Spyker confirm Winkelhock

[ArrowsFA1]

Markus Winkelhock will make his Grand Prix debut at this weekend's European Grand Prix, the Spyker team confirmed on Wednesday.
The deal to replace Christijan Albers, sacked by the team after the British Grand Prix, is a one-off and Spyker are yet to announce plans for the rest of the season.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/60889

[veeten]

good choice.

This one's for you, Manfred... :) :up:

[gm99]

I'm quite surprised about this, as Winkelhock was only recently confirmed as replacement for Adam Carroll in the DTM for the remainder of the saison. Then again, it appears to be a one-off for his home GP and he certainly deserves the chance.

Brings back memories of Giancarlo Fisichella racing in F1 (for Minardi) and what was then the ITC (for Alfa) on successive week-ends back in the early part of 1996.

[truefan72]

Pheuw!!

Klien dodged the bullet!

Good for Markus though I wish him the best.

[FIA]

Defintley looks like for one race (His home Race), Good idea to see if he can do the job, but I think a test driver (Klien, Piquet, Karthikeyan) will get the full seat.

[Valve Bounce]

It is very difficult for a driver to make a one off debut in F1 . This may sound great, but it will come to nothing, especially in a Spyker.

[Caroline]

Not sure that this is going to work and I hope I am wrong. Still if an opportunity arises in F1 I guess you are going to jump at it. Come Saturday, I expect to see him at the bottom of the grid :(

[Storm]

Yes he is already more than 1 second off Sutil in FP1 :s
sadly , a 1-off race in a crap car can only hamper your career although I have no idea about how good he actually is.

[AJP]

Well, nearly 4.5 seconds from pole...
I feel sorry for the guy, as I am sure he can drive.
Throwing him into a Spyker will make hime look bad, which is probably so far from the truth....

good luck to the guy..

[rohanweb]

The team sucks to be honest.
it seems they have serious cash problems, each time looking for a driver with cash ... people like colin collas are boring and I dont think they will get any better, soon it will be bought by another company!

[Dave B]

Not sure that this is going to work and I hope I am wrong. Still if an opportunity arises in F1 I guess you are going to jump at it. Come Saturday, I expect to see him at the bottom of the grid :(
You're right. Emotionally I'd expect that most drivers would rather have one shot in F1 than a full season in anything like GP2 or DTM. Whether that's necessarily a good career move is a different question.

Anyway, good luck to the chap. He's going to need it.

[Valve Bounce]

I really cannot undertsand why he is permitted to race in F1. He has not had the experience in driving an F1 car, and this inexperience can pose a danger not only to himself but to others.

Besides, he is only going to look pedestrian and do his reputation no good.

[Jefe Máximo]

Oh enough of the pity.

Would ANYONE of you turn down the opportunity to make your debut in F1 even if it meant racing a 1995 Minardi?

I know I wouldn't.

Winkelhock made his own mind up, and I'm sure it didn't take him long. He'll do the best he can in that crapload, and I'm sure everyone on the grid especially his own team will grant him a "poor" performance simply because of the circumstances he's racing under.

Good luck to him..

[Dave B]

I really cannot undertsand why he is permitted to race in F1. He has not had the experience in driving an F1 car, and this inexperience can pose a danger not only to himself but to others.

But then a few years back, people were saying the same about a young Finnish rookie with only a season of Formula Renault to his name... ;)

[Erki]

I really cannot undertsand why he is permitted to race in F1. He has not had the experience in driving an F1 car, and this inexperience can pose a danger not only to himself but to others.

Besides, he is only going to look pedestrian and do his reputation no good.

Hasn't he driven F1 car before? I don't think he's that bad really.

And you're only as good as your last race was, and he'll have quite a few DTM races left this year. :)

[tinchote]

I really cannot undertsand why he is permitted to race in F1. He has not had the experience in driving an F1 car, and this inexperience can pose a danger not only to himself but to others.

Besides, he is only going to look pedestrian and do his reputation no good.

Until at least a couple of years ago, and for decades, there have been requirements to get the "superlicense": these include a number of km in the car (it used to be 2000, I seem to recall). I don't think that has changed. The guy probably drove a few tests.

[Valve Bounce]

Oh enough of the pity.

Would ANYONE of you turn down the opportunity to make your debut in F1 even if it meant racing a 1995 Minardi?

I know I wouldn't.

Winkelhock made his own mind up, and I'm sure it didn't take him long. He'll do the best he can in that crapload, and I'm sure everyone on the grid especially his own team will grant him a "poor" performance simply because of the circumstances he's racing under.

Good luck to him..

I sure as hell would. Present day F1 cars are very demanding to drive, and I seem to recall that Kimi did have quite a few miles in teh Sauber before his first race.

[gm99]

Until at least a couple of years ago, and for decades, there have been requirements to get the "superlicense": these include a number of km in the car (it used to be 2000, I seem to recall). I don't think that has changed. The guy probably drove a few tests.

Here are the requirements for obtaining a super license (from Appendix L to the FIA International Sporting Code):



5. Qualification for the Super licence
5.1 The Super licence is issued by the Formula One Commission,
on its sole decision, following a specifi c request and
recommendation from the driver’s ASN, accompanied by his/her
record of results, and on the following conditions:
i) the driver is party to an agreement with a team entered in the FIA
Formula One World Championship to race a Formula One car in
the Championship in the year of application as fi rst, second or
reserve driver,
ii) the driver is the holder of a Grade A licence,
iii) the driver:
either a): has been classifi ed in the fi rst 4 of the fi nal classifi cation of
the GP2 Series within the previous 2 years,
or b): has been classifi ed in the fi rst 3 in at least 5 races, or in the
fi rst 6 in at least 10 races, of the GP2 Series, within the previous
2 years,
or c): has been classifi ed in the fi rst 3 of the fi nal classifi cation of the
Japanese F/Nippon Championship within the previous 2 years,
or d): has been classifi ed in the fi rst 6 of the fi nal classifi cation of
the Indy Racing League (IRL) series or of the Champ Car World
Series in the United States within the previous 2 years,
or e): is the current champion of the Euroseries 3000, the World
Series F/Renault V6 or the International F3000 Masters (the title
is considered valid for 12 months from the last race of his or her
championship season),
or f): is the current champion of the Formula 3 Euro Series or of
the principal National F3 Championship of one of the following
countries: Great Britain, Italy, Japan, (the title is considered valid
for 12 months from the last race of his or her championship
season),
or g): has started in at least 5 races counting for the FIA Formula One
World Championship for Drivers the previous year,
or h): (exceptionally), has a record of results which is judged
suffi cient, unanimously, by the Bureau of the Formula One
Commission and has driven at least 300 km in a current Formula
One car at racing speeds, over a maximum period of 2 days,
certifi ed by the ASN of the country in which the test took place.
Only results obtained with single-seater formula cars will be taken
into consideration. Should the members of the Bureau not agree
unanimously, the Commission in its entirety will be consulted.
In this case, the complete application must be received by the FIA
at least 14 days before scrutineering for the fi rst FIA Formula One
World Championship event in which the candidate is to compete.
iv) the annual Super licence fee is paid to the FIA.


Still, 300 km is not a lot - especially as Winkelhock probably drove these before the start of the season.

[Valve Bounce]

Go to the chat room, we are there.

[Erki]

Bad reputation, huh? :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

[Dave B]

Well I can't think that Winkelhock ever imagined in his wildest dreams that his first race would go like this! :eek:

[gjalie]

gascoyne pulled him in before the race to start on rain tyres, what a move!

[Dave B]

Indeed. He's leading on merit thanks to clever strategy, not merely because so many others messed up or were caught out! :up:

[Bezza]

He's kept the car on track on inters whilst its clearly wet weather tyre weather, looks like he's a bit of rainmeister!

Rain is a great leveller!

[Dave B]

No, he's on ex-wets as a gamble in case it pours hard again.

[Jefe Máximo]

Winkelhock...Legend. :D

Did you see his eyes just before the re-start. He looked scared as ****, at the prospect of 20 cars barrelling past him on a wet track.

Credit to him, he kept it clean, and had more than a moment of glory.

Not to bad a debut I'd say.. :)

[Dave B]

An extremely good debut and a mature performance under the most testing of circumstances :up:

Can't have harmed his prospects one little bit.

[BDunnell]

That was a fantastic sight!

[Garry Walker]

He's kept the car on track on inters whilst its clearly wet weather tyre weather, looks like he's a bit of rainmeister!

Rain is a great leveller!

I was expecting to see posts of this quality :rotflmao:

Look, he took a gamble. His pace was nothing special and his drive was nothing special.

[Bezza]

Well whilst everyone else with bigger reputations and better cars slithered off track, he stayed on it. Yes he was on the right tyres, but the conditions were still bad and he did his job :up: Whichever way you look at it, its impressive.

Is that a better "quality" post for you? :rolleyes: Get over it.

[Dave B]

Bezza's right. Nobody's claiming that Winklehock was particularly rapid in a straight line, but he demonstrated a maturity that you might not expect from an F1 rookie.

[Erki]

Fact is, the Wunderkind Hamilton went off in the first turn, Winkelhock kept it all together. Winkelhock ist ein Übermensch! :robo: :D :up:

[Erki]

Did you see his eyes just before the re-start. He looked scared as ****, at the prospect of 20 cars barrelling past him on a wet track.

No, I didn't pay attention at that time I guess... Can anyone update me when it's on Youtube? :)

[jens]

Wow, seeing Winkelhock having an overwhelming lead (!) in the early laps was one of the funniest moments I've ever seen in Formula One. :D

At one point I even hoped that he could win the race. :laugh:

[VkmSpouge]

It was great seeing Winkelhock leading.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

For a moment I thought that Winklehock was going to win his 1st GP when he had a 30+second lead.

It was kind of unbelievable.

[BDunnell]

Well whilst everyone else with bigger reputations and better cars slithered off track, he stayed on it. Yes he was on the right tyres, but the conditions were still bad and he did his job :up: Whichever way you look at it, its impressive.

Is that a better "quality" post for you? :rolleyes: Get over it.

:up:

[Allyc85]

I thought he did brilliaintly today after looking pretty shakey in practise. He did very well to keep it all together when people were passing him and he didnt exactly let them have it easily.

[V12]

He's actually not the first local driver to lose a huge advantage gained by a tyre gamble due to a race stoppage at the Nurburgring - Jochen Mass in 1976.

Even had the race continued with his 30+ second lead I don't think Winkelhock would have troubled the leaders after 60 laps, but it was good while it lasted - something different

[Cozzie]

He did well and has earnt his driver for the rest of 2007! Simple as that. But a future champion? I doubt it!

[Ranger]

I love races where a backmarker just sticks it to the man. What a brilliant memory. :D

[Azumanga Davo]

I'm sure there shall be a bit more interest in the guy now... :)

[Easy Drifter]

Well when Spyker are dominating F1 in a few years he will still be the first Spyker driver to lead a race. :disturb:

[coldawg]

Perhaps the most impresive think he showed was that he got out of the way, immediately. He knew the two cars behind him were coming through! Great for Spyker and sponsors.

[Hendersen]

Too bad they restarted the race. Let them race in the rain Heh. I think Winkle was like 40 seconds in the lead. Hah.

[stevie_gerrard]

brilliant to hear him doing so well (still not seen the race yet, waiting for a mate to give me the tape of it) hopefully he will be a regular addition to f1 :)