2014 Silly Season Thread

Post by **kevinbotz** » 20 Sep 2013, 09:27

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula-one/24171278

What on God's green Earth...?

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 20 Sep 2013, 09:35

kevinbotz wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula-one/24171278
What on God's green Earth...?

Same as the Daily Mail piece linked on the previous pages, Whitmarsh says he'd love to have Alonso in the team (who wouldnt?) although he admits he has no idea what his contract situation is but that he's probably securely linked to Ferrari.

So.

There's no real story.

Unless.

Whitmarsh is cack-handedly trying to gee up negotiations with one or both of his current drivers with the supposed threat of replacing one of them?

rachel1990 · Post by **rachel1990** » 20 Sep 2013, 10:11

kevinbotz wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula-one/24171278

What on God's green Earth...?

Yeah I just saw this and I thought to begin with OMG

Then I saw the report and realised it was a load of Bull

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 20 Sep 2013, 10:14

rachel1990 wrote:
kevinbotz wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula-one/24171278

What on God's green Earth...?

Yeah I just saw this and I thought to begin with OMG

Then I saw the report and realised it was a load of Bull

Well Rachel this is the BBC with it's moronic writing but I've droned on long enough about that so best not go there.

Would Whitmarsh want him back? I don't think so because Alonso tried to mould Mclaren around him like he did with Renault and Ferrari and they wouldn't have it.

eagleash · Post by **eagleash** » 20 Sep 2013, 10:18

If Nando is unsettled (not impossible!) by Kimi's arrival. It might not be a great scenario for Ferrari next year. They have not been renowned for harmonious working relationships with drivers in the past (at the best of times). Both drivers are currently saying all the right things......but.....
The idea of Alonso moving to McLaren, in some sort of swap arrangement, might not be so far fetched consideribg that Perez is a former Ferrari Academy member.
Past troubles not withstanding, IMO Macca would happily sign Alonso tomorrow if they could.

AND..in the interests of "balance"

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/s ... so-mclaren

The Telegraph however seem to think the staus quo will prevail....but that it's not yet definite.....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motors ... rrari.html

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 20 Sep 2013, 10:50

This is nothing more than paper talk. NOTHING. It's a headline that grabs them some attention and sells content. It is bullshit of the highest order. It's not just the red top rags that are at it either. The Guardian went with the headline Jenson Button fuels rumour of a Fernando Alonso move to McLaren, and this was their reason for doing so;

When asked "How would you feel driving with Fernando next season?" Button replied: "I think it would be quite exciting. There are many team-mates in Formula One who I would be excited about working with.

And towards the end of the article, they've basically just admitted they were lying the entire time;

Alonso's contract with Ferrari, however, extends to the end of 2016, and he is likely to remain at Maranello until at least the end of next year.

Well, DUH. Shut up media, you are going full retard.

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 20 Sep 2013, 10:56

Stramala wrote:This is nothing more than paper talk. NOTHING. It's a headline that grabs them some attention and sells content. It is bullshit of the highest order. It's not just the red top rags that are at it either. The Guardian went with the headline Jenson Button fuels rumour of a Fernando Alonso move to McLaren, and this was their reason for doing so;

When asked "How would you feel driving with Fernando next season?" Button replied: "I think it would be quite exciting. There are many team-mates in Formula One who I would be excited about working with.

And towards the end of the article, they've basically just admitted they were lying the entire time;

Alonso's contract with Ferrari, however, extends to the end of 2016, and he is likely to remain at Maranello until at least the end of next year.

Well, DUH. Shut up media, you are going full retard.

Wow I never realized the drop in Media coverage even before this year until now. This is why i created the F1 Journalists thread because some stories that are written these days are symbolically pathetic

Post by **Ataxia** » 20 Sep 2013, 11:46

From the horse's mouth: Whitmarsh has said to Sky that although he'd be interested, he said that from the point of view that everyone would want Alonso should he become available. He also expects to keep his 2014 lineup the same.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 20 Sep 2013, 12:09

Is this nonsense an attempt by the media at large to fill the vacuum caused by Alonso not venting his spleen in the media about Raikkonen?

As if they had planned all these comparison pieces featuring the usual suspects and as both 'protagonists' are currently playing nice this weekend they're jumping on this mole-hill and applying the mountain-enlargment-cream?

LellaLombardi · Post by **LellaLombardi** » 20 Sep 2013, 12:53

I like in the BBC piece how Andrew Benson assumes that Perez would go and his golden boy, Jenson Button, would be staying. Assuming there was any truth in the story, I wouldn't say any driver's seat there is more secure than the other.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 20 Sep 2013, 16:16

LellaLombardi wrote:I like in the BBC piece how Andrew Benson assumes that Perez would go and his golden boy, Jenson Button, would be staying. Assuming there was any truth in the story, I wouldn't say any driver's seat there is more secure than the other.

Are you suggesting they guy shows bias towards the British drivers?

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 20 Sep 2013, 16:55

Lots of rumors in the Singapore paddock currently. Nick Heidfeld signs with Lotus for 2014. Apparently a two-year deal. No official source at the moment.

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 20 Sep 2013, 16:59

Jocke1 wrote:Lots of rumors in the Singapore paddock currently. Nick Heidfeld signs with Lotus for 2014. Apparently a two-year deal. No official source at the moment.

Madness. Why don't they just sign Pedro de la Rosa for the second seat?

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 20 Sep 2013, 17:41

Backmarker wrote:
Jocke1 wrote:Lots of rumors in the Singapore paddock currently. Nick Heidfeld signs with Lotus for 2014. Apparently a two-year deal. No official source at the moment.

Madness. Why don't they just sign Pedro de la Rosa for the second seat?

Because he's an option for Sauber presumably.

eagleash · Post by **eagleash** » 20 Sep 2013, 17:48

CoopsII wrote:
Backmarker wrote:
Jocke1 wrote:Lots of rumors in the Singapore paddock currently. Nick Heidfeld signs with Lotus for 2014. Apparently a two-year deal. No official source at the moment.

Madness. Why don't they just sign Pedro de la Rosa for the second seat?

Because he's an option for Sauber presumably.

Well he's at Ferrari at the moment as development driver (read..sim work). & ostensibly it was Alonso who asked for him to be brought in so when Nando rejoins McLaren

he'll obv return there too...

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 20 Sep 2013, 18:18

Backmarker wrote:
Jocke1 wrote:Lots of rumors in the Singapore paddock currently. Nick Heidfeld signs with Lotus for 2014. Apparently a two-year deal. No official source at the moment.

Madness. Why don't they just sign Pedro de la Rosa for the second seat?

I find it funny that whenever you think Pedro will never race in F1 again, he somehow gets his way into another team!

Jaguar 2001
McLaren 2005 and 2006
Sauber 2011
HRT 2012

Post by **Londoner** » 20 Sep 2013, 18:41

More silly season banter, this time involving Tony Fernandes and his merry men.

4000th post. Bloody hell.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 20 Sep 2013, 22:04

East Londoner wrote:More silly season banter, this time involving Tony Fernandes and his merry men.

4000th post. Bloody hell.

The team has shown that they can live without Heikki. And the less said about Heikki, the better. Caterham should give Valsecchi a spin.

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 20 Sep 2013, 23:36

The things being said lately seem like they are being said for the point of boredom and saying something. I'm not impressed.

Wait until Maldonado gets the Lotus seat...

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 21 Sep 2013, 05:49

Aerospeed wrote:
East Londoner wrote:More silly season banter, this time involving Tony Fernandes and his merry men.

4000th post. Bloody hell.

The team has shown that they can live without Heikki. And the less said about Heikki, the better. Caterham should give Valsecchi a spin.

Heikki has said he won't pay for a race seat. If Caterham have him replace Pic or vdG and he's not paying for it, they're doing themselves out of a decent amount of money, especially when there are other drivers (Valsecchi, Razia probably, Nasr) who could pay a good amount for a seat.

watka · Post by **watka** » 21 Sep 2013, 11:25

Salamander wrote:Honestly, I think dropping Button for Magnussen could be a very shrewd move. Their 2014 is likely not to be a title-winning one anyway as they'll be in a lame duck situation with Mercedes. It might be best to write it off as a development year in preparation for the switch to Honda.

Surely if you think it would be a development year then you'd want to keep Button! Having Perez and a newbie develop and give feedback about the car won't be anywhere near as helpful as Button's feedback (even if he does have a very specific driving style). Furthermore, it would say to Perez that they don't think he's the future of the team and also the new driver would suffer to because everyone would write him off due to the car's lack of performance. They'd be mad to do anything other than keep the current lineup.

I can see Vandoorne or more likely Magnussen making a jump to the team as their first F1 drive but not until Button hangs up his racesuit. The earliest I can see Button doing that though is 2015 if the Honda partnership turns out to be a disaster, so its a bit of a wait for those two considering they're already in a high level racing series.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 21 Sep 2013, 17:34

watka wrote:
Salamander wrote:Honestly, I think dropping Button for Magnussen could be a very shrewd move. Their 2014 is likely not to be a title-winning one anyway as they'll be in a lame duck situation with Mercedes. It might be best to write it off as a development year in preparation for the switch to Honda.

Surely if you think it would be a development year then you'd want to keep Button! Having Perez and a newbie develop and give feedback about the car won't be anywhere near as helpful as Button's feedback (even if he does have a very specific driving style). Furthermore, it would say to Perez that they don't think he's the future of the team and also the new driver would suffer to because everyone would write him off due to the car's lack of performance. They'd be mad to do anything other than keep the current lineup.

I can see Vandoorne or more likely Magnussen making a jump to the team as their first F1 drive but not until Button hangs up his racesuit. The earliest I can see Button doing that though is 2015 if the Honda partnership turns out to be a disaster, so its a bit of a wait for those two considering they're already in a high level racing series.

No, by development year I mean a year to help develop the drivers, not the car. Get a handle on them, what sort of feedback they're giving, that sort of thing. If McLaren are ever going to challenge Red Bull and Vettel, they need to take a gamble. And on the driver side of things, that means find a new 'next big thing' that they can develop the whole team around, much like Red Bull have developed around Vettel. Kevin Magnussen has been ridiculously consistent this year, and has raced very well - he might be the guy to beat Vettel.

Post by **Nuppiz** » 21 Sep 2013, 19:04

Backmarker wrote:
Aerospeed wrote:
East Londoner wrote:More silly season banter, this time involving Tony Fernandes and his merry men.

4000th post. Bloody hell.

The team has shown that they can live without Heikki. And the less said about Heikki, the better. Caterham should give Valsecchi a spin.

Heikki has said he won't pay for a race seat. If Caterham have him replace Pic or vdG and he's not paying for it, they're doing themselves out of a decent amount of money, especially when there are other drivers (Valsecchi, Razia probably, Nasr) who could pay a good amount for a seat.

I saw that interview on TV. Fernandes was asked if Kovalainen was still on their shortlist of drivers, and he pretty much replied "Absolutely, if we have the money to do so. I like him very much."

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 21 Sep 2013, 20:29

Salamander wrote:
watka wrote:
Salamander wrote:Honestly, I think dropping Button for Magnussen could be a very shrewd move. Their 2014 is likely not to be a title-winning one anyway as they'll be in a lame duck situation with Mercedes. It might be best to write it off as a development year in preparation for the switch to Honda.

Surely if you think it would be a development year then you'd want to keep Button! Having Perez and a newbie develop and give feedback about the car won't be anywhere near as helpful as Button's feedback (even if he does have a very specific driving style). Furthermore, it would say to Perez that they don't think he's the future of the team and also the new driver would suffer to because everyone would write him off due to the car's lack of performance. They'd be mad to do anything other than keep the current lineup.

I can see Vandoorne or more likely Magnussen making a jump to the team as their first F1 drive but not until Button hangs up his racesuit. The earliest I can see Button doing that though is 2015 if the Honda partnership turns out to be a disaster, so its a bit of a wait for those two considering they're already in a high level racing series.

No, by development year I mean a year to help develop the drivers, not the car. Get a handle on them, what sort of feedback they're giving, that sort of thing. If McLaren are ever going to challenge Red Bull and Vettel, they need to take a gamble. And on the driver side of things, that means find a new 'next big thing' that they can develop the whole team around, much like Red Bull have developed around Vettel. Kevin Magnussen has been ridiculously consistent this year, and has raced very well - he might be the guy to beat Vettel.

I think Magnussen will be given a chance to drive the car in friday pactice before being moved up to a race seat next year alongside Perez

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 21 Sep 2013, 22:41

Nuppiz wrote:
Backmarker wrote:Heikki has said he won't pay for a race seat. If Caterham have him replace Pic or vdG and he's not paying for it, they're doing themselves out of a decent amount of money, especially when there are other drivers (Valsecchi, Razia probably, Nasr) who could pay a good amount for a seat.

I saw that interview on TV. Fernandes was asked if Kovalainen was still on their shortlist of drivers, and he pretty much replied "Absolutely, if we have the money to do so. I like him very much."

Well, they don't have the money, so he's not.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 21 Sep 2013, 23:15

Salamander wrote:
watka wrote:
Salamander wrote:Honestly, I think dropping Button for Magnussen could be a very shrewd move. Their 2014 is likely not to be a title-winning one anyway as they'll be in a lame duck situation with Mercedes. It might be best to write it off as a development year in preparation for the switch to Honda.

Surely if you think it would be a development year then you'd want to keep Button! Having Perez and a newbie develop and give feedback about the car won't be anywhere near as helpful as Button's feedback (even if he does have a very specific driving style). Furthermore, it would say to Perez that they don't think he's the future of the team and also the new driver would suffer to because everyone would write him off due to the car's lack of performance. They'd be mad to do anything other than keep the current lineup.

I can see Vandoorne or more likely Magnussen making a jump to the team as their first F1 drive but not until Button hangs up his racesuit. The earliest I can see Button doing that though is 2015 if the Honda partnership turns out to be a disaster, so its a bit of a wait for those two considering they're already in a high level racing series.

No, by development year I mean a year to help develop the drivers, not the car. Get a handle on them, what sort of feedback they're giving, that sort of thing. If McLaren are ever going to challenge Red Bull and Vettel, they need to take a gamble. And on the driver side of things, that means find a new 'next big thing' that they can develop the whole team around, much like Red Bull have developed around Vettel. Kevin Magnussen has been ridiculously consistent this year, and has raced very well - he might be the guy to beat Vettel.

Alternatively, McLaren can just send both Vandoorne and Magunssen to Force India for next year to see how they cope racing in the main game before making a decision.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 22 Sep 2013, 17:49

Wizzie wrote:Alternatively, McLaren can just send both Vandoorne and Magunssen to Force India for next year to see how they cope racing in the main game before making a decision.

Bingo, give him a beer.
di Resta's latest retirement has made me think: why is he trying too hard? Clearly, it seems to me that he's overdriving, otherwise you wouldn't have thought of Paul binning his car in the first lap no less, hitting last year's crashhappy Grosjean no less!
For the very least, get either Magnussen or Vandoorne the third driver position for 2014. Or, if Sutil does quit as some rumours have said earlier this year, there will be at least one opening. The McLaren partnership should make Vijay Mallya consider picking up the McLaren protegés, and in return, they should have a little better financial status.
If di Resta gets the boot as well (if I was Mallya, I'd seriously consider that right now), I would go and take a risk picking up both of them. To not have them both in deep water immediately, a transition 2014 year should do favours for both Magnussen, Vandoorne and Force India. If Sutil stays, pick Vandoorne up to third driver status, give him some track time, and put Magnussen into seat two.
Force India doesn't have that much to lose, let's admit this. Sutil's the old furniture, acting like a modern Martini, bar the glassing incident, and di Resta's quickly losing reputation over these incidents.

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 22 Sep 2013, 17:54

Looking back, I think di Resta, after the Spa incident, has descended into his annual slump, although Shizuka is likely to be correct about him overdriving.
Sutil is now 10 points back...

watka · Post by **watka** » 22 Sep 2013, 23:16

Di Resta has had bad races recently, but I don't think Sutil's been a shining light either. Di Resta was on for a good result before his crash too, so if I were Force India I'd definitely keep him on next year to get the points in the constructors' championship.

Svenko Wankerov · Post by **Svenko Wankerov** » 23 Sep 2013, 06:54

Sutil doesn't need to be a shining light when he isn't hated by FI team personnel like di Resta is. Just look at his post race quotes today, he couldn't even admit that he made a mistake and threw points away. He's really only still up in points because Sutil had extremely bad luck on race days back when the car was competitive.

FI has already signed Calado to be their 3rd driver and already gave him a Friday run at Monza.

14 Hundred Hours · Post by **14 Hundred Hours** » 23 Sep 2013, 09:34

Dunno if this has been picked up on yet, but Eric Boullier has said he has "fun" and "surprising" names on his shortlist to replace Kimi Raikkonen.
I've been hoping Hulkenberg gets the seat, but he's not really surprising. Hopefully Boullier has some boring and unsurprising names on his list too.

apple2009 · Post by **apple2009** » 23 Sep 2013, 09:48

14 Hundred Hours wrote:Dunno if this has been picked up on yet, but Eric Boullier has said he has "fun" and "surprising" names on his shortlist to replace Kimi Raikkonen.
I've been hoping Hulkenberg gets the seat, but he's not really surprising. Hopefully Boullier has some boring and unsurprising names on his list too.

The name is Senna. Bruno Senna.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 23 Sep 2013, 09:58

14 Hundred Hours wrote:Dunno if this has been picked up on yet, but Eric Boullier has said he has "fun" and "surprising" names on his shortlist to replace Kimi Raikkonen.
I've been hoping Hulkenberg gets the seat, but he's not really surprising. Hopefully Boullier has some boring and unsurprising names on his list too.

I would have suggested Nick Heidfeld, but you said boring, so clearly you weren't thinking of him.

14 Hundred Hours · Post by **14 Hundred Hours** » 23 Sep 2013, 10:06

FullMetalJack wrote:
14 Hundred Hours wrote:Dunno if this has been picked up on yet, but Eric Boullier has said he has "fun" and "surprising" names on his shortlist to replace Kimi Raikkonen.
I've been hoping Hulkenberg gets the seat, but he's not really surprising. Hopefully Boullier has some boring and unsurprising names on his list too.

I would have suggested Nick Heidfeld, but you said boring, so clearly you weren't thinking of him.

I object. Im always thinking of Nick Heidfeld.

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 23 Sep 2013, 10:45

Kamui at Lotus, if only...

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 23 Sep 2013, 11:50

14 Hundred Hours wrote:Dunno if this has been picked up on yet, but Eric Boullier has said he has "fun" and "surprising" names on his shortlist to replace Kimi Raikkonen.
I've been hoping Hulkenberg gets the seat, but he's not really surprising. Hopefully Boullier has some boring and unsurprising names on his list too.

Fun and surprising? HWNSNBM!!!

EDIT: Just realised that this was my 9000th post. I am happy that it was an HWNSNBM-sponsored post!

Post by **mario** » 23 Sep 2013, 19:53

Shizuka wrote:
Wizzie wrote:Alternatively, McLaren can just send both Vandoorne and Magunssen to Force India for next year to see how they cope racing in the main game before making a decision.

Bingo, give him a beer.
di Resta's latest retirement has made me think: why is he trying too hard? Clearly, it seems to me that he's overdriving, otherwise you wouldn't have thought of Paul binning his car in the first lap no less, hitting last year's crashhappy Grosjean no less!
For the very least, get either Magnussen or Vandoorne the third driver position for 2014. Or, if Sutil does quit as some rumours have said earlier this year, there will be at least one opening. The McLaren partnership should make Vijay Mallya consider picking up the McLaren protegés, and in return, they should have a little better financial status.
If di Resta gets the boot as well (if I was Mallya, I'd seriously consider that right now), I would go and take a risk picking up both of them. To not have them both in deep water immediately, a transition 2014 year should do favours for both Magnussen, Vandoorne and Force India. If Sutil stays, pick Vandoorne up to third driver status, give him some track time, and put Magnussen into seat two.
Force India doesn't have that much to lose, let's admit this. Sutil's the old furniture, acting like a modern Martini, bar the glassing incident, and di Resta's quickly losing reputation over these incidents.

There are regulation changes being proposed for 2014 which might remove the incentive to send a driver to Force India though. The teams and the FIA have hammered out an agreement, which is being put forward for ratification next week, to make it easier for the teams to give rookie drivers seat time during a race weekend.
The idea is that the first practise session will be extended to two hours and the tyre allocation will be increased to give the teams an extra set of tyres for the additional 30 minutes being added to the start of the session. Added to that, the FIA will now allow the teams to switch drivers during the session - that way, the rookie drivers can get some seat time without compromising the set up work of the main race driver (who can then take over the car for the remainder of the session). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/110017

If those changes do go ahead as planned - and it seems likely that the WMSC will pass the measures without any amendments - McLaren could just simply use that half hour of running time on Fridays to run one, or perhaps even both, of those drivers in their own cars.

14 Hundred Hours wrote:Dunno if this has been picked up on yet, but Eric Boullier has said he has "fun" and "surprising" names on his shortlist to replace Kimi Raikkonen.
I've been hoping Hulkenberg gets the seat, but he's not really surprising. Hopefully Boullier has some boring and unsurprising names on his list too.

If Boullier is being honest about his shortlist, I would wager that there are likely to be a few drivers from Gravity Sport Management, the outfit that he is the CEO of, on the sidelines - he has already promoted one of his drivers to a race seat (Grosjean) and given two of his drivers (Jerome D'Ambrosio and Nicolas Prost) roles as reserve drivers. I believe that even Valsecchi was a former driver of his in the past (through the Renault Young Driver program, which worked quite heavily with Gravity at the time), so it would suggest that Boullier would probably prefer to recruit one of his upcoming drivers if possible.

With that in mind, perhaps one long shot might be Marco Sørensen? He's currently competing in Formula Renault 3.5, which would probably make it easier for them to obtain a Superlicence from the FIA (although in reality I would expect that he'd probably only get a third driver role and a Young Driver test session at most next year).

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 23 Sep 2013, 20:01

14 Hundred Hours wrote:Dunno if this has been picked up on yet, but Eric Boullier has said he has "fun" and "surprising" names on his shortlist to replace Kimi Raikkonen.
I've been hoping Hulkenberg gets the seat, but he's not really surprising. Hopefully Boullier has some boring and unsurprising names on his list too.

Fun and surprising, you say? Clearly Gerhard Berger

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 23 Sep 2013, 21:09

takagi_for_the_win wrote:
14 Hundred Hours wrote:Dunno if this has been picked up on yet, but Eric Boullier has said he has "fun" and "surprising" names on his shortlist to replace Kimi Raikkonen.
I've been hoping Hulkenberg gets the seat, but he's not really surprising. Hopefully Boullier has some boring and unsurprising names on his list too.

Fun and surprising, you say? Clearly Gerhard Berger

Taki Inoue!

Post by **Ataxia** » 23 Sep 2013, 21:15

Surprising, eh? Well considering I was surprised by both the signing and re-signing of Karthikeyan by HRT, I'm going to imagine that he's on it... :lol: