Motorsport Off Topic Thread

EVH said:
Massa :(

I was secretly chuffed that he'd rode off in to the sunset but now it seems he'll be back with more wheel to wheel shenanigans.
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Have to admit I was overjoyed to see the back of him - I felt for him years ago with the spring accident of course, but he really has been hogging a decent car and only been average for quite some time now

Backwards step by Williams imo, I suppose it doesnt matter in that Lowe wont be able to work on the '17 car anyway (6 months + of gardening leave if I remember correctly)
 
Twirlywoos said:
Wasnt Paul Di Resta the reserve driver for Williams? They should have selected him instead but I've had enough of Smedley and Massa.
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Yep he was. I mentioned this in one of the threads, and no-one seemed interested. He's old enough for Martini to be happy, and is going to be quicker than Massa. You must imagine that Williams have a load of data on him on already, and don't like something. But then if that's the case, why is he the reserve driver? He's roughly on par with Hulk in terms of speed, but moans a lot more.
 
englishpremier said:
Yep he was. I mentioned this in one of the threads, and no-one seemed interested. He's old enough for Martini to be happy, and is going to be quicker than Massa. You must imagine that Williams have a load of data on him on already, and don't like something. But then if that's the case, why is he the reserve driver? He's roughly on par with Hulk in terms of speed, but moans a lot more.
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It could be that Williams think he is a good reserve or test driver but not quick or consistent enough to be a points winning Grand Prix driver. It is unusual because, as you say, he's over 25 which would make Martini happy for the alcohol sponsorship so it must surely be either speed or consistency that gives Massa the 2017 seat over Di Resta.

I don't rate Di Resta that highly but it is weird that Williams rate him highly enough to have him on their books but not high enough to offer him a drive for next year. Even if they said he's not raced for a few years it would only take him a few races to get back into the groove so whatever the reasoning is, it seems quite confusing that they haven't offered it to him so they must feel the data shows them Massa is a better bet than Di Resta.
 
If Williams have a load of data on him then they'll know perfectly well why Massa is the better choice.

Di Resta would be a heck of a lot cheaper than Massa too, something important to Williams throughout their history, yet they're still going for Massa - they know a heck of a lot more than we do. If he was that good he would still be in F1.

Di Resta was brought in for one reason - because Bottas missed a race and they had no one in place to substitute for him and it was something they needed to address in case it happened in the future.
 
this_is_gav said:
If Williams have a load of data on him then they'll know perfectly well why Massa is the better choice.

Di Resta would be a heck of a lot cheaper than Massa too, something important to Williams throughout their history, yet they're still going for Massa - they know a heck of a lot more than we do. If he was that good he would still be in F1.

Di Resta was brought in for one reason - because Bottas missed a race and they had no one in place to substitute for him and it was something they needed to address in case it happened in the future.
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Seems a bit strange to have someone on your books and to not consider them. Almost seems pointless having him around. I guess they just want someone as a one-off single race cover in case they need it whereas they want/need an experienced driver to lead the team with Stroll taking the other seat.

And technically Williams did have someone else in place - Suzie Wolff. They just didn't want to give her the seat for a single drive is all. Seeing as Claire Williams appears to have a lot to do with the running of the team on a day to day basis it seems a bit of a missed opportunity to not give Suzie that one race to show what she can do. If she does well, then good and she's either put herself in contention for a Williams seat or another F1 seat. If it's a disaster then at least Williams can say they gave a female driver the opportunity to shine.
 
I struggle to believe that Massa is better than than anyone else on the grid. In fact in a decent car I'd have Maldonado over Massa. Proven race winner and crashed less often :p

Wehrlein is confirmed at Sauber now, so I guess that does only leave Massa in the frame as Bottas' replacement.
 
englishpremier said:
I struggle to believe that Massa is better than than anyone else on the grid. In fact in a decent car I'd have Maldonado over Massa. Proven race winner and crashed less often :p

Wehrlein is confirmed at Sauber now, so I guess that does only leave Massa in the frame as Bottas' replacement.
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I don't rate Massa much and was glad he was finally retiring but who would you have picked then? I would rate Di Resta a bit lower or the same as Massa and he's been out a few years now too so will be rusty. His permanent moaning would put off most teams alone tbh.
 
You guys are great sometimes! :D

You've got Williams, spending many tens of millions a year, with a choice over 2 drivers, both of which they will have a multitude of data on, yet in your opinions they appear to have chosen the more expensive, crash prone and slower driver.

I say again - there's a reason why di Resta isn't in F1 any more. The very fact that they're tempting Massa out of retirement is damning.
 
Or it could be that Mercedes-HWA were not willing to release Di Resta from his DTM commitments to drive for Williams full time but is more than capable of being race ready for a weekend if one of their regular drivers is unable to, as he is in attendance at most circuits with the Sky F1 team?
 
Steeps said:
Or it could be that Mercedes-HWA were not willing to release Di Resta from his DTM commitments to drive for Williams full time but is more than capable of being race ready for a weekend if one of their regular drivers is unable to, as he is in attendance at most circuits with the Sky F1 team?
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Wouldn't Mercedes-HWA have links or ties to Mercedes' motorsport division and therefore, indirectly, to the Mercedes F1 team who want Bottas and so it is vital to Mercedes F1 that Williams have a driver to replace Bottas. If Williams wanted Di Resta and his DTM team said no, I'm sure a quick phone call from Toto to his bosses at Mercedes motorsport would get the ball rolling.... if Williams wanted Di Resta. :p
 
With Merc pulling both Ocon and Wehrlein out of DTM within 6 months I don't think they had the right drivers lined up to be pulling Di Resta out too. To me it looks like Merc are trying to hold on to as many top drivers as possible. In F1 it's not always about having the top driver in your team, but preventing other teams from having top drivers. Merc will want Bottas to stop him going to Ferrari, otherwise why didn't Merc hire Massa to be Hamilton's team mate for a year as he wanted a top car drive, is used to playing the #2 role and could be ditched after a year for Ocon/Wehrlein who would then have 2 years of race experience.
 
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