Formula 1 2013

[Robert FIN]

Kimi is the best! He still got the skills, he has been better than Grosjean and he had good luck with Lotus since I expected that the car is slow and bad. Räikkönen has been many times in top 3 this year. Next year we'll see if he still has the skills to win the cup!!

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Boullier says, in response to whether or not a driver brings sponsorship money.

It would have zero effect on our decision. I want to choose the driver on merit and not on money.

Thus, I'm feeling pretty confident that Nico Hülkenberg will be Kimi's replacement at Lotus.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Kimi is the best! He still got the skills, he has been better than Grosjean and he had good luck with Lotus since I expected that the car is slow and bad. Räikkönen has been many times in top 3 this year. Next year we'll see if he still has the skills to win the cup!!

Only the car clearly isn't "slow and bad". It is quite competitive on most weekends except for the low downforce circuits. It is solidy in 4th place and far ahead of any other 7 constructors below them, including McLaren.

1 Red Bull Racing-Renault 377
2 Ferrari 274
3 Mercedes 267
4 Lotus-Renault 206
5 McLaren-Mercedes 76
6 Force India-Mercedes 62
7 STR-Ferrari 31
8 Sauber-Ferrari 19
9 Williams-Renault 1
10 Marussia-Cosworth 0
11 Caterham-Renault 0

The Kimster had better be better than Grossjean. After all, he is their #1 driver.

The only real way to know if a particular driver is the "best" is to be on the same team as the driver who is overwhelmingly leading this year's championship. But we will find out one thing next year. That is whether or not the Kimster is better than Alonso. I will be shocked if he does better. Kimi is a great talent, but I think Alonso is better.

Boullier says, in response to whether or not a driver brings sponsorship money.

Thus, I'm feeling pretty confident that Nico Hülkenberg will be Kimi's replacement at Lotus.

What an odd statement from someone who couldn't even afford to pay the Kimster a reasonable salary based on his talents.

From your article:

Raikkonen subsequently revealed that missing pay cheques had sealed his decision...

It also appears that it is far from a done deal:

EB: Both are very fast. Felipe is more at the end of his career than at the beginning. Massa was nearly world champion - he was champion for half a lap! He has a lot of experience, which is very valuable. Hulkenberg is highly rated in the paddock. So the question is do we want to be conservative and work with an experienced driver - especially with the new engine and power train next year - or do we gamble on a youngster?

It turns out Lotus is built on a house of cards:

EB: Look at some of the other teams: at Red Bull or Mercedes, those companies are sponsoring the teams. Genii has a different strategy: they loan the money. It is part of the strategy that partners join the team and Genii will get back their investment. Seventy-five percent of the debt Lotus has comes from Genii. They could write it off tomorrow by saying this money is a sponsorship - and then our debt would be drastically reduced. Our normal debt is similar to most of the other teams. Take Mercedes for example: they could say that the money they invest in Brackley is only a loan - then the debt of the team would be seriously higher than ours.

No wonder Raikkonen walked after being stiffed two years in a row with salary payments so they could pay other bills instead. Real teams need real sponsors, not "investors".

 

[Lord_Iggy]

True that, I didn't intend to claim that Lotus didn't have some rather severe financial issues. I was only commenting on their potential 2014 driver lineup, and whether it's more likely that they'll pick up Massa or Hülkenberg.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Now that was an exciting race! I won't go into too many details yet, so that people watching it on delay don't get spoiled.

 

[JohannaK]

I didn't watch this one, for a change. I had to meet some friends, but then they didn't even show up.

 

[Calis]

Hülkenberg made a fantastic race!!!

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Indeed! What a drive!

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Your post about Maria de Villota (RIP ) was in the wrong thread Forma.

There's a bit of a shocker from Toro Rosso- apparently they're picking up Daniil Kvyat to partner JEV for the 2014 season. That'll be two very young Russian Rookies in two of the midfield teams... could be very interesting. I don't doubt that both of these signings have a lot to do with the upcoming Grand Prix of Russia in Sochi.

 

[Calis]

There's a bit of a shocker from Toro Rosso- apparently they're picking up Daniil Kvyat to partner JEV for the 2014 season. That'll be two very young Russian Rookies in two of the midfield teams... could be very interesting. I don't doubt that both of these signings have a lot to do with the upcoming Grand Prix of Russia in Sochi.

...and money...

 

[Lord_Iggy]

I'd assumed that it was implicit.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Your post about Maria de Villota (RIP ) was in the wrong thread Forma.

Not at all. It was an update of a post I made about it when it occurred so I decided to post it there.

There's a bit of a shocker from Toro Rosso- apparently they're picking up Daniil Kvyat to partner JEV for the 2014 season. That'll be two very young Russian Rookies in two of the midfield teams... could be very interesting. I don't doubt that both of these signings have a lot to do with the upcoming Grand Prix of Russia in Sochi.

Wow. 19 years old. And he looks even younger than that.



But I don't think it really has anything to do with a new racing venue with the possible exception of Russian companies deciding to put up more sponsor money for the youngsters to attract F1 teams to hire them.

And Red Bull in particular seems to just be driven to hire what they think are the best rising stars with the most potential for their Toro Rosso team.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

So...

Spoiler :

Vettel wins to secure his fourth straight championship, RoGro goes from 17th to 3rd, Pérez equals McLaren's season best result with 5th. Very interesting race to watch!

 

[Formaldehyde]

David Hobbes stated it took "very large attachments" of a "discarded" driver to make this video:


Link to video.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

So, Raikkonen is going to miss USA and Brazil for back surgery.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Heh. How convenient. The Kimster doesn't have to drive for a team that hasn't paid him all year, and which is directly competing with Ferrari for constructor points. But he won't renege on his commitment so they can't refuse to pay him for not standing up to his contractual obligations.

 

[flashgordon]

Massa's move to Williams could be a really good move.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Glad to see he got a ride. Now Williams just has to get its act together and build a decent car for a pleasant change.

I wonder where Maldonado is going to take the PDVSA sponsorship fortune next. He'll probably buy his way onto the Lotus team and take the Kimster's seat, I guess.

 

[Calis]

Too bad that talent is not any longer the main reason to recruit drivers. I hope to see Hülkenberg in a good car next year.

 

[Michkov]

Question is if Maldonado still got the PDVSA money. Given that the Venezuelan government is investigating irregularities in their sports sponsorship.

Also Perez will not be driving the second McLaren next year, though no news yet who will take his seat.