[Driver] Kimi Out For Rest Of 2013!!

[GTRMagic]

Confirmed by Autosport Here

I guess Mr Salo was kinda right

[wnut]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Confirmed by Autosport Here

I guess Mr Salo was kinda right

Wow, he's difficult!

Perhaps TGF is available!

[GTRMagic]

Or Mr Webber to Lotus, Mr Ricciardo to Red Bull and Mr Kvyat to STR?

Presumably Mr Raikonnen is still waiting to be paid for 2013

[Peter Mallett]

Hmm,

I'm not sure any driver would want to volunteer to race for Lotus until it sorts its finances so I guess this is a good chance for their reserve driver Davide Valsecchi

[wnut]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Or Mr Webber to Lotus, Mr Ricciardo to Red Bull and Mr Kvyat to STR?

Presumably Mr Raikonnen is still waiting to be paid for 2013

I thought Mr. Raikkonnen had been sorted out, and paid!

[kipper]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Or Mr Webber to Lotus, Mr Ricciardo to Red Bull and Mr Kvyat to STR

Can't quite see that happening. Ricciardo going to Red Bull with limited testing is likely to mean that he would get trounced by Vettel; similarly, Kvyat would struggle against a better prepared Vergne. As such, I suspect that both drivers would prepare to stay where they are for the time being.

I suspect that the choice of driver would come down to Valsecchi and Hulkenberg. As Hulkenberg's 2014 seat hasn't been confirmed as yet and would presumably need to be extracted from his Sauber contract, I guess Valsecchi is the prime candidate.

[p-matt]

It's basically between Valsecchi and Hulkenberg, isn't it? If the Quantum deal gets done and the Hulk is officially signed for next year it'll be him surely. He is free to leave Sauber when he wishes if I recall

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by wnut

I thought Mr. Raikkonnen had been sorted out, and paid!

I recall them saying on TV that he's agreed to postpone his litigation to allow the new backers to put their money in.

Originally Posted by kipper

I suspect that the choice of driver would come down to Valsecchi and Hulkenberg. As Hulkenberg's 2014 seat hasn't been confirmed as yet and would presumably need to be extracted from his Sauber contract, I guess Valsecchi is the prime candidate.

Originally Posted by p-matt

It's basically between Valsecchi and Hulkenberg, isn't it? If the Quantum deal gets done and the Hulk is officially signed for next year it'll be him surely. He is free to leave Sauber when he wishes if I recall

Even if he is out of contract, he hasn't been paid by Sauber, why would he do two races for Lotus at the risk of not being paid by them too? Also isn't Maldonado slated to go there?

I'd be surprised if it isn't Valsecchi.

[davyboy]

I guess this piece would seem to indicate that either he hasn't yet been paid, he can't be paid in full or he won't be paid for the remainder of this year.

" Had Raikkonen waited until after the season, then there was a chance that it could have impacted on his preparations for 2014 with Ferrari. "

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

C'mon Valsecchi. Who knows, Leimer?

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by p-matt

It's basically between Valsecchi and Hulkenberg, isn't it? If the Quantum deal gets done and the Hulk is officially signed for next year it'll be him surely. He is free to leave Sauber when he wishes if I recall

Sauber are only 13 points ahead of STR. They are not likely to allow their biggest points scorer to exit early and leave themselves exposed !

[GTRMagic]

Joe Saward suggests that Mr Valsecchi shall be the replacement Here

[TR Motorsport]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Joe Saward suggests that Mr Valsecchi shall be the replacement Here

Would Love it if valsecchi got the drive for final two races as he deserves it based upon his championship winning year in GP2 in 2012 which was one of the most dominant and consistent performances I've ever seen in GP2, and I've been following this series since Hamilton won it back in '06.

And why are we even mentioning Leimer? Leimer doesn't deserve any drive in single seaters, he only won GP2 this year because of other drivers like Calado and Erricson messing up and because the mighty Sam Bird stalled on the gird when he had out qualified leimer and seemed headed for the title. Leimer only just deserves a DTM drive next year Soz about the rant people as you can guess not a huge fan of Fabio Leimer

My favourite for the Lotus 2-race chance is Valsecchi, he is prime candisate and deserves it, and hey even if he never races in F1 ever again at least he got to race in F1 at some point right?

[BSchneiderFan]

It could be a good opportunity for Valsecchi, and for everyone to judge if he's any good.

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by TR Motorsport

Would Love it if valsecchi got the drive for final two races as he deserves it based upon his championship winning year in GP2 in 2012 which was one of the most dominant and consistent performances I've ever seen in GP2, and I've been following this series since Hamilton won it back in '06.

Not sure about that. He controlled the races in Bahrain beautifully but couldn't continue his momentum after that at all. Even Razia, who's rated by no one got ahead of him before Valsecchi managed to bag a somewhat fortunate reverse grid win in Monza. It was clear that that stage that Valsecchi didn't have the pace of drivers like Leimer, Ericsson, Calado, Filippi, or, hate to say it, Chilton.

Leimer had the speed and consistency this year that you're attributing to Valsecchi last year!

It will be interesting to see how he gets on. I don't expect him to flop like d'Ambrosio did in Monza last year. I'd expect a couple of low top 10 finishes from him.

[bella]

yeah those words were spoken like a true valsecchi fanboy!

seems like a good lad though, and i'm sure he'll not let himself down but taking over from kimi raikkonen with barely any testing? talk about a difficult job!

[p-matt]

^ Absolutely. When will they take a sensible pill and give the first hour of free practice to the reserve drivers so they can step in and not disgrace themselves when they get a chance?

[chillibowl]

Can't really think of the last rook to really embarrass themselves though.

[m355y]

Valsecchi is better than Leimer, Razia or Chilton, I've got no doubt about that at all. Whether he's F1 material, lets see how he does the next two races I suppose. It's a lifeline for his career this. Impress and he might be picked up by someone. If this chance hadn't come along he wouldn't have had a cat in hells chance.

[bella]

Originally Posted by p-matt

^ Absolutely. When will they take a sensible pill and give the first hour of free practice to the reserve drivers so they can step in and not disgrace themselves when they get a chance?

the really obvious one is to run three cars all day on fridays. i'm not sure you could fit them in some of the garages and i'm sure there'd be complaints about staffing but it makes sense.

[p-matt]

No rookie nowadays is going to look like Inoue. Kobayashi is probably the last reserve driver to look remotely decent. But he had quite a bit of testing with Toyota, and a very good car underneath him.

[chillibowl]

Grosjean also did pretty good for a replacement

[F1Pete]

This really sucks...

Anyway, Badour did an amazing job also!

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by bella

the really obvious one is to run three cars all day on fridays. i'm not sure you could fit them in some of the garages and i'm sure there'd be complaints about staffing but it makes sense.

Good point and perhaps this is something the FIA should be looking at and insisting that nominated reserve drivers must have completed a minimum amount of mileage in the car, have driven it within at least the last 2 months and be familiar with all the car systems and equipment.

Instead of being seen as another source of funding from drivers who barely get to see the car let alone drive it.

The Kimi situation and the potential that Alonso may have not been fit to drive only goes to show that teams need to take this role seriously, particularly when points (and money) are at stake.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

Grosjean also did pretty good for a replacement

Eventually