Grand Prix Rejects

First interview with Massa now online:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 181452.stm

Also, Williams have objected to Schumacher testing the F60 (unlike Norbert Haug who said he was OK with it)...
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77534

While I can see Williams's point, I don't think that the Alguersuari situation is directly comparable - I think that a team choosing to drop a driver should be viewed differently from a team which has a driver change forced upon it by injury.

Paul Hayes wrote:While I can see Williams's point, I don't think that the Alguersuari situation is directly comparable - I think that a team choosing to drop a driver should be viewed different from a team which has a driver change forced upon it by injury.

Yeah, but a team bringing in a debutant should be viewed differently from a team bringing in a how-many-times-world-champion and a goodness-knows-how-many-grand-prix-wins driver...

dr-baker wrote:

Paul Hayes wrote:While I can see Williams's point, I don't think that the Alguersuari situation is directly comparable - I think that a team choosing to drop a driver should be viewed different from a team which has a driver change forced upon it by injury.

Yeah, but a team bringing in a debutant should be viewed differently from a team bringing in a how-many-times-world-champion and a goodness-knows-how-many-grand-prix-wins driver...

But nobody made Torro Rosso put him in the seat.

Paul Hayes wrote:But nobody made Torro Rosso put him in the seat.

Nor is anybody making Ferrari use a replacement driver who's been out of F1 for 3 years. If the argument is that Toro Rosso brought it on themsleves by firing Bourdais, then Ferrari must have equally brought it on themselves by not hiring Bourdais.

I think any mid-season replacement driver, regardless of circumstances, should be allowed a 1-day acclimatisation test at a non-championship circuit, but it's not in the rules at the moment. Doesn't matter why he's being replaced, it doesn't matter that it's Schuey, if it's not allowed, it's not allowed.

Hell, they're not even allowed to run current F1 cars at the festival of speed anymore.

Jordan192 wrote:Doesn't matter why he's being replaced, it doesn't matter that it's Schuey, if it's not allowed, it's not allowed.

Hell, they're not even allowed to run current F1 cars at the festival of speed anymore.

Too right.

Its the rules. Testing is banned. That has dominated the way the whole season has played out. I think its a bad rule, but its the rule. No way can it be relaxed just because its Schumi.

Ross Prawn wrote:

Jordan192 wrote:Doesn't matter why he's being replaced, it doesn't matter that it's Schuey, if it's not allowed, it's not allowed.

Hell, they're not even allowed to run current F1 cars at the festival of speed anymore.

Too right.

Its the rules. Testing is banned. That has dominated the way the whole season has played out. I think its a bad rule, but its the rule. No way can it be relaxed just because its Schumi.

Of course the rules can be relaxed! From what I understand, you can do anything you like as long as all the other teams and the FIA agree with it. Ferrari asked, and they've been denied; no big deal! I don't know why people are getting so worked up about it and trying to spin it like Schumi is getting some kind of special treatment. Torro Rosso could have asked to test Alguersuari before Hungary, but they didn't.

Interestingly, James Allen says on his blog that the request was denied by Williams and both Red Bull teams. All other news sources seem to say that all FOTA teams were in favour. It's hardly surprising that Williams denied the request, since they seem to have become the FIA's new lapdog.