Jordan-Ford (and drivers)

bonkey

Hmmm....

that blue oval is gonna look really bad on a yellow car

That said, the Ford engine is pretty good, and Jordan have a good habit of making cars (with one or two noteable lemons as exceptions).

Now all that remains to be seen is their driver lineup. Personally, I dunno whether or not Eddie really wants to keep Sato. Part of me says he does, and the other part of me says he's agreed under-the-table with Honda that they'll buy him / pay for him to drive at BAR next year (either as a full or test driver).

Fisi may/may not stay. Jordan looks like one of the best bets after the big 3 and Renault, but Peter Sauber has been making noises about Giancarlo, and Sauber aint a team to be sneezed at after this year and last's performance. If they get this year's Ferari engine for next season, Sauber could well be up with Renault and McLaren.

Then there's all sorts of rumours.....Irv may be out of Jaguar, and its possibly Eddie J will offer Eddie I a drive, specially cause B&H would love an English driver. Come to think of it, that buts Button in the frame as well.

Then of course, Deutsch Post want a German driver. All I can say is "please god, not Heidfeld". On the other hand, HHF could make a comeback to Jordan. This would not only be funny, but possibly a very smart move for both.

Hmmm....next year could be a good one for EJ & Co. Alternately, of course, it could all go horribly pear-shaped. Maybe Ford are the touch of death. Stewart became Jaguar and went from a race-winning team to running close to the back of the grid. Arrows showed a bit better what the engine could do....and went into receivership. Please let EJ break the cycle....I'd like to see Jordan challenging for the points more regularly.

jc

p.s. I heard rumours last off-season that Sarah Kavanagh had been considered for a test-driver position at McLaren. Anyone know what happened about this???

bonkey

Ill answer my own question...

www.sarahkavanagh.com

Hmmm...female Irish driver with a chance of getting an F1 drive???

jc

Samson

Originally posted by bonkey
Then there's all sorts of rumours.....Irv may be out of Jaguar, and its possibly Eddie J will offer Eddie I a drive, specially cause B&H would love an English driver.

Eh, since when is Eddie Irvine "an English driver"?

Robbo

Button can't be counted as he's just signed a long deal with BAR.

I'd expect Fisichella to stay. The news today was the despite the Ford deal, Sato will be kept on. I find this a bit hard to believe. It's also a bit of a stretch to imagine EJ and Frentzen kissing and making up so readily, there's still litigation going on there.

The best thing about the works deal is it allows more money to be put into drivers and the car, so perhaps a big-ish name could be on the cards?

Sarah Kavanagh with a McLaren test role? Even for one of her smoke and mirrors PR stunts, thats taking the mick.

Winning Hand

Jordan have no real reason to hold onto sato, barring a late season improvement in performance he could probably wrangle quite a bit of cash from honda to keep him racing and not in the testing role he would almost certainly be held to at bar, button has just signed and panis is a safer bet for the other seat.

HHFs return would make more sense now, he has regained the edge he so obviously lost last year, needs a job, settles the legal suits pending and it would be interesting to see him compare to fisichella. Notwithstanding the sponsorship Deutsch post provide

Fords involvement can only be a good thing for jordan although for jaguar it boils down to a vote of no confidence in lauda & co.
Hopefully they will come good

chernobyl

The deal is very strange, Jordan are actually paying Ford for the engines but EJ stressed:

Eddie Jordan made clear the deal was not just a customer arrangement; rather that his team would be benefiting from works support from Ford

I dunno....i dont care...F1 needs to be saved soon.

Gerry

Originally posted by bonkey
Hmmm....

that blue oval is gonna look really bad on a yellow car

That said, the Ford engine is pretty good, and Jordan have a good habit of making cars (with one or two noteable lemons as exceptions).

Now all that remains to be seen is their driver lineup. Personally, I dunno whether or not Eddie really wants to keep Sato. Part of me says he does, and the other part of me says he's agreed under-the-table with Honda that they'll buy him / pay for him to drive at BAR next year (either as a full or test driver).

Fisi may/may not stay. Jordan looks like one of the best bets after the big 3 and Renault, but Peter Sauber has been making noises about Giancarlo, and Sauber aint a team to be sneezed at after this year and last's performance. If they get this year's Ferari engine for next season, Sauber could well be up with Renault and McLaren.

Then there's all sorts of rumours.....Irv may be out of Jaguar, and its possibly Eddie J will offer Eddie I a drive, specially cause B&H would love an English driver. Come to think of it, that buts Button in the frame as well.

Then of course, Deutsch Post want a German driver. All I can say is "please god, not Heidfeld". On the other hand, HHF could make a comeback to Jordan. This would not only be funny, but possibly a very smart move for both.

Hmmm....next year could be a good one for EJ & Co. Alternately, of course, it could all go horribly pear-shaped. Maybe Ford are the touch of death. Stewart became Jaguar and went from a race-winning team to running close to the back of the grid. Arrows showed a bit better what the engine could do....and went into receivership. Please let EJ break the cycle....I'd like to see Jordan challenging for the points more regularly.

jc

p.s. I heard rumours last off-season that Sarah Kavanagh had been considered for a test-driver position at McLaren. Anyone know what happened about this???

All well and good bonkey, but since when is Irvine English? You should know better, considering how much you know about politics in general. The people of Northern Ireland have the constitutional right to call themselves English or Irish, and Irvine has stated on many occasions that he is Irish. Its bad enough ITV claiming him as their own on the rare occasions that he has been on the podium.

I hope HHF comes back, I'd say he wants to come back even more now with the works engine deal. Ford haven't been exactly overawing in the last few years, but I suppose they were customer engines, and since Jordan will be the only works ford team ( afaik ), the ford name will ride on how good these engines are.

chernobyl

Originally posted by Gerry


All well and good bonkey, but since when is Irvine English? You should know better, considering how much you know about politics in general. The people of Northern Ireland have the constitutional right to call themselves English or Irish, and Irvine has stated on many occasions that he is Irish. Its bad enough ITV claiming him as their own on the rare occasions that he has been on the podium.

Irvine even had the Irish flag raised when he was on the podium (but only once) as his ex GF and daughter recieved death threats..such bull**** to live in, so he reverted it back to the English flag.

Originally posted by Gerry

I hope HHF comes back, I'd say he wants to come back even more now with the works engine deal.

Irvine has been too soft and i dont think he has it in him to race a mid range team to its limits, he is not disimilar to JV.
HHF would be a good option but i think heidfeld is faster than Kimmi, infact i know he is and he has lots of experience, Salo would be a good buy too.

Originally posted by Gerry
Ford haven't been exactly overawing in the last few years, but I suppose they were customer engines, and since Jordan will be the only works ford team ( afaik ), the ford name will ride on how good these engines are.

Ahh..Jaguar are a Ford works team(and only team) and Jordan are a customer(Arrows still have 3 races left as a customer) but EJ was stressing they would recieve works support but he knows that he on the back foot now.

Gerry

sorry about that, thought jaguar were customer. If he was getting death threats, fair enough. He's got enough danger with f1 without being needlessly murdered. I was just making the point that he doesn't consider himself english. Anyway, I agree with you that salo would be an excellent buy, I remember he went a good bit faster than Irvine when shumacher was out of action at ferrari. I'm not sure about heidfeld, but then I haven't been paying much attention to formula 1 this season, ferrari yawn. The qualifying sessions have been more exciting than most of the races.

bonkey

Originally posted by Gerry
I was just making the point that he doesn't consider himself english.

Irv has had the Irish flag on the podium once, after which there was a fair bit of controversy, because he is registered with the British Racing Drivers Association as a British driver - not an Irish one. Therefore, he is not entitled to be classed as an Irish driver. This was a deliberate choice made at some point close to the start of his racing career, as a British-registered driver generally automatically carries more respect and gets more attention than an Irish one.

I meant to say British, not English. I didnt bother correcting it because I didnt realise just how worked up ppl would get over it.

Anyway, I agree with you that salo would be an excellent buy, I remember he went a good bit faster than Irvine when shumacher was out of action at ferrari.

Salo did quite well on the really fast tracks (like his storming run at Hockenheim) but I seem to remember him really struggling on some of the other tracks. Sure, car-familiarity is an issue, but I dont think Salo is that good. Wasnt there some furore over his tactics in delaying one of the McLarens whilst being lapped at some race?

As for Frentzen, the only litigation he had with EJ was over lost earnings. Seeing as EJ is supposedly already paying most/all of what he would have had to pay Frentzen as salary this year (which is why Arrows could afford him initially), the only real loss in earnings would be from next year onwards when Frentzen would be at a disadvantage for having a resume with "Fired" on it when it came to looking for a new (big-team) drive.

Of course, if Jordan take him back, then he wont really have a loss-of-earnings suit any more, especially if they sweeten the deal slightly with some sort of "kiss and make up" bonus, and Deutsch Post will probably happily foot the bill.

As for Heidfeld being faster than Raikonnen - I dont think so. He was faster at the start of last year, which is hardly surprising given how Raikonnen was only starting off. By the end of the season they were more or less equal when averaged over the season. This was as a result of Raikonnen getting better and better as the season went on, and finishing stronger than Heidfeld. Raikonnen, in my opinion, has continued the trend, and is looking better and better all the time. Heidfeld, on the other hand, is looking more and more the same - fast, but not exceptionally fast. Massa has already started out-performing him like Raikonnen did towards the end of last season, and I think this will continue.

jc

chernobyl

Originally posted by bonkey

As for Heidfeld being faster than Raikonnen - I dont think so. He was faster at the start of last year, which is hardly surprising given how Raikonnen was only starting off. By the end of the season they were more or less equal when averaged over the season.

The fact is that on average over the entire 17 races, Heidfeld was one grid position higher than kimmi and was closer to the pole time.

Average grid position of the drivers

Nick Heidfeld 9.706
Kimi Räikkönen 10.412

Average gap to pole position of the drivers
Nick Heidfeld 102.119
Kimi Räikkönen 102.248

Originally posted by bonkey
This was as a result of Raikonnen getting better and better as the season went on, and finishing stronger than Heidfeld.

Race laps of the drivers
Nick Heidfeld 764.0
Kimi Räikkönen 756.0

Driven distance of the drivers

Nick Heidfeld 3,599.973
Kimi Räikkönen 3,453.862

Originally posted by bonkey
Raikonnen, in my opinion, has continued the trend, and is looking better and better all the time. Heidfeld, on the other hand, is looking more and more the same - fast, but not exceptionally fast. Massa has already started out-performing him like Raikonnen did towards the end of last season, and I think this will continue.

Heidfeld was as fast as Mika when he tested for Mclaren..the fact is that neither Heidfeld or Kimmi or WDC material (IMO) but Kimmi can obviously still improve but i think you will get consistency from Heidfeld.

bonkey

Originally posted by chernobyl
The fact is that on average over the entire 17 races, Heidfeld was one grid position higher than kimmi and was closer to the pole time.

Sure, but my point is that your comparing a rookies first season against a non-rookies season.

If you were to produce the averages for only the second half of last season, I think you'd find that Kimi throughly whupped Heidfeld's ass.

Dont get me wrong....Heidfeld is fine as a driver, but I just dont think hes anything more than that. Maybe I'm doing him a disservice, but he wouldnt rank in the top third of my choice of drivers from the available pool.

As for saying that Heidfeld was as fast as Mikka in testing...if thats the case, then why dont you think he's WDC material? Hakk won it, and if Heidfeld is consistent (like you say) and as fast as Hakk was, then whats the problem?

jc

7Day Theory

Originally posted by bonkey

As for saying that Heidfeld was as fast as Mikka in testing...if thats the case, then why dont you think he's WDC material? Hakk won it, and if Heidfeld is consistent (like you say) and as fast as Hakk was, then whats the problem?

jc

Heidfeld should be driving that McLaren this year but he made stoopid errors in 2001 and Ron Dennis did not look the other way:

"Errors noted, Drivers previous great work ignored and next please....your name: "Kimmi"".

Deal done, Heidfeld ousted.

Robbo

Irvine's new Ford deal?

From Grandprix.com, who tend to be reliable about this sort of thing. Personally, I think the man is way past his prime and given the nature of his character, I wouldn't rush to claim him for any country.

mike65

I cant see what all the excitment is about regarding Ford,
do they have a super-duper new engine on the way?

Jaguar have been woeful ever since the brand was invented
out of the Stewart team, true the Honda turned out to be
poor by comparison to the major opposition but it seems
this deal is only good as it'll save EJ a tonne of money.
Which, in these straightened times is proberly reason enough....

As for the drivers it would be good to see Jordan retain the same line-up two years running, that has'nt happned too often.

Sato will proberly get better given a chance.

Mike.

Robbo

I cant see what all the excitment is about regarding Ford,

The current Cosworth engine (the one in the back of the Jag) is estimated to be the third most powerful engine out there. Since 99 with Stewart, the Ford engine has always been quite good.

chernobyl

Originally posted by mike65

this deal is only good as it'll save EJ a tonne of money.
Which, in these straightened times is proberly reason enough....

He currently has engines for Free (Honda) and will next year pay for engines (Ford) and so on for the next 3 years.
I cannot see where money is saved in that exchange.

Originally posted by mike65

Sato will proberly get better given a chance.

..and so Ukyo Katayama, it still does not mean that Sato is good enough for F1 and he has not proven it so..yet!

Originally posted by Robbo


The current Cosworth engine (the one in the back of the Jag) is estimated to be the third most powerful engine out there.

With F1 engineers constantly regurgitating the statisitc that 90% of the top speed comes from Aerodynamic performance....
I dont see the engine offering anything great for Jordan and Jordan did get all their GP victories via Honda power (rub rub rub of the green).

Kali

Originally posted by bonkey
Ill answer my own question...

www.sarahkavanagh.com

Hmmm...female Irish driver with a chance of getting an F1 drive???

jc

while not irish, susie stoddart http://web.ukonline.co.uk/susie.stoddart/achieve.htm
is probably the best bet for a female f1 driver, shes competing in formula renault this season with team dfr and is a total b*tch

Robbo

Suzie was noted for her aversion towards poleaxing the opposition when she raced karts...

bonkey

Originally posted by chernobyl
He currently has engines for Free (Honda) and will next year pay for engines (Ford) and so on for the next 3 years.

From everything I've read, Jordan is not paying for his engines. I mean - if EJ is paying for them, there sure as hell wont be a blue oval on the car, and it wont be Jordan-Ford, it will be just Jordan.

Itv-f1 also have an article about the poss of Ford selling off Jaguar to Red Bull, now that they (Ford) are tied to Jordan, given the dismal performance of Jaguar to date.

With F1 engineers constantly regurgitating the statisitc that 90% of the top speed comes from Aerodynamic performance....
I dont see the engine offering anything great for Jordan

Given a choice between two engines, you choose the better one. Take a Jordan. Put a Honda in it. Take the same Jordan, put a lighter, more powerful, higher-top-end Cosworth into it. Guess which will win?

The aero package is relatively independant of the engine - Jordan can design the best aero package in the world, but without a top-notch engine, it wont win races. Why? Cause everyone else has very good aero as well.

Incidentally, Jordan got their wins using an under-powerd Mugen-Honda engine, because at the time they had the best front-end aero package, the best straight-line speed, and one of the best all-round aero-packages on their car. Why do you think the Jordan was renowned for its ability to run for far longer than anyone else on a tank of gas?

All they were really missing was engine power. If they had something to match the McLarens/Ferrari powerplants of the day, they would unquestionably have far more victories under their belt.

jc

chernobyl

Originally posted by bonkey


From everything I've read, Jordan is not paying for his engines. I mean - if EJ is paying for them, there sure as hell wont be a blue oval on the car, and it wont be Jordan-Ford, it will be just Jordan.

From DailyF1

On the same day as it was announced Jordan was splitting with Honda, the Silverstone team revealed, as expected, that it would be powered by Ford Cosworth engines in a three-year deal starting in 2003.

But Team Principal Eddie Jordan made clear the deal was not just a customer arrangement ; rather that his team would be benefiting from works support from Ford and that the association would see the blue oval’s return to F1 in an official capacity.

Look the deal is easy: Jordan pay for the engines(reduced amount to Arrows), the Ford brand is offically back in F1, logos and all and Ford offer Jordan complete factory support and development for the engines.

Originally posted by bonkey

Incidentally, Jordan got their wins using an under-powerd Mugen-Honda engine, because at the time they had the best front-end aero package,

No.
They won simply because the cars ahead (which were faster and 90% of the time, more reliable) just did not finish..victories were handed to Jordan, some they accepted and some they blew.

Originally posted by bonkey
If .......

Indeed."if"...but "if" counts for féck all.

Grand Prix of Belgium - 30 August 1998
Belgian Grand Prix
classification [Previous race] [This race] [Next race]



Driver Constructor Time Gap Laps Comment
1 Hill (9) Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:43:47.407 44
2 Schumacher (10) Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:43:48.339 +0.932 44
3 Alesi (14) Sauber-Petronas 1:43:54.647 +7.240 44
4 Frentzen (2) Williams-Mecachrome 1:44:19.650 +32.243 44
5 Diniz (16) Arrows 1:44:39.089 +51.682 44
6 Trulli (12) Prost-Peugeot 1:44:42.230 +54.823 42
7 Coulthard (7) McLaren-Mercedes 1:43:51.212 +3.805 39
8 Nakano (22) Minardi-Ford 1:46:01.069 +2:13.662 39
Fisichella (5) Benetton-Playlife 59:31.341 +18 Laps 26 Accident, collision
Schumacher (3) Ferrari 56:11.594 +19 Laps 25 Accident, collision
Irvine (4) Ferrari 57:15.918 +19 Laps 25 Spun off
Tuero (23) Minardi-Ford 42:14.351 +27 Laps 17 Gearbox
Villeneuve (1) Williams-Mecachrome 36:16.016 +28 Laps 16 Spun off
Takagi (21) Tyrrell-Ford 23:32.437 +34 Laps 10 Spun off
Verstappen (19) Stewart-Ford 19:05.479 +36 Laps 8 Engine
Rosset (20) Tyrrell-Ford - +44 Laps 0 Accident, collision
Barrichello (18) Stewart-Ford - +44 Laps 0 Accident, collision
Salo (17) Arrows - +44 Laps 0 Accident, collision
Herbert (15) Sauber-Petronas - +44 Laps 0 Accident, collision
Panis (11) Prost-Peugeot - +44 Laps 0 Accident, collision
Hakkinen (8) McLaren-Mercedes - +44 Laps 0 Accident, collision
Wurz (6) Benetton-Playlife - +44 Laps 0 Accident, collision

Grand Prix of France - 27 June 1999
Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France
classification [Previous race] [This race] [Next race]



Driver Constructor Time Gap Laps Comment
1 Frentzen (8) Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:58:24.343 72
2 Hakkinen (1) McLaren-Mercedes 1:58:35.435 +11.092 72
3 Barrichello (16) Stewart-Ford 1:59:07.775 +43.432 72
4 Schumacher (6) Williams-Supertec 1:59:09.818 +45.475 72
5 Schumacher (3) Ferrari 1:59:12.224 +47.881 72
6 Irvine (4) Ferrari 1:59:13.244 +48.901 72
7 Trulli (19) Prost-Peugeot 1:59:22.114 +57.771 72
8 Panis (18) Prost-Peugeot 1:59:22.874 +58.531 72
9 Zonta (23) BAR-Supertec 1:59:53.107 +1:28.764 72
10 Badoer (20) Minardi-Ford 1:59:05.221 +40.878 71
11 de la Rosa (14) Arrows 1:59:48.956 +1:24.613 71
Takagi (15) Arrows 1:59:41.080 +1:16.737 71 Wrong Tyres (DQ)
Fisichella (9) Benetton-Playlife 1:11:51.840 +30 Laps 42 Spun off
Hill (7) Jordan-Mugen-Honda 55:49.428 +41 Laps 31 Electrics, engine
Zanardi (5) Williams-Supertec 39:22.354 +46 Laps 26 Engine, spun off
Villeneuve (22) BAR-Supertec 36:32.565 +47 Laps 25 Spun off
Wurz (10) Benetton-Playlife 36:58.316 +47 Laps 25 Spun off
Gene (21) Minardi-Ford 37:27.718 +47 Laps 25 Spun off
Alesi (11) Sauber-Petronas 34:03.021 +48 Laps 24 Spun off
Coulthard (2) McLaren-Mercedes 12:05.368 +63 Laps 9 Electrics
Diniz (12) Sauber-Petronas 8:24.291 +66 Laps 6 Gearbox
Herbert (17) Stewart-Ford 6:07.674 +68 Laps 4 Gearbox

Both victories were spoon fed to Jordan and that super fuel tank.

Karma

And Frentzen finishing in 3rd place in the drivers championship (bringing Jordan to 3rd place in the constructors) was just a fluke.
Right...


I personally would love to see Frentzen in a Jordan (again) but I reckon Toyota want him more.

DotC

Kali

yep heard that red bull rumour today as well, could prove very useful to jordan, if ford actually produce a decent engine that is although with the engine badged as an RS (in line with fords new sport range) there will be a lot of people in ford looking to do very well.

bonkey

Originally posted by chernobyl

Look the deal is easy: Jordan pay for the engines(reduced amount to Arrows), the Ford brand is offically back in F1, logos and all and Ford offer Jordan complete factory support and development for the engines.

May I quote another line from exactly the same article you provided ?

It is unclear whether the new deal will mean Jordan will have to pay for the use of the engines next year.

So - why is the deal easy, exactly?

They won simply because the cars ahead (which were faster and 90% of the time, more reliable) just did not finish

Look at the results you posted :

In Spa, there was a McLaren behind him - well back the field.
In Magny Cours, there was a McLaren and both Ferraris.

Kinda rules out the "better cars crashing", when McLaren and Ferrari were the dominant teams and they had cars behind Jordan.

Regardless of that, you are arguing that Jordan only won when the faster teams crashed out. Fine - forget about winning. Jordan finished third in the constructors at their best, didnt they? Third in the drivers as well?

Are you going to claim that teams other than McLaren and Ferrari were actually faster than Jordan too, only they crashed too often, and that this is the sole reason that Jordan scored points?

GreenHell

It makes since that Jordan would have to pay for the Cossie engines since, Cosworth would never supply engines unless they could make a profit from them.

Overall the deal sounds very good but I would have to guarded since the only impressive finishes for a ford power car were in a under developed arrows with a consistant driver with a point to prove. There is no doubt that the engines are reliable but top 6 challengers we'll have to wait an see, although Cosworths past includes some 155 race wins.


Oh and the Jordan wins, Jordan lost the advantage of that large fuel tanks after that win at spa, they did not win another in 1998.

1999 that car was easily matched the top runners and those wins were from brillant driving from HHF, I won't talk about race tactics because Jordan has never EVER got its pit stop calls right.

*sob* *sob* Gascoyne I miss him so.

Favourite quote from the guy "Tits don't win races"

Kali

Apparently its Ford Europe who Eddie forged the deal with, Ford America aren't happy about it at all.. its basically down to branding, they would much rather push the Jaguar brand (and Ford as the parent) against the likes of Mercedes/BMW than line Ford up against Toyota/Renault.

Dave

Sato will proberly get better given a chance.

There's no room for probably in F1. Jordan isn't a nursery, they need a driver that can perform immediately. I hope frentzen will return. Fisichella and Frentzen would make a mean combination imo.

Slutmonkey57b

People over-estimate how much companies (large or small) affect the state of play in F1. The business really is controlled and dominated not by companies but by a small group of engineers, designers, mechanics and tacticians. Schumacher is the prime example: great driver, but behind the scenes each team he goes to - he brings his own people with him. When he was with Benetton they were unassailable. Eventually Ferrari swallowed their pride, and agreed to hire non-italians to work with Schumacher. Only then did he move - and took the designer, engineer and mechanics from Benetton with him. Couple of seasons settling in with the italians and bingo.

Jordan will only improve when their backstage outfit matches their drivers.

Kali

Originally posted by Dave


There's no room for probably in F1. Jordan isn't a nursery, they need a driver that can perform immediately. I hope frentzen will return. Fisichella and Frentzen would make a mean combination imo.

just on the subject of Sato.. Autosport mentioned that Honda may continue to subsidise his drive with Jordan for next year, as to have him out of F1 would be a bigger PR disaster for them (as a Japanese team etc. etc.).. that hopefully that won't be the case though... he's utterly failed to improve or up his ability during the year.

GreenHell

Actually Todt had been doing that for years.

Ford are more than likely going to sell Jag, I mean come on what a waste of cash, Jacky Stuart most still be laughing at the big wad of cash he got. Jag isn't going any where at least not with Nicki and Eddie bring on Team USA I say. Regardless of how unhappy Ford america are about the deal, I'd be guessing there a weee bit more pissed off at the whole in there budget that is Jag.

Sato is going to stay at Jordan, EJ would only have dropped him if he could have hired a German driver, HHF signed for Sauber over the weekend. To be honest I've been very impressed with how much Sato has improved in his rookie year and should he get a qualifying without oil leaks or traffic he would qualify right behind Fisi



Friday morning practice at Hungry

05. G Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 1:17.399 1.053 33
06. T Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 1:17.598 1.252 43

Sunday morning

04. G Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 1:17.972 1.108 15
05. T Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 1:18.132 1.268 14

Dave

How many races has Sato finished? How many points has he scored?

The facts speak for themselves. And you can't blame the car all the time. Fisichella seems to be making the most of it, and putting in some decent performances.

Last Sunday for example in Hungary, Fisi qualified in 5th and Sato was down in 14th (i think). As i said "He's a good enough driver and he might improve" just doesn't cut it in F1.