Should Jenson NOT got to Williams..

[Mr V]

... who will get the drive?

My vote goes for Ant Davidson.

One way or the other, i'm hoping that Ant will be on the grid next year with either BAR or Williams.

( thus opening up a place for Paffett at Sauber )

[ASCII Man]

Jacques Villeneuve!

Never saw that one coming, eh?

[Kicking-back]

I think this is a moot point.

There's no way Jenson won't be in a Williams next year, I believe.

[garcon]

All depends how messy this all gets. I'd be surprised if he's still in a BAR next season, but it might just turn out that he ain't in a Williams either!

[N I Tram]

Davidson might be a good compromise deal, and he arguably deserves a chance to show that his Friday pace, and not the Minardi drives, sum up his ability.

[Glen]

I don't agree that BAR would decline to use him if they win this battle. That would be sheer lunacy - for a start to win the contractual battle they would have to pay him, and secondly he is clearly one of the very hottest talents down the pit lane, and they want success and points.

It does make sense to put Ant D in whatever seat Jenson fails to get - although I doubt Ant will be overly keen on partnering Mark Webber again.

[Kicking-back]

Anthony would have no qualms about partnering Mark Webber, I'm sure.

[Glen]

He'd never admit as such, but I bet he certainly does have a worry about who is team-mate will be - any driver would. Put it this way - would it be better to have your rookie year up against Taku Sato or Mark Webber? OK, so e won't be able to make that choice and would be dead right to jut be happy with whatever he can get, but the fact remains (in my opinion) that any driver would be mindful of the dangers of partnering Webber. The fact Jenson is prepared to risk so much to do just that impresses me greatly.

[f1manoz]

Nick Heidfeld.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Glen


It does make sense to put Ant D in whatever seat Jenson fails to get - although I doubt Ant will be overly keen on partnering Mark Webber again.

Imo, Ant wouldn't have a problem partnering Mark again, he's had a whole lot more experience since their 2 races together.

Ant got closer to Mark in 2 races than most have in their time partnered to the Australian. Ok, he spun off in those 2 races, but imo, he was right to push.

The other thing is of course, whilst i'm sure Williams would give them equal status, no-one within the Williams hierarchy would actually expect him to do better than Mark.

[Webslinger]

Anthony would not have any qualms whatsoever about partnering Webber at Williams. In fact he would cherish the idea - he has never backed down from a fight in his life.

When he went up against Sato in F3 he had everything to gain, as Sato was the 'coming man' in F3, everybody expected him to take the season by storm. He didn't. The same applies to Webber. Again everybody speaks of the Australian as the next 'coming man' in F1. What would Davidson have to lose by taking Webber head-to-head (no pun intended) at Williams in 2005? He had no fear of him at Minardi in 2002, and there is no reason to believe he would have a fear of him now.

Trust me!

[Inigo Montoya]

Mika Hakkinen

[grumpy1]

It does make sense to put Ant D in whatever seat Jenson fails to get - although I doubt Ant will be overly keen on partnering Mark Webber again. [/B][/QUOTE]

Considering Mark has a high regard for Ant there would be no problem.It would be a a good driver pairing.They both work well together as they showed in the 2 races at Minardi and IMO the pair of them would make a better team.
Ants raw speed and Webbers ability to galvinise a team would make a winning combo.Young Davo would learn a lot from Webber.

The Grumpy1

[ralf fan]

Ant Davidson or Heidfeld

[paulzinho]

I think Ant would be a hot favourite but I wouldn't discount Trullis experience either. And he's doing quite well in the standings this season.

[Skam85]

I honestly reckon DC will get whatever seat Button doesn't get. But, I'm not sure anyone has mentioned this, but at the end of 2002, Dave Richards said he tried to do all he could do keep PANIS, as he rated him as a driver and a developer. Is there a possibility that Panis could rejoin BAR alongside Sato in 2005? You heard it here first from Skam85.....

[Dixie Flatline]

Quite true, but Panis has spent two lacklustre seasons at Toyota, and unlike when he joined BAR, I don't think Panis would have the same technical secrets that he could bring to BAR as he did when he came from being McLaren's test driver. Further, Panis' age must be counting against him - if he did go back, I would have thought only a 1 year deal at most, but then BAR would have to find a replacement in a season's time. IMHO, BAR would be better to find somebody who could stick around and give good service for 2-3 years at least.

[Gt_R]

I think with BAR now fighting for compensation (rather than fighting to keep Button..what's the point), i still see Williams having Button (but for a price, instead of jus whisking him away like this).

BAR actually has no worries about drivers. Anthony is ready to take over (and DR seems ready to put him in but didn't have the chance to this season), and if Button is forced by circumstances to not race Williams next year, i'd see a one-year deal for DC or Panis to take the chair at Williams so that Button could complete the move in 06.

But hopefully, DC does a deal with Jaguar for a few seasons instead of settling a "semi-retiring" one-year with Williams.

[badger1963]

no contest jb will be in a williams

[Glen]

Jenson will be in a Williams, and I can't see that Wiliams will have to pay a penny for it. BAR have not made their contract situation watertight: Honda didn't put the phrase "intend" instead of "will" in their agreement with BAR for no reason - nothing is by accident at this level and Honda can pull out and leave BAR and its drivers high and dry... it would take years to recover from that. Also, BAR's contention that contracts should be honoured in spirit as a matter of course is laughable in the light of the news that they themselves have been playing hard-ball and trying to get out of major facets of their own agreements.

[Skam85]

Indeed. Panis could be on a 1 year contract. Think about it, Panis having one last hoorah at F1 with a top team, while Ant Davidson gets groomed for a year in a Jaguar/Sauber (delete where necessary). IMO, a perfect scenario for BAR.

[touringcarnut]

Originally posted by Skam85
Indeed. Panis could be on a 1 year contract. Think about it, Panis having one last hoorah at F1 with a top team, while Ant Davidson gets groomed for a year in a Jaguar/Sauber (delete where necessary). IMO, a perfect scenario for BAR.

In a perfect world, that'd be great. I highly rate Panis, but i fear this season will be his last

[Yoong Montoya]

Originally posted by Glen
nothing is by accident at this level and Honda can pull out and leave BAR and its drivers high and dry... it would take years to recover from that.

So can BMW with Williams

[mstar]

well its intresting that ant, in the two races was REALLY close to mark in a car he never driven before

anyway BMW are too involved marketing wise to let F1 go, and they wanted to buy a share in Williams awhile ago, a company would not do that unless its in for the long hual

[Armco Bender]

BAR think they have Button signed.
Eddie Jordan thought he had MS signed too a while back.
F1 contracts are slightly different to normal contracts.