Heidfeld outsmarts Webber

[Cotterik]

Nick Heidfeld outpaced Mark Webber on the first day of testing of 2005.
The German did his chances of landing a Williams race drive no harm at all by setting Monday’s fastest time at Jerez.
Heidfeld and Webber carried out similar programmes, testing various components in the morning before switching to hybrid cars in the afternoon.
The only other team to run was BAR, who had Anthony Davidson and Enrique Bernoldi on duty.
Both drivers used black BAR hybrid chassis. Davidson’s was equipped with an upgraded Honda engine.
The Brit ended up the quicker of the two by more than a second. Bernoldi, who completed 89 laps, complained of neck problems.

It looks very likely now that he will get that 2nd drivers seat, all for the best



Monday testing times from Jerez

1 HEIDFELD Williams 1m17.457s

2 WEBBER Williams 1m17.583s

3 DAVIDSON BAR 1m18.202s

4 BERNOLDI BAR 1m19.255s



p.s courtesy of Itv-f1.com

[motorsportnerd]

Hopefully Heidfeld will get the drive.
I wouldn't read too much into testing times though. Each driver will be working on different settings and workloads. It's impossible to read anything into the times set as a result.
Heidfeld would certainly be a much better teammate than Webber has had in the past though.
I can certainly detect a bit of anti-Webber bias coming out of the British media. What gives? He hasn't even raced for Williams yet and he didn't take the seat of a British driver.

[fpv_gtho]

Its just my opinion, but im getting the impression that Frank Williams is finding it hard to realise that Heidfeld might be a better driver than his personal favourite, Pizzonia Im probably wrong though, i dont think Frank Williams would have built Williams up to the level they are today by doing things by the "my way or the highway" philosophy.

Other than that, im sure the times are also reflecting Heidfeld's desire to prove his worth to Williams, something Webber doesnt have to worry about so much, so he'll only be focusing on development and setup for the FW27 and anything else the team gets him to do

[SlickHolden]

We all know who Webber wants to drive with

[fpv_gtho]

Well, he wanted to drive with Button, but that was doomed. He wants a team mate that will push him and with his lack of respect for Pizzonia, theres only one person really left

[SlickHolden]

I was on Skynews lastnight, And seen webber was fastest in testing, He was also 2+ sec faster then R. Schumache who was there also he was .04 sec fastest then Heidfeld. The time was in the 1.16 time slot not bad.

This might have been the next days testing??

Here are the Officcal times
Lap times:
POS. DRIVER TEAM TIME LAPS
1. M. Webber BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:16.490 56/115
2. N. Heidfeld BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:16.745 53/81
3. F. Montagny Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:17.433 16/105
4. A. Davidson Lucky Strike B.A.R. Honda 1:18.471 93/94
5. R. Schumacher Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:18.911 39/41
6. E. Bernoldi Lucky Strike B.A.R. Honda 1:20.150 18/12

http://bmw.williamsf1.com/04-C2D067C...1_f1/index.4ml

Next day of testing, Webber again fastest

Lap times:
POS. DRIVER TEAM TIME LAPS
1. M. Webber BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:16.437 35/72
2. K. Raikkonen West McLaren Mercedes 1:16.831 23/93
3. A. Wurz West McLaren Mercedes 1:17.133 19/95
4. F. Montagny Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:17.453 4/133
5. J. Button Lucky Strike B.A.R. Honda 1:17.510 33/93
6. A. Davidson Lucky Strike B.A.R. Honda 1:17.602 66/125
7. A. Pizzonia BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:17.675 19/64
8. M. Gené Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:18.190 23/37
9. R. Schumacher Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:18.197 29/70

http://bmw.williamsf1.com/04-C2D067C...1_f1/index.4ml

[fpv_gtho]

Ralf wouldve been the only one in the 2005 spec car and im pretty sure Webber wouldve been in the interim car, so hes still on the 2004 rules basically. Webber's been in the top 2 now the last couple of days at Jerez though so thats good at least, even considering its still early days

[Blitz_]

Heidfeld outsmarts Webber, but Slick shows us that it is webber who his fastest, just goes to show that these split second times mean everything

[fpv_gtho]

No, just goes to show that these test times mean nothing

I like Toyota's strategy in all of this, get the car out nice and early so that by the AGP its already being developed further. Williams are gunna be releasing theirs around the end of the month so they'll have about half as much time to develop the actual car, not under the shadow of the interim FW26

[fpv_gtho]

I found this pic of Webber that makes him look like an idiot, but the guys that run the formula1 site wont let me copy the pic

http://www.formula1.com/news/2532.html

[motorsportnerd]

Nah, the picture makes him look human. Looks like he's saying I'm number 1, but we don't know the context. Probably just joking with his colleagues. Like I say, makes him look human rather than a robot.

[fpv_gtho]

Could be alot of things, yeah. I guess saying it makes him look like an idiot was a bit much, but still funny

[motorsportnerd]

I agree - it is funny.

[charged]

How do you think Ralf will go in the Toyota?,hes posting reasonable times and he driving the 05 spec car with different aero package etc

[fpv_gtho]

I doubt it'll be the last time we see him making such expressions either. Ask Paul Stoddard or Tony Purnell and they'll tell you he's highly active with the engineers and technicians so for the rest of testing and until the end of the year, no doubt he'll be pushing himself and the team by giving them every bit of info he can, and that can take some funny hand gestures and expressions