TBK-Light.com

Well, you seem to have a very reliable source, how about sharing that with the rest of the group?

I always wondered how Tyrrell went from championship winner to sometime point scorer to backmarker to embarassment. Now, sadly, I see the same thing happening to Williams.

I always wondered how Tyrrell went from championship winner to sometime point scorer to backmarker to embarassment. Now, sadly, I see the same thing happening to Williams.

Frank Williams and Patrick Head have always held on their stakes of the team. They need serious investment (hence they sold a small stake to an Austrian businessman) and perhaps they could allow to sell on some of the team to get sponsors and investment into the team?

Yes, unfortunately it is kind of similar. Although Tyrrell's story didn't really end there. Tyrrell became BAR, which became Honda, which became Brawn, which is now Mercedes.

How about no, because he doesn't need to know that I'm talking behind his back on a forum.

Nah he's probably best mates with Colin Kolles who's actually lining up Albers for an HRT seat in 2012.

I'm not trying to make myself interesting here, I just don't want the guy to know that I share his views with many of you.
But do a little research: he will be designing the new HRT, he is Belgian, a friend of ours and has worked with Barrichello before, in the Honda days. And doesn't want to work with him anymore. We will see in a couple of months time if he has any power in that matter.

I'm not trying to make myself interesting here, I just don't want the guy to know that I share his views with many of you.
But do a little research: he will be designing the new HRT, he is Belgian, a friend of ours and has worked with Barrichello before, in the Honda days. And doesn't want to work with him anymore. We will see in a couple of months time if he has any power in that matter.

While Barrichello hasn't had much to smile about with his recent results in F1, as Williams endures the worst season in its history, the Brazilian has been getting his racing kicks with a bit of online racing.

Barrichello has been involved in a virtual touring car championship, and just ahead of the Abu Dhabi GP he crowned his season with the title.

"I won the championship!" he smiled. "I am mega now on that! I had to finish first and my main rival had to finish third, but he finished fourth - so it was just mega! It's getting better and better.

"And now in two weeks we are going to start the Brazilian stockcar championship."

Barrichello believes a touring car simulation is much more competitive, and ultimately better, than an F1 version - because of the way the cars handle.

"It's much more close to reality on the touring cars," he explained. "There are fewer g-forces and so on, while in F1 you don't feel the rear so much.

"And my prize money is getting higher and higher, so things are getting better – it's the way it should be in F1!"

I'm not trying to make myself interesting here, I just don't want the guy to know that I share his views with many of you.
But do a little research: he will be designing the new HRT, he is Belgian, a friend of ours and has worked with Barrichello before, in the Honda days. And doesn't want to work with him anymore. We will see in a couple of months time if he has any power in that matter.

so I don't see why we would end up getting Jacky in trouble.

Alexei Popov - Russian F1 host
Vitaly Petrov - Lotus Renaulat F1 driver
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AP: I don't think that I am the only one wondering and asking this question: How come you started [the year] with a podium, and end the season with fighting for positions outside top-10

VP: I've been asking the team the same question throughout this season. You know, in the frist 5-6 races of the season we looked very strong. We couldn't fight with Ferrari, Red Bull or McLaren, but we were just 0.3 sec from Ferrari and McLaren and much faster than the Mercedes. I needed only one set of tires to get from Q2 to Q3. It was quite easy for us. We were able to get into q3 even without extracting the full potential from the car and from myself. In the first six races it was pretty easy. And then, after our wind tunnel started working, we started brining in new parts. But since we use forward exhaust system, these new parts simply did not work on the car. We tried front wing, rear wing, diffusers, barge boards, underfloor- we tried everything.. And all of this was in vain. For about 10 races we have had no new parts on our car. We are basically driving the same car that we started this season with. You know, the first podium was a great inspiration for me, for all Russia, for all fans. I was thrilled with the car, with the team, with what we accomplished. But later I started becoming upset with everything, I tried to change, but...

AP: There is something very important in what you said. You were thrilled with the team. Were. If you read Renault's press releases carefully - and it is not just the media that reads them carefully, fans do that as well - you feel that the team, too is no longer happy with you. How does that feel from inside the team?

VP: I can't say anything bad about the team - this is part of my contract. But we've talked to you in the past, you can also check my other interviews - I have never voiced criticism about the team, the team that lost so much during pitstops and due to strategy. Ask any fan and he would tell you that it was obvious that there should've been a switch to softs in the beginning of the race. Of course, we reached the same conclusion, but it was afterwards. Any fan would've told you the same thing without the analysis. I can say that we lost 10 or even more races because of this. Even without having the fastest car out there we still could've kept scoring good points, we could've been finishing in the points had there been good strategy. You know, I couldn't openly say this in interviews - that we lost the race due to bad strategy. I can't really say this now. But seeing things developing as they are, I can't keep silence any longer. Oksana Kosachenko did challenge many things that Eric said in the interviews, when he was criticizing the pilots. Later he changed his attitude and started defending the pilots. But look, half of a season passed since his initial words and only at the very end of the season they started defending their drivers.

AP: We follow you very closely because you are one of ours. Even though you finished 13th, we know very well how you drove and why you ended up this low. I don't follow other teams very closely, and if, for example, Force India keeps blaming Paul di Resta for poor performance, I'll be inclined to share this view. So the team is not only misrepresenting you in front of the fans, it is also jeopardizing your chances with other potential employers.

VP: That is how things work, this is Formula 1, this is business. They are just trying to get better terms, better sponsors or attract other drivers. Look at Williams, for example, there is a queue of about 20 drivers lined up for the second seat at Williams.

AP: Are you in this queue?

VP: Thank god, no.

AP: Then where are you standing?

VP: It is pretty straightforward. I have a contract [for next year], but there were cases when even World Champions like Kimi Raikkonen were not allowed to race. Anything is possible in this world. If they decide to get rid of anybody, there will be little that could be done about it. I really want to be in the top-10. I know that the car is not fast enough for top-6, or even top-7, because the Mercs are quite strong now. So places from 8 to 10th are pretty much like podium for me nowadays. I will be happy if in the last five races our team performs well, our car has no problems, if there are no screw-ups with the strategy, if I keep regularly finishing in top 10 in the remaining five races