Things ... 2015 - 2016 Silly Season. The Drivers Market.

[Il_leone]

RasputinLives That might explain why HMRC gave Lotus until next week to pay the outstanding tax bill of £900,000

I only read about Grosjean on James Allen's article about the situation at Red Bull and Audi and how it affects Renault moving forward

 

[RasputinLives]

Yeah I'm never sure about Allen. The Renault news came from Brundle.

 

[Il_leone]

Why Romain Grosjean could join Haas even if Renault buy Lotus

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well the final driver line ups will be filled up then at Haas and Lotus/ Renault and i expect Mclaren will once again be the last team to announce their line up which really they should do it soon given they need to focus on next season

Another one of Ron's stupid decisions if they keep delaying

 

[Incubus]

Renault are believed to have bought the Enstone team as of midnight on Friday.

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If that were the case surely the team would have had to change its name there and then - and have it FIA-registered under that name?

 

[RasputinLives]

No. FIA registration has nothing to do with ownership whatsoever. If I suddenly bought Mclaren tomorrow it wouldn't have to change its name. It would still be Mclaren - I'd just be the 100% shareholder instead of Mr Dennis.

If Renault has bought the Enstone team the legal entity is still the Enstone team. I'm not sure on the regs the FIA has on logging shareholders and ownership but even if something had to be filed it doesn't mean they'd make it public.

 

[Greenlantern101]

Il_leone
JB said he would sit down with the team at Suzuka to decide his future. Interview on sky.

 

[Road of Bones]

Lotus confirms Maldonado for 2016 - AUTOSPORT

 

[Il_leone]

Road of Bones as summed up by this article

Pastor Maldonado Will Continue Funding And Crashing Lotus F1 Cars In 2016

I guess this is confirmation that the team will be still named Lotus and be officially named Renault in 2017 then when his contract expires.

 

[Il_leone]

Greenlantern101 It sounds like he's going to hang up his helmet judging by the rumours spreading today

 

[Greenlantern101]

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

I never get that - does it matter where they announce it? Will the whole of Mexico cheer louder and generally feel warmer and fuzzier if it's announced when he's in Mexico?

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Force India have confirmed Perez for 2016.

 

[RasputinLives]

Haas have called a press conference on Tuesday to announce their driver line up

Haas F1 will make a driver announcement on Tuesday

Very media savy.

 

[Il_leone]

RasputinLives When is the US GP ? I thought that would be the time to announce it ? I think the rumours have been hotting up recently about Grosjean so they need to make it clear. Interesting to see who his teammate will be ? It seems to be assumed its Gutierrez?



Drivers linked with Manor in 2016

Will Stevens - Made F1 debut with Caterham at 2014 Abu Dhabi GP. Contested 11 GPs for Manor in 2015 with a best finish of 15th.

Roberto Merhi - 2011 F3 Euro Series champion. Finished third in Formula Renault 3.5 in 2014. Competed in 11 GPs for Manor during 2015 with a best finish of 12th.

Alexander Rossi - GP2 title contender in 2015. Made F1 debut as a test driver with Caterham in P1 at 2012 Spanish GP. Tested for BMW Sauber in 2009 earning super licence. Contested first F1 race with Manor in Singapore.

Pascal Wehrlein - Mercedes F1 reserve driver. Leading 2015 DTM championship. Tested for both Mercedes and Force India this year.

Kevin Magnussen - McLaren reserve driver. Competed in F1 during 2014, finishing second on his debut in Australia. 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 champion.

Stoffel Vandoorne - McLaren junior driver. Dominating GP2 championship in 2015. Runner-up in Formula Renault 3.5 and GP2 in maiden campaigns. Tested for McLaren during Austrian in-season test.

Max Chilton - Former Marussia F1 driver. Has raced at Le Mans with Nissan and in Indy Lights with Carlin in 2015.

Fabio Leimer - Current Manor reserve driver. 2013 GP2 champion.

Raffaele Marciello - Ferrari junior driver. Currently test driver with Sauber and drove during P1 in Malaysia, Spain and Great Britain. 2013 European F3 champion.

Esteban Ocon - Mercedes junior driver. Made F1 debut during P1 with Lotus at 2014 Abu Dhabi GP. 2014 European F3 champion. Currently second in GP3 Series.

 

[RasputinLives]

The Manor thing depends on which engine they go for (apparently they've been offered all of them!)

 

[Incubus]

In their position I'd take all of them. The Merc and Ferrari to go racing with and the other two for barbecues.

 

[Il_leone]

I guess Manor would want a discount on the engine to go with the driver. Part of the reason why Force India did not name Wehrlein was because the asking price for a Merc engine was too much for the team and taken on an unknown like Wehrlien. Having named Hulkenberg as their driver Force India must have been hoping that with a German driver already Mercedes would budge

So having not been able to convince Force India to take Wehrlein because they did not reduce the price of the engines.. how is Toto suppose to convince Manor who are more cash strapped to pay for a Merc engine then and take on Wehrlein?

 

[RasputinLives]

The Manor Merc deal is pretty set by the sounds of things so they must have figured something out.

Are the prices teams pay for engines actually made public?

 

[Greenlantern101]

Manor won't of been offered the Honda engine? Thought they were sticking with just Mclaren next year.

 

[Incubus]

Autosport are claiming the Grosjean to Haas deal is done and dusted...