Montoya - World Champion ???

v10

Good chance that it's all over now ...

- 6 points seperating Schumacher & Montoya with 4 races to go.
- Ralf Schumacher out of the running and Williams announcing they will be using Ralf to assist Montoya now.
- At least 3 of the 4 races remaining suit the Williams ... i.e. Hot & High Speed.

I am a Schumacher Fan, but reckon Montoya has it all sewn up now. Although I hope I'm wrong !

What do you think ? Who do you think will be 2003 World Champion ?

celticfc

I hope he doesn't do it this year, although if he does, it will be very well deserved after all he hasn't always had 1st driver preference this year at Williams.

I see it as a 2 horse race between him & shumi. I think Raikkonen has blew his chance & won't recover.

I'd love to see Michael to make it 6 @ suzuka winning it by a point or something.

DUX

I think Suzuka and Monza may suit Ferrari better than Williams, specially if it starts raining (but unfortunately it doesn't happen that often, and even if it does happen Montoya is very good under the rain), however I recon that at the moment Montoya may be the favourite for the final victory, although 6 points are more than what they look like.... especially when you think that M. Schumacher went off only once in the last 2 years.

Schumacher is still favourite for the bookmakers (8/15 until yeaterday ) but I think I am going to bet 50 Euro on Montoya (paid 2/1 in paddypower.com ... this means that betting 50 would have a return 150) ...not bad, isn't it?

celticfc

2-1 are good odds alright.
Monza will particularly suit Ferrari as they have a greater straight line speed & theres little or no infield sections there.

celticfc

Has anyone seen this ??

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/3122163.stm

It predicts:

1 M Schumacher 101pts*
2 JP Montoya 101
3 K Raikkonen 81
* Schumacher wins on # of race victories

Woden

I thought the ferrari only greater straight line speed then the williams as they typically run less wing? I thought williams had more grunt to be honest.

I hope montoya takes it though it would be so sweet, schumacher doesn't deserve to be on top after his last few races.

Kalina

I also would have though the BMW has more straight line speed and therefore would have the better chance at the next couple of circuits.
JPM deserves the championship and the sport really needs a new champion. 4 in a row for Schuey, while a phenomenal achievement for him and Ferrari, wouldn't be so good for F1. If he doesn't win he'll come back all guns blazing in Melbourne, and he's at his best when his back's to the wall.
I wouldn't rule out Kimi to challenge though, he's had woeful luck and no hope of the new car this year, or possibly ever, but he'll really try for the last few races with DC to support if and when he can.
If JPM doesn't win it this year he'll win it next year!

Woden

yes kimi has had a bad run of it lately, sunday would have been an interesting race if he had have gotten away, i'm just glad schumacher hasn't be able to capitalise on his losses

Dcully

Montoya is a class act and is definitely a driver schumi fears.
the few times they did fight for same piece of track Montoya came out on top.
He is the real racer among them ,but schumi has the great ability of setting his car up,a skill that seems to go un-noticed but is probably the most important aspect of the lot.
Ive followed Montoyas career quite a bit and i can tell you he fears nothing and no-one.
Schumi is still an amazing driver but up to now Montoya has been very unlucky with reliability issues.
I sence a large shift in power in F1 soon with Williams and MClaren more than matching Ferrari.
I tip Montoya but Schumi wont give up easy.
Gwan Montoya!

Washout

This year id love to see montoya win it.

but next year will be defo interesting....mclaren will have a new car next year i cant see how they cant.

are constructors sticking with the same tyre manufacturers next sseason?
thatll be the most interesting...I think bridgestone are gonna have to come back all guns blazing

Woden

i hope montoya wins it too it will be good for the sport and imo the sport has had a good year also, plus i hate schumacher and just don't want him to win and montoya seems the most likely to stop him at the moment.

Dcully

If the Williams stays reliable,mark my words Montoya will beat Schumi.

Woden

Originally posted by Dcully
If the Williams stays reliable,mark my words Montoya will beat Schumi.

Words marked above

Da Man

Even though I like JPM, he's not consistent enough to be objectively better than MS. Right now JPM has a better car with better tyres, but sometimes he makes silly mistakes or doesn't get the setup right so it's not really a banker. But thank God for a driver who tries. A lot of the other ones seem to be happy to "overtake" at pit stops.

Töpher

the way that williams is at the minute it'll take a miracle for montoya to mess up the set-up, he's pretty good with it i think. i think next year will be insane, renault will be up there, and williams and ferrari will be sooooooo close, and i think mcLaren will fall back to where renault are now, but thats just IMO.

Creamy Goodness

tbh any1 is up for this years title the new rule changes have made F1 a lot more interesting to me anyway

Woden

tbh honest i don't think the rules have made a fantastic difference to the races, at the end of the day williams have a good car better then before and ferraris for some reason isnt as good that at the end of the day is what is making the difference. Yes the qualifying with fuel is interesting as it mixes up the grid somewhat but i still think the two day qualifying is pants.

Töpher

f1-live were talking about a show-down after the races between the 3 podium finishers, for an extra 3 points, like a 10 lap race or something where just the 3 of them battle each other, and they'd all start from the same position. intersting idea - will probably never come out though!

Woden

Would you approve of that i don't think it is such a good idea especially when we can see so little overtaking in some races and also if they where allowed fresh tires and a refuel, it would only be interesting if they had to carry the extra fuel throughout the last stint.

celticfc

Originally posted by Einstürzende
f1-live were talking about a show-down after the races between the 3 podium finishers, for an extra 3 points, like a 10 lap race or something where just the 3 of them battle each other, and they'd all start from the same position. intersting idea - will probably never come out though!

It would never work, I don't like the idea anyway.