An accident waiting to happen????

[Streetrod]

Just read the back page of the Mail today it did make me laugh.

I quote "The most dangerous man in F1? He's 19 and has never driven a grand prix car round a corner but he'll be racing on Sunday"

To those who don’t know they are talking about Jaime Alguersuari who will be in the second Toro Rosso seat this weekend.

Various current drivers have had a dig including Massa, Hamilton, Button and Webber saying it is not only bad from a career point of view but also from a safety point of view.

So what do you guys think? I will be watching practice in a few mins with renewed interest

[AndrewW-G]

Didnt he go quicker in FP1 this morning than hamilton at one stage

Edited by AndrewW-G on Friday 24th July 12:56

[Altrezia]

I think putting 700bhp in the back of a 600kg is pretty dangerous anyway.

He's a racing driver who has tested an F1 car before, and has 2 days of testing before the race. He's not just some 19 year old they found on the street.

[Mini1275]

AndrewW-G said:

Didnt he go quicker in FP1 this morning than hamilton

ummmmmmm no
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.278 21
2. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.337 + 0.059 27
3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.554 + 0.276 20
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.615 + 0.337 21
5. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.619 + 0.341 25
6. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:22.705 + 0.427 17
7. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:22.796 + 0.518 23
8. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:22.855 + 0.577 25
9. Alonso Renault (B) 1:23.001 + 0.723 28
10. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:23.130 + 0.852 25
11. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:23.146 + 0.868 24
12. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:23.154 + 0.876 23
13. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:23.209 + 0.931 24
14. Glock Toyota (B) 1:23.234 + 0.956 30
15. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:23.283 + 1.005 25
16. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:23.484 + 1.206 20
17. Piquet Renault (B) 1:23.678 + 1.400 22
18. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:23.845 + 1.567 18
19. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.998 + 1.720 37
20. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:24.228 + 1.950 42

Edited by Mini1275 on Friday 24th July 12:57

[andye30m3]

Streetrod said:

Various current drivers have had a dig including Massa, Hamilton, Button and Webber saying it is not only bad from a career point of view but also from a safety point of view.

I take that as meaning he could be quick!

[AndrewW-G]

andye30m3 said:

Streetrod said:

Various current drivers have had a dig including Massa, Hamilton, Button and Webber saying it is not only bad from a career point of view but also from a safety point of view.

I take that as meaning he could be quick!

42 laps with no problems first time out

[Maty]

I don't see the problem, the guy is a racing driver, it's what he does!

[stephen300o]

He does seem to be at least as good as poor old Bourdais already.

[Munter]

I don't see the problem. He's obviously been assessed as competant by Torro Rosso. It's not like they dragged "Wayine" out of his corsa in Margate and stuck him in an F1 car going "You said you could do better. Now do it".

[skinny]

i think the 'problem' is that had only driven an F1 car in a straight line, and hadn't competed in GP2 - there is probably quite a big jump to F1 for him.

i certainly wouldn't want to be near him on the grid (but then again that's kinda redundant because i'm not actually an F1 driver), imagine he'd be worse than massa and nakajaffa in their early races, and they actually got to test the car properly first...

[macsport]

I also remember people saying the same thing about a certain Kimi Raikkonen when he jumped from F Renault and look how that turned out. I worked with Jaime in British F3 last year and he has a very mature head on his young shoulders. Let's wait and see before writing him off after his first day in the limelight!

[stuttgartmetal]

Gimmick.

[lord summerisle]

Altrezia said:

I think putting 700bhp in the back of a 600kg is pretty dangerous anyway.

He's a racing driver who has tested an F1 car before, and has 2 days of testing before the race. He's not just some 19 year old they found on the street.

his previous tests in the F1 car has been straight line testing only. here is his first time to go round in circles at speed, rather than the FIA limited low corner speed of the straight line test.

in a way - i think what all the drivers have so far said that the in season testing ban is bad as new drivers dont get chance to get used to the car until either the end of the season, or in the friday practice before a race. and these cars are a step up from other series, and everyone needs time to get used to a new car and how it handles and possibly getting 120 laps in 4.5 hours spread over 2 days isnt very much time before heading into your first F1 qually and race.

remember his previous experiance is last season in F3 - 2ltr, 200bhp 550kg cars... and the F. Reanult 3.5 world series cars...

[Streetrod]

macsport said:

I also remember people saying the same thing about a certain Kimi Raikkonen when he jumped from F Renault and look how that turned out. I worked with Jaime in British F3 last year and he has a very mature head on his young shoulders. Let's wait and see before writing him off after his first day in the limelight!

I was not looking to write him off but was just point out the headlines. Having just watched him in practice I would say he has done a good job. No mistakes and sounds like he is giving good technical feedback. Let’s hope he keeps his head at the start of the race and keeps out of trouble, if he has a tangle that will just give more ammo to the doom sayers

[Racylady]

I'm assuming he wouldn't have been given his super licence if he couldn't drive the car safely.
He's been in Renault Worldseries 3.5 so that's not so much of a leap IMHO.

[FourWheelDrift]

The Daily Wail really is a waste of wood pulp.

[andygo]

I would have thought the rules should allow a prospective new F1 driver to be allowed to test one to show his aptitude. Doesn'tr have to be at a current f1 track, or maybe one thats already been used that year. And it would be simple to arrange that no meaningful tech data could be saved by the teams other than simple stuff like lap times, brake and throttle positions.

[hairyben]

Mini1275 said:

19. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.998 + 1.720 37
20. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:24.228 + 1.950 42

0.23 off his teammate. Not too shabby for a n00b IMO and better than Bordais on occasion, heh.

I think Vettel summed it up more astutely- blame the rules, not the rookie. There is no way for him to get pre-race experience, or indeed for any team to trial out n00bs, which is a much-recognised problem with F1's ever simplistic rule changes. He should be fine so long as he's told and understands he only has to take it easy the first few races, nothing greats expected of him at this point.

[thanetspeedshop]

Munter said:

I don't see the problem. He's obviously been assessed as competant by Torro Rosso. It's not like they dragged "Wayine" out of his corsa in Margate and stuck him in an F1 car going "You said you could do better. Now do it".

...you dissin' Margate drivers pal?

Watchin you...

[RacingPete]

It is interesting from the article I read that Lewis Hamilton was offered a drive in a similar position in the year and turned it down due to lack of experience in the car. I think what the drivers say make sense, especially Jenson on the decision to accept the drive of your life or not.