Zsolt Baumgartner Shows up well

[903cc]

Zsolt Baumgartner was the fastest Jordan driver today in Friday Testing. Though Fisi stopped on the circuit after 7 laps. This is good news for him and shows him in a good light.

Of course as this is testing it may not really mean much but he must be happy with himself.

[jetsetter]

It's a great effort from him, i don't think either Fisi or Firman would've been that impressed to see him go the quickest of the three.

[Logrence]

Fair play to him - you can never tell what kind of program a driver is on though.

But hey, I'm a superficial kind of chap - well done.

[Adam43]

Good effort, whatever.

[BootsOntheSide]

There are several things that might explain this. Fisischella's lack of runing explais why he didn't set a quicker time.

Additionally, Zsolt may've been running light fuel, probably at the insistance of his sponsors to make his times look good (ultiamtely, Jordan need that money), or softer tires. Also, the Hungaroring trask has been modified since last eyar - could it be that Zsolt has driven the track but Ralph and Giancarlo haven't?

[Adam43]

He probably was on low tanks. However this is in itself quite interesting. I'd almost of expected the new boy, if he was trying to do something useful forthe team, to be put on heavy tanks and do a long run testing tyre durability? Not a hard and fast rule, but isn't this what we normally see.

[M Coupe]

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
- could it be that Zsolt has driven the track but Ralph and Giancarlo haven't?

Ralph never even drove the old circuit.

[paulzinho]

Weren't the Minardi's splitting up the Jordans too, not the most encouraging thing though that changed in qualifying.

[R]

Zsolt did well in qualifying too, a nice clean lap, and he's well ahead of Kiesa and only just behind Verstappen, which - considering Zsolt's lack of experience - is a very good performance.

Where's Corkholio?

[corkholio]

Originally posted by R
Where's Corkholio?

Right here.

Not a bad run for Zsolt under the circumstances and his lap certainly looked much cleaner than Kiesa's. Given the circumstances 3 secs slower than Fisichella is certainly nothing to be ashamed about, but then it's not exactly like he had zero track time, after all he ran the Friday session and then the two F3000 sessions (which he was still zslow in). I wouldn't say he showed up "well" but he certainly didn't embarrass himself.

[paulzinho]

I think he would have been at sea without Friday, mind you did well considering the lack of time he had to prepare for the session.

[Logrence]

For any driver to jump into an F1 car you've never seen before and after 3 hours to be 3 seconds behind one of the most highly-rated drivers in the business is pretty good.

No-one's expecting him to do any good...anything he manages tomorrow will be a job well done.

I felt so happy for him when I saw him being interviewed on the telly - it must be a dream come true for him, really. Realistically there's no other chance of him getting an F1 drive...

[DNQ]

Zsolt put in a credible performance, not a bad effort at all, certainly nothing to be ashamed off. What a great chance for him, making his debut in front of his home crowd, plucked from obscurity like that. Good luck to him.

[Mr V]

He's in a no lose situation tomorrow, nobody really expects him to do anything tomorrow, including finishing, so if he doesn't finish, it doesn't matter that much, but if he does finish then it's a bonus.

[NiceGuyEddie]

From F1live.com

Baumgartner hoping for full-time drive with Jordan
The Hungarian driver is delighted to race tomorrow

Hungarian Zsolt Baumgartner has targeted a full-time Formula One drive with Jordan next year after making his competitive Grand Prix debut with the team here Saturday.

Baumgartner, who tested for Jordan in Germany three weeks ago and again here Friday, was handed the chance to race in his home Grand Prix when regular driver Ralph Firman was injured in a heavy practice crash Saturday morning.

He finished 19th out of 20 cars in the qualifying session for Sunday's race but is hopeful he can clinch a full-time race drive next year after Sauber announced Jordan driver Giancarlo Fisichella will leave to join them for 2004. "It depends on my performance, but I think there is a chance for that," said Baumgartner, who first drove a Formula One car here last year, when asked if he is pursuing a long-term role with the team.

For now, he is just concentrating on maximising his performance and pleasing his home crowd in what is the opportunity of a lifetime, but he is likely to have a tough time in the race Sunday. "I want to finish without any mistakes," he said. "I am the first Hungarian driver to race in Formula One and that is a big aim for my country because we have had a Grand Prix for eighteen years. Everyone's dream will come true now but I didn't think it would happen this soon, at our home Grand Prix. I am happy that I didn't make any mistakes on the track and this is a great opportunity for me."

Baumgartner managed to beat the Minardi of Nicolas Kiesa but was slower than the other Minardi of Jos Verstappen. Unfortunately, he ruined his chances of setting a more respectable time when he made a small but costly mistake. The Jordan driver accidentally switched his car's on-board computer to fuel conservation mode one lap early, on his flying lap, and consequently finished almost three seconds slower than teammate Fisichella.

"That was an easy mistake for a novice to make with so much going on," said the team's director of race and test engineering Gary Anderson. "That possibly cost him a second but he did a competent job in the few laps he has had."

Baumgartner was less forgiving of his mistake and admitted: "I would only have been fully satisfied if I could have had both Minardis behind myself, but even so I'm not dissatisfied with the position."

[BootsOntheSide]

Quite a respectable effort, especially csidering how costly the fuel mistake might've been. He has had more time on the revised track than anyone else though,a nd wasn't completely new to the car.

If he'd've had fuel conservation mdoe off, he'd've been about 2 seconds back,which is less than Firman has been at times, and I guess Button, Sato and Wurz had all been that far behind Fisichella (who was then less experienced) on coccasions. A job well done, I'd say.

It was an adequate showing that suggests that he could be a competant backmarker in F1, but certainly doesn't mark him out as a superstar the way Schumacher or Irvine's last-minute debuts did.

[3state]

A good performance? You've got to be kidding. By good if you mean not getting out of the way when to allow lapped cars to pass, I've have to quibble about the definition here. Was i watching the same race? I'm sure Ralf Shumacher and Mark Webber would agree with me. Webber appears to have lost a place to Montoya because he was held up for almost an entire lap by Baum-f*!@ing-gartner. Mediocre at best - at least Kiesa was considerate and sensible enough to realise he wasn't a podium contender, and got the hell out of the way...

[Attila]

I think he did quite allright. Before the race Zsolt said in an interview that on the driver briefing Ralf S. started to be nasty with him. I think he held Ralf up on purpose, just to show that Ralf cannot play with him. Zsolt is known for this. Other than that I think he did well for a substitute driver and he became a real star here in Hungary. Well done I was more than proud of him, taking the fact that I spotted him and our company brought him to F3000 :-)).

[cv2000]

Originally posted by 3state
A good performance? You've got to be kidding. By good if you mean not getting out of the way when to allow lapped cars to pass, I've have to quibble about the definition here. Was i watching the same race? I'm sure Ralf Shumacher and Mark Webber would agree with me. Webber appears to have lost a place to Montoya because he was held up for almost an entire lap by Baum-f*!@ing-gartner. Mediocre at best - at least Kiesa was considerate and sensible enough to realise he wasn't a podium contender, and got the hell out of the way...

Webber din't lose **** he was holding up the whole grid and the reason alonso got away

[Mr V]

Originally posted by 3state
Was i watching the same race? {.........} Webber appears to have lost a place to Montoya because he was held up for almost an entire lap by Baum-f*!@ing-gartner.

I don't think you were, unless that lap was 40 seconds slower than usual then there is no way he lost a place to Montoya.

[Attila]

I talked to Zsolt on Tuesday about the race. He said that in the first 10 laps he did not get the feel of the car, but after his first pit stop his laptimes got better and better. He did keep up Ralf on purpose, or he said "I was not too keen to get out of his way". Ralf made a big mistake by being nasty to him before the race. If he knew Zsolt he would not talk shÃ*t that is for sure. All the other drivers were nice to him and none of the other drivers had problems with him after the race. Webber was especially nice to him and actually congratulated Zsolt, so I do not think that he lost a place because of Zsolt.

Other than that, he is trying to find the backing for next season in F1. Taking the fact that the Minister of Sports, and the Primeminister both called for big companies to support Zsolt, it could even be possible. I am a little bit pessimistic but who knows, he might ends up in F1 after all. Eddie Jordan said that if he gets the required budget (according to the press it is $10million), he will get the drive alongside Firman next year.

Cheers,

[ASCII Man]

Yeah well, Ralf is a hard ass.
Not someone you could socialize with in a pub...

I hope he finds the money to get the drive, he seems like a nice guy.

[3state]

I didn't say he solely contributed to Webber losing a place, but the fact he was caught behind him for almost one last and a slow pitstop were the primary factors. So I'm sticking with what I asserted

[ralf fan]

Originally posted by ASCII Man
[B}I hope he finds the money to get the drive, he seems like a nice guy. [/B]

Zsolt did OK considering it was his first race but i dont think he deserve a seat for next year.There are other drivers who are far more talented (Heidfeld) who don't have a seat for next year. (the name JV also springs to mind )

[spearce]

Not to mention those already on the sidelines - Wurz, Massa, de la Rosa, McNish, Sato, Pizzonia, etc.

But looks like Massa and Sato are sorted for next year.