Silly Season Homes in on Sauber Team
By Jamie Makin
July 13 2004
If Williams-BMW is the epicenter of all silly season rumours at the moment, then the aftershocks have now begun to hit team SAUBER PETRONAS. Last week Formula One's worst kept secret was confirmed. Ralf Schumacher will leave Williams after six years for a new three-year deal with Toyota.
Jaguar's Mark Webber has long been thought to be top on Williams' list to replace Juan-Pablo Montoya who is leaving for McLaren-Mercedes. Now that a second seat has opened at Williams, Fisichella has topped the list of over a dozen prospects. There is no doubt that last weekend's performance in Silverstone, where he started 19th and finished 6th, has made teams stand up and take notice of him. "He had a fantastic race," commended Patrick Head, Director of Engineering at Williams. "A strong race, a strong finish and strong driver obviously."
Silverstone was not Fisichella's only highlight of the season. He performed a similar feat at the Nurburgring starting 18th and finishing 6th, as well as in Montreal starting 11th and finishing 4th. He has easily outperformed teammate Felipe Massa for most of the year and collected 13 of the team's 18 championship points. Williams are known to be after a proven and experienced racer and Fisichella clearly fits the bill.
There is also growing speculation that Renault might be bidding for Fisichella's services as well. Jarno Trulli is believe to have an offer from Toyota and Renault are unlikely to retain him after his last lap blunder in France that allowed Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello to snatch the final podium spot away from him. Fisichella drove for the Renault team's previous incarnation of Benetton from 1998 thru 2001 before heading to Jordan.
Although Fisichella is in the first year of a two-year contract with SAUBER, he has an "escape clause" that would allow him to leave if a top team made him an offer. There is some speculation that says Peter Sauber has defined a "top team" as Ferrari, Williams or McLaren. As such, Renault would have to buy Fisichella out of his SAUBER contract. If this were to be the case, SAUBER would certainly benefit from the influx of funds to put towards another top driver.
The fact that Fisichella is being sought after by several teams comes as no surprise. There have been whisperings about this possibility for the past month. Confirming these suspicions is the fact that SAUBER appears to be actively investigating drivers for next season. Given that Felipe Massa is almost certain to stay for the second year of his contract, it is easy to deduce that Fisichella is the driver who will be replaced.
The two names that have come to the top of SAUBER's list are McLaren's David Coulthard and BAR-Honda's test driver Anthony Davidson. Davidson looks to be the prime candidate at the moment. He has put in strong performances as BAR's third driver in Friday practice sessions and has impressed everyone with both his speed and consistency. "Ant" has made no secret that he is actively seeking a race drive next year and has approached SAUBER as well as several other teams already. His skill and enthusiasm would be an asset to SAUBER as they continue to advance towards the front of the grid.
David Coulthard has known since last season that he will be leaving McLaren-Mercedes after a nine-year tenure. He has 13 race wins to his credit, but has been widely criticised in recent years for not living up to his full potential. Still, the wealth of knowledge and experience he could bring to SAUBER would be of great value and would create a balanced partnership with the less experienced Felipe Massa. Coulthard recently plugged SAUBER as a possible destination next for year but is also believed to be in talks with Jaguar.
Another less likely candidate rumoured to have already spoken to SAUBER is Mexican star Mario Dominguez. Dominguez is currently racing for Herdez Competition in the American-based Champ Car World Series. In just three years there, he has claimed two wins and six podiums. He was named the series Rookie of the Year in 2002 and has shown steady improvement in each subsequent season. He enters the picture with SAUBER who are believed to be negotiating with one or more Mexican companies for a major sponsorship deal to replace Red Bull, should they decide to leave at the end of the year. Offering a race seat to Dominguez would make a prospective sponsorship deal to a Mexican firm much more attractive.
As we head towards the summer months and more time between races, the rumour mill will be heating up even more. Stay tuned for further developments on this story.