F1 Fanatic

DAMS is reporting that Valsecchi has been announced as Lotus’ 3rd driver

Well done to our champion @davidevalsecchi just announced as 3rd driver of @lotus_f1team

— Dams racing (@damsracing) January 28, 2013

Not so good for GP2 to have its champion not racing.

That seems to be a trend, both with Italian GP2 champions and any winner or a feeder series without huge sponsors backing him, sadly.

In Dutch news, Robin Frijns has said he hopes to get some clarification on his exact role as Sauber test driver this month, traveling to Winhill. He said it looks like he won’t do any running until the Young Drivers’ Test and Sauber doesn’t have a simulator for him to work with either.

@Prisoner_Monkeys
You have to understand the Dutch media; they’re essentially Italians, but without the harsh words. We still think we’re the greatest when there’s a Dutch success in a sport, but Verstappen has been written off countless times since 1995, but they would also herald him as a future world champion when he tested with Honda in 1999. Ever since, Honda ‘owed’ him something, much like they talk about FI ‘owing’ Giedo something. But, they’re already panning Frijns as well; he made a mistake, should have stayed in WSR, signed at Red Bull, etc, etc.

We collectively don’t talk about Albers anymore, either. He used to dominate TV broadcasting with odd English slogans (he got paid by his sponsors to say ‘Maximum Attack’ as often as possible) and arrogant statements about deserving a better drive.

Whatever is happening to Force India? Surely they aren’t going to launch the VJM06 before even announcing their 2013 drivers’ line up? I do predict that something big is going on at Force India.

A brand new team owner is almost a given considering Vijay Mallya’s current state. However, perhaps there will be a big surprise in the drivers duo too?

I wouldn’t be betting on Di Resta being safe either. He’s been in F1 for two seasons now, and on both occasions beaten by his teammate.

Random fact: if the Van der Garde rumours are true, then Caterham will feature Barwa Addax’s 2011 GP2 line-up.

Hmm, according to Dutch media, an announcement from Vd Garde is imminent. @Andae23: hopefully Giedo is just as succesful in the Caterham as you are this season! ;)

@Matthijs – and according to the Brazilian media Razia has signed with Marussia, but that isn’t confirmed either…However, both moves are likely. That means 2 more paying drivers on the grid and 4 drivers who (in my opinion) did not deserve to exit the sport: Kobayashi, Kovalainen, Glock and Petrov.

In these conditions, I’d love to see Force India go for Sutil instead of Bianchi. Break the cycle, throw an actually experienced driver in the mix once in while…

@Matthijs I’m not questioning their abilities, I’m questioning their level of experience and their lack of refined skills.

Plus, both backmarkers are going for line-ups consisting in 3 rookie drivers and one with little-to-no experience at all. I’m seriously questioning whether these teams will have any stable reference points in terms of what their cars’ performance and potential are, now that Glock and Kovalainen are gone.