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

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Again, this is more nice words to soften the blow of dropping Perez than any particular comment on everyone else. Otherwise, if they rated Perez that highly, why are they dropping him so easily?

I don't know, for me this is just a perception thing and I think there are other reasons why the top teams are not hiring Hulk than what they think of his talent.
I'd find it completely insane if they are not hiring Hulk because they don't think he's good enough as its clear to anyone he's bloody good! It has to be down to money or relationships (as in people knowing the right people) or something.

I still think you're reading far too much into these comments.
 
It has been a bit frustrating not to see Hulk at least get a shot with one of the top teams out there, although there is a lot of talent out there, and sometimes it's not as clear cut as the results show (something which Mclaren seemed suckered into a bit when picking up Perez lol). Personally, I wonder if Hulk's stagnating career has something to do with his nationality as well, being that there are already a handful of German's on the grid, and quite succesful ones at that.

zippy_the_cat
Then how do you interpret this from Whitmarsh?
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At the same time, is it really that much of a dig when Hulk still hasn't won a race or even beaten any really proven drivers? I think Hulk's quite good....but how good is anyone's guess until given the oppurtunity in a top seat.
 
Mclaren is like a bloke trying to dump his girlfriend for another girl. "It's not you, I just fell in love with another girl... I can't control these things, if I hadn't met her then I'd still want to be with you... But I'l tell all the guys how good you were in bed so you can find a new boyfriend! Let me make a few calls!"

If you look at Perez and Hulk they have both been really promising in a midfield car, Perez problem was that he went into a slower car and then got beat by his ex world champion team mate that everybody secretly thinks is **** (even though he's actually pretty good). It might just be the case that the Sauber was really really good last year allowing Perez to do really well, just as it is really good right now and allowing the Hulk to do really well.

In honesty though I think Hulk is the best new driver on the grid and has been since he joined in 2010, he's just in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he was a Mclaren development driver or a Red Bull development driver he would without a doubt already be driving one of those cars.


People don't rate Maldonado too highly lately but last year with a decent midfield car (similar to the sauber) he won a race and was really fast throughout the year, is the ****** Williams of 2013 ruining Maldonado or was the 2012 Williams a genuine race winning car that carried Maldonado. Maldonado in a Lotus could do really well. Look at Grosjean, last year he was the fastest joke in F1, 2nd half of this year he's driving like a champion.
 
It would be interesting to use him as a benchmark between F1 and IndyCar, I wouldn't be surprised if he picks up a few wins if he were to join it.
 
Meh, thats not really saying a whole lot, I'd expect him to do as well as Justin Wilson or something. Despite having a slightly stronger field of late, Indycar is still filled with mediocrity. Its not exactly improving if all they do is gain yet more ex-F1 midfielders and test drivers. There's talk of Karthikeyan, Sam Bird, Di Resta, Perez, Senna, etc etc looking at moving to Indycar, this is hardly an all-star line-up of drivers.

If you want benchmarks between F1 and Indycar, look no further than Barrichello, Sato, Bourdais, Blundell, Mansell...the list goes on.
I'm not sure Di Resta would be adding anything really, just confirming his own decent driving, perhaps surprising and taking the title but again its kind of semi-expected racing against Marco Andretti & Co. Or at least I would expect him to give people trouble just for his experience alone, at the very least winning the odd race like Justin Wilson has.

Same goes for Perez. I'd call it interesting if an ex-WDC or mutliple-race winner goes to Indycar like Button, Raikkonen, or hell even Grosjean would be interesting.
But Di Resta? Meh. I wouldn't miss him from F1, thats for sure. Harsh maybe but the truth.

Now imagine Hulkenburg - I'd fully expect him to dominate the crap out of Indycar given a top seat, assuming he handles ovals fine (always a hit and miss thing with F1 drivers, Mansell almost won exclusively on them whereas others have struggled).
 
AnAL0G
Di Resta considering IndyCar. That would be interesting.
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Yeah I saw that a few days ago, after Dario's injury it became highly suggestive that he'd be the guy to replace him next year.

The only reason I didn't post it is because I didn't think anyone would care.
 
Adam Cooper reported on twitter that Maldonado will be a Lotus driver next year. Can't say I'm thrilled by this.
 
AnAL0G
He may be incredibly fast in that car though, barring nutcase shenanigans.
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On the other hand you'd have to be a monumental idiot for signing Maldonado over Hülkenberg in that car.

Unless the Hulk has already signed for next season? I don't think he has. That lad needs to be in that car, as long as it's anything faster than a Sauber.
 
AnAL0G
He may be incredibly fast in that car though, barring nutcase shenanigans.
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So you mean once every 7 races he'll shine, but once in every 12 races he'll really shine and actually finish the race high in the points rather than wreck it like the once in every 7.

Justin
Perez to Force India seems likely.

Kind of odd that he may be able to beat McLaren if they don't improve over this year.
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If so then this looks super bleak for Hulk, unless Sauber do in fact keep him. Since everyone has written off Perez.
 
SagarisGTB
The dominant rumour right now is a Perez-Hulk pairing at FI next season, coupled with Sutil taking his Capri Sun money to Sauber.
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I see, well I remember the rumor about him going to FI but I couldn't find much more on it so I gave up on it. I didn't think Adrian would be staying and his comments seem to echo that and with the Di Resta Indy talk yeah... I didn't think any of the guys currently at FI are staying, since I think they think a shake up at the team is needed in that area. They are the only team I know of that holds on to drivers forever like they do without seeming worried. I'd like to see new guys there that can finally push that team further up the grid.
 
Well, Force India it's a good team in need of better drivers, and Perez and Hulkenberg make good choices. :)
 
R0ssingt0n
Well that's not great...
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I have to say, that's one of the more ... er, moderate responses I have seen.

Pastor Maldonado going to Lotus isn't ideal. Not because he is Maldonado (the man could save a bus load full of orphans and their new puppies from drowning and he'd still get death threats), but because of the circumstances that have led to Lotus being forced to take him. They're not valuing the money of a pay driver over the talent of a sponsorless young driver - they're being forced to take a pay driver simply to make their budget, and there is a huge opportunity cost involved: taking Hulkenberg would mean giving up on the guaranteed money that Maldonado offers, mortgaging the team's current position aganist the future expectation that Hulkenberg will be able to help them further up the grid to get more prize money when there is no guarantee he can do that (and if McLaren get it right and/or Lotus get it wrong next year, there is real danger they will go backwards instead). Even then, the extra prize money might not be enough to cover the costs that they gave up by turning Maldonado away.

That said, I have heard that Maldonado wants to go to Sauber, but PDVSA won't let him because they have already done a deal with Total, and that all of this depends on the SPECTRE Quantum money coming through (even though SPECTRE Quantum called for the team to get Hulkenberg), so if there is no money, Maldonado would be out of a seat. However, that sounds like a fantasy concocted by Maldonado's detractors designed to explain him out of the sport.
 
prisonermonkeys
That said, I have heard that Maldonado wants to go to Sauber, but PDVSA won't let him because they have already done a deal with Total, and that all of this depends on the SPECTRE Quantum money coming through (even though SPECTRE Quantum called for the team to get Hulkenberg), so if there is no money, Maldonado would be out of a seat. However, that sounds like a fantasy concocted by Maldonado's detractors designed to explain him out of the sport.
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So you're saying that if Quantum doesn't come through, PDVSA's gonna pull out of the deal with Lotus? (possibly going instead for Sauber.)
 
That's what I have heard. Except that they wouldn't go to Sauber - Maldonado would be left holding a bag of nothing.

Like I said, it sounds like a fantasy made up by people who want Maldonado out of the sport. It's like the story about Sergey Sirotkin losing his seat because NIAT had not upheld their end of the deal and paid the team. It was a very popular story among people who thought Sirotkin is too young (as if you suddenly develop amazing driving skills on your eighteenth birthday), until Sauber pointed out that NIAT hadn't paid because they were never under contract to.

Elsewhere, the German media are reporting that Sauber and Marussia will merge next year, and that a Dutch businessman - Giedo van der Garde's father-in-law - is looking to buy into Force India:

http://www.f1sa.com/index.php?optio...n-formula-1-team-merger&catid=1:f1&Itemid=157

I'm not sure what to make of the Sauber-Marussia reports, but the one about Force India sounds like a panicked story out of the Netherlands to explain how a Dutch driver is going to stay on the grid. They've done it before.
 
Wait how would he being holding a bag of nothing at Sauber compared to where he just went, the only gain I see is a car being on pace from the drop (Lotus). This compared to a car that could be either on from the get go or finally comes together around the end of the season when it's far too late.
 
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