i cant believe he said that

botsquad · 24 Oct 2000, 18:18 (Ref:44521)

form itv-f1

The relationship betweeen new Williams team-mates Juan Montoya and Ralf Schumacher already looks to be in trouble.

Montoya has accused Schuey Jr of playing psychological tricks, after the German expressed doubts over Montoya's ability to adjust to F1 from ChampCars. The Colombian is determined not to let it affect him.

"European people are very weak mentally. They always start these kinds of mind games in order to show who is in charge or to make a point.

“In my case he [Ralf] is planning to do the same as [Michael] Schumacher does to Coulthard. To be honest I don't care.

“If I do well or not it would be because of me, and not because some guy who thinks is going to affect me by his comments.”

White Van Man · 24 Oct 2000, 19:12 (Ref:44531)

Good for you, JPM! Let's hope and pray that Williams, BAR and Bennetton produce great cars next term - can you imagine the fireworks with 'The Michael', Mika, JV, Jenson, and JPM battling for races ?

Ralf's Girl · 24 Oct 2000, 19:34 (Ref:44534)

Well, Juan Godly Montoya certainly knows how to make friends doesn't he? Trying to get into a slanging match with your team-mate via the press is never a good idea. Montoya doesn't seem to realise that Ralf was not playing mind games or doing anything of the sort. He was simply saying that Montoya is not guaranteed to be great and that he thinks Williams should have kept Button on board. And many people are of the same mind.

And try this article for size - from formula-1.co.uk, this article is biased towards Juan Godly Montoya in the most unbelievable way:

Barely has the engines cooled at the end of the 2000 season and rivalries for the 2001 season have started. Jenson Button leaves BMW Williams for Benetton next season with 1999 CART champion Juan Pablo Montoya taking his seat alongside Ralf Schumacher.

"Juan seems to be a very confident person with regard to his abilities," said Schumacher who was outqualified by Button in three of the last five races.

"The day he starts driving and is not quick enough it will be difficult. Remember he was fighting with Nick Heidfeld in Formula 3000 for the Championship and Nick seems to have found it a bit difficult to adapt to Formula One.... Looking at Alex (Zanardi), he won two titles in a row and he was the quickest man over in the US – coming here he was basically nowhere. I’m not trying to be unfair, but that was the case. I’m sure Juan will not end up like Alex – he’s going to be quick, but obviously he’s putting himself under a lot of pressure by having that reputation and saying what he is saying."

Montoya - never one to hold back his views - responded to Ralf Schumacher's less than positive comments. "European people are very weak mentally," Montoya stated. "They always start these kinds of mind games in order to show who is in charge or to make a point. In my case he [Ralf] is planning to do the same as [Michael] Schumacher does to Coulthard. To be honest I don't care. If I do well or not it would be because of me, and not because some guy who thinks is going to affect me by his comments."

Ralf seems to have forgotten that Jacques Villeneuve came over from CART and did rather well. Certainly Ralf's performance this season has done nothing to raise his value. Montoya is confident, but then again - how many Formula One driver's are not?

White Van Man · 24 Oct 2000, 20:09 (Ref:44539)

Quote:

Trying to get into a slanging match with your team-mate via the press is never a good idea.

I can only go on what the press reports, but if what they say is true, Ralfy started this several weeks ago by having a pop at JPM by that same press you're on about!

Ralf was simply playing the same silly games as his brother, Prost, Senna, and others before him. What is Juan supposed to do ? Give in to that ?

botsquad · 24 Oct 2000, 20:22 (Ref:44541)

juan pablo can say anything he likes. and perhaps he's holding some things back.

educated people, the world over, know that european folk are mentally weak.

and if they were somehow unaware of it, they can thank professor montoya for enlightening them.

Ralf's Girl · 24 Oct 2000, 20:39 (Ref:44542)

Quote:

Originally posted by White Van Man
I can only go on what the press reports, but if what they say is true, Ralfy started this several weeks ago by having a pop at JPM by that same press you're on about!

But Ralf wasn't 'having a pop'. He said that Montoya is not guaranteed to be the success everyone expects (he was voicing his reservations, not having a pop) and that he thinks Williams should have kept Button. And like I have already said, there are a lot of people of the same mind - I am one of them.

White Van Man · 24 Oct 2000, 21:06 (Ref:44547)

If 'The Michael' had uttered those words, you'd be saying HE was having a pop...

Airhead · 24 Oct 2000, 21:25 (Ref:44551)

If the reported comments are true, it is a shame that instead of saying "I'm gunna go over there and kick Ralf off the track" we get this "Europeans are....."

It would appear that Jaun is nicely balanced, he has a chip on both shoulders (appologies to Barry Sheene).

Julia · 24 Oct 2000, 21:28 (Ref:44553)

I just think it is GREAT that some people are saying what they think, and not joining that ridiculous gang where everyone is loving everyone, I mean Coulthard apologizing?, Schumacher saying Mika is the best and so on....
It might be nice, but sooooo false!

enemy-ace · 24 Oct 2000, 23:46 (Ref:44582)

Has Heidfeld really been that bad, he has been driving a Prost after all! Taking that into account does Ralf also think that Alesi has had trouble adjusting to F1? I also imagine Heidfeld has been trying too hard and overcompensating for what i'm sure we can all agree is a dreadful car. I'll reserve my judgement on Heidfeld till next year and see how he performs in what has usually been a drivable car.
And by Ralf opening his mouth in this way, is nothing short of a passive aggresive POP at Montoya. I hope BOTH of them can refrain from anymore schoolboy antics it won't do either of them any good!

LYM · 24 Oct 2000, 23:46 (Ref:44583)

Montoya mindless comments on Europeans certainly show that he is not gonna to make any new friends next year. But I agreed that Ralf have probably said too much. Like Montoya is unproven in F1 blah blah blah.
TGF has the skills to match his tongue. I just hope TYGF has it too.

Nuvolari · 25 Oct 2000, 07:04 (Ref:44617)

With teammates like these, who needs enemies?

freud · 25 Oct 2000, 08:02 (Ref:44637)

Imho it was Ralf who started the mind games by questioning Montoya's race ability a few months ago & Montoya defended himself by hitting the Schumacher duo in recent statements. Although I am no JPM fan as yet I feel that Ralf got jealous of Montoya after Frank Williams praised Montoya before Indianapolis. Frank went on to say that Montoya is going to be better than Michael which probably ****ed the Schu duo. Both Ralf & Michael have been saying some irritant stuff about Juan since then and now we have Juan hitting back....may be a bit too hard. I think Juan may have said "European drivers" instead of "European people". It's these little things that some journos in Europe tend to enlighten to create doubts towards a particular person or driver. I remember similiarly about Jacques when he arrived in f1. Most journos were keen on labelling him the next "Prost" and sought small words from Jacques to enlighten their point. It's just because in Europe the media in particular has assumed that Michael is the present day "Senna" and any new arrival or new threat must be labelled otherwise so that Michael's status remains. Montoya is a big threat to Schumacher status simply because he aint a "sheep" like Mika....and so some people have started their agenda against him. Imho Juan can get into this trap or make his mind focused towards his task. Imho he can just shut his mouth for a while and concentrate on the battle ahead for now.... Cheers.

downforce · 25 Oct 2000, 11:57 (Ref:44688)

Aaaaah the storm is brewing, and I love it, evry bit of it!

botsquad · 25 Oct 2000, 15:50 (Ref:44743)

Quote:

Originally posted by freud: re: juan pablo montoya
he aint a "sheep" like Mika....

that mika, he's a real sheepa.

Ralf's Girl · 25 Oct 2000, 18:49 (Ref:44762)

Quote:

Originally posted by White Van Man
If 'The Michael' had uttered those words, you'd be saying HE was having a pop...

Not necessarily. It would depend on what context they were used in. I don't think Ralf started a discussion on Montoya, I think someone asked him about Montoya. And he was giving his honest opinion. Montoya's comments were just looking for trouble. I mean, "European people are weak mentally"? He would know, naturally...

Liz · 26 Oct 2000, 00:24 (Ref:44845)

Since Juan Pablo has worked and raced in Europe for a number of years, I would say he does in fact have some background from which to speak, and as his English is not exactly U, I would not be surprised if he had said "European pilots" and been quoted as saying "European people." But it's Senna v. Prost and handbags at dawn in the Williams Pits again, and personally I like this better than Button Spice and his Buy My Merchandise, I Will Never Lie To You plastic PR machine.

I just hope TGF jumps in and says "You leave my little brother alone, you big bully!" or something similar. Remember Whiny-Hiney Unser Jr. and Baby Mikey also tried to wind Juan Pablo up, and he blew off the former (and blew him away as well) and laughed at the latter. If it was Senna, you'd be bowing to the ground and agreeing with him.

Personally I think it's great fun and hope we will see more of it between teammates next year.

RussianFriend · 26 Oct 2000, 11:02 (Ref:44917)

Hope, JPM will be excellent driver, because F1 needs fresh talents. But if he likes to fight some day for WDC, he should learn to play such a weak mental games. Even if he is the best driver in the world, others have a right to doubt it. Nobody should praise him before he show his skills.

Ralf's Girl · 26 Oct 2000, 19:10 (Ref:45025)

Montoya is saying that European people/European drivers are weak mentally, but it's not Ralf who is actually trying to play mind games. Montoya is the one who has run to the press about Ralf. All Ralf did was answer a question in an interview.

And as Ralf does not know Montoya as an F1 driver, why should he lavish praise upon him the way most other people have been doing? Ralf isn't saying that Montoya won't be quick - he's merely pointing out that it's not set in stone.

White Van Man · 26 Oct 2000, 19:19 (Ref:45028)

Fair enough, RG. And if he can get a bonus bash at JOM at the same time... so much the better...

LYM · 26 Oct 2000, 19:37 (Ref:45037)

From ITV F1:

Quote:

Ralf Schumacher has warned there could be fireworks between Jenson Button and Giancarlo Fisichella at Benetton next year.

Schumacher partnered Jenson Button at Williams this year and spent a season with Fisichella at Jordan in 1997. He reckons the pair will be evenly matched but has warned there could be trouble if Fisichella does not keep his temper in check.

He said: “I just hope Giancarlo has calmed down a bit because if he is still the same as we were in the early days then they will not get have a good relationship next year.

Fisichella is unlikely to be as calm as Button because, unlike the Briton, he is driving for his F1 future. The little Italian has come under fire from team boss Flavio Briatore, who has questioned his application and threatened to replace him with Jarno Trulli.

Guess who will take over as head of GPDA if TGF decides to steps down.

Ralf's Girl · 26 Oct 2000, 19:56 (Ref:45044)

Well Ralf's right about Fisichella. He was a bit of a stropbag when they were team-mates...

freud · 26 Oct 2000, 21:03 (Ref:45055)

Schu duo are pretty good blokes but boy they make it hard... I certainly dont like them poking their noses in every matter & commenting on other drivers, teams etc. As LYM points out if Ralf said those words then imho Fisichella could simply reply "Go & **** yourself"!

Ralf's Girl

I know you're a Ralf fan & this is not a personal attack against him. I infact feel he in some ways is better than his brother. He is a definite future world champion & has a bright future ahead of him. My only concern about him is that he's trying to get into his brother's boots a bit early in his career. He reportedly earns the second highest amount among the current f1 lot & that is sufficient to make him arrogant. Fact is he hasnt dachieved much in f1 as yet except a few podiums.

Mind games is Schu territory & he has been playing since his first test-session in f1 and if I recall big brother always encouraged him. Michael tried to malign Alex Zanardi during winter testing 1998 & said 2 or 3 times that he had doubts over Alex's ability. We all read his statements before 2000 that he feels these 19 year old kids cant drive safely, etc etc(obvious referal to Button). Now he has given a few statements against Juan. What irked Juan was a statement from Ralf that "Montoya is an unknown quantity & I dont know how he'll perform next year" which came after Indianapolis. Now we know that Ralf's got a tough fight against Montoya next season & he wants to make his mark early, prove to Juan that he's no sheep. But may be it would be better to shut for now & do the talking on track during upcoming winter tests. Imho Williams BMW will be carefully analyzing those tests & if Montoya outclsses Ralf then all mind games will go in vain. And believe me Frank Williams wont come to his rescue...he's a Montoya fan already.

Ralf's Girl · 26 Oct 2000, 21:31 (Ref:45059)

I can assure you that Ralf isn't the second highest paid driver. With his DVAG sponsorship etc. I don't know how much he earns. But on payment from his team, he's about fifth - TGF, Hakkinen, Irvine and Villeneuve all earn more than him.

But Ralf saying Montoya is an unknown quantity is true; he's never raced in F1 before. But the fact is that Montoya has gone off to the press - Ralf just answered a question honestly. His own opinion was in there somewhere too, because he thinks Williams should have kept Button.

freud · 26 Oct 2000, 21:48 (Ref:45064)

Yeah, you're echoing my point. For Ralf to think & express that Williams should've kept Button is "arrogance". Ralf is not in a position in his career to dictate who he wants as his team mate. He currently drives under Frank Williams,Patrick Head & not clowns like Flavio & Eddie Jordan. May be Frank sensed this & reacted by praising Montoya heartily & infact saying he wanted Montoya to dominate next season.