2015 Formula 1 silly season thread.

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by wnut

Aah, nothing like seeing the cream of young talent rising to the top!

Because his predecessors, the likes of Luca Badoer and Marc Gene, were super talents...

It's a test/reserve driver role...

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Beryl

Because his predecessors, the likes of Luca Badoer and Marc Gene, were super talents...

It's a test/reserve driver role...

To be fair Badoer did a massive amount of testing and some of Ferrari's success would have to be down to him despite his tragic efforts in actual races.
Yes you are right the current role is pretty well meaningless,

[chunterer]

Badoer and Gene had plenty of experience in F1cars by the time that they got the reserve gigs.

Gutierrez doesn't have an ful lot of that yet so Slim's clout aside it is a very strange hire.

[Paradise City]

It's a worrying testimony at how Ferrari is struggling to raise cash. I presume alot of that Mexican money is going to pay Vettel's wages.

Ferrari is in a state of some chaos at the minute at various levels.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Badoer and Gene had plenty of experience in F1cars by the time that they got the reserve gigs.

Gutierrez doesn't have an ful lot of that yet so Slim's clout aside it is a very strange hire.

Neither Badoer nor Gene had ever set the world on fire so putting Gutierrez in there is entirely consistent with previous practice! I noted the wording referred to the simulator being of more importance than live testing...

But there is probably more to it.
Ferrari is to float 10% of Ferrari, probably on the US market...

They need money to support the F1 team so it is less of a strain on the books.

Vettel is expensive so they needed Gutierrez to pay nearly a third of his salary.

There is a team deal with Haas coming up in 2016 and he is looking for a North American driver. This may be a prelude to that coming off.

There is a race in Mexico next year and it might sell cars/ give the company a boost in that region.
If nothing else then it will pay the salaries of 250 of our 700 race team staff.....
(Assuming the rumoured $25 million is correct and the average staff salary is $100000pa)

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Badoer and Gene had plenty of experience in F1cars by the time that they got the reserve gigs.

Gutierrez doesn't have an ful lot of that yet so Slim's clout aside it is a very strange hire.

Gutierrez has 38 F1 starts, compared to 48 for Badoer and 36 for Gene. Granted, both had many more testing miles under their belts before being hired, but with current testing limits and the current breed of cars being only one year old, you're simply not going to find anyone with considerably more relevant experience for the position.

Of the drivers who have raced in the current cars and are available for a testing role, there's not many better choices. Vergne, if he can't race in F1, will want to race somewhere and a Ferrari role greatly reduces his possibilities in other race series. Kobayashi left Ferrari on bad terms. Sutil has his personality issues. Chilton doesn't have anywhere near the same track record as Esteban.

Only the future will determine the quality of the hire, but on the face of it, it's not a bad one. Ferrari will know something about the car feedback that Esteban provides and will probably know his character fairly well from his time at Sauber. Ferrari isn't so dependent on sponsors that a sponsor would have enough influence to force them to hire someone that will be useless to them, so I assume Ferrari think Esteban will at least be competent in his new role.

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by wnut

Couldn't agree more Born Racer, hence the sunny emoticon at the end of my post. Heavy sarcasm!

Ah, I know; I was referring generally to him. Probably the poorest performer for me this year.

[P38 in workshop]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

Ferrari is in a state of some chaos at the minute at various levels.

You could trim a few words from the tail end and be totally accurate.

Rather than the current maelstrom of hiring and firing,they could use some of their abundant cash to buy Force India with a view to running it as a Toro Rosso kind of outpost and then they might learn how to achieve decent results with a lot less wherewithal.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by P38 in workshop

Rather than the current maelstrom of hiring and firing,they could use some of their abundant cash to buy Force India with a view to running it as a Toro Rosso kind of outpost and then they might learn how to achieve decent results with a lot less wherewithal.

They shouldn't be buying 2nd teams. They just need to calm the $%5^& down and headhunt for a Todt like Czar that'll make the team as obedient as ants and creative like da Vinci. Tough ask but there you go.

[steve nielsen]

Ferrari now also signed Vergne as testdriver .

[David A Scott]

With the ban on testing what is the point of having one test driver, never mind two?

[steve nielsen]

Originally Posted by David A Scott

With the ban on testing what is the point of having one test driver, never mind two?

they do a lot of simulator testing and also most of the demo's

[m355y]

I get the mutual attraction for Ferrari/Gutierrez, but that's a waste of a role for Vergne, who should be racing next season. IMO.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by m355y

I get the mutual attraction for Ferrari/Gutierrez, but that's a waste of a role for Vergne, who should be racing next season. IMO.

Money.
He probably got offered a small fortune by the standards he has been paid in the past and because of the love relationship with 'Effone' decided a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush.

Pity, because I agree with you, he should be racing not sitting in a simulator...
But if he is doing that job I wonder how much effectual work Gutierrez will get....

[Hawkwood]

Originally Posted by David A Scott

With the ban on testing what is the point of having one test driver, never mind two?

JEV is actually Ferrari's 4th currently signed test driver.
Pedro de la Rosa has left, but Marc Gene and Davide Rigon remain, alongside the new arrivals.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by m355y

I get the mutual attraction for Ferrari/Gutierrez, but that's a waste of a role for Vergne, who should be racing next season. IMO.

Whatever Vergne knows about RBR and its car I should imagine is why Ferrari is interested in him.

[steve nielsen]

Originally Posted by wnut

Whatever Vergne knows about RBR and its car I should imagine is why Ferrari is interested in him.

Vergne can't tell them anything Vettel has'nt already told them.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by steve nielsen

Vergne can't tell them anything Vettel has'nt already told them.

Fair point!

[chunterer]

Be interesting to see how he compares with Seb n Kimi in the simulator....

That might give him half a chance for 2016....

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Vergne for Ferrari 2016 seat, replacing Kimi, after a stellar Indycar season...

[wolfhound]

Adrian Sutil has become Williams reserve driver for 2015. He should be able to do a competent job if required. A change from their usual policy of a young upcoming driver.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118209

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

Adrian Sutil has become Williams reserve driver for 2015. He should be able to do a competent job if required. A change from their usual policy of a young upcoming driver.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118209

And now you see the difference that the way Sutil dealt with the Sauber situation, and how it was approached by van de Garde.

One left a nasty smell around the paddock and I doubt would be welcomed back any time soon, whilst the other dealt with matters in private and becomes the reserve driver. OK, it's not a race seat, but as things panned out in Melbourne, he may well have had a race there if he had been appointed sooner.

Megaphone diplomacy does not work (IMHO).

[bella]

i agree mike (urgh, does this mean it's the end of the world? )

they're doing it right. they have two really quick young guys working behind the scenes in alex lynn and richie stanaway, susie doing work both in the sim and in the public eye, and then sutil to parachute in if something goes wrong. ultimately would lynn or stanaway (or wolff) benefit from being dropped in at the deep end because one of the race drivers became indisposed during a weekend? no. best have an experienced guy ready to jump in and do a solid job.

sutil seems like a smart but emotion-lead chap, so it's interesting that he clearly came to the right decision about why sauber had to bin off his contract and walked away from it.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

And now you see the difference that the way Sutil dealt with the Sauber situation, and how it was approached by van de Garde.

One left a nasty smell around the paddock and I doubt would be welcomed back any time soon, whilst the other dealt with matters in private and becomes the reserve driver. OK, it's not a race seat, but as things panned out in Melbourne, he may well have had a race there if he had been appointed sooner.

Megaphone diplomacy does not work (IMHO).

I have a sneeking suspicion Sutil did not have 8 million reasons to be arguing the toss! vd G would also clearly have been driven by the fact that his sponsor would have the same problem with Sutil's no show given the $8 Million he had been given to drive in F1.

Be a hell of a donation to simply let go!

Sorry Sauber are the authors of the whole vd G affair, no one else!