2013 Driver Lineups

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by Bononi

That should be the case...


But Hamilton ?

Think money. That's all his managers do. Who other than his current team would be prepared to meet his demands?

Red Bull is out, Ferrari unlikely, Williams haven't got it, Mercedes are probably too transparent to their shareholders to spend that sort of sum when there is budding German talent available. Lotus? would mean giving up on either Kimi or a prodigious talent in the other seat?

I'm sure he'll stay put but it would be far more fun if he didn't!

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by ECW Dan Selby

Huge outside chance of a Ferrari seat, perhaps..? Or is that just crazy talk?

Crazy talk I think. As great as Heikki has been recently, I think the top teams will always be a bit wary of him given how poor he was at McLaren.

[Nicholosophy]

Originally Posted by p-matt

Crazy talk I think. As great as Heikki has been recently, I think the top teams will always be a bit wary of him given how poor he was at McLaren.

To be fair, I think he was underdone when he arrived at McLaren. The time he spent there and now at Lotus/Caterham should put him in a better position next time.

[beau1]

I don't think Heikki really deserves a seat in any of the top teams, there are too many top drivers and I think he's already had his chance.
He'd been in the sport the same amount of time as Hamilton in 2008, yet Hamilton won the championship and Heikki could only manage five top 4 finishing positions in one of the best cars that season.

I think he might move up the grid eventually but only to Force India or maybe Lotus. If any of the experienced drivers at the back deserve a shot in a better car it has to be Glock as he was beginning to shine in the Toyota back in 2009 and would have probably outscored Trulli if it wasn't for his crash at Japan.

[raymondu999]

Maybe Heikki ousts his fellow Finn from the Lotus?

[Razzzor]

Yeah Heikki could - what are they paying Raikkonen this year? I bet it's a lot. And Grosjean has outshone Kimi at most races this year. I can't imagine Heikki at his very best would come close to Kimi at his best, though. And I was a big Heikki fan until he completely failed against Hamilton.

I definitely don't want to see Massa at Ferrari for another year. Sure he's been a bit closer to Alonso at a couple races recently, but he still got beaten. When's the last time Massa was genuinely faster than Alonso in a race? 2 or 3 years? I don't think there's any team in F1 that would have one driver ALWAYS faster than the other.

It's interesting that there's so many solid drivers in F1, just out of F1 like Jaime and in the feeders Gp3/Gp2/WSR. They need the bottom 3 teams to join the midfield so there's more room for better young drivers to get some results.

Guys like Bottas, Calado, Bianchi, Bird, Stanaway, Evans, even Da Costa have tonnes of potential, but there's no room in F1 for them!

Re Verge; he should have picked up 7th at Monaco if his team didn't screw him over. That would have trumped any of Dan's results. But either one of them still have potential, I want to see them both at TR for at least another year. Then one of them to RB in 2014. I think with time they'll both prove to be in another league to Jaime and Buemi.

I'd be amazed if Vettel went to Ferrari, pretty stupid move if you want to carry on winning in the short term. Stick with Newey. I bet if does leave RB, Hamilton will replace him at that point at RB.

I don't see Hamilton at Ferrari either. He's better off at McLaren. I think only Ferrari, Red Bull and Lotus on a good day are faster than McLaren at the moment. Mercedes, William... they might have won races, but they've been slow at a number of races this year. And Sauber's definitely not faster than McLaren, it's just showed good consistency on it's tyres at times. McLaren is inconsistent, poor in some races but fast in others - Hamilton had every beat at Canada, his car was much kinder on it's tyres than Red Bull.

I actually want to see Pirelli bring that hard tyre and bring the end to the extreme tyre management. That way we can finally see the fastest car at the front, not the best on it's tyres. We might see a lot more of Lotus and Mercedes at the front, less of Alonso :P

[spider]

Originally Posted by beau1

I don't think Heikki really deserves a seat in any of the top teams, there are too many top drivers and I think he's already had his chance.
He'd been in the sport the same amount of time as Hamilton in 2008, yet Hamilton won the championship and Heikki could only manage five top 4 finishing positions in one of the best cars that season.

I think he might move up the grid eventually but only to Force India or maybe Lotus. If any of the experienced drivers at the back deserve a shot in a better car it has to be Glock as he was beginning to shine in the Toyota back in 2009 and would have probably outscored Trulli if it wasn't for his crash at Japan.

I agree. Heikki has really benefited from the Pro-PR drivel that's been pumping out of Caterham/Team Lotus over the last 3 years. The team has pretty much acted as a PR machine for him over this period. But, he's outpaced both Trulli and Petrov, who are both reasonably quick pedalers. He won't get into a front-line seat again I'm sure, due to McLaren, but agree he'll find a team somewhere in the middle.

Glock sadly I think is doomed to be pedaling that Marussia for as long as they stay-around. If Marussia were as OTT with their PR as the team in green, he'd probably be more noticed, but sadly he kinda makes up the numbers now.

He wasn't a mile off the Caterham at Silverstone - his fastest lap was also quicker than Heikki's, despite pitting at similar intervals. Just got to hope that the Russian GP, being forced to change engine suppliers, and Pat Symonds joining full time in 2013 will have a positive affect to push the team closer to the pack...

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by p-matt

Crazy talk I think. As great as Heikki has been recently, I think the top teams will always be a bit wary of him given how poor he was at McLaren.

Heikki didn't cover himself in glory while at McLaren, thats for sure, but i'm convinced that the team didn't help him out either. He was a late draft after the Fernando fiasco but the teams sole focus was on Lewis. I went to Silverstone in 2008 and 2009 and McLaren didn't do any Heikki merchandice at all, whilst there was loads of Hamilton stuff, thats how much the team got behind him and i think ultimately, that got to him.

but he's older and wiser now, with bags more experience. He'd do alot better at a top team second time round.

[p-matt]

I'm not doubting he would do better in a top team now. I'm just saying that I don't think he'll be given a chance now.

[kurski]

Kimi Räikkönen is leaving F1 series?.. Kimi has been told that if he does not win the world championship two Lotus-season, so after his return to rallies. The agreement the Lotus team with expires after the 2013 season.

[JohnSSC]

Heikki might do well at a top team, V, but will he get the chance? Long que of drivers who fight that same description...

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by p-matt

I'm not doubting he would do better in a top team now. I'm just saying that I don't think he'll be given a chance now.

Agreed.

It was mentioned during the free practice 2 coverage on Sky that Heikki and his management were asked about rumours that he'd been talking to Ferrari and he simply replied "no comment". I personally don't think it will happen either, his 2 seasons at McLaren could make him a "risk" at a top team, although i'm convinced he'd handle it alot better, but there are too many young prospects catching the eye of the big four and other than Ferrari what other top 4 seat is available? None !

I think Perez to Ferrari, Heikki to Sauber would be more likely.

[Razzzor]

Kovi would surely be faster than Massa. I do think Hamilton's best 2 seasons to date were his first 2 alongside Kovi, considering he was a rookie in that first year. He hasn't been as strong since considering by 2009 he was ALMOST a double world champion. Two many mistakes.

If I were Ferrari, I'd be replacing Massa with Perez.

Re Schumacher, I think this just about says it all about his plans for next year:

“I came into Formula 1 with Mercedes (in 2010), hoping to win races and maybe even the championship if all went well,” Schumacher told reporters at Hockenheim. “We all know how things have gone..."

I don't think he'll be under any illusions that Mercedes will suddenly become the front runner next season - not with RB and the likes of Alonso and Hamilton both in strong cars. Schumacher will only be out there collecting podiums at best next season.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

I do think Hamilton's best 2 seasons to date were his first 2 alongside Kovi, considering he was a rookie in that first year.

Surely you mean his first season alongside Fernando?

[JohnSSC]

I think Heikki to Ferrari makes a certain amount of sense for Ferrari - and Heikki. He would make an excellent number two, and I think he would be far less affected by team decisions or poor car performance than Massa has been recently.

[Mr V]

Heikki out qualified his team mate by a second today. Its things like that that are likely to attract the attention of the other team managers.

[wolfhound]

A place at the prancing horse might be a bit of a long shot for Heikki but what about a place at Grove where 2 drivers are not getting the results the car deserves.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

A place at the prancing horse might be a bit of a long shot for Heikki but what about a place at Grove where 2 drivers are not getting the results the car deserves.

It's a shame for a once great team like Williams, but i think any candidate for the seat must have some sponsership to bring. Not sure that Heikki brings that?

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by Mr V

It's a shame for a once great team like Williams, but i think any candidate for the seat must have some sponsership to bring. Not sure that Heikki brings that?

I agree, especially as they now have shareholders to answer to, I can't see them paying a driver whilst there's all that pay driver funding available. Not unless they are absolutely sure the car is a title challenger, when they might prefer talent over sponsorship.

I'm not sure that's the case right now.

[bella]

i think considering they've invested 2 years in developing bottas they're far more likely to put him in the car than go for (and pay for) a safe pair of hands like heikki.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by bella

i think considering they've invested 2 years in developing bottas they're far more likely to put him in the car than go for (and pay for) a safe pair of hands like heikki.

I may be wrong, but I think you'll find Bottas has brought sponsorship to Williams, I don't think it's a free drive.

But I agree he is more likely than anyone else to get a race seat.

[Paradise City]

Has Perez fallen into disfavour or something? He's a shoe-in for that seat. Ferrari might think better of Heikki; the earlier attempt at rescuing a driver with a 2nd lease of life in a backmarker car, Fisichella, didn't turn out too well.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

Has Perez fallen into disfavour or something? He's a shoe-in for that seat. Ferrari might think better of Heikki; the earlier attempt at rescuing a driver with a 2nd lease of life in a backmarker car, Fisichella, didn't turn out too well.

?

Where to ?

[bella]

Originally Posted by Flavio Galtieri

I may be wrong, but I think you'll find Bottas has brought sponsorship to Williams, I don't think it's a free drive.

But I agree he is more likely than anyone else to get a race seat.

i didn't say he hadn't brought money, just that they've invested time and effort into having him as their spare driver. regardless of that they still could have happily taken someone with a bigger wedge and a bit less talent - there's plenty of them throwing it around in gp2 at the moment.

there's a piece on him on the autosport site at the moment that's worth a read, for anyone with a subscription.

[m355y]

Interesting the comments about Vergne. I've felt he's struggled a lot this season. Neither him or Ricciardo have really impressed - Ricciardo has shown the outright pace to trouble the top ten in qualifying on occasion but always seems to drift backwards in the race, Vergne seems to have a major problem with outright pace in qualifying but seems to be able to piece together a stronger race.

Buemi and Alguersuari were both scoring regular points last season, qualifying in the top ten and I do honestly think either would be good drivers for other teams. But it's like Red Bull were spoiled a bit by Vettel; neither of them have won a race or stood on a podium in two full seasons together, so they're expendable.

Careful what you wish for.