The '13 driver transfer discussion/speculation thread op updated 16/10

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Peter.
...good points...

Don't bother, I can tell that neither of you will give in, as you both think you're right. Well I agree with you more Peter., I really don't think this going to go anywhere, so you might as well just agree to disagree.
 
If Bottas gets a full-time drive in 2013, I'm wondering who will replace him as Williams' development driver. Bottas would be the second driver promoted to a full-time race seat in three years, and both he and Nico Hulkenberg are/were highly-rated; after all, Bottas won the 2011 GP3 title. In Williams' position, there are two drivers I'd be looking at closely: Kevin Korjus and Conor Daly.

Yes, I know I placed Korjus at Toro Rosso in my predicted grid on the previous page, but that was only because I was at a loss to fill the void at Toro Rosso. If a Toro Rosso driver were promoted to Red Bull, then Toro Rosso would have a problem in the way none of the Red Bull YDP drivers - Sainz, Williamson, Kyvat, etc. - are really ready for Formula 1. So I put Korjus in.

If I were Williams, I'd be looking at Korjus because he's partnered with Jules Bianchi in Formula Renault. Bianchi is highly-rated, and is doing an FP1 programme with Force India this year. There were even rumours that Ferrari was trying to buy Kamui Kobayashi out of his Sauber seat to place Bianchi there. So if Korjus beats Bianchi in FR3.5, it's going to be a stunning endorsement of his abilities. He also tested for Lotus Renault GP at Abu Dhabi last year, and the team seemed pretty happy with him. If Williams keep going with Renault engines, then they'd get a lot of consideration with the Formula Renault teams. And he's only nineteen, so he could afford to take a season as a Williams development driver.

The other driver I would be looking at is Conor Daly. He's racing with the Lotus-branded ART Grand Prix in GP3 this season, as did Bottas last year. ART have dominated the series for the past two years, and their best-performing drivers - Rossi, Gutierrez, Bottas, Stanaway and Calado - have all gone on to big things. So Daly is in the box seat. Unfortauntely, part of this is marketing; Daly stands out because he is American, whereas his team-mates - Abt and Vainio - are German and Finnish, and there are already plenty of Germans and Finns in Formula 1.
 
Maldonado P2. Senna P18 after a spin on his final flying lap.

What was that about the Williams not being competitive and Bruno Senna being secretly brilliant?
 
What was that about the Williams not being competitive

Dude, it was qualifying, I'm guessing Maldonado will sink like a lead ship during the race, wouldn't be shocked to see Maldonado and Senna finish right next to each other.
 
Dude, it was qualifying, I'm guessing Maldonado will sink like a lead ship during the race, wouldn't be shocked to see Maldonado and Senna finish right next to each other.

Maldonado will take himself and someone else out of the race.
 
We've seen far better drivers make similar mistakes to Senna's today. If he continues to get dominated by Maldonado, it would probably end his F1 career, as Pastor is the biggest pay driver of all the pay drivers.
 
Seismica
We've seen far better drivers make similar mistakes to Senna's today. If he continues to get dominated by Maldonado, it would probably end his F1 career, as Pastor is the biggest pay driver of all the pay drivers.

Yes, it was a silly mistake. If he messes up like this consistently, then it should end his career. Just once, not that big of a deal, it's happened to lots of drivers. If he'd been on the options for his first hotlap he would've made it to Q2 and possibly further. Bad call from the Williams on his first hotlap. Him messing up his second chance was stupid though, his fault entirely. We'll see how he does in the race, hopefully a Williams 1-2 :)
 
Maldonado P2. Senna P18 after a spin on his final flying lap.

What was that about the Williams not being competitive and Bruno Senna being secretly brilliant?

First thing I thought of when I saw that was how bad it made Senna look, and the second thing was how much you would be gloating about how right you think you are.

Senna made a mistake, alright. But considering the fact that the Williams has been recently good at this track, a lot of big hitters being knocked out in Q2, Vettel and Schuamcher not turning laps, and everyone else spending more time trying to conserve tyres than anything else in Q3, it's not all that surprising. In other words, that is not the genuine pace of the Williams.

Maldonado was over half a second from pole. If Button and Webber weren't knocked out, it's safe to say that they would be somewhere between that gap, and so would Vettel and even Schumacher if they turned competitive laps. I do have to hand it to him though, i'm impressed with his performance.
 
I'd just like to throw this out there but with Mclaren's latest cock-up one could rightly assume that Hamilton may be looking at Red Bull and Mark Webber's claimed move as an oppurtunity to move to a title winning force.

We all saw how mad Lewis was with the pit stop troubles that affected both himself and Jenson in the last few races and after putting the car on pole with none of his closest rivals anywhere near, to then have it taken away because the team under fueled the car, well this could be the turning point.
 
Forster
I'd just like to throw this out there but with Mclaren's latest cock-up one could rightly assume that Hamilton may be looking at Red Bull and Mark Webber's claimed move as an oppurtunity to move to a title winning force.

We all saw how mad Lewis was with the pit stop troubles that affected both himself and Jenson in the last few races and after putting the car on pole with none of his closest rivals anywhere near, to then have it taken away because the team under fueled the car, well this could be the turning point.

Yeah, McLaren sure is doing stupid things this year. I think the pressure is really getting to them, and I'm sure that Hamilton is extremely upset with this latest problem. If they'd simply put enough fuel in the car, Hamilton would've gotten pole anyway. Sure, his lap would've been a tenth slower, but he still would've had the pole! How many points do McLaren need to throw away before they get their act together :(
 
I'd just like to throw this out there but with Mclaren's latest cock-up one could rightly assume that Hamilton may be looking at Red Bull and Mark Webber's claimed move as an oppurtunity to move to a title winning force.
I don't think you can "rightly assume" anything in Formula 1. Least of all in the murky world of driver transfers.
 
Were does this fit in The 2013 Driver transfer discussion/speculation thread ????

What you mean the speculation about Lewis possibly looking to move teams for 2013 or the talk about whether or not Senna will retain his drive for 2013?
 
I'm guessing he didn't read the article, which quotes Hamilton as saying his future with McLaren depends on the outcome of the first four races of 2012.

However, knowing The Grauniad, I wouldn't be suprised if Hamilton said that his future with McLaren depends on the outcome of the first fourteen races of 2012.
 
prisonermonkeys
I don't think you can "rightly assume" anything in Formula 1. Least of all in the murky world of driver transfers.

Oh absolutely, but it's not a far fetched claim to make considering Hamilton "dropped in" to the Red Bull team in Canada.
 
I think Schumacher should hang it up this year. I doubt he can get close to another championship and there's plenty of fresh talent looking to move up.
 
I don't think Schumacher will re-retire without getting at least one race win, to demonstrate that his comeback was at least partially worth it.
 
Mika Salo has reportedly spoken with Frank Williams about Valtteri Bottas, and came away under the impression that Bottas will be given a race seat some time this year.

At a guess, I'd say Williams would put him in the car once they get back from Canada. Monaco can be an intimidating place to make a debut, and Bottas has never driven the Montreal circuit. It makes sense to put him in the car for his debut at a circuit he knows, like Valencia.

I'm getting this information second-hand, though.
 
Mika Salo has reportedly spoken with Frank Williams about Valtteri Bottas, and came away under the impression that Bottas will be given a race seat some time this year.

I'm getting this information second-hand, though.

In the articles Frank Williams said to Salo:
- Bottas should be racing in a car
- It shouldn't take long until he is racing


article

I think they are trying to get a seat for both Senna and Bottas somehow. Sacking and destroying a newcomer like Senna is not a proper thing to do in my books. So I hope Frank won't let Senna leave F1 without proper future plans.
 
I don't think Schumacher will re-retire without getting at least one race win, to demonstrate that his comeback was at least partially worth it.

That all depends if he can get a win though. Rosberg has set a precedent, so it's a tough act to follow in that you would 'expect' Schumacher to win in a car which has won at least one race; the potential is there.

Has he opened up talks about a contract extension yet?
 
Liquid
That all depends if he can get a win though. Rosberg has set a precedent, so it's a tough act to follow in that you would 'expect' Schumacher to win in a car which has won at least one race; the potential is there.

Has he opened up talks about a contract extension yet?

I don't believe so, but he's Schumacher. They'll keep him onboard if he ask's for it.
 
Sacking and destroying a newcomer like Senna is not a proper thing to do in my books.
Senna is not a newcomer. He had a year with HRT in 2010, and eight races with Renault last year. He's not some rookie that they're dropping after four races.
 
I've pretty much had my fill of Senna, I've given him a fair trial myself, But I'll agree with a decision to drop him if it comes to that, and if that happens, I don't think he'll be back. He really needs to polish up super soon.

I like the Petrov-to-Sauber for 2013 idea.
 
Senna is not a newcomer. He had a year with HRT in 2010, and eight races with Renault last year. He's not some rookie that they're dropping after four races.

Who said he was a newcomer? All he said was that it isn't proper - and I agree that is isn't. A contract should mean something (although the contract could include a performance clause - say achieving X% of points per race or whatever).

Sadly contracts mean nothing in F1 and if you aren't flavour of the month, you can be dropped like a stone.

I like how people are now all like "oh well, drop him who cares" after his teammate wins a race and he DNFs. But after Senna finishes 6th and 7th in Malaysia and China all he gets is a "well done but needs to be better".
Like one race makes peoples mind up regardless of past results (this goes both ways - I'm looking at you Peter).

I expect to see people asking for Kobayashi to be fired when Perez wins a race and Kobayashi DNFs. Or Raikkonen fired after Grosjean wins a race. Because yes, it is almost that stupid.

Thats not to say Senna doesn't need to better - quite clearly he is making far too many mistakes and he had a very bad weekend in general in Spain. But equally I don't see why he suddenly needs to be fired.
 
An official post from the scuderia ... Massa "up or out" by the end of the Monaco GP?

Either way, Ferrari are going to fail badly in the constructor's championship if they stick with Massa.
 
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