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Thanks, again, for a balanced and considered post-race summary.(reference Issue 33 - The Championship is won!)

I especially appreciate your fairness with respect to Mika's and Michael's skills. I can't help but wonder, though, whether or not you mean to imply that, somehow, Michael would be able to "adapt" in a McLaren as readily as he was able to do so in the Ferarri. I'm not altogether convinced of this.

Granted my total (and I mean TOTAL) ignorance of how things are done at McLaren, I can't help but wonder if there isn't the same Teutonic efficiency with the team that has always been the mark of Mercedes. That means a kind of insistence on maximum theoretical performance and a corresponding impatience with the vagaries of reality (like weather and the foibles of human beings). This, in turn, translates to brilliant performance when all the variables are controlled and a puzzling ineptness when something goes (as Bobbie Burns says) 'agly.' On the other hand, Ferrari is always scrapping and looking to turn everything and anything to their advantage.

I guess what I am saying is that I find the skills of F1 pilots astonishing (there are at LEAST five or six absolutely brilliant drivers here; I am amazed that they are as generally courteous and generous to one another as they are!).

Given the realities of money and the fact that F1 cars are, in fact, exceedingly complex and beautiful works of art, it is going to be hard to manage enough "overtaking" to satisfy fans who prefer the formula employed by CART and INDY RACING LEAGUE types.

Would F1 really be "better" if the teams were running virtually indistinguishable machines? I don't think so. Again. Thanks for your consistently high performance. You have made my season much more enjoyable and I look forward to another! - Jim W - USA

The Heretic replies:

Hi Jim,

Yes, I think you are right that McLaren are Teutonic and do not cope well when the wheels come off. You are also right when you claim that Ferrari are better at scrambling for points when they can.

But I think that Schumacher, Teutonic or not, has that Italian ability to
adapt very fast, even to a McLaren.

Thank you for your kind words - I'll be there next year.

The Heretic