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[acosmichippo]

wait, what is going on?

can you guys provide some context?

[What's Burning?]

Apparently PDVSA is announcing a deal with Lotus.
http://www.el-nacional.com/deportes/Pre ... 70174.html

Paraphrasing, they canceled the deal with Williams and Pastor will go to Lotus. They have an interest in Pastor, not Williams even though they were talking to Williams foe a couple of months to renew their deal.

[NHcheese]

Final two races they are gonna feature Dubai 2020 expo sidepods.

[Denthúl]

Apparently PDVSA is announcing a deal with Lotus.
http://www.el-nacional.com/deportes/Pre ... 70174.html

Paraphrasing, they canceled the deal with Williams and Pastor will go to Lotus. They have an interest in Pastor, not Williams even though they were talking to Williams foe a couple of months to renew their deal.

Yeah, I posted the translated content in the Maldonado thread. Not good.

Meanwhile, Valsecchi is annoyed:

In all the drama of the 11th hour arrival at the Austin circuit yesterday of Heikki Kovalainen, there were strong words from Lotus’ reserve driver Davide Valsecchi, who was passed over for the promotion.

GP2 champion Valsecchi has attended every race this year in Lotus colours, waiting for the chance to drive the car, but when the opportunity presented itself, with the injury to Kimi Raikkonen, the team went for Kovalainen.

The Italian was called by team principal Eric Boullier on Wednesday and given the news. They went with Kovalainen because of his greater race experience in F1 and his recent Friday practice experience with Caterham.

Valsecchi did not hide his disappointment when speaking to Italian media yesterday,

“It’s a huge blow to me,” he said. “From the sporting point of view it’s a tragedy. It makes me angry to have lost the battle with Kovalainen who is not a great champion, not even an active driver; his last results were five years ago.

“If they had taken Hulkenberg I could have understood, even Maldonado, but this…

“I was sure that from the point of view of motivation and desire to achieve, the team would have taken me and I would have been right up there.

“Perhaps I lack experience but what chance do you have to gain any? Nevertheless, things change quickly in F1, so I won’t give up and I will be ready if they need me in Brazil.”

[LRW]

Good on him.

[What's Burning?]

Lotus has quickly gone from a team that I would have been fully supportive of next year with a Grosjean/Hulkenberg pairing, to a team that looks like they're practicing for a starring role as a two bit also ran in the sport.

[CookinFlat6]

It's about finances, same as McLaren, these teams have to put funding above performance or morality

Apart from Merc Ferrari and RBR, F1 ain't a sustainable business model as a sport. Unless things change lotus and a few others won't make the grid for 2015

[acosmichippo]

Heck, I don't think it's even sustainable for merc or Ferrari. Sure they can weather it longer than others, but in the end I don't see them benefitting much from the hundreds of millions they're pouring into it.

[What's Burning?]

The model is built around Ferrari and will always make sense for them. Spending a couple hundred million here is no different than spending a couple hundred million for a global advertising campaign.

Mercedes has a case for doing the same but not nearly to the degree that Ferrari can make a claim to. It's not about the sustainability for me because a team will choose to be in or out, but the disillusionment is that for the majority of the grid it's no longer about performance, but about preservation. F1 needs a top to bottom re-think of its direction but I feel that won't happen until after Bernie goes to jail.

[Jabberwocky]

Good on him.

I assume that they accepted this as his resignation

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[Hammer278]

Good on him.

I assume that they accepted this as his resignation

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Lol my thoughts exactly.

[Denthúl]

I think my problem with Valsecchi's rant isn't that he feels the team's reserve driver should be the go-to option, because that's absolutely right, but rather the criticism of Kovalainen as the choice, hinting that he isn't good enough. I don't know if anyone followed Valsecchi's junior career, but it was absolutely unspectacular aside from the GP2 championships he won (against weak fields, it must be said).

[CookinFlat6]

It seems that Lotus might have been fallen for the biggest load of crock and thats why they are now desperate. even getting MS in was probably about sponsors. It looks like PDSV and Maldo are really bailing them out if they had counted on the Quantum deal

Why the Lotus Deal is a Fantasy - Who are Quantum Motorsport?

[Jabberwocky]

Maybe lotus made them up to use as leverage with PDSV

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[geetface9]

Y'all still mad about maldonado?