2009 lineup - Rumours, Speculation and (a few) facts

  • Thread starter Hun200kmh
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Car-less
Now, remember the events of last year. McClaren were stripped of their points, their prize money, and fined millions. I think they were LUCKY to have been able to challenge for this years title after that, and believe that the only way they have been able to do so was at the expense of next years car. Just how much time and money have they had available to pump into developing a completely new car for the new rules?

I don't see McClaren being much better than a midfield team for the next few years whilst those that spent this season concentrating on next will move ahead of them. Hamilton will learn some humility before challenging for another title in a few years when his team has caught up on the new rules.
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Just how much money? Oh, lots. All they had to do was ask their sponsors for a slight boost to pay for the fine, which they got. While McLaren did put an all-out push for this year's car in the end of the season, developing when everyone else stopped, they also ran KERS-equipped cars and did testing, and even said they're developing two cars - one with and one without KERS, to test the advantages of the system - so they're not struggling that much. 100m$, for McLaren, is just a quarter of their annual budget - and some slight boost from the sponsors easily covers half that fine.
 
Robin.
Well Im hoping so! I suppose thats what the 09 changes are meant to ensure but Hamilton has loads of talent so even if the cars are more similar Im expecting him to still dominate... I agree that this season and last has been far more entertaining and varied, I just hope it doesnt go the way of a one man show.

Robin
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I'm not so sure that he'll dominate. Look at last season and this, I know he has made some mistakes and been penalised by the FIA but I wouldn't say he's dominated. I suppose only time will tell.
 
Robin.
.. Now thats he's finally broke the ice he's probably going to be winning the championship for years (unless these drastic 09 changes really do level the playing field).


Robin
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You really think that? wow. He MIGHT win 2 or maybe 3 more championships, but there is no way he's going to dominate from now on. Especially with Vettel on his way. In my opinion he's a good deal better than Lewis if they both had the same car.
 
Alex.
You really think that? wow. He MIGHT win 2 or maybe 3 more championships, but there is no way he's going to dominate from now on. Especially with Vettel on his way. In my opinion he's a good deal better than Lewis if they both had the same car.
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Amen to that! However I feel that when Vettel drives for a competitive team then Lewis will be the only one in his way of the championship.
 
PeterJB
What I meant was that eventually he'll probably be driving for Ferrari or McLaren.
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Or not....I hope we see another change at the top soon, its been long due. 15 years ago, neither of those teams were getting out of the midfield, they've been in the top 3 teams for over 10 years now.
I'm hoping the rule changes will re-shuffle the teams better.

Edit: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/11/8658.html
Hmmm, so a possible line-up of Senna and Di Grassi for Honda?
All the possible combinations for Honda:
Button & Barrichello
Button & Senna
Button & Di Grassi
Barrichello & Senna
Barrichello & Di Grassi
Senna & Di Grassi

Also: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/11/8662.html
So do we think its likely we'll have a lineup of Bourdais and Sato for Toro Rosso?

And woah, Gascoyne and Kolles out of Force India??? http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/11/8664.html
Mallya to be team principal!
Also, Force India have officially cut their deal with Ferrari, meaning that the McLaren deal is coming true: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/11/8663.html
 
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GilesGuthrie
The trouble that Bruno Senna has is his name. If he were called Bruno Berger, nobody would have a problem with him, but because he's a Senna, everyone expects him to be magic, which he clearly is not. Thus, he almost immediately disappoints people.

Plus, if you're going to make it in F1, you really need to win GP2 at your first try, which excludes Giorgio Pantano, Bruno Senna, Lucas Di Grassi, Romain Grosjean, Pastor Maldonado and Sébastien Buemi from ever making a huge impression on F1.

Nico Hulkenburg is the next talent, I reckon.
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Im already looking at the next group coming through. The Alguersuari, Maki, Bamber, Razia, Varhaug, Hartley etc. I really doubt Senna, Di Grassi, Grosjean and Buemi are going to be good enough to be anything more than the next Fisichella or Kovaleinen.
 
It looks like STR's lineup will come down to 2 of 3 drivers: Bourdais, Sato, and Buemi.

Upcoming testing will feature Sato and Buemi.

I'd guess that Buemi is a shoe in for the #2 spot, and #1 will be either Bourdais or Sato.
 
I reckon (and hope!) that Bourdais will be kept as first driver and then Sato will be picked for 2nd driver. I'm not so sure Buemi has what it takes although maybe Toro Rosso will be looking to gain another young(er) driver seeing as it worked so well last time.
 
If they pick Bourdais and Buemi, they'll officially be "Scuderia Sebastian" for two seasons straight.

Sato & Bourdais would be perfect, though. Or Sato & Liuzzi?
 
Vaxen
I'd guess that Buemi is a shoe in for the #2 spot, and #1 will be either Bourdais or Sato.
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I really hope its Bourdais and Sato. My favorite underdogs of last season. I would really like to see both in F1 next season.
 
F1 needs one more team so the odd men out of Honda and STR can still have a chance.

Anyways, Sato isn't getting any younger and Buemi just turned 20 a month ago. It might not seem this way in Buemi's eyes but if he continues to be a F1 test driver and does 1 or 2 seasons of GP2 or A1GP, its a win-win situation for everyone at STR. His racing craft will stay sharpened and Sato gets his big break.
 
I've been wondering about that actually, what was settled about the customer cars after 2009? What with the McLaren-Mercedes/Force India deal being secured and helped by Ecclestone/Mosley, I'm wondering why on earth they are getting rid of customer cars when they would help with the costs of F1 and also encourage teams to join F1.
It's a huge shame that Prodrive pulled out because of this vague-ness over customer cars.

Also, speaking of new teams, do we know if any have applied for 2009 or 2010?
 
I wouldn't be surprised if thats part of the deal, I mean, McLaren wouldn't have done this without some benefit to them, and bringing in up and coming drivers would benefit both McLaren-Mercedes and Force India.
The original reason Mallya kept Fisi and Sutil last year was for their "experience" to help set up the team. But with McLaren helping out, he no longer needs 2 drivers with experience.

I fear that Fisichella will get the chop even though he did better than his teammate. Sutil never finished higher than 13th whereas Fisi has had two 12ths and a 10th. Sutil's one rise to success was Monaco with an almost 4th whereas Fisi has had much more action up front, from getting into Q2 at Monza, to driving up front of the pack in Singapore and Brazil.
I don't know why I fear Fisi will be kicked out, I just get that feeling - maybe its because Mallya got rid of two decent team members in Gascoyne and Kolles.
 
Cant say as if I'd be too broken up to see Fiichella and Sutil go. Fisi's getting far too old and he's not a particularly good teacher (if Renault kept Alonso last yea, Kovalainen would have learned how to race; instead, he simply learned how to drive), and while Sutil has his moments, he's been solidly unspectacular. Part of that might be poor machinery, and part of that might be Lewis Hamilton saying he was a fan of Sutil (so everyone expected more of him), but if he stays on with Force India, he needs to lift his game, because this might be his last season in the sport otherwise.

I've also noticed that Force India are saying they think they can win by 2010 now that they have the Mercedes powerplant. Yeah, right.
 
Does anyone else get reminded of Jaguar and TWR Arrows with this? Its a similar situation to when Mr Walkinshaw and his TWR outfit bought Arrows and decided to make it a championship-winning team. Although they secured some excellent deals such as the Bridgestone tyres for 1997 and Damon Hill, after a decent year (for Arrows that is, they didn't win anything, but it was one of their best years still) they got rid of almost everyone except Pedro Diniz and so Arrows started a downward spiral with no staff consistencey.

Jaguar had the same problem, each year had different staff because the last team didn't produce the results wanted - again no consistencey.

Is Mallya going to keep sacking people in the same way each year? What did he expect from Force India this year? They were using an old and rubbish chassis in the first place and didn't use a seamless shift gearbox till the end of the year. Either Mallya had expectations much higher than was possible or he was made promises by his staff that didn't come through
Mallya as team pincipal is going to be interesting, unlike Walkinshaw, I don't think he has any previous F1 experience in that role or a similar role.
 
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Force India have one thing going for them - they can only get better. When i was in the pitlane following the British GP this year, i was surprised how unorganised and unprofessional Force India appeared to be even after a large cash injection like they've had this season. They seemed more at the level of a front running GP2 team or the like rather than an F1 squad. On close inspection even the cars were a bit tatty around the edges. I think in these days of ultra professionalism and immaculate presentation in F1, there's no place anymore for a slightly rag-tag outfit.
 
Sorry for the OT, but TheCracker's avatar Hitler is nodding his head at the exact same beat a song is playing on the radio right now over here.

That cracked me up. :lol:
 
TheCracker
Force India have one thing going for them - they can only get better. When i was in the pitlane following the British GP this year, i was surprised how unorganised and unprofessional Force India appeared to be even after a large cash injection like they've had this season. They seemed more at the level of a front running GP2 team or the like rather than an F1 squad. On close inspection even the cars were a bit tatty around the edges. I think in these days of ultra professionalism and immaculate presentation in F1, there's no place anymore for a slightly rag-tag outfit.
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Aw, but I miss those kinds of teams! They added the colour to the late 80s, early 90s seasons...where's all the humour gone :(
 
Ardius
Aw, but I miss those kinds of teams! They added the colour to the late 80s, early 90s seasons...where's all the humour gone :(
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No, i totally agree. We just need a couple more Force India-like teams to join.
 
orimarc
Come on! If that means that Pedro Martínez De La Rosa could be racing next year, it's fan-(censored)-tastic. He has been the Test Driver of McLaren for years!
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Oh come on, I think Pedro has passed his prime. It should be Gary Paffett that deserved his seat after putting up with McLaren over the years....... :grumpy:

But I do think Ardius has a point really. Force India really need to have a consistent team and not try to change everyone in the team. I don't know if Kolles and Gascoyne left on their own terms or that Mallya fired them, but if things like happen very often you know what would the result be......

Having the same driver line up should also help improve the team since they had some experience in the team and can give better and more valuable feedback to the team..... 👍
 
Do you race?
I've also noticed that Force India are saying they think they can win by 2010 now that they have the Mercedes powerplant. Yeah, right.
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Are they talking about winning a race, or the championship? People wouldn't have believed that Torro Roso could win a race in 2008. You never know what might happen.
 

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