Comments on: The R28: All Off A Sudden Fisichella & Kovalainen Don’t Look So Bad

By: Alianora La Canta

Alianora La Canta — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:11:56 +0000

A team with a driver approaching 200 races should have had the sense to let him test once they knew they had a problem, instead of making Kovalainen and Piquet Jr. do all the testing from May onwards. Experience doesn’t do much good solving a team’s problems if the team doesn’t want to utilise it…

By: Keith

Keith — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:38:29 +0000

I don’t agree about Fisichella - a driver approaching 200 races should have had the experience to help the team with the inconsistencies they struggled with the R27. Instead he got his backside handed to him by a rookie.

I think with Alonso back at the team we’ll see what a genuinely top-level driver can do with a bad car.

By: Stephen Hill

Stephen Hill — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:54:13 +0000

I’m not an Alonso fan, however, it must be said that I do believe that he gives “six-tenths” to the car.

He helped Renault develop the car into a champion winning car and then when he left, it didn’t do very well.

Now 2008 is here, the car perhaps looks like it has the same pace as last year, but I have a 6th sense that the car is getting better and better with each race and that it won’t be long till Fernando is on the podium.

Stephen

By: Ago

Ago — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 21:48:01 +0000

This kind of analysis surely can be taken the other way around…
look at the McLaren Results 2007-2008
2007 after Malaysia = 18 (FA) + 14 (LH) = 32
2008 after Malaysia = 10 (HK) + 14 (LH) = 24
Can I conclude that Lewis has made no progress and Heikki is only 55% worth Fernando Alonso ? Or may be the McLaren has not improved since last year ?

I will not jump to this conclusion indeed…

We know that in F1 the car does a lot in the result, but we don’t need figures to see how the drivers behave. Surely Alonso is a great driver and he is worth a couple of tenth on a quick lap… Let’s wait until Monaco to see where we are.

Lewis and Fernando are great racers that can get from their car more that its face value. Heikki ? wait and see… but I admit the R27 was not the best car for a rookie to say the least…

Briatore ? Well Italian characters are not easy to understand for brits, what could I say ? Look at its achievements they speak for themselves. But I agree the guy is… special

By: Will Robins

Will Robins — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:48:53 +0000

Flavio Briatore should stop messing about with QPR and should keep his head on formula 1 and if he can make the R28 better. Both Alonso and Piquet are great drivers but do not have the pace in the car to get podiums. Im a mclaren fan and am pleased with Kovalainen signing and if he had a competitive car last year he would of scored more than 30 points.

By: Pedro

Pedro — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:41:29 +0000

I think both drivers are good, and they may have been treated unfairly last season, but also think they can’t be judged equally. Which harmed more Fisichella’s reputation was how performed compared with his teammate year after year, and that was completely an “apples to apples” comparison (yours it’s OK but obviously less accurate, and the spectrum it’s too narrow.)

Otherwise, Heikki was a rookie. He needed time and confidence, which he did not get. Hamilton performed very since the start but that’s very, very hard to do.

By: Alianora La Canta

Alianora La Canta — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:31:12 +0000

This is what happens when Flavio Briatore spends more time messing his drivers about than actually managing his team. I have yet to see any evidence to suggest that Alonso/Piquet Jr. is a better combination to drive the 2008 Renault than Fisichella/Kovalainen, and I suspect that it may even be worse.

Oh well, Renault’s loss is McLaren and Force India’s gain, and as a Force India fan, I’m grateful that someone as good as Fisi is there to make best use of the VJM01.

By: Don Speekingleesh

Don Speekingleesh — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:41:05 +0000

The R27 wasn’t a slow car, but it was very inconsistant, which made it hard for the drivers to really push it.
I think the R28 is more consistant corner to corner, but not quite as quick. I think over the course of the year the team will improve it and it’ll leave them in a much better position for next year.