You know what, call me crazy but I'll just say that I think that Raikkonen was the best driver this year. Yea Shummi may have won the Title and yes, it is true that Michael won 5 races to Kimi's 1, but look at it differently here. Raikkonen had 2 more podium finishes than Shummi all year. AND..... Shummi only had one DNF, compared to Raikkonen with 3 DNF's. And not a one of the DNF's was his fault, one blown engine, one he got hit and knocked out, and the other he didn't even start for some reason. So when you think of the fact that Kimi didn't even finish 3 of the races this year and he still was only BARELY behind in the drivers title, you see that Kimi actually should be the champ. Excuses, excuses though....... the point is he didn't win. But hey look at the bright side, things will be different next year. McLaren and BMW are looking STRONG and will bring the fight to Ferrari next year!!

Schumacher still has the best chasis/engine combo IMO, and I personally think the extra experience and skill he has will enable him to keep winning. I like Kimi a lot, he's probably my favorite driver, but I can't say he deserves to win over Schumacher, who had a pretty tumultuous season yet still was able to silence the critics. I can't wait to see what happens next season though; should be agreat battle between Kimi, Michael, JPM, and perhaps Rubens as well.

It still boils down to the number of wins, if it was the year before micheal would have been way ahead. We will see what the fia does to the rules next year.

Ty

My car!! (http://www.europeanplates.com/tylers.htm)

they want a close championship,,, the new points earning system guaranteed that, preventing michael from running away with it despite his many wins this season.

so, now it is proven that the new points scoring system works, i think they should do away with the current rule of not being able to make car setup changes between qualifying and the race. this rule is counterproductive to the technical aspect of setting up a car to the optimal condition.

Gimme a break here!!! Michael had 6 wins in '03 compared to Kimi's 1...and you call Kimi the better driver. Kimi just benefitted from the new points system. You do realize that had the old system been retained, 2003 would have been nowhere as close as it was and Michael would have won the championship with a race to spare. Here check out this points table that I put together using the old system to get an idea of how things would and 'should' have been. As you can see MS would have wrapped up the 2003 championship at the USGP with a huge margin. Montoya and Kimi wouldn't even have figured in the picture and would have trailed by a huge margin all season long :rolleyes: .

The point system is all f##ed up!!! Racing ought to be about winning and not consistency. The same crap has been going on in the WRC right now. Richard Burns hasn't won a single race this year but is still leading the driver's championship...pretty screwed up. There really ought to be better distinction between winning and coming in 2. :mad:

Due to vote pluarilty there is a good reason to believe that Gore should be President rather than Bush. But that isn't the way THAT point system is created EITHER.

Schummie won the most races AND he won the most points. He also had the good sense to be signed to one of the two very top chassis and engine builders.

He deserves to be the champ.


And now that he stands alone in the record books, let next years ass-kicking by BWW begin. I wanted Schummi to get the record book recognition he richly deserves. Now I can start rooting for them BMW. If only they'd ditch that ass Montoya. ;)

Hey what he said! I actually want ralf to win next years. I think it is his turn. Plus he drives for BMW.

Ty

i agree that the points system does not reward winning enough. The one with the most wins should win the title no matter how many second or thirds his competitors have. But racing is entertainment and its not very entertaining if the championship is wrapped up 4 races before the season ends.

I totally agree with quickM3. Racing is ultimately about entertainment. Sure, for the teams and drivers it's for the pure race and win (although even that's questionable), but let's face it, no one outside the driver and teams are in the sport for the spirit of it. They're in it for $$. I voted with my wallet this year and went back to Indy for the second time..much of it due to the fact that the chapmionship wasn't already determined...there was still a reason to cheer for my team and driver (BMW, JPM!!!).

I say keep the current point system and the parque-ferme (sp?) but alow a multi-lap qualifying session.

Make it like a biathalon. You race awhile, get out, shoot at each other some, and then race some more.

F1 needs more fan violence in the stands and after the race too. We need the Irish and Brazillians to get more into it.

LOL, a suggestion to make 2004 even more comptetitve...:stickoutt

Maybe next year we can change the rules again to prevent Schu and Ferrari winning - maybe we can break Michael's legs !!

Found that quote on the BBC motorsport forum.

Originally posted by jsp98m3
Make it like a biathalon. You race awhile, get out, shoot at each other some, and then race some more.

F1 needs more fan violence in the stands and after the race too. We need the Irish and Brazillians to get more into it.

Hell at Indy you would have thought half of Colombia was there...myself included! It was just like being at a soccer match....great fun..but too many people from Bogota...viva Medallo...(inside joke for any other fellow Colombians!)

I loved how at Indy the Colombians would boo whenever Ross Brawn or MS appeared on the TV screens, then shake the stand when Montoya came on :D

The current points system is pretty good, it keeps Ferrari from cheating too much. Although they still find little ways to get around the spirit of the rules.

Originally posted by qwickm3
The one with the most wins should win the title no matter how many second or thirds his competitors have.

Then why award ANY points at all? Rather, you get one point for a win and no points for anything else. Then, at the end of the year, the person with the most "points" wins the championship.

I think that would be swell if someone one three races, but DNF all the other ones, yet still won the championship. Don't you?

Exciting stuff!!

(note: sarcasm was prevelant throughout this message)

I think MS deserved to win. HE is the best driver with the best car, even though Barrichello had a better car on certain days.

I think they should go back to the old scoring system, but not unlike CART, maybe a point should be awarded for getting pole position during qualifying? Or something like that - but not getting crazy like in NASCAR - too many points; it is just too confusing.

I like the 1 car qualifying format and leaving the car til the race.

It will be interesting next year.