2011 Driver Transfer Market

prisonermonkeys

prisonermonkeys

Be Fearless
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Hammerhead Garage
With al the threads on Raikkonen/Renault and Heidfeld/Sauber, I thought it was about time to put everything in one easy-to-find place: this thread. While the 2011 Silly Season won't be nearly as epic as the 2010 one, there's still some important moves that are yet to play out. This the the way things stand so far:

McLaren / Mercedes
Jenson BUTTON (GBR)
Lewis HAMILTON (GBR)

Mercedes
Nico ROSBERG (GER)
Michael SCHUMACHER (GER)

Red Bull / Renault
Sebastian VETTEL (GER)
Mark WEBBER (AUS)

Ferrari
Fernando ALONSO (ESP)
Felipe MASSA (BRA)

Williams / Cosworth
Rubens BARRICHELLO (BRA)
TBA

Renault
Robert KUBICA (POL)
TBA

Force India / Mercedes
Vitantonio LIUZZI (ITA)
TBA

Scuderia Toro Rosso / Ferrari
Sebastien BUEMI (SUI)
Jaime ALGUERSUARI (ESP)

Team Lotus / TBA
TBA
TBA

HRT / Cosworth
TBA
TBA

Sauber / Ferrari
Kamui KOBAYASHI (JPN)
Sergio PEREZ (MEX)

Virgin / Cosworth
Timo GLOCK (GER)
TBA

The second Renault seat is probably the most important of the lot, given that the French team is experiencing their best season since Alonso won the World Championship in 2006. A lot of names have been mentioned of late, but recent comments from the team suggest it will come down to either Vitaly PETROV or Kimi RAIKKONEN, with the team displaying a preference for Petrov if he meets their expectations for the rest of the season, even if Raikkonen makes a decent offer. If the Russian does not meet their expectations, they'll look into the Finn.

Lotus probably won't make a move until Renault have settled on their driver line-up, the reason being that it is an open secret that they will run Renault engines in 2011. If Renault decide not to retain Vitaly Petrov, it is believed the Russian will move over to Lotus as a part of the engine deal, most likely partnering Heikki KOVALAINEN as a replacement for Jarno TRULLI, who seems bound for retirement (whether voluntary or not is open to debate). If Renault keep Petrov and Trulli still retires, it is open season on the seat as Lotus will become the most desirable team to drive for.

It is believed that Force India wnt to promote Paul DI RESTA from reserve driver to full-time for 2011, which would put him alongside Vitantonio LIUZZI, who has a multi-year contract. Exactly where this leaves Adrian SUTIL is open to debate, but with the crash-happy Liuzzi under-performing this season, Vijay Mallya may buy him out of his contract. Karun CHANDHOK has (once again) been mentioned in connection with the role, and what he lacks in pace he makes up for in being a nice guy. It's not outside the realm of possibility that Chandhok will be test and reserve driver and replace one of the drivers for the Indian Grand Prix.

Nico HULKENBERG is yet to be confirmed at Williams, though it seems likely they will. Williams have invested a lot of time and effort into him to drop him now. He's a good qualifier, but his recnt run of races has been quite scrappy. Complicating matters is GP2 driver Giedo VAN DER GARDE (infamous for signing on with both Spyker and Super Aguri as test driver in 2007), who claims to have spoken to Williams, Force India, Lotus and Virgin and has "concrete" offers from two of them. Exactly which two remain uncertain at this point in time.

It has been suggested that Toro Rosso is up for sale as it is costing Dietrich Mateschitz too much and the Red Bull Young Driver Programme has produced too many drivers and without enough seats to go around. Jacques Villeneuve is leading a consortium backed by failed GP2 team Durango and is believed to have made Mateschitz and offer for the team. In this case, the futures of Sebastien BUEMI and Jaime ALGUERSUARI are anything but certain as popular rumour suggests Villeneuve is looking to join the grid as a driver in addition to team owner.

Lucas DI GRASSI seems to have worn out with welcome at Virgin, with the Brazilian being replaced by Jerome D'AMBROSIO during first practice in Singapore. The logos of Clear shampoo have also been removed recently, and seem to have co-incided with di Grassi's gradual phasing out. His seat has apparently been offered to d'Ambrosio on the condition that the Belgian driver puts together a sponsor package worth eight million dollars; Giedo van der Garde has also spoken with the team, and may be operating under the same or similar proviso. D'Ambrosio might seem an odd choice given his lack of results in GP2, but he is a driver for the Renault Junior Team, and Virgin might be fishing for a Renault engine deal in the near future. Which seems odd, given that Ho-Pin TUNG also drives for the Renault Junior Team and has a valid four-race Superlicence.

Finally, there's everybody's favourite backmarkers Hispania. The question of who will drive for them is one that cannot be answered, given that there are questions over whether they will be able to race at all next year. Bruno SENNA maintains he will be in the sport next year, whilst both Christian KLIEN and Sakon YAMAMOTO are paying for their drives and Karun Chandhok seems to have become persona non grata at the team.

There are, of course, other drivers who are still on the market. Giedo van der Garde is one of them; so too Pastor MALDONADO who comes with the dual advantage of being the incumbent GP2 champion and having the backing of Venezuelan oil consortium PDVSA and the personal endorsement of Hugo Chavez. Maldonado has admitted to being in talks with Sauber over joinging Kamui Kobayashi next season, with Telmex and PDVSA both looking to have their drivers promoted. Meanwhile, Jules BIANCHI is eligible for a superlicence while both Nick HEIDFELD and Pedro DE LA ROSA are both free agents looking for a seat, but an involuntary retirement could well beckon. If Toro Rosso is sold to Jacques Villeneuve (or someone else, for that matter), then Daniel RICCIARDO and Brendon HARTLEY will have to go to the ends of the earth to secure a drive. And despite being shafted by the failure of USF1, Argentina's Jose Maria LOPEZ has made noises earlier in the year about joining in 2011.

Discuss.
 
With the Kimi/Renault scenario gone, I guess Petrov will retain his seat for another season.

I'd like Senna to go to Lotus, tobacco advertising back and Fernandes doing a deal with JPS :dopey:

No, really, I would like to see Senna at Lotus. :)
 
Oh btw roumor is that LIUZZI is going to be demoted and de resta promoted with Sutil staying where he is.
 
haitch40
Oh btw roumor is that LIUZZI is going to be demoted and de resta promoted with Sutil staying where he is.
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Except that Liuzzi is on a multi-year contract starting this year. Vijay Mallya would have to buy him out. Given that Force India is perpetually rumoured to be in financial trouble (which have abated since HRT have become riddled with monetary cancers), they may not be able to afford buying him out.

But if Liuzzi does go and Trulli retires (Will Buxton claims he will, and he's been good with the driver market recently - he called Petrov going to Renault nearly a week before anyone else did), that means there will be no Italians in the sport. When was the last time that happened?
 
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Except that Liuzzi is on a multi-year contract starting this year. Vijay Mallya would have to buy him out. Given that Force India is perpetually rumoured to be in financial trouble (which have abated since HRT have become riddled with monetary cancers), they may not be able to afford buying him out.

But if Liuzzi does go and Trulli retires (Will Buxton claims he will, and he's been good with the driver market recently - he called Petrov going to Renault nearly a week before anyone else did), that means there will be no Italians in the sport. When was the last time that happened?
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Just because liuzzi is contracted to the team does not mean he cant be demoted or even fired if the team feel he isnt as good as first thought.
 
Liuzzi may have a contract which demands a certain level of performance. I don't think Mallya can afford to buy out the contract.

Hulkenburg and Kovalainen are all but confirmed at Williams and Lotus respectively. I really doubt these two are going anywhere else.

Barrichelllo hasn't been confirmed at Williams but again, extremely likely.

I think the someone that is going to lose out in the musical chairs is Petrov. I would have thought his money would have got him a place at Sauber or something but really his only options look to be smaller teams if Renault kick him out now.
Now Heidfeld is not going to be at Sauber, I'm fairly certain he may be going to Lotus if he isn't going to Renault or Force India. But it all depends on Trulli retiring which is unknown. I'm finding it difficult to really imagine Lotus taking on Senna or Chandhok when they have the ability to attract more experienced drivers. They are more likely to hire out of the feeder series if they are going for a rookie.

HRT is going to be decided on money and whether they even finish the season. I'd say Senna should have at least secured his seat there considering he is also a pay driver and has beaten everyone except Klien so far. Who his teammate will be is anyones guess.

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Which seems odd, given that Ho-Pin TUNG also drives for the Renault Junior Team and has a valid four-race Superlicence.
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Not when you consider Tung is rubbish. :lol: Why should Virgin take on terrible drivers? Di Grassi was/has been at least decent. D'Ambrosio is decent too. There are several Gravity-backed drivers you can go through before taking on Tung. Grosjean, Charouz....
 
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Ardius
I think the someone that is going to lose out in the musical chairs is Petrov. I would have thought his money would have got him a place at Sauber or something but really his only options look to be smaller teams if Renault kick him out now.
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I find it signifcant that Lotus haven't announced the Renault engine deal yet. I'm willing to bet they're waiting for Renault to settle on their driver line-up because Petrov could well be a part of the engien deal. That said, if Petrov goes to Lotus, I have no idea who would replace him now that Raikkonen is out of the picture. Renault have apparently ended talks with Glock and Sutil, and I doubt Heidfeld will go there - there's a reason why he didn't get the Renault drive this season, and I suspect it was a combination of a) his foolish decision to bank on getting a Mercedes seat without talking to anyone else, b) Petrov and his sponsors and c) Robert Kubica. Even if you can account for the first two, I suspect that Kubica wanted a change of scenery for this year. He doesn't want to be partnered with the same guy for the rest of his racing life. If Kubica doesn't want to race with Heidfeld, I think his position is such that the team would respect that.
 
With regards to Hispania the talk on the Brazilian racing scene is that Senna and Piquet will drive in the same team.
 
It would be fantastic to see D'Ambrosio get a chance with Virgin. It's been way too long since a Belgian last drove in F1. Bas Leinders never really got to show anything since he was just a 3rd driver at Minardi.
 
PeterJB
I wouldn't mind seeing Nakajima return. What's he doing now?
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Average, under-performing and quiet driver? I have to say he is the dullest driver I have ever seen in F1 - we barely talked about him because he was never doing terrible nor was he driving brilliantly. He never really had a stand-out drive or an odd mishap. His personality was pretty average too - nice guy, didn't offend anyone or say anything arrogant or amusing. He tended to crash more than finish but he did have some good drives. People mock Luca Badoer, but Badoer had some pretty decent drives in his time (pre-2000). Kazuki Nakajima is below Badoer but above Yuji Ide, not terrible but not above average either.

I would instantly submit him for dullest driver ever anyway. There simply isn't much to say about him. Don't really miss him from F1, maybe his brother might do better.

The last I heard he was still at Toyota Motorsport in Cologne as a Test Driver. I believe he was pictured with the TF110?

akmuq
Nakajima isn't doing anything at the moment. I just checked wikipedia.
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:lol:
Yes, wikipedia, the only place where facts don't exist. I doubt there are any Nakajima fans to update his wiki page, at least for the English version anyway. :lol:
 
Ardius
The last I heard he was still at Toyota Motorsport in Cologne as a Test Driver. I believe he was pictured with the TF110?
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He was connected to Stefan GP back when they were pitching to join the grid. He was photographed sitting in a red TF110.

Ardius
Yes, wikipedia, the only place where facts don't exist. I doubt there are any Nakajima fans to update his wiki page, at least for the English version anyway. :lol:
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Ugh, I looked at the Raikkonen page the other day and it's terrible. More of a shrine than an encyclopedia article. That said, the season overview pages and the indidivdual race paes are generally pretty good. I actually do a lot of work on those, and they're pretty well-received.
 
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If Renault keep Petrov and Trulli still retires, it is open season on the seat as Lotus will become the most desirable team to drive for.
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There is a chance for Nick Heidfeld, Vitaly Petrov or even Fairuz Fauzy to have that seat. But most likely that Fairuz might not get it because it seems Lotus only wants an experienced driver for now. So that means Nick Heidfeld has a very good chance to have it... Even Adrian Sutil could have it IF Renault decided to keep Vitaly.

We'll hear what Jarno wants to say before the end of the season. ;)
 
InvincibleM5
There is a chance for Nick Heidfeld, Vitaly Petrov or even Fairuz Fauzy to have that seat. But most likely that Fairuz might not get it because it seems Lotus only wants an experienced driver for now. So that means Nick Heidfeld has a very good chance to have it... Even Adrian Sutil could have it IF Renault decided to keep Vitaly.
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Sorry, but I don't think Nick Heidfeld has a chance to get the second Renault seat, much less a "very good" one. If Heidfeld is the driver everyone is making him out to be, Renault would have taken him this season - but I suspect Robert Kubica didn't want to race him again. The reason why he left BMW Sauber (aside from the BMW withdrawal) was because he wanted a change of scenery. How could he get that if the single largest constant from his Sauber years went with him to Renault. I honestly think Heidfeld is over-rated and that his fans exaggerate his chances of getting a drive. It's better for Renault in the long term to invest in a younger driver, someone who has time to spare. Some of Petrov's performances throughout the year - Turkey, Hungary and Silverstone (before his fuel feed packed it in) - show he has something, and Renault just need to unlock it. Even if they can't and they have to let him go, Heidfeld probably only has a year or two left in him. Why would they throw that time away when they could be working on a promising talent in GP2 or GP3?

But I will say this for Heidfeld - his chances of getting the Renault seat are better than Fairuz Fauzy. In all the practice sessions he's been in this year, Fauzy has been incredibly slow. He's usually wrestling the Virgins or (worse) the Hispanias when Kovalainen or Trulli is half a second faster and threatening the Toro Rossos. The only reason he's there in the first place is because he's Malaysian and Lotus is Malaysian. Lotus have no influence over Renault, either. If anything, it's the other way around since Lotus is a Renault customer. They might want more-experienced drivers for now, but they're in no position to pass off someone like Fauzy to Renault simply because they want him to have a drive.

Of the three drivers you mentioned (besides Petrov), Sutil is probably the best chance for the Renault drive. Like it or not, Heidfeld is in the twilight of his career (there's a reason why no-one signed him for this year), and Fauzy was never Formula 1 material.
 
interludes
Sorry, but I don't think Nick Heidfeld has a chance to get the second Renault seat, much less a "very good" one. If Heidfeld is the driver everyone is making him out to be, Renault would have taken him this season - but I suspect Robert Kubica didn't want to race him again. The reason why he left BMW Sauber (aside from the BMW withdrawal) was because he wanted a change of scenery. How could he get that if the single largest constant from his Sauber years went with him to Renault. I honestly think Heidfeld is over-rated and that his fans exaggerate his chances of getting a drive. It's better for Renault in the long term to invest in a younger driver, someone who has time to spare. Some of Petrov's performances throughout the year - Turkey, Hungary and Silverstone (before his fuel feed packed it in) - show he has something, and Renault just need to unlock it. Even if they can't and they have to let him go, Heidfeld probably only has a year or two left in him. Why would they throw that time away when they could be working on a promising talent in GP2 or GP3?

But I will say this for Heidfeld - his chances of getting the Renault seat are better than Fairuz Fauzy. In all the practice sessions he's been in this year, Fauzy has been incredibly slow. He's usually wrestling the Virgins or (worse) the Hispanias when Kovalainen or Trulli is half a second faster and threatening the Toro Rossos. The only reason he's there in the first place is because he's Malaysian and Lotus is Malaysian. Lotus have no influence over Renault, either. If anything, it's the other way around since Lotus is a Renault customer. They might want more-experienced drivers for now, but they're in no position to pass off someone like Fauzy to Renault simply because they want him to have a drive.

Of the three drivers you mentioned (besides Petrov), Sutil is probably the best chance for the Renault drive. Like it or not, Heidfeld is in the twilight of his career (there's a reason why no-one signed him for this year), and Fauzy was never Formula 1 material.
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Nope obviously Nick will never have a chance with Renault... Anyway, I have to agree with you that Nick has got probably 1 or 2 years of racing considering his age etc. Actually he can still be racing but not in Formula 1 anymore I guess..??

I realize that mate. Fairuz has yet to perform great on track but he did fairly well in Formula Renault last year but I wouldn't say he's a no material for F1 much like how rubbish Alex Yoong performed in the early years (It's not that he's a bad driver but the Arrows that time was really bad, and I believe it's hard for him to cooperate with the team and the car). All I can see during the recent practice session that he joined, his pace is much if not a tad better than Sakon Yamamoto. He has a future and potential but needs a little to polish out. As some say, he's one of the most reliable drivers out there, and can be as good as anyone else. He has yet to crash out the T127 during practice sessions so I just keep my finger crossed that he can make to F1 someday :)


I recently watched an interview of Sutil on Star Sports, he said he's ready to move on with his career and move on to a better team. Overall, he has a good chance to be in Renault!
 
InvincibleM5
All I can see during the recent practice session that he joined, his pace is much if not a tad better than Sakon Yamamoto.
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If he is only comparable to Sakon Yamamoto, why on earth do you think he would be a candidate for the Renault? Especially considering the difference between the Lotus T127 and the Hispania F110? Fauzy might get a drive for Lotus at some point in the future, but I seriously doubt he would be making his debut in a team that intend to be fighting for the championship in 2011 - and have displayed pace in 2010 that suggests they can make good on their promises. You might as well argue for Yamamoto to be promoted to Enstone. The suggestion that Fauzy would drive for Renault is about as credible as the notion that Daniel Ricciardo would join Red Bull in the event of Mark Webber's retirement.
 
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If he is only comparable to Sakon Yamamoto, why on earth do you think he would be a candidate for the Renault? Especially considering the difference between the Lotus T127 and the Hispania F110? Fauzy might get a drive for Lotus at some point in the future, but I seriously doubt he would be making his debut in a team that intend to be fighting for the championship in 2011 - and have displayed pace in 2010 that suggests they can make good on their promises. You might as well argue for Yamamoto to be promoted to Enstone. The suggestion that Fauzy would drive for Renault is about as credible as the notion that Daniel Ricciardo would join Red Bull in the event of Mark Webber's retirement.
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I think you have misunderstood me. I didn't say that Fairuz would be a candidate for Renault now. I am just saying that he might have a chance to have the 2nd Lotus seat someday or any other team but not in this period neither next year!

Considering his lack of on-track experience with an F1 car, his pace so far can only be comparable with Sakon's (obviously with his practice test times) but as I said, he has a future and potential yet to be discovered but with a little bit more polishing by running more private testing (not sure if this is allowed anymore), practice session and get more input of an F1 car, he can be as good as who Kobayashi or Vitaly or any other drivers on the grid today.

If he doesn't stand a chance to drive for current existing teams, there are possibilities that newer teams that might be making their way into F1 would love to hire him as a driver.

That's the future...
 
The thread title needs changing, it's usually called the 'Silly Season'.
 
Sureboss
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/toro-rosso-and-force-india-confirm-2011-drivers/

I don't think anyone was expecting Toro Rosso changes, but I was half expecting a different FI line up.
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Eh, it's Joe Saward (or, as I like to call him, Joe's Award). I'm not inclined to listen.
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He's just repeated what was said in the press conference. Force India's answer was more ambiguous than he suggests there, as "same driver line up" could include Di Resta swapping with Liuzzi.
Also, Sutil has been making noises contrary to this anyway.

Until there are official announcements, nothing is certain yet. Even Toro Rosso (or rather, especially Toro Rosso! Bourdais, Sato, Alguesuari roundabout!).
 
Duffers917K
It's usually called the 'Silly Season'.
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I don't like that name.

Ardius
He's just repeated what was said in the press conference. Force India's answer was more ambiguous than he suggests there, as "same driver line up" could include Di Resta swapping with Liuzzi.
Also, Sutil has been making noises contrary to this anyway.

Until there are official announcements, nothing is certain yet. Even Toro Rosso (or rather, especially Toro Rosso! Bourdais, Sato, Alguesuari roundabout!).
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Excatly. That's why I'm not inclined to believe Saward.
 
Singapore was one race, and he over-drove it. Just about every driver has at least one race where they try too hard. Look at Nico Hulkenberg in Monza as a prime example. Or Vitaly Petrov in Canada.
 
Well I suspect his new teammate will thrash him for the remainder of the season. I think young Bruno lives off his uncle's name a fair bit.
 

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