NewsOnF1 - Keep him up front and out of harms way!

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Diagnosis & Prognosis
By the Heretic

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The Real Race
By the Quali-flyer

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Dear Heretic,

I think your summary of the fuel strategies are quite correct even if those strategies were somewhat bizarre. On the other hand if Coulthard remained in the race and Michael could have held him off he would have been in a very comfortable position but it is doubtful whether Michael would have held him off. But it would have been an entirely different race.
As for Michael's comparatively slow pace as against Mika, this is a very debateable point. One thing is for sure - Mika was very fast. Faster than I think Michael could have been. Mika set new lap records a couple of times. Mika's car was fantastic and reliable for a change which is more than can be said it was for the season up to now. Michael was a lot slower but there are a number of reasons that could be attributed to this. Firstly as you quite correctly pointed out he was heavy. Why? We don't know. But was he that heavy that Mika could pull away by that much? I don't think so. I think he must have thought about Spa 1998 where David took him out (my view) after Mika retired early in the race. That, to me, is why he let Mika through and did not chose to do battle with him. Keep him up front and out of harms way!
As for the speed of Mika and the McLaren, one must remember that Silverstone is their home track and the one they predominantly use for testing and one would have expected them to do well here. Going to Hockenheim is going to be a different kettle of fish all together and I doubt whether McLaren will be able to maintain the momentum they bring forward from Silverstone.
As far as Mika is concerned, yes it is a matter of too little too late as his chances of winning the title is a mathematical impossibility. He must now make good on his promise to help David in such an eventuality. But it is going to be difficult as from now on forward, if David wins a race (and he has to win about all of them) Michael only needs to come 3rd. And if David does not win the situation for Michael improves - Johan M - South Africa (Reference Heretic 3-23)

The Heretic replies:

Johan,

Had Coulthard stayed in the race, I am sure that we would have seen a very different Schumacher. His car would have been as wide as an ossewa.

But, I agree with you, he would probably not have had the pace to stay ahead of McLaren on their test track. Letting Mika through was the right move for the championship. Deliberately being safe and heavy and therefore not competitive irks. He may not have had the pace - but they did not even try.

I think that "difficult" is an understatement. It is closer to impossible.

Michael will want to get those 2 victories that will make him the driver that has won the most races ever and he also knows that only one more victory will get the championship lead with virtually no risk of being overtaken. On the other hand he may want to play it safe and get to the point where the championship is in the bag before he takes any risks.

Michael drives like a machine. He has the ability to find the limit and stay on that limit longer than any other driver I have seen. I can count on one hand the number of times that I have seen him allow his emotions to affect his driving since he has been at Ferrari.

But he also thinks like a machine. It is undeniably more logical to win the championship by coming 2nd and 3rd rather than risk injury or retirement. It is the safe call and I believe that he is very capable of making that decision and disciplined enough to stick to it.

The Heretic