The 2018 F1 driver transfer discussion/speculation threadFormula 1

[TenEightyOne]

Until this year when he had quite a few big crashes.
Baku, Japan, Belgium, Abu Dhabi...

Yes, but apart from that...

 

[Saur]

Hulkenberg is a good driver, it’s just that he’s only really ever raced in midfield cars. I do think he lacks a little bit of a killer instinct that keeps him from getting noticed more, but I think that the majority of people out there focus on the top six drivers more than anyone else, and the other drivers are less likely to get a lot of attention for their achievements.

The crashes suggest that he has been less consistent this year, but the midfield is a difficult place to race in- it’s competitive and tightly packed, and a lot of crashes happen there, so it’s not always so easy to blame the driver.

 

[bmxmitch]

Now, this baffles me...and I don't mean to sound like a dick, what do you see in Hulkenburg? I jovially refer to him as "the ghost" when I talk about him. Is this just a silly pipe dream because you like the guy or he's German or something? I call him the ghost because he's never done a single thing in F1...just floats by under the radar. Isn't he the guy who's sitting at 150+ races without a single podium, etc?

Well, yes, I would like to see another german in a Mercedes first of all.
And the thing you mentioned about him, is another reason I would like to see him in a faster car. He was always the one guy who was fastest in the "middle pack". 7th place was pretty much his spot most of the time.
IMO he deserves a fast car, at least once in his F1 career. Just out of curiosity.

And I'm kind of a fan from him. He's always fun to see in german interviews

 

[TetsuKobura]

Water is wet.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Hulkenberg is a good driver, it’s just that he’s only really ever raced in midfield cars. I do think he lacks a little bit of a killer instinct that keeps him from getting noticed more,

Hulkenberg is yet another driver which I call a Heidfeld. He's a solid driver, but doesn't seem to get anywhere. Maybe next year is his biggest shot yet to prove himself when sharing a drive with Dani. Who knows the Renault might actually be a good car one of these days, and they both are a treat to watch racing.

Until then, I shall continue to call him Heidfeld.

 

[Saur]

Hulkenberg is yet another driver which I call a Heidfeld. He's a solid driver, but doesn't seem to get anywhere. Maybe next year is his biggest shot yet to prove himself when sharing a drive with Dani. Who knows the Renault might actually be a good car one of these days, and they both are a treat to watch racing.

Until then, I shall continue to call him Heidfeld.

Renault have been improving every year, we’ll have to see what happens.

 

[TheElbows]

Didn't Renault recently build a brand new headquarters for a renewed overall motorsports and F1 effort? I was kind of hoping they'd suddenly show up in 2019+ as a genuine competitor (even if just nipping at the heels of the top three a bit more than the past decade). Maybe I'm completely mis-remembering my news stories though.

 

[FoxMulder]

Renault have been improving every year, we’ll have to see what happens.

They have, but the gap to the top three is still huge. I don't see them closing that as quickly.

Renault are also bragging about how they aren't spending as much as the top teams.

 

[mustafur]

If Renault can get between the rest and the top 3 in pace next year that will be a huge win, it shows they are getting better every season since being back.

It would be a massive effort if they did even better then that, anything worse then 4th next season will be a massive failure though.

 

[Saur]

They have, but the gap to the top three is still huge. I don't see them closing that as quickly.

Renault are also bragging about how they aren't spending as much as the top teams.

I seriously doubt they’ll close the gap to the top three in the next couple of seasons, but if they can separate themselves from the other midfield teams they’ll get noticed, and maybe even get a couple of really good results like a podium. It would also be a good confidence boost for everyone on the team if they are able to improve and get results.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Hulkenberg is yet another driver which I call a Heidfeld. He's a solid driver, but doesn't seem to get anywhere. Maybe next year is his biggest shot yet to prove himself when sharing a drive with Dani. Who knows the Renault might actually be a good car one of these days, and they both are a treat to watch racing.

Until then, I shall continue to call him Heidfeld.

That doesn't make sense, Heidfeld actually drove race capable winning cars and yet drove in the realm where he just couldn't collect wins and second was the best he could manage. Now if Bottas had not won a few races I'd have said he is the most like a Heidfeld in the current crop of drivers.

 

[mustafur]

Although to be fair Heidfeld only had one car capable of winning on pace and that was the 2008 BMW but it wasn't anything as good as the Mercedes was, only in Canada was the Bmw the car to have.

Where as the Mercedes has been the car to have at most races Bottas has driven in.

But then if you where to compare team mates it's hypothetical, Kubica pre rally crash vs Hamilton in 2017/2018.

It would be easy to say Hamilton, but who knows really.

 

[Bram Turismo]

That doesn't make sense, Heidfeld actually drove race capable winning cars and yet drove in the realm where he just couldn't collect wins and second was the best he could manage. Now if Bottas had not won a few races I'd have said he is the most like a Heidfeld in the current crop of drivers.

It's not about not winning, it's about being an anonymous driver. He's exactly the sort of driver you every year expect to show great things, because the lad has talent. And yet when you look at his resume in F1, you go "Damn, he's that long in F1?".

I'd love to see Renault prove me otherwise, but I think Hulkenberg's career is going the exact same route as Heidfeld's. It's filled with great performances, but there's never an outstanding performance.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

It's not about not winning, it's about being an anonymous driver. He's exactly the sort of driver you every year expect to show great things, because the lad has talent. And yet when you look at his resume in F1, you go "Damn, he's that long in F1?".

I'd love to see Renault prove me otherwise, but I think Hulkenberg's career is going the exact same route as Heidfeld's. It's filled with great performances, but there's never an outstanding performance.

No it is, because Hulk has a reason to not be clearly seen like the person you've decided to compare him too. Heidfeld actually drove a couple of cars capable of podiums and wins. I can't think of a single car on that same level by Hulkenberg. So how can you make the comparison when one actually had the ability to grab enough lime light to be noticed and the other hasn't, is strange.

So when I look at his resume I see someone who has been consistently fast and gotten the best out of the machines he's been given hence why he tends to find his way best of the rest like this season. I tend to think it'd be interesting if he was given an opportunity the likes of which Bottas has been given or Gasly and see what he could do against said highly regarded team mates (Hamilton and Verstappen).

The only similarity I've seen that is like that of Heidfeld is the fact he is in a factory team and said team is working toward being a competitor of the other factory efforts. I think this up coming season will be a bit of defining season for Hulkenberg because he hasn't raced a solid and as consistent driver as him, Daniel is that driver. I feel that if given the same level of car Heidfeld has the chance at he'd show more out of it, one only has to look at Heidfeld's sub-par FE career to understand why he was anonymous in F1.

 

[CarreraGT]

Hulkenberg is a good driver, it’s just that he’s only really ever raced in midfield cars. I do think he lacks a little bit of a killer instinct that keeps him from getting noticed more, but I think that the majority of people out there focus on the top six drivers more than anyone else, and the other drivers are less likely to get a lot of attention for their achievements.

The crashes suggest that he has been less consistent this year, but the midfield is a difficult place to race in- it’s competitive and tightly packed, and a lot of crashes happen there, so it’s not always so easy to blame the driver.

And yet he still finished best of the rest (7th) in what was arguably the 5th or even 6th best car on balance. Hulkenberg is an excellent driver and I really hope Renault come good (for both his and Danny Ric's sake). Both are incredible talents and personalities and deserve to be fighting at the front

 

[Veinz]

Looking forward to seeing if Ricciardo can still pull off those super late passes in a Renault. I think those two will be really close, best line up on the grid imo. Another interesting thing is with the new driver weight regulations coming in, tall drivers like Hulkenberg won't be at a disadvantage anymore.