Zonta to take Da Matta's spot

millencolin

millencolin

1,591
in one of the most bull**** calls of all time, toyota has decided to replace da matta with ricardo zonta..................which begs the question...WHY???

what has Da Matta done to get the boot, he hasnt been non-performing, definately on par with Panis (who keeps his spot), and now he has gotten the boot! go figure!

seriously, toyota have some real issues with their drivers, first, dumping Salo and Mcnish, Now booting out Da Matta for the test driver to take his spot.

at least we know which drivers seat Ralf is taking next year..

Da Matta heading back to champcars? perhaps Williams, stranger things have happened!! or Jordan, jag and Sauber, (i doubt Minardi).

Bull****
 
If this is true, I think it is justified. Da Matta has failed to justify his place. He has had mediocre qualifying performances compared to Panis, and hasnt covered himself in glory for large parts of the season.

I wont miss him.
 
When I saw Da Matta in his first F1 race he was ragged and untidy. It wasn't a surprise when he crashed. Four months down the line, he lead at Silverstone (albeit out of sequence), and was much-improved.

Since then, however, he has done nothing. Panis is faster and more consistent everywhere. I think it's a little harsh, especially since it's not likely that they're assessing Zonta as a potential race driver for '05, but I agree with Mike Rotch, insofar as Da Matta is currently wasting an F1 ride.
 
I'm not that surprised nor disappointed, I never thought much of da Matta and in all honesty I don't expect much more from Zonta, though he has been the only one to get pace out of the Toyota judging by Friday lap times.
 
Whilst da Matta has certainly failed to set the world on fire, particularly in his second year, I don't quite see what Zonta is likely to be able to achieve that da Matta couldn't. Zonta has failed to impress in any of his F1 races.

The only thing it will prove is that Toyota doesn't really know what it's doing with regard to drivers. Still there's always the hope that they might sign a good driver to partner Ralf next year.
 
"We revised our original plans after we reviewed the results of the last three grands prix. Ricardo Zonta consistently performed very well, as indeed he also did in the first half of the 2004 season. We believe it is fair to offer Ricardo the chance to show his potential in full race conditions, before we enter into the final step of our driver evaluation for the 2005 season."

Why not?
 
Yes, it seems justified. Da Matta was much better in a champcar anyway. Hopefully we can see him there is 05:tup:
 
I like him, he's a good driver but he hasn't done anything to justify him beiung there.
 
Yeah I know, hopefully he'll get a Minardi or Jordan seat next year.

@Hell Patrol - Ralf's injured and is still in contract with Williams untill the end of the season.
 
I'll guess we'll just have to see if Briscoe is "rubbish" or does have what it takes to be an F1 driver, right Giles?;)

First practice in hungary 8th, not so good in second practice though 21st but only .3 of Zonta
Lets see how the rest of the season go's:)
 

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