Tut Tut EJ you should have signed Justin!!!

[Rache]

Takuma Sato is having a cack time with Jordan...hands up who thinks EJ should have signed Justin Wilson instead??? Then again, do you think Justin is relieved not to be in this troubled team this season? Anyone know what Justin's plans are for next season??

[BootsOntheSide]

I think Jus is hopeful of getting a CART drive with Newman-Haas, but I guess he'd take an F1 drive ahead of it.

[Mygale]

I think Justin would be happy not to have been put in one of the worst cars on the grid (in which he would have to make his F1 debut in this year ).

He is more level headed in his approach to racing than Sato, but who says he would do it to better .

The car looks terrible !

[Splatz the Cow]

Justin could learn from Webber, and choose his time carefully.

He could learn from Sato and not waste his time when he gets it.

I would be amazed if Sato is at Jordan next year.

I would like to see justin in the Minardi this year, but I doubt he has the pursuasive finances that are necessary to get a seat in F1.

[Sato san]

At the moment i really wouldnt think Sato would want to be at Jordan next year . The team have just got rid of some very talented staff , they have got a very poor chassis , bad reliabilty , and it looks like their going to lose works engines .

what a difference a few years make .

[Mygale]

but on this Sato/ Wilson debate :

Wilson is a very good driver , but doesnt anyone else think that people look at him through tinted glasses because he had such a good year last year ? Apart from last year he has never proved to be a consistent winner since he left Formaul Palmer-Audi in 97.

Justin struggled in F3000 for a few years without good results before he had his very good year in 2001 which he was also in the best car .
Because of last years title , now everyone says Justin is so great .

He is of course very good indeed , but maybe if Justin wins the Formula Nissan championship this year in Spain he will prove himself right for F1 ( which i believe he is ).

But to be honest here , both him and Takuma Sato both had very good years last year , And its all too easy for people to shout for Justin just because Takuma Sato is having a bad time in a very poor car .
Everyone seems to jump on the bandwagon to easily without really thinking it out for themselfs .

[Mania]

Sato has not lived up his reputation. The Jordan is a dog but that is no excuse. Driving for Eddie Jordan is career suicide anyway - but nobody would want to touch him if he keeps flying of the tracks and destroying cars.

How's this for a scenario - Honda tell Jordan to **** off at the end of the season and go on to buy a major share in BAR - thus concentrating on one team - Eddie is left without Honda engines - and turns around and fires Sato.

Thus proving why Sato got that Jordan seat in the first place!

[Guy Goddard2]

Originally posted by Sato san
At the moment i really wouldnt think Sato would want to be at Jordan next year . The team have just got rid of some very talented staff , they have got a very poor chassis , bad reliabilty , and it looks like their going to lose works engines .

what a difference a few years make .

It maybe that Jordan wouldn't be around next year rather than Sato deciding not to race for them.
I'm dissapointed with Sato even though the car is dreadful, to many errors making him a liability rather than an investment.
If Jordan Loose the Honda connection Sato will be asked leave by the back door......

[pootan]

I agree - Sato is embarassment to the team of Jordan however would Justin do better in a car which is fundementally defective.

Leave the face that it Takuma Sato is at Jordan for the engines not for his talent...

When I saw Sato in Pau Prix large I was not empressed clearly had an unjust technical advantage to him and it was his own defect that it threw it.

[Mania]

Neither does CART. Takagi should be pumping gas at a 7-11 rather than driving in the championship.

[racing_guru]

EJ said hiring Sato had nothing to do with Honda, if that's true then TS should be replaced with a more polished driver. Sato's talets from F3 did not seem to be follow him to F1.

[neilap]

Wow, this is so strange to me. In the US people get ripped for calling Japanese people Japs. I am not into polotical correctness but I think you guys are overboard. In the US blacks were not supposed to be smart enough to be quarterbacks in US football. Now some of the better QB's are black. Whites were not supposed to be good wide recievers... there is a Guy named Ed that might disagree with that. My point is, it is not fair to say Japanese drivers do not belong in F1. Wasnt it Nikki Lauda that said women could never race F1 too? These statements make people look stupid. Look at the Jamaican bobsled team. It does not snow in Jamaica yet in their first ever attempt they got a medal. Sato may not be for F1, we dont know yet. But if he is not it will not be because he is Japanese. It will be because of his overdriving the car. In fact this last race he was doing really well. He just pushed too hard again. I bet if he had a better drive he would have been touted as the next great and the best to leave Japan. How many people did Jenson Button take out in F1. I know he has spoiled Jarno Trulli's race at least twice in his career. Is that because he is british. Is Michael good because he is German, does that also explain him being a snob?

[Markules]

Well, let's be fair here - Nick Heidfeld is percieved to be a very good young driver (with good reason), yet look at his first year in F1 in a tricky and underpowered Prost, alongside a much more experienced team mate; Nothing much to write home about there, yet no sooner has he joined Sauber then he's flying.

Sato is a bit like Massa IMO - I don't see him turning out the same way at least some of Raikkonen, Alonso, Heidfeld, Button or Montoya will, but at the same time, I'll gladly wait and see if I'm proven wrong.

Likewise, winning the F3000 championship doesn't mean you're going to be a great F1 driver; case-in-point, Zonta, who just didn't seem to be able to cut it at that level. Now he's had to step down to the Dallera Nissan championship.

That said, I'd like to see Wilson be given a chance. That argument of him being too tall just doesn't seem to cut it IMO.

[HKUSP40C]

I think considering how bad the Jordan chassis is, I would give him some credit for at least getting faster laps in the race than his teammate. http://f1.tagheuer.com/ Both Sato and Fisi were on the bottom of the list, with Sato ahead of Fisi. He is fast, he just needs to settle down. Also notice that the BARs had one of the top maximum speeds and the Jordans not even close. It seems as if everyone here jumps all over him because he is Japanese and Justin "should've" got the seat.

[Mantis13]

It is still way too early at this point to be writing off Sato's F1 career. It's is only fair to allow him to finish the season before judging his performance.

[racer69]

It is still early, but Webber, Massa and McNish are definatly going alot better, and he was meant to be the rookie with all the talent, i reckon he needed some more testing.

If he keeps going the way he is now, i can see him either being replaced or possibly benched for a few races so he can go away and look at ways to improve. The only driver with any F1 credentials not tied up in anything else at the moment is Jos Verstappen, could he join Jordan at some point this year?

[KA]

Originally posted by racer69
It is still early, but Webber, Massa and McNish are definatly going alot better, and he was meant to be the rookie with all the talent, i reckon he needed some more testing.

If he keeps going the way he is now, i can see him either being replaced or possibly benched for a few races so he can go away and look at ways to improve. The only driver with any F1 credentials not tied up in anything else at the moment is Jos Verstappen, could he join Jordan at some point this year?

If I was a team boss looking to dump a driver who was crashing too much, then I'm not sure Jos would be number one on my list of replacements.....

Sato DOES have talent (anyone notice the number of places he gained over the first couple of laps again?), but I think right now he's trying far too hard and making far too many mistakes.

Even though I was very impressed by him in F3 last year, and so far have taken the line that given a little time it will come right, I'm beginning to wonder right now whether he is going to make it, or whether he'll get dumped by Jordan- if that does happen, then I can't see anyone else being too keen to pick him up next year unless Honda put pressure on them (BAR anyone?)

The thought that occurs to me is that this is the big risk that teams take when they pick up inexperienced drivers straight from F3- don't forget that although Sato had 2 years in F3, he's probably less experienced than most equivalent drivers- as I recall he didn't race a car of any kind until he was 19 and has no background in karting. Right now he's struggling with what looks to be a bad car, and I can't help wondering whether that is the root of the problem- he simply lacks the experience to know how to deal with a bad car- let's face it with his F3 record, it's something he's never had to do before.

As a comparison, think about the difference between Button's performances in his first year with Williams, last year in a lousy Benetton and this year's in a much better Renault- Button looked to be all at sea last year, but seems to have learned a lot from it, and is beginning to show the benefits right now.

If Sato can keep his cool (and his seat!), and concentrate on making less errors and bringing the car home consistently, then he should be able to turn this situation around- the problem is, it's going to depend very much on EJ's patience....

[Francesca]

Undoubtedly, Sato is talented - he was stunning in F3. Why hasn't this translated into F1? I read in here somewhere that the F3 cars are closer to F1 than F3000's are...so why's he making so many mistakes?
I'd like to see him do well. EJ...patience...nah!!!

[Guy Goddard2]

Dont think EJ will be able to have the patience if Sato doesnt pull some world championship points out of the bag shortly... he will stay to safe guard the Honda deal but EJ just might gamble on some one else to bring the results in and secure Honda through the back door.
Personally I have been unimpressed with Sato and would like to see someone eles have a chance.




Regards


Guy

[neilap]

TS had a great start in Spain. He looked like a man on a mission. He made a brilliant start and was lapping pretty well. Then, out of nowhere he lost it. He said the car understeered. The same thing happened to many of the drivers on the grid. I know he is talented. EJ and Taku both need patience. It is so easy for us to say but these decisions are so split second. The line is very thin. Sato needs to find it. Personally, I think he will improve. He is doing it more slowly than I would expect but he has the talent.

[The Red BARon]

Originally posted by Splatz the Cow
Justin could learn from Webber, and choose his time carefully.

He could learn from Sato and not waste his time when he gets it.

I would be amazed if Sato is at Jordan next year.

I would like to see justin in the Minardi this year, but I doubt he has the pursuasive finances that are necessary to get a seat in F1.

Judging by F3000 last year Webber could learn from Wilson how to drive a car quickly.

A lack of finances didn't stop Webber. Nor did he "choose" his time. A straightforward case of positive discrimination IMO got him in.

[Mantis13]

I wonder is Briatore had any influence in getting Webber the Minardi ride? After all both Alonso and Webber are signed with Briatore.

[Champ69]

I feel I need to stand up for Jordan.

The chassis is not that bad and infact is much better than the BAR chassis in my view. It is the engine which is the bad link in the chain.

I would like to see the Cosworth engine in the Jordan that would be a nice car.

Sato needs to calm down as Eddie does seem to be on the edge these days, If not me thinks that with Sato not performing and Handa's engine being below par that Eddie would kick Sato out and happily put his relationship with Honda on the line.

I am sure Sato has talent but like JPM last year he just needs to relax and keep the car pointed the right way.

I do feel sorry for Justin as it seems that the only reason he was out of an F1 drive is due to his height and that is a real shame.

[calais]

Originally posted by The Red BARon


Judging by F3000 last year Webber could learn from Wilson how to drive a car quickly.

A lack of finances didn't stop Webber. Nor did he "choose" his time. A straightforward case of positive discrimination IMO got him in.

"positive discrimination"????
he's the first aussie driver in nearly 10 years in a sea of brits, a lot who didnt deserve to be there in the first place.
if wilson had any brains he should've had a fuul time testing contract last year whilst he was in F3000, and maybe he would've got somewherer

[f1manoz]

Brits are still peeved that the next blue-eyed Brit was beaten into F1 by a boy done good from Australia.