Hulkenberg loses Williams seat

[ratonmacias]

remember Williams has always been about getting the best car they can they ditched Mansell and Hill after WDC years. so if you think a lucky pole was going to save Nico you were too hopeful. Rubens brings a lot of feedback and expertise to the package. and while nico might be a faster driver with a sorted car Rubens can actually make the williams faster. not just drive it faster.

[wedge]

This is stupid by Williams, ok so they need money from a pay driver next year, thats fine, but they kep Ruebens in the other seat?

Now Ruebens is a great driver, but surely he is at the end of his career? With Nico you have a big future, with Ruebens what do you have? Really?

Testing ban and Rubens has the experience of developing a car. This means there is far greater onus on driver feedback now that Fridays are effectively test days.

[Mia 01]

I´m sad for Nico but glad that they didn´t fired Rubens also.

Sometimes you can wonder what they are up to, winning?

[N. Jones]

and according to Autosport, Williams wanted to sign him on a multi year deal that included selling him to HRT for next year. They just have not got the money have they?

Joe Saward's blog said something to this affect to - move Hulkenberg to HRT. I guess he would stay there until Rubens retires.

Sadly these moves are for money reasons but what else can they do?

[Stuartf12007]

Rubens should have retired, he has had long enough in F1 its time for new blood to have ago.

Robens will never win, why keep him.

Hulkenberg deserves better.

[christophulus]

Can't see where Hulkenberg is going to go, his options are fairly limited. Strange decision not to keep him, especially as Williams are apparently turning a profit every year.

[Cooper_S]

Rubens should have retired, he has had long enough in F1 its time for new blood to have ago.

Robens will never win, why keep him.

Hulkenberg deserves better.

I dislike Rubens and would have been happy had he been shown the door when Honda went, however that is just me being petty, based on his performance in the last two years even I accept he is earning his keep.

[Mark]

Rubens could have easily been World Champ in 2009 so he's not done yet!

[truefan72]

It's easy to criticize if it isn't you who has to pay the bills.

If bills are the problem then cut Rubens

Well, I'd say Ross Brawn was thinking the same, only to find sometimes even a paid driver gets back to front

It's a sad reflection of how things are with Williams, and says more about them than Hulkenberg.

As for Hulkenberg, he's demonstrated he's got the talent to be at the front, so I'm sure his story is not over. If I was Massa I'd be nervous, the Hulk is just the type of talented, young, eager and cheap number 2 that Ferrari like to partner their star drivers with. Okay, Barrichello wasn't that young, but Massa himself and Irvine were given serious promotion by getting their Ferrari drive when they did.

excellent post. My thoughts exactly.
Hulkenberg would be welcomed by Ferrari. The only drawback would be Alonso who would go nuts with a young very fast GP2 winning teammate

Can't see where Hulkenberg is going to go, his options are fairly limited. Strange decision not to keep him, especially as Williams are apparently turning a profit every year.

Ferrari - massa could be given a golden parachute and Hulkenberg Welcomed
Massa would then sign for Virgin or maybe even lotus

Lotus - if they were smart, they would sign him and bid Trulli adieu
Mercedes 3rd Driver, I year of tutorship under Michael and then ready to go in 2012. To me this is the most likely scenario

Renault - a tough call, since I like petrov and he is also bringing in cash. But If circumstances fall the right way we could actually see petrov to ferrari and Hulk at Renault

RBR - a canny move my RBR would be to sign this guy and move Webber or have him as a 3rd driver and in 2012 get webber's seat.

[truefan72]

Rubens could have easily been World Champ in 2009 so he's not done yet!

sure could have. and perhpas that was his swan song.

The only reason I see them keeping rubens for is if he has some iron clad contract that guarantees him his 6.9 million even if he gets fired. It is odd that RBR pay their drivers half of what they pay Rubens and I doubt those two are more critical to the development of that RBER car. If you do your job right then the engineers will build a good car and the drivers will provide some feedback but not be so critical to the development that you would pay them 6.9million and get rid of a future great driver. Williams will regret this day for years to come. Who knows. This team might even get sold in the near future based on their desperate moves.