Silly Season 2011/2012

[munudeges]

I think Kimi is going to Williams for one year. He'll hope to shine on occasion and sell himself to a top drive the following year since it looks like 2013 will have some openings. Kimi will most likely have a shot at the Red Bull seat or the Mercedes seat.

It does actually seem as though Williams want the Raikkonen thing to happen. They're currently working out funding and I think even though he will only have a one year deal initially he wants to assess what kind of car he thinks Williams will produce, what the state is with the new technical people there and the relationship with Renault. If he thinks he is catching a team back on the up that are going to be right behind him then he can give himself the option of staying at the end of next year. Going to Red Bull would be an easy decision, but if he went to Mercedes, or even Ferrari or McLaren, he'd want to see signs that they can challenge for the championship.

[dren]

Well Button is safe for likely 3 years, and then probably an option for a 4th or 5th.

[munudeges]

Probably a well deserved pay rise for Button in the bargain.

[Richard]

This really is silly season, here's PR puff from Whitmarsh:

I can safely say that [Button] is one of the most capable and respected drivers we've ever had

"Ever had"??? Out of a list that includes Hakkinen, Senna, Prost, Lauda?

[beelsebob]

This really is silly season, here's PR puff from Whitmarsh:

I can safely say that [Button] is one of the most capable and respected drivers we've ever had

"Ever had"??? Out of a list that includes Hakkinen, Senna, Prost, Lauda?

Well, tbh, that's pretty reasonable... if you were to pick the top 5 drivers McLaren ever had, it might reasonably include those 4 and Button*. Of course, you then might be lacking Bruce McLaren from the list, but >.>

Note – this is not intended to flame LH fans, but simply be a reflection of what a reasonable opinion might be.

[Richard]

The also-ran list is also impressive. Raikkonen, Hunt, Watson, Berger, Fittipaldi.

There was also some bloke driving a customer McLaren in 1971 called Helmut Marko, although his single result in a McLaren was "DNS". I wonder what happened to him?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLaren#Fo ... ip_results

[ESPImperium]

Thats the top 4 teams tied up, Team Caterham is also tied up as well, Timo at Virgin and Sauber also tied up too. Maldanado is a certanty as well.

Not too many other seats out there.

[Fil]

There's plenty of seats left!!

2 at Force India
2 at Toro Rosso
2 at HRT
1 at Williams
1 at Renault
1 at Virgin

And there are still some doubting Trulli's future at Team Lotus, even if he has signed on.


I have an inkling Force India is waiting for the driver fallout at Renault post-Kubica decision, with Williams keeping an eye on developments there too (in case Kimi doesn't sign on).

Toro Rosso awaiting Ricciardo's progress.

HRT lineup all depends on what the new owners decide to do & whether Kolles is still involved.

Virgin.. not sure what their motivations are at the moment. D'Ambrosio has been reasonable for a rookie - is he bringing in money? Are they in the market to snap up a driver that misses out on a seat at the above teams? Or are they happy with D'Ambrosio's performance/money?

[MIKEY_!]

Only one seat at Torro and we know who will take it the only question is which of their current drivers gets dropped (if they think Riccardo is good enough).

FI will want to retain Di Resta. They may take another driver from a top team if they can otherwise they will swap Nico and sutil (or not).

[Fil]

Who's been confirmed at STR, Mikey?

I wasn't aware Buemi or Alguersuari had been signed on for 2012?


For all we know, they may start afresh & throw Ricciardo & Vergne into the team.

And then there's the question of CEPSA's increasing influence in the team via Aabar..

[scuderiafan]

I don't understand why FI won't kick Sutil for Hulkenburg. I understand that Sutil is a safe choice as a driver, but Di Resta has been more or less consistent in beating Sutil. Di Resta is capable of steering a team, and Hulkenburg has talent.

[MIKEY_!]

No one signed yet for STR but lets face it staring fresh like that is a huge risk and both there current drivers have shown some real skill (or at least moments of brilliance) recently. seb has only been there for 2 years and has come a long way. Vergne is too inexperienced, even for torro rosso. I'm still not entirely convinced Ricciardo is ready (despite being Aussie). They need to think ahead to 2013 when webber may retire and if Buemi or Alguersuari are gone then who can replace webber. Not Ricciardo or Vergne, thats for sure.

[scuderiafan]

Who's been confirmed at STR, Mikey?

I wasn't aware Buemi or Alguersuari had been signed on for 2012?


For all we know, they may start afresh & throw Ricciardo & Vergne into the team.

And then there's the question of CEPSA's increasing influence in the team via Aabar..

I wonder how much thought Toro Rosso has put into Mirko Bortolotti. He has (had?) Red Bull backing, is part of the Ferrari Development Program, and he's dominated the F2 championship.

[MIKEY_!]

He's testing for Williams at Abu Dhabi end of this year.

In 2008 he set the fastest time by a Ferrari F2008 at Fiorano Circuit by any driver!

[ElleMarie]

I would love to see Mirko Bortolotti racing next year. He is fast and could be the newblood that Italy needs. Its been lot of years without an italian frontrunner (yeah im asking too much out of him right now).
But i dont think that Ferrari has an idea or a real plan for the young drivers that they are currently supporting; what im trying to say is that they dont seem to have plans to manage this drivers who are old enought to race in f1 for a full season; they seem to back them only on the previous steps.
Perez is not driving for Sauber because of Ferrari managment, he is there because of mexican investor (the owner of telmex) but he has an ongoing "light" deal with the scuderia who are mixing the labours of test drivers amongst this one and Bianchi.
For last, im starting to think about the effect on rejected RedBull development drivers, is there any life after RedBull? Bortolotti had to sort a bunch of difficults past seasons, an uphill; and there is also the case of kiwi Hartley.