Gascoyne who showed lack of respect

[wnut]

Alonso brought Santander to Ferrari!

If Kovi has so little faith in Caterham that he is not prepared to bring sponsorship he has access to into the mix, he has no business at Caterham.
I think I understand where Gascoyne is comming from, and the resulting frustration!

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by Adam43

I can see the headline now, Gascogne SLAMS Kovalainen.

Kovalainen eyes more positive future

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Kovalainen eyes more positive future

Where, do you think?

[Razzzor]

It's a strange environment in F1 at the moment when you have drivers like Buemi, Alguesari, Senna, Sutil, Kovi, Kobayashi, Petrov without F1 drives. Any of these guys would have no problems in the 90s being part of the field.

Must make it hard for fast up and comers that don't have the cash.

Valsecchi had 9mill and was turned down? Wow. And yet Gutierrez, Bottas, Chilton all have drives ahead of the GP2 champ. And Bianchi still with no drive (as yet... I think FI will pick him though)! He made Gutierrez and Bottas look pretty average in the same cars in 2009.

[Razzzor]

Originally Posted by JeremySmith

Where, do you think?

Indycars or Nascar?

[Zen]

Originally Posted by wnut

Alonso brought Santander to Ferrari!

If Kovi has so little faith in Caterham that he is not prepared to bring sponsorship he has access to into the mix, he has no business at Caterham.
I think I understand where Gascoyne is comming from, and the resulting frustration!

Any driver out there with $10 million worth of faith in Gascoyne and Caterham must be brain dead.......I understand where Gascoyne is comming from only too well

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

Indycars or Nascar?

Nope... He said he had no interrest racing in the US.

[bella]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

Valsecchi had 9mill and was turned down? Wow. And yet Gutierrez, Bottas, Chilton all have drives ahead of the GP2 champ. And Bianchi still with no drive (as yet... I think FI will pick him though)! He made Gutierrez and Bottas look pretty average in the same cars in 2009.

i think valsecchi is a little too.... laid back for f1. it's all very well being chilled out and not spending much time at the track over a weekend but you can only get away with that if you're as gifted as kimi. and he's not. chilton has the attitude that suits f1, so he has an immediate advantage. imo he's a safer bet from that perspective.

i think bianchi is seen as a gamble. he does have judgement lapses, but i think everyone does to some extent. i suppose it could be argued that the guys that don't aren't close enough to the limit. that's a bit of a blanket statement though

[OZ_HCR32]

I like Kovi but he barely did anything of real promise at Renault on the whole and was very fortunate to get the seat at McLaren...where he proved rather average given the machinery he was in....where he has come to Caterham a suitably experienced guy who could not put Petrov into the shade....who then carries on about not wanting to bring dollars as though he is a top 10 driver.

He is Liuzzi...seemed to have talent, but for whatever reason it didnt translate to speed and results.

SO he is a nice enough character to have on the grid...but truthfully the only reason you would keep him is if he brings money.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by OZ_HCR32

I like Kovi but he barely did anything of real promise at Renault on the whole and was very fortunate to get the seat at McLaren...where he proved rather average given the machinery he was in....where he has come to Caterham a suitably experienced guy who could not put Petrov into the shade....who then carries on about not wanting to bring dollars as though he is a top 10 driver.

He is Liuzzi...seemed to have talent, but for whatever reason it didnt translate to speed and results.

SO he is a nice enough character to have on the grid...but truthfully the only reason you would keep him is if he brings money.

Perfect summary OZ_HCR32!

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by Marbot

For some, it may turn out to be the most interesting battle of the season.

True, but too bad it only really matters during the high attrition races, as far as the WCC is concerned.

[Supertec]

Its reported that Kovalainen is still in talks with Caterham, Not with Gascoyne but with the team owner and teams CEO.

So whats Gascoyne up to.

Fernandes needs to reign him in and show him who's the Boss then the door

[bella]

i thought gascoyne wasn't in the f1 team infrastructure any more, he's in the overall holding group and road/sportscar bit instead?

[MGDavid]

Originally Posted by bella

i thought gascoyne wasn't in the f1 team infrastructure any more, he's in the overall holding group and road/sportscar bit instead?

...as was alluded to in post #11

[bella]

in which case i don't understand what the fuss is about, particularly that rant from supertec and the one from zen (strange, they seem to be closely linked) that started the thread in the first place.

heikki would need to bring a full wallet alongside his cv compared to a young'in with a large wallet and a clean cv. it's a fact, one clearly demonstrated by the fact heikki currently has no drive for this coming season. i don't understand where the vitriol and outrage is coming from?

[Marcus666]

I believe the reason why many support Heikki, is that he is a character that people wants to have. IMO his time in McLaren destroyed his career. Mclaren put all their work on Hamilton to get the championship and Heikki's driving style didn't suit the car (Like Montoya in 2005). Heikki has also said that the team put in more fuel than Hamilton in the Q3 parts in 2008-2009 and I believe him. I don't haven't watched so many races from 2010-mid 2011, so I cant comment on that, but I think both Heikki and Vitaly where quite equal.

Thats just my thought.

By the way, follow him on https://twitter.com/H_Kovalainen

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by Marcus666

Heikki has also said that the team put in more fuel than Hamilton in the Q3 parts in 2008-2009 and I believe him.

I think that is pretty much fact. The only time I can think that McLaren put less fuel in his car was Britain 2008 when he took pole.

However, Heikki had his chances at McLaren and didn't take them. Look at Monza in both 2008 and 2009. He had the best car in '08 and best strategy in '09 and couldn't win. His only victory was gifted to him when Hamilton and Massa had problems.

He was always destined to be a bit of a Fisichella driver - super in a poor car but can't deliver in a front-running car

[Marcus666]

Originally Posted by p-matt

I think that is pretty much fact. The only time I can think that McLaren put less fuel in his car was Britain 2008 when he took pole.

However, Heikki had his chances at McLaren and didn't take them. Look at Monza in both 2008 and 2009. He had the best car in '08 and best strategy in '09 and couldn't win. His only victory was gifted to him when Hamilton and Massa had problems.

He was always destined to be a bit of a Fisichella driver - super in a poor car but can't deliver in a front-running car

Well, he said that he couldn't get temperature into the brakes and Vettel (and Bourdais) had a wet setup that suited the scenario perfectly. When speaking of it, Rosberg is still in F1 but has he done much more than what Heikki have achieved?

I'm not a racing driver, but for some reason, I feel for some drivers more than others, think of how many characters we have lost: Frentzen, Sato, Davidson (who never got a real chance to prove himself), Junquiera, Montagny, Bourdais, Liuzzi, Montoya, Trulli, Buemi and soon probably Kovalainen.

This text above don't really mean anything, but I'm too nostalgic right now.

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by Marcus666

I'm not a racing driver, but for some reason, I feel for some drivers more than others, think of how many characters we have lost: Frentzen, Sato, Davidson (who never got a real chance to prove himself), Junquiera, Montagny, Bourdais, Liuzzi, Montoya, Trulli, Buemi and soon probably Kovalainen.

Well, at least Frentzen and Trulli managed to stay on the limelight pretty long. And all the others, even though they did not last very long in F1, made a pretty good living out of other forms of racing

That said, I do feel a lot for Bruno Junqueira. Not only his 2005 Indy 500 crash injured him badly, it also cost him what was arguably his best shot at a ChampCar title. And since then, he has bounced from team to team, and series to series, fading into obscurity year after year. But well - that's another topic...

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by Mr V

I respect and applaud Heikki's decision to not go out and actively seek sponsership, even though it was to the detriment of his career.

He doesn't want to be remembered as being effectively a "pay driver" and thats fair enough.

Err, no, he just didn't have enough sponsorship money to fund a drive. If he had the money he'd be more than happy to stay I am sure.

I mean, how very upstanding and noble of him if that really is the case but I highly doubt it somehow.

Now he just won't be remembered at all. Or, at best, as the man who achieved three podiums in two seasons in a McLaren.

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by W.A Trichlorostyrene

Well, at least Frentzen and Trulli managed to stay on the limelight pretty long. And all the others, even though they did not last very long in F1, made a pretty good living out of other forms of racing

That said, I do feel a lot for Bruno Junqueira. Not only his 2005 Indy 500 crash injured him badly, it also cost him what was arguably his best shot at a ChampCar title. And since then, he has bounced from team to team, and series to series, fading into obscurity year after year. But well - that's another topic...

Yeah, Junqueira is a sad one. Just couldn't get a break anywhere, all stemming from the fact Williams (by the finest of margins) didn't pick him in 2000.

Frentzen and Trulli had long F1 careers, Montoya has had a very varied and largely successful career. All those other drivers are non-entities largely. But Junqueira definitely deserved so much more.

[Graz]

I think Gascoyne might be alluding to earlier in the season when Kovi and/or his management team were very obviously hawking him around for a move, something which did annoy the Caterham team at the time.

You have to admit, it would annoy anyone if one of their employees is looking elsewhere and perhaps as result (whether it be the case or not) not putting as much into his current team as they could. Then for Kovi to turn around when Caterham don't renew and be all boo hoo about it is a bit rich. He'd have been off had another drive come in. Can't have it both ways Kovi!!

[Marcus666]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Yeah, Junqueira is a sad one. Just couldn't get a break anywhere, all stemming from the fact Williams (by the finest of margins) didn't pick him in 2000.

Frentzen and Trulli had long F1 careers, Montoya has had a very varied and largely successful career. All those other drivers are non-entities largely. But Junqueira definitely deserved so much more.

Yes, I've read somewhere that there was a rumour that Bernie Ecclestone had convinced Williams to take Button instead (probably he piled up some $$ to them) because Great Britain had lost Damon Hill and Eddie Irvine went to Jaguar, meant that "They needed a new British driver" on the grid. With that said, quite unbelieveble that Anthony Davidson couldn't find a seat at any team 2000-2006.

[Knowlesy]

Ah, Ant wasn't all that tbf. Solid and nothing more. May as well have been Darren Manning.

Good pundit though.

IIRC I think Junqueira was marginally, thousandths faster than Button (and probably would have brought an extra chunk of Petrobras money) but the line at the time from Williams was they felt Button represented greater long term potential. Of course we'll never know how Junqueira would have stacked up in F1, but Button has certainly justified the faith shown in him at an early age so you can't really argue with the choice. It was just a case of 'one or the other' sadly. Such is sport!

[bella]

Originally Posted by Graz

I think Gascoyne might be alluding to earlier in the season when Kovi and/or his management team were very obviously hawking him around for a move, something which did annoy the Caterham team at the time.

this is a really good point. i don't think anyone can blame kovalainen and his management for courting other teams to see if there were opportunities out there, but so publicly? that's like stepping outside and closing the door behind you. you're either committed to it or you're not.

i think glock did a better job of managing the driving for a back of the grid team thing, both on the press side and the finding an alternative when it ceased to work for both parties.