Silly Season 2011/2012

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Perez quali performances made him look better than he really is.
Kobayashi took the the grid hit to make it up during the races, a by product of conserving Pirelli tyres.

Kubica has shown tenacity in adversity and is showing it once more. If the Ferrari tests go well and he shows good form, there really is no contest between him and Perez. Kubica would be an automatic choice.

If Perez did get the nod, I would expect him to be doing no better than Massa's current performance levels. In race Kobayashi murdered him and this is as good an indicator as anything else.
It was his first season though, and he performed better than I expected. So maybe 2012 will define him, although I think Kobayashi would still have him in race.

[beelsebob]

Perez quali performances made him look better than he really is.

Really? I thought his drives through on one or two sets of tyres fewer than everyone else were what made him the standout. The fact that he kept beating Kobayashi in qually just reinforced it.

Kobayashi took the the grid hit to make it up during the races, a by product of conserving Pirelli tyres.

Except that Perez regularly used fewer sets of tyres than Kobayashi.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Perez used more sets in qualifying, hindering him during the race so he was forced into longer stints.

[beelsebob]

Perez used more sets in qualifying, hindering him during the race so he was forced into longer stints.

One could also argue "Perez demonstrated in the very first race that he could use fewer tyres than anyone else in the race, this allowed him to use more in qually and hence do better."

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Perez used more sets in qualifying, hindering him during the race so he was forced into longer stints.

One could also argue "Perez demonstrated in the very first race that he could use fewer tyres than anyone else in the race, this allowed him to use more in qually and hence do better."

Er, no. The points tally at the end of the year argues otherwise...

[beelsebob]

Torro Rosso have announced Ricciardo and Vergne as their drivers next year. Bye bye Buemi and Algesuari.

[Tozza Mazza]

Torro Rosso have announced Ricciardo and Vergne as their drivers next year. Bye bye Buemi and Algesuari.

Well that's a surprise, and if they are both sacked, a waste of 2 years worth of money.

[beelsebob]

To me, entirely sane. The tried the two for a couple of years to see if they'd turn into anything special. They didn't turn into anything special, so now they're trying someone else. Given that TR exists pretty much only to provide special drivers to RBR, it's the only sane choice.

[timbo]

Torro Rosso have announced Ricciardo and Vergne as their drivers next year. Bye bye Buemi and Algesuari.

A big shock!

[spadeflush]

Feel a little sad for Jaime. I just read today that he was expected to stay:

http://www.yallaf1.com/2011/12/14/algue ... ull-drive/

Only to find out a while later that they're going with an entirely new line-up.Both Jean and Daniel have shown promise in FP sessions.It will be interesting to see who comes out on top.

[Tozza Mazza]

I feel sad for the two drivers, has it been announced if they are losing there RB backing?

If so I fear it's the end for Buemi's career, whilst Jaime will have to start from scratch at a team like HRT.

[timbo]

I feel sad for the two drivers, has it been announced if they are losing there RB backing?

If so I fear it's the end for Buemi's career, whilst Jaime will have to start from scratch at a team like HRT.

I wonder whether it means the end to RedBull backing for them? If it is indeed so, they need to find sponsors and quickly! A challenging prospect with so little time. They'd be in better position if the decision came earlier.

[NonNewtonic]

Its kind of sad bec basically Franz Tost didn't really make all those decision. He is just following what he been told by Dr. Helmut Marko and its a shame that Jamie and Sebatien can't retain their seat in Toro Rosso as they have shown their abilities if they are given a competitive chassis. I think main reason Toro Rosso has a all new driver line up is because Red Bull can't get Daniel and Eric a seat in F1 as most of the seat have been finalised and they think the latter has more potential then the both drivers... Its a shame not seeing them continuing racing

[ESPImperium]

Im now thinking Di Montezemolo has a point in 3 car teams, whitch could see a drid like this, using the current confirmed for 2012:

01/02/03] Red Bull-Renault = Vettel/Webber/Riccardo
04/05/06] McLaren-Mercedes = Button/Hamilton/Paffett
07/08/09] Scuderia Ferrari = Alonso/Massa/Bianchi
10/11/12] Mercedes AMG = Schummacher/Rosberg/Bird
14/15/16] Lotus Renault GP = Raikkonenn/Grosjean/Senna
17/18/19] Force India-Mercedes = Sutil/Di Resta/Hulkenberg
20/21/22] Sauber-Ferrari = Kobiyashai/Perez/Guiteriez
23/24/25] Toro Rosso-Ferrari = Buemi/Alguersauri/Vergne
26/27/28] Williams-Renault = Barichello/Maldanado/Bottas
29/30/31] Caterham-Renault = Kovalainen/Trulli/Rossi
32/33/34] Hispania-Cosworth = De La Rosa/Liuzzi/Charuz
35/36/37] Marussia-Cosworth = Glock/Pic/Petrov

[NonNewtonic]

That will be unrealistic because to run 3 cars a team need to increase their budget in order to operate them which is against the approach all teams are taking to cut cost