Schumi comes back

[timbo]

I have predicted that move. It is understandable because why should Williams give freebies to Ferrari. They are competing for constructor points and each point means money. The official reasoning is just PC bull manure.

WB, you can rename your title to "I have predicted" and seriously save your time posting

PS I loved that peace "in similar situation Williams would use test pilot". Of course Frank would be more than happy to replace Nakajima with Hulkenberg without breaching any contractual obligations

[SZ]

I can't believe you guys didn't see Red Bull's opposition coming a mile away...

I'd have been interested to see Toyota's response if they were the first to answer. Too easy to say no now. A bit delicate previously... pity team owners don't fly from the hip and bugger the politics anymore...

...where's Paul Stoddart when you need him!

[wesley123]

Well we all should care, there are rules set out for the season. Toro Rosso had to send a 19 year kid out on track without a single lap in a F1 car, just think about that for a moment, not a single lap before having compete against the top drivers anywhere in cars they had developed all year.

OK so they could have used an older car but that wouldnt help much really and Schumacher driving the F2007 is probably is a good compromise for Ferrari in getting trained up a bit but having a days testing in the F60 should not be allowed. Honestly we all should care, Schumacher has 3 free practice sessions before the race, the same as Alguersuari had, there really is no good reason for Ferrari to have special treatment here. If he is a god on the track as some here clearly believe then he won't need it.

More pure ignorance.

Can you please direct us to the article where a member of STR said that they asked for a test day with Jaime and were denied?

Like Haug said, "Ask and thou shalt receive."

So, is the argument that Ferrari even asked?

special for you: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77540

Why is Schumi, with 16 years experience allowed to test, while a dubuting guy with max 50 miles of straight line testing isnt? that is simply rediculous.

Ferrari is once again misusing their position in the formula 1, rules count for everyone, so also ferrari has to follow it.

[ISLAMATRON]

Sickening to see that STR was turned down... and yet so many were eager to just do as Ferrari pleases regardless of the rules.

[siskue2005]

Sickening to see that STR was turned down... and yet so many were eager to just do as Ferrari pleases regardless of the rules.

STR's was turned down so does Ferrari's request
and who were so eager to do as Ferrari pleases

[James]

Sickening to see that STR was turned down... and yet so many were eager to just do as Ferrari pleases regardless of the rules.

STR's was turned down so does Ferrari's request
and who were so eager to do as Ferrari pleases

+1

Both str and ferrari were treated the same, everybody just gets excited because it was ferrari and schumacher

if it was so outragous for ferrari to ask if schumi could test why no uproar when str did it?

[SZ]

It'd make my day if Schumacher turns up on Friday to find a crate of Red Bull outside his pit box with a small note on top.

"Michael,
Sorry about the test ban thing. Rules are rules.
Best of luck with the comeback and all.
You might be 40, but remember,
'Red Bull gives you wings'
-Dietrich Mateschitz"

[nipo]

I speculate there's a good reason Ferrari is trying to get Michael a test day in the F60 - not sure if it was meant to benefit Michael or Ferrari's development program, but it is quite something to ask the teams and FIA for and there must be something valuable about it IMO.

That said the F2007 is clearly a good option to get Michael accustomed to F1 again. Therefore I support Williams' move to reject the request. Yet I don't think it is about the "spirit of the rules", because I think the test ban was put in place to reduce cost, and using the F2007 will only make the test less relevant while costing maybe about the same.

I think it is to do with the clarity of the rules - better stand on the clear side of it rather than having other teams seize the opportunity to raise in-season test requests and turning it into a political mess. This was intended to be a summer break, so, let's keep it that way.

[ISLAMATRON]

So you think costs will remain the same if everyone starts running 2007 machines in a semi 2009 spec on GP2 tires bought off of Ebay(as jason.parker.86 suggests)

[ISLAMATRON]

Sickening to see that STR was turned down... and yet so many were eager to just do as Ferrari pleases regardless of the rules.

STR's was turned down so does Ferrari's request
and who were so eager to do as Ferrari pleases

you are, as are many other tifosi on this board, if it was up to you & them Ferrari could do whatever they wanted regardless of the rules, and Ferrari would do it because they feel entitled, supposedly they are F1

just like when they spent $50 Mil to improve "frozen" engines

[WhiteBlue]

I love to see Michael back but this whole episode only shows that the FOTA is nothing but the lap dog of Ferrari. They fell over their feet to announce that Ferrari could do as they please. They did not even wait to do a proper poll of their membership or they had discovered that Red Bull was opposed.

[ISLAMATRON]

exactly, Howwett could not even contain himself, Ferrari bitch that he is

[Conceptual]

Well we all should care, there are rules set out for the season. Toro Rosso had to send a 19 year kid out on track without a single lap in a F1 car, just think about that for a moment, not a single lap before having compete against the top drivers anywhere in cars they had developed all year.

OK so they could have used an older car but that wouldnt help much really and Schumacher driving the F2007 is probably is a good compromise for Ferrari in getting trained up a bit but having a days testing in the F60 should not be allowed. Honestly we all should care, Schumacher has 3 free practice sessions before the race, the same as Alguersuari had, there really is no good reason for Ferrari to have special treatment here. If he is a god on the track as some here clearly believe then he won't need it.

More pure ignorance.

Can you please direct us to the article where a member of STR said that they asked for a test day with Jaime and were denied?

Like Haug said, "Ask and thou shalt receive."

So, is the argument that Ferrari even asked?

special for you: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77540

Why is Schumi, with 16 years experience allowed to test, while a dubuting guy with max 50 miles of straight line testing isnt? that is simply rediculous.

Ferrari is once again misusing their position in the formula 1, rules count for everyone, so also ferrari has to follow it.

Thank you for this link. Up until this point, I don't believe that it was made public that STR asked, and were denied the test.

[bhall]

Norbert Haug gave his consent to the Schumacher F60 test. Does that make McLaren the lapdog of Ferrari?

I'm so sick of the blind Ferrari bashing.

One must remember that STR made a choice to replace Bourdais with an inexperienced driver. They did so, not out of necessity, but because they merely wanted to. And that's fine by me. A team is entitled to employ any driver they wish. But they did so fully knowing that he wouldn't be allowed to test.

Ferrari, on the other hand, were forced to replace Massa. This wasn't something they were seeking out, and it seems entirely fair to me that his replacement get the opportunity to test since this situation was unforeseen and unplanned.

But all of this is a moot point since the test will not happen. So, you may now proceed with your hatred of all things Ferrari.

[WhiteBlue]

Norbert Haug gave his consent to the Schumacher F60 test. Does that make McLaren the lapdog of Ferrari?

No, but Norbert Haug did not speak for an organization and misrepresented the position of some members. He just told his opinion which is honerable. It is equally honerable to refuse as Mateschitz and Sir Frank are doing.