Can Weber get up tonight?

[Silver-Arrowz]

I think DC is performing better because of his new surroundings. Driving for a team like Mclarens means that he always has to perform and is always under the watchful eye of the media and his bosses. A team like RBR is a smaller team where things are more relaxed. Look at Mark Webber now. He seems to struggle under Williams, where as when he was with Jaguar and Minardi he dominated his teammates.

[Roy]

I think if you look at the big picture Weber is doing a better job then Heidfield, which surprises me a little:)

And Weber starting from 12th:( Perhaps ill just flick to SBS ans watch the Tour De France instead:)

[GTRgeoff]

And where are you watching the super taxis from today?

TDF is better than F1 anyday.

[Bec]

I'm greatful its on early this weekend - 10.30pm is heaps better than 3.00am.

[relicr31act]

How does a team like Williams make a 'B' spec car that is slower than the 'A' spec? They were nowhere from beginning to end!!! That was just embarrassing. I bet Webber is thinking twice about knocking back the offer to drive for Toyota now! The quicker that Williams get rid of that piece of sh#t engine out of the back of that thing the better. It was 11 km/h slower on the straight than the Ferrari!!

[Roy]

ISnt it funny, sicne BMW have annonced the Sauber deal, they have been a lot more vocal about the Williams thing. Liek this morning statements like " the race was as weak as the qualifying" ... and "we need to analyse the data of this weekend in order to find the reason for our weak performance here, but the engines ran without problem."

[Roy]

Thats the thing, are Williams running less effecient aero trying to make up for a poor chasis and thats hurting top speed?

Forget Toyota, dont forget Fisi and Weber are under the same management and it was discussed him going to Renault. But the fact that Williams wer ekeen and paying money meant that he was always goign to go to Williams

LOL...DC had a shocker but at least he raced hard all arvo and got up over the Williams boys:)

[Beer Baron]

only because webber suffered from 'burny bum' again!

So who won? I'm guessing alonso, kimi, montoya?

[ECR033]

dont forget Fisi and Weber are under the same management and it was discussed him going to Renault. But the fact that Williams wer ekeen and paying money meant that he was always goign to go to Williams

Umm, I think you meant Alonso and Webber are under the same management (i.e good ol Flavio). I'm pretty sure Fisi split with Flavio after he left Benetton the first time round.

Webber did have an offer to drive for Renault before they signed Fisi, but he turned it down in favour of chasing a more desirable drive with Williams. I wonder if he still feels the same way about that now...even the Toyota option would have been better than driving for Williams at the moment. The upside is that things probably can't get much worse at Williams now, so hopefully things will start to improve once they sort out an engine deal for next year and perhaps look at hiring some decent aerodynamicists as well (ex-Minardi/Ligier guys just don't do the job do they?!?!?!).

As for the race, it was pretty simple really...

Winners:

Alonso was in a class of his own

Kimi and Schumi drove good races

Losers:

Montoya lucked out again when a podium was on the cards

Fisichella who got lapped by his teammate

Sato for another bonsai passing move gone wrong

Williams - crap.

[Roy]

Im pretty sure you will find that Fisichella is also another driver under Flavio management. There were a few stories around mid last year that Flavio was in a pretty good posi for ensuring his drivers got good seats, as between the Williams seat and Renault he was sure to find good homes for them.

Looking at Fisi this year, he seems to be struggling a little with respect to Alonso, but i think you have to give any new team mate 12 months when there is a driver that has been with the team previous seasons. Though Fisi does have a relationship with a good many of the team members from his previous stint there

[Roy]

Well DC will continue to drive for Red Bull next year, when they are powered by those dancing donkey engines.

I was kinda hoping that McLaren would drop that Montoya shiela, he could run off and cry back to Indycar...then DC could blow the rear views of Kimi next season, so much that Kimi would go back to getting wildly drunk and naked in strip clubs:)

Yeh, yeh...a boy is allowed to dream:)

[Beer Baron]

I liked motoya much better when he was racing in indy. very exiting to watch back then. I dunno about DC blowing away kimi though, kimi has proven to be very very quick. I'm not a big fan though. still think MS is the most complete driver out there, albeit quite ruthless too. Mark Webber will have his turn at the top though, well I hope so.

[Roy]

Hmm. Forget the best drivers, forget BMW engines etc.

Williams need to get this man back

His Williams designs between 1991-1997 won a total of 58 Grand Prix victories, four Drivers' titles and five Constructors' Championships. Funny thing is he goes to McLaren and guess who won the drivers championships in '98 & '99 and Constructors Championship in '98?

Sorry, but Sam Michael at the minute is just not up to the job. It will be interesting if under Patrick Head he can go on like some other big names that got a start under Head, like Ross Brawn and Adrian Newey.

Cant with for the British GP this weekend.

[Beer Baron]

that's adrian newey isn't it? no wonder he is soo good look how huge his head is, imagine the size of brain he can stuff in there...

[Roy]

And whislt im bored and dribbling about DC.

DC and Mika were very evenly matched in 1996 his 1st year with McLaren with neither winning a race.

In 1997 Coulthard did better in the World Championship, winning in Australia and at the Italian GP to score 36 points to Hakkinen's 27. And the only reason Mika won a GP at Jerez that year was because DC let Mika get ahead with three laps to go, damn team orders.

The the first race in OZ in 1998 Hakkinen was handed the win by DC as he was instructed to yet again pull over:( And that was about the beginning of the end. Team politics i tells ya:(

In 2001 he seemed to get a betters start with podium finishes int he first 2 GPs of the year, before winning the 3rd GP in Brazil. Mika was truly tropo having not yet scored a point and stalling on the grid:( From this point onwards it was about the first time that McLaren threw their resources behind DC for a change. Though the cars still proved to have a few too many failures during the season

In the 4th GP DC out raced Mika to finsih 2nd ahead of Mika in 4th

In Spain he finished in 5th, after a technical glitch on the starting line, but to be fair Mika did blow up while leading the race. At this point in the championship DC was only 8 points behind MS who was in the lead.

In Austria DC won, closing the gap to MS to 4th.

At Monaco, DC should have won, but small car glitch meant he couldnt form up on the grid at the start...and running a heavy fuel load could not get past the back markers until they decided to pit. Having had poll he was a good chance of clooing the gap. But thats racing

In Canada DC finished 2nd again behind MS. Mika was still nowhere to be seen , and definitely not taking any points away from MS like DC had done in previous years as the teammate.

At the Nurburgring DC finished 3rd behind MS and Montoya, Mika scored a single point coming home in 6th:(

In France DC finished 4th, with Mika a DNF. The McLarens were starting to have some reliability dramas.

In Britain Mika got up for a win, about time. DC crashed out on the first corner sustaining damage that would see him retire on the 3rd lap. MS finished 2nd so again continued to extend his lead in the Drivers Championship, but at least Mika took some points from him for the first time that season.

In Germany both McLarens were DNFs with reliability becoming an issue as the Williams cars started to come good. MS was also another not to score points so did not extend his lead at this round

In Hungary, Ferrari 1-2 with DC in 3rd and Mika back in 5th. The championship was dead for DC, his only hope now was not to lose 2nd to Rubens

In Belgium the unstoppable MS won again with DC second and Mika 4th

In Italy both McLarens failed agian, with Williams coming home strong in the championship with Montoya winning his first GP . MS was 4th behind Rubens and both Williams

In America Mika won his 2nd GP of the year, with DC finishing 3rd with MS splitting the two

Finally in Japan another win to MS, with DC finishing 2nd to Mikas 4th.

So this season saw both McLaren drivers with 2GP wins and DC being the more competitive finishing 2nd in the Champioship.

Anyway, you look at the GP wins DC gave Mika, and team politics after the first few rounds of the champioship...it would seem that McLaren focussed its efforts on whoever was doing best in the championship, not the best thing if you are chasing the Constructors Championship. In 2001 it was DCs yaer, others it was Mikas, not forgetting that DC gave Mika w in in the Aus GP:)

...rant , rant , rant:)

[Beer Baron]

no big deal to outrace mika. he was a cry baby anyway...

haha

yes Troy DC was good but face it his best shots at the championship are behind him now. plus he always has been a good race driver but his qualifying in recent years has hurt him a lot.

look to webber. man of the future.

[Roy]

... yeh i know:(

I get the feeling Weber is the new Fisichella of being with the right teams at the wrong time. Fingers crossed Fisichella can find his feet soon...Weber ??? Liek i said all along, Williams are now running aroudn the pace i was expecting from a team with new staff and new drivers:(

[Beer Baron]

yeah, i feel my webber hopes fading too, but we should keep the faith for a bit longer. they may come good.

On other news I am picking up my new rotors tonight. went with the DBA400s. got them for under $200 each too

[Roy]

Its strange, spent soem time today looking over the season to date. The faster circuits seem to hurt Williams. At the slow circuits Williams are competitive..so im starting to change my mind regarding the BMW engine being slow in the top end because of chassis.

Im starting to think its possible that not enough engine is simply the big contributer to their problems. ?!?!?!?! We will see this weekend, Silverstone is a quick circuit, with some real high speed bends/turns more then flat out high speed straights?!?!?!?

Cant wait to Sunday...only thing better is if i was there:)

[Beer Baron]

sh1t yeah. we need to plan a trip to silverstone mate. when i am loaded my girlfriend and i will be doing the F1world tour. attend every F1 race in a season. man that will be sweet. from memory cost about $100K to do it right though. each.