Grand Prix-F1

[m_vaughan]

Sad news for me and other Montoya fans. He is leaving F1 for Nascar.

Well its Alonso and Mclaren next season then!!!

 

[Sureshot]

Personally I'm glad, he makes alot of driver errors which cause accidents, he's also almost getting worse, he hasn't done anything notable this season.

 

[Kev]

Good luck to Montoya, its a completely different style of racing but I'm sure he'll excel at it.

Other F1 news sees Bridgestone as sole tyre suppliers and Microsoft as the sole supplier for Engine Control Units from 2008! So expect to see a lot of race engineers furiously pressing CTRL, ALT and DEL just before the start of the race

 

[Sureshot]

"What's the matter Fernando?"
" Zis thing is zaying I ave performed an illegal operation"

 

[m_vaughan]

With Montoya leaving and Raikkonen also rumoured to be looking out, who do you think will partner Alonso next season?

I would personally like to see Pedro De La Rosa get promoted!

 

[Kev]

I'd like to see Lewis Hamilton get a try he's been funded for ages by the McLaren young driver program and is doing really well in GP2.

 

[satishmania]

So Hamilton is gonna replace Montoya is it?

 

[Sureshot]

McLaren have today (I think ) announced Pedro De La Rosa as an immediate replacement for Montoya.

 

[Stephen Bailey]

So Hamilton is gonna replace Montoya is it?

One of the possibilities. Another rumoured to be in with a shout is Gary Paffett and it's not totally out of the question that Raikkonen will get a new contract with the team. However, McLaren as a team don't look too good for the next few years, their aero staff are being taken one-by-one by other teams e.g. Adrian Newey to Red Bull.

McLaren have today (I think ) announced Pedro De La Rosa as an immediate replacement for Montoya.

It was even on Sky Sports News!

 

[Kev]

I wouldnt count out McLaren just because of the loss of Newey, In all truth he hasnt had that much to do with the design of the car for a while but rather he headed a team of designers. He took a "step backwards" a few years back when it was rumored he was going to design a sailboat for the America's cup. McLaren's biggest problem is those Merc engines.

But yes Paffett is another option, Bernie was even calling for him to be in F1 a few races back when he was interviewed on the grid.

Montoya leaving will leave F1 poorer. It will miss a sometimes controvercial driver with fantastic overtaking skills. He was probably the driver that reinvented overtaking in F1 in recent years.

 

[Stephen Bailey]

I wouldnt count out McLaren just because of the loss of Newey, In all truth he hasnt had that much to do with the design of the car for a while but rather he headed a team of designers. He took a "step backwards" a few years back when it was rumored he was going to design a sailboat for the America's cup. McLaren's biggest problem is those Merc engines.

It's not just Newey, a number of the aero staff have been poached, which I think can be seen in this years car, it's hardly gone forwards.

Despite never really being a fan of JPM, there was no doubt he brought some excitement to the paddock and track, F1 needs characters and the majority of the current generation just don't cut it.

 

[m_vaughan]

Montoya leaving will leave F1 poorer. It will miss a sometimes controvercial driver with fantastic overtaking skills. He was probably the driver that reinvented overtaking in F1 in recent years.

Agreed, and that is one of the reasons why I liked him from his very first season in F1 with WilliamsBMW. And I am certain if BMW and Williams had got things going and continued developing their car, then Montoya would have probably had a good chance of winning the World Championship.

This BBC article explains exactly what F1 will be missing with the exit of JPM.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/5164236.stm

 

[Sureshot]

Good point Kev, that is something he brought to F1 in his years, I also think that coincided with Renault and McLaren improving over Ferrari.

I personally wouldn't want him in my team as he would be too unreliable imo.

 

[dhruvagupta]

I think From now on Ferrari will be back to its winning ways

 

[m_vaughan]

^I've been hearing for a while now.