Eddie Jordan and Flavio Briatore Speak Out RE: Schuey
02-12-2010, 01:31 PM
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Eddie Jordan and Flavio Briatore Speak Out RE: Schuey
Couple interesting articles, both MS related but from a different perspective.
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/156629/...newsletterlink
Jordan: Schumacher will spur Hamilton to F1 crown
BBC F1 pundit and former team owner Eddie Jordan has tipped 'class act' Lewis Hamilton to be spurred on to title glory by the return of the legendary Michael Schumacher in 2010 - but he has fewer words of encouragement for reigning world champion and McLaren-Mercedes team-mate Jenson Button...
The return of Michael Schumacher to F1 competition with Mercedes Grand Prix in 2010 will only serve to spur McLaren-Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton on to his second drivers' title in the top flight, reckons BBC pundit and former team owner Eddie Jordan.
Hamilton clinched his first F1 crown in only his second season at the highest level in 2008, but was unable to successfully defend his world championship glory last year when McLaren's MP4-24 proved to be chronically off the pace over the opening half of the season, causing the eleven-time grand prix-winner to cede too many points to remain in mathematical contention.
However, over the second half of proceedings, progress was such that Hamilton out-scored every single one of his adversaries and snared pole position on no fewer than four occasions – and if McLaren has maintained that level of development pace over the winter to be able to hit the ground running in 2010, Jordan reckons there could just be no stopping the team's favourite son.
The Irishman, however, had fewer words of comfort for new team-mate and reigning F1 World Champion Jenson Button, who he predicts will be in for something of a culture shock after departing Brawn GP (now Mercedes Grand Prix) for the Woking-based outfit.
“I can't get my head away from Lewis Hamilton,” Jordan is quoted as having said by British newspapers the Daily Telegraph and Daily Express. “He's sharp, he's got talent and the return to the sport of Michael Schumacher will only add to his aggression to succeed – and to Sebastian Vettel's. It's perfect for them.
“Michael is an adrenaline junkie for F1. Some can leave the sport, [but] Michael cannot and that is why he is back. It is obviously not for the money, so it has to be because he thinks he can beat the best – but that could backfire on him.
“Lewis is hugely talented and has never raced Michael. Back comes this guy with the biggest reputation in F1. Hamilton will love it if he has the equipment, and I think McLaren will be able to give him that this year. Lewis is a class act. My money wouldn't be anywhere but on Hamilton.
“We saw how bad McLaren were in the first half of last season. I went on record saying it was the worst car ever, and they still came back. They had a terrible start, but were very strong at the end. I think the momentum is with McLaren; I would be more concerned at Mercedes, Brawn as they were – they started very strongly but lost the momentum.
“Jenson is going to have to learn to accept a different life – at Brawn he was part of the furniture. This is a real eye-opener for him and it will be the measure of the man, but he wouldn't have taken this decision if he wasn't aware of what his requirement would be.
“He's taken the fight to himself. He wants to prove he can beat Hamilton in a very different environment. I'd like to see him in the top three, but it will be a big ask.”
Jordan – who ran his own, eponymously-named Jordan Grand Prix operation in F1 from 1991 until he sold out to Midland at the end of 2005 – also suggested that little heed should ultimately be paid to pre-season testing form, which has thus far seen Ferrari installed as the early favourites after Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso proved untouchable on their respective days in the cockpit around the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia last week.
“If anybody understands about trying to fool the bookies into a false sense of security, then this is what's happening,” the 61-year-old opined. “I wouldn't put any credence at all in what's going on at the moment. What matters is what happens in Bahrain on that first Sunday.”
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/156508/...newsletterlink
Briatore: Schumacher leaving Ferrari an 'inelegant betrayal'
Michael Schumacher's former Benetton team boss Flavio Briatore has branded the German's departure from Ferrari to return to F1 in 2010 with Mercedes Grand Prix 'an inelegant betrayal' - and suggested that if it does not work out, the comeback will be a 'disaster'
He might be the man who effectively gave Michael Schumacher the tools with which to construct his extraordinary F1 career, but Flavio Briatore has branded the record-breaking German legend's decision to leave Ferrari to pursue a competitive return with Mercedes Grand Prix in 2010 a self-serving, 'inelegant betrayal' – and predicted that if his comeback is not a success, 'it will be a disaster'.
Schumacher was handed his bow in the top flight by Eddie Jordan with the colourful Irishman's eponymous Jordan Grand Prix outfit in the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps – and he made such an instant impression on the whole paddock that Briatore wasted little time in swooping in to poach him away to Benetton, where the Kerpen native would remain until the end of 1995, claiming the first two of his seven drivers' world championship crowns in his final two seasons there before switching camps to Ferrari.
The 91-time grand prix-winner stayed at the fabled Scuderia until hanging up his F1 helmet at the end of 2006 – his 15th full campaign at the highest level – and most assumed he would never leave, but now he has, earning himself the condemnation and disgust of the ever-loyal tifosi and partisan Italian media, who perceived his departure as a 'betrayal'.
Briatore – who was banned from the sport for a 'betrayal' of his own in the wake of the infamous and explosive 'Singapore-gate' race-fixing scandal last year, only to subsequently get his punishment successfully overturned in the French High Court – tends to agree, and cast doubt upon whether his former protégé would be able to simply pick up again at the same ultra-competitive level at which he left off more than three years ago.
“Schumacher wanted to return with Ferrari but did not have the chance,” the Italian told Rai Radio 1. “It then came to this inelegant betrayal. He is like any other – he talks, but when it comes to actions it is according to his personal interest.
“Michael will have to work hard. His comeback has given Formula 1 a new motivation, [but] if he is not competitive it will be a disaster. It's not his 41 years, but the three years he was away from Formula 1. You don't race faster if you colour your hair.”
Briatore went on to forecast a Mercedes-Red Bull-Ferrari-McLaren quartet at the forefront of the pecking order in 2010, but dismissed the average grand prix as 'boring' – whilst Schumacher insisted that the 59-year-old's remarks had caused no hard feelings, even if he acknowledged that his erstwhile team boss had 'certainly exceeded the borders' two years ago in Singapore.
“I personally have no problems at all with Flavio,” he told Bild newspaper. “I know him very well; I know his strengths and his weaknesses. I think we all make mistakes. If he learns from it (Singapore-gate), I would have no problem if he came back. Flavio is simply a unique personality.”
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/156629/...newsletterlink
Jordan: Schumacher will spur Hamilton to F1 crown
BBC F1 pundit and former team owner Eddie Jordan has tipped 'class act' Lewis Hamilton to be spurred on to title glory by the return of the legendary Michael Schumacher in 2010 - but he has fewer words of encouragement for reigning world champion and McLaren-Mercedes team-mate Jenson Button...
The return of Michael Schumacher to F1 competition with Mercedes Grand Prix in 2010 will only serve to spur McLaren-Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton on to his second drivers' title in the top flight, reckons BBC pundit and former team owner Eddie Jordan.
Hamilton clinched his first F1 crown in only his second season at the highest level in 2008, but was unable to successfully defend his world championship glory last year when McLaren's MP4-24 proved to be chronically off the pace over the opening half of the season, causing the eleven-time grand prix-winner to cede too many points to remain in mathematical contention.
However, over the second half of proceedings, progress was such that Hamilton out-scored every single one of his adversaries and snared pole position on no fewer than four occasions – and if McLaren has maintained that level of development pace over the winter to be able to hit the ground running in 2010, Jordan reckons there could just be no stopping the team's favourite son.
The Irishman, however, had fewer words of comfort for new team-mate and reigning F1 World Champion Jenson Button, who he predicts will be in for something of a culture shock after departing Brawn GP (now Mercedes Grand Prix) for the Woking-based outfit.
“I can't get my head away from Lewis Hamilton,” Jordan is quoted as having said by British newspapers the Daily Telegraph and Daily Express. “He's sharp, he's got talent and the return to the sport of Michael Schumacher will only add to his aggression to succeed – and to Sebastian Vettel's. It's perfect for them.
“Michael is an adrenaline junkie for F1. Some can leave the sport, [but] Michael cannot and that is why he is back. It is obviously not for the money, so it has to be because he thinks he can beat the best – but that could backfire on him.
“Lewis is hugely talented and has never raced Michael. Back comes this guy with the biggest reputation in F1. Hamilton will love it if he has the equipment, and I think McLaren will be able to give him that this year. Lewis is a class act. My money wouldn't be anywhere but on Hamilton.
“We saw how bad McLaren were in the first half of last season. I went on record saying it was the worst car ever, and they still came back. They had a terrible start, but were very strong at the end. I think the momentum is with McLaren; I would be more concerned at Mercedes, Brawn as they were – they started very strongly but lost the momentum.
“Jenson is going to have to learn to accept a different life – at Brawn he was part of the furniture. This is a real eye-opener for him and it will be the measure of the man, but he wouldn't have taken this decision if he wasn't aware of what his requirement would be.
“He's taken the fight to himself. He wants to prove he can beat Hamilton in a very different environment. I'd like to see him in the top three, but it will be a big ask.”
Jordan – who ran his own, eponymously-named Jordan Grand Prix operation in F1 from 1991 until he sold out to Midland at the end of 2005 – also suggested that little heed should ultimately be paid to pre-season testing form, which has thus far seen Ferrari installed as the early favourites after Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso proved untouchable on their respective days in the cockpit around the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia last week.
“If anybody understands about trying to fool the bookies into a false sense of security, then this is what's happening,” the 61-year-old opined. “I wouldn't put any credence at all in what's going on at the moment. What matters is what happens in Bahrain on that first Sunday.”
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/156508/...newsletterlink
Briatore: Schumacher leaving Ferrari an 'inelegant betrayal'
Michael Schumacher's former Benetton team boss Flavio Briatore has branded the German's departure from Ferrari to return to F1 in 2010 with Mercedes Grand Prix 'an inelegant betrayal' - and suggested that if it does not work out, the comeback will be a 'disaster'
He might be the man who effectively gave Michael Schumacher the tools with which to construct his extraordinary F1 career, but Flavio Briatore has branded the record-breaking German legend's decision to leave Ferrari to pursue a competitive return with Mercedes Grand Prix in 2010 a self-serving, 'inelegant betrayal' – and predicted that if his comeback is not a success, 'it will be a disaster'.
Schumacher was handed his bow in the top flight by Eddie Jordan with the colourful Irishman's eponymous Jordan Grand Prix outfit in the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps – and he made such an instant impression on the whole paddock that Briatore wasted little time in swooping in to poach him away to Benetton, where the Kerpen native would remain until the end of 1995, claiming the first two of his seven drivers' world championship crowns in his final two seasons there before switching camps to Ferrari.
The 91-time grand prix-winner stayed at the fabled Scuderia until hanging up his F1 helmet at the end of 2006 – his 15th full campaign at the highest level – and most assumed he would never leave, but now he has, earning himself the condemnation and disgust of the ever-loyal tifosi and partisan Italian media, who perceived his departure as a 'betrayal'.
Briatore – who was banned from the sport for a 'betrayal' of his own in the wake of the infamous and explosive 'Singapore-gate' race-fixing scandal last year, only to subsequently get his punishment successfully overturned in the French High Court – tends to agree, and cast doubt upon whether his former protégé would be able to simply pick up again at the same ultra-competitive level at which he left off more than three years ago.
“Schumacher wanted to return with Ferrari but did not have the chance,” the Italian told Rai Radio 1. “It then came to this inelegant betrayal. He is like any other – he talks, but when it comes to actions it is according to his personal interest.
“Michael will have to work hard. His comeback has given Formula 1 a new motivation, [but] if he is not competitive it will be a disaster. It's not his 41 years, but the three years he was away from Formula 1. You don't race faster if you colour your hair.”
Briatore went on to forecast a Mercedes-Red Bull-Ferrari-McLaren quartet at the forefront of the pecking order in 2010, but dismissed the average grand prix as 'boring' – whilst Schumacher insisted that the 59-year-old's remarks had caused no hard feelings, even if he acknowledged that his erstwhile team boss had 'certainly exceeded the borders' two years ago in Singapore.
“I personally have no problems at all with Flavio,” he told Bild newspaper. “I know him very well; I know his strengths and his weaknesses. I think we all make mistakes. If he learns from it (Singapore-gate), I would have no problem if he came back. Flavio is simply a unique personality.”
