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

[Ardius]

de la Rosa is there for his experience rather than his racecraft or finances. He's tipping 40 now, so he'll be gone soon enough.

I'm not so sure its just for that. And I don't agree he's not fast anymore - he was pretty damn quick at Suzuka qualifying yesterday!
He's nearly always well ahead of Karthikeyan on speed, and ok Narain isn't the quickest guy around but clearly Pedro isn't "slow".

I think Pedro is about as good as he's always been - reasonably quick, reliable and consistent. He isn't WDC material but he's a very good driver choice for any midfield to backmarker team as he will always deliver and not screw up his chances.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Vettel AND Alonso under the same roof?

Actually, I was thinking of Romain Grosjean when I heard Crofty's comments. He's highly-rated and he's clearly quick, but every single first-lap incident this year has involved him, and I can't help but wonder if the team thinks he is becoming a liability.

 

[Ardius]

Someone on the autosport forum posted this and well..admittedly it really doesn't look very good for Grosjean:

Europe 2009 - collision with Badoer - first lap
Italy 2009 - contact which damaged wing - first lap
Belgium 2009 - crashed into Button - first lap
Australia 2012 - didn't back off when Maldonado had line - second lap
Malaysia 2012 - collision with Schumacher - first lap
Spain 2012 - contact with Perez - first lap
Monaco 2012 - collision with Schumacher - first lap
Britain 2012 - contact with Di Resta - first lap
Germany 2012 - ran off the track - first lap
Belgium 2012 - collision with Hamilton, Alonso - first lap
Japan 2012 - collision with Webber - first lap

 

[SagarisGTB]

And Massa just shown he has the pace and the car to be on the podium, so whats happening every other race? Seems like he is always under team orders to stay back unless something happens to Alonso. Cant be doing poorly all season then suddenly pull out a podium from no where...

But it sort of has been coming. Since the summer break, he has been solid.

Spa: Very strong pace, impressively moved up the order and finished 5th, 4 seconds behind 3rd
Monza: Mediocre, Monza has never been a good track for him, finished 4th
Singapore: First lap puncture left him last, great recovery to finish in the points
Suzuka: 2nd place on merit

He's looked good in 3/4 races since the break. Looking back further, he has been decent since Monaco:
Monaco: good
Montreal: so-so
Valencia: unlucky
Silverstone: good
Hockenheim: early puncture, decent pace though
Hungaroring: so-so

Qualifying has been an issue and the start to the season was obviously very poor, but if he continues his post-summer form during the races, I think Ferrari might be inclined to keep him.

 

[Tired Tyres]

Someone on the autosport forum posted this and well..admittedly it really doesn't look very good for Grosjean:

Unlike you to post something like that without checking the facts first.

I spotted this one straight away.

Australia 2012 - didn't back off when Maldonado had line - second lap

Grosjean was on the racing line and Maldonado knocked him off the track. Remember?

I wonder how many more of those would properly be called "racing incidents".

 

[Ardius]

Eh, personally if that was me in Grosjean's situation, I would have just backed off and let him through - there was no way of keeping on the outside and not go off track.
I'm pretty sure it was actually Maldonado dive-bombing Grosjean and then running him out of room on the exit - something that Grosjean could have avoided either by defending the corner or not trying to continue his line when Maldonado was already there.

Really though, the point of that list is that he's generally involved in a lot of early race contact (whether its his fault or not - e.g. Monaco was not his fault). Clearly something isn't right to have so many incidents.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

The more challenging question is if Grosjean should go, who would take his place?

Kevin Korjus seems to be the next in line under Lotus' driver development programme, but his Formula Renault season hasn't been great after a very promising 2011 (though I would not be surprised if Ferrari arranged for Tech-1 to support Bianchi from the outset).

 

[Nismo34]

But it sort of has been coming. Since the summer break, he has been solid.

Spa: Very strong pace, impressively moved up the order and finished 5th, 4 seconds behind 3rd
Monza: Mediocre, Monza has never been a good track for him, finished 4th
Singapore: First lap puncture left him last, great recovery to finish in the points
Suzuka: 2nd place on merit

Rather coincidental, wouldnt you say, that the 2 of the 4 races that Alonso was in, happened to be the races Massa did poorly at..

 

[Peasantslayer]

Vettel AND Alonso under the same roof? 2 people that expect to win every time and are rivals. You guys really think that they'll put them in the same team in 2014? Something tells me neither of them would like it..

And Massa just shown he has the pace and the car to be on the podium, so whats happening every other race? Seems like he is always under team orders to stay back unless something happens to Alonso. Cant be doing poorly all season then suddenly pull out a podium from no where...

It will cost a lot to bring in Vettel and it would disturb Alonso so I can't imagine them ever being team mates.

 

[Nismo34]

It will cost a lot to bring in Vettel and it would disturb Alonso so I can't imagine them ever being team mates.

Thats my thought..

 

[Ardius]

The more challenging question is if Grosjean should go, who would take his place?

Kamui Kobayashi? No seriously though, Kamui did drive for DAMS in the past so presumably has a good relationship still with them and presumably Eric Boullier.

Of course d'Ambrosio is still a possibility but he wasn't really that convincing at Monza.

Other than that there are a lot of experienced drivers looking for drives out there. Buemi, Alguesuari, Sutil, Klien, etc etc.

 

[RX-7_FD3S]

Buemi apparently says he's negotiating with Force India (that's what the commentator said on swiss tv). Personnaly I dont think Romain will be kick out of Lotus, Boullier like him he said it many times.

In Australia as far as I remember it was more Maldonado fault than Romain, let's not switch place now.

 

[Bram Turismo]

It'd be a shame if Kobayashi goes to Williams. He doesn't bring money to that team so I can't see him staying there for too long. The Williams car is definitely a huge step backwards for him performance-wise. And I doubt we'd ever see him at a big team if he does go to Williams for 2 seasons.

 

[Lizard]

Where is it I say anything that's not specifically Ferrari related? Nowhere.

Massa's job is to take points away from Alonso's rivals.

That sums it up.

So ok you did not mean Ferrari. Why is he a number 2 driver outside of Ferrari?

 

[sems4arsenal]

Lewis Hamilton noticed Jensen unfollowing him and oddly says it's a shame (Jensen wasn't even following Lewis).

 

[nealcropper]

I actually thought a while ago that Romain would end up at Ferrari next year. But I have to admit, it's looking less and less likely that if he isn't at Lotus he would be anywhere. Yes he's fast when he's on his game, but as David Coulthard said on BBC today, he's had to many lap 1 incidents for it to be bad luck. I can't see Ferrari letting him lose in one of their cars next year. He could do with a spell at Sauber to instil a bit of discipline. I really like Romain, but he's not making many friends within the drivers at F1.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Kamui Kobayashi? No seriously though, Kamui did drive for DAMS in the past so presumably has a good relationship still with them and presumably Eric Boullier.

I was thinking Robin Frijns, myself. Eric Boullier hsa said that he thinks there will be a Dutch driver on the grid in 2013, and while Frijns does not have that much experience, he's stuffed full of potential. He's been the standout performer in Formula Renault, frquently out-performing more-experienced, high-rated and very fast drivers, some of whom have the backing of Formula 1 teams.

When Grosjean started this season, he was effectively a rookie. I don't see why Frijns could not succeed where he has.

 

[Saidur_Ali]

Lewis Hamilton noticed Jensen unfollowing him and oddly says it's a shame (Jensen wasn't even following Lewis).

He sort of apologised for it now, before posting things that are controversial, he should think about it more especially if he is in the wrong. Doesn't look very good on him.

 

[Liquid]

I'm not so sure its just for that. And I don't agree he's not fast anymore - he was pretty damn quick at Suzuka qualifying yesterday!
He's nearly always well ahead of Karthikeyan on speed, and ok Narain isn't the quickest guy around but clearly Pedro isn't "slow".

I think Pedro is about as good as he's always been - reasonably quick, reliable and consistent. He isn't WDC material but he's a very good driver choice for any midfield to backmarker team as he will always deliver and not screw up his chances.

Don't get me wrong, I like de la Rosa. Always have. But the post I quoted mentioned DLR as being a driver who might find himself looking for a drive in a couple of years. At the ripe age of 41, he probably won't get another seat after HRT, but he's doing a grand job for them. Much better than Carthorse-ikayan.

---

Ferrari are set to keep Massa for 2013, after another good performance with 2nd at Suzuka.

In my opinion, these last 4 races do not make up for the last two years. But I'm just a poster on a forum, and it's Montezuma who is calling the shots.

 

[RTSolvalou]

Grosjean dumped to promote Nicolas Prost anyone? (and thus Lotus would retain TW Steel sponsorship).

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Grosjean and Maldonado to HRT. De La Rosa to Williams and Hulk, Di Resta, or Kamui or Alguersari to Lotus

 

[sems4arsenal]

He sort of apologised for it now, before posting things that are controversial, he should think about it more especially if he is in the wrong. Doesn't look very good on him.

Thank god he is,was a really daft thing to say in the first place.

 

[Patrick]

Massa to stay with Ferrari. (?)
Hulkenberg to Sauber. (?)

Link.

 

[Goshin2568]

Massa to stay with Ferrari. (?)
Hulkenberg to Sauber. (?)

Link.

So who goes to Force India? And does Di Resta stay?

Personally, I think Di Resta should go to Lotus, and RoGro can go to Force India, or, depending on how he does accident-wise the rest of the season, he could end up out of the sport...

 

[prisonermonkeys]

What will Kimi do next?

To be honest, it's not a question that has me on the edge of my seat.

It's not, say, "What will Vladimir Putin do next?", or "What will Alan Jones do say next?".

So who goes to Force India? And does Di Resta stay?

Jaime Alguersuari has been linked to the team. Or possibly Jules Bianchi, if the team follows its tradition of promoting its test driver to a race seat.

 

[Hun200kmh]

Thank god he is,was a really daft thing to say in the first place.

He should simply close/stop using his twitter account. My 15 y-old son is wiser in 'social sites' than LH. Great driver, incredibly immature person.

 

[HeXoSKEL3t0n]

What will Kimi do next?

To be honest, it's not a question that has me on the edge of my seat.

It's not, say, "What will Vladimir Putin do next?", or "What will Alan Jones do say next?".

No need to be so negative about it... It tends to be very annoying when some people constantly expresses an obvious bias against some drivers all the time.

Some of us Kimi fans (or obviously less prejudiced people) are sincerely interested, it's not like that was made that just to please you only. Please considerately take other people into account too.

No need to constantly bash on drivers you don't really support... Fair enough, each of us has our own drivers we support or don't really like, but let's not let that get in the way of the discussions here. 👍

He should simply close/stop using his twitter account. My 15 y-old son is wiser in 'social sites' than LH. Great driver, incredibly immature person.

Yeah agreed, he may be a very talented (especially as a pure true racer), but he certainly has a really doubtful behaviour outside the track, especially on Twitter.

I may acknowledge his racing prowess, but he's seriously just losing respect with his off track antics.

He has the potential to do even better if he could clear his mind of all this odd behaviour, which is clearly getting in the way of his obvious talent.

 

[gorsad]

He should simply close/stop using his twitter account. My 15 y-old son is wiser in 'social sites' than LH. Great driver, incredibly immature person.

Definetly, he was okay at the beginning of the year as he kept his cool, but ever since Spa he's been a massive idiot (off the track)

 

[Tom]

Jaime Alguersuari keeps dropping hints on Twitter that he has a contract in place for next season, with whom I'm not sure though. He posted this on the 20th Sep:

Soon you'll all know where i will be driving next year. Thank you all again

And this today:

Pirelli testing finished! That was it for 012! Tyres almost decided for next year! See you very soon

 

[prisonermonkeys]

No need to be so negative about it... It tends to be very annoying when some people constantly expresses an obvious bias against some drivers all the time.

Come on, if Raikkonen has gone out of his way to build up an air of mystery about his future plans, only to reveal that he is staying with Lotus, it's going to be pretty damn disappointing.