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7 Mar 2012, 16:22 (Ref:3036581) | #1 | ||
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Maria de Villota announced as Marussia 3rd driver
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7 Mar 2012, 16:45 (Ref:3036592) | #2 | ||
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Two words; Publicity Stunt.
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7 Mar 2012, 16:46 (Ref:3036593) | #3 | |
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i've spent the past 15 minutes trying to put a positive spin on that and... well, it's not easy is it.
if you've got to pay for a decent driver in one seat like timo glock, that's one way of doing it. wouldn't call it a publicity stunt though. there was far more noise about vicky piria in gp3 than this. |
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7 Mar 2012, 16:54 (Ref:3036595) | #4 | ||
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It doesn't actually say she'll be the 3rd driver though, just "a test driver". So hopefully she'll just get a few demo runs in the car and a more talented driver, like Robert Wickens, will be the actual reserve/3rd driver.
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7 Mar 2012, 17:01 (Ref:3036597) | #5 | ||
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Your Right Bella, sorry.
I guess it's good for budget, and least we know she's safe in a quick, tricky car from Superleague Formula. I agre that RObert Wickens should be the actual third driver though. |
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7 Mar 2012, 17:03 (Ref:3036598) | #6 | ||
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Speechless....
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7 Mar 2012, 19:35 (Ref:3036633) | #7 | ||
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She actually makes her father look fast.
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7 Mar 2012, 20:09 (Ref:3036641) | #8 | ||
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Quote:
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7 Mar 2012, 21:32 (Ref:3036687) | #9 | |
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heh, i was there at that race, completely forgotten that. and as the (typical for her) footage shows... she wasn't safe, she was painfully slow and threw it off quite a bit. it was an awkward car but she was so far out of her depth she needed diving gear. she managed to spin in ways and places that simply didn't make sense.
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7 Mar 2012, 21:40 (Ref:3036690) | #10 | ||
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From 2mbsm website:
"I have been watching Maria and her career and its development for a while and I feel the timing is right for a woman to be in Formula 1, and her recent Formula 1 test was very impressive. There are women drivers in top level championships such as Nascar and Indy Car and in Maria I believe she has the ability, desire and commitment to become a Formula 1 driver. We at 2MB Sports Management are very happy to be working with Maria and will be working together towards the goal of a Formula 1 seat;" commented Mark Blundell. That's alright then.... |
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7 Mar 2012, 21:44 (Ref:3036691) | #11 | |
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i would like to see a recording of him saying that with a straight face...
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7 Mar 2012, 21:49 (Ref:3036694) | #12 | ||
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That might well be one of the very rare occasions I actually agree to pay for a F1 transmission....
Can you imagine the dollar signs in his eyes when she knocked on the door? |
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7 Mar 2012, 22:19 (Ref:3036702) | #13 | ||
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Ugly as F1 is today, this is a much needed addition... let's see a beauty in the beast and hope she does well and get a decent seat on the grid.
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7 Mar 2012, 22:37 (Ref:3036714) | #14 | ||
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Maybe that's where all Spains money has gone after all her father was in banking.....
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7 Mar 2012, 22:42 (Ref:3036717) | #15 | |||
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7 Mar 2012, 22:53 (Ref:3036723) | #16 | |||
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8 Mar 2012, 00:26 (Ref:3036749) | #17 | ||
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She is nice looking...
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8 Mar 2012, 02:01 (Ref:3036778) | #18 | ||
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For what its worth here's what I wrote about the hiring of de Villota by Marussia. Gotta say that its laughable that the team are looking to say that this is anything more than a PR move
---------- Perspective needed about Marussia hiring de Villota Marussia today announced that Maria de Villota has been hired as their test driver for the coming year will perform testing duties at the young driver test in Abu Dhabi.When making the announcement team principal John Booth said: "We are pleased to welcome Maria to our test driver programme, which will enable her to be integrated into a Formula 1 team environment and gain a vast amount of experience that will be useful to her career progression. "We will also provide Maria with the opportunity to sample F1 machinery later in the year, further adding to her racing credentials." For a team that has spent most of the winter being criticised for their failure to take part in winter testing with their 2012 car, due to their inability to pass the stringent FIA crash tests, this is finally a positive news story emanating from the team. Any news of a woman getting a chance to drive a Formula 1 car will generate positive column inches but quite what Booth thinks can be achieved to “further her racing credentials” remains to be seen. Presumably those credentials include last year disappointing test for Renault at Paul Ricard. In addition to this at 32 years of age there is little to suggest that she has suddenly found form and is now capable of competing with the best in the world. She is at an age when most drivers are progressing towards the end of their car and there is little to suggest that she has been unfairly overlooked by F1 talent spotters. In her career the Spaniard has never finished on the podium in her racing career ranging from Formula 3, Superleague, Formula Palmer Audi and touring car racing. In many ways it is laughable that a 32 year old who struggled in the much maligned Superleague series can even make claims of hoping that her testing for the squad can “only help my future ambition to step up to Formula 1 racing" but such is the desire to see a woman on the grid in the future. Quite how beneficial it would be have a driver of de Villota’s talent on the grid would be very debatable. If Formula 1 is to have its first female racer since 1992 it needs to be someone that can add credibility to her place on the grid, rather than cash to a teams budget. In America IndyCar racing needed Danica Patrick to prove herself before the idea of having women such as Milka Duno on the grid was even to be contemplated. When Patrick qualified and finished fourth at the 2005 Indy 500 her credentials spoke for themselves and she quickly became arguably the most popular driver in the series to sponsors. At this year’s Daytona 500 Patrick made her Sprint Cup debut and the fabled speedway was awash with merchandise for her with seemingly ever other fan wearing a hat, t-shirt or jacket with her name or sponsorship on it. If Formula 1 is to accept a lady driver on the grid, and view her as just another driver, it needs to be someone like Patrick who can prove that she belongs. A driver like de Villota would add nothing to the sport except bad publicity for a driver out of her depth. For Marussia this news will serve the purpose of highlighting a positive news story for the struggling team but it does little other than paper over the cracks of a terrible off season for the squad. |
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8 Mar 2012, 02:55 (Ref:3036792) | #19 | ||
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It's a start, so I am happy for her if she can hang in there with the inevitable and constant pounding and criticism that she will receive..
How dare she, who does she think she is.... Last edited by JeremySmith; 8 Mar 2012 at 03:01. |
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8 Mar 2012, 03:07 (Ref:3036793) | #20 | ||
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I think that's just her cover. She really is Natasha from Volgograd. She will be taking many photographs, comrade.
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8 Mar 2012, 07:45 (Ref:3036842) | #21 | ||
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She could have saved a fortune and just bought a Marussia t-shirt and a Paddock pass.......
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8 Mar 2012, 08:10 (Ref:3036853) | #22 | ||
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8 Mar 2012, 08:51 (Ref:3036873) | #23 | ||
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Oh god, i remember watching that race.
One of the few times in life where i was genuinely 'speechless'. |
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8 Mar 2012, 09:15 (Ref:3036888) | #24 | |
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Does she have a licence to drive in F1? Her past driving record does not seem to give her one automatically.
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8 Mar 2012, 09:30 (Ref:3036895) | #25 | |
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she did a couple of days with renault at ricard last year in an 09 car - does that count? oh and i'm pretty sure she did some wsr demos too, but that may have just been hallucinating.
to be fair what she's doing is no more blatently wrong than say, van der garde persistently buying test drives, this time at caterham. she's just stayed away from actual racing in her quest to play with f1 cars. which is fine, if you don't actually want to race them against others. if she does, she shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a race. |
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