Hopefully the Quantum deal with Lotus doesn't fall through, and the loss of Hulkenberg. Nico's loss would weaken the strength of team Lotus drivers lineup, with a Maldonado appointment.
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Hopefully the Quantum deal with Lotus doesn't fall through, and the loss of Hulkenberg. Nico's loss would weaken the strength of team Lotus drivers lineup, with a Maldonado appointment.
I hope Heikki does well enough in the remaining two races for Lotus to get some interest from other teams. It seems Lotus asked Schumacher to drive for the rest of the season and he turned it down. I would have asked Heikki first simply because I feel he has more to offer at this stage.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula-one/24935646
If they had got The Shoe it would have been for publicity, nothing more. Would have been a pointless exercise!Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
McLaren have now confirmed Kevin Magnussen & Jenson Button for the 2014 season: http://tinyurl.com/ojuk2zj
This leaves the following seats unconfirmed:
Lotus F1 - both
Sauber - both
Force India - both
Catherham - both
Marussia - Bianchi confirmed, one seat unconfirmed
I feel sure that I read/saw that Grosjean had been (at least pretty much) confirmed for next season?Quote:
Originally Posted by philipbain
yupQuote:
Originally Posted by acescribe
Yes, you are right that Grosjean's manager / team boss has more or less confirmed it but with no official announcement I am not taking anything for granted, on that basis you could have confirmed Button and Perez at McLaren pre-Austin!Quote:
Originally Posted by acescribe
Just been thinking about the Perez situation. His options are limited in F1 and any option will be sponsorship dependant, I won't go over the F1 options, we all know which seats are available and the various manoeuvrings that have happened and indeed are likely to happen depending on who gets confirmed where and when.
An interesting development has left a top Indycar seat available, Dario Franchitti has been forced to retire with immediate effect as he has had one monumental accident too many and being 40 now he simply won't bounce back and the doctors were concerned that his injuries could leave him permanently disabled in later life. This leaves his seat vacant at Target Chip Ganassi Racing, one of the finest teams in the Indycar Championship. Wouldn't they (and more to the point Indycar as a whole) love to have Mexico's best known & arguably most talented current driver in thier car? The commercial possibilities are fantastic, the Indycar series happens in Mexico's time zone and i'm sure if demand dictated it they could find room for a round in Mexico (after all, CART / Champ Car raced in Mexico a lot before reunification for the 2008 season) too. For me, outside F1, this would make sense for everyone involved.
Lotus needs a driver to deliver podiums & wins in order to move up the constructors' standing.
With All due respect, Heikki is a GP winner & his vast experience is invaluable to a team.
That said, we still recalled Luca Badoa & to a lesser extent with De La Rosa & D'Ambrosio.
IMHO, Rubens is a plausible alternative. He is the most experience race driver in F1.
The only concern is his fitness; however, he will be extra motivated knowing Michael not taking up the offer.
The hiring of Magnussen is intriguing. Reminds me, when Rosberg, Hamilton and Kovalainen made their F1 debuts in teams, which were very highly rated at the time. But teams believed in their potential and that they could deliver even despite having a rookie season. The additional obstacle for Magnussen is that there is lack of testing these days. It took even Hülkenberg half a year to get up-to-speed back in 2010 in the Williams.
However, Magnussen is no paydriver and hired on pure merit, by a (potentially) top team. Fascinating. Looking forward to what he can do.
Pity for Pérez. To be frank, he always seemed a bit inconsistent, but not out-of-his-depth on F1 level. I think he would be a fine signing for a midfield team even regardless of the budget he brings.
But let's see, how does the driving seats money-go-round conclude this year with Hülkenberg being first in the queue waiting for his fate. It looks as though as Maldonado just pips him for the Lotus seat. Lotus/Bouiller can be relieved at least Grosjean has actually upped his game this year, because if you had Grosjean-Maldonado line-up based on their 2012 form... you'd need to use a calculator during the season to estimate, how many points were potentially lost.