F1 Silly Season 2005

Roy · February 17, 2005

Even if Coutlhard is mega keen to prove ppl wrong, its unlikely the package under him will allow him to do much, but he is in the top 6 times in final testing:thumbsup:

GTRSRULE!!! · February 18, 2005

Webber no chance this year

By Paul Gover

February 18, 2005

THE man who led the pursuit of Michael Schumacher through 2004 has warned hometown fans not to expect too much of Mark Webber in next month's Australian Grand Prix.

Webber ... back to the wall.

Pic: Reuters

David Richards led the BAR-Honda team to best-of-the-rest results against Ferrari last year, helping confirm Briton Jenson Button as a grand prix superstar, before selling out to Honda and leaving F1.

Now he says Webber and the Williams team look as if they will struggle at Albert Park on March 3-6.

"Mark is undoubtedly a potential world champion, but I think the Australian public - and the Australian media more precisely - have to be patient," Richards said in Melbourne yesterday.

"His first year in a Williams is during a transition year for the regulations and there is a whole number of factors that may come in to his performance this year.

"I know Mark is perfectly capable of taking on the pressure, I have no doubt about that, but I would hate to see the expectation exceed what is realistic this season.

"Mark will have, I am sure, the potential to win grands prix this year let alone standing on the podium, but my instinct tells me that it isn't going to be an easy year for Williams and a number of other teams." Richards has been in Australia for the past fortnight, sorting out a range of problems at the Ford Performance Vehicles and Ford Performance Racing companies he operates through his multi-national Prodrive empire in Britain.

Herald Sun

Ferrari red herring or lemon

By Paul Gover

February 18, 2005

FERRARI is either foxing or struggling in the build-up to the 2005 Formula One season.

Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello were at the back of the pack again on the second day of tests in Barcelona, Spain, yesterday as Renault continued its run at the top.

Barrichello could only clock the eighth-fastest time, and Schumacher was 12th, with one day to run on the biggest pre-season trial of the year.

Their times were more than 1.5sec slower than the new Renault R25, an indication that the interim Ferrari 2004M - an interim update of last year's car that will be raced at Albert Park - is too slow or that the team is running a secret agenda and not worried about lap times.

It was Giancarlo Fisichella who went quickest for Renault yesterday, taking over from Fernando Alonso with a lap time of 1min 14.4sec, which was well inside Schumacher's pole position time for last year's Spanish Grand Prix.

Ricardo Zonta continued to show good pace as he tested for Toyota, clocking the second-quickest time, with Alonso third in the second Renault.

Mark Webber was still only seventh in his Williams and was outpaced for the second straight day by the rebranded Jaguars now driven as Red Bull racers by David Coulthard and Webber's former teammate Christian Klien.

Work in Spain was delayed for most teams by cold track temperatures early in the day, and Renault has decided to test for an extra day to get through its full program.

Kimi Raikkonen is recovering at home in Finland after his big crash in testing this week.

The Ice Man wrenched his thumb when his McLaren speared off the road with brake trouble, although the car was repaired to allow Pedro de la Rosa to continue testing.

Damage to the car covered the front wing, left front corner, left side pod, left rear corner, and the rear crash structure.

"The mechanics have worked through the night and throughout this morning in order to repair the car so I could test today," de la Rosa said. "They have done a fantastic job and although Kimi was unable to be here today, I have continued with the planned testing program."

Herald Sun

Testing time for F1 pioneer

From correspondents in Barcelona

February 18, 2005

INDIA's Formula One pioneer, Narain Karthikeyan, says is happy with his progress despite his Jordan car struggling during testing.

Karthikeyan, the sub-continent's first F1 driver, clocked a best time of 1min 17.59sec with Portuguese teammate Tiago Monteiro recording a best of 1:18.67 on the third day of testing overnight.

They were both over three seconds behind the day's fastest man, McLaren's Pedro De La Rosa, who timed 1:14.54.

World champion Michael Schumacher took his Ferrari to the fourth best time of the day of 1:14.9.

The two Jordan drivers focused on tyre testing for Bridgestone and chassis set-up work in preparation for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March, as well as practising pit stops.

"I did 74 laps today and we tried a lot of new things with the car, especially tyre work for Bridgestone," said Karthikeyan. "We also carried out some set-up changes and we are quite happy with the progress we have been making."

Agence France-Presse

GTRSRULE!!! · February 19, 2005

Klien secures F1 spot

From correspondents in London

February 19, 2005

AUSTRIAN Christian Klien would partner David Coulthard at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 6, Red Bull Racing said overnight.

The 22-year-old completed his debut season with Jaguar in 2004, scoring three points. F3000 champion Vitantonio Liuzzi, of Italy, will fulfil the third-driver testing duties in Melbourne.

The decision had been taken following the team's intensive testing programme in Valencia, Jerez and Barcelona and would be reviewed on an on-going basis, Red Bull said.

Team boss Christian Horner said: "We are very fortunate to have two exceptionally talented young drivers, who have both impressed the team during pre-season testing.

"Christian will undoubtedly benefit from David Coulthard's considerable experience and will hope to build on last year's performances." Red Bull have replaced Jaguar on the F1 grid after Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz bought the Ford-owned team in November and gave it the name of his energy drink.

Reuters

GTRSRULE!!! · February 19, 2005

Klien secures F1 spot

From correspondents in London

February 19, 2005

AUSTRIAN Christian Klien would partner David Coulthard at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 6, Red Bull Racing said overnight.

The 22-year-old completed his debut season with Jaguar in 2004, scoring three points. F3000 champion Vitantonio Liuzzi, of Italy, will fulfil the third-driver testing duties in Melbourne.

The decision had been taken following the team's intensive testing programme in Valencia, Jerez and Barcelona and would be reviewed on an on-going basis, Red Bull said.

Team boss Christian Horner said: "We are very fortunate to have two exceptionally talented young drivers, who have both impressed the team during pre-season testing.

"Christian will undoubtedly benefit from David Coulthard's considerable experience and will hope to build on last year's performances." Red Bull have replaced Jaguar on the F1 grid after Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz bought the Ford-owned team in November and gave it the name of his energy drink.

Reuters

GTRSRULE!!! · February 20, 2005

McLaren admits Schu 'mistake'

by Alan Baldwin in London

February 19, 2005

McLAREN had the chance to sign Michael Schumacher from Ferrari five or six years ago but decided not to, according to team boss Ron Dennis.

"We had the opportunity but we didn't take it," Dennis said when asked whether he had ever wanted to see the seven-time Formula One world champion racing one of his cars.

"The collective decision was that it wasn't the right thing for the company."

Schumacher, now the oldest driver on the grid at 36, will start this year's championship in Australia on March 6 as one of the favourites after winning a record 13 of the 18 races in 2004.

Mercedes-powered McLaren last won the world drivers' championship with Mika Hakkinen in 1999, and Dennis intimated that he and Schumacher had discussed a move around that time.

The German joined Ferrari from Benetton in 1996 as a double world champion but failed to win another title until 2000 when he secured the Italian team's first drivers' crown for 21 years.

Dennis said spoke to Schumacher in Monte Carlo at a meeting he believed was initiated by the driver, who had driven for Mercedes in the world sportscar championship.

"I do believe we could have reached the point where he could have driven for the team," said the Briton, whose team finished fifth overall last year as Ferrari scooped their sixth successive constructors' title.

"But when you say to someone 'Do you want to drive for this team?' the individual says yes and at that moment you've got to be committed to the process.

"Until you can put yourself in that position you don't ask the question. So it was a long discussion, to go away and think about each other's position and then decide if that question was going to be asked."

"And we didn't get to the point of it being a question.

"It wasn't just my decision ... it was a decision with the people it needed to be discussed with.

"It's not something I can look back on and say I regret or I don't regret. That was the opinion that we reached as a group and I was one part of it."

Dennis said money was not the deciding factor, but he recognised the memory of negotiating a budget-breaking deal with three-time champion Ayrton Senna had played a part. "What I can recall is that I felt I was a significant contributing factor to paying Ayrton more money than this company could afford," he said.

Agence France-Presse

McLaren seeks level playing field

by Alan Baldwin

February 19, 2005

McLAREN may walk away from Formula One in 2008 if the sport is not run in a fair and transparent fashion.

The Mercedes-backed company was aiming to wean itself off financial dependence on F1 so it could have a choice of future action, team boss Ron Dennis said.

"I hope or wish that this company can be in a position to have the choice not to participate in grand prix racing in 2008," he said at the team factory.

"If we can sustain the company's economic profile, we will not participate in grand prix racing unless there is a level playing field.

"We will comply with the contract to 2007 but one of our common objectives is to put the company in that position of having choice."

F1's current commercial Concorde Agreement expires at the end of 2007, and the sport is split between two camps in a struggle for its future.

While Ferrari has sided with commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone and the governing body, FIA, the sport's other five major carmakers continue to make plans for a rival series.

The nine teams other than Ferrari are weighing up their options after the manufacturers said this week they wanted a championship open to all on equal terms, with the bulk of the revenues distributed among them.

The existing set-up pays Ferrari a premium.

McLaren is part-owned by Mercedes, one of the founder members of the GPWC group of carmakers, and it has plans for a new road-going supercar.

"If the status quo exists for Formula One cars then we will not participate in it in 2008 if we can put ourselves in that economic position, and that is exactly what we are trying to do," Dennis said.

"Maybe we would be in other types of motor racing in other parts of the world. It's part of our heritage.

"We think that transparency is critical. We think that impartiality is critical."

Dennis said he had no quarrel with Ferrari having an extra financial recognition for their contribution to the championship.

"Ferrari are a magnificent grand prix team, steeped in tradition and they would most definitely be missed if they were not part of whatever the future holds for grand prix racing," he said.

"But they should not be put into a position which provides them with the ability to control change or receive disproportionate amounts of income compared to the other teams."

McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh said it was not clear what Ferrari had agreed to after 2008, however, and he doubted there would ever be two championships.

"What McLaren is looking for in 2008, whatever it's called and whether it is an FIA world championship or a grand prix world championship, is that we want those governing principles to apply," he said. "We want fairness, we want openness, proper governance and we want it to be the pinnacle of motorsport."

AAP

GTRSRULE!!! · February 21, 2005

Webber can't win title: Ralf

February 20, 2005

MARK WEBBER has no chance of becoming the Formula One world champion this year or next, according to Ralf Schumacher.

The younger brother of Germany's seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher claims that the Williams team for which he drove the past six years is no longer a top contender.

Schumacher, who has joined Toyota for the season starting at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne in two weeks, said Williams was not capable of building a car to win the world championship this year or in 2006.

Speaking to the Kilner Stadt Anzeiger publication, he ridiculed any suggestion that Webber or his new team-mate, German Nick Heidfeld, would be in the hunt for the title in the next two years.

"I do not think BMW Williams have a championship-winning car this season," said Schumacher, who won six GPs in his time with the British-based team.

The relationship between Schumacher and the team deteriorated after some early success and Williams was pleased to see him join Toyota, feeling that he had not been worth his pay packet reputed to be about $15 million a year.

Williams had already known for a year that Schumacher's team-mate, Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, was moving to British rival McLaren this year, and was equally happy to see him go.

Webber has joined Williams for his fourth season in F1, having made his debut with Minardi in 2002 and the past two years raced with Jaguar, which will reappear in Melbourne in 10 days as Red Bull Racing.

Webber's fifth place in his first race remains his best finish from 50 GP starts and he has pinned his faith on Williams to provide him with a car in which he can achieve his first podium and possibly a victory early this season.

Fellow Australian Alan Jones was the Williams team's first world champion in 1980 and Webber is keen to emulate his feat.

Williams team principal Sir Frank Williams has already lavished praise on Webber for his total commitment to success, something he privately felt Schumacher and Montoya lacked.

The design and construction of the team's new FW27 model car has been overseen by an Australian engineer, Sam Michael, who was educated in Canberra a short distance from where Webber grew up at Queanbeyan.

Michael is also supervising pre-season testing of the $A50 million car in Spain and will call the tactical shots throughout the 19 GPs during the year.

Despite Montoya winning the Brazilian GP at the end of last season, Williams finished the constructors' world championship fourth.

Schumacher claimed Williams was now a long way from being a serious rival to the all-conquering Ferrari team which has seen his older brother win the past five drivers titles.

"I did not know I was driving for a top team (at Williams)," Ralf Schumacher said.

"It did not seem that way in the six years I was there.

"The high expectation levels at BMW Williams were totally unrealistic.

"Apart from the engine there was not much quality there and the optimism could not be justified." The Toyota team he has joined is entering its fourth year in F1 and is yet to achieve a podium finish.

AAP

GTRSRULE!!! · February 22, 2005

Sauber sides with F1 rebels

From correspondents in London

February 22, 2005

SWISS-based Sauber has sided with major Formula One car manufacturers in the battle for the sport's future.

A team spokesman said this morning (AEDT) that at the end of last week Peter Sauber signed a memorandum of understanding presented by the carmakers, who are planning their own series after the current commercial agreement expires in 2007.

Sauber's decision leaves only privately-owned Jordan and Red Bull, who had also reserved judgment after a meeting near London last week, still uncommitted.

Williams' partners BMW, Renault, McLaren's part-owners Mercedes, Toyota, Honda and Minardi have all signed up to the rival manufacturers' memorandum.

Champion Ferrari stands alone in agreeing a unilateral deal with Formula One's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone and the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) to extend the existing agreement to 2012.

Sauber has used Ferrari engines since 1997 and its decision is likely to signal a break with the FIAT-owned company.

But the manufacturers have offered affordable engines from 2006 for the independent teams that sign up to their vision of the future. BMW has already said it has been in talks with Sauber.

Agence France-Presse

Webber fears BMW too slow

February 22, 2005

MARK Webber is worried his new BMW will lack the speed to keep up with the pacesetters at next month's Australian Formula One grand prix.

With local expectations raised even higher for Webber as he makes his Williams debut in Melbourne on March 6, the Australian driver played down his early season hopes.

"We need to have more pace in the car. It hasn't come out as well as we would have hoped for so far," he said.

"But it's a long season, it's a marathon, not a sprint.

"We're hoping to win in Melbourne but we're not sure if that's realistic. The other teams are better prepared.

"We've aimed aggressively but we thought the new car would be faster."

Webber's move from Jaguar to Williams last year was seen as the next step toward, fulfilling his early billing as a potential grand prix winner.

Despite his concerns over the speed of the BMW FW27, he is expecting a lot more from himself this year after finishing 16th, 10th and 13th in the drivers' championship in his first three seasons in Formula One.

"Absolutely. Williams is a team clearly at the top of the game, they have a huge history in the sport and set very aggressive goals," he said.

"There's no point saying we'd be happy with fifth or sixth, because we won't be.

"I was aiming to get in the top eight last year, it's not good enough. I'm aiming for podiums now.

"I drove the Williams a few times last year and it was absolutely miles faster than the Jaguar.

"I was doing lap times I could only dream of in the Jaguar."

Webber, 28, is testing the FW27 in Valencia in Spain before flying out to Australia later this week for the opening race of the year.

He drove 81 laps yesterday, setting a personal best lap time of 1min 11.672sec, but his fears about the car's pace were confirmed when McLaren Mercedes driver Pedro de la Rosa flew around in 1:09.023.

Originally from the ACT, Webber revels in racing in Melbourne, where he finished fifth on his F1 debut in 2002 in a Minardi, but is mindful of keeping a lid on the hype.

"Each year I get there later and later. It's important to focus on the simple things and do the job and not let the occasion get out of control," he said.

"But I'm very lucky to have a home race, some guys don't.

"Rubens (Barrichelo) I know loves racing in Brazil but is sometimes a little embarrassed by the facilities. But I can only be very proud of the event in Melbourne.

"It's a great way to start the year.

"Once the helmet is on, I could be anywhere. But when it's off, I really know I'm at home and really enjoy it.

"The parade lap, when you wave to the crowd and they wave the Australian flags and shout your name, that's very special for me." Webber announces his arrival in Australia in spectacular fashion when he drives his BMW FW27 across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday.

AAP

GTRSRULE!!! · February 22, 2005