F1 Fanatic

Steph – re. PDLR, he was quoted as saying “I’m learning, I feel younger as well and if any team wants me for the future I’m available, I am usable, even if I have to go back to testing and being a reserve driver – because I’ve had another year of Formula 1 racing which will extend my career. Simple as that.”
Interpret that how you will… but if Sauber had wanted to hang onto Nick, they’d have done so first time around.

The reason I didn’t mention Force India was because I can’t see both their drivers moving on. If Liuzzi were to be dropped, they would presumably sign Di Resta; however, if Sutil were to move team, I think they might keep Liuzzi to keep some continuity in the team and give him the chance to improve (cf. Toro Rosso retaining Bourdais after Vettel left). I can’t see Sutil leaving though, for the simple reason that there’s unlikely to be any better seats available.

The new teams are obviously not such a great option from Heidfeld’s perspective – but if Luca Colajanni’s comments from the fan forum about supplying a third car to a new team are to be taken seriously, perhaps this might not be such a bad option after all?

I don’t think Heidfeld deserves a seat next year.
Not because he isn’t fast (I’m sure he is), but because he refused to drive
this year for a smaller team. When I see drivers like Heikki and Timo kicking it off in crappy cars and running circles around their teammates, I think these are the people who deserve the drives. Not the guys who would rather watch the race from the paddock or go rallying because it means more money.

You know Steph,
Even if these drivers came out and publicly told us their motives, We still would
all have our different interpretations. You’re right, it probably was the ‘safer’
move for Nick to go to Mercedes when he did, you just don’t get to see anything from him while he’s there so he’s effectively made himself invisible. It’s hard to see and gauge a drivers potential when they don’t show up and race.

P.S. Jarno is ruining his reputation because he’s slower than Heikki. If Nick were as fast as he’s believed to be, a drive with any team would have been better (Excluding USGP, that would have been sad).

Well FI is probably the most interesting moover after Renault, an their drivers are definatley linked. Obviously Liuzzi has been magnificently underwhelming so he’ll probably loose his seat, while Sutil’s been great.

Basically it depends on Renault, if they offer Sutil the drive an why they’d keep Petrov I don’t know, he’ll probably take it, hard to see Liuzzi keeping his drive an Di Resta will almost certainly replace him. If Glock or someone else gets the Renault seat it’ll be Sutil/Di Resta, I literally don’t know who FI might turn up with, that 2nd seats a mystery. Remember also that FI’s pace next season is highly doubtfull, half their top techies have bolted, it’s not the team on the up it was last season.

Renault
Kubica Sutil/Glock

Force India
Di Resta Sutil/?

I also have to disagree with the idea that Jarno is ruining his reputation. In terms of race results, Heikki has had better results, mostly because Jarno has had more than his fair share of the reliability problems.

Bahrain – Heikki finished in 15th; Jarno was classified 17th despite stopping a few laps from the end with hydraulic issues.
Australia – Heikki finished 13th; Jarno couldn’t even start due to hydraulics.
Malaysia – both drivers had hydraulic issues; Jarno finished 17th, 5 laps down; Heikki was running behind, 10 laps down and therefore not classified.
China – Heikki finished 14th; Jarno retired with hydraulic issues.
Spain – Jarno finished 17th; Heikki didn’t start due to a gearbox problem.
Monaco – Heikki retired with a steering problem; Jarno crashed out but was classified 15th.
Turkey – both cars retired with hydraulic failure.
Canada – Heikki finished 16th; Jarno retired with a brake problem.
Valencia – Jarno finished 21st and 4 laps down after pitting to have a gearbox problem repaired; Heikki crashed out.

So Jarno has had only two races where he wasn’t affected by reliability problems of some sort – in Spain, where he finished ahead of Heikki who couldn’t start; and Monaco, where he crashed out. Heikki on the other hand has had 4 problem-free runs to the finish (plus Valencia as a potential fifth, but because he crashed out early on, there’s no way of knowing if he’d have made the finish).

What is also apparent is that there has not been a single race when both drivers have been able to race each other to the finish – every time, one or both of the drivers has had a problem.

So in the absence of any clear-cut race-day comparisons, let’s look at qualifying: it’s currently 5-4 in Jarno’s favour – so they’re as evenly matched as team-mates can be.

“I also have to disagree with the idea that Jarno is ruining his reputation. In terms of race results, Heikki has had better results, mostly because Jarno has had more than his fair share of the reliability problems.”

I’ve said numerous times on this site that Jarno and Heikki are quite closely matched but that has nothing to do with reputation or how people feel about Jarno now. He’s had his career, is in a tiny team and yet many,many posters say he shoudl retire and he has had his day despite the close results and Heidfeld would run the same risk especially enxt to young Heikki.

“As to whether Nick would have had motivational issues in a smaller team, I think we only need to look at his sheer determination during his year at Jordan to give us the answer! “

If he was so determined to race then he would have had much more lengthy discussions and negotiations with them. All Nick ever said was that he wasn’t even looking at the new teams as he didn’t know where they would be. Plus, his time at Jordan was years ago when he had to do it, when he had to show ir. People should recognise his talent by now and want to hire him rather than him giving himself a demotion and starting again.

Steph – that’s a fair point about Nick’s Jordan year being long ago. I really have no idea how motivated he is now compared to a few years ago so I’ll reserve judgement.