Toyota Conspiracy Theory
Discussion
Just had a devious thought....
Ralf is rubbish, we know it, they know it, the German media know it, I think even he knows it. So why keep him on? I mean if he's not going to be driving the car next season, wouldn't it be better if you popped a young charger in the car to find out how good they would be? To see if this years car is actually any good? To try and get them track time for next year????
Or have you already got a driver for next year, who doesn't need track time, is rather good and as asked to you let his brother keep his seat warm for next year?
"Mummy says Ralf needs a pension so could you keep him there til I'm ready and then he can give me his feedback,"
Just a thought....
Ralf is rubbish, we know it, they know it, the German media know it, I think even he knows it. So why keep him on? I mean if he's not going to be driving the car next season, wouldn't it be better if you popped a young charger in the car to find out how good they would be? To see if this years car is actually any good? To try and get them track time for next year????
Or have you already got a driver for next year, who doesn't need track time, is rather good and as asked to you let his brother keep his seat warm for next year?
"Mummy says Ralf needs a pension so could you keep him there til I'm ready and then he can give me his feedback,"
Just a thought....
The Hypno-Toad said:
Just had a devious thought....
Ralf is rubbish, we know it, they know it, the German media know it, I think even he knows it. So why keep him on? I mean if he's not going to be driving the car next season, wouldn't it be better if you popped a young charger in the car to find out how good they would be? To see if this years car is actually any good? To try and get them track time for next year????
Or have you already got a driver for next year, who doesn't need track time, is rather good and as asked to you let his brother keep his seat warm for next year?
"Mummy says Ralf needs a pension so could you keep him there til I'm ready and then he can give me his feedback,"
Just a thought....
I'd love it to happen, slightly unlikely, but it's not a bad thought, finger crossed ^_^Ralf is rubbish, we know it, they know it, the German media know it, I think even he knows it. So why keep him on? I mean if he's not going to be driving the car next season, wouldn't it be better if you popped a young charger in the car to find out how good they would be? To see if this years car is actually any good? To try and get them track time for next year????
Or have you already got a driver for next year, who doesn't need track time, is rather good and as asked to you let his brother keep his seat warm for next year?
"Mummy says Ralf needs a pension so could you keep him there til I'm ready and then he can give me his feedback,"
Just a thought....
Ross, its Michael, this Lewis kid what do you reckon? Could we have him or am I too old?The Hypno-Toad said:
"Mummy says Ralf needs a pension so could you keep him there til I'm ready and then he can give me his feedback,"
Just a thought....
That ones a bit tricky as their mother died in 2003. I guess you dont remember them both on the front row of the start at Imola, or Michael on the podium in tears after his win the same day she died.Just a thought....
Michael wouldnt go to Toyota, if he is going to drive again it will be with Ferrari, and it will be with him replacing Kimi.
johnfelstead said:
Michael wouldnt go to Toyota, if he is going to drive again it will be with Ferrari, and it will be with him replacing Kimi.
Oh, I don't know...He was rumoured to be going to McLaren from Bennetton several years ago to rejoin the Mercedes fold, then signed for a team that was a bag of shit breaking down all the time, Ferrari. He did it because he liked the challenge as well as the copious amounts of cash too, obviously.
I could see him doing that at Toyota, I think it would be the only thing that would keep Toyota in F1 over the next five years or so.
The only thing (other than being retired and his wife would probably kill him) that might put him off, is how much it would rub his brothers nose in the shit if he took them to be World Champions.
johnfelstead said:
The Hypno-Toad said:
"Mummy says Ralf needs a pension so could you keep him there til I'm ready and then he can give me his feedback,"
Just a thought....
That ones a bit tricky as their mother died in 2003. I guess you dont remember them both on the front row of the start at Imola, or Michael on the podium in tears after his win the same day she died.Just a thought....
However, though Michael replacing Kimi at Ferrari is the most likely to happen, there are still other options to consider.
Firstly, both Michael and Ross will have signed the now standard 'you're not working for anyone else for a year after you retire/quit' clause that most of the big guns now have in their contracts. Secondly, the Toyota programme is in the pooh. Neither Jarno or Ralf seem to be making any attempt to sort the car and as another poster as said the situation is very similar to how Ferrari were before Michael went there. The team seem to be running around not knowing why the car seems to work well at one race and then not at the next. Thirdly, Toyota is the biggest car company in the world and they have very deep pockets. And sorry to say (as I don't know him personally.) but Michael seems to really like big pay cheques. Finally, the company is Japanese and to pull out without at least one victory when their customer team are scoring podiums and their main oppositions customer team is out qualifying them would be a massive disgrace.
Off topic a little bit, it is interesting to note that both Honda and Toyota have tried introducing Japanese management practices into their teams for this season, trying to get away from the Team Boss knows all,sees all method of doing things in F1. Worked well hasn't it!
I think a s*** or bust offer for Michael is well within the bounds of possiblity, especially as the Toyota team is supposedly tied into F1 now until 2012.
As for Ralf, that must be one hell of a contract to keep him in that seat. He should have let Damon Hill borrow his agent when he was negotiating new contracts.
Michael isnt a young bloke anymore, he doesnt have the years to waste developing a car into a winner, he did that with Ferrari because it was worth the wasted time for what it would deliver for him longer term. Toyota as an option is a diferent proposition just from that perspective. He would also lose a lot of what he has built up to date with regards to Ferrari branding and his future with that manufacturer, which i see as lasting his lifetime in some way or other.
If you look back at the top drivers who've retired and then come back, the've only come back to drive for a well developed car/team package and didnt stay long once they achieved their relatively easy goal of another title. None of them had tied themselves into a brand like Ferrari to anything like the level Michael has either.
It makes sense for him to do another season at Ferrari should Kimi not get his act together, and i feel thats why he is at the races now, other than that it doesnt add up seriously to me.
If you look back at the top drivers who've retired and then come back, the've only come back to drive for a well developed car/team package and didnt stay long once they achieved their relatively easy goal of another title. None of them had tied themselves into a brand like Ferrari to anything like the level Michael has either.
It makes sense for him to do another season at Ferrari should Kimi not get his act together, and i feel thats why he is at the races now, other than that it doesnt add up seriously to me.
Ralf clearly is not in the same league as Alonso and Hamilton, but if he were driving the current McLaren, he'd at least have been on a couple of podiums by now.
Toyota's greatest problem isn't their drivers, it's their car.
In the light of that, wouldn't you rather have a driver who is capable of providing a lot of feedback based on years of experience in F1?
(Especially if you're paying him 20 big ones a year, and it would be hugely embarrassing to pay him his bloated wages to not drive.)
Toyota's greatest problem isn't their drivers, it's their car.
In the light of that, wouldn't you rather have a driver who is capable of providing a lot of feedback based on years of experience in F1?
(Especially if you're paying him 20 big ones a year, and it would be hugely embarrassing to pay him his bloated wages to not drive.)
flemke said:
Ralf clearly is not in the same league as Alonso and Hamilton, but if he were driving the current McLaren, he'd at least have been on a couple of podiums by now.
Toyota's greatest problem isn't their drivers, it's their car.
In the light of that, wouldn't you rather have a driver who is capable of providing a lot of feedback based on years of experience in F1?
(Especially if you're paying him 20 big ones a year, and it would be hugely embarrassing to pay him his bloated wages to not drive.)
you mean employ DC?Toyota's greatest problem isn't their drivers, it's their car.
In the light of that, wouldn't you rather have a driver who is capable of providing a lot of feedback based on years of experience in F1?
(Especially if you're paying him 20 big ones a year, and it would be hugely embarrassing to pay him his bloated wages to not drive.)
have really rated the crazy scotsman the last couple of years, doin a solid job, even outshining Webber currently.
_Batty_ said:
flemke said:
Ralf clearly is not in the same league as Alonso and Hamilton, but if he were driving the current McLaren, he'd at least have been on a couple of podiums by now.
Toyota's greatest problem isn't their drivers, it's their car.
In the light of that, wouldn't you rather have a driver who is capable of providing a lot of feedback based on years of experience in F1?
(Especially if you're paying him 20 big ones a year, and it would be hugely embarrassing to pay him his bloated wages to not drive.)
you mean employ DC?Toyota's greatest problem isn't their drivers, it's their car.
In the light of that, wouldn't you rather have a driver who is capable of providing a lot of feedback based on years of experience in F1?
(Especially if you're paying him 20 big ones a year, and it would be hugely embarrassing to pay him his bloated wages to not drive.)
have really rated the crazy scotsman the last couple of years, doin a solid job, even outshining Webber currently.
Toyota did this in their first year, with da Matta and MacNish. Then they lost their nerve, and we can see how little they have progressed since.
flemke said:
johnfelstead said:
Ralf is doing a terrible job this year at the races, if you value his feedback so much offer him a testing role, because his racing isnt stacking up.
Do you really think that he would accept that role?I cannot imagine it for a second.
I think Ralf hasnt been the same driver since his big crash at Indy. It's nothing personal, he seems a good bloke, but his performances in the car at the race weekends isnt doing the job. Even asuming he is a great testing asset, that cant justify having him bin the car or drive it like a granny at the races all the time.
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