan, hold up a second. Not all MS fans and newbies to this board are blind and narrowminded. I for one, if I have to say myself am a devoted MS fan, but not blind. He is not a god and has made some serious mistakes in the past.

Chuck C - MS lost fair and as squarely as his jaw. He had all the same options as David had. Using your logic, because DC stuffed up his set up at Nurburgring, we have to claim that MS did not beat him fairly????? See no sense in that.

[aross]

thanks for the comment Ray Bell.
while I always enjoy the wildly speculative comments attracted to BB for their entertainment value, racing, and in particular racers, aren't usually that complicated.
Some would have you believe that they spend a lot of time trying to psyche eachother out, or themselves up. Usually they're a pretty regular assortment of good guys, a-- holes, and really boring people, just like any group.
Frankly, I put DC in the first group--even if he is a wisecracker and an unbridled gesticulator.

[Mobile_Chicane]

One more time

This is fresh from ITV. The Plane crash has had no effect on driving. Now he even says so again.

DC: 'Plane crash hasn't changed me'

David Coulthard has shrugged off suggestions his improved form is a result of the plane crash he suffered in May.

Many pundits have put Coulthard’s recent run of results down to a renewed focus in the wake of the fatal plane crash he survived, along with his fiancee and personal trainer, in May. The pilot and the co-pilot of the Lear Jet Coulthard was travelling in were killed when the plane crash landed at Lyon airport.

However DC puts his upturn in performance down to a more prosaic reason. The McLaren star claims his car hasn't suffered the early season reliability glitches that dogged his car in 1998 and 1999. And it's this that has boosted his confidence.

Speaking in next month’s F1 Racing magazine Coulthard said: “There’s no point in creating deep psychological reasons for it. I’ve scored points because I’ve finished races. Or, rather, my car has made it to the finish. That’s all. Seeing the chequered flag gives me confidence, and that confidence breeds more confidence – you know how it is.”

“I don’t feel particularly different from last season,” he added. “I still come to the circuits to do my job to the best of my ability and I don’t feel I’ve undergone some kind of weird personality change. I’m the same as ever.”