Kubica replacement

[E.B]

Originally Posted by Skam85

All depends on how many races he'll miss really. If it's only 2-3, they'd go with Senna. Any more than perhaps half the season they might look at a Heidfeld, Klien or Hulkenberg I'd say.

Those are three names I would personally place higher on the list than Roman Growsome or Bruno Senna to be honest.

But Bouillier has his own agenda and squad he wants to promote so who knows.

[chillibowl]

Webber to Renault means them making a deal with Flav...awkward!

[wnut]

Dare we suggest Daniel Ricciardo?

Young and terrifically fast.

[Peralta]

Heidfeld would be my choice. Quick and gets the car at the finish and comes with no baggage. I think even Kubica had a good relationship with him so it would make sense to go with him.

DiGrassi maybe but like Senna might not be quick enough, hard to tell.

[Skam85]

Throwing it out there - Fisi?

He'd still know most of the team well... and he's not THAT bad. Could do worse. At least he's a known quantity.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by Peralta

Heidfeld would be my choice. Quick and gets the car at the finish and comes with no baggage. I think even Kubica had a good relationship with him so it would make sense to go with him.

DiGrassi maybe but like Senna might not be quick enough, hard to tell.

I'd agree with this.
It is far more likely that Bruno wiill get a go but by the time the first three races are over if he's not cutting the mustard the team will cut him and look for a real replacement.

That replacement will most likely come from outside the regularly employed drivers, so some teams test or reserve driver or an unemployed driver like Heidfeld or dare I say it, Liuzzi....

If it was me I'd have called Nick already, and if he'd said no I'd be looking at testing Liuzzi or someone like that little Peugeot fella Davidson...

[steve nielsen]

They should try to get Hulkenberg in the car.

[Asa]

If I were Bouiller I would call Hulkenberg. I don't think I'd want to run Senna AND Petrov together. I would also try to get Kamui Obayashi, but that won't be easy as he seems to have a firm contract.

Heidfeld is good but he is not the future.

[jab]

I don't understand why people don't want Senna and Petrov together and yet are quite happy to have Hulkenberg in there. Senna and Hulkenberg have exactly the same amount of experience. If you're not going to go with Bruno, they would have to go with someone with experience to lead the team

[E-racer]

The difference is that Hulkenberg has an excellent track record in the junior formulas whereas Senna and Petrov has none of that. If you can't even win in the junior formulas you simply don't belong in F1.

[jab]

Junior results are an irrelevance at this stage. This is F1. Once you are in F1 you can only be judged on what you do in F1, and F1 experience is the only experience that counts

Junior racing results are like exam grades from school - they get you a job but they have little to do with how good you are at that job a few months/years down the line

[steve nielsen]

Originally Posted by jab

Junior results are an irrelevance at this stage. This is F1. Once you are in F1 you can only be judged on what you do in F1, and F1 experience is the only experience that counts

and who was the best rookie last year??

Nico Hulkenberg.............

[jab]

Only if you don't consider Kobayashi a rookie

I'm a big Hulkenberg fan but he wasn't that impressive for the vast majority of the year. Without his pole in Brazil, which was, by and large, a fluke, he would've been considered a disappointment - if you consider the expectations he came in with, he was arguably the least impressive out of all the rookies

[steve nielsen]

Originally Posted by jab

Only if you don't consider Kobayashi a rookie

I'm a big Hulkenberg fan but he wasn't that impressive for the vast majority of the year. Without his pole in Brazil, which was, by and large, a fluke, he would've been considered a disappointment - if you consider the expectations he came in with, he was arguably the least impressive out of all the rookies

http://www.worldcarfans.com/11012143...kobayashi-most

[jab]

If you want to quote random meaningless stats, how about the most important of them all?:

12. K Kobayashi - 32 pts
13. V Petrov - 27 pts
14. N Hulkenberg - 22 pts

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by jab

Junior results are an irrelevance at this stage. This is F1. Once you are in F1 you can only be judged on what you do in F1, and F1 experience is the only experience that counts

Junior racing results are like exam grades from school - they get you a job but they have little to do with how good you are at that job a few months/years down the line

Completely agree.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Couldn't agree more with that. Spot on.

At the end of the day, I think give Senna a chance. He had a dog last year, and mentally, he must be in a very positive state of mind. He knows he made a (lucky) shrewd move, and potentially, this is a front(ish) running car. He'll be out there to silence some critics.

It also potentially leaves Renault in a bizzare predicament if Bruno potentially out-performs Petrov.

I know i've been vocally quite outspoken in regards to Senna last season, but I think we just need to see how he gets on.

Selby

[steve_r]

I'm half expecting them to bring in Fisichella. I would like to see Hulkenburg get the drive though.

It would be good to see how Senna gets on - I really think it would be a shame if the only race chance he got was at HRT. It's hard to judge anything about a driver in that car.

[strider]

Here's the latest from Boullier:

Renault team principal Eric Boullier said he expected Kubica to miss at least the first two months of the 2011 Formula 1 season. Speaking to the BBC, Boullier believed the Pole would not drive an F1 car until at least the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

Boullier also reiterated in an interview with ANSA that Renault backed Kubica's decision to take part in the event, despite its close proximity to the start of the new F1 season.

"Rallying is what Robert loves to do," he said. "We knew the risks and so did he. We didn't want a robot or a corporate man for a driver. It was agreed together."

That's a best case scenario and if they think there's a chance of that they may as well stick Bruno in the car or borrow Hulkenberg for a while.

Realistically, if the medics are saying it will be another week before they can give a better long term prognosis, they may as well let someone like Senna start to get used to the car this week.

[E-racer]

Originally Posted by jab

Junior results are an irrelevance at this stage. This is F1. Once you are in F1 you can only be judged on what you do in F1, and F1 experience is the only experience that counts

Junior racing results are like exam grades from school - they get you a job but they have little to do with how good you are at that job a few months/years down the line

You are correct - to a point. Being good in junior formulas is no guarantee for being good at the top level. Piquet is just a recent example of that. However, if you can't even produce results in the lower categories, how on earth are you supposed to be competitive at the top level? Can you name a single world champion for the last two decades who didn't do well in the junior categories ??? Besides Hill, I can't think of one and his career fizzled out pretty quickly as soon as he didn't have a dominating car at his disposal.

[Super Hans]

Both Senna and Petrov finished runner-up in GP2.

Their junior careers therefore weren't as bad as you seem to be suggesting.

[bella]

with results in non-f1 things if you're going to be really fussy you have to look at *who* they did it with. if you take the example of piquet, his family made sure he always had the same people around him... does that mean he didn't do as well as someone like senna or petrov who didn't just bring their engineering team with them wherever they went? is hulkenberg's f3 euroseries title worth less because he was with the only team who won races consistently? after a while it gets a bit chicken and egg, doesn't it.

[Mekola]

I'm with Senna in this stage. His life was very rounded of disgraces, the driver deserves a chance in favour this time.

Alas, why don't put a poll to select our favourite Kubica's replacement?

[Down F0rce]

Has anyone mentioned Sato yet? He is connected to Group Lotus through KV Racing in IndyCar.

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by Down F0rce

Has anyone mentioned Sato yet? He is connected to Group Lotus through KV Racing in IndyCar.

Sato & Petrov?

Imagine the repair bills!