Your predictions for the driver line-up, 2010

[Pescara for GT5]

Thank you for that response

I find it funny that neither Manor or Campos have released any pictures of their facilities or prototypes (afaik), yet only the American team gets the flak and receives question from the haters

USF1 is destined for failure...I mean they're American! What can you expect from those idiots

How rude

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Reports circulating that Tmo Glock has signed with Renault.

USF1 is destined for failure...I mean they're American! What can you expect from those idiots

Do the names Mario Andretti and Dan Gurney mean nothing to you? Or can you only recall as far back as Michael Andretti and Scott Speed?

 

[The Outlaw]

Haha, Ludes you're great...always going against the grain of others any chance you get

There was obvious sarcasm in my post if you even remotely looked at the details surrounding it and had even a bit of a sense of humor Hint: Where I'm from, thanking you for your response defending USF1's position, and then rolling my eyes (at the haters) at the fact that USF1 is pretty much the only new bid who receives "flak" for their attempt at F1 glory. And my last statement in that post would only makes sense as sarcasm had you even attempted to tie everything else together

 

[Peter]

Reports circulating that Tmo Glock has signed with Renault.
Do the names Mario Andretti and Dan Gurney mean nothing to you? Or can you only recall as far back as Michael Andretti and Scott Speed?

Scott Speed may well have been bad, but Michael Andretti wasn't bad at all. He got sabotaged, by McLaren, so they could dump him for a much cheaper, Hakkinen. At the Italian GP, Andretti and Senna switched cars, at Senna's request. Andretti got 3rd place, ahead of Senna.

 

[The Outlaw]

Scott Speed may well have been bad, but Michael Andretti wasn't bad at all. He got sabotaged, by McLaren, so they could dump him for a much cheaper, Hakkinen. At the Italian GP, Andretti and Senna switched cars, at Senna's request. Andretti got 3rd place, ahead of Senna.

Good point, of which I was never aware of

I also don't believe it's fair to compare drivers from several decades ago to drivers of more recent years. Just because they looked like stars back in their heyday doesn't mean they would amount to anything nowadays or be nearly as successful. Dan Gurney and Mario Andretti might just be another Nelson Piquet or Sebastian Bourdais (or possibly worse!) if they were thrown in with the drivers of the current era. That's why I never fall into the hype of the drivers from back in the day...as they were only hyped up for dominating their era. The drivers now days are TRUE athletes in every sense of the word...and their fitness alone makes a huge difference in being able to put in consistent qualifying laps throughout the entire race.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Scott Speed may well have been bad, but Michael Andretti wasn't bad at all. He got sabotaged, by McLaren, so they could dump him for a much cheaper, Hakkinen. At the Italian GP, Andretti and Senna switched cars, at Senna's request. Andretti got 3rd place, ahead of Senna.

Maybe at the end of his year, but certainly not from the very beginning: Michael Andretti counts, alright.

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

It's clear that Hamilton has the last word in the Mclaren camp on who will be his teammate, so I'm expecting Rosberg not to go to Mclaren.

ORLY?

If such is the case, why not stick with Kovalainen? He and Lewis seem to get along just fine...

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Barrichello reckons Williams is on the way up:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79843

That's a pretty strong endorsement.

 

[Ardius]

Reports circulating that Tmo Glock has signed with Renault.

And promptly shot dead by Glock after the BBC asked him. He said he hasn't signed anything yet with anyone and will only confirm that he doesn't know whether he will be at Toyota yet.

Scott Speed may well have been bad, but Michael Andretti wasn't bad at all. He got sabotaged, by McLaren, so they could dump him for a much cheaper, Hakkinen. At the Italian GP, Andretti and Senna switched cars, at Senna's request. Andretti got 3rd place, ahead of Senna.

Andretti only sounds good if you only give half the story.....

Firstly, why people always try to say that teams (especially McLaren) would sabotage their own drivers when they want to win the constructors is beyond me.
Secondly, McLaren were certainly quite supportive of him, unfortunately Andretti was a bit naive in thinking he could live at home and fly to all the races with a team that was based in Europe. So naturally he didn't build much of a relationship with the team and it spiralled out of control from there.

Lets be fair to McLaren here - they did attempt to support Michael at first but when he kept crashing out and making mistakes, the option of getting Hakkinen in the car became a much more easy choice.

And with hindsight, do you really believe Macca made a mistake? Would Andretti have become double world champion? I doubt it. Hakkinen had already proved his worth at Lotus and fully deserved that seat. And of course Senna > Andretti any day of the week, even before and after that year.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

And promptly shot dead by Glock after the BBC asked him. He said he hasn't signed anything yet with anyone and will only confirm that he doesn't know whether he will be at Toyota yet.

Well, he believes his future will be with Renault or Manor. He might have shot down stories he's already signed, but he hasn't denied them as an option.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Williams confirms Barrichello and Hülkenberg for 2010! 'Bout time Hülkenberg gets an F1 seat.

 

[Ian Poole]

Williams confirms Barrichello and Hülkenberg for 2010! 'Bout time Hülkenberg gets an F1 seat.

YEAH! The Hulk has arrived

 

[tibiquera]

Barrichello said that in Brazil McLaren talked to him, but he had already signed a contract with Williams. It's good to see how a nearly retired driver was able to get top teams interested in him.

 

[Ardius]

Williams have one of their best line-ups for a long time, hope the Cosworth engine proves to be the secret weapon that some think it is.
Hulk can learn a lot from Rubens, probably the best teammate to have alongside you as a rookie and Williams will most surely benefit from his technical expertise and vast experience.

Also - if Rubens finishes 2010 he will celebrate his 300th Grand Prix by the end!

 

[Pescara for GT5]

Ok, no source, actually not even a rumor, but how about Anthony Davidson for Brawn, he is already their test driver, and Jensen needs a teammate(if he stays that is)

 

[Prince.M5]

Ok, no source, actually not even a rumor, but how about Anthony Davidson for Brawn, he is already their test driver, and Jensen needs a teammate(if he stays that is)

Hey it could be!! But I already heard a rumour saying that Anthony could be going to Manor or might be called as Virgin F1 Team...

 

[Pescara for GT5]

Hey it could be!! But I already heard a rumour saying that Anthony could be going to Manor or might be called as Virgin F1 Team...

Ya, I read about rumors with Manor and Lotus.

 

[LR-PR-ProtoX]

Williams is a great team but can't say the samething for the engine. I will wait and see but have Rubinho on the team, for sure it will boost their hopes, he knows how to prepare a car.

 

[Ian Poole]

Williams is a great team but can't say the samething for the engine.

What's wrong with the Cosworth engine?

Also reports are linkin Kobayashi to a seat at Lotus next season

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Also reports are linkin Kobayashi to a seat at Lotus next season

Lotus have already said they want two experienced drivers, not rookies. And before anyone mentions it, two races does not make Kobayashi "experienced".

 

[Ian Poole]

Lotus have already said they want two experienced drivers, not rookies. And before anyone mentions it, two races does not make Kobayashi "experienced".

Beggers can't be choosers tho

 

[Ardius]

Hey it could be!! But I already heard a rumour saying that Anthony could be going to Manor or might be called as Virgin F1 Team...

Anthony to Lotus is extremely likely in my opinion thanks to his relationship with the BBC and Mike Gascoyne's short involvement. No doubt Ant attempted to make a good case to him.

What's wrong with the Cosworth engine?

Also reports are linkin Kobayashi to a seat at Lotus next season

More like Kamui said that would be the his best option. Not that he has actually been linked in anyway, it sounds like he hasn't even discussed race seats with anyone yet.

Lotus have already said they want two experienced drivers, not rookies. And before anyone mentions it, two races does not make Kobayashi "experienced".

Indeed, Trulli and Davidson sounds like the most likely and strongest line-up they could get their hands on.

Beggers can't be choosers tho

Yes they can, they have the choice of:
Wurz, Klien, Heidfeld, Trulli, Kovalainen, Davidson, Sato, Fisichella....

So they can take their time, and can tempt drivers with more lucrative contracts than the other 4 teams thanks to their Malaysian backing. For this reason alone I see Lotus as the strongest new team, the only reason they didn't grab Senna was because he didn't want to go the emotional route of his uncle.
It also stands them in good stead for lasting beyond 2010, as its fairly likely that all 4 new teams will make Bahrain, but whether they will last the year or more than 1 season is another thing.

 

[Ian Poole]

This is great, it is point and counterpoint and recounterpoint between me, ardy and ludes.

What would happen if our three brains would come together and they locked us in a room together?

We could change formula one as we know it.

Hey, we could do a better job than Jean Todt AND Max Mosley

 

[Pescara for GT5]

Yes they can, they have the choice of:
Wurz, Klien, Heidfeld, Trulli, Kovalainen, Davidson, Sato, Fisichella....

Well, even if Ferrari were willing to let Fisichella drive for a team while testing for them(which I am sure they would have problems with), I think Fisichella is more than happy with Ferrari, no matter how they use him.

 

[Ardius]

Well, even if Ferrari were willing to let Fisichella drive for a team while testing for them(which I am sure they would have problems with), I think Fisichella is more than happy with Ferrari, no matter how they use him.

Fisichella has already stated he is looking into getting a race seat as well as his testing duties, so quite clearly he isn't sure he's happy just sitting on the Ferrari pit wall.
I think Ferrari have stated they don't really care.

Test drivers nowadays is just a fancy word for drivers who get called up as replacements because the ban on testing makes them useless for actual testing.

He's already been linked with Force India again, so he's as likely at Lotus as anyone else.

 

[Pescara for GT5]

Fisichella has already stated he is looking into getting a race seat as well as his testing duties, so quite clearly he isn't sure he's happy just sitting on the Ferrari pit wall.
I think Ferrari have stated they don't really care.

Test drivers nowadays is just a fancy word for drivers who get called up as replacements because the ban on testing makes them useless for actual testing.

He's already been linked with Force India again, so he's as likely at Lotus as anyone else.

Well, that makes sense then, if the ban wasn't in effect, then I am pretty sure Ferrari would be very uptight about the "secret" stuff they have on their cars, but I forgot about the testing ban, so that was my reason for saying that.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

This is great, it is point and counterpoint and recounterpoint between me, ardy and ludes.

What would happen if our three brains would come together and they locked us in a room together?

We could change formula one as we know it.

Hey, we could do a better job than Jean Todt AND Max Mosley

I'm sorry, but it has to be said - from where I'm standing, it's me and Aridus whose brains are the ones doing all the work.

 

[Ian Poole]

I'm sorry, but it has to be said - from where I'm standing, it's me and Aridus whose brains are the ones doing all the work.

Consider me insulted by such a remark!

 

[Pescara for GT5]

So, this is who we have confirmed so far

Ferrari
Fernando Alonso
Felipe Massa
Test Driver: Giancarlo Fisichella

Red Bull Renault
Sebastian Vettel
Mark Webber

Williams Cosworth
Rubens Barichello
Nico Hulkenburg

Campos Cosworth
Bruno Senna

Mclaren Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton

Renault
Robert Kubica

Nothing new, but just thought I would bring every up to date for those of you who aren't there yet.

 

[Ardius]

I'm sorry, but it has to be said - from where I'm standing, it's me and Aridus whose brains are the ones doing all the work.

Thats a little harsh isn't it? Totally unecessary comment. 👎

So, this is who we have confirmed so far

Ferrari
Fernando Alonso
Felipe Massa
Test Driver: Giancarlo Fisichella

Red Bull Renault
Sebastian Vettel
Mark Webber

Williams Cosworth
Rubens Barichello
Nico Hulkenburg

Campos Cosworth
Bruno Senna

Mclaren Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton

Renault
Robert Kubica

Nothing new, but just thought I would bring every up to date for those of you who aren't there yet.

Also Toro Rosso have all but confirmed drivers - they're keeping Jaime and Sebastien because Franz Tost was moaning about them having to improve next year.
Brawn are almost certainly going to confirm Button and Rosberg too.