F1 2013 Driver Rumours

Its a strange one, I thought Heikki was off to Sauber, or Lotus.

But with Grosjean now staying put... hmmm! Case closed! I expect him to be ditched mid season if he doesn't behave.

Esteban Gutierrez does look promising, but is only 21! I'd prefer to see him have a year in the Friday seat properly, has he even driven the Sauber much? Give him one year to wait. Regardless of $$$, I don't think he will get the main drive just yet. Chuck Heikki in. Sauber then have their strongest lineup with Hulk in YEARS.

Then if Grosjean is binned mid season, Heikki to Lotus with Kimi.

Pic was praised a lot lately (can't see the hype myself). Where will he go?

And where the heck does Alguersuari fit into it all? Maybe he has the Caterham drive from a departing Heikki? Or Sauber instead of Heikki? Or takes Grosjeans naughty seat?

I predict some musical chairs next year mid season that mashes things up.

It's a shame. This time last year we all said how there were too many mediocre drivers in wasted seats. Now we have drivers we want NOT getting seats! And more in the pipeline... Bianchi etc.

One thing I do think, both Toro Rosso drivers are very unspectacular and should be binned. Neither has shown ANYTHING.


Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it

d
> One thing I do think, both Toro Rosso drivers are
> very unspectacular and should be binned. Neither
> has shown ANYTHING.



spot on !!

mitadumapaga Wrote:
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> d
> > One thing I do think, both Toro Rosso drivers
> are
> > very unspectacular and should be binned.
> Neither
> > has shown ANYTHING.
>
>
>
> spot on !!

I dunno, I though J-E V's race in Korea wasn't half-bad
Hulkenberg's was the best, though!

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GPGSL -
GPGSL-3 - Pizza Party Racing manager and driver
Nations Cup - Team Scotland manager

There's nothing specifically with either Ricciardo or Vergne... But just like Buemi and Alguersauri before them... Marko will demanding they win races or face the sack.

Yeah I think JEV is doing OK. This season has got to be about learning the ropes and he seems to be improving. Next season is when he has to do well consistently or he will get dropped. I would ditch DR though. He´s not really done anything to show he is better than Buemi or Jaime, so there´s no point keeping him.

Maldonado too I think has improved a lot over the course of the season. He has always been quick, but too prone to errors. Recently that has not been the case and as much as I have taken a dislike to him, I would keep him if it was my choice, with or without his money. I would ditch Senna and put Bottas in the car. Even if Bottas is not as good as he seems, he can´t do much worse than what Senna has done this year.

Sauber, I would have Kobayashi and Alguersauri. Give Gutierrez the Friday drives for a bit of experience first.

Leave Marussia as is. A bit of consistency might help them and if Pic is as good as the hype he gets, then he should be regularly beating Glock next year and troubling the Caterhams.

Keep Force India the same as well. They have 2 decent drivers, and should be able to mix it more consistently with the Mercs, Saubers and Lotus´s. If Di Resta can keep doing what he doing, then he would be a good replacement for Button when he retires.

i'm wondering whether FI is a sinking ship. mallya's airline has amassed 2 billion dollars of debts and there's an arrest warrant issued against him in india. i can see this being a major problem for the f1 team as well.

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used to be GPGSL's Nick Heidfeld



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/2012 10:38PM by n00binio.

I think Ricciardo's actually doing very well lately! He would've scored points 5 races in a row if it wasn't for a mechanical problem at the last corner of the last lap at Monza. Also he was on track to beat Vergne in Korea before the braking issue.

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X (@ed24f1)

n00binio Wrote:
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> i'm wondering whether FI is a sinking ship.
> mallya's airline has amassed 2 billion dollars of
> debts and there's an arrest warrant issued against
> him in india. i can see this being a major problem
> for the f1 team as well.


Yep, though I can see the team being taken over (again)...

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GPGSL -
GPGSL-3 - Pizza Party Racing manager and driver
Nations Cup - Team Scotland manager

Felipe stays with Ferrari next Season!

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"And thats the bottom line cause Alonso0506 said so"

This is a lot more telling than one might think. Ferrari must know, that the car they gave Massa at the start of the season was close to the direct opposite of what he needed, if they renewed the contract based on 2 positive race results.

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

Very Happy for Massa ...........


" Perfection is not a gift ....... it comes with practice."

Member of R.S.C.T Group

I don't think it's simply those two results. Ferrari want someone who is going to toe the party line. They want an Irvine for their Schumacher, someone who'll never challenge the hierarchy but someone who'll pick up the scraps from the floor. Massa fits that bill.

In fairness who else is available who'd realistically do any better than Massa but not get too close to Alonso?

But if you look at the numbers, then Massa has not been of any real help to Alonso or Ferrari. He should be up there, finishing in front of Lotus', McLarens and Red Bull cars on a regular basis. By stealing points from Alonso's main competitors he would not only score for the Constructors Championship, he would also make Alonso's quest to become WDC much easier. Toeing the party line is insignificant if you are not contributing to the main goals of the team.

Massa has contributed to this in the last two races, but has failed to do so for the vast majority of the season. That is not enough to extend a contract. There must be more. Ferrari must know, that they share more of the blame for his bad results, than the public is aware of. Otherwise the extension does not makes sense.

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2012 06:26PM by Morbid.

Morbid Wrote:
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> Ferrari must know, that they share more of the blame for
> his bad results, than the public is aware of.
> Otherwise the extension does not makes sense.

Exactly. I think Massa has taken a psychological pounding since Alonso has been his teammate, and for the most part he's not been allowed - one way or another - to show what he's really been capable of.

Great to see him confirmed for another season.

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Massa at Ferrari: Confirmed!!

Massa: ”I am very happy, Ferrari is my racing family”.



[www.ferrari.com]

Morbid Wrote:
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> This is a lot more telling than one might think.
> Ferrari must know, that the car they gave Massa at
> the start of the season was close to the direct
> opposite of what he needed, if they renewed the
> contract based on 2 positive race results.

Only Vettel has outscored Massa in the past 5 races, so it's unfair to say that he's only had two positive results. Even before these 5, he was very good in Silverstone and Monaco, and solid in various other races.

Massa has been much stronger in 2012 than 2011 despite what the points tally may show.

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X (@ed24f1)

I think Alonso is just on another planet. It's like comparing £1 with £100.

£1 is still good, but stood next to £100 it is overshadowed in value.


Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it

SchueyFan Wrote:
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> Only Vettel has outscored Massa in the past 5
> races, so it's unfair to say that he's only had
> two positive results. Even before these 5, he was
> very good in Silverstone and Monaco, and solid in
> various other races.
>
> Massa has been much stronger in 2012 than 2011
> despite what the points tally may show.


Let's see, the current championship order is:

1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Kimi Räikkönen
4. Lewis Hamilton
5. Mark Webber
6. Jenson Button
7. Nico Rosberg
8. Romain Grosjean
9. Felipe Massa

Now what happened at Belgium? Massa scored 10 points for a 5th. Why? Well, Hamilton and Alonso were taken out by Grosjean. So was Perez and Maldonado. All 5 qualified ahead of Massa. So that was 5 places just handed to him for doing nothing. Massa's race wasn't spectacular, so I think it is safe to say, that a reasonable bet would be that they would all have finished ahead of him, had Grosjean not played Destruction Derby. Hence that would have been 1 point for a 10th. Total result? He stopped Webber from taking 2 points for Red Bull in the Constructor Championship. Not really impressive.

Monza? 12 points for a 4th. But he actually dropped back a position since he qualified 3rd, which I will admit was good, but it would have been 4th if Alonso's car hadn't been borked. And it would have been 6th if the Red Bulls hadn't cocked everything up. Button qualified ahead of him, but suffered a break down. So he was handed a position but lost 2. That the Red Bulls got everything wrong and that Grosjean was out from the ban helped him quite a bit too. Nice effort, but again, not something he earned on his own merits. He was propelled by the misfortune of others both in the qualifying and in the race. When he had to fight, he lost positions. The only driver/team he stole points from in the championship battles that helped Ferrari/Alonso was Raikönnen/Lotus and that was a meager 2 points.

Singapore? Qualified 13th and finished 8th for 4 points. The retirement of Hamiliton made sure it wouldn't be a 9th for 2 points. Solid effort in the same car that the championship leader was driving? Not really. Would he even have gotten 8th without safety cars? I don't think so. Not exactly a stellar performance. Championship benefit? He stopped Webber from taking 1 point for Red Bull in the Constructor Championship.

No... Massa has had 2 good races for Ferrari/Alonso on his own lately. While he did score points in the previous 3 races, the actual annoyance he generated to the main rivals in the two championships was marginal at best.

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

Well that's a very negative view of those races. Particularly that you omit Massa's puncture in Singapore (not to mention his pace if you look at the lap times) and having to let Alonso by in Monza, as well as the loss of telemetry. Perhaps in Spa he could've beaten Hulkenberg, but apart from that, I'm not sure what else Ferrari could've expected from him at those races. Also, considering Massa's pace is regularly better in the race than in qualifying, I don't think you can conclusively say that he wouldn't have made up ground in Spa otherwise.

If you look at the past 6 races, even Alonso hasn't beaten Vettel apart from Monza when Massa did too, so clearly the Ferrari wasn't at a level to allow Massa to disrupt him.

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X (@ed24f1)

BOTTOMLINE, Ferrari is still slower than Redbull!