So rumours of the everyones favourite Swiss Formula One team were greatly aggregated and all it took was a sponsorship deal to bring in the planned upgrades and the team have jumped back up the order. What won't have escaped the notice of the powers of be at Sauber is that this phoenix from the flames act has been spearheaded by a driver with a point to prove, namely Mr Hulkenberg. In fact if you look back at the history of Sauber their general rule for success has been to have a semi decent car driven by a guy out to prove he is better than a Sauber seat. Be it Hulk, Perez, Kobayashi, Massa, Frentzen etc etc. Now that is all well and good and a great way for a small team to get success. The problem is they are in danger of not having that for next season.
Martin Brundle told us today that he'd been told in private that Nico Hulkenberg had signed a contract for next season with a 'team'. He wouldn't say which but the jist is its not Sauber, which is what we all expected anyways, but it pushes Sauber closer into having to make a tough decision on what to do with their driver line-up.
Part of Saubers problem is in the shape of Esteban Guttierrez. Guttierrez has actually been part of the Sauber team for 3 years now with this being his first season as full driver. As so far it has not been a stunning season from him but, credit where credit is due, Guttierrez has gradually improved as the car has improved. In recent Grand Prix's he's had 2 trips to Q3 and a stand out performance in Japan with a 7th place where we saw him start to mix it up with the big names. Those performances, along with a pretty strong junior record, should be enough for him to graduate to a sink or swim second year in normal circumstances. Unfortunately these aren't normal circumstances and Guttierrez fight back might be for nothing as, due to their new Russian sponsor, Sauber seem determined to run 17 year old Sergey Sirotkin. Whether Sirotkin should be in the seat is another question, he does have speed but very little experience, but that appears to be the way its going to go. Now Sauber can not expect that it will be Sirotkin playing the Hulkenberg role and scoring them the big finishes that push them up the constructors table so they have to expect that from the other driver. Will they gamble on Guttierrez becoming that driver? Its would not be a huge shock if he was to go on next season and start to be someone capable of dicing with the big boys and getting them results. However it would not be a huge shock if he floundered and couldn't keep up with the pace either. I'd say it was 50/50 and would Sauber be prepared to take that gamble?
I guess to answer that you have to look who else is on the market. I think most people expected they might got with Jules Bianchi who has impressed further down the field, but with him confirmed at Marussia for next year he looks to be out the running. So who's left that could fill the Hulkenberg role? Not a lot of names jumping ut at you are there? If Sauber can't find the young charger then how about an old one with a point to prove? Felipe Massa returning to his old team to try and show up his old employers instantly springs to mind but isn't he a big a gamble as Guttierrez? You can say the same about Kovalienen. Pastor Maldonado has grumbled somewhat at Williams and has a big chunk of cash and might do the job for Sauber but could they afford the repair bills and could Pastor swing a new deal for his sponsorship? One option that might fall their way is Sergio Perez who rumours suggest is on his way out at McLaren, you would have to question how motivated Sergio would be to be back at his old team so quickly. But if we're on the looking back theme maybe their answer was sitting in the Ferrari garage this weekend in the former of Kamui Kobayashi.
What the solution is I don't know but it seems obvious to keep the car semi decent they need the Russian sponsorship and therefore need to run Sirotkin but it also seems obvious to get the points to push them up the championship high enough to attract the sponsor in the first place they need a quality lead driver. After seeing the Sauber boss interviewed on Sky F1 I have the feeling they are scratching their heads on this one as much as we are.
In the words of Lewis Hamilton - has anyone got any suggestions?
Martin Brundle told us today that he'd been told in private that Nico Hulkenberg had signed a contract for next season with a 'team'. He wouldn't say which but the jist is its not Sauber, which is what we all expected anyways, but it pushes Sauber closer into having to make a tough decision on what to do with their driver line-up.
Part of Saubers problem is in the shape of Esteban Guttierrez. Guttierrez has actually been part of the Sauber team for 3 years now with this being his first season as full driver. As so far it has not been a stunning season from him but, credit where credit is due, Guttierrez has gradually improved as the car has improved. In recent Grand Prix's he's had 2 trips to Q3 and a stand out performance in Japan with a 7th place where we saw him start to mix it up with the big names. Those performances, along with a pretty strong junior record, should be enough for him to graduate to a sink or swim second year in normal circumstances. Unfortunately these aren't normal circumstances and Guttierrez fight back might be for nothing as, due to their new Russian sponsor, Sauber seem determined to run 17 year old Sergey Sirotkin. Whether Sirotkin should be in the seat is another question, he does have speed but very little experience, but that appears to be the way its going to go. Now Sauber can not expect that it will be Sirotkin playing the Hulkenberg role and scoring them the big finishes that push them up the constructors table so they have to expect that from the other driver. Will they gamble on Guttierrez becoming that driver? Its would not be a huge shock if he was to go on next season and start to be someone capable of dicing with the big boys and getting them results. However it would not be a huge shock if he floundered and couldn't keep up with the pace either. I'd say it was 50/50 and would Sauber be prepared to take that gamble?
I guess to answer that you have to look who else is on the market. I think most people expected they might got with Jules Bianchi who has impressed further down the field, but with him confirmed at Marussia for next year he looks to be out the running. So who's left that could fill the Hulkenberg role? Not a lot of names jumping ut at you are there? If Sauber can't find the young charger then how about an old one with a point to prove? Felipe Massa returning to his old team to try and show up his old employers instantly springs to mind but isn't he a big a gamble as Guttierrez? You can say the same about Kovalienen. Pastor Maldonado has grumbled somewhat at Williams and has a big chunk of cash and might do the job for Sauber but could they afford the repair bills and could Pastor swing a new deal for his sponsorship? One option that might fall their way is Sergio Perez who rumours suggest is on his way out at McLaren, you would have to question how motivated Sergio would be to be back at his old team so quickly. But if we're on the looking back theme maybe their answer was sitting in the Ferrari garage this weekend in the former of Kamui Kobayashi.
What the solution is I don't know but it seems obvious to keep the car semi decent they need the Russian sponsorship and therefore need to run Sirotkin but it also seems obvious to get the points to push them up the championship high enough to attract the sponsor in the first place they need a quality lead driver. After seeing the Sauber boss interviewed on Sky F1 I have the feeling they are scratching their heads on this one as much as we are.
In the words of Lewis Hamilton - has anyone got any suggestions?