42 replies to this topic

[SCHUEYFAN]

News item of today:

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya does not regret signing with McLaren from 2005 even if his first year on the troubled Formula One team is a disaster.

It doesn't worry me that they're bogged down. And if I go to McLaren and in the first year it is a disaster, it doesn't matter to me," Montoya told reporters on Tuesday. "I feel that McLaren's potential for the future is very good and I made the decision (to join) for that reason.

"Right now, they have had lots of bad luck with the car, more than anything the motor... They've done lots of things that are very good for the future but right now it's very difficult."

McLaren last year signed Montoya away from Williams, saying his talent "was too good to miss." The 28-year-old is tipped as a future World Champion but is already 18 points behind current champion Michael Schumacher after three races this season.

McLaren, the most successful team in the history of Formula One after Ferrari in terms of race wins, are themselves having a nightmare season having earned just four points in their worst start to a championship in more than a decade.

Montoya, third in the championship for Williams last year, said he was not looking for instant success.

"The truth is that it seems better to join McLaren with a car that is fast but not the winner because if you join McLaren and they've got the winning car you're just joining the winning team, which isn't as worthwhile," he said.

I bet he's wondering what jackpot he got himself into, especially after reports yesterday there is a major redesign of the M ighty P roblematic 4/19 . And what a boatload of crap with the last paragraph, does he think he has the balls, smarts and talent to do to McLaren as to what Schumacher did to Ferrari when he joined them. For a driver who quite frankly has done fuc& all in his F1 career, now thinks he can be a messiah for a team? His stature as a supreme asshole grows by the day!!

I wonder if there is a performance clause in his new contract that will allow him to not join them next year based on the shite Ronzo is putting on the track?

[Scudetto]

Monty hunts for the silver lining....investigation continues.

[Ricardo F1]

Montoya doesn't, one hopes, have to do to McLaren what Schuey did to Ferrari ; the Brawn, Byrne equivelant should already be at McLaren.

[KenC]

Originally posted by SCHUEYFAN
And what a boatload of crap with the last paragraph, does he think he has the balls, smarts and talent to do to McLaren as to what Schumacher did to Ferrari when he joined them. For a driver who quite frankly has done fuc& all in his F1 career, now thinks he can be a messiah for a team? His stature as a supreme asshole grows by the day!!

Hmmm...that was a mouthful.

[Sakae]

Originally posted by Ricardo F1
Montoya doesn't, one hopes, have to do to McLaren what Schuey did to Ferrari ; the Brawn, Byrne equivelant should already be at McLaren.

Yeah, and on what project are they working right now, because surely they have no time for the car. Oh I know, they waiting for JPM to show up first...;)

[Ricardo F1]

Originally posted by MiPe

Yeah, and on what project are they working right now, because surely they have no time for the car. Oh I know, they waiting for JPM to show up first...;)

Hence 'one hopes'!!! Seriously it's hard to believe that McLaren don't have the people onboard to turn the ship around - there's a hell of a lot of talent there. Perhaps they need more coordination, especially with Ilmor, but the senior people should be in place.

[Chris G.]

Surprised he didn't find a way to blame Ferrari, MS, Sauber, Ralf or the Williams team for causing all of McLarens problems.

[Sakae]

Originally posted by Ricardo F1


Hence 'one hopes'!!! Seriously it's hard to believe that McLaren don't have the people onboard to turn the ship around - there's a hell of a lot of talent there. Perhaps they need more coordination, especially with Ilmor, but the senior people should be in place.

I agree, but (seriously)...

Take New York Rangers; they have all brains and skills world had accumulated in professional hockey, but they cannot make playoffs. McLaren remainds me of the same. The organization needs probably a good shake-up; a smart cookie at the helm to kick butts here and there. Probably just a little of right tweaking will do. Anyway, since it's your team, good luck with it.

[George Bailey]

I liked this combination:

"I feel that McLaren's potential for the future is very good and I made the decision (to join) for that reason.

and then:

"The truth is that it seems better to join McLaren with a car that is fast but not the winner because if you join McLaren and they've got the winning car you're just joining the winning team, which isn't as worthwhile," he said.

So JPM decided to go to McLaren because he thinks they have the potential to be very good in the near future BUT... it's also good to go to a team when it's down rather than just join a winning team because then you look better.

It sounds like he thinks he's timed it perfectly, crap in 2004, and then very good in 2005 so he looks like their savior.





I think in the end JPM's reason for going to McLaren is perfectly rational and vaild. They are one of the traditional Big Three, and they aren't the Williams Team that pissed him off last year in France.

[kismet]

Just a guess, but I don't think he'll be as philosophical about the situation around June 2005 should the status quo prevail at McLaren.

[BuonoBruttoCattivo]

JP's chrome helmet w/ McLaren's silver livery (just like the '02 Alesi test) will be awesome.

The Mp4-19 IS an outright fast car with potential...
But in this day and age, speed is but 'prolly the 3rd most important thing (behind chassis and reliabilty).

But even if the -19 is a fast but unreliable, its still not "fast" in the mp-14 sense fast, which is what is needed.

[amiga1]

"I feel that McLaren's potential for the future is very good and I made the decision (to join) for that reason.

Can't say I hold the same optimism - Mclaren have been in disarray for the past few years now.

In my experiance it takes a long time to turn things around.

BAR is a classic example - But even for Williams it was a long climb as well.

[DaleCooper]

So Mclaren have 3 horrible races in a row, and everybody and their cat are writing them off. They finished 2nd in the WDC last year for god's sakes! Get a grip! So now Ron should fire everybody including himself and start over? The thing with Ferrari, they hung in there last year when the going got tough, so should McLaren. Why is this bb filled with fickle fools that have the collective memory of funghi and the perspective of a worm?

In case it hasn't dawned on some, there can only be 1 winner in a given race, and a given season. It isn't that easy to be that winner, despite all the wellwishing of any team's fans. Sometimes it isn't underperforming so much so as not developing fast enough as others. No top team is guaranteed to stay there, despite all their best efforts. Thus, once in a while, all top teams go through bad spells. It is how they slog through this period that in fact makes them a top team, and they will all tell u there is no magic formula, just hard work.

Cooper

[Mrv]

Montoya just might be pulling of a JV by move to Mclaren. With Renault and Bar on the rise it doesn't look to promising at the moment at Woking. However things can change quickly in F1.

[MONTOYASPEED]

Originally posted by Mrv
Montoya just might be pulling of a JV by move to Mclaren. With Renault and Bar on the rise it doesn't look to promising at the moment at Woking. However things can change quickly in F1.

I agree, even though I LOVE McLaren, he should have signed for Renault.

[MONTOYASPEED]

Mrv,

Are you going to Montreal? Please PM me.

[DaleCooper]

Mrv wrote:

Montoya just might be pulling of a JV by move to Mclaren. With Renault and Bar on the rise it doesn't look to promising at the moment at Woking. However things can change quickly in F1.


How does McLaren equal Bar in it's infancy? There is no comparison, and u know it. Don't draw parallels where there are none. But if u mean that Montoya is in for a hard time, then ok, I'll give you that, could happen for a while, although to the same degree? No chance, I reckon.

Cooper

[F1Johnny]

Originally posted by SCHUEYFAN
And what a boatload of crap with the last paragraph, does he think he has the balls, smarts and talent to do to McLaren as to what Schumacher did to Ferrari when he joined them. For a driver who quite frankly has done fuc& all in his F1 career, now thinks he can be a messiah for a team? His stature as a supreme asshole grows by the day!!

Where does he say he is going to do what MS did? JPM has done nothing in his F1 career? Do you really believe that? If you do, you are not a fan of F1, but a fanboy of MS. Very few would say that JPM is better than MS, but easy on the venom.

[SCHUEYFAN]

Hey F1Johnny, I have been a massive follower of Formula One since 1978 ever since one of the greatest drivers to get behind the wheel of a racing car entered the sport - Gilles Villeneuve - came in. Yes I am a big fan of Schumacher since he is the greatest driver in the history of F1 for both his on track accomplishments and for helping drag Ferrari from being a laughing stock to the best team in Formula One. Yes, I took some liberties in reading between the lines in Montoya's quote but he definitely doesn't have the balls to do what Schumacher did. Just look at his constant criticism's and complaining. He's the type of person that is likely to say "when the going gets tough, I'll get the fuc# out of here".

I wait for eager anticipation of 2005 to witness the fireworks between Kimi, if he is still there, and Ronzo. It promises to be as exciting as the on track action.

[Ricardo F1]

Originally posted by SCHUEYFAN
but he definitely doesn't have the balls to do what Schumacher did.

You're right, he probably doesn't know Ross Brawn or Rory Byrne that well.

[Vilenova]

Originally posted by SCHUEYFAN
Hey F1Johnny, I have been a massive follower of Formula One since 1978 ever since one of the greatest drivers to get behind the wheel of a racing car entered the sport - Gilles Villeneuve - came in. Yes I am a big fan of Schumacher since he is the greatest driver in the history of F1 for both his on track accomplishments and for helping drag Ferrari from being a laughing stock to the best team in Formula One. Yes, I took some liberties in reading between the lines in Montoya's quote but he definitely doesn't have the balls to do what Schumacher did. Just look at his constant criticism's and complaining. He's the type of person that is likely to say "when the going gets tough, I'll get the fuc# out of here".

I wait for eager anticipation of 2005 to witness the fireworks between Kimi, if he is still there, and Ronzo. It promises to be as exciting as the on track action.

Well if by liberties you mean taking and twisting someone's words to meet your crapagenda then by all means, you go girl. But really i don't see constant complaining and whining until I read posts like yours. And I am trying to be nice here. Did Montoya eat your first born or something? Dude lighten up.
Growing up in Montreal I also got attracted to F1 by Gilles.

[Tomecek]

Originally posted by Chris G.
Surprised he didn't find a way to blame Ferrari, MS, Sauber, Ralf or the Williams team for causing all of McLarens problems.

Why he should so?

[F1Johnny]

Originally posted by SCHUEYFAN
Hey F1Johnny, I have been a massive follower of Formula One since 1978 ever since one of the greatest drivers to get behind the wheel of a racing car entered the sport - Gilles Villeneuve - came in. Yes I am a big fan of Schumacher since he is the greatest driver in the history of F1 for both his on track accomplishments and for helping drag Ferrari from being a laughing stock to the best team in Formula One. Yes, I took some liberties in reading between the lines in Montoya's quote but he definitely doesn't have the balls to do what Schumacher did. Just look at his constant criticism's and complaining. He's the type of person that is likely to say "when the going gets tough, I'll get the fuc# out of here".

I wait for eager anticipation of 2005 to witness the fireworks between Kimi, if he is still there, and Ronzo. It promises to be as exciting as the on track action.

You still haven't answered one of my questions. Do you really think that Montoya has done nothing in F1?

[Alien]

Originally posted by KenC

Hmmm...that was a mouthful.

Yes, he´s still puking it out as we speak (write)

[Racer Joe]

Nobody back then when the announcement came would have known McLaren would slip back this much. Montoya picking McLaren wasn't a bad choice as far as competitiveness is concerned.

So it is nothing short of bullshit for anyone to now suggest he should have gone for such and such team with the full benefit of hindsight that was not available to him or anyone else at the time.

[HP]

Before this interview came out, in another thread I mentioned that if the Mclarens staying down too long it will give grounds for another myth. That is the myth I was implying. Good thing about the Ron Dennis quote in my sig though. He won't allow that to happen.

[Bex37]

If Montoya is not worried about McLaren's problems, he must be some kind of idiot. Then again, he is the guy getting paid millions for driving an F1 car and I'm getting an insignificant fraction of that for something thats nowhere near as much fun. So who is the idiot????

I've got a lot of time for him as a driver, but some of the crap he says is rediculous. At least its interesting though.

[Vilenova]

Originally posted by Bex37
If Montoya is not worried about McLaren's problems, he must be some kind of idiot.

I've got a lot of time for him as a driver, but some of the crap he says is rediculous. At least its interesting though.

I hearing about all the crap he is saying but .... It's no more or less than anyone else.
And BTW, we're 3 races in?

[Mattyt]

First post here, so take it easy on me.

I honestly believe that by the end of the year, the Mclaren's will be challenging for race wins. There is still alot of speed to be found in the car, as one of the main problems aside from the engines appears to be its difficulty to set up correctly.

Anyone who claims a parralell between the JMP/Mclaren move to the JV/BAR move is an idiot. Mclaren are a team with outstanding resources, and alot of talented people, Mercedes are not going to be down for long, and they will find the problem, and they will fix it. I'm tipping a huge improve in the Mclaren after the long awaited move to the Paragon facility.

Of course all Mclaren fans are let down by their performance this year, but it's so bad right now that it can only get better, and that's got to give alot of Mclaren fans hope, cause when Mclaren are at their worst, they're the equal fourth best team on the grid. When they're at their best, they have no equal.

Roll on 2005, and a great year for the Mclaren team, Kimi, and JPM.

[gerry nassar]

Originally posted by Mattyt
First post here, so take it easy on me.

I honestly believe that by the end of the year, the Mclaren's will be challenging for race wins. There is still alot of speed to be found in the car, as one of the main problems aside from the engines appears to be its difficulty to set up correctly.

Anyone who claims a parralell between the JMP/Mclaren move to the JV/BAR move is an idiot. Mclaren are a team with outstanding resources, and alot of talented people, Mercedes are not going to be down for long, and they will find the problem, and they will fix it. I'm tipping a huge improve in the Mclaren after the long awaited move to the Paragon facility.

Of course all Mclaren fans are let down by their performance this year, but it's so bad right now that it can only get better, and that's got to give alot of Mclaren fans hope, cause when Mclaren are at their worst, they're the equal fourth best team on the grid. When they're at their best, they have no equal.

Roll on 2005, and a great year for the Mclaren team, Kimi, and JPM.

Nice post and welcome to the BB

I also tend to think they should improve significantly by the time the B spec is released. Hopefully they will be more competitive next year as it would be a shame to lose Kimi and JPM to midfield or lower.

And Just remember - back in October most of us here were under the impression Mclaren would be fighting for the championship from race 1 and that BAR would be at best battling for 5th. Things change quickly in F1 and there is no reason why they wont change that quickly again!!

[HSJ]

Originally posted by Ricardo F1
Montoya doesn't, one hopes, have to do to McLaren what Schuey did to Ferrari ; the Brawn, Byrne equivelant should already be at McLaren.

But are they really? Some years ago I said McL should try to get Gascoyne. Well, he went to Toyota. IMO McL would really need someone like him at the moment. Newey is no good as a technical director it seems. Then they probably need a new chief designer as well. According to Turun Sanomat Mike Coughlan (current chief designer) could be replaced sooner rather than later by the ex-Ferrari Nicolas Tombazis who is now working for Mac. HSJ says: can't get any worse if you replace Newey and Coughlan... I mean people blame the engine a lot, and deservedly so, but the car sucks too. In a BBC interview DC stated quite clearly that they are losing time not just on the straights, but in the corners too. The car is quite well balanced and thus pretty good to drive, but it just lacks downforce and mechanical grip in corners, and of course power on the straights. Apparently the only part of the performance (in terms of lap times) where they are not losing out is in braking into corners which the car handles well. Even if the mechanical and packaging aspects are Coughlan's fault, the aero faults are down to Newey IMO, so frankly I've grown quite fed up with both of them and will not be sorry to see them leave. Of course if they get a grip and start delivering, then I'll sing their praise...

[Carsten]

Originally posted by MiPe

I agree, but (seriously)...

Take New York Rangers; they have all brains and skills world had accumulated in professional hockey, but they cannot make playoffs. McLaren remainds me of the same. The organization needs probably a good shake-up; a smart cookie at the helm to kick butts here and there. Probably just a little of right tweaking will do. Anyway, since it's your team, good luck with it.

A Micheal Schumacher perhaps?

[HSJ]

Originally posted by Carsten


A Micheal Schumacher perhaps?

Gazza.

[Mrv]

The problem at Mclaren is that they have poached the wrong people from Ferrari. I have said it many times as long as the Ferrari family are in place (Schumacher, Rory, Ross, Martinelli, Todt etc) it will be very tough for any team to beat them. Schumacher has hinted he might extend his contract to 2008 so the dynasty is not over just yet.

[gerry nassar]

Originally posted by Mrv
The problem at Mclaren is that they have poached the wrong people from Ferrari. I have said it many times as long as the Ferrari family are in place (Schumacher, Rory, Ross, Martinelli, Todt etc) it will be very tough for any team to beat them. Schumacher has hinted he might extend his contract to 2008 so the dynasty is not over just yet.

Sadly - i think you are right. I dont buy the F1 is cyclical argument. Teams usually fall from the top when a major piece of the puzzle is lost - ie. engine supplier leaves, key staff leave. If the same team above remain - they will be hard to beat. Its not impossible - but tough. I remember back at the start of 01 MS said that now they had won the championship that they would create a dynasty. Dammit he was right!!

As for McLaren - It would be good if Newey returns to his old role - though I have a feeling things were just never the same after the Jaguar contract issue.

[zfh10]

Originally posted by SCHUEYFAN
And what a boatload of crap with the last paragraph, does he think he has the balls, smarts and talent to do to McLaren as to what Schumacher did to Ferrari when he joined them. For a driver who quite frankly has done fuc& all in his F1 career, now thinks he can be a messiah for a team? His stature as a supreme asshole grows by the day!!

You sound like an extremely bitter and close-minded person...
Lighten up.

[dan2k]

Originally posted by Mrv
The problem at Mclaren is that they have poached the wrong people from Ferrari. I have said it many times as long as the Ferrari family are in place (Schumacher, Rory, Ross, Martinelli, Todt etc) it will be very tough for any team to beat them. Schumacher has hinted he might extend his contract to 2008 so the dynasty is not over just yet.

These people are overated. They are the biggest cheaters the F1 world has ever seen. Where ever they have been, cheating alegations follow. The truth will eventually come out.
You know the amount of people Ferrari & MS have killed? Thousands. Through sheer boredom.
If their snoozing dynasty continues any longer there wont be F1 for them play with.
I can assure you, everyone will be trying to stop Ferrari's dominance, because its bad for F1.



As Montoya worried about McLaren problems.

I have 1 thing to say. People follow courage, not the title of who one is.
Juan has decided to go on a journey, the path of the choosen one.
Senna inspires him, & GOD gives him the courage.

Fly like the wind Montoya, the people are right behind you.

[Henri Greuter]

Originally posted by dan2k


These people are overated. They are the biggest cheaters the F1 world has ever seen. Where ever they have been, cheating alegations follow. The truth will eventually come out.
You know the amount of people Ferrari & MS have killed? Thousands. Through sheer boredom.
If their snoozing dynasty continues any longer there wont be F1 for them play with.
I can assure you, everyone will be trying to stop Ferrari's dominance, because its bad for F1.



As Montoya worried about McLaren problems.

I have 1 thing to say. People follow courage, not the title of who one is.
Juan has decided to go on a journey, the path of the choosen one.
Senna inspires him, & GOD gives him the courage.

Fly like the wind Montoya, the people are right behind you.

Dan2K,

I'm affraid for you that if JPM is given the choise between winning

option 1: A WDC but not being well liked by the public
option 2: Never a WDC but only living on as a popular driver with the public

I won't be at all surprised that contrary to what you suggest: Juanny goes for option 1
Juan's mission is to eventually start a season with number 1 on his car, not to win the hearts of guys like you.
And he will do about everything to achieve that and will accept every kind of help to achieve that. Even being nominated the first driver in the team, receiving preferential treatment over his teammate if he can get that from the team he drives for.



Oh and before I forget: Within the thread about the Sato vs Ralf clash, I saw you quoting the comments from Keke Rosberg about Gilles Villeneuve. (.... ?????? What!? You quoting about Gilles?)
Are you also aware what Keke said when comparing Gilles and that braso idol of you which you an't resist to drag up in most of your replies, like this one?





Back to topic: Till now JPM has done as AGARA (As Good As Reasonably Achievable) in my opinion. But I still wait for the big clash between Ralf and him, Sam Michael and him or about anybody else with a position of power within Williams-BMW and him.

Edited:
Sorry but I posted before finishing:
And indeed, no reason to worry yet about next year. No doubts that McLaren will be back to the fore eventually, possibly next year, if not later on this year already.
End editing

Henri Greuter

[umapathypon]

Originally posted by dan2k


These people are overated. They are the biggest cheaters the F1 world has ever seen. Where ever they have been, cheating alegations follow. The truth will eventually come out.
You know the amount of people Ferrari & MS have killed? Thousands. Through sheer boredom.
If their snoozing dynasty continues any longer there wont be F1 for them play with.
I can assure you, everyone will be trying to stop Ferrari's dominance, because its bad for F1.



As Montoya worried about McLaren problems.

I have 1 thing to say. People follow courage, not the title of who one is.
Juan has decided to go on a journey, the path of the choosen one.
Senna inspires him, & GOD gives him the courage.

Fly like the wind Montoya, the people are right behind you.

Brilliant.

[Sakae]

Originally posted by HP
Before this interview came out, in another thread I mentioned that if the Mclarens staying down too long it will give grounds for another myth. That is the myth I was implying. Good thing about the Ron Dennis quote in my sig though. He won't allow that to happen.

Interesting thought, HP. Isn't however widely accepted in modern theory of management, that while a decision maker might not improve individual issues, he may destruct a lot by delaying decisions, or by failing to provide cathalytic type of environment in which his subordiates can operate?

[Smooth]

Originally posted by Ricardo F1


Hence 'one hopes'!!! Seriously it's hard to believe that McLaren don't have the people onboard to turn the ship around - there's a hell of a lot of talent there. Perhaps they need more coordination, especially with Ilmor, but the senior people should be in place.

They have a grand total of one WCC since 1991. Not sure if they have any better chance than Williams, who have a much better engine supplier.

[hedges]

Originally posted by dan2k
As Montoya worried about McLaren problems.

I have 1 thing to say. People follow courage, not the title of who one is.
Juan has decided to go on a journey, the path of the choosen one.
Senna inspires him, & GOD gives him the courage.

Fly like the wind Montoya, the people are right behind you.

From David Camerons interview with Montoya ...

But what of the link to one of Montoya's childhood heroes, Ayrton Senna? Is it important to him to be driving for the spiritual home of his great hero? "No, nothing. It's not important at all."

[Racer Joe]

Or he could be damned worried. And what can he do about it? Nothing. He signed on the contract and he is locked in. If he tries to squirm out of it now, I wonder how many team bosses would want to hire a driver like that (however hypocritical they might be themselves).

It is not his problem right now and he can only cross that bridge when he gets to it.