Could Ralf be replaced THIS season

[Nina]

I heard a rumour today that RALF could be replaced this season.... By Mr Heidfeld.

Do these rumours come from people who are bored and fancy a joke or do they have any founding at all? I always wonder when people tell me 'rumours'





n.b - if this has been covered in another topic please do the biz, mods!

[Spudgun]

Heidfield. I doubt it.

But I'd like to see him replaced. Ok, he had a good qually at Monaco. But recent form has seen him wasting the car in my eyes.

[freud]

Yes, I read in BILD few weeks ago that FW can potentially dump Ralf because he is not performing as well as in his contract. Though Willi has already threatened FW with a multimillion dollar lawsuit. Ralf might eventually complete this season with williams but he's definitely not a williams driver in 2005.

[GP Racer]

I'd like to see it happen, as it looks to me as though Ralf is way off his game this year. He's been involved in alot of altercations this season, and hasn't been competitive at all.

While there at it, they may as well get rid of JPM to, for the utter lack of dedication and loyalty he's shown to Williams. I don't know why Frank put up with that slap in the face. I think Frank should have put him on the street as soon as JPM signed that McLaren contract. There is no way this team can be giving 100% to JPM's effort IMO.

But in truth, they'll probably both finish out this sorry season, and then Frank can bring in some fresh drivers with new attitudes.

[senna12]

Well ,since Ralf is leaving too, the team is not likely putting 100% into either drivers' cars, at least not mentally. Knowing both drivers are leaving can, and I believe has, caused a psychological mess at Williams this year. In hindsight, it was probably not a good idea to bring out such a new design for the nose at this time. It only magnified the problems. Perhaps a mid-season house cleaning is in order. PH could be the start.

[Liz]

Ralf should be replaced by Carlos Cheka. He falls off a lot too, but he's much better looking.

[grumpy1]

No frank will put up with Ralf for the rest of the year unless Ralf walks away.It would cost to much money to sack him.JPM although will not be there next year is at least having a go.

The Grumpy1

[jetsetter]

It is possible that with Ralf's effort this year he could be replaced before year's end but if it happened i don't think it will by Heidfeld.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by GP Racer


While there at it, they may as well get rid of JPM to, for the utter lack of dedication and loyalty he's shown to Williams.

:confused:

Are you saying that a driver who has shown his intent to leave a team is not dedicated to performing whilst he is still in the team?

If that is what your saying, come Hungary time when most driver/teams are announcing their intentions for the following season, every team who is losing a driver should get rid of that driver!

Montoya looks like he's doing the best he can to me, and had it not have been for that dreaded reliability, would be on the same sort of points tally as Jenson and Jarno, 2 driver who are totally dedicated this season.

I read in an interview with Sir Frank where he said that he thinks that Juan Pablo is driving better than ever this season given the machinery hes got, and i'm sure Sir Frank would know if Juan Pablo's dedicated or not.

With regards to Rafe, Williams should get rid of him, he looks like he doesn't want to be there and imo, has been the most disappointing driver on the grid in 2004.

[billkirbywofb]

Well William's has not provided Ralf with the best car this season. It seems that if Ralf stays on the road, there is some non-driver problem with the car. Last weekend the second fastest qualifying car ended up with a bad motor and in the race only the first 4 gears.

[300kph]

RS continue to lose value as an F1 driver and I think he will never recover from it anymore....Replaced by Nick, I think it's not a bad idea.....I have a feeling that he will not get an F1 seat after Williams...even next season.

[Attila]

We all know that Willy Webber is THE best manager in the world. He did wonders with all his clients. You just need to look at Claudia Schiffer for example. She is way too old to be a model and she still makes millions. I am sure that Ralf's contract is waterprof, Williams can only get rid of him by paying his multimillion salary. I am sure they are not going to fire him, it is not worth it; the car is not good enough for anyone else.

[ASCII Man]

So what?
Elle Macpherson is alot older and she still makes alot of money.
You don't need a moneygrabbing genius like Wili Weber for that...

[fog_shadow]

just for the record:
Claudia Schiffer is a doll. mmmmmmmm

back on to Ralf,
i think he did an excellent job in Barcelona, nursing a car to the finnish and getting points even though his team-mate just blew it on the brakes. his qualifying at Monaco was not bad either.

[BootsOntheSide]

Monaco was only the second time Ralf had a mechanical problem all season, and Montoya has had 2 as well. Once you compare their performances it's clear that JPM has been the ebtter Williasm driver this year. If finishing a race without any dramas is seen as impressive for a driver being paid $112m a year to race for one of F1's greatest teams, I think standards need revising.

If they can replace him this season, they should at least consider it. Really it depends on whether either of their 2005 targets are available to join now, because there wouldn't be as much point i replacing him with Gené or Pizzonia. One option is to run JV for teh rest of the year on a trial basis.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
Monaco was only the second time Ralf had a mechanical problem all season, and Montoya has had 2 as well. Once you compare their performances it's clear that JPM has been the ebtter Williasm driver this year. If finishing a race without any dramas is seen as impressive for a driver being paid $112m a year to race for one of F1's greatest teams, I think standards need revising.

Hmm. A few things here.

Its true he hasn't performed on many occaisions but you can't deny that Monaco wasn't his fault (forget our perceived notions concerning Alonso) if the engine hadn't failed on Thursday we'd be saying he was a star of the weekend.

Yes JPM has at last lived up to his potential and is performing much better than Ralf this season, so far.

Is Ralf really being paid that much?

It may be crossing threads but I recall Sir Stirling Moss saying that after his big accident at Goodwood in '63 he should have taken another year before returning to the cockpit. He didn't, and retired because he felt he'd lost his ability. Therefore that accident last season may well still be affecting Ralf and either he's coming out of it or he needs a complete break.

There is definitely something wrong this season.

[fog_shadow]

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
If finishing a race without any dramas is seen as impressive for a driver being paid $112m a year to race for one of F1's greatest teams, I think standards need revising.

that was not my point. At Barcelona, Williams took a gamble on smaller brake cooling inlets to try and gain an aerodynamic advantage. JPM smoked his brakes and retired. Ralf coped with the obvious disadvantage, not only that, he also got points for the team.

i'm not comparing Ralf with JPM. clearly JPM is the more exciting driver and an obvious talent and speed. However Ralf has contributed to the team, and his performance at Barcelona was commendable even more so, when the better driver failed to cope with the outcome of the teams gamble.

shadow

[1200Datto27]

At the same time, JPM was racing at the front of the field, where as RS was cruising around in the midfield, this tends to have a different affect of brake cooling.

[Kicking-back]

JPM did not "smoke his brakes" at Barcelona.

The problem began on lap three.

Something going wrong that early is not down to how you drive it.

[fog_shadow]

fact => williams changed the brake cooling inlets

fact => JPM's brakes overheated because of this.

fact => Ralf managed to complete the race inspite of the above mentioned change

fact => Ralf got points for the team.

caveat => Williams are not lying.

draw from the above whatever conclusions you want to

[josvandeperre]

This thread is whether Ralf will be replaced this year so the latest story is that Jacques will be in a Williams tomorrow for 50 km at a private track in the South of France - possibly the day before Toyota confirm they have more money than sense.....

[Peter Mallett]

Have you got a "sauce" for that Jos?

[Glen]

It's on F1Live, PlanetF1... probably all of them by now. Don't know how anyone would know the actual source these days though - newspapers and websites seem to spend most of the time copying each other's stories.

[josvandeperre]

The Jacques bit is here :

http://www.planet-f1.com/news/story_15738.shtml

[minirda]

As we say in the Netherlands where there's smoke, there usually is fire. Jacques will be back at Williams. Ralf can be replaced this season. Niki Lauda is saying this for weeks now. Both, Ralf and Williams would be better of, IMO. But it's probably only possible when Toyota can end the contract of Panis or DaMatta due to lack off performance.