Minardi's second driver?

[EERO]

From the Autosport site: Its second driver is expected to be announced shortly, but likely candidates Pedro de la Rosa and Mark Webber have both opted against joining the team. Stoddart has stated he wants Alonso’s partner to be ‘experienced’, opening the door to possibles Johnny Herbert, Mark Blundell, former Michelin test driver Tom Kristensen, former BMW test driver Jorg Muller, Jan Magnussen and David Brabham.

How many of these choices seem plausible to you?

Would Johnny EVER drive for Minardi?
Does Magnusson feel that he has unfinished business in F1 and would he submit to further humiliation?

I think Kristensen and and Muller make the most sense.

Any others you can think of?

[Valve Bounce]

Yeah!! Gerhard Berger, if he can bring a couple of BMW engines with him, why not. He wouldn't need to bring sponsorship money at all. He could say they were experimental engines. Failing that, they could try Jackie Stewart, Alan Jones, or maybe Jack Brabham. After all two of these guys are Aussis, and the other guy has won races also. In fact, I think all three might have won some championship or other at some stage in their careers.

[robert2000]

Damon Hill!

Or perhaps Derek Warwick

[Bononi]

David Brabham ? The same one back in 94 ? Is he an experienced F1 driver ??
Based on that, I could name Michael Andretti... Hey wait !
The best choice should be : Ricardo Rosset !! an
unforgettable name ! he he !

[MichaelC]

Well David Brabham is an Aussie too... but why would he want to go from the front of the Sportscar grid to the back of the F1 grid.

Tom Kristensen is possilbe but unlikely - I thought Minardi were still on Bridgestones??

Jorg Muller's racing in ALMS isn't he?

JH wouldn't go there. Like I said a while back, he'd want to be paid, not be paying!!

Damon's too busy doing nothing to drive round at the back.

Rosset isn't an experienced GP driver, because he was always running in his own race behind everyone else.

My call is, er, um, oh I don't know. Jan Lammers.

[garyegrant]

Agree about Rosset!

One of the Italian websites is suggesting that it will be Morbidelli...

[BD]

What about Luca Badoer? Although he's not healthy right now, Ferrari says he'll be in action shortly.

[RaceFreak]

Trickle..... Dick Trickle.

Why not?

[Valve Bounce]

I think they should sign on a girl. She can bring makeup or fashion sponsorship with her. She would also attract more attention than men, and that would be great. I'd start with Nicole Kidmann, now that Tom is out of the way. She is an Aussi.

[F1FansClub]

Johnny Herbert would probably have more luck with Minardi anyway and there's a good chance he'd at least finish more races than with any other team!

Ally :beerface:

[RaceFreak]

Valve Bounce has the right idea. I think the last woman F1 driver was Lella Lombardi. Perhaps Derrick Walker could lend Sarah Fischer out. Could she be any worse than Tora Takagi ?

[bella]

ME!!!!!!

oh, wait...i haven't got the superlicence.

i vote for brian smith! no, he's never driven a f1 car. damn. erm........ what about mark webber? surely if they ask nicely....?

[steve nielsen]

The latest rumours: Gianni Morbidelli!! (would be great, he's a good driver and a nice guy)

[OVERSTEER]

Race freak, the last woman GP driver was Giovanna Amati.

[Craig]

With Pedro de la Rosa having signed for Prost Grand Prix and Enrique Bernoldi under contract to Arrows, Paul Stoddart needs to find a second driver for the European Minardi team to partner F1 new boy Fernando Alonso. In a perfect world Stoddart would like to have a driver with Formula 1 experience and money as the team still needs more money to make its budget. There are no obvious choices unless Pedro Diniz decided to make an F1 comeback. He has plenty of experience and plenty of money but it is doubtful that he would see a Minardi drive as a good move for his career.

The problem for Stoddart is that all the drivers who might be candidates either have experience and want money, have no experience but money or are employed as third drivers with other teams. He may make a bid for Marc Gene, Ricardo Zonta or Mark Webber but all of them will want to be paid to drive. Webber might enable the team to find some money from Australia but this is not guaranteed. Drivers who might be interested are Brazil's Ricardo Rosset but he has not raced for a couple years. There is also Frenchman Laurent Redon who was Benetton test driver in 1999 but was out of last year. Redon is the son of Josette Zannier, the co-founder of the Z clothing company with her brother Roger, who is also the boss of Kickers, a former Benetton sponsor.

Although often written off as a pay-driver Redon is quick. He won the 1995 French Formula 3 Championship, beating his Winfield Racing team-mate, the highly-rated Nicolas Minassian. He failed to win any races in Formula 3000 with DAMS in 1996 and SuperNova in 1997 but he should not be overlooked as he has many thousands of miles of F1 testing work behind him.

The option would be to go for another youngster and hope that the investment would pay off in the long-term. Giancarlo Minardi often did this, selling his driver's contracts to the big teams once they had proved their worth. Possible candidates for such a move would be Giorgio Pantano or perhaps even European Minardi's recent Formula 3000 signing David Saelens.

[RaceFreak]

Oversteer

Alright...I stand corrected

[Valve Bounce]

I hate to sound like a broken record, but no "experienced" driver of any great ability will sign for Minardi aka Stoddart aka whatever unless Paul can land a decent engine. Who the heck wants to sign for a car with that stupid Fondmetal hunk of junk in the back that will be pushing to make the starting grid in most of the races this year? Unless Paul can convince the F1 world that he has an engine that will get him onto the grid, he will be fishing for minnows. And that holds for next year - otherwise they will sign away a couple of years of their racing career. Pedro put it in a nutshell when he refused to consider Minardi. Like Craig said, they need a driver with money, and who the heck wants to pay to drive a Fondmetal??

[SL]

I vote for bella, if she has driven around the M25 in rush hour it must qualify going by the recent granting of superlicences. I'm sure she would look better on the grid and perhaps faster than most of the above drivers.

Pink Caddy and bella for Champ.


SL

[Valve Bounce]

McLaren takes ten to twelve engines to each race!! Couldn't they lend a couple to Minardi??

[Minardi fan]

I'll take the Minardi drive.



How about Esteban Tuero???

[Speed]

Ha, Ha, Ha... good idea, Valve Bounce... , They can talk to Ferrari also...

[bella]

(i'm gonna say this quietly, but, hey, mfan, you're onto something....esteban tuero would do the job ie get the car to the finishline so long as it doesn't blow up)

vote for me! i can handle snow, small children, old biddies, hell, even the m62.... i don't want paying - that's what my other job's for....come on minardi, give me a shot!

[OVERSTEER]

It's just a thought but if all he's going to get is a sh*t seat in the championship class of the British F3 Championship why not give Gary Paffett a shot! what does everyone else think

[Valve Bounce]

There's this Aussi Bright (can't remember his first name, )that was racing in the CART race at Surfers paradise. He was doing quite well until he hit something towards the end. He is in that other series in the States, but he would be a good candidate for the Minardi. Especially as it seems nobody who can afford it wants it.

[DNQ]

Valve Bounce, Jason Bright is the auusie fellow you're thinking off. He's come back to Oz to race in the Touring Car series (V8 SUpercars), so you can count him out!

It seems like Gianni Morbidelli will be the Minardi second driver. You remember Gianni, he raced for Minardi and Dallara in the early 90's and then for Arrows and Sauber a bit later in the mid 90's.



If this picture anything to go by, he'll feel right at home driving a Minardi!!