Do you think Ron would have dumped DC for JV if the opportunity arose?

[senna12]

I can distinctly recall Gerald Donaldson making a comment in an interview, when the subject was JV/McLaren, that Ron indeed would have a hard time dealing with Jacques independence, but had enough respect for his driving abilities that he would be willing to make some adjustments.

Whether Ron has spoken for the benefit of the media or not, you would think, now that Jacques appears to be coming available in '04, he would sound out the possibilities at least.

On the other hand, if the car is a big step forward this year, Jacques wants to stay and reap the benefits. This should all be quite interesting as the year progresses.

[The_Z_Man]

Originally posted by The Monster
I still don't know why DC has a place at McLaren, he's an average driver, like Damon Hill, not bad, just not a "natural".

It's to pxss the anti-DC crowd of. It's a little on the expensive side, but RD thinks that it's worth any single dollar of it.

The_Z_Man

[RWC]

"It's to pxss the anti-DC crowd of. It's a little on the expensive side"
LOL LOL LOL
Quite a sense of humour our ron has then.
****ing off every f1 fan but three on the planet!!

[Jellybabe]

Originally posted by The Monster
Damon was not in F1 last year.
In any case, you are referring to an era (1995-6) when the Williams team were utterly dominant, more so than Ferrari this year.
Their nearest competition was Ferrari in 1996, and their car was a "dog" according to Irvine.

um... they only time anyone threatened Ferrari this year was in qualifying and in Monaco. There were a lot of different race winners in 1996-97 - Hill, JV, Panis, Michael, Berger, Hakkinen, Coulthard, Irvine(?). More than there have been in the last couple of years anyway.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Jellybabe
There were a lot of different race winners in 1996-97 - Hill, JV, Panis, Michael, Berger, Hakkinen, Coulthard, Irvine(?). More than there have been in the last couple of years anyway.

7 of the 8 correct, Irvine didn't win till 1999, however, the last couple of years there have been 6 winners (MS RB RS JPM MH & DC) only 1 short of your count for 1996-97. The main difference of course is the percentage won by one person.

[Red]

...and if instead of 'lats couple of years' you do a 'last 3 years' you might want to add Frenzen and, not at all undeservedly Mika Salo. Anyway, other that the surprise win of Panis 96, only 2 teams were winning on regular basis, plus a 3rd which scored every now and then, when the other 2 blew it. Provision for 96 when only 1 team scored on regular basis. The Monster is right. The 3 wins of Ferrari in 96 were all in rain condition and cannot be held as a rule.

Anyway, back to topic. Would Ron dump David for Jacques? Nope. (my opinion. I wouldn't. David might not be the best driver ever, but he is a good driver. Besides, I, as a teammanager, would always prefer to keep a good driver over a new presumably better one. Continuity, stability etc...

[GXH]

simply... Yes, no matter what he and ron thought of each other Ron would no he had a good driver..... as long as he let his golden boy Mika win the 1st one

[paul-collins]

Originally posted by Liz
Jacques won't dress like a grownup or shave; Jacques has a clause in his contract strictly limiting his PR duties; and Jacques speaks words not written on index cards and pre-approved by Ron Dennis and all the people at Mercedes.

One of the side benefits is you don't have to parse JV's statements to understand what he meant.

[Snrub]

DC will be with McLaren until he choses to leave, period. MS could offer McLaren $100 Million a year to drive with them and DC would still be there. (I'm not trying to give the impression that DC is better than MS)

[TeddyG]

haha don't know about that one Snrub!
But with reguards to JV and Mac I think anything is possible after this year. I think DC or Kimi's seats could be available if they fail to deliver this year. It ALL depends on JV's performace this year. I expect him to throughly thrash Button. That is if Dave Richards doesn't sabotage his car to make his new baby boy really look like he is capable of beating a former world champ!

[ASCII Man]

DC's seat is up for grabs after this year probably, but i don't think Kimi will be given the boot so soon.