Silly Season 2011/2012

[donskar]

My vote is against Ham to RBR. I think they WANT to win with Vettel, and with Newey in the design dept, they can be confident of having a winner. Remember, RBR is a Red Bull promotional tool, more than just a racing team. They have made an investment in Vettel, and the investment has paid off in two WDC and WCC in a row. Why cause unnecessary internal strain? Could Hamilton have done BETTER than Vettel these last two seasons? No. Also, don't overlook the fact that -- if Red Bull is as smart as I think they are -- they WANT to have SOME competition. Bringing Hamilton on board could lessen competition to the extent that RBR success could be devalued.

[ESPImperium]

Senna in for Hungary FP1: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93351

With this id recon that Heidfeld is gonna be gone for Spa and Monza and then Senna and Grosjean alternating GPs for the remainder of the season with Grosjean doing the GP2 Series Finale in Abu Dhabi that is for a €1.5m prize for the race winner.

I think that we are seeing that there is at least 2 drivers on the way out now, Heidfeld and Trulli have seen their course in F1 now. It also raises the question of who Team Lotus will get to replace Trulli, im not convinced about Chandhok long term, long term id like to see Riccardo in the Trulli/Chandhok seat and if Red Bull stay with the status quo, and if STR do the same, i think the Red Bull link with Team Lotus with gearboxes and KERS will only be strengthened with Daniel going to partner Heikki for 2012.

As for Renault, i see them having Petrov and either Senna or Grosjean as im having doubts over Kubica now.

So far there is too many variables, but i can see there being 3 main seats available in F1 next year, the two at Hispania and the D'Ambrosio seat at Virgin.

Red Bull, Mclaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, Force India, Williams, Sauber and Toro Rosso i think will stay as is for 2012. This leaves the following seats available by my estimation;

Renault #1 (Kubica/Heidfeld seat) - Senna/Grosjean
Team Lotus #2 (Trulli/Chandhok) - Riccardo/Valsecchi
Hispania #1 (Karthekeyn/Riccardo) - ?????????????
Hispania #2 (Liuzzi) - ???????????????
Virgin #2 (D'Ambrosio) - one of the 2 drivers that miss out at Renault and Team Lotus

However i think the main silly season is where Aldo Costa, Sam Michael and any other TD thats going in the market place thats of note. I also think there is a announcement on what KERS Hispania and Virgin could use for 2012.

I think we will know more in the next 6 to 8 weeks about what who and where for 2012.

[marcush.]

lets be realistic with Senna..Bruno Senna.He did not impress too much compared to Chandhok last year in the HRT ,and now compare Chandhok with Kovalainen...who is surely a comparable force to Heidfeld .
Ok the Lotus seems to be a delicate car when a seasoned warrior like Trulli is struggling to extract a decent time from it but then it´s Formula 1.

[ESPImperium]

Sauber have confirmed that they will keep their driver lineup for 2012 as Kimui Kobiyashai and Sergio Perez as their race drivers and their TD as Estaban Guiteriez.

Thats 2 more seats off the 2012 grid.

Id expect more seats to be confirmed soon with more teams, id look towards McLaren and Mercedes to stay as is and then Red Bull and Ferrari to stay as is later.

The key seat is the Renault seat that Heidfeld is keeping warm for Kubica, whitch will be decided over by Grosjean/Senna/Hulkenberg if Kubica cant recover his hand mobility in time. The the key seats will be at Williams and Toro Rosso and then Team Lotus and Virgin and finally Hispania.

[kultmagazin]

ESPI, you think that Petrov is safe? Or we could see him in Virgin (Marussia) seat next year?

[raymondu999]

I think Petrov is quite safe; given that he has improved from last year to this one; seems like a good investment

[ESPImperium]

Petrov is safe, and Renault need his €20m a year sponsor money. He has kept pace with Heidfeld in racing terms this year in terms of points, and has actually outplaced Heidfeld by 0.1 places on average. Heidfeld should be doing much better, but the car isnt designed arround him as he drives from the front of the car, and the man the R31 was designed arround drives from the rear of the car as we saw in 2009 when both men were at the same team. Heidfeld was always complaining about the BMW Sauber F1.09s front not biting enough, and Kubica was always complaining abou the F1.09s rear not being good enough on entry and exit of corners.

Petrov came in on average P13 last year, this is now P7 on average. He has improved, and is good enough to stay at Renault, whitch would seem to be about his level in F1 id recon. Heidfeld in the last few races of 2010 came in P14 on average, whitch is good, but not enough to show me he should be in F1 going on this years performances, or if he is to stay in F1 he should take a seat at a small team and carry them for a few years like what DC did with Red Bull and what Glock, Trulli/Kovalinann is currently doing with Virgin and Team Lotus.

Id say Renault will give Senna the FP1 drive in Hungary whitch has been confirmed, and part ways with Heidfeld over the summer break for Senna to get a drive in Spa and posibly Monza if Grosjean dosnt seal the GP2 series title in Spa. If Grosjean seals the deal in Spa, he will drive Monza onwards.

Renault need to look at their 2 main contenders if Kubica dosnt drive in 2012 to measure up what would be best for the team. Id also recon that they will give Hulkenberg a try as well, as he would be the standard of driver that could tempt them from not taking either Grosjean or Senna.

As for the rest of the grid;

* Barrichello is negotiating a new deal as Coughlan wants an experienced driver for 2012 at Williams. Id expect Maldanado to stay as the €25m he brings to them from PDVSA is too good to loose. However this is dependant on what happens in Venuzeula and Hugo Chavez personal health and what happens in their elections in October.
* Team Lotus will take the option on Heikki, but i feel that they will pass on a 2012 deal for either Valsecchi or Chandhok. They may fancy Hulkenberg as well. Id also put Riccardo on the Team Lotus watch list if he dosnt get a Torro Rosso seat, Riccardo for Free KERS and Red Bull rear end may be a deal maker here.
* Virgin will either keep D'Ambrosio on as he brings €4.5m to them, or Marussia may want to take on another Russian driver in Mikhail Aleshin who could bring as much as Petrov to Renault €20m from GazProm.
* Id expect Toro Rosso to stay as is, or Riccardo to come in, if Riccardo comes in the guy who is ejected will go to Team Lotus id recon.
* Mercedes will stay as is, but bring in an official TD in either Christian Vetoris and or Sam Bird.
* Hispania will probably take the money from who ever and where ever, id expect at least one Spanish driver, either Javier Villa or Dani Clos, id take Clos as he is the better driver in GP2 to Villa. Id expect Liuzzi to stay on for 2012, however Hispania could go for another major pay driver. Not quite sure who tho. Its like going to the hat and picking 2 names, every week you will have 2 diffrent drivers to choose from for them.

Id expect at least a couple of new faces in F1 in 2012, If Pirelli get their way and get Monday testing next year, teams will see more Test and Development drivers, and this could bring much more valued revenue to the smaller teams, as well as give the larger ones time to develop young drivers at the same time. Not to mention the Europen Young Driver Test that has been talked about at Mugello where teams will potentially have 2 cars on track with one young gun and one race driver for car development for the 3 day test.

2012 is taking shape, however the one area that is needed is test time, and this is looking to reach a watershed where teams can test and develop the young tallent.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Kobayashi tied to Sauber for 2012.


Im both happy and disapointed by this. Happy for Sauber, a fantastic team. But dissapointed we will not see Kobayashi in a top team, as I rate this bloke very highly!

What does he need to do to get signed up I wonder?

[marcush.]

maybe Koba is aslready signed to some japanese manufacturer? who knows.
Sauber has clearly found their feet after two years and the addition of James Key who seems to be really the new Brawn ,Dr.Postlethwaite or Geoff willis.
Even if one guy cannot turn around everything alone it is a remarkable turn this team has taken since his arrival.

[marcush.]

Tost dreaming of grosjean:
http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/news ... 81708.html

even though he states that TR always and only employed REDBULL juniors .. was Bourdais really grown by REDBULLs junior programme????

[Donuts]

Kobayashi tied to Sauber for 2012.


Im both happy and disapointed by this. Happy for Sauber, a fantastic team. But dissapointed we will not see Kobayashi in a top team, as I rate this bloke very highly!

What does he need to do to get signed up I wonder?

Hmm... from another point of view, he has'nt really made an impression this year. Excluding Monaco and Canada, Perez has the upper hand in qualifying(5-4) and has been looking really promising in race pace. Perez is the man to watch.

[raymondu999]

Kobayashi tied to Sauber for 2012.


Im both happy and disapointed by this. Happy for Sauber, a fantastic team. But dissapointed we will not see Kobayashi in a top team, as I rate this bloke very highly!

What does he need to do to get signed up I wonder?

James Allen actually wrote quite a good piece on this the other day which I actualy quite agree with. In quali Koba seems to be a bit of a Button; he can give 100% only when he's fully happy with the car. Granted, his operating window seems wider, or he can just set up better to find a good balance for himself

[raymondu999]

James Allen has just reported that Fezza are looking to replace Massinha with Nico Spears. He says the original plan was for Kubica to take Massa's seat, but Ferrari are unsure whether or not he'll be on the pace after his horrific accident. Massa's manager Nicolas Todt apparently has good connections with Danny Banhar of Group Lotus too, so he's saying Massa could very well be in the empty "Kubica seat"

[Donuts]

James Allen has just reported that Fezza are looking to replace Massinha with Nico Spears. He says the original plan was for Kubica to take Massa's seat, but Ferrari are unsure whether or not he'll be on the pace after his horrific accident. Massa's manager Nicolas Todt apparently has good connections with Danny Banhar of Group Lotus too, so he's saying Massa could very well be in the empty "Kubica seat"

They will wait until after Kubica has tested the simulator in Maranello! Rumour so far...

Dream scenario if Kubica can do a strong comeback and be teamed up with Alonso... that will be the ultimate test for him.

[raymondu999]

Simulator in Maranello? Kubica? Eh?