The '14 driver transfer discussion/speculation thread
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Tired Tyres
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^ Contract time, obviously. 
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- marco89IT
It's interesting to notice how 2 of the best drivers (at least in terms of pure driving talent) like Vettel and Raikkonen are now considered as strains to get rid of as soon as possible by the F1 audience. They're having a poor season, especially Kimi, but I think it's a bit too early to erase all they've done in the past just because of 6 months of disappointments. They both had a really clean driving style, with a very precise approach entering a corner and basically without any kind of oversteer at the exit. Needless to say, this year is completely different and that kind of driving doesn't pay off. It seems they're struggling more than drivers which have always been more aggressive and "violent" at the wheel. And I think one have to consider all the technical issues they had in free practices, in comparison with their team-mates. They had to skip entire sessions more than often this year. This can really make the difference on a race weekend, since new regulations made a lot of previous years data useless.
About the Alonso affair, according to today's Gazzetta dello Sport, the Spaniard has already informed Ferrari his intention to leave.
Autosprint is reporting a lot of rumors in the paddock about next year's Mercedes PU, which will be even more dominant than the current one. If true, Alonso has another obstacle between him and another championship title, no matter if he'll drive a Ferrari, a RedBull or a McLaren.
About the Alonso affair, according to today's Gazzetta dello Sport, the Spaniard has already informed Ferrari his intention to leave.
Autosprint is reporting a lot of rumors in the paddock about next year's Mercedes PU, which will be even more dominant than the current one. If true, Alonso has another obstacle between him and another championship title, no matter if he'll drive a Ferrari, a RedBull or a McLaren.
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- mustafur
I think Vettel will be okay, he just has been a little exposed by Ricciardo that is all, i do think though he will soon be leaving redbull to seek another challenge.
Kimi on the other hand is in his final year regarding age wose and has had a very poor year compared to his team mate, usually when top drivers have poor years they are usually poor as a team but Alonso is doing as well as he has always done and kimi is well behind, pateince with old drivers is less because the room to improve is not going to be there since there style tends to be concrete at that stage.
Kimi on the other hand is in his final year regarding age wose and has had a very poor year compared to his team mate, usually when top drivers have poor years they are usually poor as a team but Alonso is doing as well as he has always done and kimi is well behind, pateince with old drivers is less because the room to improve is not going to be there since there style tends to be concrete at that stage.
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- marco89IT
It should be like that, but it isn't in my opinion. There are other factors, not only the on-track performance. There are political and marketing reasons, especially in Ferrari.
Massa is the perfect example; after his injury in Hungary 2009, Ferrari left him a seat for 2010, that's fair enough.
In 2010 he finished more than 100 points behind Alonso, but it was his first season after the crash, and he was an important man in the recent history of Ferrari, so he's been confirmed. But at this point it was clear that he wasn't the driver he used to be before that accident.
In 2011 Massa collected less than half of Alonso's points, same in 2012. Even worse in 2012, actually; Alonso 278, Massa 122.
How can you confirm a driver after 3 consecutive years of disastrous on-track results? They did. It's clear that there were some reasons not related to performance to maintain Massa at Ferrari.
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Massa had a brain injury, so his poor performances may be excused. As far as I'm aware, Raikkonen hasn't had a brain injury of any kind.
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It has been rumored that Raikkonen's car has 15kg more than Alonso's.
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Massa succesfully completed all the FIA required tests before being allowed to drive an F1 car again, just a few months after the accident. I don't think you're allowed to drive an F1 car with its massive G-forces, bumps etc. if you have even a tiny brain injury.
Anyway, we're talking about on-track performances. And injury or not, Massa's career at Ferrari has been at least 2 years longer than expected, given the results. I'm not here to advocate Raikkonen's poor season, my point is that in Ferrari track performance isn't everything.
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well yeah it's the reason they kept Irvine and Barrichello soo long.
the thing is though, today there is soo much depth and talent in the grid it's seen as criminal to keep an underperforming driver in a top seat when there are talented drivers being pushed out of the sport purely on financial reasons.
the thing is though, today there is soo much depth and talent in the grid it's seen as criminal to keep an underperforming driver in a top seat when there are talented drivers being pushed out of the sport purely on financial reasons.
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It sounds like an excuse cooked up by Raikkonen's militant fanbase to explain away his poor performances as being somebody else's problem because Raikkonen really is super-talented, but he just hasn't had the chance to demonstrate it.
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- The__Luke
You've always had a problem with Kimi because he's a popular driver, haven't you?
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It's the way that popularity is expressed that bothers me. I used to post over on the Autosport forums, and if anyone dared to criticise Raikkonen - even if you tried to back those arguments up with a sustained, logical argument, as I did - his fans would treat them as fair game. Entire conversations would be disrupted, to the point where the moderators would have to shut the thread down and clean up the mess. It got to the point where they actually started banning people for criticising Raikkonen; not because they were fans, but because it was easier to do than to clean out the trouble-makers. I have never met a more aggressive or childish group of fanboys, to the point where you can use "Raikkonen" as the collective noun for fanboys. They're more than willing to dish it out to any other driver, but when it comes time to consider Raikkonen's flaws, they can't take it. I don't expect to convert anyone, just to hear me out - and if you take issue with something I say, counter it with a valid argument of your own.
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- Insomniac_driver
Kimi is a great driver but he has fail in demonstrate that he can do great things with a bad car (The opposite to Alonso)
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Or maybe the car is built around Alonso's requirements and that doesn't suit Kimi?
That's still Kimi's fault in the same way it's Vettel's fault that he can't drive this years Red Bull as well as Ricciardo. Does that mean Vettel is past it and should be shown the door as well?
Kimi has shown flashes of his old self this season.
People tend to forget he was excellent in the early stages of Monaco before it all went wrong for him.
I can recognise that he can still do it even if other people can't. I say that as a very definite "not a Kimi fan".
That's still Kimi's fault in the same way it's Vettel's fault that he can't drive this years Red Bull as well as Ricciardo. Does that mean Vettel is past it and should be shown the door as well?
Kimi has shown flashes of his old self this season.
People tend to forget he was excellent in the early stages of Monaco before it all went wrong for him.
I can recognise that he can still do it even if other people can't. I say that as a very definite "not a Kimi fan".
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The problem is that flashes aren't enough. I'd expect every driver in Formula 1 to be at or near their very best all the time. Not for 2% of the time.
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- The__Luke
First off, your reply to me was top notch. I see where you are coming from.
Secondly, compared to what Massa was doing at Ferrari for years, Raikkonen is doing a pretty average job. I'm not sure Ferrari would be in a hurry to change drivers.(Granted, they've changed every other position within the team so I wouldn't rule it out)
Anyway I'm kind of interested if his competitiveness in Singapore was a once-off or if it had anything to do with car improvements (I.e. improved brakes). I don't believe he's had the confidence on the brakes all season due to the spins he has had in braking zones, where the brake by wire system would get the blame.
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Amen to that. "Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing!" wasn't funny. It was rude.
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