FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[LewEngBridewell]

Vitaly Petrov. I mean that.

Wow, I'd actually forgotten about that guy.

[acosmichippo]

Vitaly Petrov. I mean that.

Wow, I'd actually forgotten about that guy.

I could see him getting a spot at Marussia with his Russian ties and funds he could bring the team, but no one much higher up than that. Problem is Bianchi is doing well and Chilton is young, so he's probably going to get at least another year...

[What's Burning?]

This forum has never been so much in agreement about anything.

[Jabberwocky]

Bianchi brings italian engines

Sent from Turing Colossus using Tapatalk 2

[darwin dali]

Vitaly Petrov. I mean that.

Wow, I'd actually forgotten about that guy.

Maybe try garlic pills for your memory issues?

[NHcheese]

Vitaly Petrov. I mean that.

Wow, I'd actually forgotten about that guy.

Maybe try garlic pills for your memory issues?

Who would remember him?

[geetface9]

Vitaly Petrov. I mean that.

Wow, I'd actually forgotten about that guy.

Maybe try garlic pills for your memory issues?

Who would remember him?

Lol that's a bit much! He would have performed MUCH better than grosjean last season.

[acosmichippo]

Vitaly Petrov. I mean that.

Wow, I'd actually forgotten about that guy.

Maybe try garlic pills for your memory issues?

Who would remember him?

Lol that's a bit much! He would have performed MUCH better than grosjean last season.

By that logic, so would Heikki. They were roughly equivalent at Caterham last season.

[Big Azza]

Chilton is young, so he's probably going to get at least another year...

That unfortunately hasn't stopped Marussia in the past. The 2nd seat at Marussia has had a new driver in it every year since the team's inception.

It really is a farce - I particularly thought D'Ambrosio held his own but they didn't keep him.....

[geetface9]

Vitaly Petrov. I mean that.

Wow, I'd actually forgotten about that guy.

Maybe try garlic pills for your memory issues?

Who would remember him?

Lol that's a bit much! He would have performed MUCH better than grosjean last season.

By that logic, so would Heikki. They were roughly equivalent at Caterham last season.

I'm meaning about his performance at the beginning of 2011. He and heidfeld both got on the podium in the first two races and petrov was running 5th in Malaysia before his steering column broke when he went wide into the grass and after that the team's development of the car started to fall behind and went off the cliff completely at mid season. Petrov also had a streak of crashes in his rookie year, not nearly to the extent of grosjean, and then he got much better, but had a very poor car in 2011. I fully believe he'd have had a stellar year in 2012 if lotus renault kept him with that being his 3rd year with the team and an obvious growth in maturity and a much better car. Raikkonen would have still likely beat him but I don't think by the margin in which raikkonen beat grosjean. It still bothers me that they dropped him. He had much more potential in the sport. I hope they drop grosjean at the end of this season the way they did vitaly because I feel vitaly is a better driver and had developed more in two seasons than grosjean has since 2009

[zurich_allan]

I'm going to throw a curve ball - and it isn't going to happen, but I'm going to make the suggestion and justify it from my own perspective.

I would love to see Will Power, currently of Penske in Indycar get the seat. As far as I know he's got no interest in F1, and there are no rumours or anything like that, it's purely my own curiosity.

My reasons:

1. He's 32, and experienced but not over the hill - could still have a good 5 or 6 years in F1 if he gave it a shot (Damon Hill was 31 / 32 when he was at Brabham, and 32 / 33 when he started at Williams).

2. He's Australian, and has an attitude to racing that is hugely similar to Webber in terms of no bullsh*t, get on with the job.

3. He is incredibly quick, and was unlucky to lose out to Dario over the past several years, often due to bad luck rather than being out driven.

4. In the past three full seasons, 2010 - 2012 when in a competitive car he had 14 wins, 6 seconds and 4 thirds in 49 races (on the podium in nearly 50% of those races).

5. There actually hasn't been a top level open wheel racer from across the pond that's had a genuinely competitive race car in F1 for over 20 years. Andretti in 1993 was the last, and he never committed himself, never tested, and generally let himself down on all fronts as a result of that. Zanardi came to Williams a year too late, and was let down badly on the engineering side whilst he was there. The Toyota da Matta had in the mid '00's was cr*p. The Toro Rosso Bourdais shared with Vettel in '08 wasn't actually that great, it was good for a couple of races in the season, and Bourdais suffered very bad luck during his run in F1 - he deserved better than how he was treated when he was dumped out of the team. I would love to see how someone like Will Power would do stepping into a competitive F1 car with a team-mate like Vettel.

I know it's 100% not going to happen, but one thing I'm starting to not really like about F1 is the predictability of the route to get there. With all the big teams now having young driver programmes etc. it's just all too corporate for my liking. I know it makes sense for the teams, I know it's a good structure for aspiring racers etc. but I still don't like it. The days of teams taking a punt on an established racer from another series or style of racing are sadly nearly gone.

[vaptin]

Charles Pic, looks fast and well, I'd like to see someone who drives for a backmarker team get a chance, recently they'll all just been dropped, even the good ones.

[andrew]

The latest rumour is that Raikkonen has all but signed on the dotted line.

[vaptin]

The latest rumour is that Raikkonen has all but signed on the dotted line.

Ooh, good source?

Poor Lotus, they could use that guy, and they've worked hard, but that's an exciting prospect.

Well, who to replace Kimi then?

[andrew]

The latest rumour is that Raikkonen has all but signed on the dotted line.

Ooh, good source?

Poor Lotus, they could use that guy, and they've worked hard, but that's an exciting prospect.

Well, who to replace Kimi then?

Not really a good source - a reporter for a Spanish newspaper.

Raikkonen on cusp of Red Bull deal

Kimi Raikkonen is on the verge of agreeing a switch from Lotus to Red Bull for 2014.

That is the claim of Spanish sports newspaper Marca’s correspondent Marco Canseco, who reports from the Nurburgring that although the Finn has not actually signed on the dotted line, “only missing now is the last details of the agreement”.

Canseco added that Red Bull and the 2007 world champion could announce the identity of Sebastian Vettel’s next teammate “at Spa, after the summer break”.

Raikkonen told F1′s official website: “At Red Bull they want me, but I have other choices — so time will tell.”

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has repeated in Germany this weekend that the only other candidates to replace Mark Webber next year are the two current Toro Rosso drivers.

Out of that duo, Daniel Ricciardo appears to be the favourite, having qualified ten places ahead of Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne at the Nurburgring.

Australian Ricciardo agrees that the situation – the prize of a Red Bull seat – is spurring him on.

“That is actually the case,” the 23-year-old is quoted by Russian website f1news.ru.

“I’m using it (the situation) to my advantage, and it seems to be working.”

The similarly-aged Vergne, meanwhile, insisted that if Red Bull chooses someone else to replace Webber, he could spend another season at Toro Rosso.

“He (team boss Franz Tost) would like to keep me should it not work with the Red Bull cockpit — and I would like to stay, as Toro Rosso is a team that is improving massively,” he said.