Albers to Midland?

[Skam85]

http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=95984

F1Racing.net are running this story about 'their boy' Christijan. Well done to him, and, well, Midland could do a lot worse than Albers-Davidson for bext year...

[N I Tram]

That would be a good lineup, although a bit rough on their 2 rookies this year, who have both generally done well.

[BSchneiderFan]

Karthikeyan seems to be assuming that he's out of Jordan/Midland at the end of the year, and is talking about seeking a testing role with a bigger team. Monteiro has been uber-consistent, but does he really have much more to give? Albers has done a pretty good job for Minardi and Davidson comes highly recommended from BAR, so they'd be a good line-up. Monteiro could do worse than be the third driver for a year - it would at least keep him on the F1 treadmill.

[Skam85]

Yes and No. Neither has actually shone. Karthikeyen has shown some speed (I'm picturing a Minardi drive or maybe a BMW third driver), while Monteiro has shown some consistency, with a little improvement along the way.

[mp356a]

I would not mind seeing Albers in a decent car. Has Midland figured out who is actually building the new one yet?

[Skam85]

Italian designers Reynard.

[BSchneiderFan]

Reynard a) isn't Italian, and b) went into receivership some time ago. Dallara was initially slated to build the Midland car, but I think that Schnaider and Dallara have now gone their separate ways.

[BootsOntheSide]

I thought Midland had decided to build the car themselves? I'd like to see Narain continue in F1 next year, but there's no point in him staying in a team where he's obviosuly not wanted or welcome. Montiero has generally made solid use of a reliable car, but the eternal question is 'can he speed up his tidiness?', and I'm not convicned, although I'd say he's done enough to merit another season, much as I was cross with him yesterday.

[BSchneiderFan]

It did look like a stupid move by Monteiro yesterday, but his argument that Montoya pulling in in front of him suddenly robbed him of downforce and made him a passenger actually sounds plausible.

Anyway, back on topic... the problem that seems to be brewing at Jordan/Midland is that Karthikeyan and Monteiro were both favourites of the now-departed Trevor Carlin. They may have lost their most powerful advocate.

[Bridget Stone]

Still, Karthikayan brings along some 12 million $ sponsorship. Thats a lot of money for Christijan to match. But maybe Narain will be content with a position as testdriver

[WapFlap]

I don't exactly know how much sponsormoney Albers got at the moment but it must be quite much if you see his list of sponsers getting bigger and bigger.

I only wounder if Midland would be a better option than Minardi...

[BootsOntheSide]

The official line when Midland took over was that they would attempt to complete 2005 as cheaply as possible, and give these two young drivers the chance Trevor Carlin always wanted them to have, but that by 2006 the spending and outside funding would be high enough to negate the need for paydrivers.

[Dutch chap]

Albers is doing more than OK, but I feel that Doornbos has more potential, so wrong choice I think.

[thejester]

Originally Posted by mp356a

I would not mind seeing Albers in a decent car.

He'll be s*** out of luck at Midland then.

[mac]

Two guys could count themselves very unlucky if this were to happen.

Robert Doornbos has done the yards as a tester for Midland/Jordan and has impressed at Minardi. I think he would feel a little aggrieved at being looked over for this seat.

Also, I think Tiago Monteiro has done quite a good job at Jordan this season and has been improving and showing some good pace. He was well up the field early in Turkey.