Silly Season 2011/2012

[netoperek]

http://translate.google.com/translate?s ... %2520%2529

According to the link, Kubica signed new contract with Lotus

[bhallg2k]

And in other wildly optimistic news:

Rubens ready for Ferrari return

[raymondu999]

To be fair - Rubens didn't initiate any of that talk. He was asked in an interview what he would do if he received a Ferrari offer, and he said he was open to any F1 offer

[MIKEY_!]

This is the trouble with the media. Things get blown way out of proportion.

[zoro_f1]

i think it's more than clear that this year's (2012) fight for the title will be against these two drivers...both are from mclaren. a very, very strong driver's, but my bet goes to button.



this was situation from last year.

[raymondu999]

Here's a thought. With the tyres this year playing such a big role - and setup making a big difference on tyres; which in turn make a huge difference for your laptimes and longevity... There's one driver who springs to my mind who will do nothing but test setups and how they affect tyre development -

Jaime Alguersuari.

He could be hot stuff for a 2013 signing methinks.

[MIKEY_!]

Didn't help di grassi. Not that he's in the same league as Alguersuari of course.

[raymondu999]

We saw nothing like as tight and beneficial a sweet spot as we have seen this year. I don't remember a single time last year where they said they needed to dial the tyres into their "sweet spot"

[Giblet]

Here's a thought. With the tyres this year playing such a big role - and setup making a big difference on tyres; which in turn make a huge difference for your laptimes and longevity... There's one driver who springs to my mind who will do nothing but test setups and how they affect tyre development -

Jaime Alguersuari.

He could be hot stuff for a 2013 signing methinks.

That was supposed to be Quick Nick's big thing. The knowledge gained from being a Pirelli tester doesn't mean it will translate to a different car and team and engineers very well. If anything, Mercedes was one of the worst teams to get to grips with the tires, and he was their tester.

The drivers for Pirelli are given a car, a setup, and they offer feedback. I don't this means they are privy to everything Pirelli is though.

[ringo]

Ok looking at force india. Is everyone over Hulkenberg now?
Do you guys see why Sutil should have kept the seat?
The Hulk is getting his ass handed to him by Diresta. Sutil was managing Diresta very well last year.
Any thoughts on giving the Hulk the boot for 2013?

[Tyler]

Ringo, I thought and said many times here that Sutil should have kept his seat.
I think FI were crazy to show him the door!!!
Because of him FI were able to finish a very respectable 6th in the 2011 constructors.
He had a bit of a bad start to 2011 but only really in terms of qualifying.
People made too big of a deal of Di Resta outqualifying him in the early part of the season because you don't get points from qualifying only from the race and Sutil outperformed him in the races from the start.
Halfway through the year, Sutil got a better handle of the car and got better qualifying results than Di Resta too.

In my opinion and judging by the points accrued at the end of the season, Adrian drove better than Paul in 2011.
Yet because Paul was in his rookie year it was automatically assumed that he would be far far quicker than Adrian in 2012 - what rubbish!!
I think drivers should be judged on their current performances not some hypothetical performances in the future.

Hulkenburg, apart from one qualifying session, in which he was lucky to be on track at just the right moment, was a bit of a flop at Williams and he's been mostly invisible at FI this year, having not done anything special.
OK it's early days in the championship but he doesn't look to be on Pauls level as is also evident by his 2 points to Pauls 15.

Sutil is in my opinion very quick and reliable and FI would have done better to field him and Di Resta in their cars.
I still think it had more to do with Adrians charges, his court appearances and his rep than his skills as a driver.
It's a pity Mallaya and FI didn't show the same kind of loyalty he had shown them.

[ringo]

Well a move to ferrari would do Sutil good. As Massa and Hulk stand out as somewhat useless this year. I'm also starting to question Vergne and Riciardo, they seem quite average. Vergne is better in the race though.
I could see Buemi out classing both however.

[beelsebob]

Well a move to ferrari would do Sutil good. As Massa and Hulk stand out as somewhat useless this year. I'm also starting to question Vergne and Riciardo, they seem quite average. Vergne is better in the race though.
I could see Buemi out classing both however.

Both Vergne and Riciardo have impressed me more in 4 races than Buemi and ... forgotten his name... Did in a whole season (and the fact that I've just brain blanked says how much he impressed me).

Hulkenburg hasn't impressed a lot so far this season... but then neither did Sutil in a whole season, so no great loss.

[MIKEY_!]

I agree with ringo about the hulk, he's not done enough this year. As for the TR boys, they haven't performed well either but it is their first year and the TR at the end of last year made Alg and Buemi look better than they were. Maybe TR will get good again at the end of this year and it will all be ok but we have no reference point (nor do TR) which is their biggest mistake.

[raymondu999]

Well a move to ferrari would do Sutil good. As Massa and Hulk stand out as somewhat useless this year. I'm also starting to question Vergne and Riciardo, they seem quite average. Vergne is better in the race though.
I could see Buemi out classing both however.

Both Vergne and Riciardo have impressed me more in 4 races than Buemi and ... forgotten his name... Did in a whole season (and the fact that I've just brain blanked says how much he impressed me).

Hulkenburg hasn't impressed a lot so far this season... but then neither did Sutil in a whole season, so no great loss.

I thought Sutil did fantastic in the end-of-year races. He was stellar from Korea onwards. He's one of the people I've missed surely.

I do feel for the Hulk, Ricciardo and Vergne though. I don't think the current points standings truly reflect their talent. Hulkenberg's got some rotten bad luck so far. The TRs are a bit interesting to me. One seems to be the better qualifier but worse racer, the other seems the opposite.