F1 Fanatic

Plus, well, you never know. A driver starting out as a pay-driver might end up surprising us. Perez was bashed for being a pay-driver.

Bruno Senna (who was apparently linked to the Force India drive) is now officially out of the running for the remaining F1 seats after announcing he will partner Frédéric Makowiecki in an Aston Martin in the GTE Pro class of the World Endurance Championship

From Marussia’s Twitter feed:

@Marussia_F1Team: We start today with the Official confirmation that we’re welcoming Luiz Razia back to our Team as Race Driver http://t.co/mJyzPJte

@tony031r – Just because the author of that article got the wrong information on the Senna source, that doesn’t automatically mean he got the information on Koabayshi wrong. Especially since Senna was speculated as being a contender for the Force India seat before the fake Tweet.

Plus, there’s absolutely nothing to suggest Kobayashi is anywhere near Force India’s shortlist. It makes as much sense / takes as much effort as linking Kovalainen or Petrov or whoever else to that seat.

Not to play the devil’s advocate, but drivers have been signed to teams they weren’t linked to during the silly season before. Granted, usually that goes for backmarkers, but I’m not too sure about Force India being a very financially stable outfit right now (personal opinion). Kobayashi might be interesting as he has some money and has shown in his two seasons with Perez he’s no joke. Of course, Japanese companies aren’t lining up to sponsor him due to their economy, but he is a popular driver who might help polish their name in Asia. Kovalainen has no sponsors and Petrov couldn’t out-bid van der Garde, probably because his sponsors were retreating. I’m not sure how seriously Kobayashi is rumored to join FI, but we’ve seen drivers do 180s on their position in F1 before.

It’s a interesting picture/fact. Why? Only one driver from generation 2000 driving today. Jenson Button. Other interesting fact is there’s no more drivers from the ’90-s driving today in F1.

I was thinking about this the other day, I have a lot of F1 magazines dated between 1998 and 2003 and I remember they universally panned Button prior to his first Grand Prix even. It’s odd for me to think that rookie, who was much too young for F1, etc, is now the most experienced guy on the grid.

James Allen is reporting one of the most interesting rumours in years:

#f1 There were some rumours around this morning that McLaren had bought Cosworth. These have been denied by McLaren sources.

— James Allen (@Jamesallenonf1) February 7, 2013

Yeah, I feel the same way. It seem far too late for McLaren to be acquiring Cosworth with a view to developing engines for 2014, particularly since there has been no word from Cosworth on their 2014 plans (though if McLaren are indeed purchasing them, then they would understandably remain quiet). It’s a definite wait-and-see scenario, but I just found it to be a very interesting rumour.

Oh… snap.

I normally do not participate in this pay driver debate all too often, but here I go;

What a bizarre sport this has become.

Imagine if the crappiest athlete was allowed to compete in the Olympics, because s/he had the money.
Imagine if the worst football player was allowed to play in the FIFA World Cup, because s/he had the money.
Imagine if the most useless Tennis player was allowed to participate in Wimbledon, because s/he had the money.
Imagine if the slowest cyclist was allowed to bike in Tour de France, because s/he had the money.

There would be an outrage. People would even refuse to call it a sport anymore.

Only in Formula 1, the one “sport” where money talks and big cash is chosen over raw talent and abilities.