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How would you rate Spyker's season so far?
10 0 (0%)
9 0 (0%)
8 0 (0%)
7 0 (0%)
6 1 (8.3%)
5 1 (8.3%)
4 1 (8.3%)
3 2 (16.7%)
2 4 (33.3%)
1 3 (25%)
Total Votes: 12
Spyker Ferrari
Topic Started: Jul 12 2007, 08:32 AM (306 Views)
Paul_Murtagh
Member Avatar
Chief Engineer
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Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team

Christijan Albers (NED) - removed as of 10/7/07
Adrian Sutil (GER)

Spyker
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Poles: 0
Points: 0

TPL Rating: 4 out of 10

The Spyker team entered F1 with a team that was under it's third different ownership in 4 years. As Jordan they were capable of upsetting the order of the big teams before they declined. As Midland they were regularly at the back of the grid, and this trend seems to have continued under the Spyker ownership. Although they seem to have a better structure than Midland ever did, they don't seem to have moved forward and look rooted to the bottom for the rest of the season.

Christijan Albers has been a huge disappointment this season. Although he managed to beat Patrick Friesacher at Minardi, he was matched by Doornos, then equally matched by Monteiro at Midland last season. Albers saving grace was the purchase of the team by the Dutchman Michel Mol, who wanted a Dutch driver in his team. But it hasn't worked out, and after a string of poor performances, he was shown the door after the British GP.

Adrian Sutil came into F1 as a bit of an unknown to most F1 fans. He graduated from Japanese F3, and looked a bit out of his depth in his first few races, including crashing out of the Malaysia GP. But he has improved alot since then, and surprised everyone by topping the timesheets during a wet practice session at Monaco. Although it looks like he won't score points this season, he will surely continue to improve and out-perform the car
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John
Team Boss
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I gave them a 3.... a bit generous but as a rookie team that is as good as a 9 for a top team... <clap>
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safc_fan89
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safc_fan89
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I've given them a one, as they are the worst team on the grid, and I don't think that will change.
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RJHSaints
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Chief Engineer
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I'd actually give them a six, as they're only 2 and half seconds or so behind the leaders. Although they're the worst team on the grid, they also have a fitting budget, so I think to be relatively close to big spending teams such as Toyota and Honda is a reasonable achievement.

Sutil remains an unkown for me. I am not 100% convinced, although that isn't to say I don't think he has potential. However, Albers was unproven, and until he races against a proper yardstick (and stops crashing) he will not be anything more than potential for me. If Klien gets the Spyker seat with Albers having left and fails to live with Sutil, maybe we can start talking about him as a genuine prospect.

Albers wasn't as bad as some have said, beating Sutil occasionally, but he's no loss to F1 in my opinion. I think we may see him go down the road of some other ex-F1 drivers and go back to GP2, since he's still fairly young and may get another shot at F1.
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Red Andy
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Moderator
It's easy to discount Spyker as the worst team on the grid, but my view is that they have done a pretty good job keeping pace with Toro Rosso at least. Given that their budget is so small, it's good to see them performing - I think we can agree that they are more on the pace than Midland were last year. As for the drivers, as long as Sutil stops crashing he will go far (he needs lessons from Rosberg), and whoever replaces Albers will have to be a significant improvement if the team are to keep progressing. For this team I'm looking forward to next year to see what Mike Gascoyne can really do.
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