2014 driver line up market

[Greenlantern101]

Oh well at least he has a drive. We can only hope Force India produce a decent car next year.

 

[FB]

As the defacto Mercedes B team I think he will be in a good position to pick up a seat at Merc should Rosberg or Hamilton jump ship for 2015.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

If Mercedes do have an engine advantage (according to some reports) then it could be a good option. I bet FI will be as unexciting as this year though (and the last, and the one before that, etc.).

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Is that all seats confirmed now or is it just Sauber and Marussia still with the maybes.

 

[sushifiesta]

Off the top of my head I think the seats still to be confirmed are: Force India x 1, Sauber x 2, Caterham x 2, Marussia x 1.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Probably Perez will be in the other Force India seat...

 

[RasputinLives]

My money is on Van Der Garde as his father-in-law just bought a chunk of FI.

Although I've also heard Marcus Erikson is in the running.

I'm just preying Sauber don't sign Sutil.

 

[Greenlantern101]

Current situation as I understand it.

Redbull - Vettel & Ricciardo
Ferrari - Alonso & Kimi
Mercedes - Hamilton & Rosberg
McLaren - Magnussen & Jenson
Lotus - Maldonado & Grosjean
TorroRosso - Kvyat & Verne
Williams - Massa & Bottas
Caterham - TBC & TBC
Force India - Hulkenberg & TBC
Sauber - TBC & TBC
Marrusia - Bianchi & TBC

 

[Bill Boddy]

The only reason that I can think of for Hamilton or Rosberg jumping ship FB is because the Mercedes board has finally stated the enough is enough (as they have threatened to unless there is much more success). In that case who would want to go there?

 

[RasputinLives]

F1 Fanatic states he has a contract so lists him as confirmed

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014-f1-season/drivers-teams/

I haven't seen it formerly announced anywhere yet but either they don't feel the need too or since Brawn went no one knows whose job it is too announce it.

I can't really see a 'Merc drop Rosberg for shock Ralf Schumacher come back' headline happening I'm afraid.

 

[gethinceri]

But what if di Resta's ready for Merc?

 

[downforce]

I wonder if Hulkenburg will ever get into a good car.

 

[Il_leone]

downforce My view exactly seeing Pastor Maldonado has denied him two drives already in his career.. if Hulkenberg had the Williams last year he would have finished higher than 15th in the championship in fact both Di Resta and Hulkenberg have finished ahead of Pastor Maldonado for the last two years yet the latter is the one who gets the drives

 

[Il_leone]

RasputinLives It seems like Marussia are looking at merging with one other team when last week it was apparently with Sauber and recently Toto admitted Williams and Marussia

- Sauber will sign one established / experienced driver and it seems like Sutil will get the nod unless someone comes in with more money than him

- Perez looks like he's got the Force India drive which will might save Whitmarsh's bacon seeing now he looks a bit desperate in his relentless pursuit of Alonso

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What happen to Heikki going back to Caterham??

Looks like Di Resta is out of F1 unless something freakish happens to one of the drivers on the current grid !

 

[Mephistopheles]

The only reason that I can think of for Hamilton or Rosberg jumping ship FB is because the Mercedes board has finally stated the enough is enough (as they have threatened to unless there is much more success). In that case who would want to go there?

Maybe Brawn leaving is the first sign of the rot setting in, you know what they say about Ross's abandoning a sinking ship....

The Germans are fairly cut throat about this sort of thing they are either in or they are out they don't do half measures or grey areas...

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

@ScarbsF1 reports that Gutierrez visited Caterham recently. Need to spread these rumours!

 

[Slyboogy]

Merging teams is a bit of dumb move.

 

[Fenderman]

Mergers are bad enough in businesses in the outside world let alone for teams in F1. I've not heard of a merger yet that didn't result in lay-offs of staff and the eventual subsuming of one or more of the "constituent entities". Usually it is the bigger and fitter organisation that swallows up the smaller. At its worst a merger is just a vehicle for an asset stripping exercise. With f1 teams restricted in size by the regulations that means job losses on the front line. What happens back at the factories is anybody's guess but I suspect jobs will go there as well. So much for an economic upturn, eh chaps?

 

[gethinceri]

Not sure it has much to do with an economic upturn, downturn or stasis. It's more like a failure to deliver on the promises made to investors, I'm not familiar with many of the livery sponsors of Marussia so they've failed to make an impact on me, I wonder what return on investment companies such as JCC, VPS.net and others expected but none of my GBP went their way.
Victims of their own inadequacies, I fear, and it's a shame because i like to see a bigger grid with more teams.

 

[jez101]

Does anyone want to try and make a case for Di Resta on the basis that he pretty much matched Hulkenberg for most of the time they were team mates? So why is one of them the subject of so many bad luck stories while the other is having to leave F1 because he's not good enough?

Lets see Hulk vs Perez and then decide whether he is a great driver without a great car. For me, Nico has to win that comprehensively to justify the acclaim. Maybe Perez wins with a draw though, if you see what I mean.