mario wrote:ibsey wrote:Carlos Reutemann won the 1981 Brazilian GP by ignoring pit signals ordering him to give up the lead to his teammate, Alan Jones, who as the then WDC was consider the No.1 in the team. I believe Carlos claimed afterwards he did not see those pit signals, so didn't know he had to concede the lead to Jones.
[b]Somehow I find that excuse by Reutemann hard to believe. Particularly as IIRC he knew when he signed for Williams he was employed as a No.2 driver. So I would have thought he should have known what the situation was without the need to see pit signals. However you have to say that in the end of the day, he did the right thing in ignoring the pit signals at Brazil, since he almost won that year's WDC as a result of dis-obeying team orders.
The Williams pit wall were pretty clear about what running order they wanted to see - this is supposed to be the famous pit wall board they were putting out:
Now, it is true that visibility was probably quite poor that day, but considering that Williams had been hanging that pit board from the pit wall for multiple laps, it does seem somewhat unlikely that Reutemann didn't look at least once for his pit board and see that notice.
Oh don't get me wrong Mario. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Reutemann
did indeed see the pit board that day & knew the situation. This is what I found from a recent Motorsport article;
'Inescapably, under the terms of his contract. Reutemann had done wrong, but there was a curious innocence in the way he sought to justify his actions. “Jones had reason to be upset,” he said. “I can’t disagree with that. I saw the pit signal three laps from the end, and I knew the terms of the contract. But still I was in a dilemma.
“From the beginning of my career, I always started every race with the intention of winning it – but now I was being asked to give it away, just like that. ‘If I give way,’ I thought to myself, ‘I stop the car here and now, in the middle of the track, and leave immediately for my farm in Argentina. Finish. Not a racing driver any more.’”Source;
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/ask_n ... challenge/In fact as I said in my previous post (highlighted in bold above) I found the idea of Reutemann not seeing the pit signals 'hard to believe' (trying to be understated in typical British fashion
).
The reason I highlighted that particular example here is because
I believe (so I'm not 100% certain on this...as its been a few years now) that in the immediate aftermath of that incident. Carlos claimed he had not seen those pit signals. Therefore I find that a ridiculous excuse, if that is indeed what Carlos had said initially. As the photo you have kindly supplied illustrates just how obvious the pitboard in question was.
I guess it is similar to the excuses Ferrari always use to use when they tried implementing team orders discreetly i.e. Irvine's 'supposed brake problems' at Austria 1998. Which conveniently allowed M Schumi to overtake him during the race. In other words what the driver says & what we know to be the case, aren't always the same thing. Hope that clears things up.
JJMonty wrote:It would have made very little difference because had he obeyed - then their points would have just been swapped i.e. Jones on 49 and Reutemann on 46 instead.
True. But had Carlos dis obeyed team orders a race earlier (at Long Beach) & not let Jonesy past for the win. The extra 3 points earn there might have secured Carlos the title. Also don't forget that by the time of the British Grand Prix that year Carlos led the World Championship by 17 points. Indeed he was still favorite for the title before the last race. I'm not sure he would have been in either of those situations had he played 2nd fiddle to Jonesy.
In any case I was thinking more in terms of Carlos making his intentions clear to both Jonesy & the team i.e. that they shouldn't ask him to move over anymore, as he wanted to go for the title in 1981 & the destablising affect it may have had on one of his main title rivals for that year... Jonesy.
I think this situation was slightly different to Imola 1982 in that, Carlos had played the good no. 2 in 1980 & allowed Jones to win the championship. Therefore earning his right to fight for the WDC in 1981. So IMO Williams should then have thrown the whole thing open for 1981, instead of which they kept the ‘Jones priority’ clause in Reutemann’s contract. Just as Villeneuve earn his 'right' to equal No.1 in 1980, by following team orders & not fighting Jody for the WDC in Monza 1979. Pironi had not given up a possible WDC to Villeneuve by Imola 1982, so IMO had no right stuff him over at Imola 1982.
So I completeley agree with Carlos' comments above. Although I do think Carlos should have informed Jonesy & the team, face to face, that he wasn't going to play 2nd fiddle before the race at Brazil 1981. Hope that makes sense?
Also in addition to their respective retirements (which Jones & Carlos both suffered 3 each that season). According to some of those posts made below the [img]http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/ask_nigel/reutemanns-title-challenge/[img] article, Carlos suffered a couple of other technical problems towards the end of that season. I mean things apparently like a duff gearbox at Las Vegas, or a poor setup at Monza etc. Which apparently contributed towards his lackluster performances in those races. I for one certainly find it strange how Carlos was so up & down that year?
I know Jonesy had some bad luck himself (i.e. being taken out at Sliverstone through no fault of his own & his problems from the lead at Monaco etc). But the point I'm trying to make is Jones clawed most of his points deceit back from Carlos towards the latter half of the season, when if you believe those posts, Carlos was slightly handicapped by those problems. Interestingly Jones managed to claw back 11 points to Carlos in the Italian & Las Vegas GP's alone. Whereas during free practice & qualifying for both races Carlos had been quicker than Jones? I believe that is what cost Carlos the WDC in 1981 (what ever the reason behind it was).
How is that ridiculous?
