Has Sir Frank lost his marbles?

[Ralf's Girl]

According to Eddie Jordan, Sir Frank Williams has 'lost his marbles' by loaning Jenson Button to Benetton for two years.

Who agrees with this, and who doesn't?

[fatbloke]

Tough one - Frank must have had nightmares when deciding upon his lineup for next season:

Ralfy (no comment!)
Jenson (hot property in many peoples eyes)
Bruno (F3000 champ)
JPM (F3000 & CART champ, Indy 500 winner)

I think that JPM will do a helluva job for the team. The only possible thing which I can't understand id letting Button go to a team who will likely be your main rivals next season.

[Ralf's Girl]

Frank's thoughts must be that he will mature and become ready for winning races for his return to Williams in 2003.

And on that subject, Frank is probably expecting either Ralf or Montoya to have been poached by another team by then, so he will have Jenson ready for if and when that happens. If Ralf gets poached, let it be by McLaren...

[fatbloke]

Interestingly, Ralfy's contract expires in two seasons time... JPM and Jenson for 2003 then ?

[Danielsun]

Interesting thought, although given that Montoya hasn't driven a Grand Prix car in a while, do you really think he'll 'wipe the floor' with Ralfy (be impartial, thanks Ralf's girlfriend...)?

Eddie's opinion of JB may be slightly different post-race, but he still drove well and were it not for his indiscretion, probably would have ended up in the reverse order with Ralf.

Certainly Williams should be third in the Constructor's title, in any case...

[Ralf's Girl]

There is no guarantee that it would have been Button in third. I personally don't think he would. (that's me - I'm neutral!) Remember at Silverstone, Ralf started behind Button and ended up in front thanks to pitstops. And if Button goes for gaps that aren't there, he doesn't deserve to finish on the podium.

[Gerard]

I'm not so sure Montoya will 'wipe the floor' with Ralfy Baby next year.
Ralf's a very good driver and I don't think he will let that happen just like that.
As for Sir Frank 'losing his marbles', I don't think so.
He would have lost them if he didn't know what he was doing, but, despite having made a big mistake with Zanardi, I think this time he knows exactly what he can expect from Montoya.
And for the record, Button has not been loaned to Benetton, but to Renault.

[Mr.S]

I think BMW will want at least one German on board the team. Plus looking at Ralf's career, on his official web page, the name BMW comes up several times. But if Montoya does wipe the floor with him, which he wont, they will go for the best two drivers.

[Bononi]

Certainly he will have each one for WDC and then fire them to another team... The problem is: He doesn't hate the number 1... he loves the 0 !
Sir Frank doesn't see drivers as humans, they're just a technical detail in the whole machine. If they suit to the car, he'll use them...

[SL]

Loosing ones marbles does tend to depend on, how many one had at the start, wether they all roll in the same direction, the speed that they rotate and the ability to recover same in a given time.

Frank took the blast for signing a young driver at the start of the season. All said he was loosing his marbles then. Now said driver starts to quailfy well, it is the start. Two years of race experience will bode well for when Frank has his car working well and is looking for a race experienced driver to finish the job. Montoya and Button for 2002 ??

Shui Jnr will of course be at Ferrari with Big Bro by then

Simon

[Jay]

I don't think that Frank has lost his marbles, however I think he has underestimated Jensen Button, and now may be over estimating Montoya.

Montoya will be under a lot of pressure next year, and I think that the team will be very disapointed if he is not as good or better than Ralf in his first season, which I really doubt.

[Liz]

Sir Frank may not have lost his marbles, but he has certainly lost his buttons.

I think anyone who knows anything about Sir Frank knows that he generally knows exactly what he is doing. Zanardi was a freak occurrence. You can't know everything about a pilot until you have worked with him, and remember the car Zanardi was plugged into was not exactly a McLaren.

[Valve Bounce]

Frank is a smart bugger. He told Bunsen's manager that he would not contemplate releasing Bunsen from his long term contract for even 30 million quid. He has Bunsen on the back burner with Benneton-Renault next year, but if Montoya flunks, he will then do a switcheroo and get the Bunsen back from Benneton-Renault in exchange for Montoya. Frank must have some deal going to have Benneton over a barrel on this one.

[Ed-f1]

Frank has probably done the right thing. Not necessarily because Montoya will go much better than Button would have done but because he is keeping his options open with Button still under contract he can't lose really.

BMW may WANT a German driver on the team but if they INSIST on having a German driver on the team Williams will start to look elsewhere for an engine supplier. NOBODY tells Frank who wo put in his cars.

[Valve Bounce]

Ed, I hate to be the one to tell you, but Frank does have a German driver in his team. The guy was standing on the podium at Spa!!!

[downforce]

aaaahh ddddooooont thiiiink Buttons gonna do much in the Benetton next season.

The boy was OK in the Williams, not sensational.
The Spa grid position was to prove a point to Willy+the poor boys...and he did.

I can Qualify well but I cant race ALL that well.

Give Nick a Willy Beemer!!

[Valve Bounce]

Well, Renault said that they will suply Benneton with the experimental engine, and I'll bet they will give that to the new Bunsen, and he will either do well, or go BANG!!!!

[Nuvolari]

Seems to me a good deal all around.

Frank gets Juan Pablo to hone (ruin?). The Button gets sewn on at Benneton for a couple of years' seasoning.

Then, if Ralfie doesn't pan out . . . Sir Frank is (as we say in the States) sitting in the catbird seat.

[Valve Bounce]

To be fair, Ralf has matured into a very good and dependable driver. I can see him being the better driver at Williams next year, simply because he is used to the car, tyres, and circuits already. Montoya should, from what I saw at Elkhart Lake, do well also. But the Bunsen will be kept on the back burner just in case he does better than Montoya - this was mentioned by M&M BTW.

[kuchi]

Well i think frank williams has done the right thing. Montoya can be a goos f1 driver, and those who don´t believe it if he rides with williams, just wait to melbourne next year, i bet you all a dinner that he will do very good. And is interesting how things can go in the future, as fatbloke said, we might see jb and montoya togrther in a couple of years, and ralphie can go to the macs, or somewhere.

[Ed-f1]

I am well aware that Frank has a German on his team but I don't think he's there because of BMW's insistance since the car was powered by Renault when he signed for them. Wasn't the reason that Williams had Judd engines in 1988 Honda's insistance that Williams signed a Japanese driver?

MR. S said that BMW would want at least 1 German on board. I was just thinking that if it turned out that the best option in the future was to take back Button to partner Montoya then that is probably what Williams would do. Of course if Ralf continues to be the best driver for the team they will want to keep him anyway so there wouldn't be a problem.

[Valve Bounce]

Well,at least Eddie thinks Frank has lost all his marbles. I do get the idea that Bunsen has fit very well into the Williams team, and has provided Ralf with good support without running him into the bushes. However, does anyone know whether Frank has the option of getting Bunsen back earlier than the two year period in the unlikely event that Montoya does not perform to expectations? I mean, the guy might do so well with Benneton-Renault that he might want to stay there.

[Ralf's Girl]

As far as I know, Williams doesn't have the option of taking Button back before the end of those two years. I think he'll just have 'old' Ralf (as I have heard him referred to - no, I don't really know why) and 'God' Montoya.

[Gt_R]

i thought Eddie meant the marbles resting between Franks legs...Gosh...Patrick would see to those MARBLES when Montoya repeats a "Zinardi Season".