Ralf's (possible) announcement?

[Mr V]

I noticed during todays show that James Allen quoted Willi Weber as saying that an announcement about Rafe's future will be made at Silverstone.

During yesterdays show, one of the Toyota top dogs said that they will not make a decision, let alone an announcement until they know that the driver is 100% fit.

Is Willi trying to force Toyota's hand? Could Rafe be left out in the cold? ITV were pushing the fact that Rafe could be out of F1 altogether, i doubt this, but i can see him ending up without a driver for next season.

3 months is along time in F1, can Toyota afford to wait that long to see if Rafe is mentally, as well as physically fit? What if Panis and De Matta get a few good results in the mean time? Or could this be the perfect oppertunity for DC to bag a couple of good results and "steal" the drive away from Rafe?

Thoughts?

[Knowlesy]

I think Ralf should still get that Toyota drive......but it certainly is a lot less certain now.

I've been wondering to myself whether ralf actually wants to come back. I mean he appears disinterested quite often and he's having a real rough time. Maybe he'll decide to quit.

Alright, maybe I've went too far.

[pirenzo]

I have to say you could say that about either of the Williams drivers. I bet Juan can't wait to go to McLaren, he looks thoroughly fed up of Williams.

[kickstart]

I cannot fatham why any team would want to pay a reputed 10 million dollars for Ralf Schumaker - fit or not, when they could sign Davidson for nothing...

[BootsOntheSide]

Davidson isn't proven in race conditions yet, and no one who's outside of BAR can know whether he's running on an even keel with Sato and Button. He won't be able to help with development in the same way as Ralf either. And they won't be able to sign him for nothing, as he's udner contract to BAR for more than a year.

[f1manoz]

After two big accidents in twelve months, both leading to serious concussion, broken vertebrae and missed races, Ralf will certainly be having a good think about things in the next few weeks. There's all the talk of impending contract announcements, but will a team like Toyota now take what can only be considered a risk in hiring Ralf Schumacher, a guy who has not performed well at all in 2004 and who is certainly nowhere near worth the amount of money he is demanding.

Ralf may be on the grid next year and I will be surprised if he does call it a day. But he is certainly a changed man since his Italian accident last year, and the accident at Indianapolis could effect him even more.

[Kicking-back]

Toyota won't make any announcement while Ralf is on the sidelines I'd imagine.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Kicking-back
Toyota won't make any announcement while Ralf is on the sidelines I'd imagine.

Proberbly not, but how long do they wait to decide that they still want him?

[Kicking-back]

No rush, I'd have thought.

[Mr V]

Toyota obviously want to replace at least one of it's drivers. Can they afford to possibly lose someone of DC's (for example) calibre, (especially when it comes to development driving), in the hope that Rafe will be ok, mentally as well as physically after 3 months?

[Tweed]

Originally posted by Mr V
Toyota obviously want to replace at least one of it's drivers. Can they afford to possibly lose someone of DC's (for example) calibre, (especially when it comes to development driving), in the hope that Rafe will be ok, mentally as well as physically after 3 months?

A good question, whatever decision they make they'll be taking some sort of plunge, probably, gambling on Ralf's state of mind or DC's availability. DC/Ralf could be better than Panis/da Matta, IMO.

[chrisrb2002]

Why would Toyota announce their new German driver at the British GP.... Much better to announce it in Germany at the team's base for maximum exposure I might be wrong but it sounds like there is no deal signed and sounds like the agent is trying to force up the value of the client by saying there will be an announcement with the implied threat that the agent is signing up to a British team hence the Silverstone announcement. I have to say that, if this is his game then it would be a good idea if his guy was performing, but to try this gamesmanship when he is on the sidelines is a little well, silly..

[ElScOrChO]

I don't want to sound harsh, but maybe he will announce his retirement.

It may be that another concussion might kill him...

[Mr V]

It has to be worrying that Rafe has had 2 concussions within the last 10 months, i would hate to think of the consequences should he make a hasty return (not that he can with his fractures, which could turn out to be a blessing in disguise) and have another big accident.

[Fuzzyfelt]

In addition to 'those' two high speed accidents, Ralf seems to have had a knack of being at or near the epicentre of any ontrack chaos recently.

Getting taken out by JPM isn't (always) his fault, but hitting Weber (at Malaysia) or Sato (Bahrain) were entirely. It seemed to be occuring so often that I've begun to wonder if he hasn't got some kind of eyesight or depth perception problem.

Didn't this man drive into a parked car on public roads a while back? And, didn't he spend some time trying to get spectacles to fit under his racing helmet.

Maybe now that his missus has a race under her belt he'll quit and she can make him look ordinary instead of big bro!

[PaulSands]

I'd been wondering if this might mark the end of his F1 career. If he's out for the remainder of the season I think it probably could be...DTM beckons maybe(not a bad thing) where I'm sure his crash bang wallop style would be a fan favourite