Klien in for Yamamoto

[VkmSpouge]

Sakon Yamamoto is suffering from food poisoning so Hispania have switched him for Christian Klien for the Singapore Grand Prix. Yamamoto is expected back for Japan.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86900

[I am evil Homer]

Shame....that he'll be back for Japan that is.

[Dave B]

Food poisoning? Is that we call it these days? I'll remember that.

"Hello, British Gas? I can't pay my bill this month, I've got food poisoning." :p

[maximilian]

Shame....that he'll be back for Japan that is.
LMAO, exactly!

I still can't for the life of me figure out WHY whatever sponsors he has would want to spend big bucks to back HIM. If you're gonna spend a couple million dollars on sponsoring racing, wouldn't you rather back someone who actually gets you some GOOD press and exposure, someone who actually has some pace? Wanna sponsor a Japanese driver? OK, so get Sato back in the seat. He may crash a lot, but at least occasionally shows speed. Or, as bad as Nakajima was last year, he'd still be a much better choice. Or give Yuji Kunimoto a chance? Oh well, rant over.

Good for Klien. I always said that if Liuzzi gets another chance like he did, so should Klien, because in their direct comparison, Klien was doing better at Red Bull. Of course, I don't know whether racing for HRT should be considered a chance, rather than a burden... :p :

[truefan72]

good for Klien but that car is an absolute dog so whether it is yamamoto klien or Kharun in that car makes little difference at this point. I don't think yamamoto is that good, but then again, I haven't seen him drive a competitive car in F1.

People probably were not too high on Kobayashi either until he got into a very competitive toyota and showed some gusto. We might be talking about a different yamamoto if he ws driving an RBR and mixing it up in the points, or winning a race (however unlikely) then we would be saying how great he is and how he fought adversity and "earned his dues" to be now driving a great car. That's F1 for ya :|

[maximilian]

Hm, nah. When the car sucks, your competition is your team mate, and when your team mate is miles ahead of you, then you're just no good, especially if that same team mate was behind the guy you replaced. Good drivers attract attention even when they drive for a backmarker team (such as Alonso or Webber did at Minardi at the time).

[maximilian]

Very well done by Christian Klien, leaving Senna behind him by miles in qualifying, despite stepping into a car he has hardly driven so far this year. Exactly what he needed and was hoping for, this kind of performance should get noticed even at the back of the field.

Best of luck tomorrow in the race. If he can finish it ahead of Senna too, he has made a compelling case for keeping him in the race seat for the rest of the year, even though it might be Klien/Yamamoto. I hope it'll be Klien/Senna or Klien/Chandhok, but realistically if Yamamoto's food poisoning*coughtemporarilydriedupsponsorfundscough * heals up well, he'll probably and sadly be back in the cockpit ASAP, especially in Japan.

Who knows, if it's a high-attrition race, a safe finish may be very significant for HRT.

[Retro Formula 1]

Not a fan of Senna and CK has shown why he shouldn't be in F1.

[jens]

I hope this will for once and all silence all those people, who have been calling for better cars for the likes of Senna/Chandhok (Lotus, Force India and whatever) :crazy: They just kept making each other looking half-decent without a proper yardstick. Remember, Senna only barely beat Yamamoto, who nobody understands, why he is in F1.




Good for Klien. I always said that if Liuzzi gets another chance like he did, so should Klien, because in their direct comparison, Klien was doing better at Red Bull.

That really isn't a fair comparison, because Klien was the more experienced driver, while they were racing for RBR and he also got 15 races in the season, while Liuzzi merely got 4. I don't consider Klien as a superior driver compared to Liuzzi. But he is a good fit for a backmarker team with his experience.

[truefan72]

excellent job by klien today. I knew he had it in him.
And there can be no excuse by Senna.

Klien was driving on this track for the first time himself and unlike his teammate, did not spin the car (several times0 and generally embarrass himself throughout the weekend. Maybe yamamoto was right to get the flu for this race.

[truefan72]

Hm, nah. When the car sucks, your competition is your team mate, and when your team mate is miles ahead of you, then you're just no good, especially if that same team mate was behind the guy you replaced. Good drivers attract attention even when they drive for a backmarker team (such as Alonso or Webber did at Minardi at the time).

some valid points, but all's I am saying is that terrible is sometimes relative and yamamoto has always driven terrible cars. Maybe the sponsors are delusional or maybe they know he might be capable of doing better, but as long as he drives terrible cars we will never know.

As to your point though, It would then seem to me that Klien is punching in a different class than senna. :)

[truefan72]

Not a fan of Senna and CK has shown why he shouldn't be in F1.
hard to argue with this reasoning after todays qualy. lets wait for the race though before hammering the final nail in his coffin. When Klien completely outperforms this guy, then I will gladdly be a pallbearer
http://www.motorsportforums.com/forums/images/icons/dead.gif

[steveaki13]

Klien did a good job today, and with that made Senna look ordinary.

I suppose its because of the long lap, but Senna was some 8.7 off the ultimate pole here.

Although all the new teams have struggled here. There was one or two races which Lotus got to within 1 to 1.5 seconds of the midfield, but here they are all 3 seconds adrift.

[F1boat]

Actually I am shocked in the way Klien humiliated Bruno today. The gap was enormous, one second at one point, and as one other member mentioned, Klien doesn't know the car very well. Bruno looked stupid and I am surprised that he lost so badly... he beated Karun and Sakon regularly.

[maximilian]

What's the REAL shocker to me is how miserably slow the HRTs are these days. The gap to the other 2 new teams is monumental, especially considering the also-monumental gap between those 2 and the slowest "old" team.

Generally I find it appalling how hopeless the situation for all new teams has turned out to be: no realistic chance to ever even make it into Q2 unless something strange happens to some of the old teams, not even close to a chance of scoring points... it's a dismal existence. I sure hope that they'll be caught up next year, but given that they haven't managed to catch up all year this season makes me skeptical of that. After all, everybody works on everything all the time, so it's not really like working on next year's car can give you an edge... because so is everyone else... and the gap seems to remain the same!

Remains to be seen if we get a high-attrition race in Singapore, perhaps with a little rain shower that catches out some guys against the wall. Even then it seems unlikely that the newbies would score any points, but someone may pull off that crucial 13th place finish that would give them 10th in the constructors standings?

[Ranger]

Great job by Klien, I think he just showed why Senna and Chandok are not at F1 standard.

He should keep that seat for the rest of the year.

[Roamy]

Good for Klien - now all he needs is a great race. I like it when someone is given a opportunity and steps up

[Saint Devote]

Great job by Klien, I think he just showed why Senna and Chandok are not at F1 standard.

He should keep that seat for the rest of the year.

:eek: Now you've gone and done it!

You have criticized Chandok and he has become the love of the British fans these days - must be his accent because he cannot drive - and Bernie wants him in at FI in 2011.

You will now likely receive all manner of attacks .........

[Saint Devote]

Klien has performed as expected.

He has almost FOUR times the experience in f1, including being teammate at RBR to Coulthard, as his novice teammate and Senna had a massive problem with oversteer, visible as the car was sliding all over the place compared to Klien.

In a car like the HRT, experience is essential and Senna has none other than in this dreadful car.

[maximilian]

Senna's been driving this car all season, and still doesn't know how to set it up properly, while Klien hasn't turned a lap in anger for 4 years (back when the cars were VERY different) and yet immediately knew how to do that. And if it's the individual CAR that's at fault, then how come Yamamoto wasn't quicker than Senna too, since Senna's car must apparently have some fatal flaw, right? ;)

[Saint Devote]

Senna's been driving this car all season, and still doesn't know how to set it up properly, while Klien hasn't turned a lap in anger for 4 years (back when the cars were VERY different) and yet immediately knew how to do that. And if it's the individual CAR that's at fault, then how come Yamamoto wasn't quicker than Senna too, since Senna's car must apparently have some fatal flaw, right? ;)

Klien has the experience of racing in different cars as well as working with good engineers in experienced teams.

Applying this to the HRT he ought to be quicker. I think it is excellent for Senna and the team that they have an experienced journeyman driver like Klien.

The Austrian is not world champion material, but he is competent in a racing car and Bruno can learn a great deal from him.

It was ridiculous from the start to put two drivers making their debut and without any f1 experience in the team rather than someone like Klien.

But the team is also new, and they have also learned.

Senna and Klien in 2011 with the new HRT, would be a evry good combination.

[maximilian]

Klien has the experience of racing in different cars as well as working with good engineers in experienced teams.

Applying this to the HRT he ought to be quicker. I think it is excellent for Senna and the team that they have an experienced journeyman driver like Klien.

The Austrian is not world champion material, but he is competent in a racing car and Bruno can learn a great deal from him.

It was ridiculous from the start to put two drivers making their debut and without any f1 experience in a the team rather than someone like Klien from the start.

But the team is also new, and they have also learned.

Senna and Klien in 2011 with the new HRT, would be a evry good combination.
:up:

It would. I just hope they get their act together as a team. I find it very ominous that they are once again looking for someone else to do their homework for them... :o

[Saint Devote]

:up:

It would. I just hope they get their act together as a team. I find it very ominous that they are once again looking for someone else to do their homework for them... :o

I was disappointed in the fight between Dallara and HRT - bit then it also involved money.

I am sure you agree that historically it has been the norm for new teams to remain for quite a while on the edge of survival before gaining some sort of security.

And this is what HRT are going through.

Just as throwing inexperienced new drivers overboard - good drivers, it is something new to expect new teams to be financially viable moving up a smooth road.

If anything, HRT is more like new independent teams historically than any of the others.

[RS]

Generally I find it appalling how hopeless the situation for all new teams has turned out to be: no realistic chance to ever even make it into Q2 unless something strange happens to some of the old teams, not even close to a chance of scoring points... it's a dismal existence. I sure hope that they'll be caught up next year, but given that they haven't managed to catch up all year this season makes me skeptical of that. After all, everybody works on everything all the time, so it's not really like working on next year's car can give you an edge... because so is everyone else... and the gap seems to remain the same!

They're still better than that A-merican team :D

Seriously though, I think it would have been unrealistic for any of the new teams to really challenge the established mob this year. F1 is tough, they have developed, but the problem is that the other teams don't stop developing either.

Hopefully with a year's experience under their belts they can do a bit better next year.

[jens]

Senna and Klien in 2011 with the new HRT, would be a evry good combination.

The best combination for HRT would be blokes with deep enough pockets to enable the team to build cars and make it to the grid, otherwise everything is pointless. :p :

[keysersoze]

That decision was about fifteen races too late.

[F1boat]

In the race the gap between them wasn't second per lap, though.

[maximilian]

Klien stayed well ahead of Senna all race, too. As such I think we can declare his showing a success, and he has definitely done enough to warrant keeping the seat. :s mokin:

[Dave B]

Klien stayed well ahead of Senna all race, too. As such I think we can declare his showing a success, and he has definitely done enough to warrant keeping the seat. :s mokin:
I agree, but I'd wager his chances of keeping the seat are directly proportional to his bank balance. That seems to be the HRT way.

[F1boat]

I'd be interested to see whether Klien can keep outperforming Bruno like this.

[F1boat]

Yes, you are probably right. Sakon will likely race in Japan.

[maximilian]

Maybe so, but who says Senna will be racing in Japan? ;)

[F1boat]

Well, I think that he will, even if from marketing point of view. Wasn't his uncle very popular there?

[maximilian]

That's why they should be spared the indignity of seeing a Senna at the BACK of the grid, and let Ayrton rest in peace :vader:

[F1boat]

Yeah, Senna at the back of the grid, Schumacher in the middle of it... oh, dear!

[jens]

Yeah, Senna at the back of the grid, Schumacher in the middle of it... oh, dear!

Not to mention that Lotus is pretty much at the back too. :p :

[F1boat]

Not to mention that Lotus is pretty much at the back too. :p :

Hah, yeah, I forgot about them...

[K-Pu]

Then... if we see Senna and Klien that´s because Klien has more money than Yamamoto... Senna and Yamamoto because the next race is in Suzuka... Klien and Yamamoto because Klien is better than Senna...

Anyway, their biggest problem is keping themselves alive, although Carabante always says they´ll be there next season, because they don´t have cash problems, it´s OTHER GUYS who have cash problems with them. But knowing how they do businness in Murcia I have the slight feeling (or maybe an unstoppable vision) in the opposite direction.

[jens]

Oddly enough it doesn't seem completely far-fetched we might expect a Klien-Yamamoto pairing at Suzuka. Well, depends whether Senna has got any money to secure his drive until the end of the season.

[keysersoze]

Klein has suffered a lukewarm reception on these boards from the beginning, and it hasn't changed much since his F1 debut six years ago. His pasting of Senna highlights just how terrible Yamamoto truly is.

[ioan]

Klein has suffered a lukewarm reception on these boards from the beginning, and it hasn't changed much since his F1 debut six years ago. His pasting of Senna highlights just how terrible Yamamoto truly is.

Yamamoto is a bit worse than Senna. Why deny it Yamamoto isn't special however Senna isn't special either, not even one bit.

[Tazio]

Klein has suffered a lukewarm reception on these boards from the beginning, and it hasn't changed much since his F1 debut six years ago. His pasting of Senna highlights just how terrible Yamamoto truly is.He is a guy I always thought was just 1/4 of a race away from being great. And I took some heat on these boards for backing his play. I really am pulling for him, but what are realistic expectations?

[truefan72]

That's why they should be spared the indignity of seeing a Senna at the BACK of the grid, and let Ayrton rest in peace :vader:

lol, how true