2011 Silly Season

[FB]

Some teams have confirmed their driver line-ups for 2011 but, as we all know, a contract in F1 is rarely worth the paper it's written on so here's a place to post rumours and speculation for 2011. The line-ups we know are:

McLaren - Button & Hamilton
Red Bull - Vettel & Webber
Ferrari - Alonso & Massa (?)
Williams - Barrichello & Hulkenberg
Mercedes - Rosberg & Schumacher

Kubica will probably stay at Renault as there isn't another "serious" seat available which leaves the various seats at the Div 2 & 3 teams up for grabs.

Heidfeld must be on radar for some of the teams as he's the only one who knows how the Pirelli tyres perform. Petrov to Lotus along with Renault engines is a pretty strong rumour so who would take his seat at the Renault works team? Will Torro Rosso continue with the same pairing or will Red Bull parachute in another "graduate" driver? Will Sutil stick with FI? Will FI stick with Liuzzi? Where to for Glock? Will Hispania survive at all?

All rumours and gossip welcomed.

 

[tooncheese]

Initially it was thought that Glock or Sutil would replace Petrov, but it seems that Renault bosses are pleased with his recent good form - and the money he's bringing from Russia

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

IF (and it would be a very big IF if only I knew how to make text bigger... ooh, just found out), Mark Webber were to win the WDC this season, might he then retire, leaving a space at Red Bull? In which case, might someone like Nick Heidfeld be a candidate, or would they stick to their internal promotion strategy and go for either Algersuari or Buemi?

I wonder too whether Kubica will replace Massa at Ferrari; maybe he will, but not till 2012. Or maybe Alonso would veto such a move.

 

[MajorDanby]

I can't see Mark retiring chadders. The RB07 is likely to be a very good car, I think Mark will see two in a row if he wins this year.

Oh loving the big IF, by the way

 

[teabagyokel]

Silly season... This thread has been Sensible Season thus far...

Car numbers by Current WCC & WDC Positions

3 Vettel
4 Buemi
5 Button
6 Kobayashi
7 Alonso
8 Webber
9 M Schumacher
10 R Schumacher
1 Hamilton
2 Kubica
11 Rosberg
12 Chandhok
14 Hulkenburg
15 Sutil
16 Petrov
17 Maldonado
18 Algersuari
19 Hartley
20 Kovalainen
21 Fauzy
22 Glock
23 di Grassi
24 Lopez
25 Yamamoto

That is a silly season!

 

[Grizzly]

9 M Schumacher
10 R Schumacher

Silly pairing... Everyone knows matter and anti-matter cannot exist in the same team. duh!

 

[teabagyokel]

9 M Schumacher
10 R Schumacher

Silly pairing... Everyone knows matter and anti-matter cannot exist in the same team. duh!

 

[MajorDanby]

TBY, why do the images you post always have the little caption below them? I've been wondering about that for the longest time.

 

[teabagyokel]

There is a comment section on the upload file thing at the bottom of this screen.

And back on topic, Michael was a bad idea; there's only one way to make it worse Grizzly!

 

[Grizzly]

9 M Schumacher
10 R Schumacher

Silly pairing... Everyone knows matter and anti-matter cannot exist in the same team. duh!

McLaren should have known better

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

There was a rumour (mischief making no more no less) on another forum suggesting that Hulkenberg might be headed to Mclaren. Ridiculous as that might seem, it did remind me of my hope that should Lewis ever decide to leave Macca, he would go to Williams and help revive their fotunes in the same way MS did at Ferrari a few years back.
And wouldn't 2011, IF he were to become a 2x champ this season, be the ideal time for such a move?

 

[teabagyokel]

If I were Lewis I wouldn't want to waste time. Worked for the Schu though!

 

[MCLS]

IF , Mark Webber were to win the WDC this season, might he then retire, leaving a space at Red Bull? In which case, might someone like Nick Heidfeld be a candidate, or would they stick to their internal promotion strategy and go for either Algersuari or Buemi?
.

Algersuari in a Red Bull Not yet anyway, same with Buemi, they are too inexperienced to make the jump up, Vettel was the exception, but then the 2008 Torro Rosso was a very good car towards the end.

 

[fat jez]

Vettel was the exception

I think there are those who might question that, based on this year's performance

 

[MCLS]

Vettel was the exception

I think there are those who might question that, based on this year's performance

Compared to the likes of the recent Torro Rosso drivers

 

[fat jez]

Compared to the likes of the recent Torro Rosso drivers

Put it this way, had Vettel still been driving a TR, he would most likely not have been in a position to drive into the side of either Button or Webber this season, hence my comment about whether he is really ready for the step up he received.

 

[MCLS]

Compared to the likes of the recent Torro Rosso drivers

Put it this way, had Vettel still been driving a TR, he would most likely not have been in a position to drive into the side of either Button or Webber this season, hence my comment about whether he is really ready for the step up he received.

That brings us back to the car v driver argument again, look at 2009, Hamilton and Alonso down in 15th and 16th, and in 2007 and 2008 with Barrichello and Button at the back of the grid regularly but now 3 of them are in the championship hunt (Button and Alonso less so after Spa)

 

[fat jez]

That brings us back to the car v driver argument again, look at 2009, Hamilton and Alonso down in 15th and 16th, and in 2007 and 2008 with Barrichello and Button at the back of the grid regularly but now 3 of them are in the championship hunt (Button and Alonso less so after Spa)

I'm not sure what your point is here? I don't think anyone would suggest that Hamilton, Alonso, Barichello or Button deserved the car they were driving. However, I believe there are those that would say that Vettel doesn't deserve to be driving the car he is, with the mistakes he makes.

 

[MCLS]

I'm not sure what your point is here? I don't think anyone would suggest that Hamilton, Alonso, Barichello or Button deserved the car they were driving. However, I believe there are those that would say that Vettel doesn't deserve to be driving the car he is, with the mistakes he makes.

I'm just saying that in 2008 that Torro Rosso was a good car but as Bourdais showed, he wasn't up to the task, Vettel is the only one who regulary scored points for them. Im not trying to defend him or anything, and whether he deserves the Red Bull car is another matter entirily, but IMO Vettel is better than Alguesari...........at the moment anyway......

 

[teabagyokel]

That brings us back to the car v driver argument again, look at 2009, Hamilton and Alonso down in 15th and 16th, and in 2007 and 2008 with Barrichello and Button at the back of the grid regularly but now 3 of them are in the championship hunt (Button and Alonso less so after Spa)

Of course you must talk about context.

Both Alonso and Hamilton demolished their respective team-mates in 2009. Hamilton scored 49 of McLaren's 71 points, including drives in Australia and Bahrain that took that particular McLaren way past where it should have been. Alonso got podia in a car no-one else scored a point in.

In 2008, Seb Vettel scored 35 out of Toro Rosso's 37 points, which included a race victory at the Italian Grand Prix. You may say the STR was a decent car but Monza aside, Seb Bourdais best grid slot was 9th, Vettel was higher than that on 5 occasions (not including Monza) and outqualified him.

Clearly the driver can only drive what he is given but he can affect what he is given too.