[Mr Jinxx]

foxy is dead right, there are other factors. Robbie is the only driver there, this weekend.

It's a bit chicken-and-egg-ish. Because Robbie hasn't been on the pace yet, it makes sense to keep him in the car as long as possible, so he can get the time in the seat, and give the right feedback to the team. If the pace still isn't there, then the problem is with the driver, the team, or the interaction.

Scientifically, you keep a constant and change one thing at a time to narrow it down, but because Alex hasn't had any time in the seat (or any seat) it will take a little time for him to get relaxed into it. As foxy said, he'll be rusty as blazes. Time in the seat means so much. But you aren't going to want to do that until you decide the Championship hope with Robbie has evaporated, and it's a bit early to think like that yet.

The driver is the easiest one to change first, as opposed to the team/engineer, but by not giving the other driver any time in the car, you rather shoot yourself in the foot, if you are looking for an instant fix. I'm sure they'll just stick at what they're doing, and hope it all comes together, even if it's just the monkeys and typewriters syndrome! Which it obviously isn't. If anyone should know this car, its Arden, and we know Robbie can drive.

Once Robbie is on the pace, then you know the car's right, and then you can see if a different driver can go even quicker.

The trick with a driver, apart from just being a quick driver, is that he/she needs to be realxed into the job, and the feedback needs to be clear and consistent. Consistent with the data, I mean, which for many drivers is not strictly the case. It also needs to fit the car's characteristics. No good a driver trying to make an A1GP car handle like a touring car, for example. You'd go the wrong route and never get consistently on the pace.

So, without any time in the car, Alex would be unlikely to make an immediate difference to the way Robbie is going with the car, even though he would almost certainly prefer the car to be set up differently. You'd be taking two steps back immediately. If I was the team owner, I'd be very reticent to start again with a different driver, especially one who hasn't raced more than a handful of races in two years. There's a lot of prize money at stake, and money isn't too easy to come by.

What it ideally needs is for the 2nd cars all to be ready, and then for the series organisers to allow one just car from each country out in testing at any one time. That means that Alex could go and do 5 laps, come in for changes, Robbie could go out in the meantime and do 5, etc etc. That then gives you direct comparisons, data, times and setups, progressions, and would get us on the pace much quicker. The track would be busy of course, but it's only testing - you take each corner as it comes, and a clear lap is a bonus.

However, I understand this isn't likely to happen, so the next best thing is to do what Australia appear to be doing - give each driver a one-hour test session, then the quickest does the event. Whilst that would be Robbie for probably 3 races, it would give Alex 3 test sessions in the car, by which time he should be pretty much up to speed, and you have his feedback then to aid the team. If he's quicker, then he races. If he isn't, he keeps testing until he is. Meantime, the data will be hugely valuable. Win-win.