DC close to Williams' 2nd seat

[alesi95]

If Villeneuve can't have the seat then I think DC is the BEST choice for Williams

[MacMan]

Originally posted by Down F0rce
Sterling Moss and Gilles Villeneuve never won a WDC, yet they are given "legend" status....

IMHO, DC is the man for the job. Williams need a team player, which he is. Williams need a consistent driver, which he is. They need one that's more than capable or winning races, which of course he is. He's taken on Schu and co and beaten them fairly and squarely. He's good at all the PR stuff, that'll keep BMW and the like happy.

They already have one young driver who's ready to prove himself with the best. Another one wouldn't necessarily make for the best situation. A driver with experience would be better IMO.

DC needs a breath of fresh air, so do Williams. DC is the man for the job.

thank you for saying exactly what I was going to say. DC at Williams would be the best thing for both him and the team and also good for MW. Yes his qualifying just now is not the best but that could change if the FIA put quali back to the way it used to be and DC was always good at that. My fingers r xed for it to happen anyway.

[BootsOntheSide]

Coulthard won't get legend status. What spectacular races has he driven? When has he ever got resuts that appeared imposisble given lthe car, or crushed (or even beaten) a decent team-mate?

Scoring lots of podiums is one thing, but how many other drivers have driven 150-odd races in cars capable of at least the podium? How many podiums (not to mention wins and titles) have Mika and Kimi had in the same time period?

And as for Davidson not having money - why would he need it to drive for a team like Williams?

Guys like Trulli, Kimi and Montoya haven't had multiple seasons in potential title winning cars - DC has, and the best he's ever done is supported a title effort by braking in front of a rival trying to lap him. If that's what Frank wants, a seocnd driver to smooth Webber's championship path, DC would be ideal. Otherwise, Davidson or Heidfeld would make more sense.

[Down F0rce]

France 2000 - overtook both Ferrari's.

Monaco 2002 - Never lost the lead.

Australia 2003 - came from 11th.

Those ones off the top of my head anyway.

[Logrence]

France 2000 was one of my favourite races - hand gestures and all.

Of course he'll also be a legend for crashing into the pitwall in '95 and gifting Mika Hakkinen his first two wins.

[Sabrina]

Really DC haven't his best season with Mclaren so perhaps a change to another team would be great for him

[BootsOntheSide]

Originally posted by Down F0rce
France 2000 - overtook both Ferrari's.

Monaco 2002 - Never lost the lead.

Australia 2003 - came from 11th.

Those ones off the top of my head anyway.

Schumacher's car was dying in that French race. Losing the lead at Monaco would be quite an achievement, and he only took that race because of Schumacher's problems. Australia was a good effort, but it was as much down to other people making mistakes or running out of luck, rather than DC driving especially well. And, as ever, he'd've been higher up the grid if he'd've got qualifying right.

[Logrence]

But he was first at the most important part of the race, whether Schumacher had problems or not.

[Warrior21]

If Weber is good enough, DC is good enough.

[BootsOntheSide]

Originally posted by Logrence
But he was first at the most important part of the race, whether Schumacher had problems or not.

Don't DC fans always complain about all the races he would've won if it wasn't for a mechanical failure / team order / team mistake etc.? Surely it works both ways, especially considering how the driver is the most important thing at Monaco?

[minirda]

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
Don't DC fans always complain about all the races he would've won if it wasn't for a mechanical failure / team order / team mistake etc.? Surely it works both ways, especially considering how the driver is the most important thing at Monaco?

Monaco? Where he could not overtake Enrique Bernoldi?

[R59]

And you could of course?

[NiceGuyEddie]

At Monaco Bernoldi was making a point of keeping DC behind. He was sacrificing his own race to do so (and was even ordered to do so). After the pitstops, DC was ahead and away from Bernoldi.

[MacMan]

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
Don't DC fans always complain about all the races he would've won if it wasn't for a mechanical failure / team order / team mistake etc.? Surely it works both ways, especially considering how the driver is the most important thing at Monaco?

therefore don't DC bashers look for every little excuse to say that DC only won cos of this or that problem! It goes both ways Boots. DC finished 2nd to MS in 01 iirc (a long way in 2nd but 2nd nonetheless)and where was Mika? If DC was no good do you really, honestly think that McLaren would've had him there all this time!? No chance, end of story. Will Williams take him on cos he is the best driver currently available in F1 just now, I hope so. Like I said b4 my fingers are crossed for it to happen.

[sduke]

It seems to me that DC would bring one tangible asset to Williams and that would be stability. He is experienced, does well with the press, and is liked and respected by his teamates. These attributes alone would seem to be in short supply at the current Williams.

I am not an expert by any means, but if DC is a good development driver, or at least better than Juan or Ralf, Williams would be improving the driver situation. Would that not be a goal of the team?

Of course with this being my first post, I could be completely full of ****.

[alfasud]

At much as I enjoy a chance to have a joke at DC's expense.... usually in the regular "it's going to be my year" thread.... the Webber and DC combination seems like a reasonable choice.

Williams have taken a little bit of a punt with Webber... young, fast, but somewhat unproven..... so it makes sense to team him up with a more experienced driver who's a known quality.

So he's not Michael Schumacher, or Kimi or JPM, but he's most likely the best choice of the drivers that aren't already signed.

[Peter Mallett]

Welcome to the forum sduke. Careful with the autocensor there.

Good points there. Stability is something the team needs. Its changed its management this year, changed out its drivers and under performed.

[Kicking-back]

Given that Williams appear to be pinning their hopes on Webber for the long-term future, the other car doesn't need to have a "charger" in it.

DC is hard working, quick, technically strong, sponsor-friendly and mature.

He'd be an excellent choice.

And his helmet suits a blue-and-white car!

[Don K]

Originally posted by NiceGuyEddie
At Monaco Bernoldi was making a point of keeping DC behind. He was sacrificing his own race to do so (and was even ordered to do so). After the pitstops, DC was ahead and away from Bernoldi.

As far as I remember, that was (partly) because Bernoldi lost time because of troubles during his pit stop.
If Bernoldi would have kept driving his own speed instead of deliberately keeping coulthard up, we cannot know whether or not Coulthard would have been able to "overtake" Bernoldi during the pit stops (assuming that neither of them would have troubles during theur pit stops, of course).

As far as I know, both Arrows drivers might have finished in the points ahead of Coulthard that day, if no problems would have occurred during their pit stops.

[Adam43]

Let's keep this about DC and the possibility of a race drive for Williams and not about whether people are DC bashers or not.

[Mark Webber]

I like DC and Mark and DC would be a very strong team and both drivers could sort out the will's very quickly

[sduke]

Thanks for the welcome.
A question from a newbie, hopefully not too off topic:

Is DC considered a better "development" driver than either Ralf or Montoya? If so, would it fall to his experience or is there a technique that one could point to and say DC does this better?

[Kicking-back]

He has a reputation as a better development driver.

There's no way of knowing how true that is, other than working for one of the teams he's driven for.

[BootsOntheSide]

Reputations as development drivers do largely come form the teams, so you're right to say that it's subjective.

Experience definitely helps, as does a methodical careful driving style. Guys who tend to throw the car into the corner and hope their reflexes and courage are enough (Montoya, Alesi, Senna to an extent, Gilles) don't seem to contribute as much (although I'm not sure any current driver can do more with a fast but ill-handling car than Montoya)/

[minirda]

Originally posted by AdamAshmore
Let's keep this about DC and the possibility of a race drive for Williams and not about whether people are DC bashers or not.

C'mon Adam, what is the definition of bashing? Are we in church here?
There isn't so much bashing around in this thread, or even this forum.
And what's the matter with a little off topic statements. Look at our rookie in this thread, he/she is almost scared of being too critical or foolish. What happened with freedom of speech (as long as we don't go beyond the limmit of decent behaviour, and IMO in this case we did not)?