Alguersuari rejected a drive because he thought his 2012 seat was safe

[The Black Knight]

So what offer could that have been?
It was not Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren or Mercedes.
I am pretty sure it was not Lotus either.
Force India? No way.
Sauber? Again, no.

So what really good offer is he talking about?

I think mr.JA is talking, in fact, BS.

Could have been Caterham. They are set to join the midfield pack this year so if he were to replace Trulli I wouldn't have been too surprised and it wouldn't present a huge step backwards in his career either.

[SGWilko]

I think mr.JA is talking, in fact, BS.

Otherwise known as 'poetic license'

[SGWilko]

Could have been Caterham. They are set to join the midfield pack this year so if he were to replace Trulli I wouldn't have been too surprised.

Caterham wont replace Trulli, they have a wine cellar to fill.........

[Garry Walker]

Could have been Caterham. They are set to join the midfield pack this year so if he were to replace Trulli I wouldn't have been too surprised and it wouldn't present a huge step backwards in his career either.

TBH, I doubt that. Caterham would demand money from the driver coming in to replace Trulli and JA would not have had that and seemingly he considers himself above that.

[Malbec]

Refusing point blank seems a bit nonsensical to me when nothing was confirmed at STR.

See my post 18 on this thread about how options work. Once the team has fulfilled its obligations re: option the driver has no choice in the matter. If STR told him verbally we will retain you the driver has to assume they will. There is nothing to sign. The signing/written confirmation would have been done 2 years before.

Alguersuari claims he was given verbal confirmation at Brazil that he would be retained. Presumably he got the offer from another team around that time. He was only told in mid-December that he would be dropped because the team would not be taking up its option. This leaves about 2 months gap.

Now tell me, given the driver market at the time how he would have stalled the offer from another team for 2 months, especially given the large number of drivers with cash floating around? You say he should have, I don't disagree but what you keep omitting is HOW?

In the event by mid-December there were only 2 drives available. Williams and HRT, both requiring large amounts of sponsorship that no driver could have rustled up in mere weeks.

BTW I suspect the team that offered him the place was Lotus with two places available before the season ended.

[SGWilko]

agree to a verbal contract then only sign weeks or months after.

No stalling required, just enter negotiations so you have more than one option open to you......

[CNR]

you must remember that Caterham has a redbull link (Red Bull gear box) and they tried to place daniel ricciardo there so if there was an opening there i think redbull would have just moved Alguersuari there

[The Black Knight]

See my post 18 on this thread about how options work. Once the team has fulfilled its obligations re: option the driver has no choice in the matter. If STR told him verbally we will retain you the driver has to assume they will. There is nothing to sign. The signing/written confirmation would have been done 2 years before.

Alguersuari claims he was given verbal confirmation at Brazil that he would be retained. Presumably he got the offer from another team around that time. He was only told in mid-December that he would be dropped because the team would not be taking up its option. This leaves about 2 months gap.

Now tell me, given the driver market at the time how he would have stalled the offer from another team for 2 months, especially given the large number of drivers with cash floating around? You say he should have, I don't disagree but what you keep omitting is HOW?

In the event by mid-December there were only 2 drives available. Williams and HRT, both requiring large amounts of sponsorship that no driver could have rustled up in mere weeks.

BTW I suspect the team that offered him the place was Lotus with two places available before the season ended.

I agree with your points but he should still have entered negotiations even if they would have fallen through. If memory serves me, STR never officially confirmed to the world that he and Buemi were going to be retained for the season. With this in mind I would always be very iffy about my position as a driver as the team can drop you any minute. Also, though I have never been privvy to a drivers contract, it seems to me unlikley that an option wouldn't require some signing of another dotted line by the team to confirm it. It appears STR never did this and since we all know verbal agreements are not worth the paper they are written on, then an option is not really taken up until it is confirmed in writing, imo.

[Malbec]

I agree with your points but he should still have entered negotiations even if they would have fallen through.

Entered negotiations with who? STR?

If you're referring to the other team then the job offer would have been the result of negotiations. When you receive a job offer the terms are supplied and you either accept or reject it. Negotiating further without accepting is not possible. Stalling isn't really possible either given the drivers market at the time.

Further negotiations are really about sorting out the small print and is done by lawyers and accountants. Of course if these throw up something either party isn't happy with then you negotiate further before committing a signature.

That is my understanding of how high value individual job negotiations work. I'm not sure where what you say fits into that picture.

If memory serves me, STR never officially confirmed to the world that he and Buemi were going to be retained for the season. With this in mind I would always be very iffy about my position as a driver as the team can drop you any minute.

Sure you would, but I don't think you realise how tightly your hands would be tied at this point since Jaime claims he was given verbal confirmation STR would take up its option for 2012. STR can then do so at any time formally. What could Jaime do? He had a job offer from another team and had been told by his own team that they would keep him for 2012. Think about the possible penalties involved. If he had then signed up with the other team (negotiating further not being an option once the job has been offered) he could have easily found himself contracted to two teams for 2012 if STR then formally confirmed its option. He would have been taken to the cleaners by one or both teams and liable to pay substantial compensation.

Look at Liuzzi both for 2011 and 2012. For 2011 he had a contract with FI which the team unilaterally tore up. For 2012 he had a contract with HRT which again the team unilaterally tore up. I'm sure he received some compensation from both teams but ultimately this is a buyers market and teams are pretty free to do what they will with their drivers except perhaps the big names at the top. The problem with your argument is that it assumes the drivers have the power over the teams when this is clearly not the case for guys like Jaime.

But going back to my previous post, you've still not addressed exactly what Jaime could have done to stall negotiations with the 'other team' when there plenty of other drivers floating around gunning for that drive.

[The Black Knight]

Entered negotiations with who? STR?
If you're referring to the other team then the job offer would have been the result of negotiations. When you receive a job offer the terms are supplied and you either accept or reject it. Negotiating further without accepting is not possible. Stalling isn't really possible either given the drivers market at the time.
Further negotiations are really about sorting out the small print and is done by lawyers and accountants. Of course if these throw up something either party isn't happy with then you negotiate further before committing a signature.
That is my understanding of how high value individual job negotiations work. I'm not sure where what you say fits into that picture.

Your understanding is different to my my own experience in negotiating jobs. I have had plenty of job offers on the table to me (not F1 drive offers obviously) for which I have negotiated. That is the way it works. An offer is just that, an offer. It's not a ready made contract. The contract details need to be worked out after. This can take a while. If time runs out and STR haven't officially confirmed in the meanwhile then so be it, the negotiations have fallen through but at least you've done everything you can to get a drive. The way STR handled it was completely inappropriate but you never do yourself any favours by refusing an offer straight away.

Sure you would, but I don't think you realise how tightly your hands would be tied at this point since Jaime claims he was given verbal confirmation STR would take up its option for 2012. STR can then do so at any time formally. What could Jaime do? He had a job offer from another team and had been told by his own team that they would keep him for 2012. Think about the possible penalties involved. If he had then signed up with the other team (negotiating further not being an option once the job has been offered) he could have easily found himself contracted to two teams for 2012 if STR then formally confirmed its option. He would have been taken to the cleaners by one or both teams and liable to pay substantial compensation.
Look at Liuzzi both for 2011 and 2012. For 2011 he had a contract with FI which the team unilaterally tore up. For 2012 he had a contract with HRT which again the team unilaterally tore up. I'm sure he received some compensation from both teams but ultimately this is a buyers market and teams are pretty free to do what they will with their drivers except perhaps the big names at the top. The problem with your argument is that it assumes the drivers have the power over the teams when this is clearly not the case for guys like Jaime.
But going back to my previous post, you've still not addressed exactly what Jaime could have done to stall negotiations with the 'other team' when there plenty of other drivers floating around gunning for that drive.

In all probability there was very little he could have done to avoid being without a drive but without written confirmation from STR he should not have refused any offer on the table, in my opinion, but in principle started negotiations given that his position was uncertain. This is what I would have done in his position. As I said above, if the negotiations then fell through so be it, but at least you've exhausted all your options to the best of your ability.

I understand why he handled it the way he did but I imagine if he is ever in the same position again he won't be refusing another offer just a quickly or at least if he does refuse one he might say "No, that's not enough money" but I might be willing to accept a different offer etc. My pint is there were plenty of options available other than point blank refusal at the time.