Motorsport Off Topic Thread

JHeaton said:
So, Kimi is going to miss the rest of the season: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111218

I don't really rate Valsecchi, but it would be interesting if they gave him a shot, I suppose.
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Will be interesting to see where Lotus go with a replacement, ideally get next years driver in there for a couple races... But that would mean having to sort out next years driver first :p
 
Guerrilla said:
Will be interesting to see where Lotus go with a replacement, ideally get next years driver in there for a couple races... But that would mean having to sort out next years driver first :p
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For Lotus, it's simple; they need to decide who's going to get the most points for them in the final two races, with the possibility (however unlikely) of them getting 2nd in the constructors and the money which comes with it, and they've realistically got 3 choices: Valsecchi, Kovalainen and Hulkenberg (with him being out of contract for most of this season.

Hulkenberg is the obvious choice if they think they can afford him next year, but Hulkenberg has been burned plenty of times now and needs to be sure that he will be there in 2014, otherwise he'll tarnish himself slightly (and potentially be without a seat if Lotus can't afford him and the other seats are filled while he waits).

Kovalainen has F1 experience this year, has experience towards the front and is a safe pair of hands, though will presumably be race rusty and potentially not fit enough (especially with these both being anti-clockwise circuits and him only doing the odd practice session in F1 this season).

It'll be a huge kick in the teeth to Valsecchi if he's overlooked, but the point of the 3rd driver is really to substitute for a driver if he falls ill before final practice, not necessarily to replace a driver with this much notice.

I'm going for Heikki. While Hulkenberg is effectively out of contract, there will probably not be enough time to sort out any contractual issues, then get a seat fitting, and there'll certainly not be time to do a straight-line test (if Lotus could afford it anyway) or get into the simulator to learn the Lotus systems... and I don't think Nico would be up for it anyway - he'll show better in these final two races in the Sauber than he would the Lotus.
 
All that said, I posted this on another forum last week:

Gav said:
I'm struggling to understand why the Lotus seat for 2014 is seen as such a prize. They've been haemorrhaging key personnel and money over the past year. There's a relatively large change in regulations next year and I don't have the confidence that they've had the resources to commit to the new car to the extent they'd have liked. I can only see them going backwards next year.
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Autosport said:
It is unclear how Raikkonen's absence will impact on his pay issues with Lotus, especially with the team's new investor Quantum Motorsports having not yet finalised its 35 per cent buy-in to the outfit.
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It'd be a crying shame for the factory floor people, they don't deserve it to happen, but I'd laugh myself silly if Quantum pulled out of buying that 35% stake in LOLtus-Genii-Renault and sent them under!
 
JRS said:
It'd be a crying shame for the factory floor people, they don't deserve it to happen, but I'd laugh myself silly if Quantum pulled out of buying that 35% stake in LOLtus-Genii-Renault and sent them under!
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They'll just hire Maldonado once Quantum turns out to be a fraud :p
 
With Kimi getting £50k per point this could be a money saving exercise by lotus. 30 points for Kimi over 2 races is easily achievable and that alone would cost lotus £1.5mil, and doesn't guarantee them a better position in the constructors. They have probably paid him what he is owed and told him not to race for the rest of the season. Kimi gets his money, extra recovery time for next season, and lotus save some money and could still improve there position in the WCC.

^^ maybe they will get the quantum deal and still sign Maldonado and be in a pretty strong cash position next year?
 
im pretty sure lotus cant get second after last gp
so no longer fussed about all the kimi stuff

just hope they get enough money to be ok next year
 
Gayjin said:
Hmmmm, where will Maldonado go if Lotus opts for Hulkenberg?
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Not going to happen, because Quantum's money isn't going to appear, so they'll have to opt for Maldonado.

To be honest, given the increasing noises about the state of finances at Lotus, I think even if Quantum's money was to miraculously appear they might still go for Maldonado's millions.
 
Guerrilla said:
Good lineup that, hopefully they have a decent car next year :)
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Although Williams have been particularly dire the last few seasons, they do have some hope for the next year as it seems their main weakness was getting the fancy exhausts set up working correctly - and this will be gone for all teams.
 
this_is_gav said:
Not going to happen, because Quantum's money isn't going to appear, so they'll have to opt for Maldonado.

To be honest, given the increasing noises about the state of finances at Lotus, I think even if Quantum's money was to miraculously appear they might still go for Maldonado's millions.
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With Sauber's recent Russian investment and current decent running I'm wondering if it could be in Hulkenberg's interest to stay where he is for next season... If McLaren go for Magnussen they could maybe get Perez back, that'd look a pretty decent pairing (Plus it keep the Russian child out for a season :p).

Duke said:
Although Williams have been particularly dire the last few seasons, they do have some hope for the next year as it seems their main weakness was getting the fancy exhausts set up working correctly - and this will be gone for all teams.
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I hope so, I don't think many people wouldn't want to see a change or fortunes for Williams, it seems as they are making the changes team-wise so hopefully it'll come together.
 
Duke said:
Massa confirmed at Williams with Bottas - http://www.williamsf1.com/Team/Media/News/The-Williams-F1-Team-announces-its-2014-driver-line-up/
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Pleased for Massa. Hopefully Williams can improve next year with the new regs.


Glaucus said:
Home hopfully.

Still a lot of uconfirmed seats.
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I won't be sorry to see Maldonado out of F1 but with his sponsorship money he will probably be with either Lotus or Sauber most likely.

Have we got a list of the unconfirmed seats?
 
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