He didn't pay for his ride and was fired by Stoddart.
Robert Doornbos is being tipped to replace Patrick Friesacher at Minardi. If Doornbos move is confirmed, he will complete an all-Dutch line-up at Minardi, joining compatriot Christijan Albers at Formula 1s smallest team. Albers and Doornbos are both fighting for the title of TOP DUTCH DRIVER. This is the best way to solve the issue. Stick them in the same car in the same team and let the racing decide the outcome. The Dutch F1 fans must be very happy to see this outcome!
Dutch fans are die hard. I remember the first USGP at Indy when loads of them flew in to support one of their backmarkers. In general Minardi fans seem to be die hards. I guess they have to be, no good weather fans there ever.
How can one use the term 'fired' or 'sacked' when all the guy was doing was buying a ride. If a customer of mine no longer wants to pay for services I offer them, I have not fired them I just no longer do business with them.
Formula 1 got a huge boost in the Netherlands when Jos Verstappen landed a drive in F1 back in 1994. I for one never rated Jos as high as most of my fellow countrymen (and -women) did. He was an ok driver who sometimes had his time in the sun (which was mostly when it rained, oddly enough ). I for one am glad to he left the F1-scene. I never rated Albers that high either. He had an ok time in German F3, and awful time in F3000 (partnering Mark Webber in the Arrows junior team, scoring a point total of zero), did well in German tintops and by the looks of it is getting to grips with F1. I do believe he is easily quicker than Friesacher. Doornbos is really a late bloomer. He was on his way to professional tennis when he visited the Belgium GP back in 1997, and decided racing is the way to go. With the (financial) help of his dad, he started racing, did ok in (Italian) F3 and even better in F3000 with Arden, partnering Liuzzi. Allthough Liuzzi was way in front, Doornbos did an amazing job being the rookie that he was. Now, testing for Jordan, he doesn´t seem to have any trouble cranking out decent laptimes. Robert seems to be able to come to grips with a car almost immediatly. I came within a second of his time in Melbourne on a GP4 simulator at some carshow Well, let´s see what happens if Robert actually does land that Minardi drive. If he manages to beat Albers, his future in F1 is pretty much sealed.
HUH ???? I'd bet theres more fans and much more knowledgeable fans in that country the size of Rhode Island then there is in the entire US.
Oh, I know. I saw lots of clogs and such at the USGP. I just can't imagine that 2 Dutch drivers is a demographic dream for the Minardi team, that's all.
Both Albers and Doornbos apperantly bring sufficient sponsorship. Otherwise they wouldn´t be in the seat. Besides, what has Minardi got to sell to even care about demographics?
Just so you know... The Netherlands with a population of 16 Million people, has a greater percentage of F1 fans of the total population than here in the USA. In either case, enjoy your Dollar menu McDonalds meal tonight... get some extra fries and a large soda to go. You may get to watch some repeat NASCAR race tonight too. Enjoy your day.
2 Dutch drivers in a car sponsored by a cut rate Australian airline. Just thinking if Paul S. runs his airline OzJet on a shoestring budget like he does Minardi would you want to fly them??? I really cannot understand why he is even in F1. He does not try to improve upon the teams race results, Whines and crys about how unfair F1 is yet he collects money from drivers so they can drive a far uncompetitive car and fill the grid at the back. While it is true that a few drivers have made a name for themselves at Minardi. I cannot see why any driver would want to drive for Paul S. and run the chance or destroying your chances at getting a better drive by getting the title of "Grid Filler".
Team managers have an eye for talent. If Peter Sauber spots great talent in lower classes, how relatively easy must it be then for everybody to spot talent in your very own F1 class? It is no coincidence that Yoong is no longer in F1 and Alonso in the championship leading Renault.
The biggest thing i am seeing with Minardi is that they are putting drivers into a seat a little bit too early and that ends up hurting most of the drivers. Yooung brought tons of gov't money and deffinatly did not deserve a drive. Look at Justin Wilson He had to sell shares of himself to get the ride about all he got out of it was a reputation of making a lot of passes at the start of the race. Now in CART he is actually taking the battle to the established series vets. I have a feeling that if he had a couple more years under his belt he could be scoring points in F1 today and possibly driving for Sauber or Red Bull.
Friesacher Sacked I'd have thought it was pretty clear that the title of the article referred to by tifosi12 was just a play on words (utilizing some basic alliteration), as are most lewd titles by newspapers. Examples: "NASCAR may fuel his retirement" http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2110776 "France slowly embracing Armstrong, it seems" http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2005/news/story?id=2110708 "Crow flies with Lance, ready to sing winning song" http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2005/news/story?id=2108728 "The Tour de Lance: A retrospective" http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2005/index?more=true#
...and Robert Doornbos is confirmed as his replacement for the rest of the season. Hurray for the Dutchies
Thanks, that was part of the intention. The paper I read it in called it a "Rausschmiss", which is pretty strong German and meands "being thrown out", which translates a lot better into sacked than "ceased to do biz with".
Yeah, I didn't know if Nuvolari was familiar with stereotypical newspaper jive, so I threw in some examples as well, that had no relation to Formula 1. Anyways, nice translation; I got a kick out of it when I read it.
Christijan Albers finishes P13 in Germany ahead of Doornbos, Trulli and even former World Champion Villeneuve. Albers draws first blood in the fight to be the best current Dutch F1 driver.
Well, Doornbos was hit from the back by Villeneuve, which send him into a spin. Had to pit and during that stop, they changed a tyre while refueling. So Robert got a 10s penalty. His laptimes were quick and consistent. Let's see what happens in Hungary.
