- 10 Jul 14, 22:56#407734
Some interesting snippets her from Jo Ramirez, He talks about the two biggest mistakes Whitmarsh made, why Perez had to go, Raikonen escaping punishment for the S ilverstone crash and the long delay to mend the barrier.
Apologies for posting the interview in its entirety but it's from the Judge13 and if I just give the link there'll be lots of other articles there as well.
Some very interesting observations in here, particularly regarding Perez. Hers the interview :-
Ramirez attacks Whitmarsh, Perez, Raikkonen and Silverstone
Jo Ramirez was Mclaren team manager from 1984 to 2001 and worked with some of the best drivers in the world. Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen. He also worked with Maserati, Ferrari, Tyrrell, ATS and Fittipaldi before joining the Woking team. In a recent interview he spoke candidly about a few things in Formula One from his insiders perspective…
Q: You’re a good friend of Martin Whitmarsh is it true that he had to go?
“Yes, unfortunately he made two bad decisions. Mclaren had a winning car at the end of 2012. The rules for 2013 were stable but the engineers convinced him that they should pursue a new design philosophy. The early races showed the car was nowhere. The second wrong decision was Ron Dennis. Ron wanted to convert the 2012 cars to the 2013 rules but Martin they would improve the car and catch up. But with test limits it is simply impossible to catch up and with no podium finish for the first time since 1981, the shareholders and sponsors were not happy… Martin had to go.”
Q: It seemed a strange decision to release Sergio Perez after one season. Something must have happened, he’s a good driver..
“As a driver he’s not bad, he was getting better but Mclaren wanted a new Hamilton, someone who is faster than Jenson Button. Sergio did not meet expectations but at the end he was already faster than Button.His problem was he was snooty. ‘I am now an F1 driver’ We know the drill, his attitude was poor, he was unpopular with the engineers, with everyone in the team… and he was regarded as very arrogant. This year I was in Jerez for the testing, and I spent some time with Mclaren and Sauber, neither team was able to say anything good about Sergio. This is incredible.”
Q: One criticism are the many penalties imposed today in a race.
Yes, too much, Gutierrez was punished for the loose wheel in Austria but it was not is fault it was the teams. This is just ridiculous. Then you come to Silverstone, where you see an incredible accident of a manic, ludicrous Kimi Raikkonen. Okay, he made a mistake and was off the track, you have to take it easy and return to the track, but of course he wanted to waste no time and returns flat out, losing control of the car and there was a huge accident. He could have hurt himself or he could have been hit by Massa and broken his legs or worse but got away without punishment. I thought the driver steward was Derek Warwick and wrote to him, but it was actually Nigel Mansell. Warwick replied: “You’re right, Raikkonen would have been punished”
That’s the inconsistency with these penalties. Raikkonen is a Ferrari driver and makes a catastrophic mistake but he got away with it. If that was Maldonado or Grosjean they would have been banned from the German race.
These safety issues have also been so exaggerated in England. The guardrail was only slightly damaged . The chances of another car striking the same place is rather limited. So they would rather spend a full hour repairing it. A full hour and all the TV viewers were angry. The drivers were also angry at having to wait. I am so glad that I am no longer a part of it. There are so many things nowadays that are so simple and yet so annoying…”
Apologies for posting the interview in its entirety but it's from the Judge13 and if I just give the link there'll be lots of other articles there as well.
Some very interesting observations in here, particularly regarding Perez. Hers the interview :-
Ramirez attacks Whitmarsh, Perez, Raikkonen and Silverstone
Jo Ramirez was Mclaren team manager from 1984 to 2001 and worked with some of the best drivers in the world. Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen. He also worked with Maserati, Ferrari, Tyrrell, ATS and Fittipaldi before joining the Woking team. In a recent interview he spoke candidly about a few things in Formula One from his insiders perspective…
Q: You’re a good friend of Martin Whitmarsh is it true that he had to go?
“Yes, unfortunately he made two bad decisions. Mclaren had a winning car at the end of 2012. The rules for 2013 were stable but the engineers convinced him that they should pursue a new design philosophy. The early races showed the car was nowhere. The second wrong decision was Ron Dennis. Ron wanted to convert the 2012 cars to the 2013 rules but Martin they would improve the car and catch up. But with test limits it is simply impossible to catch up and with no podium finish for the first time since 1981, the shareholders and sponsors were not happy… Martin had to go.”
Q: It seemed a strange decision to release Sergio Perez after one season. Something must have happened, he’s a good driver..
“As a driver he’s not bad, he was getting better but Mclaren wanted a new Hamilton, someone who is faster than Jenson Button. Sergio did not meet expectations but at the end he was already faster than Button.His problem was he was snooty. ‘I am now an F1 driver’ We know the drill, his attitude was poor, he was unpopular with the engineers, with everyone in the team… and he was regarded as very arrogant. This year I was in Jerez for the testing, and I spent some time with Mclaren and Sauber, neither team was able to say anything good about Sergio. This is incredible.”
Q: One criticism are the many penalties imposed today in a race.
Yes, too much, Gutierrez was punished for the loose wheel in Austria but it was not is fault it was the teams. This is just ridiculous. Then you come to Silverstone, where you see an incredible accident of a manic, ludicrous Kimi Raikkonen. Okay, he made a mistake and was off the track, you have to take it easy and return to the track, but of course he wanted to waste no time and returns flat out, losing control of the car and there was a huge accident. He could have hurt himself or he could have been hit by Massa and broken his legs or worse but got away without punishment. I thought the driver steward was Derek Warwick and wrote to him, but it was actually Nigel Mansell. Warwick replied: “You’re right, Raikkonen would have been punished”
That’s the inconsistency with these penalties. Raikkonen is a Ferrari driver and makes a catastrophic mistake but he got away with it. If that was Maldonado or Grosjean they would have been banned from the German race.
These safety issues have also been so exaggerated in England. The guardrail was only slightly damaged . The chances of another car striking the same place is rather limited. So they would rather spend a full hour repairing it. A full hour and all the TV viewers were angry. The drivers were also angry at having to wait. I am so glad that I am no longer a part of it. There are so many things nowadays that are so simple and yet so annoying…”
You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
Abe Lincoln
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. Abe Lincoln
Abe Lincoln
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. Abe Lincoln
