2013 Silly Season Thread

[RonDenisDeletraz]

PLEASE FI SIGN SENNA!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!! (Just to show the fanboy in me)

>inb4 East Londoner rages

[Londoner]

[CarlosFerreira]

PLEASE FI SIGN SENNA!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!! (Just to show the fanboy in me)

I'd love FI to sign up di Resta and Senna, just to see the entire Internet collapse in one long, audible sob.

[RonDenisDeletraz]

I'd love FI to sign up di Resta and Senna, just to see the entire Internet collapse in one long, audible sob.

The troll in me wants this to happen, seeing as I don't really like Force India that much. But that would certainly change if they signed Kobayashi

[TomWazzleshaw]

PLEASE FI SIGN SENNA!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!! (Just to show the fanboy in me)

I'd love FI to sign up di Resta and Senna, just to see the entire Internet collapse in one long, audible sob.

If that were to happen, the team would be so devoid of personality and soul that Lucas freaking Di Grassi would be a preferable option.

[pasta_maldonado]

PLEASE FI SIGN SENNA!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!! (Just to show the fanboy in me)

I'd love FI to sign up di Resta and Senna, just to see the entire Internet collapse in one long, audible sob.

If that were to happen, the team would be so devoid of personality and soul that Nick Heidfeld would seem as exciting as the last 2 laps of the 1982 Monaco GP.

Fixed.

[GwilymJJames]

latest rumour is FI to sign Kobayashi & Petrov leaving captain personality out in the cold

Who says this rumour?

[Aerospeed]

Force India, Y U NO SIGN DRIVERS????

[CarlosFerreira]

PLEASE FI SIGN SENNA!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!! (Just to show the fanboy in me)

I'd love FI to sign up di Resta and Senna, just to see the entire Internet collapse in one long, audible sob.

If that were to happen, the team would be so devoid of personality and soul that Lucas freaking Di Grassi would be a preferable option.

Oh don't be negative. Any of those 3 (di Resta, Di Grassi, Senna) is faster, more talented, more interesting to have around for dinner and has better hair than you or me.

[Salamander]

I'd love FI to sign up di Resta and Senna, just to see the entire Internet collapse in one long, audible sob.

If that were to happen, the team would be so devoid of personality and soul that Lucas freaking Di Grassi would be a preferable option.

Oh don't be negative. Any of those 3 (di Resta, Di Grassi, Senna) is faster, more talented, more interesting to have around for dinner and has better hair than you or me.

Interesting? Paul di Resta? What universe have you been spending time in recently? di Grassi was the most anonymous driver in the last 10 years - though I will grant you Senna, he seems a nice enough guy.

And of course they're faster and more talented drivers than us. That doesn't automatically mean they all deserve F1 seats.

[CarlosFerreira]

And of course they're faster and more talented drivers than us. That doesn't automatically mean they all deserve F1 seats.

Let me just say I agree with this. Dig around the forum (that's archaeology now), and you''ll find some comments of mine about how di Resta should be driving something with door handles. No argument there, not every fast driver deserves a seat in F1. Reading through the profiles in the Rejects Centrale is enough to convince anyone of that much.

And yet, I can't help thinking we're all a little too harsh on these people. I recently had a spat here with kostas22 (whatever he's called this week, I can't remember) and a few more people about whether Raikkonen has a place in F1 or not, and I concluded I was being a bit of a dork. F1 drivers do not only have to put up with the danger of the sport, they have to contend with a lot of outside pressures as well. Being British, di Resta has one of the most destructive forces in the known world - the British tabloid press - on his back ALL THE TIME. Just ask people like Hill or even Hamilton about that.

Interesting, Mr di Resta? Of course he is! Just sit him down and listen to him talk for 3 minutes about arriving to Ste Devote in a 800 hp, open-wheel thing that weighs as much as a shoebox, surrounded by 23 other idiots in similar machinery, or jostling for position with people like Michael Schumacher off the Raidillon and down Kemmel. That should prove at least a mildly entertaining.

[pasta_maldonado]

Interesting, Mr di Resta? Of course he is! Just sit him down and listen to him talk for 3 minutes about arriving to Ste Devote in a 800 hp, open-wheel thing that weighs as much as a shoebox, surrounded by 23 other idiots in similar machinery, or jostling for position with people like Michael Schumacher off the Raidillon and down Kemmel. That should prove at least a mildly entertaining.

That's all very well, but it's not always what he says that's the problem, is the way he says it. If you listened to Jonathan Legard commentating on a Bahrain Grand Prix, in a room with a comfy armchair and a roaring log fire, after eating a large delicious meal, and taking a few sleeping pills, you'd be less likely to fall asleep than if you listened to Di Resta for the same period of time

[CarlosFerreira]

Interesting, Mr di Resta? Of course he is! Just sit him down and listen to him talk for 3 minutes about arriving to Ste Devote in a 800 hp, open-wheel thing that weighs as much as a shoebox, surrounded by 23 other idiots in similar machinery, or jostling for position with people like Michael Schumacher off the Raidillon and down Kemmel. That should prove at least a mildly entertaining.

That's all very well, but it's not always what he says that's the problem, is the way he says it. If you listened to Jonathan Legard commentating on a Bahrain Grand Prix, in a room with a comfy armchair and a roaring log fire, after eating a large delicious meal, and taking a few sleeping pills, you'd be less likely to fall asleep than if you listened to Di Resta for the same period of time

Granted - I never hang around after the races to listen to what the drivers have to say.

[mario]

Interesting, Mr di Resta? Of course he is! Just sit him down and listen to him talk for 3 minutes about arriving to Ste Devote in a 800 hp, open-wheel thing that weighs as much as a shoebox, surrounded by 23 other idiots in similar machinery, or jostling for position with people like Michael Schumacher off the Raidillon and down Kemmel. That should prove at least a mildly entertaining.

That's all very well, but it's not always what he says that's the problem, is the way he says it. If you listened to Jonathan Legard commentating on a Bahrain Grand Prix, in a room with a comfy armchair and a roaring log fire, after eating a large delicious meal, and taking a few sleeping pills, you'd be less likely to fall asleep than if you listened to Di Resta for the same period of time

It almost sounds like a good strategy for dealing with the tabloid press - ensuring that you are too boring for them to want to rake up any stories about you.

As for these latest rumours, given that there are a lot of rumours swirling around from all over the place (so we've had Bianchi, Petrov and Kobayashi all linked to Force India in quick succession, whilst Sutil has been linked with the team for some time), I'll take this with a pinch of salt.
For what it is worth, I think that what will happen is that, to placate Ferrari, Bianchi will be given more practise sessions to drive in (interestingly, I thought that he was supposed to drive in 10 Friday morning practise sessions in 2012, but it looks like he only drove in 9 sessions) but probably won't get a seat in 2013 (although the team might leave an avenue for him to drive in 2014 if Ferrari offer Force India attractive terms for a power unit in 2014). Although technically Di Resta is out of contract, I expect him to keep his seat and the other seat will probably go to an experienced driver - Sutil probably has as good a chance as anybody else.

[Backmarker]

I don't really care how interesting Paul di Resta is in person. I don't watch F1 to be entertained by drivers making post-race witticisms, I watch F1 to see drivers racing. But you can be anonymous in F1, and fail to produce exciting drives, and I think di Resta is guilty of that (though not as much as the Toro Rosso drivers and Timo Glock in the last three years). But is he good enough to be in F1? Yes.

[CarlosFerreira]

Glock has been talking about how difficult things really are in Marussia:

The German, who has already confirmed that he will switch to the DTM touring car series with BMW in 2013, revealed that Vitaly Petrov's pass on Charles Pic late in last season's F1 finale was a major blow to his hopes of remaining a part of the team he had devoted three years of his career to. Petrov's successful move on the second Marussia secured not only eleventh place on the road, but also tenth overall in the constructors' standings, and the prize money that went with it. Prior to that, Glock's twelfth-place finish in Singapore had been the trump card, with Caterham unable to post anything better than a series of 13ths.

“After the last race in Brazil, I felt sick because we had really been counting on being able to keep the tenth place,” Glock told Germany's speed-academy website, “It looked good for a long time, as I was also in the running close to the top ten before the safety car came out. My former team-mate still had it in his grasp but, for whatever reason, he could not keep it, and that was the point where I began to be concerned about the situation.”

As most of us have been suspecting for a bit, that pass in the last corner of the Brazilian GP might have sounded the death knell for Virgin-Marussia, at least in the medium term. Unless they come up with a cracking car this year, they risk being light-years from a hopefully improving, KERS-equipped, closer-to-the-points Caterham-Lotus.

I maintain what I've said before: someone up-high in FOM has decided that 10 teams is the way forward.

[TomWazzleshaw]

I maintain what I've said before: someone up-high in FOM has decided that 10 teams is the way forward.

Two words, four syllables. First word starts with a B and the second rhymes with Enstone.

[tommykl]

I maintain what I've said before: someone up-high in FOM has decided that 10 teams is the way forward.

Two words, four syllables. First word starts with a B and the second rhymes with Enstone.

I think you mean five syllables

[UncreativeUsername37]

I maintain what I've said before: someone up-high in FOM has decided that 10 teams is the way forward.

Two words, four syllables. First word starts with a B and the second rhymes with Enstone.

I think you mean five syllables

Ecclestone and Enstone don't really rhyme either.

[S951]

I blame batman

[roblo97]

I blaim the sport in general for all the financial sh@ and for removing all of the classic races and replacing them for rounds in country's where nobody gives a &$#* about formula 1 because all Bernie wants is money

[CarlosFerreira]

I blame batman

The Joker is behind this.

[TomWazzleshaw]

I have just lost all respect I had for team Enstone

[Gerudo Dragon]

I have just lost all respect I had for team Enstone

What's wrong with Valsecchi?

[Benetton]

Are Force India, Caterham and Maruushia ever going to announce the final line-up??

[RonDenisDeletraz]

I actually don't think Valsechhi is that bad. He's better than some drivers that have been in F1

[GwilymJJames]

Are Force India, Caterham and Maruushia ever going to announce the final line-up??

Don't forget SCORPION!

[Svenko Wankerov]

I actually don't think Valsechhi is that bad. He's better than some drivers that have been in F1

No one is going to be "that bad" when Susie Wolff is actually going to be driving a F1 car.

[CoopsII]

Don't forget SCORPION!

We need that to happen. Its clearly the best name for an F1 team by a country mile, which is also, on average, how far behind the rest of the pack they'll be.

[TomWazzleshaw]

I have just lost all respect I had for team Enstone

What's wrong with Valsecchi?

Before winning the title, Valsecchi has done very little of note in the four years he spent trolling around the midfield in GP2. And as a general rule of thumb, three seasons in GP2 is generally good enough to determine whether the guys going places in the sport, and Valsecchi pretty much proved he was nothing special and only won last year's title because it was arguably the weakest GP2 field since its inception.

Saying that, it also speaks volumes of Razia who spent the last two years being beaten by Valsecchi himself.

[DanielPT]

I have just lost all respect I had for team Enstone

What's wrong with Valsecchi?

Before winning the title, Valsecchi has done very little of note in the four years he spent trolling around the midfield in GP2. And as a general rule of thumb, three seasons in GP2 is generally good enough to determine whether the guys going places in the sport, and Valsecchi pretty much proved he was nothing special and only won last year's title because it was arguably the weakest GP2 field since its inception.

Saying that, it also speaks volumes of Razia who spent the last two years being beaten by Valsecchi himself.

GP2 quality is clearly dwindling or so I believe. But I also believed that Felipe Nasr would go there and win many things and got quite disappointed on that.

[GwilymJJames]

Razia in at Marussia.

[Salamander]

I have just lost all respect I had for team Enstone

What's wrong with Valsecchi?

Before winning the title, Valsecchi has done very little of note in the four years he spent trolling around the midfield in GP2. And as a general rule of thumb, three seasons in GP2 is generally good enough to determine whether the guys going places in the sport, and Valsecchi pretty much proved he was nothing special and only won last year's title because it was arguably the weakest GP2 field since its inception.

Saying that, it also speaks volumes of Razia who spent the last two years being beaten by Valsecchi himself.

While I do agree with you in that Valsecchi is nothing special, I don't see how Lotus are losing anything by having him as the third driver over d'Ambrosio.

[AndreaModa]

Razia in at Marussia.

NOOOOOOOOO! (Darth Vader-style)

I see it's been confirmed on a few Portuguese-language sites, with an official announcement set for tomorrow (Friday) apparently.

Ah well, best of luck Marussia, at least you'll have the cash to finish the season.

[DanielPT]

Razia in at Marussia.

NOOOOOOOOO! (Darth Vader-style)

I see it's been confirmed on a few Portuguese-language sites, with an official announcement set for tomorrow (Friday) apparently.

Ah well, best of luck Marussia, at least you'll have the cash to finish the season.

Cash-wise it was probably the best option out there. Because, from my mind, it is the only reason for them to prefer Razia over Senna, for instance.

[DemocalypseNow]

I have just lost all respect I had for team Enstone

Will you ever lay off the constant hyperbolism?

There are hundreds of other junior drivers out there that would have been a worse choice than Valsecchi. Kobayashi spent several years trolling around GP2 doing absolutely f*** all and then got good in Formula One. Your argument he's no good because he had some bad seasons in GP2 before he won the title is redundant, good form in GP2 does not guarantee success in F1 and vice versa. Perez finished behind Malonado in the championship, but look at which one made it to a top team already.

[DanielPT]

I have just lost all respect I had for team Enstone

Will you ever lay off the constant hyperbolism?

There are hundreds of other junior drivers out there that would have been a worse choice than Valsecchi. Kobayashi spent several years trolling around GP2 doing absolutely f*** all and then got good in Formula One. Your argument he's no good because he had some bad seasons in GP2 before he won the title is redundant, good form in GP2 does not guarantee success in F1 and vice versa. Perez finished behind Malonado in the championship, but look at which one made it to a top team already.

And to reinforce it, look at the dude who ended Williams win drought. A guy who trolled around in GP2 for 3 years before winning it on the fourth one. And he wasn't exactly unknown quantity since the guy wasn't really slower than Barrichello.

That said, I think Razia and Van der Garde are much worse choices.

[UncreativeUsername37]

I have just lost all respect I had for team Enstone

Will you ever lay off the constant hyperbolism?

There are hundreds of other junior drivers out there that would have been a worse choice than Valsecchi. Kobayashi spent several years trolling around GP2 doing absolutely f*** all and then got good in Formula One. Your argument he's no good because he had some bad seasons in GP2 before he won the title is redundant, good form in GP2 does not guarantee success in F1 and vice versa. Perez finished behind Malonado in the championship, but look at which one made it to a top team already.

And to reinforce it, look at the dude who ended Williams win drought. A guy who trolled around in GP2 for 3 years before winning it on the fourth one. And he wasn't exactly unknown quantity since the guy wasn't really slower than Barrichello.

That said, I think Razia and Van der Garde are much worse choices.

Yes, FR3.5 has much better talent than GP2, and yes, it took four years, but he won what is meant to be the main feeder series to Formula One and therefore deserves a chance. And it's not like Pantano where we already know how good he is.

[Cynon]

At least Razia can stop taking up space in all the various junior categories and get his shot in F1. As far as I'm concerned it's a win-win for this forum. If he sucks, then that's fantastic, another reject pay driver, and if he does pretty well, then he can be the champion of the underdog teams.

I think he'd be better suited to the second Caterham and Vitaly Petrov getting the Marussia seat, but good to see that Razia has made it to F1.

Valsecchi, as far as I'm concerned, is another awesome surname that should be in F1. I think he's hoping Grosjean blows his chance with Lotus and is out of F1/that team so he can take the seat alongside Raikkonen, because Force India doesn't look like a good career choice at the present. In other words, I think he's doing a Hulkenberg, and hoping to sit on the sidelines and take his chance in a better car instead of wasting his time in a crap car.

Kovalainen (before midway through 2012) and to a lesser extent Glock have shown that trying to be a hero in a bad team is not exactly viable in this day and age unless you have a fair bit of cash with you so you can take that cash to another team.

So IMO, Valsecchi is taking the best chance he has of landing a good ride.

[mario]

At least Razia can stop taking up space in all the various junior categories and get his shot in F1. As far as I'm concerned it's a win-win for this forum. If he sucks, then that's fantastic, another reject pay driver, and if he does pretty well, then he can be the champion of the underdog teams.

I think he'd be better suited to the second Caterham and Vitaly Petrov getting the Marussia seat, but good to see that Razia has made it to F1.

Valsecchi, as far as I'm concerned, is another awesome surname that should be in F1. I think he's hoping Grosjean blows his chance with Lotus and is out of F1/that team so he can take the seat alongside Raikkonen, because Force India doesn't look like a good career choice at the present. In other words, I think he's doing a Hulkenberg, and hoping to sit on the sidelines and take his chance in a better car instead of wasting his time in a crap car.

Kovalainen (before midway through 2012) and to a lesser extent Glock have shown that trying to be a hero in a bad team is not exactly viable in this day and age unless you have a fair bit of cash with you so you can take that cash to another team.

So IMO, Valsecchi is taking the best chance he has of landing a good ride.

It is a bit risky to gamble on Grosjean's form continuing to be poor, though, given the training that Grosjean has been doing in the off season (hiring a sports psychologist in late 2012 to change his approach, which seems to be working) - added to that, Grosjean does bring fairly sponsorship to the team (Total), so although his shunts may be costly, that cost is being offset by money from elsewhere. Equally, I am not sure that Lotus would automatically reach for Valsecchi if they chose to kick Grosjean out - given that the team does seem to be stabilising now in terms of performance and money, it is plausible that they might turn to a more experienced driver to take over Grosjean's seat rather than a rookie.