The '13 driver transfer discussion/speculation thread op updated 16/10

[CinnamonOD]

Ii see a driver exchange between Massa and Perez but i still prefer Massa over Perez. He is coming alive now. Finally the car is good, even Alonso backed him up on it. When u have a bad car its hard even for. Good driver and then we have Alonso on a team who signed him and will support him first before anybody else. He is the number one driver. Ferrari is showing a great potential now and red bull better watch out, they are coming.

You better watch out with your grammar, it's in the AUP

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I find this interesting - despite the talk of Coca-Cola sponsoring McLaren as being debunked by the presence of Lucozade branding on the car, the McLaren MP4-27 is now sporting Maximuscle decals in place of the Lucozade ones in Germany:

 

[RX-7_FD3S]

I honestly dont think Sauber gonna take Massa, especialy for Perez, it would be pretty stupid from them.

 

[LewyOs]

I find this interesting - despite the talk of Coca-Cola sponsoring McLaren as being debunked by the presence of Lucozade branding on the car, the McLaren MP4-27 is now sporting Maximuscle decals in place of the Lucozade ones in Germany:

They are just cycling through their many brands no?

I want to see Horlicks or Nicorette in Hungary and Belgium.

 

[Tom]

I find this interesting - despite the talk of Coca-Cola sponsoring McLaren as being debunked by the presence of Lucozade branding on the car, the McLaren MP4-27 is now sporting Maximuscle decals in place of the Lucozade ones in Germany:

Not meaning to come across as rude but how exactly does that relate to the Driver transfer discussion? Shouldn't it have been posted in the German GP Thread instead?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

They are just cycling through their many brands no?

They haven't done it before - and if they were doing it, then it stands to reason that they would want equal exposure for each, so changing for Germany makes no sense as it's the ninth round of a twenty-round championship. Twenty cannot be cleanly divided by nine.

That said, I have been told that Maximuscle has just been launched in Germany.

 

[zippy_the_cat]

These don't particularly fit anywhere else, so I'll report here that Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton both recently featured in TV commercials here in the US. Significantly, they aired on ESPN and not, so far as I've seen, any of the Fox channels, as you might expect given Fox's tie-up with F1.

Here's Alonso's, where he's one of several foils to Usain Bolt in a Puma sneakers advert.

As for Hamilton, he appears opposite Tony Stewart to pitch Mobil oil.

 

[Ardius]

They haven't done it before

No?

They seem to change about Vodafone for their US divison Verizon when they visit Canada....

Oh noes, lets panic that McLaren have altered a sponsor decal to reflect another brand from the same company! Clearly this means Hamilton must be moving to Williams after all! Where are McLaren going to get their money now!??! Etc.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

No?

They seem to change about Vodafone for their US divison Verizon when they visit Canada....

Oh noes, lets panic that McLaren have altered a sponsor decal to reflect another brand from the same company! Clearly this means Hamilton must be moving to Williams after all! Where are McLaren going to get their money now!??! Etc.

I meant that they haven't done it before in 2012. As far as I'm aware, GSK doesn't own Verizon.

And you clearly didn't read the rest of my post, or else you would have noticed this:

That said, I have been told that Maximuscle has just been launched in Germany.

Thereby explaining the change.

 

[hawkeye122]

As for Hamilton, he appears opposite Tony Stewart to pitch Mobil oil.

They've done that since last year's "Seat Swap", where they drove each others cars.

"I meant that they haven't done it before in 2012. As far as I'm aware, GSK doesn't own Verizon."

You have got to be joking. For one, that was highly unnecessary. Secondly, if you didn't notice, he was demonstrating that in the past, OTHER sponsors on the car (Vodafone) have changed their branding to reflect certain markets- In this case, Verizon in Canada.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

You have got to be joking. For one, that was highly unnecessary. Secondly, if you didn't notice, he was demonstrating that in the past, OTHER sponsors on the car (Vodafone) have changed their branding to reflect certain markets- In this case, Verizon in Canada.

I'm not joking. I don't see how you can point to what McLaren did with Vodafone/Verizon and what they are doing with Lucozade/Maximuscle and claim that because there is a correlation, there is a causation. Those brands are owned by entirely different companies. The terms of their sponsorship are dictated by entirely different contracts. But because you can point to two similarities - a new sponsor in the same space on the car - over two years, that doesn't automatically mean that McLaren are doing with GSK what they did with Vodafone.

 

[Ardius]

Really dude you're making far too much out of this. Why is this in the driver discussion thread anyway? What does it have to do with any driver?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Latest stupid rumour - Clive Palmer is said to be buying off HRT.

For the uninitiated, Palmer is an Australian mining magnate who has, er, achieved the following:

a) Pledged to build a replica of the Titanic, to be known as the Titanic II.
b) Very nearly got Gold Coast United kicked out of the A-League.
c) Closed half of the stands at GCU's home stadium after fans criticised him for his ownership.

And in a crowning moment of stupidity:

d) Claimed that Greenpeace was a front for the CIA and was actively trying to sabotage the Australian mining industry to protect American mining interests.

So you can see why I'm sceptical at best.

 

[hawkeye122]

Latest stupid rumour - Clive Palmer is said to be buying off HRT.

For the uninitiated, Palmer is an Australian mining magnate who has, er, achieved the following:

a) Pledged to build a replica of the Titanic, to be known as the Titanic II.
b) Very nearly got Gold Coast United kicked out of the A-League.
c) Closed half of the stands at GCU's home stadium after fans criticised him for his ownership.

And in a crowning moment of stupidity:

d) Claimed that Greenpeace was a front for the CIA and was actively trying to sabotage the Australian mining industry to protect American mining interests.

So you can see why I'm sceptical at best.

That might be good though... It'll generate some interesting headlines if he does, and I'm sure he has more money to dump into F1 than HRT does...

 

[Bye Ya]

Wow...

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Nobody down here really takes Palmer seriously. He took a lot of criticism for his handling of the situation with Gold Coast United, and when he announced plans for the Titanic II, it was treated as a joke. A lot of the mining giants have been involved in messy disputes in their personal lives, and as unpopular as the federal government is, I think the mining magnates fell out of favour with the public over their reactions to some of the government policies that affected them. They tried to make out that a tax on mining profits (that was intended for infrastructure projects across the country) would be a "tax on communities", and while they succeeded in making it unpopular, a lot of the mining communities depend on mining to survive, and any "tax" they would have to pay would come from the companies putting prices up to save their bottom line.

In the end, I don't think there is much to the rumour of Palmer buying into HRT. I'm having a lot of trouble pinning down its source, and it wouldn't surprise me if this is just a headline grab to offset some negative publicity by riding the wave of hype that is Mark Webber (especially since Formula 1 is broadcast on Channel Ten, which is part owned by Palmer's sister-in-arms in the fight against the government Gina Rinehart). I'll be sure to watch the evening news and see what Palmer has done this time that might explain his sudden interest in Formula 1.

 

[J-PaP]

Anybody see this one coming?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/101607

Raikkonen on Ferrari's radar for 2013, despite also nearing extension to Lotus deal

Kimi Raikkonen has emerged as a surprise contender to line up alongside Fernando Alonso at Ferrari next year, even though the Finn is closing in on a deal to remain at Lotus.

Ferrari is considering its driver options for 2013, with the team well aware it needs a team-mate to Alonso who can help contribute significantly to its constructors' championship ambitions.

Felipe Massa has not yet delivered strong enough form this year to guarantee his seat, which has left Ferrari evaluating whether to hope his current upswing in form will continue into 2013 or whether it needs to look at other options.

A number of young drivers are on Ferrari's radar - with Nico Hulkenberg, Paul di Resta, Sergio Perez and Romain Grosjean all on the short-list of candidates for the drive.

However, Ferrari sources insist that the team has not seen enough from any of those drivers to be sure that they will be a definite step forward over Massa - which has resulted in Raikkonen emerging as a dark horse contender.

Although Raikkonen was dropped by Ferrari at the end of 2009, Ferrari sources suggest that senior figures inside the team believe he would be the perfect fit for next year – because of his speed, availability and likelihood that he would not cause any political problems.

However, the biggest stumbling block at any deal happening is believed to be the strained relationship between Raikkonen and Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who parted their previous working partnership on far from good terms.

Insiders suggest that di Montezemolo is not convinced about the Raikkonen route – while the driver himself has said in private that he too would be reluctant to work with his former boss again.

Ferrari will have to make a final call on Raikkonen soon if it is to have any hope of doing a deal, because he is getting close to confirming another season with Lotus.

AUTOSPORT understands that Raikkonen has already held technical meetings about the 2013 car at the Lotus factory, and there is every indication from him and the team that they intend to carry on together for at least one more year.

Raikkonen's team-mate Grosjean is out of contract at the end of this year too, but his current strong form for Lotus makes it a no brainer for it to keep the Frenchman for another season.

 

[Lizard]

??? I thought they got rid of him? Why do they want him back?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Anybody see this one coming?

Yeah, but not in the way that you might think.

This is a case of Autosport talking Lotus up again. They almost never report rumours of driver moves, and on the rare occasion that they do, it's usually contained within the "Grapevine", their soft news and rumours section. There hasn't been any word of Ferrari sniffing out Raikkonen until now, but suddenly it's front-page news - until about fifteen minutes ago, it was even listed under "related news" to their current lead story, which is Button advising Hamilton to stay at McLaren.

So I find this highly suspect. The entire thing seems to be written as a case of "Look how well Raikkonen is doing at Lotus!" rather than anything meaningful. Just look at the final line about Grosjean:

his current strong form for Lotus makes it a no brainer for it to keep the Frenchman for another season

That's not the kind of language Autosport typically uses in their reports. This is just them hyping Lotus up.

 

[Blaze_409]

??? I thought they got rid of him? Why do they want him back?

Well. this is awkward. They didn't exactly "get rid of him." They sort of had to make way for Fernando Alonso who is known for his elitist attitude. I dontkn know for sure but they probably wanted Massa as a clear number two because Alonso does no get well otherwise. But Alonso seems to be over that petulent stage of his career and willing be challenged?

Regardless I dont want to see Raikkonen to Ferrari who cannot build a quick car for him.
I want Raikkonen to stay at Lotus or replace Webber at Red Bull. Hopefully they get the steering sorted out after some consultations with Trulli back at the factory.

 

[peter_vod69]

I want Raikkonen to stay at Lotus or replace Webber at Red Bull. Hopefully they get the steering sorted out after some consultations with Trulli back at the factory.

Erm... Trulli drove for (and had steering issues with) that "other" Lotus.

 

[Blaze_409]

lol. It was a joke. Because all Trulli ever complained about was the power steering so it became a running gag with me and a friend that after he lost his race seat he was sent back to the factory to test power steering

 

[peter_vod69]

lol. It was a joke. Because all Trulli ever complained about was the power steering so it became a running gag with me and a friend that after he lost his race seat he was sent back to the factory to test power steering

My fault, sorry.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Vitaly Petrov is reportedly looking at three teams outside Caterham for 2013:

http://en.rian.ru/sports/20120727/174814867.html

Based on his manager's comments, it's unlikely that they're talking to Marussia or HRT as they're less competitive than Caterham. It's also highly improbably that he would go to Toro Rosso seeing as how he isn't a Red Bull driver.

And there are reports of tension between Timo Glock and Charles Pic at Marussia:

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/282238/tension-suspected-between-marussia-team-mates/

Although I don't understand the nature of Glock's complaint. He's upset that Pic is blocking him? How does that work? It's not like Glock is lapping him. I'd say Pic is defending his position ...

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Some journalist in South America - I don't have a link; I heard it second-hand - is reporting that Williams wants Lewis Hamilton for 2013. He also claims that Bruno Senna's sponsors aren't happy with Williams, and they're pushing to get Senna in a Sauber.

I see two problems with this: firstly, Hamilton and Maldonado together in the same team is not so much flirting with disaster as it is taking disaster out for dinner and a movie. Secondly, swapping Senna for Perez or Kobayashi makes no sense unless Peter Sauber likes watching one of his drivers qualify a second slower than the other - he might as well swap Perez for Senna and Kobayashi for Massa, because why settle for one under-performing Brazilian when you can get two?

 

[Blaze_409]

Hamilton and Maldonado in the same team?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Well, the alternative would be Hamilton and Bottas, but that would mean Williams totally change their driver line-up and give up on petrodollars.

 

[Blaze_409]

Seeing as Williams would need the Petrodollars to pay Hamilton enough to ever want to race with them it would have to keep Maldonado

 

[F1 fan]

Well, the alternative would be Hamilton and Bottas, but that would mean Williams totally change their driver line-up and give up on petrodollars.

I thought the sponsorship deal only obligated them to consider a Venezuelan.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

That's never been confirmed.