I bet Jonny wishes he'd taken Williams test role

[Super Tourer]

Now that all the Cart seats are taken, I wonder if Jonny Herbert wishes he had taken the Williams test job after all.

FW allegedly offered quite a sum for Jonny to take the job, but unfortunately JH (or his advisors) slightly deluded themselves as to the demand for his services elsewhere.

The last report I saw, Jonny was convinced he would get a drive in Cart, but now that Zakspeed have signed Tiemen for the second seat, all the seats are now taken...

Even all the top DTM and Sports car seats have pretty much gone. Do you think Jonny messed up? He could have done a Panis, but now seems to face a year on the sidelines and as we all know a year is a long time in motorsport.....

[LYM]

I beg to differ. How would you feel on becoming a helper after being a main chef for nearly a decade?

[Super Tourer]

I take your point, but now he's a bystander, which is worse?

[massifheed]

Johnny is a racer, he would never have been happy testing an F1 car, and besides I think after that year with Jag he'd had enough of F1. Why shouldn't he have tried to get into Cart? I know that he can do it, I think it was more a case of questionable managment than Johnny's decisions. Also the bad timing of the knee injury and not being able to test. He will be racing this year for sure. Probably not in Cart but he will be out there somewhere. And that gives him time to get a decent deal together for next year. If he had taken the Williams test drive then he would always have been wondering what if he'd gone to the US.
Out of interest, when did Zakspeed announce that they had signed Tiemen? The last I heard was that they were still looking for sponsorship for the second car, and may not be able to run it after all.

[Super Tourer]

Have a look on the Autosport website.

Don't think the knee injury made any difference, did he even get invited for a test ????

[TRD]

I know he said he's finished in F1 but if Minardi makes the grid, they'll need a couple of drivers. Would he accept a drive in an uncompetitive car? Probably not but who knows, it's obvious he still has racing desires.

[Super Tourer]

I think the F1 tester role has now evolved over the last year, which is something I feel that Jonny and his management team has overlooked. Panis propelled himself from a dismal year at Prost to what could turn out to be one of the top F1 drives by doing only one year of testing, he also found himself in demand and could have tested for McLaren again on a substantial salary.

The reason this happened is because he was able to compare himself to Hakkinen and Coulthard on equal terms, which is something that he never could achieve before. He was as fast and usually faster than MH and DC at every single test, setting fastest lap times at nearly all circuits. This is why BAR hired him.

If Jonny had gone to Williams and been faster than Ralf and Montoya at every test sess, imagine the boost that would have give him. Another benefit is as the lead test & development driver you get all the latest kit and are therefore have the best equipment at your disposal, yes you may spend some days pounding around testing tyres or brakes
, but it is a much more equal environment.

Jonny could do with a lift and getting out of a Williams BMW
after setting the fastest time in testing, would show some of his doubters that he still 'has 'it. Now its to late a great mistake on his part.

[MichaelC]

Originally posted by TRD
I know he said he's finished in F1 but if Minardi makes the grid, they'll need a couple of drivers. Would he accept a drive in an uncompetitive car? Probably not but who knows, it's obvious he still has racing desires.

Correct. But Minardi will want two people who'll pay for the drive. There's no way Johnny would do that, he'd expect to be paid.

Unless of course, he's got enough cash to buy Minardi...

[Super Tourer]

Good point MichaelC !

A lot of drives outside of F1 will require drivers to pay
as opposed to being paid.

You can imagine the conversation with mid-grid Cart Team owner.

" Well Jonny I think we can do a deal on 1 million dollars"

Jonny " Great, I think I can agree to drive for that"

"No Jonny you pay us"........

[Airhead]

It's a shame isn't it? I really like Johnny, nearly as much as Louise does, but I've had less opportunity to talk to him than Ms Goodman.

He has won Grand Prix and many who are fronting the grid for 2001 can't make this (what is to me crucial) claim to fame. Plus he speaks his mind. This endears him to the fans, but possibly not to Ford, sorry, Jaguar.

[massifheed]

Super T, You make a good point but I think that after all the years in dodgy cars and the amount of bad luck he had had, I think he just wanted a fresh challenge, he has said as much himself.
I also think that he dismissed the test drive a bit quickly but when he was offered it his managment guys were still saying that it was 95% sure that he would be with a top Cart team in 2001. I think from his point of view there was no way he was going to turn down a Cart drive to test for Williams. I really think that his management team have let him down on this one.
I have no doubt that if offered the Williams test again he would seriously consider it. But I think that if he really wanted to test that bad Frank would still have him. He is after all an great driver with many years experience. Not that common in todays F1 field.

[Valve Bounce]

First of all, I doubt if Minardi will make the grid again. They will not survive if they try to make it on that clapped out Ford engine. If Stoddart buys Minardi as Steve Neilsen suggested, and many of us hope, the only way Minardi will survive is if Paul can talk one of the factory engine suppliers like Renault or Ford to come up with a factory engine. Otherwise it would be like throwing good money after bad. Having put that lot on the table, if Stoddart can work the miracle of the loaves and fishes, there are other young drivers around to pick from. I agree JH would be a logical choice, but what about Bruno Junqueira, Mark Webber, and this fellow Courtney who are knocking on the door, not to mention the drivers that are still more or less tied to Minardi like Alonso? If you look at this from a development viewpoint, then Minardi is cheap, but only if someone can talk factory engine. And even if they did, Johnny is no certainty to get a seat because any new owner like Stoddart could be firstly looking at potentially great Aussis, and secondly, some up and coming hot shoe.
Initially, I thought it would have been a dumb move for JH to be Frank's test driver, as I thought that was a dead end job, with Bunsen in the wings. But when you look at the cold reality of motor racing, the only way JH could have landed a good spot in CART let alone a drive in F1 next year, is for him to excell as a test driver at Franks diner.

[Tris]

Originally posted by Super Tourer
I think the F1 tester role has now evolved over the last year, which is something I feel that Jonny and his management team has overlooked. Panis propelled himself from a dismal year at Prost to what could turn out to be one of the top F1 drives by doing only one year of testing, he also found himself in demand and could have tested for McLaren again on a substantial salary.

Well I agree and I do not agree. BAR hired Panis as he has been known as a good development driver for years and years, just as McLaren knew he was. Panis did all the development work for Bridgestone in 1997, and let us not forget that if luck had been blowing in another direction Prost was a serious championship contended in 1997 and Panis could have been right up there at the end of the year. If Panis had not had the accident and Nakano had not been so useless the championship would have looked very different at the end of 1997. The thing that Panis has done it to open a revolving door between race and test driving.

The reason this happened is because he was able to compare himself to Hakkinen and Coulthard on equal terms, which is something that he never could achieve before. He was as fast and usually faster than MH and DC at every single test, setting fastest lap times at nearly all circuits. This is why BAR hired him.

Test drivers are usually faster than the two race drivers. There is noting unique or uncommon there. But the work that test drivers do is totally different to the work that the race drivers to in the tests. Test drivers to all the horse work, instillations etc and the race drivers etc the “premium” work, set-up, race simulations etc.

The real difference that joining McLaren made to Panis’s career was to put him back in the limelight after he had bee forgotten after spending six years at Prost/Ligier. Maybe Fisichella should have pushed to leave Benetton rather than Wurz..?