2014 Silly Season

[Wasted Talent]

Could be good for both Massa and Williams. Seems to put Maldonado in the prime position for the Lotus seat now...

[dj_bytedisaster]

Massa signs for Williams.

Good move I think - hopefully they can design a half decent car next year.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111242

YESSSS !!!

[steveaki13]

Good for Massa and Williams. I hope they score lots of points next season!

Also, Kimi is out for the next two GPS due to back surgery. Does this mean Valsecchi is in?

I assume so.

Although some times teams by pass their 3rd driver and look for an out of work old boy.

[RS]

Autosport.com reporting the McLaren seat is Magnussens'

So what happens to Perez? Back to Sauber and Gutierrez gets the boot?

[truefan72]

Autosport.com reporting the McLaren seat is Magnussens'

So what happens to Perez? Back to Sauber and Gutierrez gets the boot?

yup, i think thats is what's going to happen. I think gutierrez stays as the 3rd driver


As to Massa, I'm surprised any team would sign him. I don't expect much from him in 2014. Her will suck all the way up until the last 5 races when it is clear his seat might be in trouble, then he will put in one or two good performances quell his doubters, and provide some fools gold to sign him for 2015, where the cycle repeats itself.

I think Maldonado goes to Caterham and joins Kovalainen there, which is made possible by the PDSV money.

It is a shame we don't have 2 more F1 teams as was promised. Especially with the brand new 2014 regs in place, it would have been a perfect opportunity. if only a Gp2 team like Dams or ART or Russian Time could be elevated to an f1 team.

[Tazio]

Happy for Felipe, I hope he has a good year!

[Koz]

As to Massa, I'm surprised any team would sign him. I don't expect much from him in 2014. Her will suck all the way up until the last 5 races when it is clear his seat might be in trouble, then he will put in one or two good performances quell his doubters, and provide some fools gold to sign him for 2015, where the cycle repeats itself.

Is Massa brining in any money? Experian want a Brazilian?
Other than that, I can't see any reason anyone would bother with him.

[Robinho]

Massa, for us, will provide a useful benchmark for Bottas, we know he is pretty quick, on a par if not better than maldanado in my opinion. So if he keeps up with, or beats Massa, then we have a decent idea how good he really is. These comparisonsa re always interesting, either wen a rookie steps up to a big team, or an established driver drops down to a lesser tea,. As for Massa in general, he is a known quantitty, he is a race winner, albeit a way back now, but has shown this year, he still has the speed to keep Alonso honest on occasions. I'd take that over Pastor any day, although I think there are better options out there, maybe not available to Williams these days

[henners88]

I did feel Perez deserved another season at McLaren seeing as the car has been a dog this year. Its hard for a relatively unproven driver to prove himself in a troublesome car IMO. Then again its refreshing to see McLaren be ruthless in order to seek success. Magnussen is a promising talent just like his father was, so it'll be interesting to see what he brings. It was no secret Perez caused tension on a few occasions with his wheel banging duels on his team mate, but then again Jenson I feel has under performed this season too. Kevin has massive pressure on him and I hope he can cope with that. McLaren evidently want instant success and will not have much patience for a new driver settling in, plus he will possibly be compared with Hamilton's entry into the team.

It'll be exciting to see what Kevin can do, but I also wonder what will happen to Sergio. Back to Sauber? I hope this isn't another Heikki where he'll slip to the back of the grid and then off the end completely.

PS: Interesting fact... Jan drove for McLaren Mercedes in its first year and Kevin will drive for them in its last.

[philipbain]

I don't understand why people are so quick to rubbish Maldonado, after all, he won the GP2 title before graduating to F1 and won a race, in a Williams! True, the planets might have aligned for Maldonado's win in Spain, but if you win a GP in a car that is not the quickest on the grid then this is usually the case anyhow but IMO you can't win a GP and not be a decent driver. Yes, he has backing which has undoubtedly eased his way to F1 but without talent he wouldn't even be on the grid.

Same goes with Massa, yes, he has underperformed against Alonso, but I feel that if you put the rest of the drivers in F1 against Alonso in the same team that few would do as well, perhaps only Raikonnen, Vettel and Hamilton could live with that sort of pace, add in the factor that IMO Alonso is the most complete driver on the grid (combining experience, dependability, race craft and pace) and even they would struggle over the balance of an entire season, as we will undoubtedly see when Raikonnen re-joins Ferrari next season. I wish Massa all the best at Williams, lets hope his knowledge and experience can make him a good team leader as Williams starts a new Mercedes powered post-Coughlan era.

As for Perez and McLaren, I think McLaren have come to realise something that I suspected all along, that he was somewhat flattered by a 2012 Sauber that punched above it's weight, the fact that he wasnt definitively superior over Kobayashi (a competent and entertaining battler of a driver but certainly not a top team talent) is what did it for me, I remember thinking at the time that McLaren signed him that it could be a massive mis-step, however I was hoping for Sergio's sake that being in a McLaren would perhaps take his driving to the next level. Unfortunately McLaren's car this season has been uncompetitive which made a difficult task near enough impossible, F1 isnt very forgiving at the best of times and ultimately McLaren are looking into the medium to long term and rightly believe that Magnussen is a potential star.

As for how all this will shake out, Perez back to Sauber seems logical, the Mexican sponsors will certainly want that. As for Maldonado, it isnt clear where he'll end up, Lotus have had the green light from thier new investor to sign Hulkenburg and Grosjean has been more or less confirmed and richly deserves the seat, for me he is the most improved driver of 2013. That leaves Force India as the most desirable destination for Maldonado, with Caterham another possibility, though their lack of competitiveness is likely to be an issue as Pastor publically said he would rather not compete than be uncompetitive. Intreresting times indeed in the F1 driver market.