Boullier “recommends” Hulkenberg for Lotus

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In the round-up: Lotus team principal Eric says he recommended to the Lotus board that they sign Nico Hulkenberg for 2014.

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Pastor or Hulk (Sky)

“‘I would love to,’ Boullier conceded when asked if he wanted to sign Hulkenberg. ‘This is the recommendation that I gave to my board.'”

FIA did clarify track limit rules (Autosport)

Romain Grosjean: “Qualifying was free to use whatever we wanted to – it has been like that for the last three years here.”

2013 Indian Grand Prix – Post Qualifying Press Conference (FIA)

Nico Rosberg: “Well, we’ve been a little bit quicker [than Ferrari], I feel, until now, the whole weekend, but of course that strategy is a threat, because there’s not that much difference between the two strategies so for sure we need to keep an eye on, them.”

Indian GP promoter confident race will be back (AP)

Jaypee Group chief executive Sameer Gaur: “There is no reason why the race should not be held here in 2015.”

Don’t become an obstacle, Mallya tells government (The Times of India)

“The government should not interfere or become an obstacle. The government should be a facilitator. If private enterprise is taking the responsibility of hosting Formula One event, the government should encourage it.”

Q&A with Daniel Ricciardo: I hope to push Vettel in 2014 (F1)

“I want to arrive in January and be ready. Of course I know that weight will be crucial – the lighter the better – so I have managed to experiment a bit with taking off a bit of weight – and so far I am succeeding.”

Perez feels India can be good for McLaren (Reuters)

“I think we’ve got probably our best chance of the whole season to score good points. I’m confident with the strategy.”

How recycling can help new F1 circuits prosper (Autocar)

“Bernie Ecclestone, who is keen to see a race in the New York metropolitan area, is helping as much as he can and has arranged for New Jersey to save time and money by using the circuit infrastructure that was being employed on the streets of Valencia, in Spain – on the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean.”

Souvenir issue (Toro Rosso)

“Nearly everyone does a team photo at some point over the last few races of the year, so there is a record for posterity of that season’s group of people. Scuderia Toro Rosso set the photographic ball rolling this year, having our photo taken this morning.”

Liegate, Spygate, Crashgate, Dog-gate? (ESPN)

“By asking the press not to write about the innocuous existence of man’s best friend, Red Bull only guaranteed coverage of the dog. Perhaps that was their master plan…”

Sebastian Vettel reaps rewards in a Formula One risk-management era (The Guardian)

Richard Williams: “Attempts to devalue his achievement by pointing out that he has the best car are beside the point. All the great champions made it a priority to have the best equipment at their disposal. It is what Vettel does with it that makes the difference.”

Tweets

Comment of the day

On the rare occasions we see several drivers opting for the harder tyre in Q3 it usually draws the same criticism:

The different tyre strategies will add spice to the Grand Prix. But still?óÔé¼?ª One of the (main) advantages of the in-race refuelling ban was the return of “real” qualifying: the starting grid would be a true reflection of the potential of every car-driver combination.

Sadly, due to the different tyres used in Q3, we still don’t know exactly the real balance of forces. For example, it’s hard to rate Webber’s fastest lap in Q3. Anyway, I hope his race strategy pays off, even if it’s too little to late to save (t)his season.
Mr Win Or Lose

From the forum

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Happy birthday to Crm, Gwen and Jeff Bird!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

The first world championship Mexican Grand Prix was held 50 years ago today. The Mexico City track is set to return on the 2014 F1 calendar, albeit in somewhat revised form.

Like most races in 1963 it was won by Jim Clark, who finished over 100 seconds ahead of his closest rival. That was Jack Brabham, with Richie Ginther third for BRM.

Images © Sauber, Red Bull/Getty

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Keith Collantine
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36 comments on “Boullier “recommends” Hulkenberg for Lotus”

  1. What an answer from Lauda! The reporter deservedly got it!

    1. What a stupid question is the primary concern! How could you make such a rookie error? :’)

      1. Just makes it clear that the reporter isn’t involved because of his understanding of F1.

        Which network was it?

        1. Must have been a local one if he or she is more interested in cricket.

    2. Yes, but what does he think about cricket?

      Meanwhile, I hope there are some racers on the Lotus board.

    3. Apparently this happens quite often to Austrians! Several of my Austrian friends said that people they speak with in English occasionally ask them about kangaroos and Ayer’s Rock!

  2. I think he’s recommended for the seat by pretty much everyone else as well. I just hope the Lotus is good next year, should Hulkenburg get the seat (or even if he doesn’t really). I really hope he gets it.

  3. If Lotus can keep its current form amid their financial troubles and next year’s changes, seeing how Grosjean and Hulkenberg have been driving, they’ll have an extremely strong team. Really wanting to see that.

    1. I really hope Lotus get second in the constructors; that way, they’ll definitely be able to turn down the PDVSA money Maldonado brings with him

      1. Looks like Boullier is putting max pressure on the lotus board to accept Hulkenberg
        by making this public.
        Smart man.

  4. I wonder what’s the deal with Vettel’s dog. Such a strange situation.

    1. Apparently he drives the RB9 as quick as Vettel!

    2. I agree, it’s utterly bizarre! I think the real story is that he has stolen Roscoe though, having lured him to Switzerland with the squeaky dog toy he bought him.

  5. So what is the big secret about Sebs dog ? What’s its name, Webber, Schui, Ayrton, Nicole, Adolf ???? Why the big secret? Brainflash, oh no, could it possibly be a black Lab with the same name as the DamBusters black Lab, now that would be embarrassing.?

    1. I think it has to do with celebrity privacy in Europe. You either decide to live your private life private, and then newspapers have no right to report about it. Or you are open about your private live (and use it to your advantage in the papers), but then you can’t block Paparazzi pictures of you walking the dog in your village either.

      I am not sure whether these are legal requirements or just an accord amongst journalists.

      @hohum

  6. Some good quotes today.

    I recommend Hulkenberg too.

    Lauda – LOL, then as Lauda walks away, the TV reporter hears nothing but, the sound of crickets.

    Ricciardo – “I hope to push Vettel” – Well, we all have things that we can hope for.

    Speaking of Vettel, “No Justin Bieber”. Showing good taste there, even if Bieber looks a bit like he could be Vettel’s little brother.

    Perez – “I think we’ve got probably our best chance of the whole season to score good points.” I think he just said somebody will be pushed off the track.

    Regarding the first Mexican Grand Prix held 50 years ago today – “Like most races in 1963 it was won by Jim Clark, who finished over 100 seconds ahead of his closest rival.” We hope this feat is not duplicated by a certain someone tomorrow.

  7. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    27th October 2013, 0:59

    Talking about stupid questions, what is that about Vettel being asked if he listens to “fake JB” (the real JB is Jenson Button)? And that Austrian / Australian mistake on Lauda? Looks as if these days some reporters are getting their diplomas on a free course online.

    1. @omarr-pepper Actually he was asked about what kind of music he listen to… the JB part was a funny comment from Rosberg

      Q: (Sudhir P. Chandran – Chequered Flag) Sebastian , I’m curious to know what kind of music or chant do you listen to on your headphones before qualifying and the race, every single time, to get on top, every time you’ve gone out?
      NR: Didn’t you say Justin Bieber last time? No?

      SV: No.

      NR: Ok, I must have misunderstood or misheard that one

      SV: It’s not really… it’s music, yes, but it’s more like melodies, no singing, so no Justin Bieber.

    2. Why else do you think Indian labor is so cheap?

    3. ha ! try the newspapers.

    4. David not Coulthard (@)
      27th October 2013, 7:29

      @omarr-pepper the real JB is actually John Button, I think.

  8. I think it’s quite unfortunate that Williams made such a bad car this year and failed to improve it. I think they’ve been the slowest of the midfield all season and Maldonado has done a respectable job trying to get the best he could out of it.

    I think given a competitive drive he could probably give Grosjean a run for his money, and if Lotus are really struggling for funds going into the beginning of next year then the money Maldonado brings might be worth more than whatever extra Hulkenberg could collect through constructors points at the end of the season.

    Having said that, if they really want to market themselves as a top team, they need someone of Hulkenberg’s stature to lead the team in the same way that Kimi does now. He has a similar demeanor to Alonso or Vettel, very intelligent with the political and engineering nous to be the focal point for the team, and the driving talent to back it up. The driving flair is something that Button for example seems to lack and it’s hurting McLaren right now, they’ve got two average (in F1 terms) drivers pushing and pulling the team and getting nowhere.

        1. @mixwell @george Ah, the system works :-)

  9. Wouldn’t need to change the artwork on the cover of the season review DVD. Vettel won’t lose the championship from here.

  10. That television reporter reminds me of a scene from Dumb and Dumber.

  11. It saddens me someone looking as anorexic as Hulkenberg could be too heavy for F1.

    http://twitter.com/OfficialSF1Team/status/394350215790333952/photo/1

  12. I estimated the pit stop time loss at this year’s Indian GP to be around 22 seconds.

    Using last year’s live timing, I determined the time loss to be around 19 seconds. However, since the speed limit was reduced from 100 km/h to 80 km/h, it will be a bit more this year.

    Based on satellite imagery, the length of the part of the pit lane with speed limits is around 414 m. From that, I subtracted 55 m to take into account the part where cars brake and accelerate (and the time of which is the same as last year). So we get to 359 m where cars travel 80 km/h instead of 100 km/h, which takes 16.2 seconds instead of 12.9 seconds. We round down the difference to 3 seconds as pit stops are slightly faster this year.

    So total pit stop loss time is around 22 seconds – important to keep in mind when looking at the gaps in live timing.

    1. @mike-dee Mercedes estimate the pit lane time loss will be 18.6 seconds with the 80kph speed limit so your estimate looks pretty good!

      1. but that’s without the stop itself? I think my 22 seconds are quite far from 18.6 seconds. 18.6 seconds was close to what it was last year.

        1. I just checked. 18.6 seconds seems to be what you would lose in a drive-through. @keithcollantine.

  13. That’s interesting, Joe Saward’s story about New Jersey re-using bits from Valencia.
    Given the poor standard of some of the Indycar street tracks, sounds like a good idea to import them…

    Wonder if Bernie will start selling off kit from the “permanent” tracks that fall into disuse? Plenty of unused seats in Turkey, India could be next, and Korea (they can leave that stupid show-jumping bridge across the start-line in Korea though).

    1. Given the poor standard of some of the Indycar street tracks, sounds like a good idea to import them…

      There built to exactly the same standards in terms of barriers & fencing to F1 circuits as there all regulated by the same FIA circuit safety regulations.

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