Yes JPM was catching MS at a huge rate. However catching and overtaking are two totally different things in Formula 1. MS is a very good racer and is not easy to pass, even when the person trying to pass him is faster.
From what was shown on the coverage, MS was very slow coming out of the Ford Kurve and this meant JPM was all over the back of him. I don't know if Michael was slow coming out of there all the time, nor do I know if he was slow in other overtaking areas. The fact is JPM was closing rapidly on MS and on the approach to the Dunlop hairpin he saw he had an opportunity to pass MS. In Formula 1 you don't get many chances to pass.
JPM took his opportunity with both hands and went around the outside of MS and made it stick. JPM may or may not have got other opportunities to pass MS, there is no way we will ever know. The fact is JPM is a racer. He saw he had an opportunity to pass and he had the skill to pull it off.
MS was on the defensive line turning into the corner. JPM was outside of him and broke later going into the Dunlop hairpin. This allowed him to get ahead of MS and sweep around the outside of him. JPM then held his car tight and only gave MS minimal room. This is 100% legal. MS then ran up into JPM with his front wing clipping JPM's tyre. MS then spun.
There is nothing wrong with that at all. It’s called racing. Perhaps a lot of one-eyed MS fans out there have forgotten what RACING is all about. That is understandable though after Ferrari's efforts at the Austrian and US GP's last year. Now that move MS made on RB at Austria last year, now that was a great overtaking maneuver! :err:
Yes JPM is an aggressive driver but that’s what I love about watching him race. He is not scared of racing wheel to wheel with MS, or anyone else for that matter. He is a genuine racer.
FPRXR-6: I don't have a problem with you, or anyone else, having an opinion. However as marine1 said, you just come out and sprout crap without any regards to the facts.
M. Schumacher was running 2nd until Montoya punted him into the gravel.
That doesn't sound like much of an opinion to me? Sounds more like you are stating facts. Which in this case could not be anymore incorrect. There is no way in hell that JPM 'punted' MS into the gravel! There was slight contact between JPM and MS, and MS spun. Where is the punting? Perhaps you need to think back to Adelaide 94 and Jerez 97 for examples of punting!
Ferrari fans and non Moanertoya fans are sick of hearing how Montoya is the next superstar and how hes going to destroy Ferrari, the Brit press made him out to be the next big thing, whilst almost ruining Ralfs career.
I am a big motorsport fan and a JPM fan (just incase you couldn't guess!). I am also one of those people that believes that JPM is going to be one of the next F1 superstars, as Fankster_V put it. However I do not believe he is there yet. He has sublime car control and has the aggression to go out there and fight, wheel to wheel, on the track, regardless of who the other driver is. At the moment though he is still a bit hot and cold. He also, this season, has had a habit of making simple errors at very important times (Aus and Canadian GP's). Once he can get more consistent and stop making little errors at key times he will become a genuine threat to MS and Ferrari.
Fankster_V I don't understand what you mean about JPM almost ruining RS's career? I think RS pretty much does that by himself :HAHA:. RS is a quick driver however he drives with no passion. He lives in MS's shadow and will always live in MS's shadow unless he learns to take the fight up to MS (and other drivers). To put it quite simply, RS is not a racer. He is fast but he doesn't race other drivers.
Until he learns to apply pressure to other drivers, and learns how to overtake and fight with other drivers, he will not become a WDC. The European GP was a great result for him. He was very quick all weekend and yes he was definitely quicker than JPM. But in reality apart from a good start (thanks to the clean side of the grid) he did nothing else but just drive a nice consistently race. He did nothing special.
When RS is required to do something special he very rarely pulls it off. He is always content to sit behind MS and other drivers and never goes out there to race them. While just driving consistently quick will work in some occasions (like the European GP last Sunday) it will not be enough for him to win a WDC. Unless he is in a far superior car and has a team mate that won't challenge him. NOTE: This is not a crack at MS - MS has proven that while he is very quick he also isn't afraid of racing with other drivers when has to.