Formula One 2015 (and beyond)

One of my Fav Tracks Tilkenized.......

meh..

The Real Story of the Race was that the Renault's fell apart and the Ferrari's didn't.
Rosberg headed for the sliproad and retired, probably because of Nicotin starvation they have still not given him a helmet with a little hole in it.

So Force India has confirmed Nico Hulkenberg for 2015, good stuff to see Force India puts Nico to stay again.

Was hoping Hulkenberg would get a shot at McLaren and they'd have a team of Alonso and the Hulk.

Good to see him confirmed for 2015 though, and for once he's actually spending a second consecutive season at a team!

I honestly didn't expect Hulkenberg to be considered by a top team for 2015 anyway. I mean he hasn't been for the past couple of years when arguably he should have, then why should this year be any different? I also sense his forward momentum has stalled somewhat over the last third of this season. Last year he picked that Sauber up and carried it on his back, but of late it seems like Perez has taken that role at Force India.

I think it might be a few weeks before we get official confirmation of where Vettel and Alonso end up. It seems sure that Vettel is off to Ferrari, whilst Alonso could possibly end up snookered out of F1 altogether for a year. He's ruled out driving a Mercedes powered car, so looking at the cars supposedly available that's a choice between, Mclaren, Sauber, Marussia or Caterham, I think we can rule STR out. So if he's definitely out of Ferrari and seems that he is... It's either Mclaren or sabactical or Le Mans. I think he's gambling on McLaren being competitive and it's a big risk to take. But then so was Hamilton's to leave McLaren for Mercedes and look how clever that looks now.

Vergne is back in the running to stay at STR, I think it's his only F1 hope as I doubt he has a budget to take any of the other teams. Plus even Red Bull are beginning to think a Verstappen - Sainz/Lynn lineup could be a risk too far.

Not sure who next year's other rookies will be, it would be nice to think that the likes of Palmer and Vandoorne deserve a shot. But Palmer is unlikely to have the budget (I can see him going to WEC though), Vandoorne riskes being out shuffled by Alonso or Button. Nasr is looking to pull a budget together and Van da Garde is also opening trying to get back to a race seat.

I certainly expect Sauber, Marussia and Caterham to seek drivers who take along substantial sponsorship.

Alonso seems very, very content with whatever he's chosen, and it does appear he knows what he's doing. I don't think he'd be especially content with a sabbatical (even if it meant a Mercedes drive for 2016) so I'm convinced he's got a drive lined up and he's really looking forward to it.

I'd be staggered if Caterham are still around next year, and given the "commercial reasons" for Marussia pulling their GP3 team out of the Russian meeting, perhaps they're struggling too. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that Sauber and even Lotus could be struggling too (despite their new Merc deal, which I'm sure has plenty of clauses in it on Mercs side).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2014 04:56PM by gav.

A report on Audi joining F1 in 2016. I can't see this happening but it's an interesting idea nontheless.

[www.autoexpress.co.uk]

---

used to be GPGSL's Nick Heidfeld

It's interesting, but very doubtful.

I don't think they have anything to gain by doing F1 plus they'd have to scrap the WEC, DTM and other programes to do it which would be a crying shame.

Ericsson will drive for Sauber in 2015

*Clicky*

Good. After an anonymous first half of the season he'd started developing into a really promising driver, and one who deserves a seat.

It shows Sauber's future must be more secure now too.

---

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/01/2014 10:28PM by EC83.

and Felipe Nasr has just been confirmed as a Sauber driver for 2015 now!

Good news!

Just clicked that Brazil marks two whole years since McLaren last won a grand prix. Remarkable.

---

Races: 163 - Wins: 23 - Pole Positions: 24 - Fastest Laps: 22
Season 9: Constructors' Champions

Yep, great to see Nasr get a drive! I was lucky enough that he came up and talked to me at Monza station the other year after I'd got his photo earlier in the day, and chatted to me for a few mins, very down to earth and friendly!

---

X (@ed24f1)

It is great to see Sauber signing 2 good drivers. In all honesty their lack of points this season has primarily been due to bad drivers. Guttierrez was pathetic last year, scorin only in 1 race a total of 6 points or something for the whole seaason.

Not convinced on Ericsson yet, but they have got two decent drivers, who are bringing money in, and are not really any worse than they have this year. So yes, they have done a reasonably good job with their driver choice.

---

X (@ed24f1)

...so Alonso buying Sauber is out... and Sauber's going to have a couple of lawsuits on their hands

Yeah Sauber seem to have opened a can of worms and have more pay drivers than they can handle. Shame they couldn't have signposted a couple in Manor's direction.

Some guy I've never heard of (Times reporter) is spreading rumours that Ferrari and Red Bull can run 3 cars next season. Guardian has picked up on it and elaborated it into a story about customer cars in 2016. All just sounds like a load of conjecture (again), though the way this season has unfolded, who knows.

Despite reporting on the rumours Sky are doing @#$%& all and just chatting among themselves in the paddock. They've even interviewed Rob Smedley after that report and didn't ask him anything about it. Sky's pre-show is as bad as the BBC's at the moment (Ted Kravitz excepted).

David Croft is also getting far worse as a commentator in my opinion, seems to be getting more and more smug and just provides useless stats - not to mention making plenty of errors.

---

X (@ed24f1)

gav Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Despite reporting on the rumours Sky are doing
> @#$%& all and just chatting among themselves in
> the paddock. They've even interviewed Rob Smedley
> after that report and didn't ask him anything
> about it. Sky's pre-show is as bad as the BBC's
> at the moment (Ted Kravitz excepted).


I completely agree with you gav. Moreover, what I spotted over the past few races is that Martin Brudnle and Crofty are completely out of sync. In other words, when Crofty says something, Martin often does not elaborate on it and just keeps on talking about what he's interested in. And when martin says something, crofty just ignores it and keeps talking about his own a point of interest. Very bad stuff.

Tbh it was the same last year, towards the end of the year they all seem to get bored or just tired.