Thursday Press Conference..

[JeremySmith]

Interesting...Mr Kazutoshi Nishisawa..Had nothing to say! and was very evasive when talking about the Heinz-Herald and Jordan Grand Prix situation, avoiding the question completly..

Mr Frentzen is obviously going to sue the pants off Eddie Jordan, and rightly so..

Jaun Pablo Montoya..Think's he is a faster driver than Ralf Schumacher, and did not correct the member of the press who said " you have been beating him" funny that I was under the impression that Ralf Schumacher had won three races?? not the other way around..

Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher dislike each other more than I thought..

what are your thoughts?

[Speed]

Montoya is a better "Racer" than Ralf (and thanks to Jos and his team, he didn't get 1st. position, twice so far ! )

Any other question ?

[JeremySmith]

Okay..in order to win races,you have to finish them..Maybe he is a better racer,time will tell..He has a big enough ego..Please explain thanks to Jos and his team? I am not trying to taunt you BTW..

Score:

Ralf three wins..
Juan zero wins..

[Jay]

yes, and Ralf has also been ahead of Ralf in just about every session ever held this year... Juan managed to beat Ralf in Quali at Hockenheim when Ralf had his hotlap ruined by traffic...

While Juan has entertained, he has yet to beat Ralf at anything...

I'd like to hear more about the Jordan situation though.... It still puzzles me!!!

[BD]

I thought the press conference was very revealing between Ralf and JPM.
[Q: You said you conserved the engine at Hockenheim but actually Patrick Head didn't agree with that.

RS: I think Hockenheim's over isn't it? I made the finish at least, I think that's the important thing. But I think what the English newspapers said was wrong, I think they misquoted me a bit - I've never said that he (Montoya) is responsible that the engine failed. At the end of the day the engine doesn't survive when something's wrong with it.]

Ralf sounds like he is backpedaling. He doesnt want to talk about Hockenheim. Then he defends his credibility by pointing out that finishing is the "important thing". A small jab at Montoya's finishing record this year.

Then Montoya takes a little stab and says: "Sure, if the order is given by the team to let him by, I would." This comment makes Ralf look bad, like he's not a team player.

Very interesting relationship between these two. They sound like school children.

[f1grandprixshop]

Originally posted by Jersound


Jaun Pablo Montoya..Think's he is a faster driver than Ralf Schumacher, and did not correct the member of the press who said " you have been beating him" funny that I was under the impression that Ralf Schumacher had won three races?? not the other way around..

Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher dislike each other more than I thought..

what are your thoughts?

I think JPM thinks it's only his first season, and what he has done was impressive already, well I have to admit they're impressive, there's nothing he can do this season anymore re: the WDC but he can prepare himself for next season.

JPM can't be soft with RS, bec. he'll be beaten alive inside the BMW camp.

[Alan Jones]

Did you guys notice Lil Schu blames the English press for comments attributed to him after Hockenheim? I'll have to check but didn't this whole thing start in the German press ( the motor business, Juan overdriving etc)I could be wrong ( not the first time ) but seem to remember it being reported in a thread here as quotes from the german news.

[drexel]

Ralf probably meant he was just underdriving the Williams rather than Juan overdriving. But whatever it was it doesn't really matter because there's this season and next to really see who's quicker and neither will be able to hide behind driver comments.

[Alan Jones]

I think it might really warm up next year between those two Drexel. Interesting comment by Ralf , good to see he is trying to clear the bad air from those statements, maybe left it a little late for Juan to feel he is genuine though. You are right, the best place to talk is on the track which was why I didn't understand when Ralfie came out with those statements in the first place.He didn't need to say a thing did he

[Inigo Montoya]

Well, Ralphie definitely has more experience. And he has his big brother to teach him what's what. JPM seems pretty quick (for an ex CART guy), but he's a real hothead, not much of a thinker. I think we'll soon see Ralphie with the championship (after his big bro retires), Juan back in CART making all those high speed right turns he's so good at, and Jenson back at Williams, where he belongs.

JPM gets my vote for most overrated driver of the year.

[zealot]

Wow, you say Button should be at Williams and Montoya is the most overrated driver of the year in the same post.

Montoya will be a WDC, sooner than later, it's not surprising it has taken him a year to get used to F1. I would not be surprised to see him outpoint Ralfie in the last five races of the season. It takes most rookies at least a year to get used to a new formula (with the exception of Jacques Villeneuve), so I don't see anything dissapointing about Juan Pablo's year.

Now Button's year, that's another question …

[Inigo Montoya]

Yes, I know.. Maybe I'm a bit harsh with JPM. It probably stems from my dislike of CART. I'm Canadian myself, but it really bothered me to see Jacques win that WC, just because he was a CART alumni.
Also, it was rather unfair that Button, after a pretty darn good debut season in a so-so car, be banished to Bennetton and their experimental engines to make room for that columbian hothead.

I know, I know, I should probably just shut up and wait and see what happens when JPM "grows up." I'll try...

[EERO]

I think Montoya much more closely fits the Williams Model for the ideal driver than did Button, hence the switch.
I also believe that Montoya is still finding his feet in F1, but Frank cannot find fault with JPM's effort. I think that both Williams driver's are pretty closely matched and that Ralfie is nervous because he knows how hard it will be to beat Montoya. Ralf's wins this year are due in part to his greater F1 experience.

Remeber, Inigo, Montoya was only in CART for two years and when he arrived set the place on fire. Montoya has the quality of being the perpetual outsider, the independant spirit. What he accomplishes, he does on his own terms.

It is clear that Ralf and JPM do't like each other, and it will make for some very interesting events over the next few seasons.

[Bononi]

Sit in the sofa,

grab a beer

and... WAIT !

[Inigo Montoya]

Your points are well taken EERO, I'll try to keep an open mind with respect to Montoya. He's already turfed a couple of drivers this year, but then again, so did Ralphie in his first year.

I sure hope that Renault gets that wide V engine of theirs sorted out soon, so Jenson and Fisi can get on with their careers (assuming they stay at Benetton of course).

On a related issue, could Honda's announcement that they too will seek a wide V engine solution be in any way related to the computer hacker theft of Renault's intellectual property regarding their revolutionary engine ?

Well, if people can routinely claim that Ferrari cheats, then I can start a rumour that Honda does the same

[economy_waffle]

yeah ralf sucks montoya rules ive sed this for ages but ppl are now glory hunters...