the Great Juan was driving a damaged car. Amazing - 10-Tenths Motorsport Forum

BBKing · 25 Jun 2002, 18:03

Quote:

Montoya's car damaged in hit with Ralf

Williams drivers made contact at the start

Montoya: damaged steering arm explains lack of pace

After claiming the front row of the grid in qualifying, the Williams-BMW drivers actually made contact at the first corner of a hectic European Grand Prix opening lap, by the end of which neither could prevent Ferrari from taking the initiative.

"I had a good start and passed Juan at the first corner because I had the advantage of new tyres," said Schumacher Jr. Montoya, however, appeared to be squeezed and suffered a bent steering arm in the scramble.

Ultimately, however, the Ferrari race pace was too hot for Williams to handle and after contact with David Coulthard just before their scheduled pit stops, Montoya failed to finish the third successive race he has started from pole position.

Despite starting on different tyres - Montoya used the softer Michelin and Ralf Schumacher the harder tyre - both drivers were in trouble trying to run on a heavier one-stop fuel load than the two-stopping Ferraris. Schumacher Jr was forced to concede the final podium place to Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren.

"We had a poor performance today," admitted chief operations engineer Sam Michael. "We had similar problems to Monaco where we had extreme wear on the rear tyres of both cars. We had to pull Ralf's pit stop forward by a long way but Juan unfortunately didn't make it that far. We have a lot of work to do and it's clear where our problem lies."

Source http://www.autosport.com/newsitem.asp?id=19557&s=5

Do I have to give out some humble pies again?....LOL

**Adam43** · 25 Jun 2002, 18:19

I read this on Autosport and also on this forum (I think that whoever wrote it here got it from Autosport too). I haven't seen a quote from anyone at Williams about this or seen it anywhere else. It isn't mentioned on http://www.williamsf1.co.uk/ either.

I wondered if there was confirmation anywhere else.

BBKing · 25 Jun 2002, 18:56

Quote:

Originally posted by AdamAshmore
I read this on Autosport and also on this forum (I think that whoever wrote it here got it from Autosport too). I haven't seen a quote from anyone at Williams about this or seen it anywhere else. It isn't mentioned on http://www.williamsf1.co.uk/ either.

I wondered if there was confirmation anywhere else.

Too good to be true? Probably. But we are talking about the Great Juan here. Not just about any other driver.....LOL

neilap · 25 Jun 2002, 20:29

I thought all the suspension and steering parts were made from carbon fiber!

Wrex · 25 Jun 2002, 22:43

BBK its not humble pies your making here, but porkie pies.

I think you've quoted yet another dud story my friend. Here's a thought, how did the 'Great Juan' let a poor driver like Ralf get that close to him, or, dare I say this, convincingly pass him?

Or was this because of his tyres?

freud · 25 Jun 2002, 23:34

It is sensible that Ralf's overenthusiastic and too some extent frustrated manouvere on JPM which resulted in them slightly touching each other, might have caused damage on JPM's suspension. He was just pi***d off after JPM's qualifying performance.

f1manoz · 26 Jun 2002, 00:12

There is no way Ralf can be blamed for any incident at the start. He made a better one and was entitled to fight for the lead.

JPM may have been driving with a damaged car, and I did read a report somewhere about it, but it was unsubstantiated so I'm not going to believe it until I get official word from the Williams team.

Mr V · 26 Jun 2002, 01:03

Rafe made the better start on sunday, but it can be clearly seen from the overhead camera shot that they "touched". Whether or not it damaged JPM's car, i'm not too sure, but it would answer the question as to why JPM's tyre wore so much more than Rafes!

BBKing · 26 Jun 2002, 01:12

Quote:

Originally posted by Wrex
BBK its not humble pies your making here, but porkie pies.

I think you've quoted yet another dud story my friend. Here's a thought, how did the 'Great Juan' let a poor driver like Ralf get that close to him, or, dare I say this, convincingly pass him?

Or was this because of his tyres?

Dud story? It does not say Schumacher is great therefore is dud? I got it....LOL
Halfie is not as good as the Great Juan but is not as bad as Barrichello. You have to agree on that one. Yet Barrichello is able to embarrass Schumacher from time to time so is not that bad that Halfie embarrass the Great Juan from time to time....LOL

Jukebox · 26 Jun 2002, 01:13

Ralf chose the harder compound tyres, Montoya made a mistake to go on soft compound, that's what i heard on the live coverage.

mac · 26 Jun 2002, 02:01

Turn it up BBKing! You are clutching at straws. Ralf's start and first corner were completely legit and I would say the first time in years that he has shown the "racer's edge". He outdrove Juan at the start.

As for Juan driving with a damaged car .... who gives a ****? Guys drive with damaged cars every weekend. Webber has driven with a damaged car at just about every second race.

z2252314 · 26 Jun 2002, 03:28

This is why people like me take pleasure in pointing out his mistakes. It's not because I hate JPM, but rather, just trying to bring some of his blinded fans down to earth.
Points to remember about the ring:-

1) Ralf outbreaked JPM fair and square. He showed more courage, and perhaps his agression was a result of JPM's swerve at the start(which is perfectly legal).

2) Ralf outraced JPM. This may be due to the tyres since Juan went for the glory on Saturday and chose the supersoft tyre to qualify on. I could understand why Ralf went on a one stopper, he had the harder tyre and thought it would last(it didnt). But it seemed a crazy strategy for Juan to try a 1 stopper on the softer tyre. For this choice, he has no one else to blame but himself. At the end of the day, the driver has the best understanding of how the tyres are wearing. He didnt do his homework on Friday, and he paid the penalty on Sunday.

3) Juan done a stupid mistake which took out DC. This is where the damage took place!!! I wouldnt be suprised if he had a broken steering coloumn after that shunt.

P.S Neither Williams or Juan have complained of a broken steering due to the first corner graze. Logic tells me that both these parties would have better information on the status of the car than some autosport journalist. Which begs the question "How did this journalist find out that JPM had a broken steering coloumn?". We must remember, journalists are prone to bias just like all of us here.

Jukebox · 26 Jun 2002, 03:42

Quote:

Originally posted by z2252314
2) Ralf outraced JPM. This may be due to the tyres since Juan went for the glory on Saturday and chose the supersoft tyre to qualify on. I could understand why Ralf went on a one stopper, he had the harder tyre and thought it would last(it didnt). But it seemed a crazy strategy for Juan to try a 1 stopper on the softer tyre. For this choice, he has no one else to blame but himself. At the end of the day, the driver has the best understanding of how the tyres are wearing. He didnt do his homework on Friday, and he paid the penalty on Sunday.

I agree with the point number 2, i think Montoya chose this strategy as to have a better pace to catch up with the Ferraris. But he fails to realise that it's not the tyre choice that's going to make a difference because clearly BMW engine just can't compete with the Ferrari.

Wrong choice of tyres, strategy and hard headed that's why.

Valve Bounce · 26 Jun 2002, 03:50

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Valve Bounce · 26 Jun 2002, 04:10

JPM made the mistake of swerving to the RHS of the track, off the racing line and as a result had less traction. Not the first time he made this bungle. It still remains unresolved the huge contretemps JPM had during morning warm up when he was very late going onto the track.
I would also state here that hte post by "Z with a number for a name" is a flame bait.

Valve[img]http://www.**************************/smilies/bouncy.gif[/img]

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