Pre-Season 2013 Season

[RasputinLives]

teabagyokel - Grosjean has a 2 year contract I think and is def with the team for next year.

Kimi has one year left on his Lotus contract and a long history with Red Bull so I'm pretty sure he'll fill one of the Red Bull seats for 2014 but he'll be there stop-gap fill. Maybe now we understand why they were so keen to throw Riccdiardo and Vergne into the Toro Rosso's so quickly. Gives them 2 seasons to see if they're good enough for the upgrade.

Silly as it may sound you have to think if they can stop crashing then Maldo and Grosjean might get it. Di Resta and Hulk of course and lets remember Nico Rosberg's contract runs out at end of 2013. Next years silly season will be just as mental it seems.

 

[Brogan]

There are growing rumours that Hulkenberg or di Resta could replace Massa.

They have both done the same number of races as Perez though so I'm not sure how that ties with Domenicali's comments on why Perez was unsuitable.

 

[RasputinLives]

Funny. Does anyone remember way back in 2008 Will Weber saying Nico Hulkenberg would be a Ferrari driver by 2013?

The only possible reason I can see for them not taking Perez but taking Hulk or Di Resta is that Telex would have wanted title sponsor if Ferrari hadn't taken him and they couldn't give them that.

 

[Mephistopheles]

teabagyokel about your driver line up, hasn't Max Chilton been confirmed for Marussia?

 

[RasputinLives]

Mephistopheles nope he's been confirmed as there test driver for rest of the season

 

[Slyboogy]

There seem to be a lot of reports Petrov has lost a lot of his Russian backing, and is probably out of a drive next season, the team though seem happy with him, but there were lot of rumours that Alguersuari had the seat secured, he may have changed his mind though and got into negotiations with Sauber though.

Only time will tell.

 

[Viscount]

So usually at least 2 drivers from GP2 graduate to Formula One each year, with one of the two generally being the GP2 champion (apart from Giorgio Pantano) as the champion can't return to GP2. So any ideas where Davide Valsecchi will be going?

 

[Westy]

I'd love to see Alguersuari in the Sauber seat. I always liked him as a driver.

I know that the silly season can get kind of crazy, and some drivers that deserve a drive loose out due to not having enough money. But it is always fun to think about next year's driver line ups and picking the best places for your favorite drivers.

 

[Slyboogy]

Well Algusuari does have some financial backing, I suspect that's why he was in the hunt for the Caterham drive as Petrov has lost his backing but is faring well against Kovalainen.

 

[RasputinLives]

If Petrov has lost his backing I'd put my money on Caterham promoting Luca Razia from GP2 as they have already given him plenty of track time and he comes with a healthy amount of Brazilian finacial backing

 

[Josh]

Scarbs has compared the 2012 tech regs to the 2013 regs and he's found a few small changes:

- The neutral centre front wing cannot be used as a duct, so Mercedes style nose-hole fed stalling front wings are a no-no.

- Also the 3mm tolerance for the floor explicitly says it cannot be used for aero advantage as Mac were rumored to have done with their T-Tray

- The upright must be mounted with no more than 6 suspension members. i.e. top wishbone-2, bottom wishbone-2, trackrod-1 and push\pull rod-1

- Also the detail of when DRS can be used has been removed, presumably moved to the sporting regs?

(posted on Twitter)

EDIT: Oh, he's also done a piece on his site.

 

[RasputinLives]

Van Der Garde has to be an outside bet for the Caterham drive as he's flashing his cash about to get himself a Friday P1 session - comes with backing and has had reasonable results in GP2 so he might help TF pay for those Renualt engines.

 

[Viscount]

Wasn't sure where to post this, but settled for here. Some comments from Helmut Marko on Hamilton's move.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/marko-happy-hamilton-leaving-mclaren/

Niki has done us a favour, he has weakened Lewis and McLaren.
Next year, we have two opponents less.

 

[Brogan]

Makes sense to me.

 

[The Pits]

It makes sense at face value, but also could end up being the kind of comment you may end up eating.

 

[Brogan]

The FIA have released an updated version of the calendar
<snip>
16/06 Grand Prix of Jersey (New York) *
<snip>

New Jersey has been postponed to 2014 according to Ecclestone so we are back down to 19 races.

I expect there will be more changes before the calendar is finalised, as usual.

 

[mjo]

Yep - the calendar will be finalised in December at an FIA world council meeting.

 

[teabagyokel]

mjo - If the FIA have the delusions of grandeur I expect them to, they'll soon be confirming that the calendar starts with 1 January.

 

[Kamui-FastestChefInTheWorld]

So, only 19 races? Can they go to Spa twice then?

 

[Andy Karter]

So, only 19 races? Can they go to Spa twice then?

Sounds good to me, either that or Brazil to keep it in the Americas.