Sauber 'just too slow' says Villeneuve
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Your support makes all the difference.Battle lines have been drawn all over the paddock at the Canadian Grand Prix, even before the first race car turned a wheel.
Battle lines have been drawn all over the paddock at the Canadian Grand Prix, even before the first race car turned a wheel.
Over at Williams-BMW, where the latter's motorsport director Dr Mario Theissen has been attempting to file for divorce so BMW can buy out Peter Sauber, a counter-attack came in the days leading up the race in the ebullient form of Williams's technical guru Patrick Head, who criticised BMW's level of competitiveness and strategic activity in an interview with an Italian magazine.
At Sauber-Petronas, the quiet Swiss owner was unhappy when Jacques Villeneuve, the local hero here at the circuit named in honour of his late father Gilles, laid all the blame for a string of uncompetitive showings this year at the door of the team and its car.
"We are all disappointed with how uncompetitive we are because as soon as we bolted the Michelin tyres on the car at the end of last year, the car was extremely fast and the new car was never fast and nobody seems to know why," Villeneuve said.
"The car is balanced and not difficult to drive, but is just slow. There is little we can do, we don't have the budget to just try different suspension and re-design stuff, so we are stuck with what we have and that is how it will be until the end of the season."
While this was going on, in the most asinine press release of the year, Jordan attempted to suggest that all was sweetness and light as sporting director Trevor Carlin quit, to be replaced by Adrian Burgess. Carlin, a very successful junior team owner in his own right, is known to have had a different view of the direction Jordan should take to that of managing director Colin Kolles.
The Williams-BMW driver Mark Webber also got stuck into the rules this season that require a single set of tyres for qualifying and the race, which led indirectly to Kimi Raikkonen's spectacular departure from the recent European Grand Prix after a flat spot sustained under very heavy braking created vibrations that eventually broke his McLaren's front suspension.
Raikkonen and McLaren had gambled on getting to the finish after concerns over what the International Automobile Federation (FIA) would accept and would not accept as a damaged tyre (which may be changed) had they taken the option of making a pit stop for a replacement close to the finish.
Webber, like Villeneuve, has a role in the Grand Prix Drivers' Association and a reputation for speaking his mind. "The drivers' opinions are not very important," he said. "We never get listened to. Nothing changes really. I personally think running a race on one set of tyre in some cases will be more dangerous for the driver.
"People think the changes have been quite good because the racing has been better. Look at Fernando Alonso. He was four seconds per lap slower in Monaco, he could do nothing about it. His race was destroyed. In the 1980s, they used to do the whole race on one set of tyres if they wanted to, but if Nelson Piquet or Keke Rosberg wanted to shoot off then they could come in and put a new set of tyres on. Now we can't do that.
"I think the tyre regulation is a risky game. Kimi's thing was good for TV, people love that sort of stuff, but at the end of the day there is still a human strapped into the car. I don't like to talk about what could happen, but every driver in the pit lane would say it is more risky."
In yesterday's first practice session Pedro de la Rosa led the way as all three McLarens made the top six, but Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher were encouraged by fourth and fifth places respectively.
Canadian Grand Prix (Circuit Gilles Villeneuve) First practice session: 1 P De la Rosa (Sp) McLaren-Mercedes 1min 16.415sec; 2 R Zonta (Br) Toyota 1:16.584; 3 K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.677; 4 J Button (GB) BAR-Honda 1:16.710; 5 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:16.872; 6 J P Montoya (Col) McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.945; 7 G Fisichella (It) Renault 1:17.281; 8 T Sato (Japan) BAR-Honda 1:17.458; 9 R Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:17.497; 10 R Barrichello (Br) Ferrari 1:17.541; 11 N Heidfeld (Ger) Williams-BMW 1:17.739; 12 J Trulli (It) Toyota 1:18.049; 13 M Webber (Aus) Williams-BMW 1:18.138; 14 F Massa (Br) Sauber-Petronas 1:18.252; 15 S Speed (US) Red Bull-Cosworth 1:18.499; 16 J Villeneuve (Can) Sauber-Petronas 1:18.732; 17 CKlien (Aut) Red Bull-Cosworth 1:19.212; 18 D Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Cosworth 1:19.694; 19 N Karthikeyan (India) Jordan-Toyota 1:19.791; 20 P Friesacher (Aut) Minardi-Cosworth 1:21.990; 21 C Albers (Neth) Minardi-Cosworth 1:22.452; 22 T Monteiro (Por) Jordan-Toyota 1:23.152; 23 F Alonso (Sp) Renault.
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