Williams' attempt to hire Rosberg for 1988 Italian GP

[Har1MAS1415]

On the Jean-Louis Schlesser profile on the old site, it was mentioned that Williams tried to lure Keke Rosberg out of retirement when they couldn't run Martin Brundle again or hire Roberto Moreno.

I am having difficulty finding any further proof of this.

I have found out that Williams tried to get Al Unser Jr to stand in for Nigel Mansell though.

[Har1MAS1415]

On the Jean-Louis Schlesser profile on the old site, it was mentioned that Williams tried to lure Keke Rosberg out of retirement when they couldn't run Martin Brundle again or hire Roberto Moreno.

I am having difficulty finding any further proof of this.

I have found out that Williams tried to get Al Unser Jr to stand in for Nigel Mansell though.

http://web.archive.org/web/201303212213 ... raphy.html

[Nuppiz]

Whilst making Schlesser's mini-profile for the test driver article, I couldn't find any reliable sources for this, the only one being a single post on the Autosport forums (which very well might be quoting the old F1 Rejects profile).

[Ataxia]

I'm currently scouring the Autosport archive, but don't see anything related to Keke Rosberg or Roberto Moreno in the September '88 issues.

Schlesser had already been a Williams test driver for some years so it makes sense for him to be on standby, especially as Brundle turned the drive down quite late when it became apparent TWR wouldn't release him. Mansell attempted to make a comeback in time for Monza, but was still unwell. So Williams wouldn't have had loads of time to make the decision.

[Nessafox]

If i'm not mistaken, Van Rossem also approached Rosberg in 1989, but Keke pushed Lehto on them instead. Then again Van Rossem's claims aren't exactly reliable.

[Har1MAS1415]

Well, Jamie and/or Enoch must have had a reliable source in order to back their claim when they originally wrote their Jean-Louis Schlesser profile, otherwise they would not have made such a claim in the first place. One would like to think so at least.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

I'd have to do my own dive into old magazine archives to confirm, but my understanding is that there were definitely rumours at the time that Rosberg would be driving at Monza. It's plausible also that he may have been shortlisted by Williams (Frank had previously considered ringing him up to replace Mansell for the '87 Adelaide GP before Bernie released Patrese from his Brabham contract), but I don't know if they ever actually contacted him.

[Har1MAS1415]

https://second-a-lap.blogspot.com/2016/ ... 4.html?m=1

Here's some proof at least pertaining to Roberto Moreno and Al Unser Jr.