The '14 driver transfer discussion/speculation thread

[zippy_the_cat]

What is it exactly that Di Resta has personally done to you or a member of your family to attract this attitude of yours? I hope it not that he has a high opinion of his ability because if it is, then you must hate all race drivers.

PM's never rated the guy and found him to be overhyped by the Brit media. The rating argument was always defensible, though I would've disagreed until Di Resta's form disappeared the second half of this season. I always thought he was just proving it's hard to be spectacular in a thoroughly mediocre car.

The Brit media hype thing is also defensible, although said hype on the Beeb and Sky was nowhere near the screeching levels attending all the UK drivers on the grid in 2008 when ITV had the coverage. ITV that year had Ant Davidson featured in their show-opening teasers despite Ant being pretty mediocre in a genuinely crap team that didn't even make it a third of the way through the season.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I think a driver's attitude is very important. There was a furore in the middle of the season when fans started booing Vettel on the podium. A lot of people felt that was unacceptable, because his achievements demanded respect. However, I feel that it is very difficult to respect a driver for his achievements if you cannot respect the man under the helmet. Vettel lost a lot of respect for his actions in Malaysia.

A lot of the reports - and like I said, they might be apocryphal - suggest that Paul di Resta has a bad attitude. He's always got an excuse for his poor performances; they tyres go off or somebody blocks him or the ambient temperature changes dramatically, or the car was not set up properly. Not once have I heard him say "I had a good car and a clear track, but I got a little carried away, locked up the front wheel and missed the apex".

No matter how talented he might be, Paul di Resta always has an excuse. He has made it known that he wants to be in a front-running team and seems convinced that he is destined for one, but he hasn't done anything to prove he deserves it. How can anyone possibly expect a person to respect him for his talent when under his helmet he's a completely unlikable person?

 

[Tired Tyres]

Every driver makes excuses. Every one of them thinks they are the best, if only they had the right car, the right team, etc etc.

They do that because confidence in their own ability is crucial to their ultimate speed.

Actual driving ability is taken as a given at this level and it is confidence in their ability that separates the guys at the sharp end of the grid from the ones in the middle of the pack.

I don't tend to watch the BBC's forum after their live races and I don't watch Sky at all, so I don't know what they are saying to hype Di Resta up. All I go on is the interviews you get during races and I've never heard him say anything I wouldn't expect a racing driver to say.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Of course all twenty-two of them would like to believe they are the best.

But twenty-one of them are capable of admitting when they made a mistake. Paul di Resta is the only one who constantly makes excuses for his poor performances. He will happily blame anyone and anything he can think of. One of my favourites is when he is right on the verge of a competitive lap, but then there is a sudden shift in the ambient or track temperature, which robs him of his ability to set that competitive time. It's a shift in temperature which does not affect anyone else or appear in any weather data for the circuit.

 

[lunarwolf]

seeing as only 4 seats remain open (1 @ Sauber, 1 @ Marussia and 2 @ Caterham), what are your predictions?

here are my guesses

Sauber will keep Gutierez and his cash
Marussia keep Chilton and his cash unless Razia has been saving in his piggy bank
Caterham i'll take a stab and say Da Costa and Davide Valsechi

my 2 cents

 

[zippy_the_cat]

One of my favourites is when he is right on the verge of a competitive lap, but then there is a sudden shift in the ambient or track temperature, which robs him of his ability to set that competitive time. It's a shift in temperature which does not affect anyone else or appear in any weather data for the circuit.

The crash in Singapore was a variant of that: "I don't know what happened, we'll have to check the data." No we won't: You choked, overcooked it and wound up in a wall. Plain enough for everyone to see, who are you fooling but yourself?

 

[aarror]

seeing as only 4 seats remain open (1 @ Sauber, 1 @ Marussia and 2 @ Caterham), what are your predictions?

here are my guesses

Sauber will keep Gutierez and his cash
Marussia keep Chilton and his cash unless Razia has been saving in his piggy bank
Caterham i'll take a stab and say Da Costa and Davide Valsechi

my 2 cents

Da Costa is with BMW in the DTM, so he's not available.

I see Caterham keeping Van der Garde, not sure about the other seat though. I think Chilton will stay at Marussia as well.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

seeing as only 4 seats remain open (1 @ Sauber, 1 @ Marussia and 2 @ Caterham), what are your predictions?

here are my guesses

Sauber will keep Gutierez and his cash
Marussia keep Chilton and his cash unless Razia has been saving in his piggy bank
Caterham i'll take a stab and say Da Costa and Davide Valsechi

my 2 cents

I wouldn't be surprised if Rossi got the other Caterham seat just for U.S. exposure and more money from the already stacked U.S. groups on the car.

 

[lunarwolf]

while it's true that F1 needs a US driver to make it relevant there, is Rossi any good or does he bring any endorsements? sorry if this sounds ignorant but I don't know much about Rossi's history, just that he was a reserve driver at Caterham

 

[prisonermonkeys]

He's not bad, but he's not that good, either. He has been tipped for that Caterham seat for years on the basis that he is American, but the sport hasn't suffered from his absence.

 

[Tired Tyres]

while it's true that F1 needs a US driver to make it relevant there, is Rossi any good or does he bring any endorsements? sorry if this sounds ignorant but I don't know much about Rossi's history, just that he was a reserve driver at Caterham

Does he bring more money than anyone else? That's the only consideration at that end of the grid.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

He has some, but Marcus Ericsson and Giedo van der Garde are tipped for the seats. And Caterham have previously said they want someone experienced in one of the seats. I think they realise they made a huge mistake this year.

 

[aarror]

EVERYBODY STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING!

Speed.com (bad source, I know) reports Kamui Kobayashi is set to return to F1 with Caterham!



http://msn.foxsports.com/speed/formula-1/f1-kobayashi-set-for-caterham-seat/

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

EVERYBODY STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING!

Speed.com (bad source, I know) reports Kamui Kobayashi is set to return to F1 with Caterham!



http://msn.foxsports.com/speed/formula-1/f1-kobayashi-set-for-caterham-seat/

It's not at F1fanatic or motorsports.com or autosport or any of the big names...let me go look at the official F1 site.

EDIT:
Nothing said on the official F1 site yet, but Adam Cooper did say the same thing and he is one of the guys I regard as a good F1 journalist so...I think this is valid and somewhat good news. Thanks for the update aarror.

Also Gutierrez is said to be staying at Sauber in the driver seat and thus my questioning of the young Russian getting the seat back in October-November and deducing he wouldn't get it seems to be right. Glad EJ got Esteban prediction right as well. Feels good.

 

[Lizard]

I would prefer Kamui in the Sauber seat but then I would be very happy to see him back no matter where he is.

 

[CinnamonOD]

I'd prefer to see him at Sauber over Gutierrez or Sutil...

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I would prefer Kamui in the Sauber seat but then I would be very happy to see him back no matter where he is.

Well sad news is Pic and VGD are said to be getting the boot from Caterham. Between them and Marussia, they've had enough drivers in the past few seasons to supply the upper teams with possible good results. Sad really.

I'd prefer to see him at Sauber over Gutierrez or Sutil...

Sauber says he doesn't bring enough money I guess the 6-7 million euros of sponorship isn't enough compared to Medion, and especially telemex/telcel and what the Russian kid has to offer.

 

[Northstar]

Alonso will use the #14, which he used in his karting days.

Side-Note: Is that really the best pic Autosport could find.

 

[Wardez]

http://adamcooperf1.com/2013/12/20/kobayashi-set-for-f1-return-with-caterham/

Hmm, better than Ericsson haha. It would be great to see him back, even if he'll be back there.

 

[otakukid96]

Yay! I would love to see him in a better car, but at least he is back in it probably.

 

[AnAL0G]

http://adamcooperf1.com/2013/12/20/kobayashi-set-for-f1-return-with-caterham/

Hmm, better than Ericsson haha. It would be great to see him back, even if he'll be back there.

Yes!

 

[aj thecaveman]

Glad to see Perez got picked up, I think he performed damn well last year considering the '13 Mclaren was not what it should be. With him and Nico driving, they have one of the stronger driver lineups for a mid tier team IMO. I think Force india will do well this year.
Will be interesting to see the dynamic of the Ferrari drivers, and how that will affect the teams performance.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

EVERYBODY STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING!

Speed.com (bad source, I know) reports Kamui Kobayashi is set to return to F1 with Caterham!



http://msn.foxsports.com/speed/formula-1/f1-kobayashi-set-for-caterham-seat/

No, it was just the Loch Ness Monster.

 

[zippy_the_cat]

Adam Cooper is also reporting Kobayashi to Caterham.

I'm waiting for heads to explode because it's as a "pay" driver.

 

[CinnamonOD]

Very expected, but I just saw on T.V. that the Sauber-Telmex partnership will continue, so it'll be Sutil and Gutierrez

Oh.. and here is a note from Sauber's official site

 

[otakukid96]

Very expected, but I just saw on T.V. that the Sauber-Telmex partnership will continue, so it'll be Sutil and Gutierrez

Oh.. and here is a note from Sauber's official site

That makes me sad. I was really hoping for Sirotkin, but I can see where they are coming from with retaining Gutierrez.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

http://adamcooperf1.com/2013/12/20/kobayashi-set-for-f1-return-with-caterham/

Hmm, better than Ericsson haha. It would be great to see him back, even if he'll be back there.

Problem is the suggestions are Ericsson secured the seat before Kamui secured the second. Kamui is being brought in cause he held his own with Perez and can teach the rookie.

Very expected, but I just saw on T.V. that the Sauber-Telmex partnership will continue, so it'll be Sutil and Gutierrez

Oh.. and here is a note from Sauber's official site

Yeah I posted about that already, but thanks for adding the link

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Problem is the suggestions are Ericsson secured the seat before Kamui. Kamui is being brought in cause he held his own with Perez and can teach the rookie

Cooper suggests that Caterham will take Ericsson AND Kobayashi, not Ericsson OR Kobayashi. Pic and van der Garde would be let go entirely.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Cooper suggests that Caterham will take Ericsson AND Kobayashi, not Ericsson OR Kobayashi. Pic and van der Garde would be let go entirely.

That's not at all what I just said. And I even put in the last sentence that he is being brought in due to results and the experience to teach the rookie which Ericsson will be.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

So how is this a problem?

Problem is the suggestions are Ericsson secured the seat before Kamui secured the second.

It's not uncommon for a team to secure a paying driver before they get an experienced one, especially if they need the money to get the aforementioned experienced driver.

If Kobayashi is being recruited to train Ericsson, it's probably the best he could hope for. After all, the alternative is staying out of the sport for another year.