2006 F1 Season

[Silver-Arrowz]

Just in. Sir Frank's opted for Toymotor power next year.

[sileighty]

Rumor is that Webber will be signed with williams. The announcment comming in about 3 days time

[ctjet]

Just in. Sir Frank's opted for Toymotor power next year.

not just for next year... but for many years.

Ripped of www.f1racing.net

After months of speculation the news finally came out this morning. WilliamsF1 and Toyota have officially announced their agreement. Toyota will supply WilliamsF1 with their engines for the upcoming three years. Under the terms of the agreement, WilliamsF1 will use the same specification of engine as Panasonic Toyota Racing. Both Williams and Panasonic Toyota Racing see significant benefits from a relationship based on robust on-track competition and close off-track co-operation.

Toyota has been pretty on the ball lately so maybe its not so bad for webbo... better than Cosworth anyway

[Roy]

But is it the Cosworth thats the problem. They just cant build a car, and gone are the days where a good engine gets you a race win

[Beer Baron]

fuxor. big mistake i reckon. cosworth were the one good thing in the williams F1 deal. WEBBER: JUMP SHIP MATEY.

[sileighty]

agreed. Webber himself said that honda had the best engine last year and look where they ended up

[ctjet]

like when they had BMW powah...

I think that Williams is the weak link in the current partnership with Cosworth... but Frank must be looking long term. Toyota is here to stay and badly want to win, it makes sense when you consider that toyota have proved to be able to build stong and powerful engines, especially in the past couple years.

[sileighty]

What i dont get though.. for example.. willams do start winning and winning well with a close fought championship with toyota...(i know dreaming a bit here) but what happens then? would toymoter detune the engine slightly to increase their chances of winning.. it only would have to be 5 hp to make a difference on those cars

[Roy]

The say the engines are free. So lets hope they spend some of that spare cash on engineering, perhaps give Sam Michaels a more focussed role and bring bach Head and someone he can work with (If such a person exists)

[ctjet]

What i dont get though.. for example.. willams do start winning and winning well with a close fought championship with toyota...(i know dreaming a bit here) but what happens then? would toymoter detune the engine slightly to increase their chances of winning.. it only would have to be 5 hp to make a difference on those cars

lol @ Toyota vs Williams for the Championship

i get your point though...

[Frink]

this can only be good thing for williams.....

as for webber, knowing his luck, if he jumps ship, williams will take out both titles next year and webber will be kicking himself..... this is an interesting time for F1 atm, were starting to see a shift in the 'balance' of things. Ferrari is starting to show dominance again, Renault are starting to slip and Toyota are finding their feet.

but because F1 changes every week and at such a rapid rate, i'll probably be eating my words after this weekends GP.....

[ctjet]

you got to try not to predict stuff in F1... just backfires all the time

like when the WHOLE FIRGGEN WORLD said Alonso was going to waltz away with the french GP... look how that turned out!! just enjoy each week for the day-time drama that it is

[ctjet]

everybody was kun-fu fighting du du dit do du do do

very bored.............

[ctjet]

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

Melbourne F1 GP will be on March the 18th next year aparently...

[Duncan]

if you were frank would you turn down free motors? or offer to pay however many hundred million dollars for an engine which will probably have less development?

[ECR033]

if you were frank would you turn down free motors? or offer to pay however many hundred million dollars for an engine which will probably have less development?

Exactly...

When you start considering Williams's extensive aero problems, i'm sure most would agree that the money is better spent developing that area of the car as opposed to continuing to fund the Cosworth relationship particularly when the end product is inferior (or level pegging at best) with the Toyota alternative.

I still think the switch to Toyota power is a mutually beneficial move for both teams. Cosworth have done a respectable job for Williams, but they simply do not have the resources to compete with the manufacturers over the long term. With 2 top teams using their engines (both racing and testing), I think it's fair to say that we can expect Toyota's engine development program to gather pace with the end result hopefully being reflected through increased performance on the track.

Qualifying results:

01 K. Räikkönen McLaren 1:14.070

02 M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:14.205

03 F. Massa Ferrari 1:14.569

04 J. Button Honda 1:14.862

05 G. Fisichella Renault 1:14.894

06 R. Barrichello Honda 1:14.934

07 F. Alonso Renault 1:15.282

08 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:15.923

09 P. de la Rosa McLaren 1:15.936

10 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:16.326

11 M. Webber Williams 1:15.094

12 C. Klien Red Bull 1:15.141

13 J. Trulli Toyota 1:15.150

14 J. Villeneuve BMW 1:15.329

15 N. Rosberg Williams 1:15.380

16 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:15.397

17 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.399

18 C. Albers Midland F1 1:17.093

19 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:17.185

20 T. Monteiro Midland F1 1:17.836

21 S. Yamamoto Super Aguri 1:20.444

22 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso no time

Another relatively disspointing result for Williams - let's hope they fuel Webber up and hopefully he'll have some reliability and perhaps sniff out a point or 2

[Roy]

If Cosworth walks out of F1 it will be a shame, along with names like Lotus and Tyrrel...but its simple economics.

And at least Frank is now tlakign about keepign Webber, so at least he a has a seat, a seemingly shitty one but a seat all the same. It will make his success all the sweeter when he wins his first GP

[benm]

Well qualifying was abit all over the place, more drama then most races.

[blackrex]

It's a good race though, definately worth watching.

[dezz]

yeah good work channel 10

only 40 minutes behind schedule

its not like i have to be up at 4:30 for work or anything though..................