A wee bit harsh considering he is beating Petrov in the points, didn't have a drive until Kubica got injured and was not driving in races for most of the 2010 season. Maybe they think he should be doing more because of his experience.
Indeed, it's very similar to when Ferrari, in particular Luca Di Montezemolo, did exactly the same thing last year with Massa. Yes but only just. There's only 10 points separating Heidfeld, Rosberg, Massa, Petrov and Kobayashi. I think the point Boullier was making is that if Heidfeld had been more consistent in qualifying, he might have been much further ahead of those 4 drivers at this point in the season.
As other members here have mentioned, publicly demanding improvement is one of Boullier's tactics to get the best out of his drivers. In other threads, cosicave and ErnieBecclestone have expressed firm opinions that Robert Kubica will never be a top flight driver again, and reports today (e.g. from Yalla.com) provide a possible explanation for Boullier trying to gee-up Heidfeld. It may be that Heidfeld/Petrov is the likely 2012 Lotus/Renault line-up, or it may be that Heidfeld is being considered alongside others as a replacement for Kubica.
There is no question he'd wanna return, it's more, if Renault don't, where do we think he might go? Massa's replacement? Or would Ferraru not want to risk another injured driver not being at his best?
Kubica's reputation has probably sunk in the F1 paddock and if he wants a top seat now he will have to prove how good he is all over again. Kobayashi is probably higher on the wish list than him now
Kobayashi is too head strong to get a seat in a top team, that is until he calms it down a bit. He's got good raw driver's instinct though. I think the big teams that had their eye on Kubica before won't have forgotton him. If anything, they'll be monitoring the situation closely, to see if he is still a potential guy for them. remember, Ferrari and Red Bull both need to replace their number 2 driver in the next 2 years, and Red Bull potentially need to replace Vettel at some point
Vettel wont leave Red Bull if Newey's still there, you'll see. Kamui on the other hand said he was going to drive with less aggression than in 2010, he's showing it already with solid performances beating the likes of Renault and Mercedes on occasion. He's also outdoing Schumacher in the WDC standings.
Very true about Kobayashi, he IS doing very well this year. Maybe on the Vettel front, he's already said he'd like to drive for 1 of the historic teams in F1. Mclaren are tied up at the moment, and happy with their 2 British drivers, Ferrari is an option that will be open by the time his current contract is up, whether or not they are competitive by that time is another matter
please log in to view this image Those were happier times... The unlikely name of Roman Grosjean has been thrown back into the frame at Just Lotus Renault. I can understand that the team was in something of a turmoil when he last drove around a bit in F1, following what must have been an uneasy time amid rumours of things going astray and the bitter exit of Piquet Jr. It also can't be easy for any rookie to show his worth when partnered with the oppressive Alonso (ahem). Even so, I don't remember Grosjean covering himself in glory and the GP2 clip FF posted during the Monaco not-a-bank holiday showed him to be less than impressive, though he did finish the races in 3rd and 4th places.
Grosjean deserves another chance in F1 but not at Renault. We need a top experianced driver to take us forward
Apparently Petrov needs quite a lot of looking after, I've found this quote from Eric Boullier: "He needed someone to guide him, to get him about, to tell him how to behave at the track, what time to wake up, have breakfast, how to manage his day, be on time for meetings and so on," The quote came from here, which also offers a nice game of spot the BBC spelling mistakes.
Is a chance with HRT really a chance at all? I just read his wiki page, which has a few things I didn't know before about him. Apparently he tested with Honda, getting to within 0.3s of Button's times, and would have had Barichello's seat had he not chosen to prolong his retirement. He could have been in a completely different situation now. Potentially he could have spent 09 pushing Button for the title, and may have won races (or at least got podiums) that would have earned him a drive with a decent team for 2010 and beyond. I guess its just luck of the draw really!
