Nakajima Is Williams Race Driver For 2008

[Jem of the Shire 0]

Japan's Kazuki Nakajima will partner Nico Rosberg at Williams for the 2008 Formula One season.

Nakajima, 22, who made his debut for the team in the season-ending Brazil Grand Prix, spent the 2007 campaign as Williams test and reserve driver.

Rosberg staying at Williams next season appears to end speculation linking the German driver with a move to McLaren as Fernando Alonso's replacement.

That leaves Renault's Heikki Kovalainen as favourite to join McLaren.

Nakajima was handed his first drive after Alexander Wurz announced his immediate retirement from racing two weeks before the Grand Prix at Interlagos in October.

Team owner Frank Williams said: "Kazuki has impressed over the past year - he has the pace and right aptitude to develop into a competitive racer."

Nakajima added: "This is the crowning of a great year for me."

Nakajima, who has been a member of the Toyota Driver's Programme since 2003, was also named GP2 Series Rookie of the Year after finishing fifth in the championship this season

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well we all should've seen this coming really, as Nakajima is a Toyota boy, who came up through Toyota's young-driver-programme-thing, & obviously Williams get their engines from Toyota.

There are better options for Williams, eg Liuzzi, but this announcement is no surprise, this is how F1 works. If you want manufacturer engines, you have to do what your engine supplier tells you!

[JonnyWeir 0]

Let's hope the pit crew all wear shin pads.

[Karta 0]

You all also missing out that this confirms Rosberg for Williams in 2008. Meaning it will be a lot less likely Rosberg to go Mclaren. I wont say impossible altough as nearly anything can happen.

[Jem of the Shire 0]

You all also missing out that this confirms Rosberg for Williams in 2008. Meaning it will be a lot less likely Rosberg to go Mclaren. I wont say impossible altough as nearly anything can happen.

It was unlikely for Rosberg to leave anyway, Williams have got a super-duper-tight grip on him. It gives Heikki the all-clear to step into the silver arrows!

[goferrarigo 0]

You all also missing out that this confirms Rosberg for Williams in 2008. Meaning it will be a lot less likely Rosberg to go Mclaren. I wont say impossible altough as nearly anything can happen.

Frank and another guy have kept on repeating that Roseberg is not for sale. Yet the media will go on and on about how Mclaren will poach him...

[Fed up 0]

That appointment will have something to do with the Toyota Engines because nakajima is not worth a top line race seat

[Elizabeth Sterling 0]

Frank and another guy have kept on repeating that Roseberg is not for sale. Yet the media will go on and on about how Mclaren will poach him...

To be fair the last time Frank went on about a driver not being for sale that turned out to mean 'name the right price'.

[goferrarigo 0]

To be fair the last time Frank went on about a driver not being for sale that turned out to mean 'name the right price'.

But Button had to pay as well and i don't think Nico is that desperate...

[Jean Todt 4]

That appointment will have something to do with the Toyota Engines because nakajima is not worth a top line race seat

You should not write him off so fast dude.

[The Rumble Strip 0]

[bani_f1 0]

happy to see Nakajima driving for williams.But i am even more happy to see Nico not going to mclaren.

The only option for Mclaren is to hire Heikki.But then too he is a driver who won't settle for the No.2 status.

I am a bit vague about it,but i think Mclaren should hire Adrian if they really want someone to support Lewis.

[The Rumble Strip 0]

[Fed up 0]

You should not write him off so fast dude.

His career to date can be found here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuki_Nakajima

And some argue Lewis had an easy path to F1

[Rainmaster 7]

That appointment will have something to do with the Toyota Engines because nakajima is not worth a top line race seat

Remember how Massa used to drive? Nakajima just needs refining, his racecraft isn't too bad (he can overtake) and he can be very quick. Give him time, Rosberg will no doubt trash him this season, but he will get closer to him towards the end, just in time for the Japanese GP.

[Max Mosley 2]

There are better options for Williams, eg Liuzzi, but this announcement is no surprise, this is how F1 works. If you want manufacturer engines, you have to do what your engine supplier tells you!

Yes what a joke. But then you insist on keeping teams, and they will always make decisions like this, in their own interests rather than ours.

That appointment will have something to do with the Toyota Engines because nakajima is not worth a top line race seat

Of course. Yet another (dangerous) asian, dead weight, pay driver.

happy to see Nakajima driving for williams.But i am even more happy to see Nico not going to mclaren.

The only option for Mclaren is to hire Heikki.But then too he is a driver who won't settle for the No.2 status.

I am a bit vague about it,but i think Mclaren should hire Adrian if they really want someone to support Lewis.

They don't.

Remember how Massa used to drive? Nakajima just needs refining, his racecraft isn't too bad (he can overtake) and he can be very quick. Give him time, Rosberg will no doubt trash him this season, but he will get closer to him towards the end, just in time for the Japanese GP.

This is no reason for him to have an F1 ride. As Fed Up says, Hamilton is said to have had it easy, but McLaren still made him win the championship in F3 and GP2 before giving him his drive.

[Rainmaster 7]

Of course. Yet another (dangerous) asian, dead weight, pay driver.

This is no reason for him to have an F1 ride. As Fed Up says, Hamilton is said to have had it easy, but McLaren still made him win the championship in F3 and GP2 before giving him his drive.

There is a reason, it's called Toyota. Let's wait and see what he does with his drive before judging him too harshly. I mean yeah he messed his pitstop up, but he didn't get flustered by that, and he overtook a lot of cars and set a faster lap than Rosberg*.

*Even if it was on cool fuel.

[Max Mosley 2]

The sport should be criticised when decisions like this are made. He's already brought the sport into disrepute when the best you can say about him is that he's Japanese! And he's already injured people. I notice that he was penalised for dangerous driving in GP2 too.

[The Rumble Strip 0]

[Rainmaster 7]

The sport should be criticised when decisions like this are made. He's already brought the sport into disrepute when the best you can say about him is that he's Japanese! And he's already injured people. I notice that he was penalised for dangerous driving in GP2 too.

Well maybe he will be another Sato/Ide type of racer, and Williams could of got someone better, but this is the way F1 is.

[aussief1 4]

To be fair the last time Frank went on about a driver not being for sale that turned out to mean 'name the right price'.

I've been thinking that all along.

Well maybe he will be another Sato/Ide type of racer, and Williams could of got someone better, but this is the way F1 is.

Yep

[Jez 0]

The only option for Mclaren is to hire Heikki.But then too he is a driver who won't settle for the No.2 status.

I am a bit vague about it,but i think Mclaren should hire Adrian if they really want someone to support Lewis.

Alonso the one who wanted number 1 status. Lewis is happy to compete on even terms. I think a Hami/Heikki pairing is fantastic if it happens. Heikki has proven himself to be quick, so we could see some great rivalry between two quick youngsters in an equally quick car minus the whinging. I really hope this happens!

[Silas Talbot 0]

We'll have to see how he does I suppose.

However, I find his appointment a little odd and certainly not the best driver Williams could have got.

For that matter, I couldn't work out why they gave Wurz a race seat. An excellent tester by all accounts but he was always going to struggle not having raced for so long, especially given that he never set the world alight first time around.

His long-term testing experience served Wurz well in the couple of 'weird' races we saw this season. He did very well because he knew how to stay calm and collected and keep the car on the road. He made good race-craft decisions which resulted in 1 podium and 13 points in 16 starts.

What do you guys think, will Kaz be able to beat 13 points next year? (Of course assuming the car isn't dramatically stronger or weaker)

For that matter, how many points do you see Nico getting? He had 20 this year, I'm thinking something in the range of 30 - 35. He ended the year with a good run... but then, so did Jensen in 2006 =)

[bani_f1 0]

What do you guys think, will Kaz be able to beat 13 points next year? (Of course assuming the car isn't dramatically stronger or weaker)

For that matter, how many points do you see Nico getting? He had 20 this year, I'm thinking something in the range of 30 - 35. He ended the year with a good run... but then, so did Jensen in 2006 =)

well i would guess kajaki will score somewhere around 10 points considering they have a good car and he doesnt make too many mistakes.

Nico I hope gets a fast and reliable car next season.And if he gets that i can say with aplomb that he will get somewhere around 50 points or even more.

But we still need to wait for the new spec car to test.then only we can confirm how will Nico and Kaja perform.

[The Rumble Strip 0]

[Autumnpuma 0]

There are better options for Williams, eg Liuzzi, but this announcement is no surprise, this is how F1 works. If you want manufacturer engines, you have to do what your engine supplier tells you!

Not quite. In my experience, Williams had a choice in who they ran...Frank isn't that cowed by Toyota...but he wouldn't have gotten a discount on the engines unless he ran Toyota's boy. Still, it's a sad state of affairs that the once great team of Williams is now no better than Jordan...likely with the same end result.