F1 Fanatic

Citroen have confirmed Sebastien Ogier will leave the team and be replaced by Mikko Hirvonen:

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/16112011/2/rallying-hirvonen-joins-citroen-loeb-team-mate.html

Citroen don’t want to upset Loeb so they’ve got rid of his team mate who caused him a few headaches this year.

And Hirvonen is apparently happy to kowtow as Loeb’s number two, presumably hoping he’ll hang up his helmet in a few years time.

Can’t say I’m particularly impressed with either party. Wonder where Ogier will end up?

Wasn’t Ogier meant to be the next big thing?

Maybe Ogiers friend taking Leob out of the last rally, on the public road, was the last straw. :D

Seriously, I am surprised.
But then 8 years of dominance by Loeb, I guess you have to take the opportunity of at least having the same equipment to try and beat Loeb. I don’t blame Hirvonen for trying.
But really a number 2 driver to Loeb? Do they really exist in WRC?
Unless its the final stage and it would be a Citroen 1-2 result anyway, I can’t see them asking Hirvonen to pull over for Loeb.
I’d be annoyed if they did.

Unless a number 2 driver gets 2nd dibs at any spares mid rally?

What if Hirvonen doesn’t comply? Would Citroen drop him after the season starts?
You can’t rely on anything in WRC. There are too many risks to not have both drivers doing well. It only takes a DNF to put your championship into difficulty, if your main opponent is consistent.

What if both drivers can win the title in the final rally and Loeb was leading the standings, would they ask Hirvonen to back off? Well they can ask, but what right minded rally driver would?

Maybe Citroen are just going to assume that Loeb will beat Hirvonen well enough to not have to make these decisions. For one thing Hirvonen should be more consistent than Ogier on past form. But, I reckon Citroen are in for a shock. Hirvonen has a real shot now to get his WRC title.

I don’t like this news at all. I’ve grown fond of Ogier.

Can’t say I’m particularly impressed with either party.

I think it’s a mistake by Hirvonen. If he wants a World Championship, he’s not going to get one at Citroen while Loeb is still there because he simply won’t be allowed to. He’s become the Irvine/Barrichello/Massa of the WRC.

It would have been a much, much smarter move by Citroen to try and pick up a promising talent – someone who is fast, and will one day win championships, but won’t be an immediate threat to Loeb’s position. Mads Ostberg, Ott Tanak and Dennis Kuipers would all be good choices. But then, I suppose they did that with Ogier and he threatened Loeb in his first full season with the Citroen works team.

I can understand a team favouring a driver halfway through a season, particularly based on their results to date. But Citroen favour Loeb from the outset, and whoever teams up with him is expected to support him from the shakedown of the first rally to the power stage of the final round. And it’s not like McLaren, where everyone assumed Jenson Button would get thrashed by Hamilton – this is Citroen’s policy.

I hope Sebastien Ogier ends up Hirvonen’s seat alongside Latvala. That’s a team I can support.

As opposed to already being team leader at Ford?

Maybe he sees the DS3 as being more competitive, but he was a title contender in the Fiesta simply by finishing rallies.

Perhaps Citroen have learned from the Ogier incidents that holding their second driver back, and Hirvonen will have more freedom within the team.

Maybe Citroen didn’t drop Ogier; rather, Ogier dropped Citroen after the way he was treated. I could see VW jumping at the chance to run a driver like Ogier at selected events in 2012 for their development program, with Ogier driving a customer Citroen at every other round (as part of a severance package from Citroen). Ogier could then spearhead VW’s 2013 campaign.

But I’m still doubtful.

I don’t know, @journeyer – the John Cooper Works Mini WRC is a pretty competitive package, even with Sordo and Meeke (who, while good, are not top-tier drivers). Since they’re planning a full WRC campaign in 2012, I would not be surprised if Dave Richards made Ogier an offer. Especially since some of Malcolm Wilson’s comments about Hirvonen’s departure suggest that Ford might pull factory funding, and instead just run privateer Fiestas. If that’s the case, Mini is probably the closest thing to a factory drive that Ogier could hope for.