Villeneuve out - Davidson in?

Unfortunately the situation is even worse: In an interview Peter Sauber confirmed Jacques for Imola but refused to comment on whether Villeneuve will still be driving for the team in Spain!

Also JV cancelled a guest appearance on a Swiss sports show and the public feels he is getting the axe before the end of the season. There are plenty of candidates to jump in.

I just hope they keep him past the Canadian GP. Would be a shame not to see him on "his father's track".

 

Last race for him I imagine, unless he claims podium.

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns14572.html

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12800401%255E23770,00.html

 

As much as F1 needs world champions on the grid, Villeneuve's performances have been painful to watch. He's had his chance to show himself again, and if he does not perform he should retire with dignity.

 

Things are looking better again after Imola. Massa made mistakes and Villeneuve reeled in points. One can hope.

 

Lap by lap data show that JV was faster about 60% of the time compare to Massa. JV was consistent and always fast. Massa was erratic, hited DC twice, etc.

 

An absolutely thrilling turn around for Villeneuve. Beats BOTH Williams fair and square. Fantastic!

 

Good for Jacques, now lets hope he keeps the pace.....

 

I read an interview with him today and he explained, that the car made great progress in general and that they adjusted the traction control to suit his driving style. That's why he thinks he was successful in Imola. He is somewhat sceptic for Barcelona as they haven't done well there in the past, but he does believe that overall they made a good leap forward and he is very motivated to attack now.

 

On the coverage for the qualifying I think it was they also mentioned that normally he was made to accept the settings for the car the computer model came up with, but this race they finally allowed him to set the car up the way HE wanted it. In this case he wanted more oversteer and quicker turn-in, which I suppose isn't what the computer said was 'right'.

I say when the computer is doing the driving THEN it can choose the settings!

Wes

 

In this week's tests at Fiorano JV couldn't reach Massa's time by 8/10. The good news is, they allowed him to work on his setup. Blick showed the picture below to report the tests. Looks to me more like a set stage foto op for Swiss watch sponsor Certina. Or is that really the lollypop the team uses now officially? Strange.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

That really is the lollypop....kid of cool actually.

hps

 

JV did 163 laps testing at Fiorano yesterday, ending up with a 58.647, less than 0.1s off Massa's time, with each driver testing their own setup's.

 

Hmm, strange: Blick reports exactly the same testing session but with a difference of 8/10 between the two drivers.

 

Tuesday: Massa drove
Best lap: 00:57.870
Laps: 125

Wednesday: Massa drove:
Best lap: 00:58.566
Laps: 116


Thursday: Villeneuve drove
Best lap: 00:58.647
Laps: 163

 

Aha! Thanks, that explains it. So JV is still .8 away from Massa's best time, but within .1 compared to Massa's last time. Now it makes sense.

 

MAN, that's a lot of laps!

 

Comparisons across test days are certianly tricky. A part from different set ups, weather changes (tempreature, humidity, wind) between days can affect lap times significantly and make performances not 100% comparable......