During the broadcast, the announcers said that Williams plans on bringing in an IRL champ (whose name escapes me at the moment) for some testing.
Supposedly Williams has countered Toyota's offer to Ralf with a) a lower offer than his current salary, b) a much, much lower offer than Toyota's and c) a deadline to accept the offer that coincides with Bahrain.
Now given the bad feelings that seem to exist between Ralf and Williams, I can see him accepting the Toyota offer, and getting an early release from his existing contract. If that happens, he gets to jump teams mid-season, and Williams needs to find a replacement in a hurry.
We all know Williams still thinks highly of Jacques. He is qualified to drive F1 and has experience on the circuit. And he needs a job. So far the offers from NASCAR haven't come rolling in.
(Yes, he has said he wants to drive NASCAR. Let's face it, that's where the money is on this side of the world.)
And before anybody asks, no, I'm not a JV fan. I'm just speculating.
--Toronto
Ah, found a reference to the IRL driver.
"Dixon mentioned as Montoya replacement
TSN.ca Staff
3/5/2004
"Frank Williams' relationship with Chip Ganassi could pay dividends once again for the Formula One team.
"Williams has confirmed that the team has spoken with reigning Indy Racing League champion Scott Dixon about a possible F1 driver in 2005.
"BMW-Williams will need to fill the vacancy created by the departing Juan Pablo Montoya, who will move to rival McLaren next year. However, Williams says they are looking at a number of individuals and that any speculation surrounding Dixon was "premature".
"Williams also called it a pure coincidence that Dixon now drives for Ganassi, who has had close ties with the F1 owner in the past. Both Montoya and Alex Zanardi drove for Ganassi in the former CART series before moving on to a Formula One career with Williams.
"Bruno Junqueira, who now drives for Newman-Haas in the Champ Car series, was a former Williams test driver and lost out to Jenson Button for an F1 ride in 2000.
"Aside from Dixon, Jaguar's Mark Webber has been tipped as the odds on favourite to replace Montoya while David Coulthard admitted this week he has cast his eye towards his former team as well.
"Dixon has also reportedly visited F1 rivals Ferrari and McLaren while Toyota may have keen interest in him as well, seeing as they supply the engine for his IRL team."
http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/irl/ne...uto_racing-irl
result for Button though!
Disappointed about Webber 