Silly Season 2011/2012

[ringo]

Maldonado has been utterly hopeless IMO. As was said in the interview Maldonado has statistically been the worst driver in the teams history.
It pains me to see 'Venezuela' and 'PDVSA' plastered all over the car too - I don't think it's the right image for the team.
If they really do need a pay driver, surely there are more exciting prospects than Maldonado?
Raikkonen and Sutil for 2012!!! - that will definitely make Williams the team worth supporting in 2012, along with Mercedes of course.

I don't think you are looking deep enough into the races.

Maldonado, according to barichello is faster than Hulkenberg and i believe him.
Barichello doesn't have to fabricate that story becuase he has outpaced the Hulk on bridgestones which are more straightforward and easier to learn than pirellis.
I think Maldonado gets an unfair shake from european fans, he's bashed even before he gets a chance to prove himself.
Maldonado has proven more than once that he can outpace barichello and he also has proven to have good race pace. He has just been unlucky with the mechanical failures and i think Williams realize this.

So if you do the maths; Pastor faster than Hulk, wouldn't it be a step backward to drop him and keep barichello?

I think it's the end for barichello, and i wont miss him. He's a nice guy but he's had a long ride. Time for him to get out the seat and give someone else a go.

Maldonado + Sutil or Maldonado + Kimi.

[Richard]

Are we talking about the same Maldonado? The rookie who has finished ahead of his team-mate 5 times in the 10 races that both have finished? The qualifying record is close, only 8-9 in favour of Barrichello.

Its been a good year for rookies - Maldonado, Di Resta and Perez have all done well against highly experienced team mates.

[Tyler]

Good point Ringo.
As for Bianchi, I don't see him replacing Massa at Ferrari.
I think Massa's seat is much more likely to go to Perez.
Perez has really impressed this year.
He's looked very good next to Kobayashi, who I was toting as a future WCC last year.
Perez is also part of the Ferrari family and Ferrari would have noticed the speed and potential that he's shown this year.
Massa is only signed until the end of 2012 and I can't see Ferrari sticking with him.
It's very sad really, he just hasn't been the same since 2009.
Before 2009 he looked to have a very good future with Ferrari and during his years with Schumi, Schumi rated him as one of his best ever team mates.
I think Perez will move up to Ferrari in 2013 and Bianchi will take his seat at Sauber.
Peter Sauber is very good at spotting and developing new talent and I'm think Bianchi will gain some experience at Sauber first, giving Ferrari the chance to evaluate him further.
I wonder where Massa will end up going, he's surely a good prospect for one of the midfield or newer teams.
Perhaps he could replace Trulli at Lotus.
Still doesn't make sense to me why FI would replace Sutil with Hulkenburg who as Ringo said was outpaced by Barichello in 2010.
I'm still very perplexed by this and I really feel for Sutil who I think has done an excellent job this year and is one of the reasons FI has overtaken Sauber and is sitting 6th in the championship.
It's really tough comparing him to Di Resta.
Despite the fact that Di Resta is a rookie, let's not forget that he beat his team mate and 2 times WCC Vettel in F3 in 2006.
Di Resta is definitely a guy to watch out for and in my opinion a future WCC.
I'm surprised none of the top teams have snapped him up yet.
I know he's not part of the Red Bull family but if I was Red Bull I would be looking to put him in Webber's seat for 2013.I know Red Bull have a drivers program but they're a top team and need to choose the best drivers for their seats.
I just don't think Ricciardo has done as much to impress as Di Resta.
Red Bull may not have the quickest car in the coming years and will really need quality drivers to compete.
Merc will surely be looking at Di Resta as a replacement for Schumi when he retires.
Let's just hope it's not too late by then and some astute team principal from one of the top teams hasn't signed him up before they can get to him.
I wonder what will happen to Kobayashi.
It seems like he'll be stuck at Sauber for a while, which is a shame as last year he was looking like he had the potential to be a future WCC.
Hopefully Sauber can build him a good car so that he can compete a bit higher up the grid.

[marcush.]

Rosberg on his way to Ferrari ...di Resta to replace him at Mercedes?

[raymondu999]

Rosberg to Ferrari has been a very hot rumor for a while; and though I rate Button better than I rate Rosberg; I think Rosberg to Ferrari probably has more substance than the Button to Ferrari rumors that were floating around for a bit; which I honestly thought was a negotiating ploy by Button and his management to help secure Button at McLaren.

I wonder though; if Rosberg does leave; and Schumacher stays; I wonder if the Force India refugee would move to Mercedes. That would be quite a blessing in disguise!

[xpensive]

I think a pre-condition for Rosberg's replacement at MGP is that he's German, or at least German speaken.

Adrian Sutil perhaps, or Michael's brother, he's still young?

[Steven]

... Adrian Sutil perhaps, or Michael's brother, he's still young?

If he continues perhaps one day he can race against his son in F1.

Anyway, while it seems unlikely the Williams will be a race winner next year, there are some things in favour of Williams for next year. They'll have a considerably better engine, while they can (I hope) limit themselves to develop their drivetrain, instead of building an entirely new box.
This would mean more focus on aero and suspension, and perhaps a podium finisher next year. But of course that is speculation, just like Raikkonen's move is at this point.

[raymondu999]

I've been thinking about the potential Barrichello - Kimi switch actually. Barrichello is well known as a development driver and giving good feedback; and is very very good at setting a car up; with some people even saying that it only takes Rubens about 5 laps to know the exact specific setup that he wants; down to the nitty gritty.

I remember that while Kimi was at McLaren and testing was very common; it was said that Kimi; though he didn't speak much; was a very consistent driver in terms of being able to consistently drive at stable laptime; and this made him a fantastic test driver as you knew that if there was any lap time change when testing a new component it was immediately clear that this was down to the part change.

I wonder if Williams feels they've tried the Barrichello "car developer/good feedback" route and are instead moving to a more "data" based approach where they would just observe data rather than specifically to driver feedback.

[MrBlacky]

If Rosberg goes to Ferrari, Kimi should replace him at MGP at least!

Or even better: Kimi to Ferrari

[raymondu999]

I'd love to see that dynamic!

Smedley: Fernando is faster than you
Kimi: Whatever

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

From what Williams have been saying I think its pretty much down to what Kimi says.
An offer has probably been made, and its up to Kimi whether the terms are up to his requirements.
As for the second seat at Williams, I think Maldonado will stay as his cash will feed Kimi's salary, which leaves Barrichello out in the cold.

Rosberg will stay at MGP as I think he will want to see what the new holy trinity of Bell, Willis and Costa will be able to conjure for 2013...possibly even a bit sooner. I also think he wont want to play second fiddle to Alonso, who seems cemented as a Ferrari number 1.
But if it does happen, then the MGP seat will be filled by Sam Bird who will keep it warm for a couple of seasons until Mercedes launch a bid to sign Vettel who could be bored of smashing the opposition into submission and fancy a challenge of resurrecting Mercedes F1 challenge.

The 2nd Ferrari seat will be filled by Perez, after his perfomances in his debut year(along with a couple of drives in older Ferrari cars this very season). The question is probably more when than if.

Question here, who will get the 2nd RB seat in 2012? Ricciardo? Buemi? Alguesari? Or do Red Bull go for the blue chip option in Hamilton?

[raymondu999]

I actually think it would either go to Alguersuari, or Vergne to be honest

[marcush.]

I think a pre-condition for Rosberg's replacement at MGP is that he's German, or at least German speaken.

Adrian Sutil perhaps, or Michael's brother, he's still young?

I am under the impression that two teutonic drivers is more something that just happened than it was a plan.Yes you could draw a paralell to the Hamiulton Button Axis but that idea never really took off and maybe it´s not a good idea anyways to play the national card when you are advertising yourself as a global player...So a Vettel Schumacher scenario is the single configuaration i could imagine for the three pointed star to really make sense from a PR view...you can really tell that Rosberg just does not have that profile or flair to him.He reaally lacks achievements say trophies..beating Michael was more dragging MS stance down than elevating Rosbergs perception in public.

So logical move wóuld be to promote di Resta .Nobody would seriously consider Ralf ...would they? You could just as well consider Coulthard then...
Mercedes will not introduce a novice.They need results and will not put all eggs in Schumis basket.Even a straight swap of Massa is imaginable.Massa would find a nice home with his old collegues from Ferrari there.. and he worked seemless with Schumacher .Smedley would sure follow and that alone should be a very valuable addition to MGP

Webber retiring ?? I thought he had negotiated another year with RB? Frankly speaking RedBulls Success this year is Vettels more than Neweys apart from the really astonishing reliability ...Webber is struggling to claim a podium these days when Vettel is uncatchable by the opposition..strange .To me the real disappointment of the season along with Kobayashi.

[raymondu999]

Aha! I think JET meant 2013. I know I did anyways

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

To me the real disappointment of the season along with Kobayashi.

To be fair on Koba I dont think he is well suited to having to drive within himself lap after lap to preserve the Pirelli tyre. I still rate him highly.