I am seeing many signs in the press that Sauber is in a big financial trouble. Who could have thought? This may affect their driver decisions. They will probably need to hire someone will solid financial backing.
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I am seeing many signs in the press that Sauber is in a big financial trouble. Who could have thought? This may affect their driver decisions. They will probably need to hire someone will solid financial backing.
It seems that Ricciardo to Red Bull is a done deal (despite the latest that Kimi is still in the hunt), and the Kimi to Ferrari rumours won't go away, which is beginning to make me think they may be real. That puts Massa out of the seat, and probably out of the sport.
Torro Rosso will likely have 1, possibly 2 seats to fill, depending on what they want to do with Vergne, so someone like Da Costa or Sainz may make the step up.
Replacing Kimi probably saves Grosjean, who I think has done enough to retain the seat, for me Hulkenburg would be a good fit at Lotus and would free up a seat for Sirotkin and all his Russian cash at Sauber. I would also like t see maybe Alguesari given a chance at Lotus, I think he still has something to offer.
McLaren, Force India, Mercedes stay unchanged, the guys at the back could do anything, dpending on how much money they need
So, apparently now Alonso is trying to get Santander to move to Lotus...
Kimi doesn't care about money, all he wants is Renault?
I hadn't heard about the Santander thing... interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by Koz
And to quote something I posted earlier:
I'm not sure if Kimi still has options and is weighing them, or if the money/contract issues aren't working. At some point we will find out I guess.Quote:
Originally Posted by airshifter
The Santander/Alonso/Lotus speculation can be filed under "2 + 2 = 73"
Silly season has been pretty strange recently. In fact I have got tired of it and don't take it really seriously. Alonso to Red Bull? Räikkönen to anywhere? Yeah, whatever. Will get a headache if you try to think too much about it. Just let's wait and see what happens.
Thinking logically... I don't think Alonso moves anywhere. Kimi is a bit tricky. I didn't think Ferrari would make sense for him, but he can be a mysterious driver on the grid, so who knows.
Also wondering whether di Resta or Hülkenberg could possibly get a graduation to Lotus or Ferrari team.
A very optimistic view on Ricciardo it has to be said. To be frank, in my view Ricciardo is yet to prove himself on the kind of level Webber proved. Like Ricciardo, Webber also had very impressive qualifying sessions early in his career, particularly in Jaguar. And in 2003 Webber had a very impressive season on the whole, collecting many 6th and 7th place finishes. I am yet to see Ricciardo possessing that kind of consistency.Quote:
Originally Posted by anfield5
To be frank, nothing I have seen gives the impression that Ricciardo can cut it amongst the big boys.
A couple of good qualifying sessions are not enough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parabolica
You may be right. When a seat opens at a top team, I often think about how Ayrton Senna got into McLaren seat in 1988. He spent a year racing at Toleman and then three at Lotus, won numerous podiums (including three at Toleman) and races and only then he got a seat in McLaren. Schumacher also put out some phenomenally good performance at Benetton before moving to Ferrari.
Now, what did Ricciardo do? Raikkonen is a far more deserving of RBR's seat. One can argue that STR cars are not fast, but whatever Ricciardo did at STR still does not stand out a lot. How about at least one podium or a front row start position? To me, a more logical progression would be to see Raikkonen move to RBR, and Ricciardo to Lotus. Despite a few nice races, today's Lotus cars are about on the same level as the original Team Lotus in the mid-80s. They're a great proving ground for up and coming pilots.
To me it's hard to judge a driver based on his performances at STR, they (the team) seem to be the most inconsistent team out there. Usually they have a few races where they are extremely competitive and then they suddenly fall off. The drivers are never comfortable in the team because there is always the potential axe hanging over them, so to me the team is a total failure.Quote:
Originally Posted by zako85
I've had the same thoughts for a while now. As you mention, it is hard to get on with the job when you don't know what tomorrow holds for you. Their policy of giving as many young drivers as possible a chance is a good one, but it does also affect them. But, they did launch Seb into the limelight and he's never looked back :)Quote:
Originally Posted by DexDexter
I agree, he has not stood to me that much, like Alonso, Kimi & Seb did in his early career.Quote:
Originally Posted by jens
True enough, its going to be a tough step up that could end up in a Webber style collapse.Quote:
Originally Posted by Parabolica
True enough, I mean Seb is the perfect example of how Toro Rosso can work for Red Bull. Thus youngsters need oppotunities and he has a great chance, he musnt let it slip away.Quote:
Originally Posted by 555-04Q2
A short biography of Daniel Ricciardo:
Karting from age 9 to 16 with victories in numerous state and national championships.
Drove Formula Ford in Perth, Australia.
Winner of Formula BMW Asia Pacific Scholarship.
Competed in Formula BMW Asian Championship, finishing third in the series with 2 race wins, 1 pole position and 12 podium finishes in 19 starts.
Formula BMW World Final, Valencia, Spain, finishing fifth with Fortec team. Presented with Outstanding Achievement Award by BMW Motorsport chief Dr Mario Thiessen.
Italian Formula Renault 2.0 Championship with RP Motorsport.
Selected for Red Bull Junior Team 2008
Formula Renault 2.0 West European Championship series winner - 8 race wins, 9 pole positions, 11 podium finishes.
Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup series runner-up - 6 race wins, 5 poles, 7 podiums
British Formula 3 Championship winner with Carlin Motorsport - 7 race wins, 6 poles, 12 podiums
Having followed in the footsteps of the likes of Ayrton Senna in winning the British F3 title, I was chosen by Red Bull Racing to participate in an end-of-season F1 test for rookies at Jerez in Spain, where I clocked the fastest time of the test. My performance earned me the role as test and reserve driver for Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2010.
World Series by Renault 3.5 Championship with Tech 1 - series record 8 pole positions, 4 race wins - including the prestigious support race at the Monaco Grand Prix - and 8 podiums to be overall runner-up.
Reserve driver Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso
I began the year driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Friday morning F1 practice sessions at GPs and racing again in the World Series by Renault 3.5 Championship for the ISR team, winning the Monaco Grand Prix support race for the second consecutive time.
Mid-year I was elevated to F1 race driver with the HRT team, for which I drove in 11 GPs. While gaining valuable GP racing experience, I continued my duties with Red Bull Racing, including many hours "driving" its F1 simulator at the team's headquarters in Milton Keynes, England.
Red Bull Racing named me in December as a full-time race driver for Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2012.
(lifted from DR website)
Additional:
Ricciardo made his track debut at the wheel of a Formula One car, when he tested for Red Bull Racing at the young drivers test at Circuito de Jerez over three days, from 1–3 December 2009. On the final day of testing he clocked the fastest time of the test by over a second. This placed him as the only driver to go into the 1:17 bracket. Red Bull Racing's team manager Christian Horner suggested that Ricciardo may replace his 2010 World Series team-mate Hartley as the team's test and reserve driver. As it turned out, Ricciardo and Hartley were to share test and reserve duties for both Red Bull, and sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso until the latter was removed from the Red Bull Junior team.
On 11 November 2010, Ricciardo was confirmed as the single driver to represent Red Bull Racing at the end-of-season young drivers test at the Yas Marina Circuit, on 16–17 November. At the announcement, he commented, "I can't wait to get another crack at driving Red Bull Racing's amazing Formula One car." Ricciardo continued to show his one-lap prowess and dominated the event. With his fastest lap being 1.3 seconds faster than 2010 World Champion Sebastian Vettel's qualifying lap the Saturday before. (lifted from Wikipedia - my emphasis)
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So, not really done enough to impress? Doesn't deserve a crack at a decent car? Hmm...
And no spurious comparisons to SV - the STR car he had the fortune to inherit was a Newey car, and he is also a prodigious talent (This is high praise from me, as I don't rate him as a racer, but he can cut very fast laps with no interference).
I think any team might look at DR's history and (stupid financial concerns aside) snap him up! The usual disclaimer applies here :vader:
Not as good a CV as Liuzzi had pre-F1, and look how that turned out.
It was obvious Vettel had quality, not so with Ricciardo.
Comparing lap times on different days, with different tyres? Please forgive me, but that is a spurious comparison in itself?
Back to the topic of the thread.
Will there be any opportunity for this years GP2 front-runners?
It was a shame for Sam Bird that he was the innocent victim of Mercedes GP's tyre-test punishment. I can't see anywhere for the current front-runners other than maybe Marrussia though.
Speaking of which.. is there any hope still left for Massa in F1 if Raikkonen moves to Ferrari? I heard he could be a good fit for Lotus. Any ideas?
I seriously think Massa lost something with the accident, because each season he has been incapable of putting in more than 3-4 strong drives and has big problems with any kind of consistency, more so than ever before. Hülkenberg fits Lotus better.
I see retirement for Massa. By F1 standards he isn't really that old yet (32), but then again Ralf Schumacher retired at 32 and Häkkinen at 33 too. Villeneuve got booted from BAR and out of F1 (though for one season only) at 32. All of them left after an underwhelming season.
Massa's only hope is bringing some money back to Sauber.Other than that I see him leaving F1.
I think you are correct re the aftermath of the accident, I don't think many (if any) of us quite realise how bad the accident was and how much it possibly damaged Massa's psyche and confidence.Quote:
Originally Posted by jens
The crucial break in Massa's career wasn't the accident, it was the 2010 German Grand Prix. He started 2010 with two podium positions, so he didn't lose much of his speed in the aftermath of the accident IMHO. What completely destroyed him was being ordered back from the lead, even though team orders were forbidden at the time. He never recovered from that humiliation. Ferrari broke his will in that race. Since then he knew that he would never be allowed to win a race again as long as Fernando was still in the race.Quote:
Originally Posted by jens
Well James Calado's already been confirmed as Force India's new reserve and test driver, as for Bird, I think that him missing the tyre test wount harm him too much and of the current crop in GP2, those 2 are probably the ones with the biggest potential.Quote:
Originally Posted by Parabolica
Mitch Evans is one for the future though but despite his young age, he's still managed 4 podium finishes in his first GP2 season so far, not bad going
The main issue though in GP2, GP3 and Renault 3.5 is very worrying if youre a follower of Italian drivers, In all 3 championships, there is currently only ONE full time driver racing, Giovanni Venturini, and he in GP3 at the moment is only 14th overall, the only other current Italian driver is Vittorio Ghirelli in GP2, and he's currently 30th without a point yet, it makes you wonder what the heck has happened to Italian drivers, Its a far cry from the late 80's when If I remember there was one Grand Prix when nearly half the grid was Italian
Go Prince Carlos ! :andrea:
Isn't this the point though, that Vettel will not be challenged TOO hard by Ricciardo? What they want is someone like Webber, quick enough to get solid points and threaten Ferrari/Mercedes/McLaren but not quite quick enough over a season to threaten their Wunderkind.Quote:
Originally Posted by Parabolica
It looks increasingly likely that Sirotkin will be in the second Sauber seat, the other drive will probably be up for grabs if as suspected the Mexican money switches to McLaren for next season.
It sounds increasingly likely that Button will stay at McLaren, which leaves Kimi either back at Ferrari or staying with Lotus. Hopefully Hulkenburg will get whichever seat Kimi does not.
I'm just not sure Kimi is a Ferrari type person really. Probably a more interesting situation would have been Kimi back to McLaren, Button to Ferrari and Hulkenburg at Lotus.
But in the end I guess there won't be many changes and both Button and Raikkonen will stay where they are and hopefully Hulkenburg will go to Ferrari.
I really hope Ferrari don't keep Massa. Nothing against the guy, but he hasn't produced any really inspiring performances for ages.
I can see Sutil ending up at Sauber with Medion money if Force India go for Calado next year.
I am curious where would he go next. It would be nice to see him at some kind of top level racing events, like racing LMP cars.Quote:
Originally Posted by steveaki13
If Ferrari's team order is what destroyed Massa, then perhaps moving to another Formula 1 team that would treat him as their first driver would bring back hid mojo? It would be interesting to see him switching places with Raikkonen.
The Ferrari family like Massa immensely. I doubt they would drop him for someone else while Fernando is there.Quote:
Originally Posted by zako85
To be honest, I never felt Massa had spectacular speed after the accident except the odd occasion. Yes, he got two podiums in early 2010, but neither of them were spectacular drives. He has got podiums later too (2010, 2012, 2013). Also it is worth noting Alonso was new to the team, so still adapting to the car, yet outraced Massa immediately in Bahrain. Vettel got a car problem and others weren't in contention, so Felipe was second. In Australia Alonso finished right behind Massa, despite having an accident in T1 and dropping to the back of the field.Quote:
Originally Posted by dj_bytedisaster
Standard Massa drives of the last 3-4 years, just Ferrari happened to be pretty good in the early part of 2010. And by Germany Massa had dropped behind Alonso in points by 67-98 already anyway. And that was despite Alonso making several mistakes and having the biggest period of underperfoming of his Ferrari career.
Perhaps the best drives of Massa since 2010 have been either China 2011 or Japan 2012.
I think the suggestion that Massa could keep driving for Ferrari in WEC or something like that, sounds sensible.
I agree really, I think driving for Ferrari in WEC would be a sensible decision.Quote:
Originally Posted by jens
Meanwhile seen at FP2:
http://images.f-e-n.net/134494/5721d...87c4dd327b.jpg
:confused: :s tareup:http://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gif :p :
Sky reported that on Jean Alesi on French TV said that he heard Alonso saying on team radio after qualy today (in Italian): "you are stupid, you are all stupid, you ruined my qualifying." If that proves to be accurate once all the Chinese whispers are unwound, then maybe Massa's seat is safe. If Alonso wants out, I can't see Ferrari replacing both drivers in the same year.
What I think he said was "Boys, you are a bunch of idiots, my god" and “You're genius". Frustration from Zo, he will apologize, and the team will get over it methinks
Edit:He also may have meant to say collectively they are idiots, includng himself. :uhoh:
Perhaps we should wait untill we hear the entire transmission :bulb:
The last one who said something like this was fired before the last race. His name: Alain Prost.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Alca-Tazizzle
Or Zo is in complete denial :confused:
Italian GP: Fernando Alonso denies being angry at Ferrari tactics - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com
"yuz are a bunch of donkeys" :laugh:
Alonso:
Damage control?Quote:
Fernando was clearly annoyed that a negative message that showed him criticising the team, when the plan for a tow appeared to be unravelling, had been played on TV.
“In Q3 we had Vergne in the middle out of Turn 4,” he said. “And then I was ready to take the slipstream of Vergne, because he seemed to want to follow Felipe at that stage. So I prepared the tyres a little bit, and then he let me by, and I had no one in front.
“So I said on the radio Felipe is too far away now if we want to do this, so they slowed down him and he was waiting a little bit in Parabolica, so we started the last attempt more or less the same distance as always.
“I just have to say thank you to the team and thank you to Felipe again for this tenth that helped me to do the last attempt in Q3. They didn’t put the last radio message when I said thank you to the team, thank you to Felipe, it was perfect at the end.
Fernando Alonso:
I am clearly not in favour of lambasting drivers, when they are in the heat of the moment. Many drivers have been bashed for it. Heck, and while they are there inside all the actions, people on forums have been saying all kinds of things in the heat of the moment. :p :
I would be very surprised if the Alonso-Ferrari relationship breaks down. Alonso has nowhere else to go (read: a very competitive team with long-term future) and Ferrari would struggle to find a replacement to a driver, who consistently brings so good results. Alonso can get emotional and is frustrated that YET again he is not going to win the World Championship, but outside the heat of the moment he will understand that the best and only option is to deal with it and keep driving for Ferrari, even if it doesn't bring desired results.
Alonso's whinging just happened to come out in the perfect time.
Not that long ago he, in public was critical of his teams effort and this weekend he started with a PR friendly "hugs and kisses approach" Had it been pretty much any weekend other than this, it wouldn't be an issue at all.
If the team is smart they will copy Lotus and print out a batch of Ferrari t-shirts with Alonso's comments ;)
Ferrari aanounced that they will be making an annoucm ent on the 2nd driver shortly
I think with the Huklkenberg p3 he just might have secured that 2nd ferrari seat
Unless kimi swoops in
to me it is down to those 2
Either way Hulk is sitting pretty
If kim goes to ferrari, he will surely join Renault
If kimi stays at Renault, he will join Ferrari
There is an extreme outside chance that kobayashi might get that 2nd ferrari seat
Well it's sad to see that Massa's season appears to have fizzled out after such a strong and encouraging start. I was never a huge fan of the guy but his early season was great to see and it was a feel-good moment for him to get the podium from 9th on the grid at Barcelona.
How come his season managed to slip away again after 1 mistake in Monaco? Everyone makes mistakes. Its as if he's being too hard on himself; he was doing very well.
But Hulkenberg has to now get a top drive somewhere. He's just too talented not to. Amazing to find out his result today!