Klien confirmed - are Jaguar stupid?

JohnMiller · 2 Dec 2003, 08:49 (Ref:801212)

Now confirmed: get rid of 2001 runaway F3000 champ and replace him with a single year F3 novice.

They must be even more stupid than I thought...

He's really gonna keep Webber on his toes, isn't he?

**BertMk2** · 2 Dec 2003, 08:54 (Ref:801215)

What are the chances of Jaguar giving him a fair shot at it? If Jag stay true to form there'll be a seat available mid-season anyway

DavidStHubbins · 2 Dec 2003, 08:54 (Ref:801216)

From what I have seen and heard of Klein he should keep Webber on his toes.

Super Tourer · 2 Dec 2003, 08:58 (Ref:801217)

http://f1.racing-live.com/en/index.html

Link to the confirmation story.

I guess time will tell, he's the Euro F3 runner up and Masters winner along with German F Renault champion, I believe.

All in all not a bad CV and Kimi entered F1 on less car races and international experience. Testing times we good, let's wait and see.

archibold · 2 Dec 2003, 09:19 (Ref:801231)

There are also 6 million additional reasons that they would employ him....more usually spelt r e d b u l l...

Such is life.

PaulSands · 2 Dec 2003, 09:29 (Ref:801242)

The Jag cap goes up in flames tonight...they should now run in anything but British Racing Green (and before you say they don't the intention of there colour scheme was to invoke that)

Good luck to Klien howeverI have no beef with him whatsoever (I dont know enough about him for starters)and I hope he is a talent.

**Stephen Green** · 2 Dec 2003, 09:33 (Ref:801248)

The press release syas they are still talking to J Wilson about the possibility of a role as test driver. I guess in some ways that would be better than going back to Minardi. The stumbling block at the moment is the rule that a test driver may not have completed in more than 6 Grand Prixs over the previous 2 seasons. Quite obviously JW would have to get dispensation from Ecclestone etc to take the test role.

**GTRMagic** · 2 Dec 2003, 09:36 (Ref:801250)

Ciao any respect I had for Jaguar Racing. Another teammate for Webber to pummel into submission

PaulSands · 2 Dec 2003, 09:37 (Ref:801252)

To be honest I think he's better off out of it...go form a satisfying and paid career racing sportscars

climb · 2 Dec 2003, 09:39 (Ref:801256)

really sorry for justin, and a bit for Jaguar's image, not exactly gaining from this move.
Considering that the squad are progressively switching to privateering, walking in jag boss' shoes, I'd even wonder if it's the case to keep the Jaguar brand onto the team...

PaulSands · 2 Dec 2003, 09:41 (Ref:801259)

I agree climb it shouldn't be a Jag it should be called a Red Bull Ford and be done with it

**Stephen Green** · 2 Dec 2003, 09:46 (Ref:801266)

Can you imagine the clash of colours...green and Red Bulls mish mash of horrible colours

Skam85 · 2 Dec 2003, 09:57 (Ref:801282)

I really hope Jag dont regret this like they did with Jungle Boy......

**Stephen Green** · 2 Dec 2003, 10:00 (Ref:801285)

I think they are making themselves look quite foolish really. Whatever the press release says, we all know it's the Red Bull money that has got him the drive. Why not just admit it and stop trying to make silly excuses for sacking Justin?

jetsetter · 2 Dec 2003, 10:02 (Ref:801286)

I was really hoping for another driver that could score points for the team too get them up higher in the constructoirs but i think Jaguar will only have one regular point scorer next year.

scrappy · 2 Dec 2003, 10:02 (Ref:801287)

I can't believe the state of F1 taking on another F3 driver just cause he's got a pocket full of cash. Next thing we know we'll have an entire F1 grid full of winners and runner ups from F3!!! (not taking anything away from any of the winners or runners up, but surely they should prove their worth for more than a couple of seasons racing!)

I hope Justin does go to the States instead of getting involved in a sport that obviously doesn't value or respect people on merit... How can F1 even be classed as a sport anymore? I'm even starting to doubt my love of motorsport things revolve so much around money!
:confused:

Glen · 2 Dec 2003, 10:02 (Ref:801289)

I'm at a loss to understand your beef(s). Justin, for whatever reason, just didn't impress - so let someone else have a go. Klein has won more than Kimi had, and look where Kimi is now (I know that Wilson also had an impressive record pre-F1, but as I said, he failed to grab his chance).

Good luck to him for now - it might just be the toughest job in F1 being Webber's team-mate, but just imagine if he can get close to him - it would make his career PDQ.

PaulSands · 2 Dec 2003, 10:10 (Ref:801298)

The beef is Jaguar Racing's revolving door policy for drivers managers etc. Also the fact that they are supposed to be a works team but seem to be grubbing around for paydrivers like Minardi & Jordan have to...the name Jaguar invokes a lot of passion and carries a lot of history...the current team doesn't

**Stephen Green** · 2 Dec 2003, 10:11 (Ref:801300)

I have to agree with your sentiments Paul, you have hit the nail on the head.

climb · 2 Dec 2003, 10:12 (Ref:801302)

Glen,
the problem is not on Klien himself, of course, evrybody surely wishes him the best.
What impresses is a works F1 team who seems to hire n'importe-qui on condition that he's well funded.
I mean, if it was Minardi to do that, well no surprise at all; about Jag, it should be different...
OK, this was not a mystery, since thay had announced such an intention long ago, but the first candidates were experienced blokes like Wurz..

PaulSands · 2 Dec 2003, 10:14 (Ref:801307)

plus the decision has been made on the results of one test...the irony being they sacked the quickest driver of the four over the last test

DriverT · 2 Dec 2003, 10:23 (Ref:801312)

Oh Jesus, I've just seen this. I feel a big rant coming on...

Saying Wilson didn't impress is a strange thing at the very least. This Klien guy must be mighty impressive to outrun Wilson who has had all the more testing than him. Then again, it could be the six million dollars of cash.

It's ridiculous. You're right PaulSands, this is a works team of one of the richest companies in the world, yet they're scraping around the bottom of the barrel for cash. What the hell is going on? I'm a Jag fan, so I should stick with the team, but this is really taking the biscuit.

How on earth can the team expect to go forward like this? We need a second driver who can develop the car, not some F3 nobody has has done nothing. Before you say it, I know about Button, Massa, Kimi et al., but they didn't come with huge sums of money - they were talent spotted were they not?

Thank God at least they have Mark Webber, until he goes to Uncle Frank next year. By then, the "glory days" of Herbert's win will look wayyy gone.

BootsOntheSide · 2 Dec 2003, 10:43 (Ref:801333)

Quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Green
I think they are making themselves look quite foolish really. Whatever the press release says, we all know it's the Red Bull money that has got him the drive. Why not just admit it and stop trying to make silly excuses for sacking Justin?

That's precisely it. It wouldn't surprise me if they ran Klien (not Klein, let's get this right now, and it's pronounced 'Kleen' - in German names with ie or ei, the emphasis is on the latter letter) extra-light, just to make his times look better. he's clearly a talented youngster, but hasn't showed a spark of genius the way Raikkonen, Hakkinen, Button or Senna did when they jumped from F3 to F1.

I feel really bad for Justin, he's literally risked everything he owns, and he gets treated like this by a big company looking to cost-cut in a team it has showed little commitment to F1. He did as good a job against Webber as anyone, despite difficult circumstances.

JohnMiller · 2 Dec 2003, 10:47 (Ref:801337)

"Our decision to put Christian in the race car in no way reflects upon Justin's clear ability as a competitive racing driver," added Pitchforth. "We are, however, in discussions with Justin about how Jaguar Racing can help with his future career."

Between the lines? - We want to keep Justin under contractual obligation for when we look utter arses yet again.

KA · 2 Dec 2003, 10:49 (Ref:801339)

Quote:

Originally posted by Glen
I'm at a loss to understand your beef(s). Justin, for whatever reason, just didn't impress - so let someone else have a go. Klein has won more than Kimi had, and look where Kimi is now (I know that Wilson also had an impressive record pre-F1, but as I said, he failed to grab his chance).

Good luck to him for now - it might just be the toughest job in F1 being Webber's team-mate, but just imagine if he can get close to him - it would make his career PDQ.

...and if he doesn't get close to him, then it could be pretty much career over for him in F1, other than as a pay-driver...

The comparison with Raikkonen doesn't totally work for me- Kimi walked into what seemed a fairly stable environment at Sauber- I may be wrong, but once the licence question was settled I don't recall hearing that much about him being under heavy pressure to produce results from the start, and from memory Peter Sauber was very supportive of his young driver in the press.

Klien is going to Jaguar, against a highly-rated team-mate, in a team where the usual response to any kind of problem or lack of competitiveness is to fire someone- that's a pretty tough spot for a 20-year old rookie straight from F3

This could be a bad move both for Jaguar and Klien- if he isn't right on Webber's pace from the start, then his stay might be pretty short- unless they really have only signed him for the Red Bull money of course....

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