Villeneuve is more experienced than the lot so maybe he's got the best shot ;)

Jacques Villeneuve is by no means more experienced than, say, Nick Heidfeld. Villeneuve stopped racing in 2006. Heidfeld has had an unbroken run since 2000-ish (can't remember the exact date he started). And a lot of pundits are tipping Renault to take a pay driver, with Petrov's name at the top of the list.

It was said many times in Schumacher case that he have to learn new F1 cars from base. Don't you think with JV will be the same or even worse??? Time he needs to adapt to R30 could be too long for Renault to get on with that. Villeneuve's best years has passed away and he seems to be out of business unfortunatelly. Bigger risk than Petrov IMO.

Let's put it this way: what can Jacques Villeneuve bring to Renault that a) Nick Heidfeld cannot and b) Vitaly Petrov cannot? He's got to have something to make him stand out from the rest of the drivers under cosideration.

My bet is Petrov will be in a 2nd car.

And Polish fans are going love Kubica driving a car with Russia badge on it. LOL

already wrote about it... This ain't gonna happen, right? No fu*king way.

Renault needs money that is obvious. Otherwise if Nick had the Petrov's money it would be a no brainer.

No, no, you misunderstand me: what I'm saying is that Heidfeld brings experience, and Petrov brings money. What I want to know is what Jacques Villeneuve would bring to the team that would be better than either.

you are probably going to hear some shit about him being a WDC and that new cars suit him better

Mate I was talking Petrov and his money .... wtf did Jacques come from?

Woah, YoungGun, maybe you should read other people's comments before being patronising, telling them that they are bad at reading and talk to themselves. I think you'll find it is you who misread Captain's initial comment.

No I read, just couldn't understand where Petrov wasn't the favourite considering his coin. Captian where you suggesting otherwise?

Petrov's team mates car did not have "Russia" written on it.

Rules in F1 are that cars have to have same liveries.

I know you were only 7 years old when JV become WDC but not all they were telling at that time was shit... It was about Santa, he did not exist. But JV was WDC indeed

Didn't stop West Maclaren to put 'MIKA' and 'DAVID' in West cigarettes' typeface all over the sidepods. If I had been Pollock I'd have sued the FIA over that, heh!

Maybe you guys are right then, one sponsor word does not constitute the livery.

You guys didn't noticed a new indication that says that Renault can be really strong this season:
According to rumours, Nick turned down the Renault offer. So far I remember, a year ago Nick turned down the Honda offer ;)

When did Nick turn down an offer? First I'v heard of that.

Rumours from his manager quoted in the Heidfeld thread, but then there was a denial so nobody knows.

"What I want to know is what Jacques Villeneuve would bring to the team that would be better than either."

Alot more pace on his good days, heidfeld, kubica and klien are good and quite consistent but none of them ever showed blinding pace like jv (the pace i'm talking is like barcelona 99 up the front with the maccas and schuey while his teammate squabbles around in 18th..........., or how about all through 99 outqualifying his teammates by a second. CRAP in the wet? Well I also remember looking ough the end of brazil (01 or 02)on forix through the later part of the race (wet part) he was consistently the quickest on the track through each of the last 15 laps, 1.5 seconds quicker than schumi even (and yes it went unnoticed because BAR screwed his pitstops bigtime. Or how about all the races in 2000, pretty damn well hammered panis (who i think's quick) and had great drives at most races, montreal battling with barri and hakkinen for 3rd was it?

I can dig up plenty more but face it the guy is damn quick on his day, and has miles more experience of what a good car is from his 96/97 lucky years.

Nick turned down Honda's offer as well as Kubica did.

Don't tell me the stuff about santa is not true.

And hell, I know JV was WDC, but who cares now? A lot has changed, he had his time, now it is behind us.

Could be worse. He could be driving a car with Germany badged on it.

If Nick is at the Mercedes launch tomorrow I guess that rules him out of the Renault running.

He will do enough mileage during winter tests to get one.

I believe the RUSSIA badge is an intentional message. A lot of Russian drivers are going through the Lukoil driver developmen program - see Mikhal Aleshin - and those drivers tend to be saddled with corporate branding for life. I think Petrov's sponsors want to set him up as a Russian driver, not a corporate-backed one.


I wasn't really addressing you - the Villeneuve crowd want Villeuenve in. What I want to know is what Vileneuve can bing to the team that Heidfeld and Petrov cannot.


That was in 1999. 1999 was eleven years ago. Jacques' performances after that were never really anywhere near that level. Why do you think he struggled to find a drive in 2004 and couldn't find one in 2007? Having pace is fine. But if it was ten years ago, it's pretty much inadmissable.


Again: it was a decade ago.


Yes, Jacques was quick on his day. But it hasn't been his day for a long, long time. I can understand the Heidfeld fanclub being outraged if Heidfeld doesn't get a drive. But I cannot for the life of me fathom how you figure that what happened a decade ago is somehow relevant today, especially since Villeneuve has never replicated his achievements since.

On his day, yes, but that day was a long time ago.

The cars are now supposedly "more to Jacques' liking". Relying on a good car to get you results is one thing, but depending on the entire rule book is another.

Leaving the lineup aside, as well as wishful thinking - EB said he has no real expectations about the first race and rather believes the car will be competetive in 2011...on the other hand the chenges in the regs should suit RK as well as building the car according to his expectations, something he never had in F1, moreover after reading his latest interview on Autosport I understand he never had the opportunity to have a suitable car since BMW was promoting KERS so heavily, which was already known not to be in Roberts favour (in '09 it turned out it wasn't even in NH's favour as it all resulted with a car that was cornrering on three wheels) So, I'm expecting Kubica to make the most of the car given. It might be well handling but may lack the overall speed to match the Ferraris, Maccas, RBR's and Mercs. Anyway some good drives from Kubica are coming IMO.

Please explain which changes in the regs should suit RK? Because for sure not the refuelling ban, refuelling ban means heavier cars, heavier cars means more tyre wear, more tyre wear means better to be smooth with the tyres.
As far as I remember RK is pretty opposite to being smooth with the tyres, how many times thru his seasons he had problems with graining and tyres overall?

On the other hand I don't think that it will be such big factor, and the likes of Hamilton or Kubica wouldn't struggle that much, but how the hell can those changes suit them?

Everybody had graining problem. It also depends on the car. I don't remember Robert having issues with 1 pit stop strategy, so don't worry, he'll be fine.

Ever heard of the +15 kg. min. weight and the narrower front tyres for 2010? That's what I was reffering to.

I was wrong, you are right, the increase of min. weight and narrower front tyres are for sure an advantage for Robert

hmm... I ąm seeing it in diffrent way.

First of all I can't recall Kubica's problems with tyres and graining latety... I remember that on Hungaroring in 2008 he strugled with his tyres.

Secondly, in 2010 changing wheels will take some about 3s and whole visit in pitlane will take 16s on average. So when field will stretch (and as we knew Renault will have advantage on the start) you can make your pitstop without harm. Moreover I think that you could easly do 3 pitstops in races. And when you change your tyres you will have significant advantage over your closest oponents, you could lap faster.

In 2010 season stragety is reversed - you will gain advantage pitting earlier that your rival in front of you.

As you see everything depends on strategy.

There's nothing to be afraid of Kubica and his driving style. I'm more afraid about Reno's cars performance than Kubica's.

Exactly, 2010 cars will be more understeer and rear will be more stable, so this is playing for Robert who like understeer. I hope that R30 will has a stable rear and very good suspension.

I don't knew if this was sarcasm, but for sure this will help Kubica and others tall drivers. With narrower front tyres balast's distribution is easier, don't mention min. weight which is obvious.

I'm sarcastic, sometimes, but not this time, I meant it serious
Better balast distribution for heavier drivers, more stable rear for "understeering" drivers, that all sounds really good for RK.
But I don't believe Renault will manage to build a competetive car (at lest at the begining of the season, even Boullier said so), hope I'm wrong.

You bet you better not
It's a major issue for RK. The +15 kg. rule alone is a vast improvement for him. The narrower front tyres happen to serve his driving style well.
And I agree we can't expect podiums at once, but I'm sure we will see some skillful drives from RK.

I expect that the first half of the 2010 season for Renault will be like the second half of 2009 for BMW but with less car reliability issues, if it will be worse, I will be pretty disappointed.
[that was not a sarcasm - korzeniow ]

It couldn't be worse than BMW '09, a car that was developed in the wrong direction straight from the beginning.
I wouldn't worry about the handling and balance of the car as much for the overall speed. Although F1 showed many times that thunder strikes twice the same place

Tung and d'Ambrosio as Reno's reserve drivers - source

Good decision but no surprise

Makes me wonder...
If Tung and D'Ambrosio have signed as reserve drivers, being groomed i assume for to be future Renault drivers, why would they hire a young rookie like Petrov?
Maybe they are thinking of getting an experienced second driver after all...

Heidfeld announcment next week - sauce



So, it has to be Petrov!

"News" does not necessarily mean good news. It might be news that Heidfeld has signed for Renault.

I knew what you are thinking. It's not going to happen...

You mean Nick or Sato for sure?

My money is on Petrov and his money.


Heidfeld being 3rd driver for merc is pretty humbling for the guy who was BMW - Sauber's number 1 only 2 years ago. perhaps he is planning on putting a little laxative in Nico's water bottle so he can have a shot at a race win this season.