Grand Prix Rejects

Wizzie wrote:

Henrique wrote:Monteiro wasn't the last. Spyker's drivers were the last pay drivers.

You're wrong.
From what I remember of the 2008 Monaco GP broadcast was that Sutil was the only pay driver in the 2008 field

Sutil was one of the Spyker's drivers I was referring to, but he may have stopped being a pay driver when the team became Force India.


Btw, why isn't Andy Soucek in any of these recent predictions? He is the F2 champion, so he deserves to get promoted to F1. He's gonna do a test for Williams too, as part of his prize.
Is it because of the thing with Coloni?

Henrique wrote:Btw, why isn't Andy Soucek in any of these recent predictions? He is the F2 champion, so he deserves to get promoted to F1. He's gonna do a test for Williams too, as part of his prize.
Is it because of the thing with Coloni?

There's four reasons:
1) Yes, the thing with Coloni makes him a risky prospect for teams.
2) He was the oldest driver on the F2 grid, and had more expeirence than most of them put together.
3) F2 is not held up in the same like as GP2. GP2 is still considered the better feeder series.
4) Soucek's results in GP2 weren't very good at all.

Captain Hammer wrote:

Henrique wrote:Btw, why isn't Andy Soucek in any of these recent predictions? He is the F2 champion, so he deserves to get promoted to F1. He's gonna do a test for Williams too, as part of his prize.
Is it because of the thing with Coloni?

There's four reasons:
1) Yes, the thing with Coloni makes him a risky prospect for teams.
2) He was the oldest driver on the F2 grid, and had more expeirence than most of them put together.
3) F2 is not held up in the same like as GP2. GP2 is still considered the better feeder series.
4) Soucek's results in GP2 weren't very good at all.

I agree with all that, and still I somehow picture Adrián Campos dumb/desperate/poor enough to sign him.

Waris wrote:I agree with all that, and still I somehow picture Adrián Campos dumb/desperate/poor enough to sign him.

If Campos is forced to take pay drivers, he'll push for Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov because in terms of the amount of money they can bring, both of them have the best bank accounts.

Winterspring wrote:Manor - Cosworth
24. Anthony Davidson
25. Kazuki Nakajima

Luca de Grassi is closing on the Manor seat.

rffp wrote:

Winterspring wrote:Manor - Cosworth
24. Anthony Davidson
25. Kazuki Nakajima

Luca de Grassi is closing on the Manor seat.

And Portuguese souces report Alvaro Parente is linin up for the other.

Captain Hammer wrote:

rffp wrote:

Winterspring wrote:Manor - Cosworth
24. Anthony Davidson
25. Kazuki Nakajima

Luca de Grassi is closing on the Manor seat.

And Portuguese souces report Alvaro Parente is linin up for the other.

How many attempts have these 2 had at winning the GP2 without success? Surely will be a reject team with that line-up.

If Soucek gets a Campos seat I will personally run out on the track in the middle of the Spanish GP in protest. Campos would be better off putting himself in the car.

I'd absolutely love to see Parente in F1, but I think he needs just one more year in GP2 before he's ready. Otherwise, he may become another reject or lucky bastard.

watka wrote:If Soucek gets a Campos seat I will personally run out on the track in the middle of the Spanish GP in protest. Campos would be better off putting himself in the car.

Pedro de la Rosa has been tipped for Campos, but their budget is said to be so tight that he'd be paid more to remain as McLaren's test driver than to be Campos' race driver. Campos may have to take pay drivers, and the three biggest are Bruno Senna, Vitaly Petrov and Nelson Piquet Jnr.

Finnish TV mentioned that Räikkönen would go to Petter Solberg's new rally team to drive Cïtroen C4 alongside Marcus Grönholm who he'd bring back. Steve Robertson denied knowing anything about that, as he would regardless of the veracity. JJ Lehto commented that it would be stupid, and I suppose he knows about stupid a lot.

Joe Saward's blog is reporting that Campos is in serious trouble: Dallara are supposedly behind in developing the chassis and Campos is considering killing their involvement ad taking the half-developed chassis back to Spain and doing it there.

Not that this has ny basis in reality, but I just saw a certain sequence of videos on YouTube, and ... KEN BLOCK FOR USF1!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79660
No comment...

They're only interested in him from 2011 onwards.

Captain Hammer wrote:They're only interested in him from 2011 onwards.

I noticed that but why are they looking in NASCAR? Wouldn't guys of IndyCar pedigree be better suited to F1?

Captain Hammer wrote:Not that this has ny basis in reality, but I just saw a certain sequence of videos on YouTube, and ... KEN BLOCK FOR USF1!

Yeah, let's have Kenny from the Block* as Hamilton's team mate.

* Bad Top Gear joke. Sorry.

Wizzie wrote:Wouldn't guys of IndyCar pedigree be better suited to F1?

There are no "Good" drivers in Indycar any more. Not even one. It's "Alright" beating "Mediocre".

I remember hearing that in 2008, Kyle was very interested to have a test run with Honda at the end of the season in Suzuka but that never happened which left him disappointed.

I would (I know you guys wouldn't like it) actually like to see him in F1 because I think he has some amount of skill that would work although I could be completely wrong.

thehemogoblin wrote:

shinji wrote:
Start the mantra - Raikkonen Kobayashi Raikkonen Kobayashi Raikkonen Kobayashi Raikkonen Kobayashi Raikkonen Kobayashi Raikkonen Kobayashi Raikkonen Kobayashi Raikkonen Kobayashi Raikkonen Kobayashi Raikkonen Kobayashi Raikkonen Kobayashi Raikkonen Kobayashi Raikkonen Kobayashi!

It would be interesting to see how much of a fervor the Japanese announcers would get into saying either of their names...

Actually, seeing as Japanese and Finnish phonetics are quite similar, the japanese announcers would get Räikkönen's name more correct than BBC's. save for the fact that they might have trouble with the R

Winterspring wrote:Come on Mercedes German driver.

HEIDFELD for McLaren!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYY-WkPnUbg

Torro Rosso have confirmed their lineup for next year, and I don't think Campos will end up making the grid, nor Qadbak. USF1 will likely run Davidson with either Summerton/Wickens, and Manor will snap up whover still wants a drive. Glock would work well at Renault I think, and Webber won't be moving.

CarlosFerreira wrote:

Captain Hammer wrote:Not that this has ny basis in reality, but I just saw a certain sequence of videos on YouTube, and ... KEN BLOCK FOR USF1!

Yeah, let's have Kenny from the Block* as Hamilton's team mate.

* Bad Top Gear joke. Sorry.

Block is rumoured to be setting up a team to contest the WRC using Fords. I read somewhere that Sebastien Loeb was looking at USF1 with the intention of getting a test and use that for basis to get a superlicense.

CarlosFerreira wrote:

Captain Hammer wrote:Not that this has ny basis in reality, but I just saw a certain sequence of videos on YouTube, and ... KEN BLOCK FOR USF1!

Yeah, let's have Kenny from the Block* as Hamilton's team mate.

* Bad Top Gear joke. Sorry.

Who needs Hamilton if you have Block? Hamilton can feck off to Stefan GP and Ken Block can herald a new, non-bland future for McLaren. Perfect.

shinji wrote:

CarlosFerreira wrote:

Captain Hammer wrote:Not that this has ny basis in reality, but I just saw a certain sequence of videos on YouTube, and ... KEN BLOCK FOR USF1!

Yeah, let's have Kenny from the Block* as Hamilton's team mate.

* Bad Top Gear joke. Sorry.

Who needs Hamilton if you have Block? Hamilton can feck off to Stefan GP and Ken Block can herald a new, non-bland future for McLaren. Perfect.

And seeing as Button already has Monster sponsorship too, it'll be changed to Monster McLaren Mercedes. Epic Name

Many Blue Flags wrote:

Winterspring wrote:Come on Mercedes German driver.

HEIDFELD for McLaren!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYY-WkPnUbg

RALF SCHUMACHER for McLaren!
Bathplug YEAH!

Well nobody can say this season's driver market is boring, there seems to be a lot of changes for next year.
Not like last year's which saw, how many changes? 2, one of which was a driver swap between teams?
Effing yeah.

Kyle Busch is probably the most talented young driver in NASCAR.

shinji wrote:

CarlosFerreira wrote:

Captain Hammer wrote:Not that this has ny basis in reality, but I just saw a certain sequence of videos on YouTube, and ... KEN BLOCK FOR USF1!

Yeah, let's have Kenny from the Block* as Hamilton's team mate.

* Bad Top Gear joke. Sorry.

Who needs Hamilton if you have Block? Hamilton can feck off to Stefan GP and Ken Block can herald a new, non-bland future for McLaren. Perfect.

Do you really think Hamilton is bland? I mean, he's probably the driver with the most mistakes per GP in F1 these days, and the sort of guy that every now and then does make his car go sideways.

Mind you, I turn the TV off when the checkered flag comes down. Don't care about the podium celebrations and have no patience for the Press Conference.

McLaren not interested in bidding war:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79720

Your move, Mr. Raikkonen.

CarlosFerreira wrote:

shinji wrote:
Who needs Hamilton if you have Block? Hamilton can feck off to Stefan GP and Ken Block can herald a new, non-bland future for McLaren. Perfect.

Do you really think Hamilton is bland? I mean, he's probably the driver with the most mistakes per GP in F1 these days, and the sort of guy that every now and then does make his car go sideways.

Mind you, I turn the TV off when the checkered flag comes down. Don't care about the podium celebrations and have no patience for the Press Conference.

Hamilton is anything but a bland driver, but he does come across as bland and corporate in interviews. To be fair to him, though, that probably has more to do with McLaren's suffocating corporate atmosphere than Lewis himself - remember how DC went from David Cardboard at McLaren to Mr Grumpy & Sweary at Red Bull. Hamilton seems like a perfectly personable fellow when seen interacting and generally going about his business, but he does come across as incredibly dull when interviewed. But it's Block who would become more boring with that change, McLaren wouldn't become less boring.

Norbert Haug wrote:"I won't name anyone, but we want to have full commitment from someone who is success-oriented, not someone saying 'I am a big name, pay me a lot of money and I will drive for you.'

That rules out Jenson Button to McLaren then.
And possibly Kimi.
I am becoming more and more optimistic of Sutil stealing that drive now

Adrian Campos interview on Punto Radio:

- "We're working very hard to sign our drivers as soon as possible. We have stretched the circle to just four drivers: De La Rosa, Piquet, Senna and Petrov."
- 48 million budget. "We've got our part of the TV rights and we're closing deals with some important sponsors"
- New plant in Fuente Álamo (Murcia). "It will be an important source of wealth for Murcia because it's going to generate auxiliary factories plus I'm going to try to bring other motorsport teams to the region." "The deal includes the plan to finish the Fuente Álamo Circuit so it can be homologated for F1 testing and international car and bike races." "A 3 km straight will be also built, it will be the only place in Europe where F1 teams will be able to do aero test to validate wind tunnel data."

kostas22 wrote:

Norbert Haug wrote:"I won't name anyone, but we want to have full commitment from someone who is success-oriented, not someone saying 'I am a big name, pay me a lot of money and I will drive for you.'

That rules out Jenson Button to McLaren then.
And possibly Kimi.

Like I said in the other thread: not Button, just Raikkonen. Besides, Button has made it clear that he wants to drive for Brawn.

If Mercedes don't want to work with Button, why are they said to be pouring so much into Brawn?

Because they have achieved almost as much success with a merc engine in one season as mclaren have since 1996?

I know that its not like that. We all know there are many factors ard reasons for this. But to some Mercedes bigwig in a boardroom, all they will see is the total driver/constructor titles and how much money has been put into the teams and potential return.

Collieafc wrote:Because they have achieved almost as much success with a merc engine in one season as mclaren have since 1996?

Hardly... they had a brilliant season, but it wasn't almost as good as 1996-2009 with McLaren.

CarlosFerreira wrote:

Collieafc wrote:Because they have achieved almost as much success with a merc engine in one season as mclaren have since 1996?

Hardly... they had a brilliant season, but it wasn't almost as good as 1996-2009 with McLaren.

Brawn: 50% win rate, 100% driver's championships, 100% constructor's championships.

McLaren: 25% win rate, 15% driver's championships, 7% constructor's championships.

I know that's unfair on McLaren, but it's what Collieafc was getting at, that that's what the Mercedes bosses will see.

CarlosFerreira wrote:

Collieafc wrote:Because they have achieved almost as much success with a merc engine in one season as mclaren have since 1996?

Hardly... they had a brilliant season, but it wasn't almost as good as 1996-2009 with McLaren.

Brawn: 50% win rate, 100% driver's championships, 100% constructor's championships.

McLaren: 25% win rate, 15% driver's championships, 7% constructor's championships.

I know that's unfair on McLaren, but it's what Collieafc was getting at, that that's what the Mercedes bosses will see.

shinji wrote:

CarlosFerreira wrote:

Collieafc wrote:Because they have achieved almost as much success with a merc engine in one season as mclaren have since 1996?

Hardly... they had a brilliant season, but it wasn't almost as good as 1996-2009 with McLaren.

Brawn: 50% win rate, 100% driver's championships, 100% constructor's championships.

McLaren: 25% win rate, 15% driver's championships, 7% constructor's championships.

I know that's unfair on McLaren, but it's what Collieafc was getting at, that that's what the Mercedes bosses will see.

No, disagree. The bosses at Mercedes are serious, long term thinkers in terms of F1 (14 years and running). What they'll see is a long-standing relationship, amazing capacity and facilities, consistent experience at the very sharp end of the F1 paddock, versus a dominant half season.

CarlosFerreira wrote:

shinji wrote:

CarlosFerreira wrote:
Hardly... they had a brilliant season, but it wasn't almost as good as 1996-2009 with McLaren.

Brawn: 50% win rate, 100% driver's championships, 100% constructor's championships.

McLaren: 25% win rate, 15% driver's championships, 7% constructor's championships.

I know that's unfair on McLaren, but it's what Collieafc was getting at, that that's what the Mercedes bosses will see.

No, disagree. The bosses at Mercedes are serious, long term thinkers in terms of F1 (14 years and running). What they'll see is a long-standing relationship, amazing capacity and facilities, consistent experience at the very sharp end of the F1 paddock, versus a dominant half season.

Damn, Carlos, you've got me again!

shinji wrote:Damn, Carlos, you've got me again!

Come on, shinj. Don't be discouraged, mate! Argue, argue!

CarlosFerreira wrote:

shinji wrote:Damn, Carlos, you've got me again!

Come on, shinj. Don't be discouraged, mate! Argue, argue!

And boom goes the dynamite.

Apparently Willi Weber has let it slip that Barrichello and Hulkenberg will both be at Williams next season.