Much has been made of Giancarlo Fisichella moving to Ferrari to replace the injured Felipe Massa.
But what of the 2 drivers who were unceremoniously sacked by their teams due to their (presumably) poor performance?
I refer of course to Sébastien Bourdais and Nelsinho Piquet.
Bourdais was replaced at Toro Ross by Jaime Alguersuari after Germany and Piquet at Renault by Romain Grosjean after Hungary.
So how have the replacements performed?
Have they done a better job thereby justifying their promotions?
The following tables show the qualifying position, race result and points for all 4 drivers.
In addition, the 2 team mates, Sébastien Buemi and Fernando Alonso have also been included to be able to make a direct comparison.
Qualifying
[bg=#FFCC66]Gold background[/bg] indicates Pole Position
Red text indicates a problem or penalty
Race
[bg=#FFCC66]Gold background[/bg] indicates Pole Position
Red text indicates Fastest Lap
Points
[bg=#FFCC66]Gold background[/bg] indicates Pole Position
Red text indicates Fastest Lap
As can be clearly seen, neither of the replacements have performed significantly better or worse than the drivers they replaced.
Were Renault and Toro Rosso therefore correct to sack the 2 drivers bearing in mind there is a testing ban which has resulted in 2 rookies with no track time at all coming in halfway through a season?
But what of the 2 drivers who were unceremoniously sacked by their teams due to their (presumably) poor performance?
I refer of course to Sébastien Bourdais and Nelsinho Piquet.
Bourdais was replaced at Toro Ross by Jaime Alguersuari after Germany and Piquet at Renault by Romain Grosjean after Hungary.
So how have the replacements performed?
Have they done a better job thereby justifying their promotions?
The following tables show the qualifying position, race result and points for all 4 drivers.
In addition, the 2 team mates, Sébastien Buemi and Fernando Alonso have also been included to be able to make a direct comparison.
Qualifying
Driver | Aus | Mal | Chn | Bhr | Spn | Mon | Tur | Gbr | Ger | Hun | Eur | Bel | Ita | Sin | Jpn | Bra | Abu |
Fernando Alonso | 10 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 12 | ||
Romain Grosjean | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 14 | 19 | 12 | 19 | 18 | ||
Nelsinho Piquet | 14 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 15 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Jaime Alguersuari | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 20 | 19 | 17 | 20 | 17 | 15 | ||
Sébastien Bourdais | 17 | 15 | 15 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 20 | 17 | 19 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Sébastien Buemi | 13 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 18 | 20 | 17 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 14 | 10 |
Red text indicates a problem or penalty
Race
Driver | Aus | Mal | Chn | Bhr | Spn | Mon | Tur | Gbr | Ger | Hun | Eur | Bel | Ita | Sin | Jpn | Bra | Abu |
Fernando Alonso | 5 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 7 | RET | 6 | RET | 5 | 3 | 10 | ||
Romain Grosjean | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 15 | RET | 15 | RET | 16 | ||
Nelsinho Piquet | RET | 13 | 16 | 10 | 12 | RET | 16 | 12 | 13 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Jaime Alguersuari | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 15 | 16 | RET | RET | RET | RET | ||
Sébastien Bourdais | 8 | 10 | 11 | 13 | RET | 8 | 18 | RET | RET | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Sébastien Buemi | 7 | 16 | 8 | 17 | RET | RET | 15 | 18 | 16 | 16 | RET | 12 | 13 | RET | RET |
Red text indicates Fastest Lap
Points
Driver | Aus | Mal | Chn | Bhr | Spn | Mon | Tur | Gbr | Ger | Hun | Eur | Bel | Ita | Sin | Jpn | Bra | Abu | Total |
Fernando Alonso | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 26 | |||||||||
Romain Grosjean | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
Nelsinho Piquet | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
Jaime Alguersuari | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
Sébastien Bourdais | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
Sébastien Buemi | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Red text indicates Fastest Lap
As can be clearly seen, neither of the replacements have performed significantly better or worse than the drivers they replaced.
Were Renault and Toro Rosso therefore correct to sack the 2 drivers bearing in mind there is a testing ban which has resulted in 2 rookies with no track time at all coming in halfway through a season?