Wurz confirmed at Williams

Marbot · 2 Jan 2006, 19:11 (Ref:1493604)

Williams confirm Wurz.http://www.f1racing.net/en/index.php. Please merge.

ASCII Man · 2 Jan 2006, 19:28 (Ref:1493612)

Purrfect!

Nintendo · 2 Jan 2006, 19:30 (Ref:1493613)

Good for alex, leave de la rosa with mclaren. he'll bring some good info to williams.

kipper · 2 Jan 2006, 19:35 (Ref:1493618)

I guess that this is probably the best outcome for everyone; McLaren retain de la Rosa's experience and have Paffett for the future. Williams gain an experienced campaigner to help with development to overcome Nico Rosberg's lack of race experience. Looks like Narain Karthikeyan has been left out in the cold though.

BSchneiderFan · 2 Jan 2006, 19:40 (Ref:1493625)

Well, Karthikeyan has this "even better" offer that his manager is talking about. Though I'm stuffed if I can think what it could be, all the race seats in F1 now being taken.

Marbot · 2 Jan 2006, 19:44 (Ref:1493628)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

all the race seats in F1 now being taken.

You ought to know better than that.

Maybe he's looking at a testing role plus a race drive for 2007 with some other team.

ASCII Man · 2 Jan 2006, 19:47 (Ref:1493630)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

Well, Karthikeyan has this "even better" offer that his manager is talking about. Though I'm stuffed if I can think what it could be, all the race seats in F1 now being taken.

I think he's talking about a ride in the IRL with a nice paycheck.

JeremySmith · 2 Jan 2006, 19:51 (Ref:1493632)

That is good news I am happy for Alex, Williams have made a good choice

Nintendo · 2 Jan 2006, 19:56 (Ref:1493635)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ASCII Man

I think he's talking about a ride in the IRL with a nice paycheck.

If the IRL want Karthikeyan, they must be planning on getting their talent from the nearly pool of F1

ASCII Man · 2 Jan 2006, 20:16 (Ref:1493649)

Well, the vast majority of drivers on their grid are nearly-f1's, wannabee's and never has-beens.
He'll fit in perfectly.

Nintendo · 2 Jan 2006, 20:35 (Ref:1493659)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ASCII Man

Well, the vast majority of drivers on their grid are nearly-f1's, wannabee's and never has-beens.
He'll fit in perfectly.

Glad someone agrees, I thought I'd get in hot water for that one.

safc_fan89 · 2 Jan 2006, 21:38 (Ref:1493697)

That's good news. It's uncertain whether Wurz would do a good job as a race driver, but he's perfect for a third driver role. Good news for Williams, I think Karthikeyan has rightly been left out in the cold. He isn't consistent enough.

Karthikeyan in the IRL can't be good news.

BootsOntheSide · 2 Jan 2006, 21:43 (Ref:1493702)

The only people who are that negative about the IRl are people who think a 2005 season review should preview 2006.

Good for Alex to have a deal sorted, he can probably teach Williams a lot, although I hope they've allowed for his physique. It could be that this has been planned for a long time, and they've been unable to make it official until Alex's contract expired on teh 31st December.

Silk Cut Jaguar · 2 Jan 2006, 21:44 (Ref:1493704)

On past form, being third driver for Williams almost guarentees him a couple of races.

Great news for Williams and if they were in negotiations with Wurz they could never have been looking at Narain seriously for the third driver slot. Chalk and cheese.

ASCII Man · 2 Jan 2006, 21:48 (Ref:1493708)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

The only people who are that negative about the IRl are people who think a 2005 season review should preview 2006.

No, not really.

Nintendo · 2 Jan 2006, 22:15 (Ref:1493732)

The funny thing about alex is that as people go, he's not exactly huge. is only just bigger than me.

Alwaysfirst · 2 Jan 2006, 22:16 (Ref:1493733)

How can you be so negative about the IRL when for years F1 has been ignoring some of the most talented drivers in the world, often refusing even to give many of them a chance. Usually it's just about money. Some of the F1 tests that IRL drivers have had (eg Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon) have shown them to be just as talented as most of the drivers in F1. Karthikeyan has certainly not disgraced himself in his Williams tests & you can hardly take a year in a Jordan to be a accurate measure of talent when they were underperforming so woefully. If you don't like a series don't watch it, but to tar all of it's drivers with the same brush in that way is simply snobbery.

Nintendo · 2 Jan 2006, 22:18 (Ref:1493735)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alwaysfirst

How can you be so negative about the IRL when for years F1 has been ignoring some of the most talented drivers in the world, often refusing even to give many of them a chance. Usually it's just about money. Some of the F1 tests that IRL drivers have had (eg Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon) have shown them to be just as talented as most of the drivers in F1. Karthikeyan has certainly not disgraced himself in his Williams tests & you can hardly take a year in a Jordan to be a accurate measure of talent when they were underperforming so woefully. If you don't like a series don't watch it, but to tar all of it's drivers with the same brush in that way is simply snobbery.

Good reasons for that. Remember Wilson, Da Matta and to an extent Zanardi

maltafan · 2 Jan 2006, 22:31 (Ref:1493745)

Great news for Williams in signing such an experienced test driver. much better than N K.

BSchneiderFan · 2 Jan 2006, 23:05 (Ref:1493755)

Webbo can't be that much smaller than Wurz, though?

Alwaysfirst · 3 Jan 2006, 00:26 (Ref:1493793)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nintendo

Good reasons for that. Remember Wilson

Are you completely mad. Wilson is a great driver who was thrown in at the deep end (in a Minardi in which he had done very little testing, on circuits he didn't know & up against a strong & well respected team-mate in Verstappen) & did enough to prove that he was very talented. To see that all you need do is look at his first lap at the Malaysian GP that year where he made up all of those places without power steering, a feat that few drivers in F1 could have done. Now he is winning in America against drivers such as Tracy & Bourdais who are easily good enough to be real contenders in F1. I for one believe that both of them could have easily outdone what any of the drivers in last years Williams, Red Bull, Sauber, Jordan, Minardi or BAR teams did do. After all of what they have done if you still believe that drivers such as Wilson, Bourdais, Tracy, Wheldon, Kanaan & Dixon aren't good enough to be in F1, or are at least better than half the drivers that are, then I think one of us needs to watch what they are doing in their respective series a bit closer & I don't think it is me......

KE30MAN · 3 Jan 2006, 00:27 (Ref:1493794)

Wurz is a sound choice as a Friday tester. NK would have been a poor selelction for that particular role in my opinion.

Teretonga · 3 Jan 2006, 00:47 (Ref:1493798)

Comparing the F1 careers of drivers from Indycars on the basis of their F1 results is pointless and demeaning. In F1 the teams are centred on technology and beating each other technically, the results of that are seen on the track. The most technically successful teams tend to have the better drivers but not always.

Indycar racing (CCWS, *CART*, IRL) is team based and fought out in the pits and on the track as racers. In this series the best drivers and best organised teams join together but the results are a much better comparison of relative ability than we see in F1 where the technical advantage of the team plays a bigger part.
CDM was a journeyman for Arciero in CART till he moved to Newman Haas where he became a champ. But he wasn't far off the pace in CART and teams had a better idea of his real talent.
In F1 the drivers (like Zanardi )also had to adapt running on grooved tyres. JV hated them when they came in and has never really adapted to the frooved tyre, narrow track formula, but that isn't the only measure of a driver.

ASCII Man · 3 Jan 2006, 01:09 (Ref:1493801)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alwaysfirst

Are you completely mad. Wilson is a great driver who was thrown in at the deep end (in a Minardi in which he had done very little testing, on circuits he didn't know & up against a strong & well respected team-mate in Verstappen) & did enough to prove that he was very talented. To see that all you need do is look at his first lap at the Malaysian GP that year where he made up all of those places without power steering, a feat that few drivers in F1 could have done. Now he is winning in America against drivers such as Tracy & Bourdais who are easily good enough to be real contenders in F1. I for one believe that both of them could have easily outdone what any of the drivers in last years Williams, Red Bull, Sauber, Jordan, Minardi or BAR teams did do. After all of what they have done if you still believe that drivers such as Wilson, Bourdais, Tracy, Wheldon, Kanaan & Dixon aren't good enough to be in F1, or are at least better than half the drivers that are, then I think one of us needs to watch what they are doing in their respective series a bit closer & I don't think it is me......

Bourdais should be in F1, I'll hand you that, but Tracy??
It only took him like, err, 10 years to win the title?
Pass some of that stuff you're smoking!!

From the IRL, for example Dixon, hopeless, just look at where he is now for instance compared to a couple of years ago.
He's won 4 races in IRL, yep count 'em F-O-U-R races, and 3 of them back in 2003.
3 seasons, 4 wins.
And only one win in CART/Champcars in 2001 at Nazareth...

Even at Williams they said that he performed way below accepted standards when they tested him...

Same for Tony Kanaan, what did he ever do?

The only reasonable driver I can think of in the IRL currently would be Wheldon, but even he's a long shot.

But Wilson's ok, I guess.
He went pretty well against Verstappen, who we all know really was The Boss in F1.

And for God's sake, use paragraphs!

Teretonga · 3 Jan 2006, 01:21 (Ref:1493804)

Dixon tested way below accepted standards...at Williams?
Can you point me to the source of that?

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