Frijns to replace Hulkenberg?

[p-matt]

...has been rumoured.

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns25957.html

Don't see the logic in it myself, but it's interesting. If anything it looks like the new owners would be more keen to get a Russian in, thus pushing out Robin.

[BSchneiderFan]

Given that Frijns has had to pull out of GP2 because he's run out of money, I'm not us how or why he'd get into F1.

[bella]

i suppose the logic being that it's cheaper to run a driver who will do it for nothing as opposed to someone who will require paying for the privilege of driving a car that isn't as competitive as he expected it to be.

realistically there's not many people with cash to buy the seat worth taking the gamble on. so why not put your third driver in there? especially if he has a superb reputation and will get a lot of positive press regardless of how he performs in the car.

[p-matt]

Let's say it does happen - do Force India, say, swoop in for Nico this year? Or Lotus? Or maybe Ferrari? They'd have nothing to lose if they decide their second drivers aren't going to be in the team in 2014.

[bella]

i think the suggestion was that hulkenberg would sit out the rest of the season and learn the ropes at ferrari. then again it could have been lotus and i got the wrong end of the rumour stick.

it seems odd, but i suppose it kind of makes sense. it's a bit of an odd situation in that hulkenberg is now effectively driving without a contract, and if he has an offer for next year he's better off spending the time learning the new team, getting into the process of developing the new car and developing the relevant personal relationships with people he'll be working with closely next year. his alternative is to hang around and race a car he's not having a great deal of success with and finds difficult to drive, and not be quite so prepared next season.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by bella

i think the suggestion was that hulkenberg would sit out the rest of the season and learn the ropes at ferrari.

Put him in Massa's seat now !

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by Mr V

Put him in Massa's seat now !

That's Mr Ricciardo's seat, for when Mr Raikkonen takes #2 at RBR...

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Surely Sauber should understand that Gutierrez has been a failure. Plus, Sirotkin isn't a dead cert. He'll be 18. That's too young.

Frijns and Hulkenberg would be an epic line-up, but I'm pretty sure the line-up will have 1 driver for skills and 1 for money, just like we had with Perez (money) and Kobayashi. It's just lucky that Perez was so rapid.

Frijns/Sirotkin
Frijns/Gutierrez
Hulkenberg/Sirotkin
Hulkenberg/Gutierrez

They're the 4 I can see happening.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

Plus, Sirotkin isn't a dead cert. He'll be 18. That's too young.

Whilst he is young, he has competed in more races than the likes of Raikkonen (I'm not saying that Sirotkin is the equal of Raikkonen, though). Therefore, if given enough track time, I see no reason why an eighteen year old could not theoretically do a half decent job in F1.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

That's Mr Ricciardo's seat, for when Mr Raikkonen takes #2 at RBR...

Seriously doubt that somehow, Ricciardo will stay at STR.

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Originally Posted by bella

i think the suggestion was that hulkenberg would sit out the rest of the season and learn the ropes at ferrari. then again it could have been lotus and i got the wrong end of the rumour stick.

it seems odd, but i suppose it kind of makes sense. it's a bit of an odd situation in that hulkenberg is now effectively driving without a contract, and if he has an offer for next year he's better off spending the time learning the new team, getting into the process of developing the new car and developing the relevant personal relationships with people he'll be working with closely next year. his alternative is to hang around and race a car he's not having a great deal of success with and finds difficult to drive, and not be quite so prepared next season.

You know what they sould do? Ask Caterham if they can have Giedo for the rest of the season. They would do well to get Heikki back in the car and make it better, Sauber could use the cash and Giedo would surely be quite happy to move.

[steve_r]

Could make sense. Hulkenburg has not been paid, and contract is terminted. Russian driver comes in, drives for free and at the same time helps politically with Sauber obtaining Russian money / takeover.
(This is all just off the top of my head, and I have probably misunderstood the whole thing wildly)

[bella]

i don't know where people keep getting the russian takeover thing from. it isn't. it's a big ass sponsorship deal effectively. everything else stays the same.

[steve_r]

The takeover stories are out there - how credible they are is another story...

[chunterer]

I'd say get Frijns in there, it can't do either team or driver any harm as they aren't expected to win and Robin will get valuable F1 seat time at a time when other than the young driver stuff, you cannot get into an F1 car properly!

Frijns would likely blow Gutierrez into the weed and put himself right on the map for a full seat next year. having said that he hasn't exactly blown Lancaster away in GP2... but then Jon is vastly underrated so no disgrace there in my opinion.

Hulkenberg wouldn't miss much because it's all new cars for next season.

[bella]

it's very difficult to blow anybody into the weeds on a consistent basis in gp2 though, being fair to robin. that's one of the reasons nobody is running to throw their money at it. really it's just one big lottery.

sauber aren't exactly afraid to put young talent in their cars.

[Beryl]

Another crash kid in F1? Oh boy.

[bella]

he's not a crash kid... he just makes the occasional error of judgement

[Beryl]

Look, he's certainly not the worst thing that could be coming to F1. But he has a history of throwing it up the inside and if the pressure to perform is high, there could be shattered carbon fiber. Not saying it will happen, but it surely could.

Not to mention it doesn't take a lot to be labelled a crasher in F1. Kobayashi had only 1-2 crashes a year in F1, and still some people considered him a crasher.

[Hawkwood]

Originally Posted by Beryl

Look, he's certainly not the worst thing that could be coming to F1. But he has a history of throwing it up the inside and if the pressure to perform is high, there could be shattered carbon fiber. Not saying it will happen, but it surely could.

Not to mention it doesn't take a lot to be labelled a crasher in F1. Kobayashi had only 1-2 crashes a year in F1, and still some people considered him a crasher.

What constitutes 'a history' in this case?
I know of his move (and I use the word 'move' very loosely) at the end of FR3.5 last year, but does that one stupid move really mean he has 'a history'?
I'm not familiar with his pre-3.5 days so for all I know he may have been horrendous before then, but he won whatever title preceded his 3.5 campaign so he can't have been that bad, right?

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by Hawkwood

but he won whatever title preceded his 3.5 campaign so he can't have been that bad, right?

He won the Formula BMW Europe, 2.0 Eurocup and 3.5 titles in 3 years, not too shabby I'd say.

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by Hawkwood

What constitutes 'a history' in this case?
I know of his move (and I use the word 'move' very loosely) at the end of FR3.5 last year, but does that one stupid move really mean he has 'a history'?
I'm not familiar with his pre-3.5 days so for all I know he may have been horrendous before then, but he won whatever title preceded his 3.5 campaign so he can't have been that bad, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFjayMgWskk

He made another late dive that weekend on Nasr, but Nasr let him through generously. There's also his dive on Richelmi in Bahrain that caused damage. I also don't like the way he drove Calado off the track at Silverstone and he had a few unsavory incidents last year in FR3.5 as well. I'm hesitant to sweep it all under the rug, and maybe it's nothing to worry about and he'll be fine in F1, but I don't know.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Beryl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFjayMgWskk

He made another late dive that weekend on Nasr, but Nasr let him through generously. There's also his dive on Richelmi in Bahrain that caused damage. I also don't like the way he drove Calado off the track at Silverstone and he had a few unsavory incidents last year in FR3.5 as well. I'm hesitant to sweep it all under the rug, and maybe it's nothing to worry about and he'll be fine in F1, but I don't know.

Any series that starts reverse grid rubbish is inviting this type of driving!

Silly move granted, though in F1 he would probably have been considered alongside, where Bird would have been expected to go, I don't know!

[bella]

i wouldn't call him a bold move merchant, more of an overly defensive driver. that said i would share the same hesitations - if he didn't chill out a bit it could get a bit nasty in the press. particularly since he's fairly prickly about his own driving.

the question would be whether it would be a waste of his f1 debut and the chance to make a good impression, or whether it would be his *only* chance at making a f1 debut. i think the sauber is a good enough car to be worth the gamble on his part, and his teammate wouldn't wipe the floor with him so if it was a possibility then it's probably worth grabbing with both hands.

of course it's all totally academic unless hulkenberg sods off elsewhere.

[Beetle]

There is only ONE REASON Nico should go. He's quite a good driver, probably underrated, and fast, too. Frijns is just too big of a risk: as was said before, he could become the next "crash kid"... an exact repeat of Gutierrez.

The reason he should go is this: he's too good to be marooned in a team like Sauber. He deserves a Ferrari seat. Esteban would be best to go back to GP2 or maybe do IndyCar or Formula E...