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I'm sorry to say it but I think BMW Sauber will have the measure of Williams next year. I don't know why Williams have fallen so far in 5 years but their willinginess to put the blame at BMW's door is a big mistake. No matter what has been said in the media the BMW engine was no where near as bad as Williams has claimed.
When you compare chassis/tyre combination, drivers and engine package, Williams have an advantage only in the engine. They've hired an untried designer from BAR's composite division, combined with a poor aero man in Bigois and one senses impending disaster.
Rosberg's appointment already looks like a mistake. His testing times in the car look unimpressive, lets face it a driver who's quick is quick from day 1. I can understand Webber's desire to have a team mate that he can dominate but if one wants to find new talent you have to look towards F3.
Sauber's advantage is stability and the infusion of a larger budget which should see them move up the grid.
Comments
Re Rosberg, "quick from day 1" is a fair test, but racecraft, learning curve, consistency and temperament will be important too. A ittle too early to judge perhaps?
No predictions here at a ll re R Junior, but future champions, like offspring, don't always fit the past mould, do they?
Spin
[Edited on 10/12/2005 by Dr_Spin]
No Williams will be struggling badly next year. The only question is who they chose to blame for their woes.
Watching the 2005 DVD, Webbo had a shocker - that 'pass' on Schumi in Turkey summing it up.
I don't think he has to 'rebuild his reputation' by any means. It's not like he was Takuma Sato up against Jenson Button - now THAT result would require rebuilding a reputation.
Nor would it be Webber's desire to be forced to endure another also-ran as a teammate. He would have wanted, and expected, Jenson Button.
From Autosport-
Cosworth breaks 20,000rpm barrier
December 10th 2005, 14:21 GMT
Northampton-based engine builder Cosworth has an enviable record of success with V8 engines, and it claims to have made further history by becoming the first manufacturer to have broken the 20,000rpm limit on track.
According to a report in this week's Autosport, Cosworth ran its new CA-2006 V8 engine to a new rev record during testing with Williams at the recent Barcelona test - and it has now set its sights on reaching 21,000rpm before the end of next season.
Although it is not thought that Cosworth's engine will use the 20,000rpm level as a regular feature during 2006, the company believe that such a benchmark was needed for it to be competitive.
Alex Hitzinger, Cosworth's head of F1 development, said: "We had to be prepared to move the benchmark again in 2006 and 20,000rpm was our target.
"We don't plan to run the engine to 20,000rpm as a matter of course, but it will be available to us."
The history-making rev record for Cosworth is indicative of the company's desire to make a success of its partnership with Williams - and Hitzinger is refusing to rule out the chances of victories.
"Williams can win with us and we would like them to," he explained. "We haven't been in such a strong position with a team since we were with Benetton in 1994." Cosworth's DFV V8 engine is the most successful in the sport's history, having taken a total of 155 Grands Prix victories.
2005 Qualifying
Melbourne: Webber 3rd Heidfeld 7th
Sepang: Webber 4th Heidfeld: 10th
Sakhir: Webber 5th Heidfeld: 4th
Imola: Webber 4th Heidfeld: 8th
Barcelona: Webber 2nd Heidfeld: 17th
Monaco: Webber 3rd Heidfeld: 6th
Nurburgring: Heidfeld: 1st Webber 3rd
Montreal: Webber 14th Heidfeld: 13th
Indianapolis: Webber 9th Heidfeld: 15th
Magny: Webber 12th Heidfeld: 14th
Silverstone: Webber 11th Heidfeld: 14th
Hockenheim: Webber 6th Heidfeld: 7th
Hungary: Webber 16th Heidfeld : 12th
Turkey: Webber; 7th Heidfeld: 6th
... and with Heidfelds good finishes in Sepang and Monaco and Nurburgring (ie; >Webber) then you'd be worried if he couldn't out qualify his team mate on the following races. Hungary Webber qualifies from behind Heidfeld 11th vs 19th, and in Turkey ... webber encounters sato on his qualifying lap.
excuses aside; 9:5 is the ratio ... who is the fastest driver? Clearly, it is Webber.
How many points are there to be won in qualifying??
Like Cela_trams said, Heidfeld is lucky. He is smooth, experienced, and does not take great risk. ..and I suspect once he had the BMW contract saw no point to risk more damage to his reputation.
I can only see a few windows in the year to observe heidfeld performing greater than Webber (such as monaco), generally the opposite was the case.
As for BMW since they are building on the experience and design of Sauber and have to acquire their own corporate F1 chassis experience I think it will be a few seasons before they can compete with the top teams. Williams on the other hand know what to do, they only have to fix a few bugs. Next year both the engines and tyres are big question marks, but the rule changes perhaps favour Bridgestone.
'nuf said.
He dominated Yoong, he dominated Pizzonia, he dominated Wilson, he dominated Klien ....... he was at least more consistent than Heidfeld - who I recall some of the forum tipped to edge Webber handsomely.
Now he's got another unknown quantity. If he kills Rosberg, it's expected as NR is a rookie. If he edges Rosberg, Webber's underperforming (again). If Rosberg is the second coming of Senna, it wont be accepted for several years how good Rosberg really is (like Kimi) and Webber risks being discarded no matter how good a job he's doing........ because everyone expects him to wipe the floor with Rosberg.
We'll be having the same conversation in 12 months because, short of Mark Webber winning races next year in a car 95% of this forum thinks will suck, he's still going to remain unproven and unworthy of respect in people like Petrol's eyes. :spank:
FW must really rate Rosberg because he's absolutely killing Webber's reputation and, potentially, motivation with the teammates he's hoisting upon him. :(
Qualifying stands for nothing if you consistently give away positions at the start, don't you agree?
Getting nerfed at the first corner put paid to that though.
Webber would also have finished 2nd in Monaco had Alonso not been so slow as to be slower than Heidfeld on a heavy fuel load.
Heidfeld is, of course, another pretty damn good driver. 2006 should see a better performance from Williams, although I think they'll struggle to beat the likes of Toyota and Honda...
The comment about Webber wanting to have a team mate that he can easily dominate is a load of Red Bull, but expected from Petrol. You just have to look at Webber's own comments. He has stressed the need for a strong team mate many times and really wanted to race with Button. He fought very hard not to have a half assed Pizzonia as a team mate because he was too weak.
[Edited on 13/12/2005 by TasM]
I also note that Webber seemd to be the only driver making poor starts. Or do you think BMW was singling him out for the launch control problem?
[/quote]
If you qualify higher up the grid (Webber) you will be in direct competition with the better teams who have good launch systems.
If you qualify further back (Heidfeld) you are likely to be up against lesser teams who may not have as good launch control.
For me, when Webber was put under pressure during the race, he made too may mistakes resulting in too mant race incidents.
The argument that because Williams rate a driver it makes them a good choice is specious. Williamsd judgement has been poor over the past 5 years. They rated Pizzonia, it took them 8 years to realise that Fisher was a poor designer. For 2 years running they've been embroiled in a contract dispute with Button.
My gut feeling with Risberg is that he's overhyped. If there was any reasoning to the FIA he should never have won the GP2 championship after his team were convicted of cheating!
I can't be arsed arguing, there's no convincing you Petrol, it's just all anti-Webber vitriol with little substance behind it.
Knock yourself out. :rolleyes:
[Edited on 15/12/2005 by MinardiP1]
Eh let's be honest. They both had subpar years in a subpar car.
It will be interesting to see how Heidfeld can assert himself at BMW, he may well struggle against the incumbent Villeneuve.