NewsOnF1 - Your thoughts on the '02 United States Grand Prix

Ferrari dominated yet again ... not as much as in the past few races though. Coulthard managed to finish on the podium ahead of Montoya with Trulli and Villeneuve scoring points.

Your thoughts ? Of course you can comment on other aspects of the race - Have Your Say (What others are saying)

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What others are saying:

A race win is just a statistic, and if that's all you look at, you miss most of the content of an F1 race. In the case of Ferrari at the 2002 USGP, you miss exciting qualifying, an exciting start, exemplary driving and race management, and superb 8 second pit stops. So appreciate these things, stop whining about MS not crossing the line first, and realize that you were witness to history being made, as an unmatched race craftsman added a bit of drama to the USGP race experience - Jeff R - USA

First of all, i am not disappointed by the way MS and RB finished the race but i am more disappointed that other teams are not able to challenge them in ANY way. I think it was a better finish than previous few races where there was nothing to watch or talk about. Kimi was definitely unfortunate to have had 3 engine blows in a row. He will win a few races next year if mclaren can improve their car. I don't see BAR challenging any of the top teams or even second tier teams like sauber in next two years. It is time for JV to move to some other team. - Vandana - India

I think people who critisize Michael Schumacher and Ferrari for their strategy, team orders, and behavior at the finish of the race do so only because they have nothing else to say against them.
Ferrari are having a perfect season, and that's what makes fans of their rivals hate them even more. Their rivals cannot keep up with Ferrari, and that's what makes them hate Ferrari as well. Ferrari dominated the whole weekend, and even the whole season, they were a step ahead of all other teams in technology and in preparation for the races. Ferrari is having a brilliant season mostly due to their hard work and dedication. And those who can't stand MS and Ferrari have nothing else to say against them except blaming them for achieving something that they deserved. This is nothing else but jealousy and weakness, the weakness to admit the superiority of the rival team.
This weekend M.Schumacher and R.Barrichello showed the whole world again that Formula 1 is a team sport. They support the team and each other. They put their team interests above their own. They have shown the real class and courtesy towards each other. As for the sport and competition, it's all about the teams' orders. Team is the one developing the strategy for their drivers and implementing it. The driver on the track is nothing without team. So what's wrong with handing the victory to the teammate when he needs it for his standing in the championship. It was Ferrari's victory, doesn't matter - Schumacher's or Barichello's, it was Ferrari's victory, and other teams weren't even near. So it's time give those guys a break. They worked so hard together for several years. Let them enjoy the results of their work - Julia - USA

J.P.Montoya is the only one who brings emotions to F1. He is trying his best with a poor car. Patrick Head must be working on developing a better car instead of yelling his frustrations. My final opinion is that F1 urges to change many things otherwise fan will be looking for other sports to watch - Sergio P - Boston - USA

I was very disappointed in the F1 finish. There were thousands of people around us and I think you may have lost all of those people as fans. I don't believe there was one happy fan when a race is fixed like that. We drove 12 hours to see the race and that is what it should have been - a race. Michael dominated the whole race only to pass it over at the end.
F1 will take a major hit for "fixing" races like that - it is not the first and will surely not be the last - but I can tell you one thing - it will be the last time a lot of people flock to Indianapolis for an F1 race. Ferrari should be ashamed of themselves.
A very disgruntled fan! Stick to racing! - Linda H - Canada

You either like or dislike MS. In the same way, you either like or dislike Ferrari. I am a fan of both MS and Ferrari, but that does not stop me from admiring other drivers....
DC for his ever amiable demeanor, Villeneuve for his drive regardless of whether or not his car is powerful, Kimi and the retired(?) Mika Hakkinen for the same reason, and many others. I also like the BMW and the Mercedez engines.
So to talk against what Michael and Rubens did in the finish line of the US Grand Prix is senseless. The two were just having fun and it is not their fault because the others just could not cope up with their speed. Perhaps instead of talking why don't the other manufacturers or race directors just go back to their drawing boards and come up with something that can at least honestly compete with the red cars in time for the next racing season. Then they won't have to worry about F1 dying by providing a worthy competition vs. Ferrari. Can you blame the drivers if they appear to be very dominant this season? And for lack of competition, they just have clean fun without unnecessarily taking each other out!! Is that bad for the sport? I do not think so. Give them the competition that they deserve and I think they will respond well.
I believe Ferrari worked hard to attain this level of performance in their car, and you can not take that away from them. Until the other cars measure up, then we will still see a lot of this fun run. As the saying of the affluent goes: if you have it, flaunt it!!!! - Manny P - Philippines

I have read with interest the comments by other team bosses. Patrick Head should not worry about what his peers at Ferrari thinks - he should worry about building better cars, ones that will give Ferrari a run for their money. This race did nothing worse for motor racing than Ferrari's dominance and other teams comparative lack of performance hasn't already done. All championship standings have already been decided long ago. People came to watch the race because they love the sport and in this particular race there wasn't going to be any surprises or scores to settle.
Ron Dennis talks of the race being trivialised. What utter rubbish. The race and for that matter the whole season has already been trivialised (if you have to call it that) by Ferrari's dominance. Ron, forget about trivialisations and settle the under currents in your team while you are building better cars.
Eddie Jordan, when somebody is so dominant you are never going to see hard fighting to the end. They will do enough to be safe and no more. That's just the way things are. The limit will not be explored by unnecessary risks - they are too professional for that.
However, I still enjoyed every minute of it. For me the highlight of this race was the Speedtrap Classifications which I saw for the very first time. Interesting to note that during the warm-ups Michael was fastest around the track but on the speedtrap he was only 19th fastest - second last!! Even in the race his top speed at the speed trap only put him 13th (out of 16 finishers) but he scored a couple of fastest laps!! This guy knows how to drive, that's for sure. The mark of a true champion - a legend in motor racing - Johan M - South Africa

It appeared to me that Rubens and MS got their signals crossed. MS moved way off line on the last corner which Rubens took to mean as "come on by", but MS just wanted a photo-finish, with him as the winner. Both drivers have showed a lot of class, with MS totally supporting Rubens and Rubens showing a lot of gratitude for that support. Does this hurt the sport? There will probably be a few shrill voices screaming about Ferrari ruining the sport, and a few fair weather fans saying that it is all rigged. But if the other teams would get up to Ferrari's level then they would not have the opportunity to pull these kind of stunts. So overall, No, I don't think it will hurt in the long run.
Ralf and JPM had better learn how to be a TEAM. For drivers of their caliber to make a rookie mistake of running in to somebody is bad enough, but to run into your own team-mate is unthinkable. Maybe Ferrari has got it right and team orders are the way to go. It certainly hasn't hurt them over the last few seasons - Jeff S - USA

Well then, what can we say... Ferrari dominate again and Michael gets it wrong! I don't believe he was handing RB the win, but I do think he was trying for an extremely close finish.
As for the other teams being closer, I don't think so. Watching the on board shots the Ferrari drivers never looked like they were doing anything more than high speed cruisin, while everyone else had to earn every penny of their salaries.
I hope (wish) after this one that MS will just forget about staged finishes and photo opportunities and just show how dominant he can be when he really has to drive and that we get a display of his extraordinary talent in Japan. Thats what the fans want to see (and the opposition can find out just how far behind the game they really are.) - Pete - USA

I would certainly love to see how the British Press would react to Rubens winning this one. And if they are as critical of it as when it happened in Austria. There certainly wasn't a lot of booing going on and I believe Michael made good on his promise that he'll support Rubens after the World Championship is concluded - White NIN - Australia

I DON'T CARE WHAT ANY ONE ELSE SAYS ABOUT FERRARI THERE THE BEST DAM TEAM IN F1 I HAVE BEEN SUPPORTING FERRARI SINCE 1990 AND M SCHUMACHER IS THE BEST DRIVER IN THE WORLD
I THINK IT'S RIGHT FOR FERRARI TO HAVE FINISHED THE US GRAND PRIX LIKE THE GOOD FOR THEM - Keith - England

A nice button of this hate to hate relationship between brother Ralph and that stubborn (faster) Latin American... As for the final lap incident, Rubens never looked more second (on merit), but I like it honestly, and I wasn't expecting it, especially form Michael - Alberto R - Paraguay

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