Wurz and Rosberg - - - - - - - - - - - Austrian Alexander Wurz will race alongside Nico Rosberg at the Williams team next season, the British squad have announced. The news mean Australian Mark Webber will leave the team at the end of the season. Webber's future with the team was uncertain after Williams decided not to take up an option which expired last Monday to keep the Australian driver for next season. Wurz was the team's test driver this season, after moving there from McLaren, where he was a test driver from 2001 to 2005. The 32-year old last completed a full Formula One season in 2000 with the Benetton team. To quote Sir Frank: "Alex brings us important technical continuity and understanding of the car and as well as being an excellent communicator with our engineers, he is ultra-competitive during the Friday 'full tank' practice sessions," said team boss Frank Williams. "Alex will be a great racing driver for us as he is one of the few men I have seen in a wheel banging confrontation with Michael Schumacher and come out on top." "Retaining Nico for next year was not a tough decision," added Williams. "He has shown great promise so far in his debut season and I know he will build on this with every race. "As much as taking great pleasure in confirming Alex and Nico for next season, I must also commend Mark Webber for his contribution to the team over the past two seasons as he has been a credit to himself and Williams and has never let up in his pursuit of competitive success. "I know Mark will give his all until the end of the season and we wish him well in his future arrangements." Following the announcement, Webber looks increasingly likely to land the second Renault seat next year. * * * * * * Carol
Glad to see Wurz get a seat, but he is getting up there in age. I'm curious to see if Webber will get a seat anywhere. He's been plagued with mechanical failures all year so it's not like his results were because of his performance. Maybe RBR alongside DC if nothing has been annouced over there yet.
That can only mean Webber will be going to Reno and Kimi will be going to Ferrari with Schumie, meaning that Massa will be driving for.... Poor Wurz, soo many years without a drive.
Following the announcement, Webber looks increasingly likely to land the second Renault seat next year. I updated my post #1 on this topic. Carol Now that the teams are lining up, I wish Bernie would announce a sked for next year so I can see if our Imola plans which have already been made are going to be changed. There's so much to do in 365 days and you must plan ahead! Valenica in the end of June may over-ride an F1 race - "Run Alinghi Run"!!!
I, for one, am glad to see Wurz back racing in F1. I never understood why he lost his seat years ago, but that's another matter... Having been tester for McLaren for years, and now Williams, he has proved that he had retain the edge; just look at his times during tests. But racing requires more than being able to go fast. I hope that Wurz still has the skills to race wheels to wheels and mix competitively with the rest of the field. I can only see Weber going to Renault, unless Red Bull maybe?
Wow, if that's the case, he should do well. Where the heck will Kimi go? I'm starting to think MS will leave F1 this year if he wins the WDC. Every race now looks like he's just trying to enjoy it like it's the last time he will be there. Reminds me of MJ's last game on the road for each team.
Not a bad deal for Webber if that does in fact happen. I was hoping to see Heikki Kovalainen race next year. I bet he could take over for Fisico after the 07 season -- if Fisico doesn't outperform whomever his teammate is next year.
Massa has showm much merit the last 4-5 races. Where would he go if MS and KR are Ferrari 2007? I am beginning to think that MS has already decided to retire, and that Massa will team with Kimi. Not a bad combination.
Would Ferrari ever consider having a 3 car team? I doubt they would but Massa has improved drastically since the start of the season. He deserves to drive somewhere competitive next year.
I would think that would be a very unpopular choice with the Italian tifosi. Kimi staying at McLaren? Only if they give him a really great car for the final 6 races. If it stays the same for McLaren for the rest of this year, if I were Kimi I would rather be number two on a strong Ferrari team for just one year in 2007 getting paid big bucks and probably finishing no worse than second. As opposed to being number one at Mclaren and not getting podium every race. I would know that in 2008, I am #1, and likely World Champion. I also can not imagine Ron Dennis cooperating with Ferrari and keeping Kimi for only one year only to let him go to Ferrari in 2008.
I dunno, i think Webber going to Renualt is premature. If they had a choice between Kimi or Webber i'm pretty sure they'll pick Kimi. Webber might end up at Red Bull or something
Webber may end up at McLaren if Kimi leaves the team and Ron Dennis decides to give Lewis Hamilton more time to prepare for F1 and Gary Paffett stays in his testing role. I still think Kimi will wind up at Renault, especially if MS wins the championship because he will not retire and KR probably does not want to be #2 to MS or to Alonso if Alonso wins the WDC again. Renault have made it their mission to sign KR, and with this "agreement" between McLaren and Renault to stop Ferrari this year, I think it is partly due to some sort of driver swap between the two teams. Hence I think the second seat will be open at McLaren and Webber will wind up there.
I read an article once (forgive me for not being able to come up with the reference off the top of my head) that argued, from a purely mechanical critique of driving styles, that Michael Schumacher and Alexander Wurz were on the same playing field, and that no one else in the lineup was at that level. They really went into a great deal of detail, it was a very good read. I sent an e-mail once to Wurz, and he actually replied! That, to me, was better than an autograph.
Who cares. Ever since that incident when he almost ran Trulli off the road at 200MPH, then, after being asked why he did it in an interview, answered with, "Boys will be boys...", all respect has been lost for him by me.
I am glad that Wurz has got a chance to race. He did a decent job when he filled in for Montoya last year during the tennis ball saga. Wurz always comes across as super impressive in interviews with his detailed technical knowhow. I believe the main reason why Webber was dropped is that Williams cannot to afford a high priced driver. I think his salary is currently around $7MM and likely to increase. Wurz is in a weaker bargaining position and can be had for say $2MM. Williams are severely cash crunch as per recent articles in F1 Racing. Also they will have to shell out cash for the Toyota engines next year. I cant think it was performance reasons behind it. Webber is v. fast in qualifying and has generally done an awesome job with a unreliable, pig slow car. True that he made a couple of mistakes with accidents into Turn 1 but overall he has shown good team leadership. I hope he gets a decent seat for next year.
Wow, I didn't see that coming. I thought I read recently that Sam Michaels said their driving lineup was going to be unchanged for 2007. I am happy to see Wurz get a drive, he was impressive in his first few races for Renault subbing for Berger and I would have predicted a succssful career for him (though I would hardly consider earning $3 million just to test, as he had at McLaren, unsuccessful). I have been less impressed with Webber though. It seems that the talent doesn't live up to the hype with that guy. I hope he doesn't land at Renault. He reminds me of Coulthard, a career full of rides that he is unworthy of. On the basis of merit, Webber doesn not deserve a seat at either McLaren or Renault. Can anyone say Champ Car? If it is good enough for Justin Wilson, it is good enough for Webber. There are a lot of drivers in F1 that are past their due date. Perhaps it is time for a wholesale housecleaning of the sport to make room for some new blood.
Gerhard Berger never drove for Renault. Gerhard Berger's career was over well before Wurz came into F1.
