Article: 2013 Driver Line-ups, News & Rumours | Formula one

Sutil is quick but too inconsistent and gets caught up in too many incidents. Bianchi would be a gamble but has more to prove than Sutil and arguably has more talent. Tough one for them but I see them going for the conservative option and opting for Sutil.

 

Not just Mallya. Co owner Sahara have problems too!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21454916

 

That run always makes me laugh.

Bianchi a future champion? I'm far from convinced.

 

I also rate him, but I don't think he's going to get much better than he was in 2011, and simply being a good driver isn't enough for me when his opponent for the seat is a potential world champion. I don't know much about Sutil's ability as a development driver but I don't think Force India really need him - Di Resta is experienced enough by now to lead the team, so it's not a huge risk signing a rookie. Not that Bianchi is like other rookies - he's far better prepared for F1 than someone like Bottas, for example.

Ferrari have backed him for years, they wouldn't waste their time if they thought he couldn't become a successful Ferrari driver. The head of the Ferrari driver academy has also said Bianchi is better than Perez. Hopefully we'll get the chance to see if he lives up to his potential.

 

Ok but I'm not actually convinced by Perez either.

 

Bianchi better than Perez? He's probably only bitter that he got into Mclaren instead.

 

Can't wait for the first conversation between Lewis and Sutil

Lewis better hope Mercedes build a car miles faster than the Force India or it will get 2011 Massa v Lewis ugly!

 

Sounds like Seb has extended with IRBR again.



15 February 2013 – Niki Lauda, spoke on the phone during the tv broadcast "the grid," said that the Mercedes has never tried to catch Vettel, because aware of the contract which ties him to Red Bull.

Barroom chatter. Alonso to Ferrari with Vettel, you already knew from the time I was a plausible solution, most likely his arrival at Maranello after an eventual departure of Alonso. Niki Lauda, however, heard over the phone by the transmission "the grid," said that the Mercedes has in the past considered the hypothesis Vettel, hypothesis discarded in front of the armored contract that binds the German at Red Bull.

The new Mercedes Motorsport Director said: "I know well the contract of Sebastian: has an agreement of many years with Red Bull. Why won't go to Ferrari. For this we tried to take it to Mercedes ".

Niki Lauda has also released a commentary on his team and the new season: "we did not go bad for testing. Lewis Hamilton we wanted to because it is a pure phenomenon, but I am very pleased also to Nico. Now it is up to us to give them a winning coach. "

F1P | Simone Valtieri





Guess Helmut Marko wasn't kidding that Seb was not going to forget easily what Ferrari did during the 2012 season.

 

I doubt it.

 

Fastest man gets the Force India seat?

Here's their driver schedule for Barcelona:

Tuesday - Di Resta
Wednesday - Di Resta
Thursday - Sutil
Friday - Bianchi

It's not looking good for Bianchi - rain is forecasted for Friday.

 

I think this BBC article about Alguersuari has already been posted somewhere, but I've only just read it. It says Jaime had a fairly solid agreement in place to drive for a team in 2013, and so passed up other opportunities. I'm really confused what this 'agreement' consisted of. It clearly wasn't a full contract, or it would have been announced, but it must have been fairly concrete for him to take it seriously. My question though is, if he'd got a fairly firm offer in place, why hasn't he looked for compensation? Surely he's suffered a loss of earnings as a result, which is often seen in courts. If he's turned down other offers as a result of team X's agreement, then that suggests either team X wouldn't have a leg to stand on, or Jaime had nothing near a firm agreement. Something doesn't add up to me.

Also, I'm curious what team it would have been. He said a regular points scorer, which rules out Caterham and Marussia, and it's unlikely to have been Mclaren, Ferrari, Merc or Red Bull. Equally I can't see him returning to Toro Rosso, as that defeats the point of their system -he's already been declared "not Vettel". So that leaves:

Lotus-Kimi can't have been in question, Grosjean may have been, but his pace hasn't ever been in question, it's been his first lap incidents, something that could be ironed out. Jaime announced it relatively early last season too, so I can't imagine any replacement would have been mooted by that point.

Sauber-Again, as early as it was I can't see them knowing Perez was off, but that really forced them into signing Gutierrez from a sponsorship point of view. I also got the impression Kobayashi's future (and the signing of Hulkenburg) wasn't decided until after the Perez move, so I'd rule them out too.

Williams-Maldo's money means he'd never have been in question, but Senna was doubted a lot. Maybe they didn't think Bottas would be ready soon enough, so made an agreement with Jaime? Bottas' free practice performances may have changed that situation.

Force India-Di Resta has always had a contract for 2013, and Hulkenburg didn't move until late, and with both being promising drivers, I can't see it being Force India. Equally, the current debacle over their second seat suggests money is a requirement, something I don't believe Jaime offers.

So Williams? Any think differently?

 

I think it was Sauber.

In commentary (Singapore FP1) I remember Alguersuari praising Sauber but bashing the Sauber drivers, saying that Perez's pace at Monza proves the drivers had underperformed earlier in the year. I think at the time he was under the impression that he'd be replacing one of them. Here's what I think happened after that:

• A week later Perez signed for McLaren. Sauber needed a new pay driver and whatever Alguersuari brought to the team it wasn't enough, so he was ruled out of the first seat. The week after that, in Japan, Massa finished on the podium and Ferrari signed a new contract with him. With Hulkenburg no longer a contender for the Ferrari seat, he was free to sign a contract with another team. The next week in Korea Hulkenburg was rumoured to have signed a contract with Sauber. Two weeks later the team confirmed this. Sauber had to choose between signing Hulkenburg or honouring a verbal agreement with Alguersuari. It's obvious which decision is the better one, even if it's harsh to Alguersuari.

Backing this up is an article from Autosport magazine (18/10/12). It mention three important things:
1. Move to Sauber driven by Ferrari's interest
2. Why he left Force India
3. Alguersuari known to have had talks with Sauber

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In all fairness verbal contracts mean very little, Alguersuari should not have been so sure it was going to stick. Nether less would prefer to see him on the grid than the likes of Sutil who have had their chance to shine I mean he still only 22.

 

apparently Sutil comes with 8 Million Euros. Bidding war indeed

 

This is all getting a bit silly now, with Sutil's "link to Mercedes". Why would Mercedes back a criminal who never showed anything special in F1 and who is already 30? It doesn't make sense.

Moncet is a more reliable source but come on, Karthikeyan more likely than Bianchi? So why isn't Karthikeyan testing for Force India in Barcelona. If the team were in serious trouble they would have signed Razia and replaced Di Resta for another pay driver. They might need a bit of extra cash but they don't look desperate. Moncet's source also says "...unless Ferrari contributes financially for Jules" - I thought they were offering a discount on engines?

 

Kubica not racing in DTM this year. Would provide the link, but Autosport has decided to limit my free views to 30 instead of fifty.

 

Done it for you RR:

Robert Kubica will not join the DTM this season after Mercedes announced a six-car 2013 line-up with European Formula 3 champion Daniel Juncadella in the vacant slot that could have gone to the Pole.

Kubica had tested for Mercedes earlier this month and had been linked to a DTM race seat, although a date clash with Rally Poland - a key event in his mooted European Rally Championship programme - had been an issue.

Mercedes has slimmed down its DTM programme to six cars for 2013. It has parted with Persson, leaving Mucke to field the two satellite cars alongside the four-strong top-line HWA entry.

Ralf Schumacher stays on for a sixth season, alongside 2005 champion Gary Paffett and existing Mercedes drivers Christian Vietoris, Roberto Merhi and Robert Wickens.

Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff said he was confident that the prevalence of young drivers in the squad would pay off.

"Developing young talent has a long history at Mercedes-Benz, so it is entirely logical to increase the size of our DTM junior team in this second year and welcome a fourth driver to the team: Daniel Juncadella," he said.

"Roberto Merhi, Christian Vietoris and Robert Wickens were faced with an extremely difficult challenge in their first year with the new generation of vehicles but did extremely well, so there was never any doubt that they would continue their training in 2013. That too is part of a successful youth development programme."

Departure from Mercedes over the winter include the retiring David Coulthard, Audi-bound Jamie Green and Susie Wolff, who will concentrate on her Williams Formula 1 role.

 

Ralf is nothing special in DTM, so I was expecting someone to replace him IMO.

 

Just like Michael is nothing special in F1, he'll be there for another 3 years

 

Accept from the fact that the DTM car was capable of wins, the MGP I will have you know was a crock o' ****e for three years. Which didn't really help, but I get your logic.