2011 Formula 1 Season - Official Discussion Thread

[sleenster]

Hulkenberg's manager: We turned down Virgin
http://www.planet-f1.com/news/3213/6673 ... own-Virgin

I guess Willi Weber is doing everything he possibly can to prevent Hulkenberg from driving this year

[cformula1]

Willi Weber is being too picky regarding Nico's role in F1 this year. He wants Nico to drive for a team at least the level of Williams, and doesn't want him to be with a new team or a reserve driver. At this rate, he'll be merely a spectator, if Weber refuses to settle for a smaller role (such as a new team or a reserve driver).

[sdutt]

Willi Weber is being too picky regarding Nico's role in F1 this year. He wants Nico to drive for a team at least the level of Williams, and doesn't want him to be with a new team or a reserve driver. At this rate, he'll be merely a spectator, if Weber refuses to settle for a smaller role (such as a new team or a reserve driver).

i agree. Only time will tell though, but atleast in near future, he certainly wont be getting the top 4-5 teams, so he is reducing his options to barely 2-3 teams which are now actually requirng sponsorship these days, do which leaves him with no choice. At this rate it might be game over for Nico.

[JoostLamers]

Colours Pirelli will use:
supersoft: red
soft: white
medium: blue
hard: yellow

[swca92]

The headline "Hulkenburg turns down Virgin" makes me giggle. Silly I know.

On his future, Willi Weber's a damn good operator who knows what he's doing. He got Ralf Schumacher 10-15 million a year at Toyota, double what Jarno Trulli (who was superior to him in performance) earned. I f he can do that, he can do almost anything.

[Omegablue]

Maybe Hulk will wait to get a better seat when a driver gets replaced during the season?

[sleenster]

No...please...no...

Willi Weber wants to be Vettel’s manager
http://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/Will ... nager.html

[SpliT]

Colours Pirelli will use:
supersoft: red
soft: white
medium: blue
hard: yellow

and:
intermediate: red
wet: yellow

[SilentKiller]

Does Wili Weber think that all Germans drivers should feel extremely lucky that he shows interest in managing them?

If the Hulk in a Virgin would regularly out-qualify and outrace his teammate, even if fighting for a lower position, he actually get noticed by the top teams and the journalists and this actually increases his stock.
Just look what happened to Alonso when he was in a Minardi.
By being a mere spectator his career is going nowhere.

[F1Fan88]

Marlboro extending title sponsorship deals with Ferrari

Marlboro is on the verge of extending its title sponsorship contract with both Ferrari and the Ducati MotoGP team. The existing deals run until the end of this season, but sources have revealed that discussions are at an advanced stage for them to be renewed until the end of 2014.

It is possible that Ferrari's deal could be announced as early as its new car launch, which takes place in Maranello on January 28.

Although tobacco sponsorship had originally been expected to be eradicated from F1, and many countries ban the display of sponsorship logos, Marlboro has continued its high-profile association with both F1 and MotoGP.

[Petrenko]

There is no other vacany in the seat of any competitive team, I wonder what Willi Webber is smoking to be honest. Hulk is about to be unemployed after turning down Virgin, the driver lineups for Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus-Renault, Mercedes, and even Sauber and Force India are already pretty much set, and since Williams fired Hulk, he obviously won't be rejoining Williams. That only leaves a bunch of teams who won't score many points, of which Virgin is one. So if he turns them down, he's done for a while, with a risk that he may never get back as there are dozens of fine young drivers all knocking on the door looking for a drive. Idiotic decision, could be the end of his career in F1, it's better to drive with a bad team than with no team at all, nobody remembers drivers who have a good year or two, and then totally drops off the grid, of which there are dozens over the past 50 years.

[phil1993]

Dean Stoneman - who tested at the end of 2010 for Williams - has pulled out of his 2011 committments after being diagnosed with Testicular Cancer.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89023

[Denorth]

apparently Petrov's sponsors willl pay 20mil Euros in 2011 for his place in the team. It is twice much comparing to 2010.

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 92022.html

[Petrenko]

I know it's always gone on, but I really don't like this. I want to see drivers in an F1 car because they are elite drivers, not because somebody is paying the team as a bribe to give him a seat. Petrov is just a very poor driver, Renault wouldn't have him except for the money, he's so inferior to Kubica in every respect that it's almost embarrassing, in the identical car he could only score 27 points compared to Kubica's 136 points, and Kubica outqualified him 17-2 in the 19 races.

[sdutt]

I know it's always gone on, but I really don't like this. I want to see drivers in an F1 car because they are elite drivers, not because somebody is paying the team as a bribe to give him a seat. Petrov is just a very poor driver, Renault wouldn't have him except for the money, he's so inferior to Kubica in every respect that it's almost embarrassing, in the identical car he could only score 27 points compared to Kubica's 136 points, and Kubica outqualified him 17-2 in the 19 races.

yes, i agree but there are actually worse cases trundling about, like Yamamoto for one. It is a sad state of affairs, really hope things improve soon