F1 Fanatic

Alguesuari will be at HRT next season alongside PDLR

Alguersuari already says he isn’t going to drive for a mediocre team as them. If he turned a Hispania race seat down for 2012, why should he change his mind now?

http://www.auto123.com/en/racing-news/f1-jaime-alguersuari-sure-of-2013-comeback?artid=147914

I’m fairly sure Alguersuari has already been signed to replace Kobayashi. I think Hulkenberg would be driving alongside Alguersuari. Telmex have already announced that they will stay as a sponsor with Sauber for 2013 despite Gutierez not being announced as a driver.

@raymondu999 – I wonder if the team would consider letting him go, then. Sure, he subsidises the Mercedes engines, but there is a limit to what the team would be willing to put up with – and Mercedes have a whole host of other drivers waiting in the wings, like Wickens and Merhi.

And the is also the threat of Mallya’s arrest warrant. I’m curious to see how that plays out, because it jeopardises Mallya’s control over the team. Even if he beats the conviction, he has allegedly put the team (and a few other things, like his IPL team and luxury yacht) up as a guarantee that Kingfisher will pay its debts.

@raymondu999 – I’d like to think that if a driver was so difficult to deal with, there would be avenues for the mechanics and engineers to et the Powers That Be know about it.

@raymondu999 – Maybe. And if the team is losing Hulkenberg to Sauber, then they’ll want to keep at least one driver around for continuity purposes.

As a driver, I’d say di Resta is okay. But if his career progresses any further, then he’s probably going to be a Felipe Massa – a driver employed to back the team’s lead driver up, who won’t get his own shot at the title unless something happens to the lead driver (like Schumacher in 1999).

Someone somewhere – right when I want it, I can’t seem to find it – mentioned that Force India might look at Sutil as well, but his assault conviction might stand in his way, even if it is a suspended sentence. That same person went on to say that Ma Qinghua had trouble getting into Japan, or was unable to get into Japan, implying that Ma had had some kind of trouble with the law of his own. Does anyone know anything about that?

With regards to Heikki, he won’t leave Caterham unless he can get a better seat. He is still dearly in love with Formula One (you can tell that), but wants to be winning (as every driver does), and so if he could move to a better team he would. Unfortunately for him, nothing seems’ to have materialised, and the talk in the paddock has moved him from Ferrari to Sauber, back to Caterham, poor sod.

For some reason, I just cannot see Hulkenberg fitting in at Sauber, he just.. I don’t know, I don’t think it would look right. Even with all the speculation, I would be very surprised if this happened, but happy as well, I like Hulkenberg, and I like Sauber, but I just can’t see them together.

I’m still amazed so few people are mentioning Alguersuari in any seat for next year. Both Eddie Jordan and the Sky F1 team have left him out of their predictions, even though he has said he will be driving next year. I can’t imagine he would lie about that? What is the point, surely it would just make other teams not even consider offering him a place. He won’t drive for HRT, he refused that seat this year, and would not go there now, plus he has stated the team is somewhere between fifth and seventh in the Constructors Championship, which is Mercedes, Sauber of Force India. Personally, I think Alguersuari should go to Sauber and leave Hulkenberg at Force India, it just seem’s a better fit to me, but then again, I don’t blame Hulkenberg wanting to jump the sinking ship.

On a side note, them calling Sutil back would be funny. Their team boss is wanted for being in billions of dollars of debt, and one of their drivers wanted for GBH! Might as well just go to a local jail and take all the inmates as mechnics/staff to make it better!

I can see di Resta staying there next season, but don’t feel he should. He’s had two years now, but what has he really done? Yes he’s had a few good races, but I have to echo exactly what @prisoner-monkeys and @raymondu999 have said about him.

Oh, and one last thing, @prisoner-monkeys – Sauber may have a tendency to ‘mature’ their drivers, but can you see Kaltenborn putting up with someone like Grosjean or Maldonado? ;) She’s a tough one, it’s how she got to where she is!

@prisoner-monkeys – Ma’s “trouble getting into Japan” might have something to do with the dispute between Japan and China over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. Don’t want to get too political, but let’s just say that the Japanese and Chinese peoples aren’t on the best of terms right now: anti-Japan riots in Chinese cities, and vice versa. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ma was singled out because of his nationality.

Back on topic, I think Hulkenberg chose Sauber for the same reason McLaren chose Perez, that is, there weren’t any better options. The top teams have more or less confirmed their driver line-ups for 2013. Mallya’s financial woes and arrest warrant could spell trouble for Force India. With Perez’s departure, there’s a free seat at Sauber, a team that has produced a podium-capable car. I see this as Hulkenberg, faced with limited avenues, taking the best possible way out. It may be a “step sideways” in the eyes of some, but it would seem to be in his best interests.