Klein gets second seat at Jag

I don`t know if Jaguar made the right move...
Some say he`s just an average driver and some say he`s really fast. I`v also heard people saying Jaguar signed him just due to the money he brings to the team.

BTW ... I could see J. Wilson being a Jaguar test driver for next year.

 

J . Wilson ripped into the whole affair a bit when he mentioned (and I"m paraphrasing from memory) "... it's not even a matter of who's quicker, but who brings the most money to the table..." I hear him on that, 100%!

Also, per the new FIA rules, a driver that competed in 6 or more GP's in the last two seasons is ineligable for a testing seat effective 1, 2004. Idiotic. Wilson is quick, and has a ****load of heart... I share his frustrations -- more than ever!

 

Klein's got Red Bull behind him. Couldn't guess as to the amount, but the math works out nicely; i.e., Austrian Driver (hometown hero type) and Austrian Co. equals a likely marriage of interests. We'll have to wait to see if he lives up to all the elegant prose on his behalf coming from Jaguar materializes in race trim. At any rate, I wish them all luck -- especually Wilson ; truely , dog eat dog.

 

Got one name for ya: Yoong. Remember that debacle?

 

I think this is just for the friday testing... correct?

 

I would certainly rate Klein higher than Yoong. He has won the German Formula Renault Championship and in his first year of F3 he contested the Euroseries (effectively the French and German championships put together) and came second with three wins. He also, and most significantly, won the Marlboro Masters event at Zandvoort. That's not a bad cv by any stretch.

Havng said that it is obvious the only reason he got the drive is the $15 million from Red Bull, I think this could be a precursor to Red Bull buying the Jaguar outfit. There's no shame in buying your way into F1 though, a certain Michael Schumacher did this through Mercedes money with Jordan and Rubens Barrichello did this with Jordan for a couple of years as well.

Personally I dont see what all the fuss is about Justin Wilson. Sure when he was qualifying at the back of the grid with Minardi he would make up some places on the opening lap, but then it is relatively easy when you start at the back...Once he started racing the Jaguar and qualifying higher up all of a sudden it was a lot more difficult.

Best
Mark

 

Couldn't care less about Klein, but Hubert's quote was a bit of a shock:
Is that really true? Haven't heard it and don't understand its purpose at all. What this effectively does is throw out people who just lucked out of a seat. And basically destroys their career. It would have meant the end for Heidfeld in 2004.

Whoever came up with this one, must have a keen interest in getting new names and blood into the system. Some talent searching managers come to mind. Strange.