Silly Season 2011 Thread

[andrew]

Chandhok has said in Autosport on Friday 18th June 2010 that he is targeting a move to Force India for 2011. Chandhok believes that the commercial benefits for the team running an Indian driver make him an obvious choice.

MrE has been quite vocal in saying that Chandhok in the Force India for the Indian GP would be good (obviously from a commercial view). Do you thik MrE has enough influence to make this move happen?

[Giblet]

For Renault, having the fastest driver in the fastest car was both a blessing and a curse. Alonso won the two championships, but at what cost? The team was left in shambles when he left and had repeated rumors of leaving the sport.

Using a driver like Petrov who for a rookie is doing quite well, and his Russian money vein alongside a Kubica could help long term growth. Having a number 2 like Fisi who is arguably a very strong driver would have been doubly helpful if he had a whole country and it's businesses behind him.

[WhiteBlue]

Renault seem to be determined to get rid of Petrow and unless he brings strong sponsorship as a pay driver to an ailing team his F1 days should be over. Liuzzi has demonstrated for long enough that he can drive a track like Monza but anything demanding with corners like Monaco, Spa or Singapore exposes his weakness as a driver. Bruno Senna is another name that does not belong in F1 IMO. I think that Klien is doing a better job than any of those. Perhaps the team bosses will realize that.

The Renault seat should go to Kimi if he can demonstrate his motivation. That should be pretty easy by agreeing on a small salary augmented by big pay checks for points. We will see if Kimi is serious about coming back on that basis. If not we will know that his love for going sideways exceeds his desire for money.

Heidfeld at Sauber for 2011 isn't a done deal. It depends of his performance compared to Kobayashi. The first round goes to Kamui and I think Sauber will take all 2010 races to make a decision on this item.

[raymondu999]

Liuzzi outqualified Sutil in Monaco though... and we know Adrian isn't exactly a slouch in Monaco.

[mangesh]

Liuzzi in his column on espn is saying that "Personally I don't know if Paul has a place or what his contract says, but from my understanding that would mean that Adrian is out because I have a contract."

[WhiteBlue]

Liuzzi outqualified Sutil in Monaco though... and we know Adrian isn't exactly a slouch in Monaco.

Well he didn't manage to bring the position advantage home. Adrian beat him in the Monaco race. And what about all those other races? Liuzzi has 13 points to his name and Sutil 47 in the same car. Proof enough that Liuzzi can't deliver. He isn't exactly a rookie at 59 starts. Sutil has 67 starts but has brought in a lot more points to show for his starts.

[donskar]

Very interesting discussion here about the value of drivers/nationalities/sponsorship.

Harsh reality, though, is that a driver must be a solid competitor in order to be a positive for a major team (not talking about pay drivers and weak teams). We hear a lot about how much an American driver would bring to F1. But Exhibit A is Scott Speed. Though the USA is a huge market, and RB had made a large investment in him, he was bounced out of the team and could not find another F1 ride.

IHMO the biggest return on investment would be a highly capable Indian at Force India or a competitive Malaysian at Lotus.

[Gaara]

Webber won't be at redbull next year eitther he won the title or not.

[raymondu999]

how do you know that?

[andrew]

http://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/Rena ... -2011.html

Things are looking up for Petrov staying at Renault.

[Giblet]

Webber won't be at redbull next year eitther he won the title or not.

Source? He has a signed contract, which can of course be bought out.

[747heavy]

Toro Rosso sale rumours increase
Sep.30 (GMM) Rumours that the Faenza based formula one team Toro Rosso is for sale are gathering pace. Last week, we reported speculation that Red Bull mogul Dietrich Mateschitz wants to sell his second F1 outfit. The original Swiss report had said the Austrian billionaire might be able to triple his money, after buying Minardi from Paul Stoddart in 2006 for just $40m. But Italy's 422race.com said the outfit's price-tag is now just $30 million. "There are ongoing rumours, but currently we have no plans to sell Toro Rosso," said Mateschitz's personal assistant. The Italian report said there are several potential buyers, including Villeneuve/Durango, a group from the Far East, and Carlos Slim, the wealthiest person in the world. But the Mexican Slim, with a net worth of more than $60 billion, is thought keener to buy into Sauber, with his interest in Toro Rosso perhaps just a negotiating ploy. Ratings firm Nielsen estimated this week that energy drink sales have fallen one per cent.

[raymondu999]

Porsche coming back as a constructor? http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2010/10/01/p ... f1-return/

[theblackangus]

Porsche coming back as a constructor? http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2010/10/01/p ... f1-return/

I see the future return of Williams via Williams-Porsche.

Williams hybrid power and porsche are friends.

As a Williams fan I can only hope this will be the case.
It would be a dream. (Hopefully )

[WhiteBlue]

It would make sense IMO as an engine supplier, perhaps with Williams or Red Bull. Audi at LeMans and Porsche in F1 would be a great solution.