Will paul Stoddart keep his word?

[The Accomplice]

'Jos the dross' wouldn't get a job as Minardi's van driver.

[steve nielsen]

Paul Stoddart already invited him to drive one of the 2 seaters at Donnington(they probably don't need a van driver)

[The Accomplice]

That's the closest he will get to drive an F1 car ever again. Jos is one of yesterday's drivers. With the likes of Pizzonia, Davidson, Courtney and the Sperafico's, he doesn't stand a chance and shouldn't.

[steve nielsen]

No, Jos will also drive a Tyrell 025(owned by Paul Stoddart) at Goodwood next week in the Ken Tyrrell tribute.

and he is very confident of racing in F1 next year.

[NiceGuyEddie]

and he is very confident of racing in F1 next year.

And he was also very confident of driving an Arrows in 2002 despite the quite specific HHF-rumours.

Face it, the guy never was a big player on the F1 market (not since late 1993 anyway), and his marketvalue wont be helped by him running around gocart-tracks and sitting around the house during the whole of 2002.

Is anyone going to give him the wake up call?

[steve nielsen]

Well Jos did have a contract with Arrows(when nobody else did, not even Bernoldi), and you can ask Paul Stoddart,Peter Sauber or Eddie Jordan what they think about Jos, they will say that he's a very fast driver(also remeber that Sauber almost hired Jos as a testdriver in the beginning of the seson but he could'nt fit into the same car as those midgets Heidfeld and Massa).

[NiceGuyEddie]

And why is it you think that Stoddard, Sauber and Jordan aren't considering Jos for 2003? He is a free man these days, so this would be the moment to land his services cheap (offer and demand). But yet, they aren't after his services.

Jos did test a Jordan back in 1999, but somehow that didnt convince Jordan to take him on. Why is that? Arrows offered him a better deal (more than 6 months later, when Jordan already made his driverchoice)?

And if Sauber would be serious about him for 2003, they wouldve find a way. Plus, its total ******** to say the Sauber cant be revamped for his size. Every car has to meet minimal measurements, so none of the modifications made for Jos would have been too fundamental to let him have a go.

Berger was also much taller than Senna for instance.

If there was a F1 team that really was after his services, they would have stepped up by now. But like I said, that wouldnt make any sense. Jos was never a big player on the driver market, and apart from 1994 and 2002, he was always one of the last drivers to be confirmed. Why would he land a respectable drive when he is ditched for Heinz Harald Frentzen and didnt take part in any raceseries (or even testing) during 2002?

[The Accomplice]

Originally posted by steve nielsen
No, Jos will also drive a Tyrell 025(owned by Paul Stoddart) at Goodwood next week in the Ken Tyrrell tribute.

and he is very confident of racing in F1 next year.

You know what I mean Steve. There are to many young guns around who are more marketable and cheaper.

[NiceGuyEddie]

Well...


I'll say that Jos is a 'has been' (or to be more accurate: a 'never was') and Steve will say his the best thing to hit F1 since 1994 and that it is a great injustice that he isnt driving right now, but that it is just a matter of time for him to be confirmed by a major F1 team.

And than we'll both say to agree to disagree

[Don K]

Originally posted by steve nielsen
Mark Webber said some interesting things in an interview with Dutch TV, he would like to have a more experienced and faster teammate so they can learn from eachother and help the team forwarth(smiling): "someone like Jos the Boss".

I'm afraid you're misquoting.
Actually, he reacted to a viewers' question: "Do you think you could have done even more spectacular things this year had you had a more experienced team mate?". Somewhere during his answer he mentioned "... Jos the boss, or anybody, ...".
But he even called Christian Albers fast (as a team mate in F3000).
He actually said: "I remember driving here in Formula 3 at Silverstone.
And I was 2.2 seconds quicker than my team mate,
He was not a quick driver, but he was quicker than me in the slow bend.
And then I had a look: How does he do that?
I was going a little bit to hard in."

[Valve Bounce]

With Feernando going to race next year, there are simply NO VACANCIES in F1 seats. Even if Eddie retires, there willl still be no seats available - maybe if Yoong left, that's the only possibility.

Valve[img]http://www.**************************/smilies/bouncy.gif[/img]

[DNQ]

Valve - you are absolutely right, their is NO place left in Formula 1. Considering that all the drivers on the grid are likely to be back next year (except possibly for Eddie Irvine, Alex Yoong, Pedro De la Rosa, Olivier Panis maybe) and that there are many current test drivers waiting in the wings (Alonso, Gene, Burti, Wurz, Pizzonia, Sarrazin, Briscoe) just goes to show Jos wont be back. 7 wont go into 4 - and that is a VERY conservative estimate.

[mac]

I admire Steve's dedication to Jos, even though it can be frustrating.

Yoong was the only car qualifying without power steering at Silverstone.

[Sato san]

but that might be because he doesnt go fast enough to need it.

But ive heard that its Yoongs choice not to use the power steering on the Minardi , rather than being force to run without it.

[enemy-ace]

From F1-Live.com
According to Stoddart Yoong suffered because of a decision taken by the team's technical director against using power steering. "I have my own opinions on whether it (the power steering) should or should not have run but at the end of the day I don't blame Alex for this one. If Alex was to miss another one, that's a different story. There's never any question. There comes a point where if I felt that non-qualification was due to him then I would be seriously reviewing his position."
Not using power sterring is a poor excuse in my book. Maybe Mr.Yoong should hit the gym and build up those spindly little arms. Or better yet admit he is out of his depth and relinquish the seat.
In Villeneuve's last year with Williams he lost his power steering (at the Hungaroring I believe) and still finished third. Something he credited to weight training.

[Valve Bounce]

Well, Eddie stated that he wasn't about to leave F1 - so when you think of it, unless Arrows is saved, there will be a surplus of F1 drivers next year. It is no big deal that Arrows goes - many big names have disappeared from F1, notably Lotus and before that Cooper and BRM. Maybe Huyndai might want to give it a go. So, it's make or break for Alex for next year.

Valve[img]http://www.**************************/smilies/bouncy.gif[/img]

[Jukebox]

Valve..notably you have been defending Yoong all along but you yourself have to admit that he's just not cut out to be in Formula1.

He's not that popular back home anyway.

[Valve Bounce]

As long as Alex qualifies within the 107% rule, then he deserves to race in F1. However, if Mark Webber consistantly out qualifies some of the other teams with Works engines while Alex remains in last place, then I must admit things won't look that good for him. However, are all these rumours of the sponsorship money not coming through to Minardi really true? If so, then I am afraid that Alex might as well say goodbye to F1 because his place will be taken by one of the other more talented drivers who are waiting for a chance in F1.
I do admit that I have always supported Alex since his arrival - I guess after living in the far east for that long, it is frustrating not to see some of the drivers there given a chance.
Like when I was watching motor racing in Australia in the good old days, one of the most exciting drivers in those days was Frank Matich. But Frank drove a Lotus sports car and his only competitor was Bib Stillwell in the Cooper. Frank never even got to drive those 2.5 litre ex F1 cars dumped onto Australia, and there was no way of comparing him to the GP drivers who came out for the Trans Tasman series each year. Sad because I felt that Frank Matich should have been racing in F1.

Valve[img]http://www.**************************/smilies/bouncy.gif[/img]

[Jukebox]

That's what i heard about the sponsorship money and it's about 80% guaranteed that Yoong won't be in F1 next year plus Stoddard have to source out somewhere else next year.

In the local paper two days ago, the same sponsor PC Suria that sponsored Yoong is going to turn to Muhammad Fairuz and the government pledged money to him too.

Yoong might be joining the PSP BTCC team next year.