Silly Season 2011/2012

[donskar]

Great chart trailer23. Thank you.

[Giblet]

Looks as though Sutil is out next year and Hulkenberg in.

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3213/725 ... l-in-2012-

PS - this is a thread about drivers and where they might be next year.

[Trailer23]

Odd... There were a few of posts before Giblet that seem to have vanished.

[Giblet]

I deleted them as people were comparing old WIlliams and Mclaren cars from years past and derailing the thread completely.

I was going to move them at first but they were all so far off topic I was unalbe to find different homes for all the posts easily, an the information was redundant.

Please stick to the topic at hand, start a new post, or contribute to an existing one.

[donskar]

Looks as though Sutil is out next year and Hulkenberg in.

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3213/725 ... l-in-2012-

PS - this is a thread about drivers and where they might be next year.

Giblet, with all due respect, I hope we can also discuss / conjecture about changes in technical staff next season. IMHO, the engineers are as important as the drivers, and movement among technical staff can have great impact on teams' success. (Or is there another thread I have overlooked?)

[raymondu999]

I think it should be a thread about personnel; be they technical/marketing/janitorial/driver

[ESPImperium]

Williams-Renault: Maldanado/Raikkonen (CONFIRMED)

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate ... 52394.html

Sutil is looking increasingly exposed out in the cold, with as amny as 5 other current F1 drivers.

[gridwalker]

That looks like a bit of an unreliable confirmation : I'll wait for the press release.

[MIKEY_!]

I think it should be a thread about personnel; be they technical/marketing/janitorial/driver

Or maybe just the teams thread.

[donskar]

I like Kimi, but I do not think this will be a good move for him. Just can't see Williams making a huge turnaround in just one season. They have been irrelevant for far too long; can't see the Renault moving them 6-8 slots up the grid. I don't think will Kimi enjoy mixing it up with Sauber, Force India, and Toro Rosso -- or worse. Hope to be proven wrong.

[xpensive]

If true, I don't think this is good news at all, reminds me too much of Nigell Mansell's return to F1 in 1995 to drive the first Mercedes-powered McLaren. Two years in the US had made him too fat to fit the car, why McLaren had to build him an XL-tub, but he was still not fast enough to match his team-mate Mika Häkkinen and he walked away in disgrace.

After almost ten seasons with pace-setting cars, first Williams and Ferrari in F1, then Lola-Haas in CART, Mansell had to deal with a car less so which he couldn't handle. The signs of his character was already there in 1994, when he was whining about not winning every second race in CART anymore as the Penske-chassis was now a match.

I have this feeling that Räikkönen might be from the same mold in that respect.

[Byronrhys]

Not exactly the fat boy now is he X...

[munudeges]

If true, I don't think this is good news at all, reminds me too much of Nigell Mansell's return to F1 in 1995 to drive the first Mercedes-powered McLaren.

As dire as the straights that Williams are in, I can't see it being anything like that. For one thing, Raikkonen is a more talented driver, is keeping himself in shape and has already started a tough training regime ahead of winter testing. Mansell.....well, I don't know what he was doing in 1995 to be honest. He knew what was required.

It seems as though Raikkonen will be William's Kubica - the focus and resources all being on him and them giving him one goal to drive the wheels off the thing. It should suit him and be entertaining to watch.

[xpensive]

I was thinking neither obesity nor lack of talent, rather Räikkönen's tenacity when he's fighting it out with the FIs?

[donskar]

I was thinking neither obesity nor lack of talent, rather Räikkönen's tenacity when he's fighting it out with the FIs?

I think that is the issue exactly -- how will Kimi handle being an also-ran with no hope of a podium? (He might have a tough time even getting into the points.)