[Team] The new teams development for 2010 so far, discuss here.

[Marbot]

"Flexible approach" means that you may have to do a 'shift' in the toaster department to help with the cash flow.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by Marbot

Not too many are going to want to 'up-sticks', and go live in the US.

Why not? I find it a great place to live!

With staff reductions in the existing teams, I don't see why some would not consider the move?

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

With staff reductions in the existing teams, I don't see why some would not consider the move?

I suppose so, but then there's the question: How long will this team survive?

[Bononi]

All this situation is very confusing, the team should be doing crash tests by now but they're opening vacancies for a whole F1 team structure.

[Marbot]

Maybe they'll buy the Toyota left-overs.

[Bononi]

A good start then...

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Originally Posted by jab

Valles was pretty average in GP2, though. I don't rate him. Might have got a chance had Epsilon Euskadi got in as he's close to them, though

There's not much anyone could have done with that BCN car. Is he a superstar? Not really, but he's much, much better than he's shown in GP2. Not that he should get the nod before Adam Carroll, though.

[jab]

Hmm, but don't you think there are more deserving drivers than both Valles and Carroll out there? As much as I'd like to see new blood coming in, I'd say guys like Klien, Sato, Davidson and now Kobayashi, who got a raw deal in F1, deserve to be ahead in the pecking order

[Hawkwood]

Originally Posted by jab

Hmm, but don't you think there are more deserving drivers than both Valles and Carroll out there? As much as I'd like to see new blood coming in, I'd say guys like Klien, Sato, Davidson and now Kobayashi, who got a raw deal in F1, deserve to be ahead in the pecking order

Sorry to disagree, but why exactly do Klien, Sato and Davidson deserve to be ahead of Carroll et al?
Didn't those 3 have their chance? And obviously they didn't impress enough for anyone else to want them (so far).

Fresh meat please.

[V8 Fireworks]

Kobayashi has driven in an F1 race scored points on merit and beat a veteran though.

Carroll - who knows could be a Hamilton, could be a Pizzonia?

Kobayashi the safer bet.

[Hawkwood]

Yeah I know, out of those 6 drivers I'd take Kobayashi, I was saying that Sato, Davidson and Klien have had their chance and didn't impress enough.

[jab]

Originally Posted by Ostrogothicus

Sorry to disagree, but why exactly do Klien, Sato and Davidson deserve to be ahead of Carroll et al?
Didn't those 3 have their chance? And obviously they didn't impress enough for anyone else to want them (so far).

Fresh meat please.

I'll go through each individually

Klien - He got messed around at Red Bull despite showing good pace at times, and got a raw deal from the media which led to him getting a possibly harsh reputation. He deserves another chance to show what he can do now that he's had a few years testing building up his mileage

Sato - One of the most underrated drivers in recent years. Yes, he was absolutely dreadful in 2005 and deserved to get the boot, but ignoring that, he has always been quick and aggressive, willing to attempt some ballsy overtaking moves. He's great entertainment. And he matured a hell of a lot at Super Aguri - having a couple of years out of the spotlight allowed him time to settle down in F1, something he never really got at Jordan and BAR imo

Davidson - As many know, I'm not a huge Ant fan but he's one of the most experienced drivers on the grid in terms of F1 mileage. He would be absolutely ideal for a new team that doesn't necessarily need a quick guy but wants experience. Plus, yes, like Sato, Super Aguri wasn't an ideal situation. However, ultimately I want him and Crofty to do the TV commentary...

As for Adam Carroll, although he's shown potential at times and did well to win a few races in GP2, I tend to think he's nothing out of the ordinary. Justifying inclusion by an A1 GP title win isn't enough, because A1 GP is an average series. He had a BAR/Honda testing deal and they let him go because they didn't want to know. That's why I'd take Davidson over him, for a start - because the BAR/Honda/Brawn/Mercedes team already have, and they know what they're doing (as they showed this year)

If I was starting up a new team right now, with the current choice of available drivers, I'd go for a line-up of Sato and Davidson. Both have worked together at Aguri and get along well, both have their experienced of an upstart team to bring with them, both have the experience, and you have a mixture - the aggression of Taku and the solid Ant

[Hawkwood]

Well yeah ok, I'll go along with what you say about Taku, but I just can't agree about the other two - for one of the new teams they probably would be good to have, but if it was me choosing I would have Davidson as a tester no problem, but neither of them racing.
I think around half of the current grid and these 'extra' guys could be replaced by drivers from GP2 and elsewhere and there'd be no overall difference.

We're just going to have to disagree on this one.

[rocketracer]

Originally Posted by Ostrogothicus

I think around half of the current grid and these 'extra' guys could be replaced by drivers from GP2 and elsewhere and there'd be no overall difference.

i think that's a gross underestimation of the current standard of f1 drivers. They really commit very few mistakes compared to a gp2 driver.

however, on the other hand, some guys like buemi, kobayashi can seem rather ordinary in gp2 terms, and then really awaken to the standard once they're planted in f1.

[RichardRenes]

Fresh blood please. Some drivers are/ were highly overrated (Sutil, Fisichella, Trulli, Heidfeld) where others never got a (real) chance. There are a lot of good drivers out there that won't do worse than, say, Grosjean or Alguersuari.

Having the ability to fight your way forward or saving fuel may become a more desirable trait to have than to just go fast.

[climb]

Interesting news from a reliable source of mine: Campos have successfully passed the crash tests, first of the whole F1 circus.
Not bad at all

[Bononi]

That's good news.

[Marbot]

Especially if you have a crash!

[Bononi]

Crash is business, business is good.

[old man]

Can't claim any real knowledge of the guy but wasn't Davison the third driver for sombody when they were allowed to have 3 on Fridays and often near the top of the list?

[duke_toaster]

Yes, BAR.

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by jab

As for Adam Carroll, although he's shown potential at times and did well to win a few races in GP2, I tend to think he's nothing out of the ordinary. Justifying inclusion by an A1 GP title win isn't enough, because A1 GP is an average series. He had a BAR/Honda testing deal and they let him go because they didn't want to know.

I thought he left BAR rather than them dropping him?

Either way I think he deserves a chance even as a third driver somewhere (Manor?) next year

[courageous]

Originally Posted by climb

Interesting news from a reliable source of mine: Campos have successfully passed the crash tests, first of the whole F1 circus.
Not bad at all

They have now got complete homologation

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80325

[climb]

Yes, I'm quite curious about when the others will accomplish it all

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by climb

Yes, I'm quite curious about when the others will accomplish it all

USF1 is reportedly planning to do FIA crash test of nose and tail sections in late Dec/early Jan. Not sure if the "nose" crash testing includes cockpit or not. I am assuming these tests are scheduled somewhat in advance.

Congrats to Campos (cockpit homolgated). Can anyone speak to what all needs to be crash tested, what needs to be homologated and how the basic homologation process works for a F1 roller?