Biggest disappointments in F1 this year (so far)

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vat_man

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Well, apart from the championship being a foregone conclusion, and the nonsense at Austra (which, ironically since I hate Michael Schumacher I didn't actually have a problem with) there's been a few things that have disappointed this year:
- Sato - he's had more crashes than a wet Friday night on Sydney's F3 freeway, and hasn't been that fast. I thought he'd be pretty good - maybe he should have gone to F3000 first
- Honda - how bad are the engines? 15kmh down in the speed traps?!? They couldn't pull a sick kid off a potty!
- McLaren (actually more specifically Mercedes) - well, Monaco proved the chassis is sound. Mercedes has been down on power since they banned the beryllium compounds 18 months ago - what, was the engine MADE of the stuff?!?
- Jaguar - Actually I'm not disappointed, 'cos I thought they'd struggle. Still, a lot of money to spend to have Irvine and de la Rosa spend alternate races looking at the back of Webber's Minardi - and have the Arrows running around 2 seconds a lap quicker...

More as I think of 'em...
 
BAR - Panis hasn't finished a race, and Villeneuve (3rd highest paid driver in F1) hasn't picked up any points. Dissapointing season from them so far. I didn't expect them to do very well, but hell Minardi have more points then 'em.
 
Michelin: Have let Bridgestone pull away in the tyre war.
Williams: Close, but no cigar yet.
Jaguar: Wrong people in the wrong jobs. Get rid of Lauda!

I'm with vat_man on the Honda and Mercedes thing, and I'm having a poll on Sato on my site at the moment.
 
Originally posted by Brian P
BAR - Panis hasn't finished a race, and Villeneuve (3rd highest paid driver in F1) hasn't picked up any points. Dissapointing season from them so far. I didn't expect them to do very well, but hell Minardi have more points then 'em.
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I was going to mention BAR, but they're going about as well as a cynical tobacco marketing exercise deserves to.
 
Biggest disappointment, Williams not winning at Imola.

Well M Shumi being an ass and passing Rubens at A1 was quite stupid on his part, he's a big oxymoron.
 
Originally posted by vat_man


Yeah - season was pretty much over right there, wasn't it
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Yeah it was, they have a shot at Monza since they have the fastest cars, but they are way out of it, unless Michael crashes in the next 4 races, they have no chance at all.
 
As far as JV goes I have to say that he is not in a car that can do anything he should be happy finishing a race in that thing, and if he has any sense left he would not renew his contract I bet he can still get a good seat with a top team, lets say along side Montoya I would love that, JV and JPM at williams.... wow!!
 
The BAR's just an absolute truck this year - I thought they'd made progress last year but either they've stood still and everyone else has improved (and I'm inclined to think there's been a big improvement in the quality of the midfield this year, especially with Renault improving, Jordan finding some speed, and Arrows seem to have been finally able to realise the pace the car showed in testing, everyone seems to have caught up or passed to Sauber this year) or they've genuinely gone backwards.

It must be doubly embarrassing for them to see Fisichella starting to look like he's in the hunt for points with the same engine.
 
It does seem to be that BAR have been stationary, whereas others have advanced, particularly Renault and Arrows.

I still think that long term Honda would be better backing BAR than Jordan though.
 
A couple of years ago (when Zonta and Villenueve both went in at Eau Rouge) it was Big Accident Racing - hence the signature.
 
Originally posted by f1king
Man, this team has to be the worst well funded team of all time.
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Err, f1king, I have one word for you. And I'll even colour it in:

Jaguar

They suck the big dino-eggs.

Sack Lauda!!!!!
 
Originally posted by GilesGuthrie


Err, f1king, I have one word for you. And I'll even colour it in:

Jaguar

They suck the big dino-eggs.

Sack Lauda!!!!!
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Thank you Mr. Guthrie. That guy was one helluva race car driver in his day, but I think he is a complete dumbass when it comes to team management.

Biggest mistake of 2001 - Jaguar - opting to keep monkey boy Lauda instead of Bobby Rahal: who is an engineer, has his own Successful race team, and isn't stuck on his own mystique!!
 
Jaguar is a real puzzle - I mean, Stewart GP WON a GP in its last yearr for crying out loud - what the hell did Ford do to the team?!?
 
Originally posted by vat_man
Jaguar is a real puzzle - I mean, Stewart GP WON a GP in its last yearr for crying out loud - what the hell did Ford do to the team?!?
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What did Ford do?

I think you mean - for crying out Lauda. :lol: :lol:
 
True, but they have gotten worse since. They were at least in front of the Minardi's and Arrows. Now....They're not!

And no, it is not all Lauda's fault. But I have struggled to find anything he has done that has helped the team, or even improved upon it.
 
Ford added in layers of management that an F1 team simply does not need. Reitzle is a big-picture guy, not a minutiae man, so he wasn't the right man for the job. They put in Rahal, and expected him to fix it in five minutes. When he didn't they fired him and put Lauda in. Lauda, the man sacked from the board of his own company, the man who so palpably failed to rescue Ferrari when he was their "special advisor".

Do Ford not learn?

Also, I think that the illness that Paul Stewart had really affected the team. Let's not forget that Stewart GP was born of cherry-picking all Paul Stewart Racing's best people and assets...
 
Originally posted by GilesGuthrie
Also, I think that the illness that Paul Stewart had really affected the team. Let's not forget that Stewart GP was born of cherry-picking all Paul Stewart Racing's best people and assets...
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I absolutely agree with that - after all, Paul had been running that team for many years in various formulae, and Jackie really only came on board when they went F1 - and when you think about the success they acheived in the short time they were established (and compare that to BAR who appeared at about the same time) it was pretty impressive, even taking into account Ford's backing.

How is Paul Stewart, anyway? Haven't heard anything on that front for a while.

That's where I think Toyota have been pretty clever - they've followed a similar model in taking a small competition based crew (TTE), been smart with who they've picked to help with development of certain aspects of the car, and most importantly they've downplayed expectations. They've produced a fairly solid little car that's certainly not short on straight line speed and will pick up more points before the year's out.
 
Originally posted by vat_man


I absolutely agree with that - after all, Paul had been running that team for many years in various formulae, and Jackie really only came on board when they went F1 - and when you think about the success they acheived in the short time they were established (and compare that to BAR who appeared at about the same time) it was pretty impressive, even taking into account Ford's backing.
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Absolutely. Jackie just brought the Ford $ and engine, and as Prost found out, there's more to running a successful team than having a good engine.

BAR have been riven with politics ever since they started. I think if Pollock writes an autobiography it will be an interesting read.

Originally posted by vat_man
How is Paul Stewart, anyway? Haven't heard anything on that front for a while.
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My understanding is that he's on the mend. I saw him in the BRDC clubhouse at the Silverstone GP last year, and he looked OK. A bit gaunt, but OK. I think the family are shielding him somewhat.

Originally posted by vat_man
That's where I think Toyota have been pretty clever - they've followed a similar model in taking a small competition based crew (TTE), been smart with who they've picked to help with development of certain aspects of the car, and most importantly they've downplayed expectations. They've produced a fairly solid little car that's certainly not short on straight line speed and will pick up more points before the year's out.
Click to expand...

Well Toyota went with what they knew. TTE had done all their competition work previously, including multiple WRC assaults, and Le Mans. Save for the one slip-up (with the very cleverly illegal turbo), the Team, and its principal, Anderssen, served Toyota very well. I think it's a trait of the Japanese that they are loyal to people who are loyal to them.

And as you rightly say, it's paying off for them I would say. I can't think of a genuinely new team that has had Toyota's results, even taking into account budgetary issues.
 
Heh - I'd forgotten about that little turbo trick in the Celica - how did the FIA stumble across that? I remember seeing the diagrams - ingenious little device, shame about the illegality.
 
Originally posted by vat_man
Heh - I'd forgotten about that little turbo trick in the Celica - how did the FIA stumble across that? I remember seeing the diagrams - ingenious little device, shame about the illegality.
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Well the official line was that they noticed the hairline mark where the two segments snapped together. But I reckon someone told them...

Thing was, in hindsight it wasn't subtle. The cars were slow, then suddenly they weren't.
 
Well, you guys (Giles, Vat_Man) are right on the money with those responses. You all follow the inner cells of F1 more than I do. I like the cars! :D
But what you say (especially Giles) about Stewart GP is true, I cannot understand the joke that Ford has made of Jaguar. I so much want to be a fan of them, it is about as close to an American (backed) team as there is. I drive a Ford Focus, and even though Ford is a Global company, I think of them as American 1st. Just like BMW, they sell more cars here then anywhere, but they are a German company. Toyota sells more cars here in the states, but they are most definitely a Japanese company. Honda too.
Anyway, I wish I knew what the heck was going on with Ford (Jaguar F1), maybe they need a Schumacher. :eek:
Did I just type that. :lol:
 

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