Welcome to another Motor Sport audio podcast! This month we’re joined by 1981 British Grand Prix winner John Watson.
Nigel Roebuck may not be doing his usual impressions, but John Watson certainly doesn’t sit on the fence… As always let us know what you think.
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Correct Peter a very arrogant man!IMO
joe- Stirling Moss did not win a WDC, so he hasn’t got anything worthwhile to say about motor racing?
One thing is certain- John Watson has forgotten more about motor racing than I (and you, perhaps?) will ever know. So, he may be worth listening to, even if he says something about a driver that we may not like or agree with.
You guys are pretty funny when it comes to Watson.. He is very much of British interest more than worldwide. Kind of like the Graham Bond band, well known in England in the 60′s but never made the rest of the world like your other great exports (Beatles, Stones, etc). Once again I like all the driver podcast regardless of title or not but unless you were a die hard F1 fan back then you would not know him outside of England.
sorry, I’m going to listen to this podcast later today, but I had to chime in with Michael, where in the world is my November Motorsport? Mis-sent to Siberia, I think…..this is very, very frustrating. I used to spend the extra dollars to get that other British weekly sent first class…..I hope that is not the answer!
With respect to the speculation surrounding Raikkonen re-signing for McLaren in the podcast (~ 12:45 min), my understanding is that the Finn remains as motivated as ever provided he can win Grand Prix races and another championship.
Raikkonen loves going fast and winning, whether it’s Formula One or Rallying or snow-mobiling or speed boat racing…but he doesn’t simply just want to go anywhere. Toyota came calling but the Robertsons (Kimi’s managment and co-partners in Double R Racing) either knew that Toyota were finished…or Raikkonen’s insistance that he only wanted McLaren helped put the nail in the coffin for the Japanese manufacturer at the board level.
Look, if you can’t get an out-right Ace signed to win races, then what’s the point of Mr Toyoda keeping that money-burning furnace at Cologne going?
Regardless, the sticking point for Raikkonen has less to do with money and more to do with things like freedom to go Rallying, injury clauses related to Rallying (remember Montoya’s “tennis” (i.e. bike racing) injury when at McLaren?), and especially with respect to Mercedes/Daimler-Benz’s 40% stake in McLaren Group and their desire to buy a majority interest in Brawn GP and re-brand it into ‘Silver Arrows’ sooner rather than later…and the engine supply deal related to that.
As we write, my understanding is that the entire driver market (Raikkonen, Button, Rosberg, Kovalainen, Sutil, Glock, Heidfeld…even Kubica who has already signed for Renault (but who knows about them for 2010)) hinges on discussions taking place now between Ron Dennis, Mansour Ojjeh, Mercedes/Daimler-Benz, the Bahraini investment group (which owns the remaining 30% of McLaren) and even Ross Brawn about quickening the deal where Mercedes buys 75% of Brawn GP and re-naming it even as early as 2010!
In that situation, why would the Robertsons and Raikkonen sign for McLaren when they could easily see Mercedes going another way altogether?
Lastly, Raikkonen is sponsored by Red Bull and Webber’s contract is up at the end of 2010. There were rumours last week that Kimi wanted only a 1 yr deal – another prickly point of negotiation (for which team would only want to do a 1 yr driver deal?). Well, it’s said that Raikkonen already has an option for 2011 with Red Bull (who, conveniently, also sponsor Rally Car) provided Adrian Newey stays there…and that the Finn only wants a 1yr bridge to 2011.
So, a number of things to think about from Raikkonen’s point of view. McLaren obviously want him back as a Hamilton-Raikkonen partnership gives them higher odds of beating Ferrari, Red Bull, Brawn, etc and securing the WCC, which as mentioned, is where all the FOM prize money lies.
McLaren, however, may have bigger fires to put out if Mercedes is indeed insisting on wanting out sooner rather than later with Ross Brawn ready to make his team available as the re-branded Silver Arrows.
Raphael T.
Kenny
With all due respect the only thing Stirling wants to talk about,is himself.
When he mentions Fangio,replace the name with,ME/Take a look at some of his statements.
LH told him to go away Brazil 2007/Nuff said
Another factor that may be involved in the Raikkonen negotiations is that the team’s sponsors may be a little reluctant to pay the kind of money to which Kimi has become accustomed at Maranello. The pairing of Hamilton and Raikkonen would, I think, come with a very hefty wage bill.
What interests me, however, is the amount of interest, and divided opinion, that surrounds the Finn. I’m sure that many, myself included, find his maverick attitude and balls-out driving, rather refreshing. His disinterest in endless questions from the media is also rather appealing in these days of public relations and correctness.
I hope gets a seat because he will keep Hamilton on his toes with his speed and might even mix it with Alonso, Vettel and Lewis for the title.
RW
Excellent – loved the insights into the 1970′s – the era when I got hooked.
My wish list Rob? How about your old chum Derek Bell…
Glad to see your post Rob… I being a Kimi fan would love to see him paired with Hamilton. However, most of the British press is pulling for Jenson and giving little creadence to Kimi going to McLaren insisting Button is the apple of McLaren’s eye.
I cna’t make heads or tails about the money piece with Kimi. I think the Robertonson’s are out to be the major power brokers of F1 in Wili Weber’s abbsence, but does Kimi really care that much about the money? especially with his pay out from Ferrari.
Finally I think Button prefers Brawn, but is playing the McLaren card to get Brawn worked up. Equally McLaren know Button’s people visiting Woking will in turn get Kimi’s people worked up as well. Hope it is all settled soon.
To Alastair Warren:
With respect to the Raikkonen of 2005 v the Raikkonen of 2008, perhaps we need to go beneath the surface of things. Perhaps one of the esteemed members of the November Podcast team can go into more detail…but allow me to enlighten if possible…
It would appear as if Aldo Costa and Nicholas Tombazis are incapable of designing Ferraris which are at the same time both competitive and “neutral”. They, in fact, may be able to design competitive cars only one way: i.e. cars whose handling characteristics have a tendency towards “understeer”. This likely was a continuation of a design trend started by Rory Byrne for Michael Schumacher, who preferred it (understeer).
Ferraris would have retained understeer characteristics year after year because they construct them from the same basis and even the 2007 car would have had in mind Schumacher as a possible occupant.
Felipe Massa, it is known, can cope with – or prefers – understeer more than oversteer. Massa would want a car with a ‘lazy’ front end because he likes to steer the car hard into a corner and prefers the back end to be ‘heavy’ which makes the car predictable when it turns into and passes mid corner. This style gives the impression of understeer.
Ferrari have been designing and constructing exactly this type of car for three straight years now.
Guess what?
Kimi Raikkonen likes the exact opposite!
Raikkonen prefers a responsive, ‘pointy’ front end which is quick to turn in and which can handle direction changes quickly. The back end must be ‘light’ and all of it would give the impression of “oversteer”. This is a fact, not opinion.
The other fact is that McLaren have been contructing these types of cars with pointy front ends, for years as well. [This suits Hamilton who likes oversteer.]
Whether Massa’s and Raikkonen’s styles were borne and developed from having driven the two differing types of Ferraris and McLarens respectively over the years, I don’t know…but it would be a subject for another article.
Regardless, Alastair, given the above it’s not too difficult to understand why the Raikkonen of 2005 would seem more special to you than the Raikkonen of 2008.
The BIG question is WHY did Ferrari pay Raikkonen a truck-load of money to drive cars which had design characteristics fundamentally opposite to the Finn’s driving style and preferrences?
Di Montezemolo signed off on large cheques to design and construct cars and to hire a supreme talent without taking into account ‘congruency’ in order to extract maximum performance. In the case of Kimi and the 2007-2009 Ferraris, Driver & Car were never alligned…they were never as ‘one’. Who’s fault is that? Who’s fault is it that Kimi was signed on for $45 Million per anum while Massa was on about $8.5 Million? Who’s fault is it that Costa and Tombazis were paid big sums to design three – possibly four – seasons worth of cars which never fully “suited” the more expensive driver?
If you sift through the ambient noise and clutter and the fog of ill-truths and propaganda, Alastair, you’ll plainly see that the fundemental design characteristics of the Ferraris suited Massa to perfection while Raikkonen was left to “adapt” and “drive through the problem” (as he is apt to doing) through set-up changes with his race engineers, (first) Chris Dyer and (then) Andreas Stella. And, inspite of it all, it was the Finn who won Ferrari their only World Drivers Championship since 2004.
It was, in my opinon, a waste of money because di Montezemolo and Ferrari failed to construct a proper car to suit their very expensive theoretical Number 1 who was left to “monster” a car opposite to his liking.
Perhaps Nigel Roebuck or one of the other esteemed members of Motor Sport Magazine can do a more in depth piece of analysis on this subject?
I would be happy to do so, but i’m neither a journalist not a plugged-in member of the motor racing community.
As an aside, what I can say is that – from what i’ve read (becasue i’m not old enough) – Jim Clark is the only true “ambidextrous” driver in F1 over the last 45-plus years because he could drive anything, whether it ‘oversteered’ or ‘understeered’.
Kind regards,
Raphael Tanveer
anyway we cut the for or against Raikkonen thing… I just hope he is around next year and in a solid car. I woudl hate to see his final year being such a bad one wiht a bad car and a team that did not care much for him. Although him leaving without a pin drop would fit his personality to a tee… he came in out of no where and might leave the same way.
Please give your opinion Senna v Schumacher/1993/In my opinion the only year they were in COMPARTIVE machinery Senna creamed him Shumachers ford engine was 2 specs above Sennas /Senna 73 points /Schumacher52.
Sorry that was meant for another board(if you can delete it please do).
As I mentioned in my Nov 12th comment above, the remainder of the driver market hung on what Mercedes were doing with their 40% stake in McLaren given the German marque’s intention of re-branding Brawn.
Now that’s out of the way, the drivers should fall into place.
One thing that makes no sense is for Mercedes to trump a genius strategist and master tactician like Ross Brawn and run Germans Rosberg and Heidfeld – a pair that have a total of how many Grand Prix wins over the years?
Do I hear a big fat ZERO?!
If anyone one thinks that Ross Brawn is going to run an unproven Rosberg – who’s only benchmarks are Wurz (who was out of F1 racing for 6 years) and Nakajima (who came with free engines) and who threw away William’s only surefire podium of the year in Singapore – and a journeyman Number 2 to take on the likes of Vettel/Webber at Red Bull, Alonso/Massa at Ferrari and Hamilton (with either Raikkonen or Button) at McLaren, then they have got to be out of their mind.
Only someone contemplating settling for a lowly 4th in the lucrative Constructors’ Championship would pair up Rosberg-Heidfeld…and i’m sure Mercedes want to be known as an International brand who field the two top available drivers, regardless of nationality.
Think about it.
Would Ross Brawn run Heidfeld with Rosberg when he can get still get the devil he knows in Button or, possibly, Raikkonen (if he’s willing to budge on his McLaren-only mantra)?
And then…why would Button go into the Lion’s Den which is McLaren given that his driving style is not suited to over-steering cars which is precisely what are designed and produced at the MTC? Hamilton – who loves over-steer – would dismantle him.
Even if Button made friends out of everyone at McLaren, his style and preference for under-steer would automatically leave him disadvantaged right out of the starting gate. And…once you’re on your back foot against Hamilton in the first half of the season, then you’re basically history. Ask Alonso and Kovalainen!
Raikkonen’s style is much closer to Hamilton’s with the difference being that the Finn is kinder on tyres – but they both fundementally would want to drive over-steering cars with responsive front ends and light back ends.
The Raikkonen marriage with Hamilton makes much more sense for McLaren than Button going there, especially if they (VMM) want to beat Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes themselves in the WCC.
As a fan of Grand Prix racing, you always want to see the best drivers in the best cars…and Heidfeld, i’m afraid, is not in Raikkonen’s league…and Ross Brawn would already know that.
It’s time for McLaren to get Raikkonen signed up…
…and, similarly, it’s time for Ross Brawn and Mercedes to ensure they have a champion driver to partner Rosberg. Heidfeld, in my opinion, does NOT fit that bill…not if you’re gunning for Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren and have serious aspirations of retaining your 1st place in the WCC.
So that’s it…Raikkonen’s GONE!
One less racer who tries to over-take in a formula with little to no over-taking.
Kimi was 3rd all time on the Fastest Laps list from 157 GP starts and, arguably, one of the top 3 drivers in any given year from 2002 to 2009.
Raikkonen’s at times mesmeric driving will be missed…and he only just turned 30 years of age.
What a waste.
Some of us hope he comes back with Red Bull in 2011.
We shall see.
Another twist in the off season silly season:
Raikkonen has just signed for Ross Brawn and Mercedes Grand Prix!!!
Wonderful!!!
One of the noteworthy things about the reactions to comments of John Watson is the number of posts defending Kimi, but I am not sure I saw any sticking up for Button? I am unsure what to make of that.
I’m trying to match the comments about Button being uncomplicated with the interview with Jake Humphry on the BBC website. Does Button’s move to McLaren confirm or counter those comments made in the podcast?
Motor Sport was founded in 1924, Watson was born in Ulster some 22 years later. They both predate political correctness.
Nick Fry commenting on Button not being allowed to do anything for McLaren has to be the biggest bit of sour grapes I’ve ever heard
What part of Ulster was that Alastair,Donegal,Monaghan or Cavan
Alistair F1 was born in the same year as John1946.
Yes i thought his remarks about Kimmi very insulting.
Why should a F1driver insult another
He talks about Ayrton Senna as if they were best mates,but they were not.
Ayrton thought he was sneakey(The life of Senna)as printed in Tom Rubython’s great book.
Nearly time for our next podcast in early December. Then we can hopefully bring the Wattie/Raikkonen debate to a close, good though it has been.
No word on a guest at the moment but we are certainly trying to lure somebody interesting to our next session in London.
Lots to talk about, as ever, and still 106 days or so to go before Bahrain. Not to mention what will happen to the remnants of WRC, what has happened to A1GP and how the sport will fare under the reign of Monsieur Todt.
The date of our next broadcast will be announced imminently.
RW
Joe, thanks for flagging up on the Rubython book.
I don’t have any issues with the comments, and I am quite a fan of Kimi, but I’d agree with the comments that he seems inconsistent. I am sure we all know people that can be outstanding when the mood takes them, but at other times almost seem to disappear into the background.
Wasn’t there a letter in the magazine comparing the motivation and passion of Kimi and Roebuck?
Perhaps I didn’t take any offence as I don’t have any issues with the way Kimi chooses to run his personal life? It’s old news that was in the mainstream and he didn’t do anything that countless others haven’t done.
Would the Motor Sport podcast be worth listening to if they become sanitised and opinion challenged?
There was a discussion on Radio 4 on criticism last week:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p31l0
Alistair i agree,sorry i may have been OTT with my comments,i sincerely apologise.
Believe it or not i appreciate Johns remarks but i just find a man who put his life on the line,ridiculing another F1 driver very hard to take.
No matter looking forward to your next podcast/Again sincerest apologies
Joe, no worries I’ve not taken offence.
Opinions can become polarised online in a George W Bush ‘You’re either with us, or against us’ fashion, when there are usually several different methods or routes, and more than just two. You’re entitled to your opinion the same as anyone else, including John Watson.
Sadly it would appear that there’s more substance in the F1 rumour mill than the British justification for the invasion of Iraq which was based on gossip from a Baghdad taxi driver. And look at the outrage Ecclestone’s comments about Hitler caused. Hitler is long gone, but Blair’s not in clink yet is he?
December Pod Cast…We are all waiting.
Simon Gillet perhaps ?
Peter G,
Given the piece on the Donington debacle in the previous issue of the magazine I think that’s unlikely.
Would Donington Park would still be a motor racing venue if Ecclestone hadn’t dealt with Simon Gillett?
Alastair,
I forgot to add the :-)
I agree,that if Bernie E. and Simon Gillett had not got involved, Donington would be a lot better off. They probably would still have MOTOGP,and not a bull dozed and destroyed motor racing circuit. Its scandalous what has happened over that fiasco.
How they could keep on saying,even recently that it was a possible candidate for next years F1 race is astounding.
Peter G, sorry if my response came across as a little spiky. The mutilation of that circuit is deeply saddening, a sentiment that’s not helped by reading the tribute to Tom Wheatcroft in the current issue of the magazine.
Gillett?
I wonder what breaking strain shock leader John Watson would need to cast him into the English Channel?
Bass have big mouths. They like a big bait.
Raphael,
Thank you for your lengthy reply about Kimi’s preference for an oversteering car. I read somewhere that Kimi and Dyer heavily modified that chassis after Monaco 2007. I think the article also stated that the 2007 car had been developed to accommodate Schumacher’s taste and he’d become proficient at maximising the Ferrari traction control system.
Is Schumacher going to return? If he does will the 2010 Brawn Mercedes suit his driving style?
Best wishes for 2010!
What’s with all of Wattie’s sideswipes at Eddie Jordan? Seems to have a real chip on his shoulder about the man who asked him, out of retirement, to take the wheel of the Jordan 911 on it’s public debut at Silverstone in 1990. I was a fan of Wattie, but his cheap shots at EJ just cheapen himself. Sad.
It’s a bit rude, but perhaps Kimi fans should take a peek inside the back cover of the January 2010 issue of CAR Magazine? They’ve a farewell to Kimi. They also mention Nigel Roebuck in their 5th reason why Kimi rocks.
Thanks for having John Watson
Very interesting comments about Monaco 1978, Lauda and Bernie. I would love to hear more of his stories from the old days. Please invite him again…
Greetings from Hamburg…
Lutz