Silly Season 2011 Thread

[vall]

I would go for Heidfeld, as he is pretty fast and very underrated in my opinion. Next choice would be De La Rosa or Fisichella. Choosing Senna or Grosjean would be counter productive in my opinion, as those two have no idea about helping in the car development.

I would not judge them so fast. For sure if I were Boullier, I would give Senna track time this week and evaluate him. It is hard to judge him from last year with that crappy Hispania.

[vall]

I can't help but feel that Heidfeld has had his shot at F1 and nothing major came of it.

For me Senna is the only sensible option but Renault may opt for several drivers throughout the season.

I also have the feeling it will be Senna. This could be his best chance to show what he is made of in a decent car.

I don't really see the fuzz about Heidfeld. He had his chances and indeed nothing special came out

[FrukostScones]

For sure if I were Boullier, I would give Senna track time this week and evaluate him. It is hard to judge him from last year with that crappy Hispania.

Especially bad cars show us if there is a good pilot at the wheel or not (See Alonso 2001 in the Minardi). Senna is maybe not really bad, but he is no future champion or a future top driver. I say it is only his name that keeps him in the business.

It will be Heidfeld or Kimi! For Klien fans: the bookies offer 500 WDC-winner!

ps. this should be discussed in the SillySeasonThread...

[Pup]

Personally, I would try to snag Gary Paffett from McLaren. He's a good driver, has plenty of experience in a good car, is well liked, and I think he would generate a lot of interest. And he would add an actual British presence to a team that desperately wants to be British. Plus Bernie wants him in the field.

[spinmastermic]

I can't help but feel that Heidfeld has had his shot at F1 and nothing major came of it.

For me Senna is the only sensible option but Renault may opt for several drivers throughout the season.

I also have the feeling it will be Senna. This could be his best chance to show what he is made of in a decent car.

I don't really see the fuzz about Heidfeld. He had his chances and indeed nothing special came out

Just like Button until he got the Brawn. Renault need a driver quick with experiance to carry the team. If Heidfeld gets the drive it'll be his last chance to prove himself.

[ESPImperium]

I have a feeling they will test Heidfeld as a common curtesy to him. I feel they will give a half day to Heidfeld on Friday as they have Petrov on Thursday and Friday and probably Senna and Grosjean on Saturday/Sunday. Or they could have Senna, Heidfeld, Liuzzi and Grosjean all having a 40 lap shootout where each driver gets 40 laps on Saturday or Sunday and the fastest gets the drive.

Its the only decent thing they could do.

Heidfeld i think will be fighting Liuzzi for the final Hispania seat now their car has been shown off.

Hispania i think are gonna announce their second driver soon, Renault will have to announce within a few days otherwise they will be done for the season before it starts.

[axle]

Renault have 2 choices in my opinion.
Steady points = Heidfield
Possible star (but might be erratic) = Hulkenberg

Kimi talk is daft, he hates F1's politics and BS he won't return unless the pay is rediculous IMO....and Renault can't afford rediculous.

Liuzzi would be my 3rd choice - I don't think Fifi was fair to him with the equipment and opportunity...he's better than they had us believe.

Taking Hulk would be great for Mercedes, as he'd get experience before replacing Schumi in 2012 (come on who really thinks MS will do 3 seasons?!?) and prove he can do the job.

Heifield equally puts of sports cars/DTM for another year...and would likely be cheap with no real strings attached.

[cbbcisace]

Hi ESP,

Who do you think will be the 2nd Hispania driver, I thought Liuzzi but im not so sure about how much sponsorship money he has got, you got any more ideas?

[H.Lyoud]

I just found on twitter

Unofficial rumors says that Nick Heidfeld will join LRGP and it will be announced tommorow.

[fritticaldi]

Heidfeld makes sense. Let's not forget that on the third day of the recent private tests Kubica was the quickest. The LRGP car could be a dark horse with its unusual exhausts...

[PlatinumZealot]

It's Bruno.

Link:

[H.Lyoud]

Heidfeld makes sense. Let's not forget that on the third day of the recent private tests Kubica was the quickest. The LRGP car could be a dark horse with its unusual exhausts...

Even if its true, QN will not be able to get 100% potential cause R31 was designed for Robert and Nick have diffrent style of driving. If its true that we will join the team tommorow its obviously a good news. He will get time to set up the car for himself.

[nacho]

In the interview the journalist asked Boullier with giving those names, and Boullier said yes and that there are other names too. It wasn't like he made a specific point that those three names are at the top of his list. Bad journalism on the behalf of who started that story as the video interview gives a totally different emphasis.

[Giblet]

I don't really see the fuzz about Heidfeld. He had his chances and indeed nothing special came out

Well, matching Kubica for the most part, being a great passer, great developer, has experience across many teams and cars, set an 'ironman' record with the number of consecutive races he finished without taking himself or anyone out, and being generally quite quick.

It's not that there is any fuss, but Renault needs someone who can jump in, develop, go fast, and bring home points, and I can't see any reason why he doesn't fit the bill. They need someone to fill shoes, there just isn't a bunch of spare Kubicas laying about.

His other records don't do him major justice, but he does bring home the points

Most points without a win 225
Most podium finishes without a victory* 12
Most consecutive classified finishes 41 (2007 French Grand Prix–2009 Italian Grand Prix)
Most consecutive race finishes 33 (2007 Chinese Grand Prix–2009 Italian Grand Prix)
Most finishes in a season** 18 (from 18 races in 2008)

[Morteza]

I don't really see the fuzz about Heidfeld. He had his chances and indeed nothing special came out

Well, matching Kubica for the most part, being a great passer, great developer, has experience across many teams and cars, set an 'ironman' record with the number of consecutive races he finished without taking himself or anyone out, and being generally quite quick.

It's not that there is any fuss, but Renault needs someone who can jump in, develop, go fast, and bring home points, and I can't see any reason why he doesn't fit the bill. They need someone to fill shoes, there just isn't a bunch of spare Kubicas laying about.

His other records don't do him major justice, but he does bring home the points

Most points without a win 225
Most podium finishes without a victory* 12
Most consecutive classified finishes 41 (2007 French Grand Prix–2009 Italian Grand Prix)
Most consecutive race finishes 33 (2007 Chinese Grand Prix–2009 Italian Grand Prix)
Most finishes in a season** 18 (from 18 races in 2008)

+1
I've always considered Heidfeld as a great driver and I still believe he is a nice one. He can do really well for Renault if they want an alternative to replace Kubica at the moment.