Comments on: F1 2009 driver rumours: Sato and Sutil

By: donwatters

donwatters — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:58:18 +0000

Aaron: And you base this firm belief on what?

By: Aaron Rook

Aaron Rook — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:36:09 +0000

there is no doubt whatsoever that bruno senna will have a drive available to him next year

By: Gman

Gman — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:01:57 +0000

Paige, I must say I got a great laugh out of your bit of info on Flav- good stuff, especially the last part!

I never knew about his deal for Spain’s F1 TV rights and all, so when you talk about di Grassi I can agree with that for the financial and marketing reasons. My thinking on Bourdais would be to 1. get an experienced driver in the team to partner Piquet and 2. keep the French fan base happy with a hometown hero behind the wheel. Still, your bit makes more sense I would need to say.

My last word on the whole thing is no matter what we all think about Flav’s management style, it all depends if he’s even running the team next season and not floating around on his yacht full time with that new wifey of his…

By: Paige

Paige — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:05:27 +0000

GMan,

I honestly don’t think Flavio puts racing considerations first when he makes decisions. Sure, he’s hired great drivers (Schumacher, Alonso), but he did so mainly because of the marketing potential they presented when it just so happened they were great talents. (Not that Flav has the slightest clue when it comes to racing talent; everyone knew that Schumi and Alonso were elite, and he was the one who snapped them up.) Exhibit A: What did Flavio do before putting Alonso in a race seat? He bought the television rights of F1 in Spain, and he has since made a killing off of them.

Furthermore, the main reason why Piquet got the other seat this season is because of 1) the financial backing from Carlos Slim, and 2) the name, which is very marketable, particularly in one of F1′s largest markets. (Brazil) I see promoting di Grassi as the best racing decision that Renault could make if Alonso moves on (he’s vastly outperformed Grosjean, who has been highly erratic), but that won’t be Flavio’s main motivation for doing so. He’ll want to put another young and marketable hotshoe in the seat from a country with a rich F1 tradition win tons of F1 fans.

Flavio has demonstrated time and again that he cares only about two things in life in this order:

1) Himself, and
2) Money.

By: DG

DG — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:06:13 +0000

Isn’t Mallya the head of motorsport in India? I am surprised that he hasn’t been pushing for a local driver right from the start – but I seem to remember an interview where he said he knew there weren’t any Indian drivers who were good enough…..
I don’t like the thought of Sato back behind any wheel, no matter which team. But if Berger is confident enough to talk about drivers, does this mean that the team has found a new owner?

By: Journeyer

Journeyer — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:46:33 +0000

I don’t, Gman. Remember that the very reason Bourdais didn’t get into F1 as early as 2002 was because Flavio offered Bourdais a seat on the condition that Flavio would become his manager.

Bourdais refused, and Flavio took the deal off the table. Bourdais didn’t get any other offers, and he ended up going Stateside.

By: Gman

Gman — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:38:08 +0000

On the topic of Force India, I think Vijay will keep both drivers for 2009, giving Fisi a one-year deal to help develop the car under the new regs and sending him off happy with a nice little career under his belt. After next season, he gose and gets his Indian driver to partner up with Sutil, if he has not developed and jumped to a bigger team.

With the rest of the grid, I think Bourdais absolutley should keep his seat for 2009- he’s a proven racer and still has plenty of F1 potential in my view. Nothing against Sato, but I don’t think he’ll make the team any better than Seb will next season.

As for the rest of the grid, Renault may indeed be eager to promote di Grassi. But stop and think for a moment….would they want two drivers who are both young and still low on experience, as well as being of the same nationality? And if they did want two young guys, would they take Lucas over their other protege, Roman Grosjean?

It’s just a hunch, but if Toro Rosso- or whatever the’ll be called next season- changes both drivers for 2009, and if Alonso is on the move, who else thinks Flavio and Company will give Bourdais a call?

By: Dan Brunell

Dan Brunell — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:08:00 +0000

Pickup on Chunter; Ant does make sense to a degree at Torro Rosso if wither they do get rid of Bourdais or not. He is experience and seems pretty sharp however in terms of performance, he has never really had the car to show what he can do. If Toro Rosso can’t get Burno or anyone else from GP2 in that seat because of the uncertainty with the teams’ ownership, Ant might be a safe bet to replace Vettel.

By: chunter

chunter — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:29:45 +0000

I agree with Dan’s assessment of Honda, in that if any team would want to do a wholesale “throw it out and start over,” they’re the ones to do it. Despite that, I think Rubens and Jenson are stuck there.

Otherwise, if Sato is even a consideration for the vacancy at Toro Rosso, why not Anthony Davidson, or Neel Jani?

It should be someone both suited and happy to be a test driver on any team.

By: Paige

Paige — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:36:36 +0000

I forgot to comment on Bourdais. Obviously, he deserves another year. He hasn’t had the flashy results that Vettel has had, but the qualifying and race head-to-head matches between the two drivers are actually even. STR should give Bourdais a chance with a lower downforce car and slick tires.

Regarding Dan’s prediction of the grid:

“Ferrari:
1: Kimi? (Retiring? Naaa)
2: Massa”

Firstly, be careful with the numbering. Lewis is leading the WDC and can most certainly take it.

Secondly, Kimi is set for next year. He’ll honor his contract, and then he may retire after next season.

“McLaren:
3: Hamilton
4: Kovi”

This will be the McLaren lineup for many years to come.

“BMW:
5: Kubica? (Needs to sign a new deal)
6: Heidfeld”

Kubica will surely be back, as will Heidfeld.

“Toyota
7: Trulli
8: Glock”

Yup.

“Red Bull
9: Webber
10: Vettel”

Yup.

“Renault
11: ? (Who knows what Alonso is thinking)
12: Piquet Jr.”

I wouldn’t say Piquet is quite out of the woods yet, but he’s picked up the performance quite a bit.

Alonso’s certainly looking to leave. If he does, I think Lucas di Grassi will get the seat. He’s lighting up GP2 since going back and has been testing for Renault the whole year. All signs point to him getting the seat if Alonso leaves, given Renault’s past method of prepping drivers.

“Williams
14: Roseberg
15: Nakajima”

Yup.

“Toro Rosso
16:?
17:Bourdais?”

I think it’s safe to say that a young GP2 guy- be it Senna, Buemi, Grosjean, etc., will be in one seat.

“Honda
18:? (Who knows what Brawn is thinking)
19:?”

Button will be back. Brawn is certainly trying to pull Alonso away from Renault. If he is unsuccessful, then Barrichello will be back.

Force India
20: Fischi
21: Sutil