Grand Prix Rejects

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Am I seeing things, or is Fernando really saying this?
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88893

If Michael wins another world championship, it will be a feat akin to Niki Lauda coming out of retirement after 2 years and winning another championship in 1984, against Alain Prost or all people. That said, I hope it never happens.

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Am I seeing things, or is Fernando really saying this?
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88893

He could be using Schumi's old trick of undermining his actual rivals by saying things like, "The only driver I'm scared of is Frentzen", which I'm sure put the wind up poor HHF a little too.

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Even worse...
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88902

Zzzzz...

Why not make them all British, so we can do away with that tedious dirge on the podium altogether and stick to anthems for the drivers.

This is the reason why I don't like Joe Saward. He's the frontman for the pro-Liuzzi group, and a lot of his posts really talk Liuzzi up. He's clearly concerned that Liuzzi won't be on the grid in 2011, so he's using Alonso's comments to make Liuzzi look good. As if Saward has any sway at Force India or Hispania ...

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Am I seeing things, or is Fernando really saying this?
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88893

Yes, he's really saying that. He obviously thinks the rest of the grid is no better than an underperforming Michael Schumacher. Never mind the likes of Vettel, who were able to come from behind when most other drivers would have given up. If Fernando Alonso never wins another World Championship, it will be too soon.

Captain Hammer wrote:This is the reason why I don't like Joe Saward. He's the frontman for the pro-Liuzzi group, and a lot of his posts really talk Liuzzi up. He's clearly concerned that Liuzzi won't be on the grid in 2011, so he's using Alonso's comments to make Liuzzi look good. As if Saward has any sway at Force India or Hispania ...

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Am I seeing things, or is Fernando really saying this?
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88893

Yes, he's really saying that. He obviously thinks the rest of the grid is no better than an underperforming Michael Schumacher. Never mind the likes of Vettel, who were able to come from behind when most other drivers would have given up. If Fernando Alonso never wins another World Championship, it will be too soon.

Dude, get off it. You can bitch and moan all you want about Joe Saward when someone else brings him up, but unless he does something certifiably astounding, don't bring him up here. We all know where you stand on him.

JeremyMcClean wrote:

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Am I seeing things, or is Fernando really saying this?
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88893

To Alonso:

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I guess i'll have to be the first person to make sense out of this. We all know, that the reason Schumacher didn't do too well was because of the car, right? He's said it, everyone's said, it's the car. So, Alonso is expecting Schumi to come back in 2011 in a much improved Mercedes and be gunning for the title.

Peter wrote:

JeremyMcClean wrote:

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Am I seeing things, or is Fernando really saying this?
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88893

To Alonso:

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I guess i'll have to be the first person to make sense out of this. We all know, that the reason Schumacher didn't do too well was because of the car, right? He's said it, everyone's said, it's the car. So, Alonso is expecting Schumi to come back in 2011 in a much improved Mercedes and be gunning for the title.

We will have to wait and see how the car stacks up in pre-season testing, but Mercedes seem to be fairly confident about the W02, claiming that it has already exceeded their downforce development targets. Admittedly, out of the two drivers at Mercedes, I would have thought that Rosberg's consistency and ability to stay out of trouble would make him potentially a greater threat on current performance, although the extra test session this year should help Schumacher get up to speed before the season starts.
However, it'll be tough for Mercedes to come out on top, and stay there, in 2011 - Red Bull have a fairly strong position (both in terms of design and finances), Ferrari are likely to still be quite competitive and Whitmarsh has hinted that Mclaren have something special up their sleeve (which is why Boullier thinks that the real reason Mclaren are not using the MP4-26 at Valencia is because they don't want to reveal their latest designs too soon).

But, as others have suggested, there is probably an element of psychology here - by talking about Schumacher and his success, it implicitly belittles drivers like Hamilton, Button and Vettel, who have only racked up a single drivers championship each. But, he does mention Vettel as a potential threat, so he isn't exactly being unrealistic.

Peter wrote: I guess i'll have to be the first person to make sense out of this. We all know, that the reason Schumacher didn't do too well was because of the car, right? He's said it, everyone's said, it's the car. So, Alonso is expecting Schumi to come back in 2011 in a much improved Mercedes and be gunning for the title.

So........ how do you explain Nico Rosberg?

Or it could be just some sort of publicocrap...

Phoenix wrote:Or it could be just some sort of publicocrap...

Or a jab at Red Bull, since he's already said he doesn't fear Vettel, indicating he's trying to ruffle Vettel's feathers up before the season starts. Therefore, putting pressure on Vettel, and we all know Vettel cracks like an egg under pressure.

Cynon wrote:

Phoenix wrote:Or it could be just some sort of publicocrap...

Or a jab at Red Bull, since he's already said he doesn't fear Vettel, indicating he's trying to ruffle Vettel's feathers up before the season starts. Therefore, putting pressure on Vettel, and we all know Vettel cracks like an egg under pressure.

My theory too, though put much better than I did!

Cynon wrote:we all know Vettel cracks like an egg under pressure.

Yeah, that's exactly what he did last year at Abu Dhabi.

Oh, wait...

Ferrim wrote:Yeah, that's exactly what he did last year at Abu Dhabi.

Oh, wait...

You could argue that Abu Dhabi was perhaps the only time when he did NOT have pressure on him last year because everyone was thinking the title would be decided between Webber and Alonso.

Klon wrote:

Ferrim wrote:Yeah, that's exactly what he did last year at Abu Dhabi.

Oh, wait...

You could argue that Abu Dhabi was perhaps the only time when he did NOT have pressure on him last year because everyone was thinking the title would be decided between Webber and Alonso.

Yeah, Red Bull also kept him in the dark about how well Webber and Alonso were doing, so he actually didn't know he had a realistic shot until he'd won it.

DanielPT wrote:

Captain Hammer wrote:Hispania - 22/Karthikeyan, 23/Valsecchi

Valsecchi? Why Valsecchi? Isn't that too good for HRT? Can't they get someone like Yuji Ide?

We should be fair and give HWNSNBM his second chance.

golic_2004 wrote:

DanielPT wrote:

Captain Hammer wrote:Hispania - 22/Karthikeyan, 23/Valsecchi

Valsecchi? Why Valsecchi? Isn't that too good for HRT? Can't they get someone like Yuji Ide?

We should be fair and give Jean Denis Deletraz his second chance.

Fixed. HWNSNBM would actually be fast... in comparison to Deletraz...

Good point

Well sack Buemi and put HWNSNBM in the Toro Rosso!!!!!

golic_2004 wrote:Well sack Buemi and put HWNSNBM in the Toro Rosso!!!!!

I agree! HWNSNBM would not be forgettable! And he could set benchmarks to the new teams.

F1000X wrote:

Peter wrote: I guess i'll have to be the first person to make sense out of this. We all know, that the reason Schumacher didn't do too well was because of the car, right? He's said it, everyone's said, it's the car. So, Alonso is expecting Schumi to come back in 2011 in a much improved Mercedes and be gunning for the title.

So........ how do you explain Nico Rosberg?

Rosberg said all year he liked the car, and while Schumacher was urging Mercedes to focus on 2011, Nico kept saying they should keep developing this year's car. They will be closer next year.

Still, Mercedes was surprised over how similar the driving styles of the two drivers was, so, if that is the case, how can it be a big difference in 2011?

Fauzy could make race debut with Renault in 2011.

Petrov must be wondering what the hell he's gotten himself into right now.

No no! Boullier and the team must wonder what the bathplug they have done when getting GL as sponsors.

However, I see this as a desperate way from Bahar to justify for the Malaysian people and the Malaysian gov. that it is worth all the money he is going to drag out of the company now.

Boullier obviously wants the Malaysian bosses to thing Fauzy has a chance. If somehow Petrov sponsorship fails then, yes, I believe that Fauzy gets is debut. Anyway, maybe Fauzy actually turns out to be good .

Sad as this is for Petrov, I honestly believe Fauzy is better than one might think. Some of his races in A1GP and also in Formula Renault 3.5 were actually quite impressive. Still think Petrov is the quicker of the two, though.

Myrvold wrote:No no! Boullier and the team must wonder what the bathplug they have done when getting GL as sponsors.

However, I see this as a desperate way from Bahar to justify for the Malaysian people and the Malaysian gov. that it is worth all the money he is going to drag out of the company now.

I have to agree; no offence to Fauzy, but I am not entirely sure that he does have what it takes to make it in Formula 1. OK, he did well in A1GP, and even won a race there, but the opposition hasn't been at its strongest recently as A1GP went into decline. His European GP2 results, back in 2005 and 2006, were pretty uninspiring though - two 7th places in two years were his best efforts, and he didn't score any points in GP2 (those 7th places came in the feature races, where points only went down to 6th place, and he did not manage to get the fastest lap in either race).
To be fair, he came second in the 2009 Formula Renault 3.5 series - but he was beaten pretty comfortably by Bertrand Baguette in the end (he scored 98 points to Baguette's 155), but, on the other hand, the times that he set in the test sessions he drove in for Lotus Racing did not exactly stand out compared to the times that Trulli and Heikki were setting.

Either way, though, you suspect that regardless of his capabilities, Proton are probably using their sponsorship deal as a way of putting pressure on Boullier to let Fauzy have a go, or even a race, during the 2011 season. I don't think that he will end up replacing Petrov, but I can see Petrov potentially being sidelined for a few of the practise sessions, and there is an outside chance that he may "fall ill" before the Malaysian GP (in the same way that Yamamoto "had food poisoning" for the Singapore GP), so Fauzy gets his seat for that race.

Onto other drivers - although Di Grassi has left the Virgin Racing team, it seems that he is now looking to become a test driver for 2011. He is hoping that he can cut a deal with a team for 2011 that allows him to test the car during the practise sessions, and if he performs well enough, hopes that he can either be promoted into a race seat for 2012, or find a race seat for another team on the back of his practise performances. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88986

On another note, we may see a little bit more of De La Rosa after all, albeit in his role as a Pirelli test driver. Pirelli have confirmed that they will continue testing during the season, with tests in Istanbul and Barcelona in April and May respectively. Although there are no definite dates, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain will probably be other test venues (towards the end of the season), with possible test sessions at Monza and Spa Francorchamps over the summer months.
It seems that, as they are slightly uncertain about the best tyre compounds for each track, that if the teams notice any major problems with the tyres at a particular venue, they are prepared to arrange for emergency test sessions on Friday in case they need to change the tyre allocation.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88985
Also, in addition to this, Pirelli have confirmed that they have already made some small structural changes to the front tyre for improved feedback and better behaviour when turning into the corner. Of course, that has slightly changed the balance of the car, so they are now modifying the rear tyres to cope.

Lastly, this is slightly out of place here, but I couldn't think where else to put it; Mclaren have announced their testing schedule. At Valencia, Paffett will drive for the first day, with Hamilton getting the second day and Button the third day to test the new tyres. At Jerez, where Mclaren will bring the new car for the first time, Hamilton will get the first chance to try the car out, although he will run alternately with Button during that test and the remaining tests at Barcelona and Bahrain. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88998

Oh this is bloody awful. Petrov has to be the second most impressive rookie behind Kamui last year, and to see him go just because a bunch of bathplugging Malaysians want it to happen is worse. Someone should assassinate Dany Bahar (not literally, just metaphorically. I don't support violence)

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Oh this is bloody awful. Petrov has to be the second most impressive rookie behind Kamui last year

I think the Hulk would have a very good claim to be ahead of Petrov in that contest.

Also, as reject fans, we should want Fauzy to get a couple of starts!


But seriously, I have rarely wanted a team to fail as much as I want Renault to do so in 2011. I do like Kubica and Petrov, but it stops about there.

With this:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89005

There are now Ferrari, Mclaren, Red Bull, Mercedes aiming for the championship.
Renault/Group Lotus aiming to be in the top 3. Williams aiming for a top 4 finish. Team Lotus/1Malaysia aiming for midfield. Force India aiming at Liuzzi. Toro Rosso aiming at oblivion. Sauber aiming for points. Virgin aiming at competitiveness and HRT aiming at surpassing Andrea Moda.

Since there are 4 teams looking to fight for the championship and another 2 that look to a place in between the formers, we can deduce that, as always, half the field is dreaming with the championship. You've got to love off season...

Wizzie wrote:Fauzy could make race debut with Renault in 2011.

Petrov must be wondering what the hell he's gotten himself into right now.

Happily or unhappily, these rumours now appear to have been disproved. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/2507 ... role-only/

Wahey! Go paul!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 368179.stm

AutoSport also printed a story on this in their mag but there is no confirmation yet from the Autosport website or from the team as yet.

jpm wrote:Wahey! Go paul!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 368179.stm

AutoSport also printed a story on this in their mag but there is no confirmation yet from the Autosport website or from the team as yet.

No. No. No. No. No.

No ... what, exactly?

Captain Hammer wrote:No ... what, exactly?

I don't want Di Resta to replace Liuzzi.


How you been Hammer? It's been a while. Guess who will be your problem again on the 28th?

jpm wrote:Wahey! Go paul!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 368179.stm

AutoSport also printed a story on this in their mag but there is no confirmation yet from the Autosport website or from the team as yet.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Peter wrote:

Captain Hammer wrote:No ... what, exactly?

I don't want Di Resta to replace Liuzzi.

Either you hate Vijay mallya with a passion, or you're misguided.

thehemogoblin wrote:Either you hate Vijay mallya with a passion, or you're misguided.

Or he's Joe Saward

Ed24 wrote:

thehemogoblin wrote:Either you hate Vijay mallya with a passion, or you're misguided.

Or he's Joe Saward

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oMYxcH3Eyc
BUUUUUUURNED

Cynon wrote:

jpm wrote:Wahey! Go paul!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 368179.stm

AutoSport also printed a story on this in their mag but there is no confirmation yet from the Autosport website or from the team as yet.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

A fairly (although, as we can see, not universally) popular decision, although not totally unsurprising. After all, the team did like the feedback that Di Resta was giving the team during his stints in practise sessions, and during the post season Pirelli test sessions, he was very quick, and more consistent than Liuzzi, which seems to have sealed the deal for Di Resta.
The fact that DI Resta has quite a few links with Mercedes's motorsport division, mostly through DTM, would have helped - there are a few suggestions that Mercedes might be backing Di Resta, and offered FI more favourable terms for their engine contract if they took Di Resta on.

Well, best of luck to him if it is the case - he seems to have done a good job so far, and if he is as good as he looks, Sutil might have a bit more of a challenge on his hands this year.

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Indian Force to Announce Paul soon

Interesting. I wonder what kind of season he has ahead of him - I don't really see him as a rookie as much as drivers like Perez, D'ambrosio and Maldonado will be, but one thing to consider is that besides Friday testing he hasn't raced in open wheel since 2006. He'll probably be the stronger of the newcomers this year though. Car permitting, obviously.
This also means we might see Anthony Hamilton around too - although he'll probably be looking a bit less tense in the Force India garage