If he can drive a DTM car that well, I don't get why he is not competing a full DTM season. Surely racing is better than rallying for him?
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107081 Well he has driven in a Mercedes Sim, but more details have not been given.. "Nico, there is somebody at the door, I think it's for you".
Hardly. Mercedes last gamble on someone who had been out of the sport for a few years didn't work. I doubt they will make the same mistake twice.
Well if it ever was to be, it would be Mercedes or Renault I reckon. Toto does have a strong bond with Robert apparently.
And if he's any good? part of an engine deal with a back marker team? Can't see them moving Nico or Lewis aside
Toto seems fairly adamant that he would let Kubica in, but I don't see how A) Hamilton would move unless he goes home, or B) Mercedes would kick a German who has helped them develop for 3 years... oops that's already happened.
This is such a flimsy argument, they were reigning world champions before they got the two Germans in to "help them develop", and since getting rid of one of them they've had almost as much success in four races than the previous 3 years combined. Kubica was miles better than Rosberg before his accident, if he's still got it he's worth booting Rosberg for.
It is still an argument. If Rosberg has not been on pace with Mercedes in the last three years (we all know he has), he has helped them develop hasn't he? They used Schumacher for publicity and media attraction, and when Lewis came available they called a press conference and got rid. Mercedes were getting better since 2010, learning about tyres, making the new Mercedes team gel together, relations with drivers and so on... So yeah, if a driver will go it will be Nico. But there will be a taste of bitterness to it as Nico is a race winner and at the moment he has been on par with Hamilton.
Schuey was a PR disaster in that case. I genuinely believed they hired him for success on the track, okay it didn't work out, but Mercedes didn't need to pull a PR stunt at the expense of on-track results.
2012 would have been the year for him, I think Sky worked out that if he had finished in the position he had his DNF's (including his mistake in Spain), by Monaco he would have been leading the title race. Mercedes failed in 2012 not the drivers, it would be great to see Kubica back by the way. He has bags of raw speed, I wonder if Hamilton could handle him !!!
Rosberg will not be moved aside because of Kubiça. No chance. Rosberg is showing some real quality and I believe it is more than enough to offset any potential resurgence from a recovering (or even fully recovered) Kubiça. Kubiça is out. As far as F1 is concerned, unless he returns to a relatively lowly team happy to gamble (Mallya's Force India immediately sounds its best bell), forget him: he's done.
Sorry Cosi, gotta disagree with you there. I know I'm not about to forget one of the most genuinely talented guys we've seen in F1 this past generation. Especially when they're as determined as he is to return and feels that any progress is progress nonetheless. When others would've packed it in and said it was impossible he persevered, and I admire him for that. People said he was "done" immediately after the accident and said he would have trouble driving a road car again. And now he's rallying and doing tests in simulators. So IMO, he's not "done" until he says so and I'll support his return until then.
They said he was done after Canada 2007, if he comes back and is successful, he will IMO be the one of the best drivers I have ever seen. The guy has taken so many horrendous hits in his life.
I'm happy to be disagreed with, but my response was to the suggestion that Rosberg might be moved aside for Kubiça; not that he would never make it back onto the grid! Look at what I said about Mallya and/or "relatively lowly team". What I was suggesting is that this is the only way I can see any realism in the idea of his return to F1.
Im not convinced that Kubica was better than Rosberg before his accident (Great driver, but overrated...please don't kill me), now, with years out and nerve damage it would be a horrendous decision. I'd love to see him return one day, like Cosi says probably in a lesser team willing to take the risk, but that alone would be a miracle before we even talk about him hitting his former standard.
Apparently there were two teams offering Kubica a drive mid-season in 2012 as soon as he was fit enough and rumour had it that one of those teams was a top four team. Everyone thought at the time that it was Ferrari but I'm wondering now if it was actually Mercedes. Ferrari seem to be more interested in Vettel whereas Mercedes forced Schumacher into retirement. Mercedes have a strong pairing right now and Rosberg is a good driver but why have Rosberg when you can have Kubica? There's a really good article about Kubica here. For those who don't believe in Kubica's skills, here's a small extract from the article showing just how highly the other drivers thought of Kubica: I didn't believe that Kubica would ever be able to come back but I do now - another extract from the article: It's worth remembering that Rosberg's contract is up at the end of the year.
There you go. It's a personal challenge for Robert himself, to get to F1 again, he says he doesn't want to look at other series. Now that is determination. A determination to succeed, I think Nico lacks at times.
Sorry, just sounded like it. My response wasn't to the thought that he could or couldn't replace Rosberg, but the "forget him, he's done" which sounded kinda harsh and almost like an underestimation.