Who's going to race in Ralf's place?

No, all you really need is the FIA super license, which qualifies you as a F1 driver. So in theory any of the replacement/test drivers could fill the gap (even from another team).

The obvious choice is the team's own test driver to keep that guy motivated. I think that would be Gene. More interesting would be Villeneuve.

 

Gene will probably pilot the FW26 4 french gp...

 

Gene or Pizzonia will race..
I would be very surprised if Jacques Villeneuve joins the team right now.

 

Actually (even though I'm not JV's biggest fan), this could be an opportunity for him, if all the parties involved are serious about his return. Certainly wouldn't hurt...and I'm starting to miss his flamboyant rhetoric.

 

Me.










Now where did I put that sack of money.

 

Wasn't Gene fairly successfull last year when he filled in for Ralf in one race?

 

Yeah..
He qualified 5th on saturday and finished 5th in the race. It was at the Italian GP.

 

Marc Gené or Antonio Pizzonia for Magny Cours GP

For next year in BMW Williams: Timo Glock
I don't know for some reason i am beginning to like this guy. He scored his first point in his debut race in Canada with a Jordan. Yes, he was helped by the BMWs and Toyotas being disqualified but scoring points in the first race is always a big thing. May be he would be a good German replacement for Montoya next year.
http://www.timo-glock.de/

 

I think Gene should make it to the start of the French GP. He would surely perform well, and I believe he deserves it.

 

I think Gene will get the nod as well. He has been a very valuable member to Williams in whatever they have asked him to be. He will be steady and at least score some points.

Interesting to hear about Timo Glock. I never thought about the possibilites, but it would be very interesting to see him in a Williams next to Webber. I think Williams must get a German to keep BMW happy, especially after this horrible year.

 

I think the fact that JV hasn't already replaced Ralf tells us all we need to know about how seriously they're considering him...

 

I'm sure my phone will ring soon. Unfortunately I tried on my racing overalls a few months ago and er, no fit!! ... so I hope Williams can spring for a new set?

Pete's waiting for the call

 

At the Canadian GP , Frank Williams said to the medias he will let Jacques test the Williams at the end of august or beginning september. Thats what he promised.

 

Hell, scoring a point in a Jordan is even BIGGER

Andy

 

Good point.

 

In the Jordan team they say that Timo is really Irish and his name is Tim O'Glock!

 

What about that other bloke, Pabl O'Montoya?

Am I gonne see you at Silverstone's?

 

Reminds me of the good ol' boy racer, Bobby Ray Hall.

Gary

 

That is too funny!

Anyway I think this Timo Glock deserves to be in F1 instead of many other paying drivers like Sato (Honda Sponsorhip), Pantano and Bruni. It would be real nice to see some deserving talent get a competitive car like a Williams next year.

If Timo Glock and Ralf Schumacher team up to drive the Williams cars next year it will be awesome. It would be like the german attack against the Italian Prancing Horses. But as long as a Ferrari wins I would not care!

 

Seems to me I saw Jeff Gordon take a spin in an F1 car sometime last year...

 

Sure it may be nice to say this now because Timo Glock had a good opening race and scored 2 points, but think about what you are really saying. Sato is someone who had a reasonably lackluster first season with hints of speed (think Suzuka), took a year off and has come back thirsty to win. He just got his first podium and he is pretty well recognized as having serious speed.

We have no idea about Timo Glock. Even if there is a company that is backing him, that shouldn't take away from his reasonably well proven speed.

 

I would hardly call finishing just 3 out of a possible 9 races "thirsty to win". Yes, I know some of the incedents were engine failures. But the finger points to Sato for rash driving techniques and for crashing his car a couple of times.

The only reason why Sato is in F1 is because he is a Japanese poster boy for the Honda home market to sell T-shirts, boost ticket sales at Suzuka and to be used in Honda marketing campaigns.

Timo Glock on the other hand got one oppurtunity in F1, he drove a sensible race without Sato like "kamakazee" moves and made the most of his oppurtunity.

Serious Teams in F1 like Williams want points to win the world titles not kamakazee poster boys to sell T-shirts! Timo Glock is certainly a more sensible and talented driver that deserves a seat in F1 over Sato. Hopefully with maybe the shake up at Williams, Jaguar and Toyota he can have a seat somewhere.

 

The day after the race there was an article in the Indianapolis Star that quoted Frank Williams saying he would be very interesting in having Jeff Gorden come over for a test. Gorden when asked said he was only there as a fan but said "only here as a fan right now" I think he would be crazy to pass up that chance.

 

i read things as follows:
it seems to be ralf's choice as to whether he considers himself fit enough to race at the french gp. correspondingly he has not made the call yet, and by dragging his decision out like this, he is making it impossible for anybody but gene to be his replacement. so it will be gene, and there will only be one race max that he misses.

however, this also reveals that ralf does not have a job elsewhere for next year, because if he did, he wouldn't give a damn who got in the car next sunday. and so he wants to be sure that the sub isnt somebody who could seriously jeopordize his seat.

imho