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

Yeah, my hope for Kovi is just hope, I don't really see it happening. He's probably got more of a chance at Force India than Caterham, and nothing at all has been said about Force India, so his chances are slim.

 

I think you may be onto something. Perez wants McLaren to bring back De La Rosa - he wants "a Latin face to help in his adaptation to the team". Have Button and Paffett formed a little clique?

http://www.f1sa.com/index.php?optio...driver-pedro-de-la-rosa&catid=1:f1&Itemid=157

 

Hmmmm, now why would a Spanish face help his adaption? Are non-english drivers vocabulary that limited? Or maybe Perez is somewhat paranoid of something...

Maybe we should delve in some of Paffett's comments over last season and we might find something of a surprise.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/tester-paffett-puzzled-by-hamilton-s-team-switch/

This was his last conversation with the media I believe, sounds like (for me anyway in the subtext) Lewis' major desire to win more titles (more than Seb and Alonso in particular) and it went against him and McLaren's long term plans and stability. It sounds McLaren decided after Canada 2011 that Jenson was the safer long term option after Lewis pulled that RBR stunt with Horner and that he would quickly leave the team even though all their history together.



Take Lionel Messi for example, Barcelona took a gamble on a young boy who was considered physically weak, they paid for his medication at the age of...11 I think which costs $10,000-$40,000 a year! Anyway he became a big star as we know and considering the amount of faith Barcelona put into this young lad he gives them a considerable amount of faith back. If he didn't get picked up by Barcelona in the first place he would be having lifestyle problems with his physic and life long problems and (maybe) would of died before he was 60.

Messi knew this (That he wouldn't be where he is without Barcelona helping him) and has repaid Barcelona through thick and thin over 9 years with Barcelona, with 2 European titles and god knows how many more others in Spain he has repaid and more and yet he never wants to leave by the looks of it no matter how much they offer him. Youth products are perceived to be more faithful than mercenaries, or so in football it is in my opinion.


Now Lewis on the other hand I felt didn't do what Messi did and "know his place of sorts", he forgot the past that he was the statue and McLaren was the sculpter, if McLaren didn't tap him up his career early on he would of likely ended even before it got to European F3 considering the costs. It's a shame of sorts but I think that's the mindset of F1, fame and money changes people for the worse it looks. At least there are some F1 drivers who don't really care for money.

 

But does team loyalty matter?

 

To McLaren it seemed for the best by the looks of it, rather than getting drivers that would drop you in a second when you weren't winning anymore. When Enzo Ferrari was around it was compulsory at Ferrari that their interests came before yours. Where Button committed to McLaren for the long run, Lewis on the otherhand blinked and that cost him I reckoned.

 

Silver, I think you've been very perceptive up to this point but I'm not sure about this last point, well, not entirely. As you know, I've been saying for a very long time I believe that behind the charm Button is a nasty piece of work; personally, I think that Lewis didn't blink exactly but underestimated Jenson's ability to turn the team around himself and away from Lewis.

I think your point about Pérez realising what he's up against intra-team is spot-on; I sincerely hope his youth, his talent and his hunger will give him enough to overcome this. Button is a fine driver, and exceptional on his day, but, IMO, he lacks that extra something that Lewis has and that Pérez has shown flashes of having too - !Fuerza Checo!

 

Maybe Lewis did feel like he was being fazed out and felt was becoming a de facto number 2 slowly?

It's possible an F1 drivers mindset believes if they don't feel they're number 1 all the time at that team, then it must be true.

 

This discussion has developed in a new and interesting way, to me.

My view is that Button is essentially stronger in the head and less easily influenced or messed up by circumstance. He is probably the most mentally competitive person in F1 today and relishes each and every challenge. To put it another way; he is both strong-willed and at ease with himself; and when he goes the wrong way on set-up, he still sees it as a positive because it is yet another challenge!

On the other hand, Hamilton has been pulled this way and that by others he wants (and / or needs?) to trust; and at the same time feels that he is somehow being deprived of his destiny. Hamilton is the most naturally gifted driver since Clark; but oddly enough, his own awareness of this has kind of got in the way of his own achievement – because, in a sense, he's just expected it to happen, almost as a 'given'.

Consequently, I do not share the view that Button is a "nasty piece of work"; although I do agree that he has the ability to create favourable circumstance within a team. But the last half of my sentence is based on this natural ability to get along with people. People tend to like him – which is always a good thing and never a bad thing. By comparison, everything seems something of a battle for Hamilton; and because he sees this as a personal thing not to trouble others with, he tends to keep others feeling less important. The conclusion is that Button naturally involves others, whilst Hamilton does not. Button tends to naturally help himself, whilst perhaps the opposite is truer of Hamilton. Who is the most positive thinker is surely a no-brainer? Who is the most natural team-player is most certainly a no-brainer.

Both are admired, but for quite different reasons. And these fundamental reasons can yield quite different dynamics within a team:

• Hamilton is admired for his almost super-human ability behind the wheel, which leaves others with a sense of awe but leaves him out in the cold – because on a personal level, others simply cannot identify with such other worldly skill. (And in fact, the majority who witness this sort of thing at close quarters tend to find it quite alienating, with the possibility of seeing themselves as less significant – or worse: just plain inadequate!)
  
• Button is admired for his mental strength and ability to overcome adversity: something most people can identify with very, very easily.

I hope it can be seen which mentality type is more likely to galvanise a team with each of its members becoming more aware of their own, individual importance. And whether we like it or not, F1 is very much a team sport…

 

Same can be said for Alonso though.

Picked up by Briatore quite early on, got 2 WDC's, then promptly left, came back, then left again.

Loyalty is a rare thing these days.

In teh Messi scenario, yes it can be argued that he has paid Barcelone back many times, but look how much they pay him! Do you think he would stick around if they told him to take a pay cut and someone came along and offered him more? Doubt it.

You can't carry a debt to someone/thing all your life, unless what they did was so extraordinary it meant you being alive in the first place.

 

I dont dispute this directly, although none of us know what has exactly happened behind the scenes. One thing I would add is that regardless of the input Jenson may or may not have within the team, Lewis has more than contributed to his own situation with some significant self created issues. I think we sometimes overlook this when inferring that Whitmarsh and Jenson are a Dastardly and Muttley combination.

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Well it has happened, De La Rosa has joined Ferrari in a development role.

 

Of course, when he was signing (6-7 year contracts) every odd season. Samuel Eto used to get paid more than Messi before they won the Champions league in 2009. When Messi became player of the year then they paid him more and more until C.Ronaldo went to R.Madrid and it just became a wage war of the 2 after that.

I used to be a Barcelona fan.

 

This is beginning to wander off-topic, so I ask the forum's forgiveness to respond to something I find very irritating, which has led to my disillusionment with soccer.
For what it's worth, I think most of football's top players do not really justify their salaries; especially instinctive 'cheats'* such as the prima donna called Ronaldo.

*Pretending to be fouled in an attempt to influence or fool a referee has not only become widespread in what was once a beautiful game; but has been actively encouraged at all levels by idiotically short-sighted commentators and thickie ex-footballer pundits alike, who of course, are watched by millions of aspiring footballers across the globe.

The lack of intelligence which pervades football from top to bottom is astounding.
- - -o0o- - -

I know what I've just said may provoke a response. I am truly sorry if it does.
Please can we avoid speaking of football in an F1 forum? And please: can we get back to the topic of F1 driver line-ups, news and rumours?

 

Agree totally.

However, it's not hard to see how football has been mentioned when one considers the relative silence over the winter from Force India and Caterham! Interesting to see that De La Rosa has joined Ferrari as their development driver. Could this imply that Bianchi is moving somewhere....?

 

Lewis tweeted he will be on top gear again! Watch out Vettel!

 

He should beat it to be honest if it's dry, they tested McLarens new supercar on it extensively.

 

Manchester United

 

What is Bob Ferney trying to say, that the driver line-up will be decided before the launch or that they need more time to decide? If they're not going to use the test to evaluate Bianchi and Sutil does that mean they have already made a decision, or that they're confident they'll make a decision before then?

 

Something that was missed in the comments from Wroom was Massa saying that he will be the only Brazilian driver in F1 this year.

 

Thanks for the Autosport article Forza, it makes very little sense though! If you can't decide which driver you want over the winter, what difference does 4 days make? I can only assume that, in light of their financial situation, they're working on a way to improve their finances, but that might not be confirmed until between the two dates. I'm guessing it's Sutil if they get the money, Bianchi if they don't.