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Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 12:56
by CoopsII
DanielPT wrote:fjackdaw wrote:I'd much rather see permanent helmets than permanent numbers.
Me too. For instance, when Alonso switched to Ferrari he changed his helmet that I grew to be familiar with. Result? It was a pain to recognise him in that car.
And me. Although I dont struggle to recognise the drivers as such (perhaps on occasion Ive had the odd Rosberg/Hamilton moment this season) I just think its a question of identity. These guys and gals have had a certain design since they were young karters and yet they have no qualms with ditching that in favour of something different. Perhaps they bow to commercial pressure (Hi Sebastian!) and perhaps they just dont give a frig. Who knows?
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 13:27
by dinizintheoven
I'd stick with what James1978 said for the numbers, mostly - but there'd be a few changes:
1/2: the World Champion's team
And for those who aren't the champs, assuming that Red Bull won't have the number 1 car for ever and ever (well, hope springs eternal):
3/4: Mercedes (tracing the Tyrrell heritage)
5/6: Williams (all the way from 1984-92)
7/8: McLaren (the traditional numbers by default, seeing as they tended to win championships at the time that'd see them swapping between 7/8 and 1/2)
11/12: Force India (would have been 32/33 for the 1991-92 Jordan, or 14/15 for the 1993-95 vintage... but see below, twice; I'll go for the memorable gold Jordan of 1996)
14/15: Caterham (I'll not let either them or Enstone trade on any imported Lotus heritage - so I'll give Caterham the famous reject number 14, which finally paired with 15 in 1992 when Fondmetal ran two cars)
16/17: Red Bull (remember the number Johnny Herbert had when he took that memorable win for Stewart? Never mind that in the pre-Vettel days, RB and Jaguar always seemed to finish 7th and had 14/15)
19/20: Team Enstone (the Toleman/Benetton numbers from 1984-92)
23/24: Toro Rosso (Minardi, after all)
27/28: Ferrari (obviously)
29/30: Sauber (and with a black livery as well)
31/32: Marussia (so they may have sacked Nick Wirth, but that's the Simtek connection; also never forget 31 is a famous reject number)
And as was previously mentioned, the Dallara connection would have secured 21/22 for HRT - while less obviously reject numbers than 14 and 31, these numbers have stood around the bottom of the Constructors' Championship since 1996, while also being run by Lola's fateful T93/30, Osella (including the notorious FA1L), Rial, Forti and Spirit... amongst others with a hint more success.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 13:28
by LellaLombardi
DanielPT wrote:fjackdaw wrote:I'd much rather see permanent helmets than permanent numbers.
Me too. For instance, when Alonso switched to Ferrari he changed his helmet that I grew to be familiar with. Result? It was a pain to recognise him in that car.
I think little evolutionary changes over time are OK, like Schumacher's. If I was a racing driver I wouldn't want to be constantly changing it though.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 13:35
by CoopsII
Right thread? Dunno, but better than starting a new one I guess.
Anyway.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/25155294Bahrain at night next year.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 13:44
by Aerospeed
According to the article, they're doing this as a celebration of 10 years in F1. Considering how much they're using their celebration sector from 2010, I wonder how long this experiment will last... Also, what is the motive behind the switch?
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:04
by Backmarker
Maldonado has been announced at Lotus.
Presumably Lotus didn't get the Quantum money. So this means that Nico Hülkenberg doesn't get the Lotus seat, which leaves him to return to Force India. Mallya probably won't have two Germans at Force India, so Adrian Sutil gets the boot, and to replace his money they probably take Sergio Pérez. Adrian Sutil can take his Medion sponsorship to Sauber where he'll presumably be matched with Esteban Gutiérrez (if Carlos Slim is willing to pay for two drivers) or Giedo van der Garde (if he's not). Caterham will bring in Ericsson or Nasr alongside van der Garde or Pic, depending on who stays and who brings the most sponsorship.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:06
by FullMetalJack
Backmarker wrote:Maldonado has been announced at Lotus.
Your avatar sums it up perfectly.
I've just this second seen Sky Sports News tweet it, so I was about to come here and post it.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:07
by Onxy Wrecked
Backmarker wrote:Maldonado has been announced at Lotus.
So PDVSA is still paying for the Pastor?
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:11
by Gerudo Dragon
Oh well, it will be fun to see Maldonado be destroyed by Grosjean.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:12
by Backmarker
Onxy Wrecked wrote:Backmarker wrote:Maldonado has been announced at Lotus.
So PDVSA is still paying for the Pastor?
I would guess so.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:17
by Onxy Wrecked
Backmarker wrote:Onxy Wrecked wrote:Backmarker wrote:Maldonado has been announced at Lotus.
So PDVSA is still paying for the Pastor?
I would guess so.
I wonder the implications in other motorsports if that's the case. Venezuelan pay drivers everywhere?
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:19
by Gerudo Dragon
Onxy Wrecked wrote:I wonder the implications in other motorsports if that's the case. Venezuelan pay drivers everywhere?
Maybe E.J. Viso isn't gone afterall
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:20
by Ataxia
Sky Sports article confirming Maldonado's switch to Lotus.To be honest, had this come about a month ago, I'd have been rather disappointed. Instead, I'm more looking forward to/hoping for a Hulkenberg/Perez lineup at Force India.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:22
by Backmarker
Onxy Wrecked wrote:I wonder the implications in other motorsports if that's the case. Venezuelan pay drivers everywhere?
Or Maldonado is the only driver who will be receiving financial support? *Fingers crossed*
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:25
by Londoner
Maldonado is a Lotus driver for 2014?
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:26
by Alextrax52
East Londoner wrote:Maldonado is a Lotus driver for 2014?
Well at least someone's happy but why exactly?
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:27
by Salamander
East Londoner wrote:Maldonado is a Lotus driver for 2014?
Seconded. I hope we see Maldonado finally fulfilling the promise he showed in 2012.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:39
by rachel1990
Gutted by Lotus
Hopefully Force India will see sense and hire Perez and The Hulk for 2014. Should be a good team.
Once again- Lotus are idiots.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:46
by Alextrax52
rachel1990 wrote:Gutted by Lotus
Hopefully Force India will see sense and hire Perez and The Hulk for 2014. Should be a good team.
Once again- Lotus are idiots.
Not surprisingly the rage has started on other sites. 1 person even said this is the worst bit of news since we lost Senna
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:52
by rachel1990
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:
Not surprisingly the rage has started on other sites. 1 person even said this is the worst bit of news since we lost Senna
well not quite losing the great Ayrton but its still making me angry that he has managed to get a top seat while the Hulk has to stay in the midfield and Di resta is forced out of f1 where it should be the other way around and Maldonado should be out of f1.
That is why I respect the red bull driver programme- Talent over cash.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:53
by noiceinmydrink
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:54
by Eifelland
We all know we'd love to see Pastor causing havoc at the front of the grid. All of us.
Also, Rachael1990, was Aytron the transformer that turned into a McLaren?
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:56
by rachel1990
Eifelland wrote:We all know we'd love to see Pastor causing havoc at the front of the grid. All of us.
Also, Rachael1990, was Aytron the transformer that turned into a McLaren?
My rage has meant I have added extra letters to words. It has been edited.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 16:58
by Londoner
rachel1990 wrote:Eifelland wrote:We all know we'd love to see Pastor causing havoc at the front of the grid. All of us.
Also, Rachael1990, was Aytron the transformer that turned into a McLaren?
My rage has meant I have added extra letters to words. It has been edited.
Are ya absolutely sure about your edit?
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 17:02
by Backmarker
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Not surprisingly the rage has started on other sites. 1 person even said this is the worst bit of news since we lost Senna
I would never have thought that Bruno de Lalli had so many fans.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 17:02
by rachel1990
East Londoner wrote:rachel1990 wrote:Eifelland wrote:We all know we'd love to see Pastor causing havoc at the front of the grid. All of us.
Also, Rachael1990, was Aytron the transformer that turned into a McLaren?
My rage has meant I have added extra letters to words. It has been edited.
Are ya absolutely sure about your edit?
This is what Maldonado has done to me. Now it is correct because I doubled checked it
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 17:09
by Eifelland
East Londoner wrote:rachel1990 wrote:Eifelland wrote:We all know we'd love to see Pastor causing havoc at the front of the grid. All of us.
Also, Rachael1990, was Aytron the transformer that turned into a McLaren?
My rage has meant I have added extra letters to words. It has been edited.
Are ya absolutely sure about your edit?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_AytonA pretty little village, if ever there was one!
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 17:13
by sswishbone
Last time a driver has done so little to deserve a potential front-running seat was when Heinz Harald frentzen got the Williams drive in 1997.
Also FIA want to introduce mandatory two pit stop minimum from 2014, my reaction to that and Maldonado can be read on this blog if anyone's interested
http://xciteracingleague.com/entry.php? ... lly-season
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 17:14
by Alextrax52
Backmarker wrote:Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Not surprisingly the rage has started on other sites. 1 person even said this is the worst bit of news since we lost Senna
I would never have thought that Bruno de Lalli had so many fans.
Not quite. I meant since Aryton died
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 17:15
by rachel1990
sswishbone wrote:Last time a driver has done so little to deserve a potential front-running seat was when Heinz Harald frentzen got the Williams drive in 1997
He was a great success there wasn't he
1 win and plenty of mistakes, (Villeneuve got 7 wins) when they were team-mates
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 17:18
by Ataxia
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Backmarker wrote:Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Not surprisingly the rage has started on other sites. 1 person even said this is the worst bit of news since we lost Senna
I would never have thought that Bruno de Lalli had so many fans.
Not quite. I meant since Aryton died
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 17:21
by Alextrax52
Ataxia wrote:
Stop making fun of me man. I know the joke of reference. Backmarker does know I was talking about just with Bruno
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 17:28
by Ross Prawn
On behalf of all Lotus fans can I just say 'Oh, *********s' .
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 17:29
by Ataxia
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Stop making fun of me man. I know the joke of reference. Backmarker does know I was talking about just with Bruno
You're such a bundle of fun, Freezy. I can imagine if we ever met we'd be making more jokes than Frankie Boyle at a funeral, and we'd laugh and laugh.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 17:38
by CoopsII
So a race winning team who were within reach of being genuine championship contenders now need a pay driver?
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 17:39
by Dj_bereta
I'm happy to see Maldonado in Lotus. I hope he make strong races, like he did in 2012 (without crashing, of course).
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 17:41
by CoopsII
Dj_bereta wrote:I'm happy to see Maldonado in Lotus. I hope he make strong races, like he did in 2012 (without crashing, of course).
A flukey win and then 15th in the championship? I'll drink to that.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 17:53
by mario
CoopsII wrote:So a race winning team who were within reach of being genuine championship contenders now need a pay driver?
As Dieter Rencken has pointed out in Autosport, the problem is that Lotus have the assets - and therefore financial overheads - of a manufacturer team, having been the former Renault works team, but their income is closer to that of privateer outfits like Force India or Williams.
Their competitiveness has come about precisely because they have been spending a lot more heavily than a team in their financial position normally would - it's lead to strong on track performances, but severely compromised them off track as a result. Perhaps they were hoping that they could lure in more sponsors through a strong showing, but right now it doesn't seem to have been anything like as much as required to see them stay afloat.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 18:42
by DanielPT
Well, I think that more important than the Reverend news is the underlined assumption that the Quantum deal apparently fell through... Which are really bad news. Not that I wasn't already aware of a possible dip in form coming from Enstone. If the exodus of engineers wasn't bad enough, the way Kimi left really set off the alarm.
Re: 2014 Silly Season Thread
Posted: 29 Nov 2013, 18:56
by SgtPepper
Just saw the news, utterly, utterly disgusting.
Summarises pathetic joke of a season perfectly.