2012 Predictions / Driver Line-up / News etc...

Pedro de la Rosa to drive for HRT for the next two seasons.

 

Shows some sort of ambition, does he bring sponsorship?

 

Good news. Pedro is a great guy. A two year deal is also interesting as it show more than just a whoever has the most money at any given time policy to drivers at HRT.

 

Good on him. HRT may be finally getting their act together.

 

I did not see this coming.

 

Thats a pleasant surprise, its good de la Rosa is finally getting another chance. If money is less of an issue at HRT, I would think that de la Rosa is one of the most experienced drivers available to help develop their car, so it sounds like a good choice to me!

 

Great for the car development, but de la Rosa is just an average racer.

Not that many can shine in a HRT.

A good signing for the team, and Pedro must be so desperate to race he will drive anything with the testing ban meaning he gets no opportunity once the season begins with McLaren.

 

Did not see that one coming...
Can't see him setting the world alight given how poor he was compared to Kobayashi last time he raced.
Wonder if he'll be partnered with Vergne or Ricciardo?

 

Joe Saward says there are rumours that both Alguersuari and Buemi might be dropped in favour of Vergne and Ricciardo.

 

And I thought the silly season was over! No, it has only just begun
That's ridiculous. That can't possibly happen.

 

You would think it more likely that Vergne would replace Ricciardo at HRT who would then replace one of the TR boys.

 

Wow, did not expect that. Good for him.

Wow. If true, Vergne must have done a very impressive job in the young driver test because I strongly suspect Ricciardo already has a Torro Rosso deal. It will be harsh if both Alguersuari and Buemi have to go but that's what happens when a team has more drivers than seats.

 

Exactly... especially since neither Buemi nor Alguersuari have done anything wrong per se.

 

Ricciardo was 1.3 seconds faster than pole position at last year's young driver test.
Vergne 0.5 seconds slower than pole position at this year's young driver test.
Ricciardo was 0.8 seconds quicker in the RB6 than Vergne was in the RB7.
Based on the young guns results, I'd be surprised if Vergne gets a Toro Rosso seat next year.
While on the subject of Vergne, here's an interesting, if not arrogant comment from him: http://en.espnf1.com/redbull/motorsport/story/64863.html

 

If they get rid of Buemi and Alguersuari and keep the slow and aging Webber you gotta be asking questions of who's in charge.

 

I hope you'll forgive my suggestion that this comparison should be very much a pinch of salt, Ninja? Did you factor in the average speed differential between the cars of 2010 to 2011? And the tyres? And the conditions? The state of the track? The ambient and track temperatures?

Comparisons on the day are really the only meaningful thing.

 

What an arrogant little twat. The guy is deluded if he thinks he can match Webber. His lap time in the young driver test was slower than Webber's qualifying time. Bear in mind that track conditions were much much better when Vergne set his lap time.

What purpose does that sort of comment have anyway? Webber is already contracted for 2012 and Ricciardo and the TR drivers are already ahead in the queue to drive for Red Bull.

 

Is he? What do you expect a young driver to say? That his ambitions amount to less than being 141 points off your teammate and failing to win a race in a championship dominating car.

 

Pole position by Vettel in the RB6 was a 1:39.394, whereas pole by Vettel in the RB7 was a 1:38.481 (-0.913). In qualifying pace (which is what these final fast laps are about), the 2011 cars have been generally quicker than the 2010cars, which is down to things like KERS and DRS. The track would have been much more rubbered in this year than last year as well. That RB7 should have been much faster.
Back to Vergne, it's not the kind of thing you'd say to help your chances of getting a seat. But maybe he was just trying to get on Marko's good side? Guys like Vettel, Hulkenberg, and Ricciardo are pretty humble and don't expect that they have to be given a seat straight away, so as not to upset anyone.

 

To be fair to Vergne the comments were just isolated quotes, you have no idea of the context they were said in and could of easily been manipulated (as you would expect from the media) to make them seem more sensational.