Silly Season 2011/2012

[CHT]

Rumour has it Kobayashi could be dropped by Sauber in favour of Bianchi.

Terrible news if it happens... Kobayashi deserves better IMO.

agree. I really hope he will be able to get a drive with RBR one day.

[Richard]

I hope Kobayashi keeps his seat, he's so entertaining.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

You have to wonder what Ferrari's role in this is.

Not really sure of Bianchi. With Koba you certainly get entertainment, I'm sure Peter Sauber will not let him go easily.
He has to stay in f1... But where would he race???

[spadeflush]

I hope Kobayashi keeps his seat, he's so entertaining.

Yup. It ll be a pity to see him go. He's a real racer.

[cbbcisace]

Some rumours on Twitter about HRT getting Renault engine
http://twitter.com/#!/F1Lite

This guy has been told by Renault engineer, that Petrov signed to HRT, and Flavio bought into HRT
http://twitter.com/#!/Yesaneskimo

It is silly season now

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

From the official Sauber twitter feed:

Unfortunately someone published nonsense about Kamui leaving our team. Stupid. We are very fond of him, he stays with us!

=D> =D> =D>

[Richard]

What a refreshing PR statement! Could only have been bettered if they'd said "utter tripe"

[Skip]

Ricciardo to Caterham.
Petrov to HRT.
Sutil to DTM mercedes.
van der garde to Williams

[cbbcisace]

That would all make sense apart from van der Garde.

[Skip]

van der Garde has money and williams have a lot of dutch sponsors.

[Tyler]

Ricciardo to Caterham.
Petrov to HRT.
Sutil to DTM mercedes.
van der garde to Williams

I really hope Sutil stays in F1 - there's no justice if he doesn't.
How can Force India drop someone who helped them secure 5th place in the constructors.
He was better than di Resta this year, apart from some qualifying performances in the first half of the year.
The race is what counts, however, and he outscored di Resta.
In the second half of the year he outqualified him too.
Many great drivers have beaten their teammates in their first year, di Resta didn't and I doubt he would if they were teammates again next year.
Sutil has proven he's faster yet he's the one who looks to be getting the boot.
He's quick, reliable and has Medion money plus he's been loyal to his team - great reason to drop him!
I reckon he's able to compete with the best in a decent car - it'll be a big pity if his talent is lost to F1.
I think that di Resta is overrated as much as Sutil is underrated.

[Mr Alcatraz]

I was never a huge fan of Kimi's but I think he is a racer in every sense of the word, and is a lot smarter than some people give him credit for. I see him as a guy who will learn very quickly how to manage his tires, as well as the other driver aids that were not in place when he last raced in F1. He will be on pace with Grosjean by the end of winter testing IMHO

[multisync]

Ricciardo to Caterham.
Petrov to HRT.
Sutil to DTM mercedes.
van der garde to Williams

I really hope Sutil stays in F1 - there's no justice if he doesn't.
How can Force India drop someone who helped them secure 5th place in the constructors.
He was better than di Resta this year, apart from some qualifying performances in the first half of the year.
The race is what counts, however, and he outscored di Resta.
In the second half of the year he outqualified him too.
Many great drivers have beaten their teammates in their first year, di Resta didn't and I doubt he would if they were teammates again next year.
Sutil has proven he's faster yet he's the one who looks to be getting the boot.
He's quick, reliable and has Medion money plus he's been loyal to his team - great reason to drop him!
I reckon he's able to compete with the best in a decent car - it'll be a big pity if his talent is lost to F1.
I think that di Resta is overrated as much as Sutil is underrated.

The problem lies with the fact that mid season is where a lot of deals are done and PDR had a better start. However as he tailed off and FI got a new joint owner it then gets difficult to change contracts. In my view PDR is well over rated but he probably has a contract going forward and FI is short of money to pay him off or are finding it difficult to get him placed elsewhere.

PDR really isn't all that and dropping him would be no great loss either way.

[ringo]

Rumour has it Kobayashi could be dropped by Sauber in favour of Bianchi.

Terrible news if it happens... Kobayashi deserves better IMO.

agree. I really hope he will be able to get a drive with RBR one day.

I don't agree. Kobayashi isn't as good as 2010 made him look. Perez is the better driver IMO. Kobayashi can fight from the back and he has guts. The thing is he doesn't really have much speed and consistency. Perez beats him on pace and race maturity.
He's good, but he's not better than Money.
I wouldn't fight to keep him on, he has done little or nothing sponsorship wise. There are so many Japanese sponsors he could get, yet the car is blank.
The possibilities are endless.
He should at least show some interest by bringing some sponsors; he's not that good that he can drive on his terms alone. Neither is he easy on the eyes to tell you the truth. Not a very easy guy to market with.

At the end of the day he's replaceable, his skill level doesn't warrant keeping him. There are more tenths per lap in sponsoship money than Kobayshi has in his ability. I'd drop him for Bianchi in a heart beat.

[ringo]

Or maybe investors are attracted to drivers with a riskier attitude as they generate more buzz. I would certainly rather put my money on a driver like Kimi or Kubica, instead of a "safe" and "boring" driver.
.

Buzz you say?

If you can put that on a spread sheet and show me how it makes me money (pretending to be a big cheese share holder here) then i'll agree with you.
The only Buzz driver on the grid is Hamilton and Shumacher. Kimi is in someways, but his buzz isn't something that will generate the equivalent to his salary over the year.
Kubica is even more boring than Kimi. Riskier has nothing to do with "buzz".

It's all about how you communicate to the media, the fans, and if you are charismatic. Robert and Kimi have none of that.
The safest driver off track, Hamilton, is a Holywood Mogul in terms of F1. Even Pedro De la Rosa has more Buzz than Kubica.