Will one of these drivers get dropped?
Sebastien Bourdais's second seasons has started poorly
One of the most unusual things about last season was the lack of mid-season driver swaps.
But the performance of some drivers and the inevitable rumours about changes means some may not last the year. Which of these drivers could be up for the chop?
Nelson Piquet Jnr
Flavio Briatore summed up Piquet’s drive in China like this:
Jesus Christ, it was a very, very bad race. I understand if you spin once, but this was kind of a contest: the more you spin the more points you have. He spun a lot but no points.
The usual explanation for Piquet’s position at Renault is that they want a driver who is capable but isn’t going to challenge number one Fernando Alonso.
But even if that is the case, there must be a point at which Piquet’s disappointing performances become a concern. He’s been out-qualified by Alonso for 21 consecutive Grands Prix, and his race performances don’t look much better by comparison either.
Briatore made the headlines last weekend by saying Brawn duo Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello weren’t good enough. But in Piquet he has the driver who looks least worthy of a place in Formula 1.
Potential replacements: Renault’s third driver is Romain Grosjean, who enters his second season of GP2 this year.
Giancarlo Fisichella
Now in his 14th season, Fisichella increasingly looks like a driver who’s going through the motions. While team mate Adrian Sutil has shown only occasional flashes of promise at Force India, the ultra-experienced Fisichella hasn’t even done that.
Potential replacements: Force India test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi is rumoured to have a race deal for 2010 already.
Sebastien Bourdais
Bourdais suffered in comparisons with rising mega-talent Sebastian Vettel last year, and only narrowly held onto his place at Toro Rosso over the winter.
But rookie team-mate Sebastien Buemi has out-qualified and out-raced him twice already. Last year Bourdais blamed his unfamiliarity with grooved tyres, which was fair enough, but now there are new excuses and they’re starting to wear a bit thin.
Potential replacements: Red Bull aren’t short of promising junior team drivers with World Series by Renault pilots Jaime Alguersuari and Brendon Hartley on the books.
Bourdais got the nod for 2009 over Takuma Sato, who was being considered because of his popularity in the Japanese market, which Red Bull wants to break into. The departure of Gerhard Berger from the scene is bad news for Senna’s chances of getting a drive here.
Kazuki Nakajima
Team mate Nico Rosberg has not done a great job of turning the FW31’s performance into points – but Nakajima has lagged even further behind, and compounded his lack of speed with mistakes.
Like Piquet, there are vested interests behind Nakajima’s place at Williams – namely engine supplier Toyota. But that doesn’t make his position at the team entirely secure.
Potential replacements: Toyota’s other promising young driver, Kamui Kobayashi, has shown good form in GP2 and has done a lot of F1 testing miles. Alternatively, Williams test driver Nico Hülkenberg dominated last year’s F3 Euroseries and impressed on his few GP2 Asia outings over the winter.
Which F1 drivers do you think have done the worst job so far this year? And which look most likely to lose their seats? Have your say in the comments.
Adam said on 24th April 2009, 7:02
Changes will be very hard this year, due to the testing ban. Fisi deserves to go the most, because he obviously doesn’t want to be at Force India since he doesn’t even seem to be trying anymore. But he won’t go because Force India is so bad right now the benefit of a different driver wouldn’t make up for the costs of reconfiguring the car to them. If they could get a driver they knew they wanted next year and could lock him up for next year too, they might make the move and just treat the rest of this season as extended testing to prepare that young driver for next year. Since I don’t see them eyeing anyone now, I doubt any move will happen here.
Piquet is the next most deserving, as he really hasn’t ever shown anything at Renault. Alonso surely likes it that his number 2 driver isn’t a threat, but he can’t like being so far down in the team standings. There is a huge gap in between Piquet’s performance and the level of performance that would threaten Alonso. If the next two races go like the first three, Piquet is gone.
Bourdais is gone mid-season as well, barring a big improvement in the next four or five races. No one is buying his excuses anymore and Buemi is proving that a completely green rookie can out perform Bourdais. He’s not veteran enough to help in the car’s development, so look for Red Bull to bring in a new youngster to take the drive. Unless Piquet’s next two races look like Heikki’s first two races this season, Bourdais could be the first move, since Red Bull has plenty of drivers ready and waiting to take the seat, who are already with the organization.
Pink Peril said on 24th April 2009, 7:15
I think it’s too early to tell. All the races have been so topsy turvy lately that anyone could have been caught out.
After all, weren’t we all writing Massa off about this time last year?
MiniME said on 24th April 2009, 7:16
i would love to see Bruno Senna, Takuma Sato and Kamui in a f1 seat asap
Joe McCann said on 24th April 2009, 11:29
I personally think that Piquet should be out. Although Senna is on my ‘out list’
Clare msj said on 24th April 2009, 13:57
Its always inetresting to read how peoples opinions can vary so much on the same thing. I agree with Pink Peril in that it is still quite early to really tell, although I have still got my opinions formed and ready to be aired!
Piquet Jr – Hmm seems most on here are in agreement concerning this guy. I am generally in agreement, however I dont think he should be replaced just yet. Last year I am aware was not so great for him but it was his rookie year – others are forgiven for mistakes, so he should be too. This season – not a great start – but there are plenty of other guys who have had equally bad starts and arent being called to be replaced. He isnt overly fast, and he really does need to stop starting 17th – but others have been off the pace too, Alonso is a very clear number one at the team there, with good reason, and his qualifying was so massivly far ahead of Piquet last time out partly because he had new parts and Piquet didnt. That said Piquet hasnt outqualified Alonso yet has he? I want to give him just a little longer before i pass full judgement on him. He does need to dramatically improve though.
Fisichella – I think he will retire at the end of the year. He is not being massively outdone by Sutil, but I think he is at least being matched. I think Sutil will have the slight edge over Fisi over the whole year. Put it this way, if I was to be told that a Force India was in say 8th place and on for a point, my first guess would be Sutil. Also, he has got to be nearing the end of his career anyways, and with Liuzzi reportedly waiting in the wings, I think it will be Fisichella who is ousted, rather than Sutil.
As for Sutil – I dont particularly rate him as a top top driver just in the wrong car – I think he is quite a solid driver, but nothing spectacular. I would rank most of the grid higher if I were picking drivers – no offence to him or owt!
I think it is a real shame that Bourdais is struggling so much – his achievements before F1 were amazing, and it almost saddens me that he is finding it difficult to adapt. That said, if he cant adapt after two years, I think someone else should have a go.
Nakajima is one of the more interesting ones to me. I dont really rate him that highly. I think he had a distinctly average year last year, and has a habit of crashing rather a lot. He wasnt really close to Rosberg last year, he hasnt really been this year. I think he should be swapped at the end of the year – unless of course he suddenly decided he wants to keep the car on the track for an entire race distance. I rank him not much more than I do Piquet. he should see out the season i think though. Plus I want Hulkenberg to appear in F1 next year, and if that were to be at the expense of Nakajima then I wouldnt be against that.
Lastly (I know I have gone on a bit!) – Kovalainen I find it odd him being mentioned in the same context as the previous mentioned guys – I dont think he has done too badly at all! Yeees he had trouble getting past the first lap a couple of times this year, but he did well in China – and last year too – he was quite an obvious number two to Hamilton at Mclaren last year – and I think he did well for the most part. I think given the right support he could do really quite well for the team.
I dont think anyone should be out before the end of the year – but I think Piquet and Fisichella are the two most likely – in that order. If anyone goes i think they should be replaced by Sato – he is ace, and will always give more than 100% – plus he has that little bit of experience which surely would be needed if you were replacing someone. Replacing someone for a rookie mid season becuase you want better results surely defeats the purpose.
Patrickl said on 24th April 2009, 19:56
Great overview. I agree on almost everything.
I only think that Piquet should be gone as soon as possible. He shows no progress, he is nowhere near Alonso in qualifying and in the races he never impresses either. He crashes in half his races (although last time he managed to just get it over the finish)
He failed miserably in 21 races. Why would he suddenly start performing in his 22nd?
Obster said on 24th April 2009, 15:29
As much as I support Bourdais, he is not looking good right now with his comments-by mid season they will have this car sorted-if he is not better by then he should go.
Suprisingly, my other guy is Kimi! Man, Ferrari needs a leader now to drag this car into shape. Looks like they need Alonso. I know this will not happen this season, but…
donwatters said on 24th April 2009, 16:01
What needs to happen here is SeaBass needs to drop his dumb-ass manager.
KingHamilton&co said on 24th April 2009, 18:47
I hope all the listed guys get the chop, they’re all just wasts of space, especially piquet jnr-id give him 3 more races before flav does the right thing….
scunnyman said on 24th April 2009, 20:27
I can’t disagree more with those people who say Bourdais had an amzing career before f1.
In champcar he was driving the best car in the field by a mile and didn’t have a very good team mate.
It was a bit like having a ferrari in a field of force indias, with schumacher drivingand having sutil has his team mate.
If Bourdais had been in the proper IRL then he would have been midfield runner who gets the occasional win.
In f1 he is smply outmatched by most everyone on the grid.
He is relying on a reputation mad in champcar that is unfounded in my opinion.
Even someone like Piquet jnr or Nakajima would have been able to do the same as Bourdais did in champcar.
The Limit said on 25th April 2009, 5:20
The critical problem for drivers at the moment is the ban on testing. Without this avenue to go down, certain drivers have very few options left open to them.
In many ways, I can understand teams going for experienced drivers as did Brawn Gp with Button and Barrichello, and Force India with Fisichella, to use just three examples. However, there comes a point when a team must realise the potential of a younger, fresher star.
In Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull have unearthed a very exciting new talent. Putting Vettel through Toro Rosso in his first full season was an inspired decision, and a luxary no other team has on the grid. As valued as the services of such greats as Barrichello and co. are, the sports future is in its young stars after all.