Sahara Force India confirms Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg for 2012

[anthonyvop]

Sutil needs to look for another ride
Formula1

[driveace]

Well I feel that Paul deserves the seat at Force India,and wish him well.I also have Pauls race suit from Malaysia this year at my home.

[N. Jones]

Nice!

I am hoping Hulkenberg can show some of that promise from 2009.

[ioan]

What? No poor Sutil posts?!
Judging by the uproar against RedBull in the Buemi & Alguersuari thread, I was expecting to see some support for Sutil, who proved to be a worthy F1 driver unlike the two aforementioned ones.

[Nikki Katz]

Well we all knew this was coming, and as much as I believe that Hulkenberg does deserve a proper F1 chance, I'm still against this. Unless this is still the stabgate fallout (which seems to have gone quiet now) then I simply don't understand them randomly firing their most successful ever driver.

[jens]

What? No poor Sutil posts?!
Judging by the uproar against RedBull in the Buemi & Alguersuari thread, I was expecting to see some support for Sutil, who proved to be a worthy F1 driver unlike the two aforementioned ones.

True that. Basically Sutil and Alguersuari are similar cases. Despite having had a good season by their standards, the reality is that their respective teams viewed them only as a third best choice. Even if you are a good driver, being only 3rd on the list isn't enough for keeping a drive, as Räikkönen also found out in late '09, when Alonso and Massa were preferred over him.

Surely it was an uncomfortable decision for Force India, but probably they felt that they don't want to miss out on a potential big talent if they let either di Resta or Hülkenberg go. In any case, looking forward to the battle of di Resta and Hulk in a hopefully competitive car.

Only future can shed a light on those decisions, whether all those returnees and newcomers (Grosjean, Hülkenberg, Vergne, Ricciardo) indeed were those big talents that the teams were looking for. But at least this means the midfield of 2012 is going to be very exciting, where all those drivers with very high expectations are going to battle it out!

[Malbec]

What? No poor Sutil posts?!
Judging by the uproar against RedBull in the Buemi & Alguersuari thread, I was expecting to see some support for Sutil, who proved to be a worthy F1 driver unlike the two aforementioned ones.

It was known for months that Sutil was on the way out and he has had plenty of warning to go look for another drive.

While I too have been impressed by his performance this season his pace over the preceding few seasons hasn't been outstanding and a cynic would say he only raised his game once his drive was threatened.

Also your dig at the uproar against Red Bull is misplaced. I think criticism of the way in which that programme is run is justified given its huge expense and the rather poor management of drivers once they are in F1 together with the huge waste to Red Bull of simply discarding the drivers rather than using them in Red Bull teams in other motorsports.

[F1boat]

IMO a good choice. Paul and Nico are very promising drivers, Sutil IMO is at best a potential Fisichella.

[I am evil Homer]

I disagree Sutil is as good as DiResta (who gets a pass for now due to having a solid rookie season) but easily better than Hulkenberg. Seems like a pointless change for the sake of change.

[Dave B]

I predict that Sutil will end up at Williams, and Barrichello will end up on the bench somewhere as a consultant.