Silly season 2016

[ScottB]

If Nico Hulkenberg doesn't get the Ferrari seat based on 'marketing' reasons, it will be a pure travesty. Of all available options, (Grosjean, Bottas and Raikkonen) he seems to be on top of his game. I do believe that 'motivation' plays a sizable role in driver performance and I am convinced that after his Le Mans win something inside him is switched on. I also feel that if he is overlooked this time, he will probably quit F1. I don't see any reason for him to leave Force India and go to Haas F1.

Agree with your thoughts completely. Hulk should have been the first choice when Ferrari choose Kimi. If he is overlooked in 2016 its better for his career to make a move to Le Mans. The guy never got a chance in a quality car to show his skills.

I think he could have been as far up as 2nd yesterday considering he was ahead of Kvyat when he crashed. Not to mention, Kvyat had 10 seconds added to his race time. So, unfortunately at the moment he's not recognized by team officials like Bottas or Ricciardo who've had podium capable cars. He beat Perez comfortably last year, but the one race it was possible to be on the podium saw Perez be on it. I don't think that such reasons should be sticking points but it seems like they matter because I can't think of more reasons as to why he isn't believed in. He's expected to beat Perez comfortably and he's been doing that regularly, but the 'glamorous result' in F1 always seems to evade him.

Considering Kvyat only got that high up because of the aftermath of Hulk's own retirement, that's maybe a bit of a stretch.

Personally I don't think he will ever get a top drive. Is that harsh considering the calibre of some guys who have done in the past? Perhaps, but he's certainly not at the top tier, and is too old to suggest he may improve massively. Effectively he's caught between the safe, older hands that are still around (Kimi, Button) and the quick young guys who still might unlock that potential to step up to that level (Bottas I guess, then the next wave of Verstappens and Vandornes etc).

That'll be him passed over yet again, in a spell where both Ferrari and McLaren have had spare seats with no real standout to take them. He seems to have a lot of big supporters, but are the teams really passing over this apparent 'superstar' because they haven't figured out what armchair fans apparently have? As the James Allen article suggested, it seems the big teams aren't convinced by him, and if they were, I doubt him being a couple kilos heavier than Perez or Bottas would have been a deciding factor.


If I was him I'd go off and try and win the WEC title if nobody better than Force India comes calling this time, because if they don't, they never will.

[PlatinumZealot]

If I were a Ferrari fat cat my eye would be on Ricciardo, Jenson Button, Nico Hulkenberg, Bottas. In that order.

[wickedz50]

If I were a Ferrari fat cat my eye would be on Ricciardo, Jenson Button, Nico Hulkenberg, Bottas. In that order.

The first 2 choices will be a dream combination with Vettel.

[wickedz50]

Can anyone explain what Ferrari is upto with their reserve drivers ? they are quite talented and deserve a drive. Are they for show only like Mclaren who also loves to show off their talents?

[ChrisF1]

Re. Ferrari reserves:

If we're writing off Hulk, we can write off Gutierrez as well. I always thought JEV was a solid driver, certainly seemed to race on a par and sometimes better than Ricciardo, just seemed to be a terrible driver in qualifying.

[SectorOne]

Ferrari should go after Ricciardo, question is if his contract really is watertight like Red Bull seems to indicate.

[Phil]

I think so too, Ricciardo is the one they should pursuit, although yes, that might upset the team harmony. But would that be such a bad thing? If Ricciardo proves to be better, so be it, win for the team, unless they care who takes their team to the championship. If Vettel is better, great too. If they are both equal, both taking off points each other, at least they'll get maximum points for the team by pushing each other (and maybe the team) forward, a bit like Hamilton/Rosberg. The car then will dictate if they are in contention for a WDC or not.

I'm not so sure if Ferrari would want to do that though. I can't help it, but I think there seems to be a lot of love going on there with Vettel. The emphasis on Vettel speaking italian after nearly every successful session makes it seem to me he is trying to be the next Schumacher at the team, taking it too success as he did during the glorious days. And I somehow feel the team (Arrivabene) is building around and on that too... would they want to upset that? I somehow can't see them doing that...

[wickedz50]

I think so too, Ricciardo is the one they should pursuit, although yes, that might upset the team harmony. But would that be such a bad thing? If Ricciardo proves to be better, so be it, win for the team, unless they care who takes their team to the championship. If Vettel is better, great too. If they are both equal, both taking off points each other, at least they'll get maximum points for the team by pushing each other (and maybe the team) forward, a bit like Hamilton/Rosberg. The car then will dictate if they are in contention for a WDC or not.

I'm not so sure if Ferrari would want to do that though. I can't help it, but I think there seems to be a lot of love going on there with Vettel. The emphasis on Vettel speaking italian after nearly every successful session makes it seem to me he is trying to be the next Schumacher at the team, taking it too success as he did during the glorious days. And I somehow feel the team (Arrivabene) is building around and on that too... would they want to upset that? I somehow can't see them doing that...

At the moment both Ricardo and Vettel equally happy to shunt out the Mercs from the podium. There was no love lost when they were seen hugging each other after the Hungarian GP.
Bothas should be made to believe that he can win a championship as a second Merc driver after Nico. In that way maybe he will reject Ferrari's offer. JB seems to be the best person to fit into Ferrari during these development years.

[Jonnycraig]

According to Mexican journos, Haas will announce their lineup next week, so you can safely say Gutierrez will be driving for them. Rossi almost certainly the other.

[iotar__]

I think so too, Ricciardo is the one they should pursuit, although yes, that might upset the team harmony.

Have you watched him driving this season? I can't be bothered to point out every single element since no one else even tries to give examples (bias is enough e.i. "Bottas' form") but I'll leave it at:
- collisions and bad overtaking attempt, I have +6 without even trying,
- his benchmark is Kvyat (probably quick over one lap but mediocre or learning at everything else) and even that looked badly recently, use your imagination and replace Kvyat with Alonso at RB '15
- he loses just about every single start and often by more than one position, that erases his one strength (qualifying) and makes it impossible to even compete with any of the top drivers in equal machinery, especially with 1-2 stops F1 and tyres that last forever. Something like Spa' 14 or Hungary '15 (4th to 9th?) won't happen often and using team orders like with Kvyat (I counted three, one conditional - Monaco) will not work at Ferrari .

[ME4ME]

According to Mexican journos, Haas will announce their lineup next week, so you can safely say Gutierrez will be driving for them. Rossi almost certainly the other.

I don't believe that. They have said all along that they would announce later in the year.

Also there is no reason for them to pick their drivers now. Gutierrez won't go anywhere, they can wait and sign him up at the end of the season. It would be more clever to wait and see what Ferrari does, if they keep Raikkonen or replace him, and how that effects the driver market and if there is any high profile driver left out without a drive.

Also there is Mclaren. If they take up Botton on his option for next year, they would desperately want to place Magnussen and/or Vandoorne somewhere so they could race.

[kaepernickus]

Also there is Mclaren. If they take up Botton on his option for next year, they would desperately want to place Magnussen and/or Vandoorne somewhere so they could race.

Considering how close Haas is to Ferrari I don't think a McLaren junior is the best bet for a Haas cockpit.

[Jonnycraig]

According to Mexican journos, Haas will announce their lineup next week, so you can safely say Gutierrez will be driving for them. Rossi almost certainly the other.

I don't believe that. They have said all along that they would announce later in the year.

Also there is no reason for them to pick their drivers now. Gutierrez won't go anywhere, they can wait and sign him up at the end of the season. It would be more clever to wait and see what Ferrari does, if they keep Raikkonen or replace him, and how that effects the driver market and if there is any high profile driver left out without a drive.

Also there is Mclaren. If they take up Botton on his option for next year, they would desperately want to place Magnussen and/or Vandoorne somewhere so they could race.

There are no high profile drivers likely to be without a drive and keen to race the Manors at the back to stay in F1. Raikonnen will retire if dropped and Hulkenberg will go to the WEC.

Haas are a Ferrari B team, so McLaren youngsters are completely off limits. Vandoorne will likely be at Manor next season with a Honda engine and Magnusson's F1 career is realistically over already.

Haas' option of who to put alongside Gutierrez are limited also by the new superlicence rules which mean that only Leimer, Palmer, Vandoorne, Rossi & Sirotkin are likely to be eligible to step up from GP2, and the likes of Sutil, Piquet Jr & Buemi currently outside F1, so it wouldn't be surprising to get everything sorted and announced early.

[CBeck113]

Why not Hulk at Haas then? If they will be fielding a neutered 2016 Ferrari (which would explain why ferrari went for this idea in the first place) then it should be faster than most of the field, and way more interesting than Manor or even Sauber. I personally think they should go after one of the TR drivers, combine it in an engine deal, and let him learn along side Vettel. I think Kimi is a great driver, but these are not his cars - he can't make them go faster, because they are too easy to drive.

[ME4ME]

According to Mexican journos, Haas will announce their lineup next week, so you can safely say Gutierrez will be driving for them. Rossi almost certainly the other.

I don't believe that. They have said all along that they would announce later in the year.

Also there is no reason for them to pick their drivers now. Gutierrez won't go anywhere, they can wait and sign him up at the end of the season. It would be more clever to wait and see what Ferrari does, if they keep Raikkonen or replace him, and how that effects the driver market and if there is any high profile driver left out without a drive.

Also there is Mclaren. If they take up Botton on his option for next year, they would desperately want to place Magnussen and/or Vandoorne somewhere so they could race.

There are no high profile drivers likely to be without a drive and keen to race the Manors at the back to stay in F1. Raikonnen will retire if dropped and Hulkenberg will go to the WEC.

Haas are a Ferrari B team, so McLaren youngsters are completely off limits. Vandoorne will likely be at Manor next season with a Honda engine and Magnusson's F1 career is realistically over already.

Haas' option of who to put alongside Gutierrez are limited also by the new superlicence rules which mean that only Leimer, Palmer, Vandoorne, Rossi & Sirotkin are likely to be eligible to step up from GP2, and the likes of Sutil, Piquet Jr & Buemi currently outside F1, so it wouldn't be surprising to get everything sorted and announced early.

It isn't certain Raikkonen will be dropped by Ferrari, nor is it certain (or even likely) that Hulkenberg would quit F1 all together and go to WEC.

Haas has stated although they are close to Ferrari, they aren't a B-team and will make decisions themself that suits the team. Mclaren would still own their drivers so they haven't got much to lose - they can only gain by offering their juniors some experience after which they can be put in a Mclaren for 2017. I think Haas would very much like an extremly talented guy like Vandoorne besides a experienced driver like Gutierrez.