2013 Silly Season Thread

[Kobacrashi]

On a random note apparently alguesuari has signed for a "top team" next season, although not disclosed which one yet. Somebody I know who should know told me it was mclaren and jenson is leaving to be sh!t somewhere else.

Just rumours but exciting none the less.

[TomWazzleshaw]

On a random note apparently alguesuari has signed for a "top team" next season, although not disclosed which one yet. Somebody I know who should know told me it was mclaren and jenson is leaving to be sh!t somewhere else.

Just rumours but exciting none the less.

If that's the case, my money is on he's become Massa's replacement at Ferrari.

[DemocalypseNow]

On a random note apparently alguesuari has signed for a "top team" next season, although not disclosed which one yet. Somebody I know who should know told me it was mclaren and jenson is leaving to be sh!t somewhere else.

Just rumours but exciting none the less.

I bet it was Marca, wasn't it. They're world renowned experts at publishing bulls**t.

[Pamphlet]

On a random note apparently alguesuari has signed for a "top team" next season, although not disclosed which one yet. Somebody I know who should know told me it was mclaren and jenson is leaving to be sh!t somewhere else.

Just rumours but exciting none the less.

Jaime likes that sort of stuff, doesn't he? Either way, bull****. Domenicali and di Montezemolo are very happy with Massa now, and Jenson isn't going anywhere, much less Lewis.

[TomWazzleshaw]

On a random note apparently alguesuari has signed for a "top team" next season, although not disclosed which one yet. Somebody I know who should know told me it was mclaren and jenson is leaving to be sh!t somewhere else.

Just rumours but exciting none the less.

Jaime likes that sort of stuff, doesn't he? Either way, bull****. Domenicali and di Montezemolo are very happy with Massa now, and Jenson isn't going anywhere, much less Lewis.

Yes, Emperor Montezuma and co were so happy with him they talked to Webber about possibly being his replacement.

[RonDenisDeletraz]

I can actually see the Alguersaurus getting signed to a top team in 2013...

As a test driver.

[Pamphlet]

Yes, Emperor Montezuma and co were so happy with him they talked to Webber about possibly being his replacement.

Except that was before Monaco, when Domenicali showed that he was slightly miffed with his pace. Di Resta was in talks back then as well.

I can actually see the Alguersaurus getting signed to a top team in 2013...

As a test driver.

He rejected Red Bull's test driver offer, so no.

[mario]

On a random note apparently alguesuari has signed for a "top team" next season, although not disclosed which one yet. Somebody I know who should know told me it was mclaren and jenson is leaving to be sh!t somewhere else.

Just rumours but exciting none the less.

Jaime likes that sort of stuff, doesn't he? Either way, bull****. Domenicali and di Montezemolo are very happy with Massa now, and Jenson isn't going anywhere, much less Lewis.

I don't know about "very happy" with Massa - they are more pleased than they were a while ago, but Massa needs a string of consistent results to demonstrate that it would be to the benefit of Ferrari to extend his contract. With a tight fight between Ferrari, Lotus and McLaren in the WCC, Ferrari will need every point they can get to outscore those two teams, so they need Massa to exhibit this sort of form for the rest of the season, particularly if McLaren's planned major upgrade package for the German GP pushes them, and particularly Button, back towards the front.
Luca di Montezemolo's most recent interviews underscored the importance of Massa continuing to score as heavily as possible for that very reason, and Domenicali is in no rush to renew Massa's contract, so I wouldn't say he is totally assured of his seat just yet.

As for Alguersuari, the only way that I could see him going to McLaren would be as a test/reserve driver - yes, Button has had a blip in form, but Hamilton is also beginning to struggle for pace more recently as the lack of upgrades for the car begins to bite. It would require a massive collapse in form for Button to be kicked out of the team at the end of the year, and I can't see something that catastrophic occurring. Hamilton, meanwhile, is unlikely to move from McLaren (I wouldn't totally discount him moving in the longer term, but with Red Bull and Ferrari out of the question, he doesn't have many competitive options available to him), so it is equally unlikely that Alguersuari would replace him.
Would I expect Alguersuari to crop up somewhere on the grid? Yes - his knowledge of Pirelli's 2013 tyre program is appealing, plus regular testing means he would be fairly race ready too, but my gut feeling is that he'll turn up in a midfield team, or perhaps as a third driver for a midfield to top ranking team, rather than as a direct replacement amongst the top teams.

[Pamphlet]

On a random note apparently alguesuari has signed for a "top team" next season, although not disclosed which one yet. Somebody I know who should know told me it was mclaren and jenson is leaving to be sh!t somewhere else.

Just rumours but exciting none the less.

Jaime likes that sort of stuff, doesn't he? Either way, bull****. Domenicali and di Montezemolo are very happy with Massa now, and Jenson isn't going anywhere, much less Lewis.

I don't know about "very happy" with Massa - they are more pleased than they were a while ago, but Massa needs a string of consistent results to demonstrate that it would be to the benefit of Ferrari to extend his contract. With a tight fight between Ferrari, Lotus and McLaren in the WCC, Ferrari will need every point they can get to outscore those two teams, so they need Massa to exhibit this sort of form for the rest of the season, particularly if McLaren's planned major upgrade package for the German GP pushes them, and particularly Button, back towards the front.
Luca di Montezemolo's most recent interviews underscored the importance of Massa continuing to score as heavily as possible for that very reason, and Domenicali is in no rush to renew Massa's contract, so I wouldn't say he is totally assured of his seat just yet.

As for Alguersuari, the only way that I could see him going to McLaren would be as a test/reserve driver - yes, Button has had a blip in form, but Hamilton is also beginning to struggle for pace more recently as the lack of upgrades for the car begins to bite. It would require a massive collapse in form for Button to be kicked out of the team at the end of the year, and I can't see something that catastrophic occurring. Hamilton, meanwhile, is unlikely to move from McLaren (I wouldn't totally discount him moving in the longer term, but with Red Bull and Ferrari out of the question, he doesn't have many competitive options available to him), so it is equally unlikely that Alguersuari would replace him.
Would I expect Alguersuari to crop up somewhere on the grid? Yes - his knowledge of Pirelli's 2013 tyre program is appealing, plus regular testing means he would be fairly race ready too, but my gut feeling is that he'll turn up in a midfield team, or perhaps as a third driver for a midfield to top ranking team, rather than as a direct replacement amongst the top teams.

The main problem with this is that Ferrari is starting to seem less and less interested in the constructors' championship. And I don't blame them - what would you rather win? And I recall Domenicali saying that they'd only decide whether they'd extend Massa's contract some time between Hungary and the end of the season, so of course they're not in a rush - they haven't finished analyzing Massa's form yet. Doesn't help that he's been much better since Monaco.

As for McLaren's upgrades, weren't they planned for Silverstone? Why would they schedule an emergency meeting if they knew they'd get a boost at the very next race?

[DemocalypseNow]

Hamilton, meanwhile, is unlikely to move from McLaren (I wouldn't totally discount him moving in the longer term, but with Red Bull and Ferrari out of the question, he doesn't have many competitive options available to him), so it is equally unlikely that Alguersuari would replace him.

Williams. Great car, terrible drivers. It's quite a coincidence that once Sam Michael moved to McLaren from Williams, Williams improved and McLaren got worse, no?

[Pamphlet]

Hamilton, meanwhile, is unlikely to move from McLaren (I wouldn't totally discount him moving in the longer term, but with Red Bull and Ferrari out of the question, he doesn't have many competitive options available to him), so it is equally unlikely that Alguersuari would replace him.

Williams. Great car, terrible drivers. It's quite a coincidence that once Sam Michael moved to McLaren from Williams, Williams improved and McLaren got worse, no?

Seeing as old Frank has stated his interest in Lewis, that wouldn't surprise me too much. But what are they going to do with Bottas then? He's replaced Senna in just about every FP1 session, so it would be a massive waste. Plus, I don't see Williams returning to the very top any time soon, even with a Hamilton-Maldonado lineup.

And no, of all the cars that have won a race, the FW34 is the worst, even below the Merc. I'd dare say it's below the Sauber (and Lotus, but that goes without saying) as well right now, seeing as they can manage the tyres well (which also boosts Perez' performances by a metric plugton).

[TomWazzleshaw]

Hamilton, meanwhile, is unlikely to move from McLaren (I wouldn't totally discount him moving in the longer term, but with Red Bull and Ferrari out of the question, he doesn't have many competitive options available to him), so it is equally unlikely that Alguersuari would replace him.

Williams. Great car, terrible drivers. It's quite a coincidence that once Sam Michael moved to McLaren from Williams, Williams improved and McLaren got worse, no?

More tellingly, McLaren have Michael in a totally unrelated and a lower ranking position than the one he held at Williams. Make of THAT what you will.

Actually, just as I post that, Raz directed me to this, admittingly dubious, article.

[mario]

The main problem with this is that Ferrari is starting to seem less and less interested in the constructors' championship. And I don't blame them - what would you rather win? And I recall Domenicali saying that they'd only decide whether they'd extend Massa's contract some time between Hungary and the end of the season, so of course they're not in a rush - they haven't finished analyzing Massa's form yet. Doesn't help that he's been much better since Monaco.

As for McLaren's upgrades, weren't they planned for Silverstone? Why would they schedule an emergency meeting if they knew they'd get a boost at the very next race?

From the point of view of a team boss, ideally you would like to win both championships, but whilst the popular press may be more interested in which driver wins the title, from the point of view of the team the constructors championship is much more valuable. This is di Montezemolo's take on the matter:

"I am very pleased to have seen that Felipe was very quick, fighting hard and consistently throughout the weekend," di Montezemolo told the Ferrari website. "It was very important for him and for us, because it is partly due to the points he scored that we have moved up to second in the constructors' classification."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/101120

Luca's interview looks to what Massa can bring to the team and the benefits that Ferrari would yield from it in terms of the constructors championship (where there is a direct financial reward for success), so I would say that Ferrari are still very interested in the constructors championship. To that end, I agree that a decision on Massa's form is unlikely to be rushed - the point I was making is that Massa's seat will be conditional on a sustained run of solid points finishes by the sounds of things (most contracts, including, it is thought, Massa's, contain performance related targets for the drivers), so although Massa's form may have improved from Monaco onwards, he needs to continue with this sort of form for as long as possible to be in the best position for his contract negotiations.

As for McLaren and their updates, it looks like McLaren originally planned to bring in some of those updates for Silverstone (such as the new adjustable front brake ducts), but because of the bad weather the team chose to stick with their current car rather than over complicate their set up work during the practise sessions (it might have been hard to tell if a shift in balance was down to the upgrades or just poor set up work, for example). The net result is that those upgraded parts are not due until the next race, where they are being integrated into the upgrade package that was already planned for that race.

The meeting McLaren are holding post-Silverstone is related to a problem that McLaren have had in recent races but was especially pronounced in Silverstone, which was the behaviour of their car on a medium to low fuel load and worn tyres (i.e. the latter stages of a race). From about lap 40 onwards, Hamilton and Button were struggling quite badly for pace and were not just slow compared to Ferrari, Red Bull and Lotus, they were one of the slowest teams on track - Hulkenberg and Kobayashi were able to hang onto and harass Button quite effectively, whilst even Vergne and Ricciardo were faster than both Button and Hamilton (by about 0.3-0.4s a lap on average) from lap 40 onwards.
The other aspect that is being looked at is their tyre management - the hints were there in Canada (where Hamilton's strategy came about because he couldn't one stop), whilst the coming together between Hamilton and Maldonado in Valencia was triggered by Hamilton's tyres falling apart in the closing laps. Silverstone saw similar problems - Hamilton could get his first set of primes to last fairly long on high fuel, but his second stint lacked the consistency of the first stint as his fuel load reduced. The main talking points, therefore, are likely to revolve around set ups and tyre management - in other words, issues that the upgrade package for Germany are only likely to partially address.

[Benetton]

From a competitive standpoint Webber made the right choice. He can match Vettel on pace in a superior car while at Ferrari he could not match Alonso (no one can) in a inferior car. Red Bull probably saw that there was really no one to realistically replace Webber for next season and saw that it was to their benefit to get him re-signed asap.

This looks to become quite a stale off season. 2013-2014 off season might be the one where there is more of a shake up. Can't see Hamilton moving from Macca, can't see Button moving either (I strongly believe he'll bounce back at some point this season). I honestly can even see Massa keeping his seat

Lotus is most likely happy enough to keep Grosjean and Kimi, and Michael will continue another year at Mercedes

[RonDenisDeletraz]

This looks to become quite a stale off season. 2013-2014 off season might be the one where there is more of a shake up. Can't see Hamilton moving from Macca, can't see Button moving either (I strongly believe he'll bounce back at some point this season). I honestly can even see Massa keeping his seat

Lotus is most likely happy enough to keep Grosjean and Kimi, and Michael will continue another year at Mercedes

I agree on everything except Massa keeping his seat.

[razta]

Fresh News - or NEARLY news..
James Allen has reportedly HEARD Schumi's STAYING for another year at Mercedes.

check his Blog here: http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2012/07/w ... l-in-2013/
Comment number 33

[Pamphlet]

Fresh News - or NEARLY news..
James Allen has reportedly HEARD Schumi's STAYING for another year at Mercedes.

check his Blog here: http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2012/07/w ... l-in-2013/
Comment number 33

Would it really be that surprising? Schuey said he isn't done yet and he's just now starting to fix his early streak of misfortune.

[Captain Hammer]

That's funny, because Ross Brawn says they haven't even started talking yet.

Sure, Christian Horner said that the team saw no need to bring talks with Webber forward, only to announce Webber was staying in 2013, but Ross Brawn isn't a snake oil salesman - and technically, Horner didn't lie. He simply said that he was in no hurry to get a contract signed, and since that contract was already signed (it's been suggested Webber agreed to race on before Silverstone), he told a version of the truth that stopped short of showing his whole hand.

[mario]

That's funny, because Ross Brawn says they haven't even started talking yet.

Sure, Christian Horner said that the team saw no need to bring talks with Webber forward, only to announce Webber was staying in 2013, but Ross Brawn isn't a snake oil salesman - and technically, Horner didn't lie. He simply said that he was in no hurry to get a contract signed, and since that contract was already signed (it's been suggested Webber agreed to race on before Silverstone), he told a version of the truth that stopped short of showing his whole hand.

I presume that would be based on this article, where Ross Brawn confirms that the team have not yet begun formal negotiations with Schumacher over his plans for 2013. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/101144
From the point of view of Mercedes, they can, to a certain extent, afford to take it easy in their negotiations - they appear to have several options whatever Schumacher decides to do. If he wants to stay for another year, his performance is currently strong enough for that not to be a risk for the team (and his advertising value remains very high), whilst should he wish to retire, there are other drivers that are also on the market at the end of the year, such as Di Resta (who already has links with Mercedes, and is therefore one of the favourites to replace Schumacher anyway).

[dr-baker]

That's funny, because Ross Brawn says they haven't even started talking yet.

Sure, Christian Horner said that the team saw no need to bring talks with Webber forward, only to announce Webber was staying in 2013, but Ross Brawn isn't a snake oil salesman - and technically, Horner didn't lie. He simply said that he was in no hurry to get a contract signed, and since that contract was already signed (it's been suggested Webber agreed to race on before Silverstone), he told a version of the truth that stopped short of showing his whole hand.

I presume that would be based on this article, where Ross Brawn confirms that the team have not yet begun formal negotiations with Schumacher over his plans for 2013. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/101144
From the point of view of Mercedes, they can, to a certain extent, afford to take it easy in their negotiations - they appear to have several options whatever Schumacher decides to do. If he wants to stay for another year, his performance is currently strong enough for that not to be a risk for the team (and his advertising value remains very high), whilst should he wish to retire, there are other drivers that are also on the market at the end of the year, such as Di Resta (who already has links with Mercedes, and is therefore one of the favourites to replace Schumacher anyway).

Ross Brawn was at the FOTA Fan Forum on the Tuesday before the British GP (i.e. last week) and said that discussions and a decision on Schumi's future would be made in 6 weeks from that point, i.e. in mid-August. So now, 1 week later, would be a bit premature.

[RonDenisDeletraz]

Somehow I think Schumacher wants to go out of F1 on a high so I cant see him retiring ät the end of this year.

[Aerospeed]

Somehow I think Schumacher wants to go out of F1 on a high so I cant see him retiring ät the end of this year.

As much as I think he's hogging a seat, I think he'll stay in 2013.

[Faustus]

For the 1000th post, I will relay a interesting rumour that I heard from a mate who works for Team Enstone:

Grosjean for Red Bull in 2014.

When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Fast driver, he would certainly help with the popularity of an eventual grand prix in France and I understand he is highly regarded by Renault and Red Bull is essentially the Renault factory team.

[mario]

For the 1000th post, I will relay a interesting rumour that I heard from a mate who works for Team Enstone:

Grosjean for Red Bull in 2014.

When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Fast driver, he would certainly help with the popularity of an eventual grand prix in France and I understand he is highly regarded by Renault and Red Bull is essentially the Renault factory team.

That is a very interesting rumour, but one that does make sense for the reasons you mention (the works support from Renault (with Red Bull now the official factory team for Renault Sport), Boullier's links with Renault Sport given he managed their Young Driver Program and the fact that Red Bull are known to be aggressively targeting the French soft drinks market - Grosjean's friendly demeanour with the press and status as a rising star of F1 would make him very attractive from an advertising point of view).

What makes that rumour even more interesting is the fact that Webber has made it clear that he wants to stay in F1 beyond 2013 (he mentions that he intends to stay at Red Bull until he retires, even if he did briefly talk to Ferrari), and that his preference would be to continue driving for Red Bull:

Because I'm 36 this summer, people are always asking me when I'm going to retire. But I'm not thinking about that at all. The contract is just for one year, but I'm looking to stay in F1 for longer than that.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18795809

I suspect that this particular rumour is going to start up the talk of Vettel to Ferrari in 2014 again - if Grosjean is going to Red Bull for 2014 and Webber wants to stay at Red Bull beyond 2013, where does Vettel fit into that picture?

[pasta_maldonado]

Red Bull perplexes me - they have Infiniti branding all over the car yet do not have Infiniti engines. Why would Infiniti want to be associated with the team when another manufacturer, Renault, is taking all the glory for the acheicements? After all, they power the car. The Infiniti advert says that they and Red Bull are working together; with what, pray tell? Are Infiniti developing their own engine, and the Renault deal is just temporary while we wait for the new regulations?

[Aerospeed]

Red Bull perplexes me - they have Infiniti branding all over the car yet do not have Infiniti engines. Why would Infiniti want to be associated with the team when another manufacturer, Renault, is taking all the glory for the acheicements? After all, they power the car. The Infiniti advert says that they and Red Bull are working together; with what, pray tell? Are Infiniti developing their own engine, and the Renault deal is just temporary while we wait for the new regulations?

Doesn't Infiniti supply the parts that isn't the engine? That would make sense. Or maybe they just sponsor the team for no good reason, and they toss in a bolt or two to say they "helped out with the team."

[TomWazzleshaw]

Red Bull perplexes me - they have Infiniti branding all over the car yet do not have Infiniti engines. Why would Infiniti want to be associated with the team when another manufacturer, Renault, is taking all the glory for the acheicements? After all, they power the car. The Infiniti advert says that they and Red Bull are working together; with what, pray tell? Are Infiniti developing their own engine, and the Renault deal is just temporary while we wait for the new regulations?

Renault own Infiniti through their ownership of Nissan if my memory is correct.

[pasta_maldonado]

Red Bull perplexes me - they have Infiniti branding all over the car yet do not have Infiniti engines. Why would Infiniti want to be associated with the team when another manufacturer, Renault, is taking all the glory for the acheicements? After all, they power the car. The Infiniti advert says that they and Red Bull are working together; with what, pray tell? Are Infiniti developing their own engine, and the Renault deal is just temporary while we wait for the new regulations?

Renault own Infiniti through their ownership of Nissan if my memory is correct.

That was beyond my knowledge, so if that is true, then Infiniti don't have to worry about beig out done because technically they don't exist

[AndreaModa]

Yup, Infiniti is the supposed luxury car arm of Nissan/Renault, and thus the equivalent of what Lexus is to Toyota. The fact remains however that Infiniti are nothing like on the level of Lexus, at least here in the UK. Are Infinitis even sold here?!

[pasta_maldonado]

Yup, Infiniti is the supposed luxury car arm of Nissan/Renault, and thus the equivalent of what Lexus is to Toyota. The fact remains however that Infiniti are nothing like on the level of Lexus, at least here in the UK. Are Infinitis even sold here?!

Never seen one. The 4x4 featured in the ad is just so bathplugging UGLY. It looks like a cross betwwen a duck, a skip, and a budget microwave

[JJMonty]

Yup, Infiniti is Nissan's is what Lexus is to Toyota.... it is focused in the American market however and is probably why you do not see many Nissans over there.

As Nissan and Renault are now more or less the same company (they use the same DCi engines in their cars), I don't see how Infiniti would lose out with their deal... if anything, it is probably a marketing ploy due to the new U.S GP's coming up soon!


On another note... I read in my local newspaper that James Walker was trying to raise funds (again) to gain an F1 drive.... now, whilst I know that the source is very iffy as they love to report anything that might make our Island look good, I remember he was in talks in 2010 with Virgin - you don't think this would have anything to do with Marussia looking for a new test driver?

[DemocalypseNow]

Yup, Infiniti is the supposed luxury car arm of Nissan/Renault, and thus the equivalent of what Lexus is to Toyota. The fact remains however that Infiniti are nothing like on the level of Lexus, at least here in the UK. Are Infinitis even sold here?!

Yeah they are, saw a G37 a few weeks ago in Hamilton. Not exactly a common sighting though, I've seen more Ferraris than I have Infinits in and around the Glasgow area...

[RonDenisDeletraz]

Yup,


On another note... I read in my local newspaper that James Walker was trying to raise funds (again) to gain an F1 drive.... now, whilst I know that the source is very iffy as they love to report anything that might make our Island look good, I remember he was in talks in 2010 with Virgin - you don't think this would have anything to do with Marussia looking for a new test driver?

Who, I have never heard of him before.

[JJMonty]

A Jersey racer who was in WS/R a couple of years ago, currently in Le Mans Series in the GT Class.

His claim to fame is that he raced against Vettel in Euro F3, went into WS/R racing with P1 and came 3rd in the championship (though he was beeten by Algersauri who was a part timer in the series!)

Anyways, at the end of the year - our local newspaper started praising him as a potential new F1 champion ( ) and he was trying to raise the funds for a test drive at either Virgin or Renault - anyways, a few days ago, this rumour has started up again in our sports section.

I'm trying to think of any teams that are either in Financial problems or are looking for a new test driver, Marussia is the only I can think of, but with the Young Drivers Test already done - I think the papers are just doing their best at being out of date again!

[Ataxia]

Yup, Infiniti is the supposed luxury car arm of Nissan/Renault, and thus the equivalent of what Lexus is to Toyota. The fact remains however that Infiniti are nothing like on the level of Lexus, at least here in the UK. Are Infinitis even sold here?!

Never seen one. The 4x4 featured in the ad is just so bathplugging UGLY. It looks like a cross betwwen a duck, a skip, and a budget microwave

That just sounds like a list of things my mate would pick up on a drunken night out. He's got a roadsign, a traffic cone, a wheel off of an old car, and a door already...

[dinizintheoven]

Yeah they are, saw a G37 a few weeks ago in Hamilton. Not exactly a common sighting though, I've seen more Ferraris than I have Infinits in and around the Glasgow area...

Last I heard, Infiniti aren't equipping any of their cars with diesels - they're mainly aimed at the US market, where the eco-hippies will always see diesel as being the filthy tractor fuel it was in the 1970s (and there's been little improvement in diesel Stateside because this image never dies the way it has in Europe), and hybrids are the One True Way, despite delivering lower MPG than an equivalent modern diesel. So their strategy may work on the other side of the Atlantic, but over here they'll never be more than a very tiny niche. I don't think they're aiming too high in our market, though - they know their lack of diesels is as much of a hindrance to sales as the inescapable fact that their cars all look like they got bottled in a Govan backstreet brawl and stitched back together by Stevie Wonder.

This week, I've also seen more Ferraris around Nottingham than I have Infinitis; I've also seen more Aston Martins and more McLarens - one each, an F430, a DB7 and an MP4-12C, with none of the posh Nissans at all.

[mario]

Yeah they are, saw a G37 a few weeks ago in Hamilton. Not exactly a common sighting though, I've seen more Ferraris than I have Infinits in and around the Glasgow area...

Last I heard, Infiniti aren't equipping any of their cars with diesels - they're mainly aimed at the US market, where the eco-hippies will always see diesel as being the filthy tractor fuel it was in the 1970s (and there's been little improvement in diesel Stateside because this image never dies the way it has in Europe), and hybrids are the One True Way, despite delivering lower MPG than an equivalent modern diesel. So their strategy may work on the other side of the Atlantic, but over here they'll never be more than a very tiny niche. I don't think they're aiming too high in our market, though - they know their lack of diesels is as much of a hindrance to sales as the inescapable fact that their cars all look like they got bottled in a Govan backstreet brawl and stitched back together by Stevie Wonder.

This week, I've also seen more Ferraris around Nottingham than I have Infinitis; I've also seen more Aston Martins and more McLarens - one each, an F430, a DB7 and an MP4-12C, with none of the posh Nissans at all.

I think that Infiniti are planning on fitting diesel engines to the versions of their cars that they will sell in Europe (and only for Europe), which would be the latest diesel engines that Renault have been developing in conjunction with Nissan. As things stand, though, only the petrol cars are on sale in Europe (not the hybrid versions), and as you say they are, as a result, making no headway into markets dominated by cars like BMW's 320d (the majority of saloon car sales in Europe these days are diesels because the economy figures make it a pretty easy decision for most rational drivers).

Given that Infiniti's marketing is effectively wasted over in Europe, it explains why most of the publicity events that Infiniti have carried out in recent months on the back of their deal with Red Bull Racing have been in the US - there has been little effort yet to capitalise on Vettel's relative fame in Europe as a double WDC to promote Infiniti by comparison.

[AndreaModa]

Yup, Infiniti is the supposed luxury car arm of Nissan/Renault, and thus the equivalent of what Lexus is to Toyota. The fact remains however that Infiniti are nothing like on the level of Lexus, at least here in the UK. Are Infinitis even sold here?!

Never seen one. The 4x4 featured in the ad is just so bathplugging UGLY. It looks like a cross betwwen a duck, a skip, and a budget microwave

That just sounds like a list of things my mate would pick up on a drunken night out. He's got a roadsign, a traffic cone, a wheel off of an old car, and a door already...

I raise you the base of a double bed, with only three wheels, and then trying to surf it down a hill and instead crashing it into parked cars!

[Captain Hammer]

Turun Sanomat reckons Peter Sauber is unhappy with both his drivers, and is eyeing off Heikki Kovalainen to replace one of them next year.

[mario]

Turun Sanomat reckons Peter Sauber is unhappy with both his drivers, and is eyeing off Heikki Kovalainen to replace one of them next year.

Why would Peter Sauber be unhappy with both of his drivers?
Perez has brought in a couple of podiums and a considerable amount of publicity for his performance in the Malaysian and Canadian GP's, whilst Kobayashi, albeit not picking up podiums, has still picked up a useful amount of points. Because of that, the team is currently in 6th place in the WCC, which is where you'd kind of expect them to be (behind the big five of Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus and Mercedes) and is perhaps even slightly flattering given how many points Maldonado has thrown away so far this season.
Did Turun Sanomat try to explain the reasoning behind those comments, or did it come across more as wishful thinking by somebody wanting to see Heikki elsewhere, in much the same way that some journalists are continually speculating over Hamilton's future and linking him to pretty much every single major team?