Ok so we have the first one out of the way and its no real suprise who went. Hands up who really expected Karthikeyan to last the whole season at HRT? No didn't think so. His replacement is interesting though because by Ricciardio taking the HRT seat it seems to have taken the pressure off the Toro Rosso boys.
All the talk was that Jamie Alguersuari was for the boot after Silverstone and Ricciardio was in but he's scored Toro Rosso highest finishes of the season in his last 3 races and is now sitting one point clear of Buemi in the championship table. Has he now saved his career and will it at least keep him in the seat until the end of the year? In a dramatic change of fortunes he has to be eyeing up that second Red Bull seat next year with all the current Mark Webber fuss going on. Where does that leave Buemi? always the less favoured son at Toro Rosso but without fail has always got the better of his team-mate until now. If they feel Ricciardio isn't getting the experience he needs at HRT might they shuffle the moose out to give him a shot there?
What about the Force India situation? a few races back with thought Sutil was for the scrapheap and that Hulkenberg would be in but, a bit like Alguersuari, Sutil has suddenly clocked in some results which leaves him quite a bit clear of his team-mate Di Resta. Is Di Resta now under pressure? His qualifying has been exceptional but he only has 2 10th places to show for it which means points wise he's worse off to Sutil than Liuzzi was last year. Normally I'd say a rookie would be given a chance but with someone of the talent of Hulkenberg lurking in the garage you just never know.
A suprise candidate I'm going to put out there is Petrov. I thought he had a great start to the season but if you look he's only scored points once in the last 5 races - and that was at Canada when a huge chunk of the front runners went out. Compare this to Heidfeld who has scored points 4 times in the last 5 races and you can maybe see what I'm getting at. It was well known before these five races that Eric Boullier told Heidfeld to raise his game - the rumour behind that comment was Lotus Renualt's increasing money problems and the fact that Bruno Senna is sitting there with a big load of sponsership behind him looking for a drive. I know Petrov brings in money too but you have to wonder if Senna will bring in more. He's been very active in the media this season and there is obviously a big PR campaign to get him a drive - could Petrov be the suprise exit?
The only other obvious candidate for being dropped I see is Jarno Trulli - although he seems a bit more awake this season he's not covered himself in glory since his move to Lotus and has been really shown up by Kovi. Trulli is probably wondering about retirement anyway and with Chandock as the test driver, another media campaigner, you have to wonder whether by the time the Indian GP comes around Trulli might be out the seat.
Thoughts on this? any other candidates for the chop? Do we see Sakon Yamamoto buying his way back into another seat? anyone?
All the talk was that Jamie Alguersuari was for the boot after Silverstone and Ricciardio was in but he's scored Toro Rosso highest finishes of the season in his last 3 races and is now sitting one point clear of Buemi in the championship table. Has he now saved his career and will it at least keep him in the seat until the end of the year? In a dramatic change of fortunes he has to be eyeing up that second Red Bull seat next year with all the current Mark Webber fuss going on. Where does that leave Buemi? always the less favoured son at Toro Rosso but without fail has always got the better of his team-mate until now. If they feel Ricciardio isn't getting the experience he needs at HRT might they shuffle the moose out to give him a shot there?
What about the Force India situation? a few races back with thought Sutil was for the scrapheap and that Hulkenberg would be in but, a bit like Alguersuari, Sutil has suddenly clocked in some results which leaves him quite a bit clear of his team-mate Di Resta. Is Di Resta now under pressure? His qualifying has been exceptional but he only has 2 10th places to show for it which means points wise he's worse off to Sutil than Liuzzi was last year. Normally I'd say a rookie would be given a chance but with someone of the talent of Hulkenberg lurking in the garage you just never know.
A suprise candidate I'm going to put out there is Petrov. I thought he had a great start to the season but if you look he's only scored points once in the last 5 races - and that was at Canada when a huge chunk of the front runners went out. Compare this to Heidfeld who has scored points 4 times in the last 5 races and you can maybe see what I'm getting at. It was well known before these five races that Eric Boullier told Heidfeld to raise his game - the rumour behind that comment was Lotus Renualt's increasing money problems and the fact that Bruno Senna is sitting there with a big load of sponsership behind him looking for a drive. I know Petrov brings in money too but you have to wonder if Senna will bring in more. He's been very active in the media this season and there is obviously a big PR campaign to get him a drive - could Petrov be the suprise exit?
The only other obvious candidate for being dropped I see is Jarno Trulli - although he seems a bit more awake this season he's not covered himself in glory since his move to Lotus and has been really shown up by Kovi. Trulli is probably wondering about retirement anyway and with Chandock as the test driver, another media campaigner, you have to wonder whether by the time the Indian GP comes around Trulli might be out the seat.
Thoughts on this? any other candidates for the chop? Do we see Sakon Yamamoto buying his way back into another seat? anyone?