The F1 driver transfer discussion/speculation archiveFormula 1 

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Sport Bild - tabloidy as they are - reckon Lotus have their eye on Hulkenberg to partner Grosjean, with Perez an alternate if they can't get Hulkenberg.

Rumours of Maldonado going to Manor are also popping up, but it seems to be more of a cause-and-effect idea at the moment, with the cash-strapped Manor being an ideal fit for the moneyed-up Maldonado.
 
prisonermonkeys
Sport Bild - tabloidy as they are - reckon Lotus have their eye on Hulkenberg to partner Grosjean, with Perez an alternate if they can't get Hulkenberg.

Rumours of Maldonado going to Manor are also popping up, but it seems to be more of a cause-and-effect idea at the moment, with the cash-strapped Manor being an ideal fit for the moneyed-up Maldonado.
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To be fair, Maldonado won in a Williams before Kimi won in a Lotus in 2012. Granted, this is 2015 and Maldonado hasn't done crap since, but Manor could definitely use him.
 
prisonermonkeys
Sport Bild - tabloidy as they are - reckon Lotus have their eye on Hulkenberg to partner Grosjean, with Perez an alternate if they can't get Hulkenberg.
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Lotus finances are balanced on a knife-edge at the moment, Maldonado may be high-maintenance but he represents a cash injection that Lotus can't do without in the short term. It seems that they're bound by Red Bull/Renault's movements into 2016 or, if contracts are preserved, 2017.

The Lotus could be a winning car, I don't see Maldonado going for the long-term development option with Marussia... he's too rock-star for that I think.
 
So it seems that Lotus' financial troubles stem from the way PDVSA hasn't paid their latest installment yet - to the point where Bernie had to bail them out to the tune of £1.5 million to make sure they got to Monza. It seems that Genii are waiting to see what Renault do; if Renault buy them out, it's all systems go for the rest of the year, but if they opt out, then Genii pull the plug. I wouldn't blame PDVSA if they are waiting to see what happens before committing any more money up-front.
 
BRRT_Angel
To be fair, Maldonado won in a Williams before Kimi won in a Lotus in 2012. Granted, this is 2015 and Maldonado hasn't done crap since, but Manor could definitely use him.
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Hey you don't bring that evil on those guys, they don't need to know the struggles of patching up cars. Especially after having a driver that nearly always brought the car home.
 
Good call by Williams! 👍 I've seen some people stating that Massa's stubbornness is bad for the team; that it cost Bottas and the team victory at Silverstone. But frankly with the pace advantage Mercedes had I don't think it would have made a difference had he let Valterri by. Even without the rain Lewis at least would still have gotten by eventually.
 
Bottas is no where near the level he is hyped up to be anyway.

If Someone like Perez was in Massa's seat I wouldn't be surprised to see Bottas Beat.
 
Now things are getting interesting: Autosport are reporting that Red Bull and Renault will go their separate ways in 2016, but the Mercedes board has voted against supplying them.
 
prisonermonkeys
Now things are getting interesting: Autosport are reporting that Red Bull and Renault will go their separate ways in 2016, but the Mercedes board has voted against supplying them.
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GTPorsche
Already being discussed in the Constructors thread.
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True, but the comment from @prisonermonkeys probably stems from the discussion earlier on this page... there's a knock-on effect to driver availability through either Lotus's new owners or their demise.

Hard to know if the Maldozer's PDVSDPVSDA money would see him into a Renault-owned seat now that Renault are, contractually at least, at liberty to buy Lotus.
 
Renault already said they didnt want to keep Maldonado from what I've heard and FI would be glad to have him and his 45 million.

I'm guessing we gonna see a switch between Perez and Maldonado if Renault do come back to F1.
 
prisonermonkeys
Now things are getting interesting: Autosport are reporting that Red Bull and Renault will go their separate ways in 2016, but the Mercedes board has voted against supplying them.
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Ferrari has no problem in supplying RBR with engines.
 
Haas F1 will not have an American driver for 2016. Rossi has been ruled out and the potential list of candidates is Grosjean, Gutierrez, Vergne and Magnussen, although Magnussen would be quite a stretch to get.

http://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2015/09/10/haas-rules-with-head-not-heart-by-passing-on-rossi/

Gutierrez is practically confirmed for one of the seats and I wouldn't be surprised if JEV gets the other since they're both Ferrari test drivers and Haas is Ferrari's B-team.
 
Gutierrez and Vergne sound like the most likely pairing. I have a feeling Renault is going to want to keep Grosjean around as best they can.
 
RX-7_FD3S
Renault already said they didnt want to keep Maldonado from what I've heard and FI would be glad to have him and his 45 million.

I'm guessing we gonna see a switch between Perez and Maldonado if Renault do come back to F1.
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I would like to see Perez in a competitive car but will Renault produce a good one. I think Perez is underrated.
 
TheBook
Gutierrez and Vergne sound like the most likely pairing. I have a feeling Renault is going to want to keep Grosjean around as best they can.
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Vergne could still come good yet in my opinion, but I don't rate Gutierrez. At all. Jean-Eric's speed may have been questionable at times but he really took it up a notch midway through last season, and he pulled some real ballsy overtakes. Whereas I can't actually recall ever having seen Esteban properly racing! And it's not like he made up for that by being quick...
 
Vergne was on par with Riccardo when they were together. I think that tells us already what he can do. I sure would like him to have a good ride for once. In my eyes he's the perfect driver for them.

As for the other driver I'm guessing it will depends on Lotus/Renault future. Would be funny to have a 100% french line-up in a us team ^^;
 
He wasn't on par lol.

That is a common misconception by people who just look at points tables.

Ricciardo Dominated Vergne in qualifying more then any STR driver has in History.
 
Saying Vergne was on par with Ricciardo is like saying Maldonado was on par with Senna or Grosjean. He wasn't and won't be, and there's a strong reason Vergne wasn't kept. I still see him getting into Haas. It's him or Esteban, and poor Esteban isn't the greatest of drivers, either. Grosjean has said that he wants to stay with Lotus/Renault/whatever it has been or will be, but he's also looking at the only other open door right now, which is Haas. If he goes to Haas, he'd have a better powertrain, better stability, and team chemistry with Vergne. But it's Formula One. Who the hell knows.
 
He's confirmed for the USGP, so that'll be the first time since 2006 that a home driver will be on the grid for the race. He'll be even less noticeable than Scott Speed though.
 
Alex Rossi racing in F1 will be short lived I hope. Just doesn't deserve it.
 
He'll get 5 races, and that'll be it I'd guess. I don't think he's a pay driver, so I wouldn't expect him to get a full season with Marussia next year.
 
BRRT_Angel
Alex Rossi racing in F1 will be short lived I hope. Just doesn't deserve it.
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It's probably because they can't pay somebody, so they want Rossi to drive because they can pay him less. :p Honestly he should think of Sportscars or Indycar...or both. :D I mean, if it was me, I'd want to have a good successful career in places which give opportunity and are diversely challenging. F1 isn't a good place to be right now. I pray he decides to go to Indycar, the WEC or the WTUSCC.
 
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