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.
If even a moneyless Hülkenberg has trouble finding a seat, I do not see many chances for Kovalainen on the driver market. Maybe Caterham again depending on their financial situation.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
They were talking on Sky today about the rumour that Hulkenburg may go back to Force India; another sideways move and could potentially backfire again now that Sauber are starting to look competitive.
When's this guy gonna get a break with a big team?
Hope the chances for the Lotus seat aren't over for him.
It seems Hulkenberg's place in F1 is safe - he can stay at Sauber if he wants to:
http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/24227 ... e-wants-it
Rbr vettel n ricciardo
Ferrari alonso n kimi
Lotus grosjean n hulkenberg
Merecedes rosberg n lewis
Welcome to the forums.
You reckon Hulkenberg still has a chance of beating Maldonado to the Lotus seat. I hope so personally too.
Same here. Maldonado, for all of his flaws, is a race winner.
Maldonado is a race winner but hulkenberg given a better car is as good a driver as vettel.
And u know for.sure maldonado ain't getting lotus if not kovalainen
What about kobayashi?
Romain and maldonado really? Too many nutsacks in a team :D
I think Hulkenburg could/should have won in Brazil last year. If I remember correctly he only ended up behind Hamilton due to the safety car, he and Jenson were miles ahead before they brought it out for the debris on track.Quote:
Originally Posted by N. Jones
Yeah, I know Hulkenberg is the better driver but I think Maldonado's money, if he still has it, will probably be the difference.
If I were hulkenberg, I would sign for lotus anyway
and even if they don;t pay me, I'll figure something out
Lotus gives him a very real chances at race victories despite all their troubles
and he has done his fair share of being paid but in midfield cars
he has to decide very quickly what is more important to him right now,
an opportunity to win races or to getting paid guaranteed.
I'd take the former, at least for the first year and then put myself in the position to get another top seat the next year depending on the way things shake out.
Being offered a top seat is a rare opportunity and as it stands lotus is right now the 2nd strongest car on the grid. Be smart Hulkenberg, just sign with them and then sort out the money later.
who knows, a german sponsor ro two could take care of his compensation.
It's not that simple Truefan; Maldonado allegedly has a sponsorship budget of tens of millions of dollars, so Hulkenburg offering to drive for free is not going to close that gap.
Autosport have reported that Perez is open to an Indycar move..... 5 days after I suggested that very thing! http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111479Quote:
Originally Posted by philipbain
Quote:
Originally Posted by RS
a fair point
I would have Nico tell them that he gives them a better chance at winning and staying close to the top...then again maldonado has already won a race, and if not of his bonehead antics, could have had maybe another one as well.
I do hope they both land a drive. Hulkenberg at Renault and Maldonado at force india.
What, Jenson. He will drive a MacLaren next year as far as i know. Í like him. But, 2015, Alonso will drive his car am afraid.
Reading between the lines it sounds as if Hulkenberg is not expecting to land the Lotus seat, Sutil claims to be remaining at Force India, and di Resta is contemplating life outside of F1; so it seems that it will be:
Lotus:
Grosjean
Maldonado
Force India:
Hulkenberg
Sutil
After all the years he raced and all things he has accomplished, it wouldn't be a bad end of career for Jenson. In the end, everyone has to exit eventually. A bad end would be to linger forever driving uncompetitive cars in the back, like Alesi or Villeneuve.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mia 01
I am afraid IndyCar could be a one way ticket for a driver like Perez. I would have preferred to see him in F1, even if that could mean driving for Caterham or Marussia. There is still room to impress even in those cars. Whoever scores the first point in those cars will become a relatively respected and valuable driver. At the same time, a Mexican driver wouldn't be a bad thing for IndyCar considering the number of Mexican-Americans and Mexicans who don't watch IndyCar racing right now. It would be interesting to see what a young decent driver out of the top F1 team can accomplish in IndyCar. The Myth of Formula 1 drivers being a head and shoulders above all others hasn't materialized recently, with Takuma Sato and Barrichello having pretty average seasons last year. Sato impressed this year with his first win though, but reliability and consistency is somewhere on Maldonado's level.Quote:
Originally Posted by philipbain
TEST
I do hope they both land a drive. Hulkenberg at Renault and Maldonado at force india.
lol reversed poor hulk
rain affected last qualy bad :(
Latest news/rumours suggest it's:
Force India: Hulkenberg/Perez
Lotus: Maldonado/Grosjean
Sauber: Sutil + 1
Planet-f1.com states that Martin Whitmarsh accidentally let slip that Sergio will be driving for Force India next season.
Please, PLEASE do not let Pastor go to Lotus, that car is too good for him!
I like Lotus and wanted so much a Grosjean Hulkenberg combo, a Grosjean Perez combo isn't bad either, specially after seeing how Grosjean went from public enemy #1 to a very good driver and his words about some drivers needing more time to mature, I'm thinking maybe Perez can be the next Grosjean, and those 2 together would be lots of fun or mayhem.Quote:
Originally Posted by N. Jones
What I don't want is Maldonado near a Lotus, but I don't want him near Sauber, or Force India, or a Williams, pretty much 9 teams are too good for him.
A Hulkenberg Perez combo at Force India could be very interesting, I'm sure those two could make FI a very good team with the new rules. I wanted The Hulk in a better team, but I can see those 2 having a good year with FI is they yake advantage of the new rules for everyone, I'm not talking about FI fighting for the championship, but at least a few podiums.
The scramble going on for the Lotus, Sauber, and Force India seats is pretty mad. There is even a rumor that even Grosjean's seat at Lotus is not safe. The Quantum investment deal at Lotus is what probably has been delaying everything. I haven't seen such confusing silly season for some time. Clearly, money has to do with it a lot, so I think Maldonado will continue in F1 next year.
Sutil to Sauber is one of stranger news. Why does Sauber suddenly want Sutil considering they probably could have hired Hulkenberg or Perez?
Medion?Quote:
Originally Posted by zako85
I'm sure they would want to keep Hulkenberg if they could, but Sutil is a decent driver who has some money behind him too.
Monisha Kaltenborn said that Hulkenberg's seat was safe if he wanted to stay, so I guess it was Nico's decision.Quote:
Originally Posted by zako85
Based on the Hulk's luck and his previous switch the other way, I'd say this probably means Sauber will have the faster car next year :)
I'm worried about this too; the Sauber has actually looked pretty good for the second half of the season..Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyL
I can't imagine Kovalainen is going to be driving for Caterham next year after his performance at Lotus and Caterham losing the money for 10th place in the constructors :(