Juan grows up???

f1atic · 21 Mar 2004, 22:52 (Ref:914396)

JPM today showed some maturity that has more or less eluded him in the past. In an interview following the race, Juan said, "Towards the end I was trying to catch Michael because I felt my car was just getting better and better. Unfortunately, after my third and last stop I exited the pit lane behind Rubens. I tried to pass him but then I preferred to back off as I did not want to compromise a good second position. I realised at this point that the most important thing was taking home some valuable points for the team and for myself," said a mature Montoya. "

neilap · 21 Mar 2004, 22:57 (Ref:914403)

Well in the rest of that interview he said RB blocked him so that is why he backed off till RB pitted. He also made mention of the "Blue Ferraris" being a bit difficult to pass.

JPM drove a very good race. MS and the Ferrari were again too much for the rest of the grid. I think he saw that MS was more of less just maintaining the gap between them. He had no choice but to back off.

Pitstop · 22 Mar 2004, 01:15 (Ref:914536)

He made the right choice today and drove a good race.

Snrub · 22 Mar 2004, 05:06 (Ref:914621)

He's cruised to the finish times before what makes this time different?

jetsetter · 22 Mar 2004, 05:36 (Ref:914638)

JPM has had a problem in the past throwing away positions by pushing right until the finish so it was good to see him happy to collect the eight points for second rather than chase an improbable extra two for the win.

Gt_R · 22 Mar 2004, 05:47 (Ref:914648)

Yes, indeed it is good to show "maturity", Michael had him covered the whole race, and that he knows he didn't need to push because unless Ferrari ran into problems, there's no way he'd catch up...so just settle for a safe second.

Hopefully, he'd keep this mentality and settle for less... It'd bring MS the 7th WDC!

climb · 22 Mar 2004, 08:00 (Ref:914709)

However, his attempt to mean that, hadn't Rubens slowed him he could have reached MS is almost ridicoulous; MS leadership has never been in danger throughout the race, and JPM would have never got close to him.

**Adam43** · 22 Mar 2004, 10:00 (Ref:914807)

Yes, Michael always had the 5-10s to keep it safe.

However I don't think Montoya is claiming he definitely could have got up to Michael. He is just saying that the time immediately after his last stop was the moment he decided the chase was finally all over.

Gt_R · 22 Mar 2004, 10:14 (Ref:914822)

It's a decent race. If at the point where JPM came out behind RB and tried another over-enthusiastic move and ended up in the kitty, everybody would have blamed him for lacking sense. So to be ABLE to judge when to push and when not is indeed "growing up" on Juan's part.

However, indeed his trying to "involve" RB to his decision to slow down is not fully correct. On heavier fuel plus new tires, it's unlikely Juan could have passed. In fact, after a lap or two, RB actually opened up the gap and set a quicker time before he pitted.

Juan knows that RB is pitting and hence no need to challenge him for position. A sensible thing to do instead of him taking himself out just like how he in USA.

Damon · 22 Mar 2004, 10:22 (Ref:914839)

Isn't this exactly what JPM was getting hammered for after Monza last year? :confused:

For those that care to look, this isn't the first time he's driven a race like this, it's no sudden turn around in attitude. The occasions where he bins it through over exuberance are far rarer.

**Peter Mallett** · 22 Mar 2004, 10:36 (Ref:914851)

For me he was totally different to any previous race. As I said elsewhere, he was completely in control of his environment. Haven't seen him like it before and as you know I do look at these things.

**Peter Mallett** · 22 Mar 2004, 10:37 (Ref:914852)

Oops.

When I first thought of posting in here I saw the thread title and thought no. Could it be changed to "Jaun Comes of Age". Much more tasteful.

CleanTone · 22 Mar 2004, 16:04 (Ref:915282)

He said "for the team". Puzzling

**Adam43** · 22 Mar 2004, 16:17 (Ref:915301)

Not really, he still drives for Williams, he won't leave until the end of the season. I suspect Williams and Montoya don't find this difficult to do and will help each other all year. It isn't a war zone in Williams, they understand what is going on.

Rennen · 22 Mar 2004, 17:20 (Ref:915399)

'Grown up'!?...Oh is that why F1 Racing mag had to put his questions in those coloured balls for him to answer?...Ron'll sort him out!

Kirk · 22 Mar 2004, 18:02 (Ref:915441)

As is often the case in F1, the race was lost in the pits. Once JPM emerged behind RB, the outcome was inevitable. JPM did well and it seems he did learn from last year. RB may not be a winner but he appears as a master at blocking in a subtle fashion of course such that any move by JPM resulting in contact would not be blamed on RB (quite the contrary in fact).

**Adam43** · 22 Mar 2004, 18:57 (Ref:915505)

Please keep the remarks tasteful. Posts removed. Along with the warning by another mod! Sorry EERO!

006_007 · 22 Mar 2004, 19:10 (Ref:915517)

I agree that Juan drove a very good race, and did not throw away those 8 valuable points.

He must have took Ralfs comments seriously regarding being run off the track as he just dropped Ralf and stayed well away from him..........

TJ

Gt_R · 22 Mar 2004, 19:51 (Ref:915575)

Kirk, if you are implying that RB isn't a clean driver, you couldn't find anybody else who's quicker.

3 points of fact is that (1)RB has every right to defend his position against JPM (2)It's unlikely a driver goes quicker while driving a defensive position (3)Even without RB, theres no way JPM could mount a serious challenge to MS.

Juan drove as good a race as he could in Sepang. Thankfully, he didn't throw it away with a silly move like in USGP. Which is good..the best out of yesterday.

Yoong Montoya · 22 Mar 2004, 22:49 (Ref:915798)

Quote:

Originally posted by Peter Mallett
For me he was totally different to any previous race. As I said elsewhere, he was completely in control of his environment. Haven't seen him like it before and as you know I do look at these things.

Did you not watch Monaco 2003? That was by far Montoya's best drive so far.

Kirk · 22 Mar 2004, 23:55 (Ref:915863)

Quote:

Originally posted by Gt_R
Kirk, if you are implying that RB isn't a clean driver, you couldn't find anybody else who's quicker.

3 points of fact is that (1)RB has every right to defend his position against JPM (2)It's unlikely a driver goes quicker while driving a defensive position (3)Even without RB, theres no way JPM could mount a serious challenge to MS.

Juan drove as good a race as he could in Sepang. Thankfully, he didn't throw it away with a silly move like in USGP. Which is good..the best out of yesterday.

No, I wasn't implying that at all. I look at the situation from several angles, all favouring Ferrari.
- RB looking out for his teammate is a natural thing.
- But at the same time I can feel the frustration JPM felt and also we as fans ... as MS had a cakewalk after that holdup.
- FW must cring knowing that Ferrari are again successfully employing team tactics to easily defeat his team.
- And that cringing must heighten when he realizes that if the roles were reversed Ralf would likely not do the same holdup for JPM (and visa versa JPM not for Ralf).
- And I'm afraid that that last point is the clincher for another Ferrari (or at least MS) dominance, especially since McLaren are to date treading water.

Gt_R · 23 Mar 2004, 12:06 (Ref:916356)

Hmm... in any case, while Juans race was a sign of "maturing", his comments post-race is nothing but sour grapes as it clearly implies that he believes RB/Ferrari raced unfairly - "dirty racing" to quote.

At no point in time did Juan make a serious attempt to pass RB, and even if he did, there is absolutely no reason why RB should wave him pass. And for that i applaud RB. The fact that the pace dropped by almost a second for a lap or two...hmm..obviously people didn't consider the back markers. Ferrari DID NOT employ any team tactics and no orders were given to RB to hold JPM up - any insistence of otherwise is nothing but clutching at straws. In fact, RB was pretty quick the lap leading to his stop and Ferrari were trying to get him up the podium too.

In case nobody noticed, Michael's last pitstop was more than 8 seconds, and he left his pit just as JPM stopped at his. So the gap by then was already big enough for JPM's hopes of a race win challenge to fade.

I think JPM just can't accept the blatant fact that he was beaten and that was just looking for some excuse or reasons to justify it other than himself. It ain't the first time anyways, and i'm not accusing him..just an observation/opinion.

**Peter Mallett** · 23 Mar 2004, 12:13 (Ref:916367)

Quote:

Originally posted by Yoong Montoya
Did you not watch Monaco 2003? That was by far Montoya's best drive so far.

Er. No actually. I was 10000m up at the time of that race.

**chunterer** · 23 Mar 2004, 12:20 (Ref:916375)

He's a racer and when he gets within a sniff of the Red Baron, he is immsense. He got everything out of the Williams /Michelin combo at Sepang and Schuey well knows it. I guess that's why JPM gets a bit wound up post race. He knows (as does MS i suspect!)that given the chance he's got a more than even chance of putting one over MS, and can't stand it when he can't!

If the sun had come out and made the surface a bit hotter, or there'd been another strange downpour to dampen the surface, he knows Monster would've been all over him.

Bring on Bahrain and a slightly hotter surface so that we can have an even closer 'fight'

However, driving for points when he can't win is the right way to go!

f1atic · 23 Mar 2004, 14:12 (Ref:916517)

Quote:

Originally posted by Peter Mallett
Oops.

When I first thought of posting in here I saw the thread title and thought no. Could it be changed to "Jaun Comes of Age". Much more tasteful.

I don't think he has quite "come of age" although, he is beginning to show a degree of self-restraint on track.

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