8 replies to this topic

[THE FULL MONTY]

I have found this in www.alex-zanardi.com... Alex here gives an explaination about what happend in 1999...

A summary of the 1999 F1 season
When I stepped off the cockpit, and the engine had been silenced by the nth debacle of an electronic system that during one whole year proved to be anything but reliable, I felt I had to say a final farewell to that car and, while walking towards the Suzuka box, I entertained a mental conversation with my Williams no. 5.
Maybe you'll think I'm nuts, but I always talked to the cars I drove throughout my career: before, during and after a race.
That's why I bade that wonderful single-seater farewell - but I tried to convey my sorrow for never having been able to get on well with her and love her, as I actually did so many times during my competitive past.
My feeling was right: I'll never get into a Williams again and, as strange as it may sound, I am quite happy about it.
The whole story had been wrong since the beginning and was badly managed. The cause was not the poor expertise of some people, as it was printed on some magazines. Instead, it was due to the fact that we did not get along as far as finding the right approach was concerned, so that we could do our best, on both sides.
No doubt, there was not enough pressure on somebody's part for things to improve and some others even adopted an averse attitude. Basically, I believe that my adventure with the Williams failed exactly because of the above-mentioned reasons.
I certainly am responsible for it, as I should have imposed my ideas since the very beginning, when I had a way to do so, that is when the people who had chosen me still respected and trusted me.
I did make a mistake - I challenged my feelings instead of other people's choices, I did not succeed in bringing up a competent working group that may help me achieve the results I hoped for.
On one occasion only, at Monza, did I get close to my limit and this was due to two basic reasons: 1) in Monza, we had six days of trials; 2) in Monza, thanks to a special feature of the asphalt, tires stay in working order for over 40 laps. With 'rationed out' tires and only three sets per day during trials, it is sometimes impossible, if one is not clear-headed, to develop the single-seater on the basis of the results achieved during the few "good" laps. In fact, once tires are deteriorated, the car becomes totally 'untouched' by any modification.
This explains the trick of my performance at Monza. Quite simply, the gap hindering my performance throughout the season was suddenly wiped out by the chance to have several trial laps, to get where my rivals arrived in a much shorter time. I don't want to insist much longer - a word to the wise is enough. I know there will always be people who have a good opinion about me - and I must thank you, 'cause you really are a crowd - and I owed you some explanation. Other people think that Zanardi is just "motionless" - well, maybe the words I just wrote will only sound as excuses to them.
I will conclude by saying that I did not declare my withdrawal, since I love my job, which was very rewarding and I hope it will still be.
I believe that any experience might turn to be a positive event, even if no new trophy goes into the collection.
I simply want to take my time to reflect and avoid repeating the same mistakes. I hope that, when you see me again on the track, you will still have a good time, not with cracks and jokes, but with my victories and my overtakings during the last lap. Bye!
P.S. My dear friends, during the past three months I received over 1000 e-mail messages, to which I could not reply. I cannot do it now person by person, but I plan to send a message to all of you - at least to thank you for your warm friendship.


Ciao


Good Alex!!!

[No27]

It's honest.

[Yelnats]

Yes I suppose it's as honest as one can get when it comes to this subject. Moss is quoted in someone's footnote on this board (can't recall whos), "A man will never admit two things, That he's not a great lover and not a great driver." (to paraphrase)

[Turbo]

I've been a huge Zanardi fan since 1996 mainly for his attitude, sense of humor, and personality. I admire his honesty and passion. After clearly getting nerfed out of a race earlier this year he basically said "well in these incidents one driver always wants to blame the other when in fact his is just racing and these things sometimes happen inevitably." Within 10 minutes of this interview two other drivers made comments about far more ambiguous accidents in which they basically said the other driver was a complete and total moron and not worthy of their seat. Zanardi almost always shows class. I also enjoyed his many runs through the field in 97 & 98, some of his passes were amazing, though he did at times just throw the car at a hole and hope for the best in a rather extreme way. I was very sad to hear he was going to Williams in 99, it seemed a recipe for disaster and sure enough it was. Glad to see Z back in CART now and getting closer to the top. With Mo spending more time on engineering his car lately, the odds of a podium or two are excellent (maybe even donuts?) and next year could be really fun.

[HSJ]

Hmmm... very good, seems honest. I just hope MH gives a similar account concerning his apparent slumps 00 and 01 after he retires. I have a feeling there is much more to it than it seems on the outside.

[Williams]

Phrases like "we did not get along as far as finding the right approach was concerned", and "I should have imposed my ideas" and "I challenged my feelings instead of other people's choices" sounds as though he is putting the blame squarely on Williams, though being gracious enough to accept his own responsibility as a team-motivator and development driver. He is certainly not placing any blame at all on his ability to drive an F1 car, rightly or wrongly. It's a very politically adept statement of non-responsibilty.

Having said that, I always loved to see him drive in CART and I wish him all success with his new team.

[KenC]

Originally posted by Williams
Phrases like "we did not get along as far as finding the right approach was concerned", and "I should have imposed my ideas" and "I challenged my feelings instead of other people's choices" sounds as though he is putting the blame squarely on Williams, though being gracious enough to accept his own responsibility as a team-motivator and development driver. He is certainly not placing any blame at all on his ability to drive an F1 car, rightly or wrongly. It's a very politically adept statement of non-responsibilty.

Having said that, I always loved to see him drive in CART and I wish him all success with his new team.

It didn't sound at all like he was blaming Williams. It's not at all unusual for drivers to differ from their teams/engineers on the right approach to finding a setup. And, there is a struggle within teams for a driver to get the ear of the team on what path to choose in finding a workable setup. Once one driver gets an upper hand, the other driver gets the deaf ear, more and more. Pat Head himself said that Alex was too gracious and not hard enough when he needed to be. Given that Alex had not driven the current regime of narrow track chassis, with groovy tires, he probably deferred to his team and teammate too much at the critical early juncture of the testing season. And, did he challenge his own approach? He did. He changed his approach from 3-pedals to 2, in order to utilise left-foot braking. His brand of honest modesty, and self-deprecating humor, was probably the wrong approach when trying to convince the team to take another approach to setups.

The 99 was admittedly, Williams' worst car. It was their first attempt at a major departure from the Newey-inspired designs, of the mid-90s. Serious slow-corner understeer. Ralf did an inspired job in doing as well as he did. Note that in 00, the splitter was much larger enhancing front end downforce.

[NYR2119935]

Go Zanardi!!!

[SennasCat]

Classy as ever. Doesn't belong in F1 - isn't enough of a manipulative creep. I think he is at home back in CART