14/07/2004
NEWS STORY
As the media, once again, works itself into a frenzy as to who will drive the second WilliamsF1 in Germany, Mark Webber has gone on record as saying that it won't be him.
The moment it was revealed that Ralf Schumacher would be out for around 12 weeks, the same people that had previously reported secret tests for Jacques Villeneuve, were prophesizing that Mark Webber, already seemingly bound for Grove in 2005, would simply move a little earlier than planned.
WilliamsF1 didn't help matters by announcing that the replacement would be made on a race-by-race basis, while Ralf has further complicated the issue by revealing that he hopes to be back in action by Hungary.
At last week's F1 parade in London, Jaguar's Nav Sidhu assured pitpass that Webber is staying put and would not be replacing Schumacher this year, while it is well documented that in many ways the Australian is very happy with the Ford-owned team, and under the right circumstances would love to stay there, and eventually reap the rewards.
As for replacing Schumacher, Webber has told the Australian media that he will not be changing teams before the end of the season.
"As far as you can ever say anything in F1, I don't believe I will be in anything other than a Jaguar for the rest of the season," he told the Herald Sun. "They are great guys and I want to give them some reward and get some points on the board in the remainder of the season.
"We have had two solid races," he added, "and it would be nice to see it starting to pay off for the guys and our campaign really kicking off. We all deserve it because we have worked bloody hard."
As for the reports that have surfaced in the last couple of days claiming that Nick Heidfeld could be switching to WilliamsF1, where have we heard that story before?