Wilson loses drive

[Pies]

Justin Wilson has lost his Jaguar drive to Austrian Christian Klien.

more here

[robbo1]

David Pitchforth said:

Our decision to employ him as a race driver was based on merit, potential and speed.

So nothing to do with the huge wad of cash from Red Bull then?
Why didn't they get the guy who beat him in German F3?
Shame for Wilson - must be a bit annoying for him to see Webber (who he beat in F3000) doing so well - hope he gets a decent drive somewhere.

[FourWheelDrift]

bbc said:

impressed Jaguar with his speed and attitude during testing at Valencia recently.

Valencia is a Kart track, anyone can impress around there. It is also the same statement they made about their test driver Luciano Burti and last year Antonio Pizzonia, both flopped.

Expect to see Klein 2 seconds a lap off Webber.

[Roy C]

robbo1 said:

So nothing to do with the huge wad of cash from Red Bull then?

It's the merit, potential and speed of the cash from Red Bull.

[eric mc]

F1 cares nothing for talent. Money is king - it would be better all around if, at the beginning of each season, all the teams placed their budgets, in cash form, on a table. Those with the biggest pile of cash win the world championship, end of story. Thats it all done and dusted without all that tedious and expensive travel.

And maybe the TV companies could look for some more exciting form of motor sport to televise.

[t1grm]

Roy C said:

robbo1 said: So nothing to do with the huge wad of cash from Red Bull then? It's the merit, potential and speed of the cash from Red Bull.

WTF does a company the size of Ford need to bring sponsorship in through drivers? Quite frankly I hope this whole project goes to the wall. The arrogance and attitude of Ford (and Toyota for that matter) compared with the results on track beggars belief. Frank and Ron must be laughing their socks off at the moment.

[eric mc]

Doesn't bode well for the proposed rival Motor Manufacturers' Grand Prix series.

[hut49]

Ford is in such a precarious financial position I frankly wouldn't be surprised to see Jaguar Racing go to the wall.

I feel gutted for Wilson, and those that backed him. Seeing that Heidfeld signed for Jordan yesterday also closes on another door on Wilson. Wilson as test driver for Ferrari? It might be an option now that Massa is driving for Sauber!

[littlegearl]

goddammit!!! (saw this on autosport earlier)

i knew it was a mistake for Wilson to join Jaguar (its a mistake for anyone to join Jaguar)... do they really think having 106million different drivers and managers is the way to win races!?!

imo, Jaguar is the biggest waste of space/money on the F1 grid always has been and i don't see the situation improving...

and i'm not just Klein bashing, i believe he's had a trying year in European F3 but he's a good driver ('02 FRenault champ i think... or top 3 at least) but maybe Wilson deserves the drive more???

anyway, i'll think the same for him as i did for Wilson, don't go to Jag... you're just gonna waste your life for the *sake* of driving in F1

[oggs]

He shouldn't of been dropped.

[FourWheelDrift]

Autosport say that Stoddart will welcome him back to Minardi with open arms, Jaguar might provide an incentive (they have offered to help Justin). We shall see.

[littlegearl]

FourWheelDrift said:

Jaguar might provide an incentive (they have offered to help Justin). We shall see.

Jaguar have helped Wilson further his career by dropping him for next season! anything's better than driving a Jag!

look how far these drivers career's have progressed since joining Jaguar:
Eddie Irvine
Pedro de la Rosa
Antonio Pizzonia

not to mention:
Nikka Lauda
Bobby Rahal et al...

[steviebee]

Red Bull gives you wings!

Not in this case:

Red Bull gives Jag a lead weight!

This decission is just pathetic.

When will they learn? They all slag off Ferrari but it just comes down to quality and consistency - just what Ferrari do.

Dropping Wilson is the equivillent of employing somebody and then not letting them use a computer and then sacking them after three months cos they haven't done any work!

[FourWheelDrift]

FourWheelDrift earlier said:

Expect to see Klein 2 seconds a lap off Webber.

Just call me "Mystic Drift"

Autopsport said:

F1 testing Barcelona day two December 3rd Pos Driver Chassis-engine Tyres Time Laps 1 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes M 1m28.114s 38* 2 Franck Montagny Renault M 1m28.937s 33 3 Alex Wurz McLaren-Mercedes M 1m29.510s 89 4 Mark Webber Jaguar M 1m30.848s 66 5 Ryan Briscoe Toyota M 1m31.008s 78 6 Christian Klien Jaguar M 1m32.231s 94 7 Heikki Kovalainen Renault M 1m32.416s 8 8 Jose-Maria Lopez Renault M 1m32.736s 14 9 Ricardo Zonta Toyota M 1m33.492s 19

[FourWheelDrift]

It get's worse. !!!! It's gone up to 3 seconds!!!!!!!

BBC said:

F1 test times Jerez day two (unofficial) Pos Driver Chassis-engine Tyres Time Laps 1 Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda M 1m26.256s 47 2 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas B 1m26.892s 22 3 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari B 1m27.003s 10 4 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda (hybrid car) M 1m27.199s 15 5 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW M 1m27.452s 50 6 Franck Montagny Renault M 1m27.775s 25 7 Mark Webber Jaguar M 1m27.855s 43 8 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes M 1m28.483s 26 9 Marc Gene Williams-BMW (hybrid car) M 1m28.663s 28 10 Fernando Alonso Renault M 1m28.705s 7 11 Olivier Panis Toyota (hybrid car) M 1m29.627s 35 12 Christian Klien Jaguar M 1m30.564s 41 13 Cristiano da Matta Toyota M 1m31.398s 31 14 Alex Wurz McLaren-Mercedes M 1m32.385s 9*