16 replies to this topic

[Rudolf]

from www.itv-f1.com

Ralf - We're stronger than McLaren


Ralf Schumacher believes that Williams are now Ferrari’s closest challengers having displaced McLaren in Formula 1’s pecking order.

Schumacher junior was speaking after he qualified ahead of both McLaren Mercedes for Sunday’s race. On race day he charged back into the points after being knocked out at the first corner by Rubens Barrichello and comfortably held off a late race charge from Mika Hakkinen.

When asked by ITV-F1 if Williams are now on a par with McLaren, Schumacher said: "Actually, it looks like we are a bit stronger. At the very least we are quicker on the straights."

"It is nice to beat Mika Hakkinen, and I do not mean this the wrong way, but at the moment its more important to beat the two Ferraris than Mika. McLaren seems to struggle a bit at the moment and obviously were looking forward to the next race."

The Williams’ BMW engine now seems to be the most powerful in Formula 1 and the team’s chassis is also one of the best in the field. If Williams do have the edge on McLaren it would mean a sea change in the F1 pecking order which has seen McLaren and Ferrari dominate since 1998.

A bit early for that? Comments?

[RedFever]

it will be interesting to see the Williams in Silverstone, Monza and Indy...........

I still think Michelin will not allow Williams to be ahead of McLaren yet

[The RedBaron]

I have to say BMW are remarkable.....I don't see Williams heading the field just as yet.... a couple of issues to sort out first.....the main one being Michelin's competiveness in the near future. By the season mid-point I can see them taking up the baton and being Ferraris' chief rivals. I just don't see Mclarens living with the Reds this year.
Of course these are just my gut feelings and I could be completely wrong......we'll see after the fact.

[Rudolf]

I for one can't believe what is happening with McLaren this year. I didn't think it was possible. But I'd love to see a Schumacher battle going on and Ralf taking a win this year. Anything is possible..I'm way too superstitious(?) to right McLaren off yet. People did that last year and look what happened but things are looking good at the moment.

[BuzzingHornet]

I'd love to see Ralf win some races... qualifying was exciting, I thought that it was finally going to be Ralf's big weekend... The best i've seen Ralf drive since Nurburgring 1999

[RedFever]

I don't know, Murray would have a horrible time remembering which Schumacher is driving what....

[Rudolf]

Originally posted by RedFever
I don't know, Murray would have a horrible time remembering which Schumacher is driven what....

That was easily the most exciting qualifying session I can remember. Ralf kept bettering Michael as oppposed to Michael just not being able to reach that speed i.e. Spa last year. It was awesome!

[BuzzingHornet]

RedFever, he already does! Ah i'm really going to miss Murray, maybe more even than Damon

[freq019]

I think it would be exciting if it were treu but it isn't, people are counting out Maclaren way too early. Remember last year kids, they came on strong and made it exciting. Another thing is, the Michelin question, will they be as good as the bridgestones or is the BMW.Williams strong enough to overcome those differences? Anyway I am excited and I hope Ralf does get a win and the draught ends at williams, it would be good to see the BMW.Williams in the Williams museum.

[RedFever]

I can understand that. After all Hill spent 6-7 years in F1, but i remember living in London in 82 and Murray was F1's voice already back than. He liked Gilles, so Liked him right away. Actually, not true, the first GP I thought he was an idiot, then I realized how passionate he was and got to know his style and got to love him

[The RedBaron]

Originally posted by Rudolf
I for one can't believe what is happening with McLaren this year. I didn't think it was possible. But I'd love to see a Schumacher battle going on and Ralf taking a win this year. Anything is possible..I'm way too superstitious(?) to right McLaren off yet. People did that last year and look what happened but things are looking good at the moment.

Agreed Macs came back hard big time. One difference though ...a major one. I felt during the early part of 2000, Mclarens were actually the faster car in race trim but were very unreliable....lucky for Ferraris.....obviously by the 2nd half of the season Ferrari caught up and were a match in racing terms and were already faster in qualifying trim thanks to it's Q-engine. This year Macs are not on the same level in either race or qualifying trims.
Early last year Macs worked hard on their reliability and got better (speed was already there) , this year is the opposite. As Ron Dennis often says "it's harder to make the car faster than making it more reliable" I believe this to be correct.

You also have to take into account that Ferrari won't be standing still, TC or no TC.....they are champions in developing their car throughout the year. Just take a look at the last 4 years.!

Williams is a unknown quantity....powerful new engine, new tyre manufacturer and good chassis. I can only see the Michelins improving. Ralf is optimistic and rightly so

Don't forget Jordans, I think they'll make life hard too. The rest of the teams are just making up the numbers IMO....I can't see BAR doing any real damage ...sorry Jax & fans. It's the car!

[Rudolf]

Originally posted by The RedBaron


Agreed Macs came back hard big time. One difference though ...a major one. I felt during the early part of 2000, Mclarens were actually the faster car in race trim but were very unreliable....lucky for Ferraris.....obviously by the 2nd half of the season Ferrari caught up and were a match in racing terms and were already faster in qualifying trim thanks to it's Q-engine. This year Macs are not on the same level in either race or qualifying trims.
Early last year Macs worked hard on their reliability and got better (speed was already there) , this year is the opposite. As Ron Dennis often says "it's harder to make the car faster than making it more reliable" I believe this to be correct.

ITA! McLaren were faster last year but how is it possible for McLaren to fall so far behind Ferrari? I don't doubt that they'll be back.

[RedFever]

oh, just today Michael said that the car is fantastic (fastest time today), but that celebrating that and stop working would be the biggest mistake. He described the F1-2001 as a lab acr, always in development. He said that it is different every race, every two weeks they have something new on the car.

By the way, Badoer was pretty fast today using TC on the f1-2000, so probably TC or not, Ferrari will still be on top.

[The RedBaron]

Originally posted by Rudolf
ITA! McLaren were faster last year but how is it possible for McLaren to fall so far behind Ferrari? I don't doubt that they'll be back.

Bryne did a superior job in the design department and interpretated the new regulations better. Macs struggling with front-end grip...Ferrari glued to track with "Prost" nose. It can happen from one season to the next.

end of 1997- Williams & Ferrari dominant, Macs up there during 2nd half of season but very unreliable......6 months later and a few new regulations....bingo....Mclaren turn up with a car that's 1.5 sec per lap faster in Australia.

[The RedBaron]

to back up what i said earlier, I found this artical a few minutes ago.

Hakkinen: fix it for Imola or forget about titles


Double world champion says MP4-16 must be cured for start of European season


Mika Hakkinen has warned that unless McLaren cures its handling problems before the first European Grand Prix of the season at Imola next month, it can forget about winning the world championship, according to this week’s Autosport magazine.

But with no major testing of the MP4-16 scheduled prior to the San Marino GP, the Finn could still find himself playing catch-up to Ferrari until at least round five of the Formula 1 World Championship, the Spanish GP on April 29.

While Hakkinen’s team mate David Coulthard has taken a second and a third from the opening races, Hakkinen has just one point to his name, courtesy of sixth in Sepang, and is already 19 points behind Schumacher.

“Everybody is talking about us getting a better car once the season starts in Europe and I think we should,” said Hakkinen in Autosport magazine. “But if we don’t get it right there, then we’re not going to get it right at all.

“It’s a shame that we are losing precious points at the moment and that is because of the car problem,” he added.

Hakkinen’s views have been backed up by team mate Coulthard, who likened Ferrari’s present position of dominance to that of the Woking-based team in 1998. And with another ‘flyaway’ GP in Brazil in a week’s time, McLaren looks set to endure another race weekend playing catch-up to Ferrari.

Arch-rival Ferrari has dominated the opening two races of the season, with reigning world champion Michael Schumacher winning in Australia and Malaysia. In contrast, McLaren-Mercedes has struggled with handling problems for its MP4-16 – even resorting to running makeshift nose fins in Malaysia in an attempt to find a cure for chronic understeer.

Speaking in Malaysia, team boss Ron Dennis said: “We’ve demonstrated over the last three years our capability of producing the best car, and we’ve now got a good car. Occasionally you get it wrong. It [the MP4-16] has a difficult to accommodate handling characteristic, but it’s a short-lived problem and we understand what has to be done.”

The team is testing in Barcelona this week, but using only 2000-spec cars. Third driver Alex Wurz ran on Tuesday and Wednesday, honing the team’s traction control system, while Hakkinen and Coulthard began driving duties today (Thursday) – but still only with 2000-spec kit.

"We are not bringing a new car here," Wurz told Autosport.com, "or to the test after the Brazilian Grand Prix."

[The RedBaron]

the time differences are still obvious, but it'sonly testing.


Barcelona test, day 3: Schu shows who's boss


Ferrari ace on top as McLaren pair struggle with 2000 cars


Michael Schumacher continued his early-season domination by setting the fastest time on the third day of Formula 1 testing at Barcelona, a country mile ahead of his rivals.

In his Ferrari F2001, the world champion finished almost three quarters of a second ahead of BAR's Olivier Panis, who managed to grab second spot despite a broken water pipe causing his Honda V10 to overheat. Schumacher too, experienced engine problems, but not until the end of the day and not before he had completed 71 laps of preparation for next month's Spanish Grand Prix.

"It has been a good day," said Schumacher. "I've been working on set-up and tyre development, because we have to decide which compound to use for the Spanish GP, because we won't test here again before then."

Heinz-Harald Frentzen continued an impressive run in his Jordan and finished third, but the German also experienced engine trouble. His Honda unit blew in dramatic fashion five minutes before the end of the morning session and just before team mate Jarno Trulli was due to take over for the afternoon. The Italian went on to set the seventh fastest time after a new engine had been installed in the sole EJ11.

Schumacher's McLaren rivals finished with Mika Hakkinen in fourth place and David Coulthard, who currently lies equal second in the drivers' standings, in a lowly ninth. Both were driving 2000-spec cars and spent time developing a new rear suspension set-up, which is to be used at the next round in Brazil.

Eddie Irvine managed to secure a creditable fifth place, ahead of Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer. The Ulsterman's Jaguar was the highest placed Michelin-shod car. The French tyre manufacturer supplied a brand new compound today (Thursday) which is set to be used at the Spanish round of the world championship on April 29.

After a scintillating drive at last weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, Jos Verstappen carried out development work in his Arrows A22 and finished eighth, while Jaguar tester Pedro de la Rosa rounded out the top 10 behind Coulthard.

Team mates at Williams last year, Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button finished in penultimate and last place respectively. While the reason for Schumacher's lack of speed is more temporary – Ralf was suffering from a severe bout of flu – Button's is slightly more longer lasting as the young Brit continued to struggle with his recalcitrant Benetton, almost three seconds off the pace.

Barcelona test, day three - unofficial times
Pos Driver Car (Spec) Tyres Laps
1 Michael Schumacher, Ferrari (2001) B, 1m20.030s, 71 laps
2 Olivier Panis, BAR-Honda (2001) B, 1m20.775s, 49 laps
3 Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jordan-Honda (2001) B, 1m20.963s, 37 laps
4 Mika Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes (2000) B, 1m20.973s, 83 laps
5 Eddie Irvine, Jaguar (2001) M, 1m20.983s, 100 laps
6 Luca Badoer, Ferrari (2000) B, 1m21.037s, 59 laps
7 Jarno Trulli, Jordan-Honda (2001) B, 1m21.629s, 38 laps
8 Jos Verstappen, Arrows-AMT (2001) B, 1m21.864s, 45 laps
9 David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes (2000) B, 1m21.864s, 59 laps
10 Pedro de la Rosa, Arrows-AMT (2001) B, 1m21.875s, 54 laps
11 Jacques Villeneuve, BAR-Honda (2001) B, 1m21.975s, 52 laps
12 Marc Gene, Williams-BMW (2000) M, 1m22.080s, 51 laps
13 Mark Webber, Benetton-Renault (2000) M, 1m22.137s, 62 laps
14 Oriol Servia, Prost-Acer (2001) M, 1m22.150s, 51 laps
15 Enrique Bernoldi, Arrows-AMT (2000) B, 1m22.240s, 79 laps
16 Ralf Schumacher, Williams-BMW (2001) M, 1m22.276s, 33 laps
17 Jenson Button, Benetton-Renault (2001) M, 1m25.359s, 13 laps
18 Monk de Wally de Honk, Vanwall (1955) E, 2m36.211s, 45 laps


No.18 must be a joke from Autosport.com!!!!

what the hell is a Monk de Wally de Honk???

[Mat]

I really see Williams having a good year this year.

I would put it on par with the kind of year McBenz had in '97. Looking fast but fragile, and finally starting to hit the sweet spot in the last 1/4 of the year.

Here's hoping.....

Mat