What is holding Williams back ?

[bella]

Originally Posted by barnettracing

It bemuses me that Maldonado is being called dirty. He makes mistakes but then I have always expected that of someone who nearly wiped out a marshal under double waved yellows in FR3.5. There are drivers on the F1 grid who would do worse than the Venezuelan.

to be fair, he did wipe the marshal out and the guy broke bones. and you can say sorry as many times as you like for that but in the end he was lucky to come away from that without a ban. no matter how quick he is, that sort of thing deserves to stay with him for life. i'm sure the marshal won't forget it.

/vendetta

[barnettracing]

Originally Posted by bella

to be fair, he did wipe the marshal out and the guy broke bones. and you can say sorry as many times as you like for that but in the end he was lucky to come away from that without a ban. no matter how quick he is, that sort of thing deserves to stay with him for life. i'm sure the marshal won't forget it.

/vendetta

I couldn't remember if he did actually wipe out the marshal (I should've watched the video again before posting). That incident though was stupidity not 'dirty'; he didn't intend to try and kill a marshal. I doubt he'll be the last driver to crash under double waved yellows.

Personally, I thought he should've got a lengthy ban for what happened.

NB: I was thinking of this incident http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt5nt7IdyPs, whilst I've just read elsewhere that the 'broken leg' incident was at Monaco in GP2. Am I getting mixed up. Has he done this twice?

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by bella

to be fair, he did wipe the marshal out and the guy broke bones. and you can say sorry as many times as you like for that but in the end he was lucky to come away from that without a ban. no matter how quick he is, that sort of thing deserves to stay with him for life. i'm sure the marshal won't forget it.

/vendetta

He's not the only one that's done something like that

What about d'Ambrosio nearly taking out a marshal under yellow flags in Sepang in GP2 a few years back?

And Alonso in Brazil '03 still flooring it when under double waved yellow flags?

[Born Racer]

The problem with the treatment of yellow flags as I see it are that drivers are stretching the imagination when it comes to being 'prepared to stop'. The only way I can see them being able to stop a lot of the time is in a wreck in some hapless marshall's legs.

Originally Posted by barnettracing

But he didn't turn left into Grosjean. As I have repeated over and over again, Grosjean (as much as I prefer him to PM) tried to stay with him on the outside of the corner rather than back off and try to cut inside.

Jackie Stewart once said that turning out of the corner was just as important (if not more) than turning in. From BriSCA to F1, you always turn out the corner to maximise the amount of track you use and hence your speed; it is basic race driving. Grosjean was nowhere alongside and should have realised.

When I first saw it, it looked to me that Pastor did actually have another bite at sticking his car out to the left, but I might be wrong on that. The thing is though, Pastor did not leave him much room. If Romain was on the limit on the brakes, he couldn't physically disappear. Likewise, maybe Pastor was a bit too on the limit and he himself couldn't steer on a tighter angle, but it looked to me as though he could and chose not to, thus not leaving Romain enough room. Still, I'm glad there was no punishment, because these things do happen.

[bella]

Originally Posted by p-matt

He's not the only one that's done something like that

What about d'Ambrosio nearly taking out a marshal under yellow flags in Sepang in GP2 a few years back?

And Alonso in Brazil '03 still flooring it when under double waved yellow flags?

i've not seen d'ambrosio being stupid but that one with alonso was ridiculous. he needed a massive slap for that in the interests of reinforcing just how wrong it is to ignore the flags. yet no, he got away with it. wonder if he learnt his lesson though... did d'ambrosio get a slap or did he escape?

thing is, you can't seperate stupid and dirty. the two are inextricably linked. one cannot exist without a degree of the other. what's to gain from going too fast under yellows apart from potential track position? that's hardly clean, putting everyone elses lives at risk because you can make up a second.

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by bella

i've not seen d'ambrosio being stupid but that one with alonso was ridiculous. he needed a massive slap for that in the interests of reinforcing just how wrong it is to ignore the flags. yet no, he got away with it. wonder if he learnt his lesson though... did d'ambrosio get a slap or did he escape?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWbql5niIq8

I think he got disqualified for that race.

[wolfhound]

I see Williams have signed Susie Wolff (nee Stoddart) as a development driver.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98699

Her husband a Williams sharehold claims he was not part of the process!

[knighty]

Now this is a route to F1 that nobody had thought of.........marry a main shareholder of an F1 team!.......but seriously, I think it will do F1's image good having an experienced girl driver having a crack.......lack of success in lesser formulas never hurt many of the current F1 drivers, so who's to say she shouldnt be given a chance to see what she can offer, good luck to Suzie me says.

[Born Racer]

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone also welcomed the announcement.

"If Susie is as quick in a car as she looks good out of a car then she will be a massive asset to any team and on top of that she is very intelligent.

Does Bernie expect that of the male participants too?

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

Her husband a Williams sharehold claims he was not part of the process!

...and my name is Napoleon Bonaparte.

[barnettracing]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

Her husband a Williams sharehold claims he was not part of the process!

Originally Posted by Paradise City

...and my name is Napoleon Bonaparte.

Anyone who is named after the dog from The Wizard of Oz can't be trusted!

[DS"]

Hopefully this will get her a seat with Williams, so the DTM would finally get rid off her.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by knighty

Now this is a route to F1 that nobody had thought of.........marry a main shareholder of an F1 team!.......but seriously, I think it will do F1's image good having an experienced girl driver having a crack.......lack of success in lesser formulas never hurt many of the current F1 drivers, so who's to say she shouldnt be given a chance to see what she can offer, good luck to Suzie me says.

As far as I can tell this driver has never won a motor race of any kind? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

And there I was stupidly believing Formula One was meant to be for the best of the best, or at least make an effort to give the appearance thereof?

If the FIA give this driver a superlicence it will be a disgrace imho.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Flavio Galtieri

As far as I can tell this driver has never won a motor race of any kind? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

And there I was stupidly believing Formula One was meant to be for the best of the best, or at least make an effort to give the appearance thereof?

If the FIA give this driver a superlicence it will be a disgrace imho.

According to Wikipedia she's never won anything but it's not always reliable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susie_Wolff

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

According to Wikipedia she's never won anything but it's not always reliable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susie_Wolff

Well I've just read the Wolff website too and it talks about podiums in FRenault back in 03/04. Since then nothing......a year in F3 then obscurity as a backmarker in DTM.

[barnettracing]

To the best of my knowledge, Susie Wolff (nee Stoddart) has never won a national nor international motor race. Whether she has ever won at a regional/club level, I don't know.

To be fair to her, she is better than Maria de Villota. But that isn't saying much!

[Marbot]

It's not about the winning, it's about the taking part. Which is what we've come to expect from Williams' just of late. But now that they have a very good car, it would be a good idea to let its two very good drivers continue to drive it.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by barnettracing

To be fair to her, she is better than Maria de Villota. But that isn't saying much!

I'd forgotten about her. A natural brain defensive reaction I suppose.....

This even out-Chiltons Max and I thought that was impossible....

[davyboy]

You have to laugh don't you. I'd have had more respect for Frank if he came out and said - "I've let Susie Wolff/Stoddart drive the car because she's bonking one of the shareholders and we need his money".

[barnettracing]

I'd rather they just told the truth, we're not stupid. "We're going to let Susie have a go in our car because Toto paid **** loads to become a majority shareholder, and she's his wife."

Why they have had to give her the title of 'development driver'. Is Mrs. Wolff known for her technical feedback in aero-dependent single-seaters (serious question)?

[chillibowl]

i prefer owners who give drives to women as opposed to owners who prefer stoning them but thats just my opinion...long live Bahrain!

seriously though good luck to her. i hope that one day female drivers can take part on equal footing or at the very least F1 and the teams see the logic of developing a sister series to F1 where we have an all female lineup.

maybe that also sounds equally crazy but just crazy enough for every other major sport in the world to develop such leagues.

[JamesH]

Originally Posted by Flavio Galtieri

And there I was stupidly believing Formula One was meant to be for the best of the best, or at least make an effort to give the appearance thereof?

Best of the best? Plenty of drivers out there (some of whom have never driven a race car) who are better than most of the current F1 drivers.

Surely you mean 'best of all those people who could afford to race from the age of 7 and were lucky at the right time'

[bella]

i wonder if we'd be having the same discussion if a female press officers boyfriend or husband had used his connections to get a test drive with the team she worked for?

i think visibility is important. to us f1 enthusiasts, it's another woman f1 tester who has got there by connections and wealth rather than merit. to everyone else it's just a sign that women can and do get to drive f1 cars, and it's not unachievable for young girls who want to take their karting seriously to aspire to it. the more normal it becomes for women to be there in team shirts in every position within a team, the less likely f1 is to miss out on that incredibly talented girl.

[pauln]

I'm with bella on this one. In the meantime on the ladder up there are two women signed to drive for GP3 teams this season - Vicky Piria with Trident and Carmen Jorda with Ocean. There's also Alice Powell testing for Status this week at Silverstone.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by bella

i wonder if we'd be having the same discussion if a female press officers boyfriend or husband had used his connections to get a test drive with the team she worked for?

i think visibility is important. to us f1 enthusiasts, it's another woman f1 tester who has got there by connections and wealth rather than merit. to everyone else it's just a sign that women can and do get to drive f1 cars, and it's not unachievable for young girls who want to take their karting seriously to aspire to it. the more normal it becomes for women to be there in team shirts in every position within a team, the less likely f1 is to miss out on that incredibly talented girl.

I would rather she had got there by merit; it would be better for the sport. Otherwise women in F1 is good. I remember the likes of Lela Lombardi and Desire Wilson in F1. I just hope in this case, Susie Wolff's lack of track success doesn't translate into a lack of performance when it comes to testing for Williams.