2011-12 Silly Season

[donald29]

This is the problem with Red Bull's driver scheme, they have so many drivers it was inevitable there'd soon be a backlog and a decent driver like Buemi would lose out.

[KevC]

That sounds like they had a hat full of drivers names and a hat full of team names and just picked one from each!

I suspect Caterham will keep both current drivers as a development core to the team. A noob won't really help them much. Trulli is generally rubbish and I'd go for someone else really but he's better than someone with very little experience and that's exactly what they need to tag on to the back of the group ahead of them.

[cformula1]

Trulli would be better off as a test driver- Ricciardo will develop into a strong driver and could be of great benefit to Caterham, particularly later in the season. Buemi is talented enough to belong in F1 so I hope he gets a drive somewhere (Virgin?).

[phil1993]

Pic will be at Marussia, so the doors there are closed.

[donald29]

Trulli would be better off as a test driver

With so little testing these days I don't really see how signing Trulli as a test driver would benefit any team or Trulli himself.

[frubbs]

Kubica could return to F1 in 2013 with Ferrari

http://www.thef1times.com/news/display/05008

[François]

lol, "according to paddock speculation"

Professionalism all around.

[phil1993]

Its clear there's been tension between Bouiller and Kubica. Bouiller has to plan for the future and he's doing that with Grosjean.

Ferrari-Kubica have been linked since 2009 and it's thought a pre-contract was signed in the summer last year which ws obviously redundant after his rally crash. If there's a Ferrari seat available fo 2013, Kubica might aim for that rather than Renault again.

[frubbs]

Alonso + Kubica will definitelly work !!

[François]

Petrov very critical of his team

Says his contract forbids him to say bad things about the team, but does it anyway... then insists that even though he has a contract for next year, he may very well get ousted at the team's discretion.

Of course that doesn't sound at all like he already knows he's not going to be retained for 2012. And he absolutely isn't bitter about it, either...

[phil1993]

Indeed, it's a strange one. But he has a point.

"Everything is clear: I have a contract," he said. "But as I have already said before, even world champion Kimi Raikkonen was asked to leave F1 for a certain sum of money. It's hard to do anything in this world if someone wants you to be removed."

So perhaps Lotus is swinging towards having Grosjean and Senna next season? Seems risky.

Also interesting

Venezuelan congressman Carlos Ramos is investigating the details of PDVSA's sponsorship of Williams. According to Ramos, no-one in Venezuela - apart from a handful of supporters of the President Hugo Chavez - know much about the agreement with the country's national oil company. Venezuelan law dictates that no public money can be committed to such projects without the approval of the Venezuelan congress.

[frubbs]

So perhaps Lotus is swinging towards having Grosjean and Senna next season? Seems risky. ]

Senna is trying hard to bring more money to the team. He has a strong name and with the fall of Massa, brazil is looking for a new F1 icon. Maybe he can grab more dollars than petrov.

That is the only reason to pull Vitaly out.

[iceman1]

Mar explained very well the whole Raikkonen-Williams situation:
http://www.f1zone.net/news/raikkonen-wi ... res/10375/

Petrov apologised after slamming Renault team

Vitaly Petrov has apologised for slamming his employer Lotus Renault GP in an interview, manager Oksana Kossatchenko said on Friday.

In the Russian interview with Rossiya 2, the 27-year-old hit out at the Enstone based team’s rate of development this season as well as its pitstops, race strategies and bosses, and admitted it is possible he will be ousted for “business” reasons despite having a signed contract for 2012.

“It was an emotional interview,” Kossatchenko is quoted as saying by Reuters.

“It was an exception and he apologised afterwards to the team. It will never happen again.

“We are really sorry and the management has discussed it with Vitaly already,” she said, adding that she has also spoken with team boss Eric Boullier.

http://www.f1zone.net/news/petrov-apolo ... eam/10397/

[donald29]

Ha backtracking already. Trying to repair the damage.

[phil1993]

Well there's an intriguing situation at Lotus. James Allen is suggesting they will go with Grosjean-Sutil next season