Silly Season 2011/2012

[raymondu999]

ESPI - apparently Berger has flat out denied those rumours

[ESPImperium]

Denial is only the start in F1.

[fritticaldi]

Kimi Raikkonen along with his manager Steve Robertson are minority share holders with LRGP. It is yet unknown the percentage they bought from Genii Capital.

[MIKEY_!]

I foresee this going either really well for Renault (or whatever they will be) or really badly. A repeat of the MGP thread but with a Genii title perhaps
Either way, I'm just grateful Kimi's giving it a go!

[ringo]

How about Sutil to Renault with Kimi, and petrov takes his money to williams?

Williams will have 2 money drivers, who are fairly fast.
Maldonado as much as he is a pay driver, shows promise in his qualifying and race pace occassionally.
Petrov has shown he is very quick and can get results if he has the car to do it.

2 of them could work out well for Williams.

I eager to see Sutil dusting Kimi as well.

[scuderiafan]

How about Sutil to Renault with Kimi, and petrov takes his money to williams?

Williams will have 2 money drivers, who are fairly fast.
Maldonado as much as he is a pay driver, shows promise in his qualifying and race pace occassionally.
Petrov has shown he is very quick and can get results if he has the car to do it.

2 of them could work out well for Williams.

I eager to see Sutil dusting Kimi as well.

Petrov and Maldonado could work out well for Williams, but only if Williams build a faster car. In regards to Kimi, if di Resta could keep up with Sutil, I am sure Kimi can as well. Unless the Force India chassis is sandbagging di Resta's performance.

[Max Speed]

So much for Ferrari wanting the return of three car teams - looks like "Lotus" will be running a five car team - Raikkonen,Sutil,Petrov,Senna, and Grosjean!

[FrukostScones]

Have we already speculated about Sutil going to Team Caterham. They confirmed Trulli, but it is said that his contract could may be cancelled.
I really want to see Sutil again, he is a nice guy and a very good driver. I also would appreciate it seeing him in a Williams, as I used to like WilliamsF1 as a team really much, but I can't understand their decision not to contract Kimi Raikkonen. And their performance was really bad this year... it has been a constant decline... they definitly need a new boost, and maybe Raikkonen would have been the driver that could have motivated the team and given them a new drive. I doubt Sutil can deliver such a psychological kick. But he would be much better that BAR or PET.

[freedom_honda]

I honest don't understand why Sutil would be a good driver to take Rubens' seat. IMO he is a overrated driver. People always say he is a pretty good driver, but ever since he joined F1 I haven't seen any proof of that. He is a really average (relatively speaking) driver at best.

Sutil has been in F1 for many many years, yet he hasn't really shown he has potential. I know his last couple of races were quite strong, but where has he been all year?

He isn't quick, nor is he consistent in terms of performance over a season. None of his teammates has actually been good to actually challenge him, until di Resta, who has been out-racing him all season before Force India start putting the two drivers on different strategy. And let's be honest, Sutil is never going to be top team material.

If I was Force India, I would go with Di Resta and Hulkenberg. Hulkenberg got the pace, he just needs more time in the car. And if I was Williams, I would keep Rubens.

With Rubens you know you are getting what you pay for. He is a proven race winner, with tons of experience and known for his good feedback. I don't really see why anyone would swap Sutil for Rubens. Rubens is the best out of all the available drivers IMO.

Petrov has done an okay job this year. But that Renault car was so bad it was hard to judge. I wouldn't replace Rubens with Petrov, but I would be sad to see him go. Yet I think Senna would be make a pretty good team with Kimi. Renault got a really tough decision ahead of them

Have we already speculated about Sutil going to Team Caterham. They confirmed Trulli, but it is said that his contract could may be cancelled.

There is also a rumour saying Helmut Marko is trying to get Ricarrdo to take Trulli's seat.

[ringo]

I disagree with every paragraph you have typed.

Sutil was always a star driver. Don't let the mid-feild car fool you.
Th guy is fast. He's one of those drivers that figure out how to get faster than he's teammate. I feel he'll adjust to Kimi's speed and whoop him.
Sutil is on fire right now.

[FrukostScones]

....

He isn't quick, nor is he consistent in terms of performance over a season. None of his teammates has actually been good to actually challenge him, until di Resta, who has been out-racing him all season before Force India start putting the two drivers on different strategy. And let's be honest, Sutil is never going to be top team material.

...

With Rubens you know you are getting what you pay for. He is a proven race winner, with tons of experience and known for his good feedback. I don't really see why anyone would swap Sutil for Rubens. Rubens is the best out of all the available drivers IMO.
....

Sutil won the quali battle and scored more WC points... he was definitly outraced by DiResta... A DiResta that was faster than Vettel in F3Euroserie and won the Masters (but apparently because he had special engines).

BAR is attractive as an old dog, a frustrated old dog. Remember him whining in the BRAWN... Time to go for him!

[timbo]

He's one of those drivers that figure out how to get faster than he's teammate.

Well. If my memory is not mistaken Fisi had an upper hand on him.

[FrukostScones]

He's one of those drivers that figure out how to get faster than he's teammate.

Well. If my memory is not mistaken Fisi had an upper hand on him.

he was only slightly better (one WCC pos and quali was near draw, draw in 2008/2009), but maybe Sutil was still learning back then(how to ride crappy cars), or DiResta is overrated.

I have nothing against DiResta, but when he and Hulkenberg get a seat than Sutil should also get one!

[wesley123]

I honest don't understand why Sutil would be a good driver to take Rubens' seat. IMO he is a overrated driver. People always say he is a pretty good driver, but ever since he joined F1 I haven't seen any proof of that. He is a really average (relatively speaking) driver at best.

Agreed here, so unless Di Resta is also an pretty good driver it is bs. He has performed barely anything(well apart from the glass+neck thingy, but that is hardly anything to be proud of).

Sutil has been in F1 for many many years, yet he hasn't really shown he has potential. I know his last couple of races were quite strong, but where has he been all year?

He has his quick moments and slow moments, and from what I know he isnt really known to be a hard worker to earn his performance.

He isn't quick, nor is he consistent in terms of performance over a season. None of his teammates has actually been good to actually challenge him, until di Resta, who has been out-racing him all season before Force India start putting the two drivers on different strategy. And let's be honest, Sutil is never going to be top team material.

Di Resta seemed to have problems seeing his front wing, having multiple collisions in the year, without this being the case I am quite sure he would have finished close or above Sutil in the championship. The fact that an rookie who didnt drive an open wheeler since 2007 can outpace him shows more lack of Sutils performance that how good di Resta really is.

If I was Force India, I would go with Di Resta and Hulkenberg. Hulkenberg got the pace, he just needs more time in the car.

I agree here, Hukenberg definately deserves his chance, he was quite god in the williams as debuting driver, not impressive but good, he can definately come to the level of a Button.

And if I was Williams, I would keep Rubens.

Williams needs the money, Rubens don't got the money and he had his best year. He better enjoys the rest of his life and take care of his family.

With Rubens you know you are getting what you pay for. He is a proven race winner, with tons of experience and known for his good feedback.

That is the case but he was simply too disappointing this year

I don't really see why anyone would swap Sutil for Rubens. Rubens is the best out of all the available drivers IMO.

Is also unlikely to happen imo

Petrov has done an okay job this year. But that Renault car was so bad it was hard to judge. I wouldn't replace Rubens with Petrov, but I would be sad to see him go. Yet I think Senna would be make a pretty good team with Kimi. Renault got a really tough decision ahead of them

Petrov showed really really well in my eyes, he was very consistent and showed good racing, yet the Renault was crap. If I was Petrov I would seek for a seat somewhere else. With Renault he is barely sure of his seat, since we got Grosjean and Senna there too, as well as Kubica which they seem to want to run again if he is fit enough.

[Donuts]

Guys, comparing a rookie(Paul di Resta) with a driver(Adrian Sutil) that has four years in the same F1 team, is that really fair? What's most important is that Paul Di Resta was making Adrian Sutil look like a rookie(beacuse they were even) in qualifying. What's less important is that he did'nt score as many points in the races. He is a rookie, a rookie makes misstakes, he'll learn a lot from these and hopefully he won't make them next season. For Adrian Sutil it's not good enough, it's as simple as that. Not to mention that in the last stage of the season he benefited most from the teams decision to run different strategies for the drivers. Statictics don't tell the whole story, you can't just say "he had more points" and that's it.

Vitaly Petrov clearly improved his consistency, but not his pace. He started of with a competitive car and not having Robert Kubica as a team mate. Then Bruno Senna made him look like a rookie(beacuse they were even).