British GP 2009 - Silverstone

[andartop]

I kinda like Webber. Since his Minardi days I thought he looked capable of even getting himself a WDC if he could secure himself a seat in one of the good teams. I thought the same about Alonso. And now I think the same about Vettel.

The thing is, Alonso already did that, so he 's out of the equation. Vettel might be on his way to do it as well, or he might not: he could end up being the next "Button", or the next "a-little-bit-better-than-Button", or even the next Fisico.

Webbo doesn't look like he 'll be able to challenge for the title this year, but who knows?

The good news is the two guys in dispute are indeed racing for the same team, in the same car. So why don't we just wait until the end of the year before we draw our conclusions???

[bjpower]

ah lads this race has nothing to go on for the debate.
web V vet
firstly they felt like they had the 1-2 in the bag. and if i was weber i would not have tried to get past chello until the pits
remember the way chello drove during the last race.
nope sit behind pass him in the pits and pot around untill the checkered flag.

weber will never win the WDC as nothing ever goes right for him
quali is an example

[ISLAMATRON]

does Webbo deserve any lee-weigh in that he was hit by a car this off season? Just getting some of the hardware out now... Hope we see Webber vs Vettle at least a couple seasons... Probably the best driver combo in F1 right now.

BJpower... MAny said the same of MAnsell

[ringo]

That car might have knocked out the bad luck demons, he is doing pretty well this season. he is actually disapointed in podium finishes. In the past the first lap was a celebration.

[bjpower]

does Webbo deserve any lee-weigh in that he was hit by a car this off season? Just getting some of the hardware out now... Hope we see Webber vs Vettle at least a couple seasons... Probably the best driver combo in F1 right now.

BJpower... MAny said the same of MAnsell

true he may get the WDC but the one time he had a good car - he broke his dam leg.
at HIS charity race.
I like the guy, i really do. if all this happened me i would have shot someone by now

[djos]

Webber is a very good driver who has had shitty cars and even worse luck, the fact that he has no wins shines worse on his management than it does on him, Even when Flav had the chance to place him at Renault he didnt do it, probly because he knew Alonso would have trouble with beating Webber.

Yes, Vettle has 2 very good wins this year, beating Webber to the flag both times, but Webber has definatly made less mistakes, and had worse luck. If the RB5 continues dominating like it has in Silverstone, Webber will get that first win, will he suddely then be a good driver? Or will he still be the same guy we been watching destroy his teammates(until now) for these last 7 years?

I hate to correct you Mate, but for sentimental reasons (Williams + AJ = Legend in Aus) he went against Flav's wishes and accepted the Williams Drive.

That is why he said (when leaving Williams) that this time he wasn't going to be ignoring Flav's advice.

[ISLAMATRON]

I hate to correct you Mate, but for sentimental reasons (Williams + AJ = Legend in Aus) he went against Flav's wishes and accepted the Williams Drive.

That is why he said (when leaving Williams) that this time he wasn't going to be ignoring Flav's advice.

What were Flav's wishes in 2005? Did he offer him the seat next to Alonso? Or did he think Fisi was a better choice? What other choices did Webbo have at the end of 2004?
And then why didnt Flav offer him the seat to replace Alonso at Renault(in 2007) instead of packaging him with the engines to RBR?

[natef1]

I cannot understand how a perfectly working car is allowed to cruise back to the pits during qualifying. And worse, during the last two minutes.

Isn't there a rule that stipulates that you need to be within a certain time when coming back to the pits?

I could've sworn that was introduced in 2008 or something.

I could be completely and utterly wrong, but for some reason I have it in my head.

[Miguel]

What were Flav's wishes in 2005? Did he offer him the seat next to Alonso? Or did he think Fisi was a better choice? What other choices did Webbo have at the end of 2004?
And then why didnt Flav offer him the seat to replace Alonso at Renault(in 2007) instead of packaging him with the engines to RBR?

I don't know about RBR, but up to the 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix Fischella was extremely highly rated. I'd say he was rated as at least a Top 5 driver, and maybe Top 3 by some. F1Racing had a feature before the 2005 season began and they asked several experts who would fare better that year (between Fernando and Giancarlo). It was close, but overall Fisichella got more support than Alonso.

Webber's only other choice was Williams. Seeing how the R24 degraded the previous season and how williams finished relatively well once the walrus nose was removed* made it not too difficult to choose Williams. You should also consider that Williams was not considered in a downward spiral back then.

BTW: I don't share the oppinion that Trulli was better than Alonso in 2004. But you will say that's because I support Alonso, which could be true.

* At the end of 2004 the Ferrari, BAR, Williams and McLaren were better than Renault. You may want to argue about the Sauber too

[ISLAMATRON]

I never asid Truilli was better, but there were some days where Trulli had the upper hand, those days seemed to come more often then the few days when Rubans got the upper hand over MS, or days when DC over Kimi in 2003-4

[mx_tifoso]

Jackie Stewart in his old Matra

When former world champion Jackie Stewart agreed to take part in some demonstration laps of his Matra MS80 on race morning, he probably had no idea what a can of worms he was opening.

Stewart was handed the chance to drive the car so Silverstone could celebrate the 40th anniversary of his famous battle with Jochen Rindt at the track.

Keen to make the demonstration as authentic as possible, Stewart wanted to get his hands on some original type overalls for when he got back behind the wheel.

But when he enquired about some old overalls that were at his house, he found out that his wife Helen had thrown all of his remaining ones out several years ago - after finding a suitcase full of musty driving suits down in a basement.

Stewart's mild annoyance at the departed overalls was made slightly worse when he found out that similar overalls were fetching around £30,000 on eBay... and he had lost more than 10 of them!"

- Autosport - Paddock Life: Silverstone edition

[PlatinumZealot]

I cannot understand how a perfectly working car is allowed to cruise back to the pits during qualifying. And worse, during the last two minutes.

Isn't there a rule that stipulates that you need to be within a certain time when coming back to the pits?

I could've sworn that was introduced in 2008 or something.

I could be completely and utterly wrong, but for some reason I have it in my head.

Maybe saving Gas I guess. Drive back slowly and save fuel for the race.

[DaveKillens]

Based on the regulations and the technical requirements, it is desirable to do a slow in-lap. That I have no problem understanding. But the timing is at odds with what is happening on the track. Other cars are on the track, and going balls-out in an attempt to qualify as well as possible. And then we have the situation where a car is on a slow in-lap, trying hard to stay out of the way. I don't think that Kimi was either stupid or unaware. But he wound up at the wrong place at the wrong time. The speed differential between his car and Webber's is enormous, and Webber suffered because of it.
In the interests of safety and allowing drivers the best possible chance to qualify as well as their potential allows, especially during the last five minutes in Q3, slow in-laps should be banned.

[djos]

I hate to correct you Mate, but for sentimental reasons (Williams + AJ = Legend in Aus) he went against Flav's wishes and accepted the Williams Drive.

That is why he said (when leaving Williams) that this time he wasn't going to be ignoring Flav's advice.

What were Flav's wishes in 2005? Did he offer him the seat next to Alonso? Or did he think Fisi was a better choice? What other choices did Webbo have at the end of 2004?
And then why didnt Flav offer him the seat to replace Alonso at Renault(in 2007) instead of packaging him with the engines to RBR?

webber was offered the drive alongside Alonso.

I'm not sure if he get offered the Renault drive when Alonso left but I do know he stayed at Williams as long as he did out of a sense of loyalty although considering the way he was treated I suspect it was misplaced.

[Giblet]

Alonso and Webber both being Flav's drivers, you would think that Flav would know intimately which one is actually quicker/better, and choose that as his number one driver for his Formula 1 team.

Oh wait....