Rogue Profile of Williams

“Always got to grump about something! Well, we are still not quite clear what the situation is but from what I hear the FIA have approved that Michael, tomorrow, can have four sets of tyres available for the 2002 car and four sets available for the 2001 car,” Head said. “If that is correct then it is completely against article 80C of the sporting code that says that the driver, not the car but the driver, is allocated four sets of tyres. I understand they have got a problem that the wheels of one car do not fit the wheels of the other car, so I can see why they would want to do it, but, in our understanding, it doesn’t comply with article 80C, so we will certainly be having some discussions. It may not be the case. Every now and again a wind-up goes up and down the pitlane and one has to be careful not to over- react.”

However, it appeared the situation was sorted Sporting Director of Ferrari, Jean Tobt, stating that if Michael Schumacher were forced to switch from the F2002 to F2001, then the number of tyres used on the first car would be deducted from the four of the other.

”I am very pleased with my second place, mostly because we struggled the whole weekend here. Even if we are a bit behind Ferrari this was the best we could do today,” Juan said after the race. “In my second pit stop I hit our chief mechanic who was trying to stop me after he started to lift the lollipop as the refuelling wasn’t finished yet. I know he is all right now but this accident could have had a much worse outcome if I hadn’t managed to stop the car fairly quickly.”

BMW motorsport director and ex-Ferrari driver, Gerhard Berger was also disgusted by the display that unfolded at his home event, stating that the FIA need to look into the situation.

“It’s a terrible decision. I can understand it if you are fighting for the championship but there was no need for this so early in the season and the FIA should look into it. If you were a betting man, you wouldn’t be happy,” he said, raising yet another issue.

“It hasn’t been a very positive day for me as I am still struggling with the balance of the car,” Montoya explained. “I also had a problem with an exhaust, which I experienced halfway through the second session which hampered my work. Last, but not least, I think that the new chicane is much too slow for me, I preferred it as it was before. Let’s see how we can improve the car for tomorrow.”

“Third place was the maximum we could achieve today,” admitted Willaims technical guru, Mario Theissen. “It was not the first time that there have been have problems with the fuel rig, unfortunately this time it was us. In nearly every race, one team or another has problems with refuelling, so improvements are really required. Ralf lost fourth place because of this today. We had no problems with the engine but it could be seen that in the wet conditions that we are behind our competitors with our tyres. The race was a great show for the spectators and both our drivers showed a solid performance and made no mistakes in the tricky conditions.”

At the 2002 Japanese Grand Prix Minardi team principal, Paul Stoddart threatened
to walk away from Formula One after a consortium of four teams, lead by McLaren
informed him in the paddock that they were taking him to arbitration to recover
the early fought over television funds. The Australian was paid the monies originally
intended for Prost earlier in the season after coming to an amicable agreement
with Bernie Ecclestone.

Stoddart fully believed he was entitled to the funds and Bernie Ecclestone
agreed. Ron Dennis, Eddie Jordan, Dave Richards and Frank Williams have other
ideas and want the cash distributed evenly. According to Stoddart, this action
will kill his minnow team, as he cannot afford a $2,000,000 fee to fight the matter
in court.

"I will turn my back on Formula One if this travesty of injustice is
allowed to proceed," Stoddart said. "I cannot afford four months
of my time nor the $2 million of costs that it will take to fund a challenge to
this. I have circulated a document to them (other teams) from Bernie’s solicitors
to me putting me on notice that they have now received the papers for this to
go to arbitration. At this time, with all the problems Formula One really does
have, for this to happen for me is nothing short of self-destruction."

"In the last 12 months we have been through so many problems, the sport
as a whole, and we’ve lost two teams. Now we are going to lose three, as I can’t
afford to fight this. Maybe there’s another one that’s not so steady as well.
Do they really want eight teams in Melbourne next year? I have gone through hell
and back again this year and this is the icing on the cake. It’s bad enough having
to deal with the problems I have had to deal with, but when you get knives in
your back from your co-team principals, I’m not interested. It’s a case of ‘Is
this the straw that breaks the camel’s back, do I want to be involved in a sport
with such individuals in it?’ I’m not sure that I do."

Following Webber’s exit form the race on lap sixteen due to a suspension failure
the safest car in action for the second time. Webber’s car had come to rest partially
on the circuit and the resulting obstacle was too dangerous, even for Jacques
Villeneuve.

Williams pitted Montoya and Ralf at the same time, the German queuing behind
the Colombian. Seconds must have seemed like hours to Ralf before he was able
to pull into the pit box for "hot boots" and fuel. There was a problem
with the right-rear wheel nut and Ralf lost even more time. He was battling to
keep ahead of the Renaults and Ralf would have not welcomed the unnecessary loss
of time.

On lap thirty Montoya was running in fifth position when he pulled in the pits
to make his second scheduled pit stop. The set of tyres that he had received at
his first stop had been unbalanced and the Colombian was helpless to prevent his
speed slipping.

Thing suddenly got worst for Montoya, the fuel rig failed to deploy but the
mechanics seamlessly mated the back-up rig to the FW25 in the blink on an eye.
It appeared that Montoya had not been disadvantaged but the secondary rig malfunctioned
and Montoya had to complete another lap while the rigs were re-set. He pitted
again, dropping from ninth to twelfth but unlike Minardi’s Justin Wilson, his
car was refuelled and he continued.