Valsecchi to race?

[321Go]

Originally Posted by Hawkwood

Anyone else think that Hulkenburg turning down the 2-race offer from Lotus means they may have told him not to expect to carry-on with them in 2014?

Rumour has it Ferrari blocked Hulkenberg from joining Lotus for the final GP's. Hulkenberg's unpaid Sauber salary was paid by Ferrari earlier this week, and part of the conditions was that Hulk did not drive for Lotus. Does this also mean Hulk will be blocked from joining Lotus for 2014??

[BSchneiderFan]

I suppose it's hardly in Ferrari's interest to have a very quick driver in the Lotus, given the WCC points standings, but that seems quite a extreme dose of Machiavellianism.

[Hawkwood]

Originally Posted by kipper

My assumption is that Hulkenburg wanted a two race contract + 2014, with Lotus not offering it. I guess this means that either a) the promised investment in Lotus has still not arrived or b) the team has signed someone else for 2014 already. On reflection, possibly both may be applicable.

That's the kicker here, a few days ago in Die Welt (iirc) Genii boss Lopez said about the Quantum investment: "If the deal happens..."
So they aren't (or weren't a couple of days ago) sure still if they'll be getting any investment at all.

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by Hawkwood

Anyone else think that Hulkenburg turning down the 2-race offer from Lotus means they may have told him not to expect to carry-on with them in 2014? So he wouldn't want to burn his Sauber bridges?

Yes I think it's Nico's way of honoring his contract with Sauber and protecting his future with them in case the Lotus deal just completely falls apart..Which I expect it to quite frankly...

Far better for him to be racing than watching from home..

I wished Pastor Maldonado luck at Lotus for 2014 last evening..

Contrary to popular believe all of the drivers came across as being rather humble..

[Supertec]

Kovalainen in ....good.. but where does that leave Davide Valsecchi and GP2 for that matter.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

About the Hulk, frankly Ferrari could've got him in if they wanted, but if he can beat Alonso regularly in a slightly-better-than-average Sauber, then what would he do when they're in the same car!

Someone would have to leave McLaren

But I can't wait to see Heikki. I thought that all of that talk was classic rumours, but this should be fun.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by 321Go

Rumour has it Ferrari blocked Hulkenberg from joining Lotus for the final GP's. Hulkenberg's unpaid Sauber salary was paid by Ferrari earlier this week, and part of the conditions was that Hulk did not drive for Lotus. Does this also mean Hulk will be blocked from joining Lotus for 2014??

One gets to wonder about a certain back operation too!

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

About the Hulk, frankly Ferrari could've got him in if they wanted, but if he can beat Alonso regularly in a slightly-better-than-average Sauber, then what would he do when they're in the same car!

Ah but didn't he beat Alonso who has been driving a slightly better than average Ferrari, in a Sauber with 50 extra hp than it had previously enjoyed!!

[chillibowl]

autosport article on Hulk's reasons for not taking the seat. in it Hulk also dismisses that Ferrari had anything to do with it.

i suppose the risk he is talking about is the risk of embarrassing himself in a new car and does he sort of hint at not wanting to be embarrassed by Grosjean in particular? is RG really that good?

[bella]

no, that's just the racing driver teammate thing. you don't want to be beaten by your teammate full stop, and if he's concerned he might not to be able to bring it to his teammate let alone the front of the grid then fair enough. grosjean really is on top of his game at the moment. for an established driver, especially one with a "he's REALLY good" reputation with no ifs or buts, that would be a very unwanted situation.

if he went in and was a square half second to seven tenths off grosjean for both the last two races that would make people doubt him.

imo it's sound logic. his reputation is his main bargaining tool. he's better off at sauber where people are surprised at every performance he produces.

[JacobP]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

i suppose the risk he is talking about is the risk of embarrassing himself in a new car and does he sort of hint at not wanting to be embarrassed by Grosjean in particular? is RG really that good?

I think the issue is in the new car. Lotus wants to pluck someone out of obscurity and have this driver score great points in the remaining two races. However, since Grosjean was driving this car for what, 17-18 races, it will be hard to beat him in the remaining races, or even score many points if the Lotus car happens to have any quirks in it. Valsecchi should have been a good candidate since he is the test driver. I don't know why Lotus is creating such drama out of driver selection for the remaining races. I think this is a PR stunt designed to impress the sponsors or investors.

[Born Racer]

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2013/1...inen-over-him/

I like the fighting talk from him.

That certainly isn't conventional PR friendly and yet isn't it great? Peppered with a bit of 'I will bite your hand off for the chance in Brazil' PR right at the end.

[bella]

you do have to sympathise with him but... equally it's pretty obvious why lotus went for a known quantity.

[chillibowl]

is it a known reason?

i have heard reasons ranging from experience and having a history with Kimi's race engineer dating back to the Mclaren days to Lotus agreeing to let some of its staff go early to Caterham which suggests to me that shedding staff and payroll obligations rather than paying for gardening leave played a part.

given what we know (which probably amounts to nothing) im still of the mind that this is all financial rather than making the best choice of replacement.

Originally Posted by JacobP

I don't know why Lotus is creating such drama out of driver selection for the remaining races. I think this is a PR stunt designed to impress the sponsors or investors.

i dont get it either.could just be the media who have very little else to write about at this point in a finished season.

[bella]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

is it a known reason?

i have heard reasons ranging from experience and having a history with Kimi's race engineer dating back to the Mclaren days to Lotus agreeing to let some of its staff go early to Caterham which suggests to me that shedding staff and payroll obligations rather than paying for gardening leave played a part.

given what we know (which probably amounts to nothing) im still of the mind that this is all financial rather than making the best choice of replacement.

to be honest, all of those potential reasons are as good as the "but he's their third driver, he deserves a shot at f1" reason which pretty much seems to be the only one on valsecchi's side. there's a lot more reasons why lotus should pick someone else than why they should pick him.

don't get me wrong, nothing against the guy, he did after all win the gp2 title and he's a quick driver but...

perhaps if we hadn't just seen mclaren pick a rookie for their own f1 team over an established driver then we'd be looking at this differently?

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by bella

to be honest, all of those potential reasons are as good as the "but he's their third driver, he deserves a shot at f1" reason which pretty much seems to be the only one on valsecchi's side.

in fairness though that is kind of a strong reason?

certainly when loyalty and moral is probably at an all time low turning your back to one of your own for HK is an odd choice for me. i suppose HK brings a steady pair of hands and wont wreck the car but that too would be a financial motivation.

[bella]

i think if he'd been overlooked for d'ambrosio or worse, prost then it would have been a serious injustice. as it is, it's not just a "kimi's got the sniffles, and isn't going to race" on friday or halfway through a weekend seat filler, it's a two race job and could have serious financial implications for the team for next season. and as we all know, their future is a bit wobbly at the moment. every penny counts.

can you blame them for looking for the best possible all-round candidate for the drive in those circumstances?

moral obligations are one thing, but what's bigger, the moral obligation to a third driver or the one to try and secure as much money as possible for the hundreds of people on the payroll so they don't end up on the dole come january?

[chillibowl]

now we are just splitting hairs because catching either Ferrari or Merc was a long shot before Kimi retired for the season and HK is hardly going to make the difference.

to my knowledge they have no more updates for the car(could be wrong on that) so i think they are pretty comfortable with their already secured 4th spot regardless of the driver they picked. are they even in a position to spend some money for the chance to make more money? that could possibly be seen as being more irresponsible.

i do agree that HK isnt completely pants and i will enjoy seeing him out there again but i just cant cant separate the financial aspect here. if the team had the money i believe they would have made a more inspired choice imo.

[bella]

i don't know if it is splitting hairs. lotus are one win behind ferrari in the constructors championship. two podiums in the states and a wobbly race for ferrari and it's very much all to play for. having a driver who can get into the lower end of the points on his debut versus having one who stands a decent chance of keeping grosjean on his toes could end up being a significant difference at the end of the season.

totally see your point though. it is inextricably linked to money and they have made themselves look like total weasels by overlooking valsecchi. however, i think the reasons for doing so are very understandable given their situation. it's just terrible luck for valsecchi.

[chillibowl]

I have to admit that getting into q3 ahead of Massa and Rosberg validates the choice.
We will see what happens tomorrow.

[sizzle]

And didn't Valsecchi look happy....not.

[sizzle]

Originally Posted by bella

totally see your point though. it is inextricably linked to money and they have made themselves look like total weasels by overlooking valsecchi.

Off topic I know, but any worse than McLaren shopping for a ride for Perez after they tossed him!

[Mr V]

Whilst I have sympathy for Valsecchi, going for Heikki is a no brainer if he's free imo.

From Davide's pov, the fact that he's never been mentioned in the running for a seat in 2014 with Lotus should tell him everything he need's to know about the team's intentions for him.

Lastly, I do hope his "Heikki's not a great champion" comment was one born out of frustration and not a character trait on his behalf.

[jondownunder]

Perhaps Valsecchi should look back at Kovalainen's career history, and realise he won the World Series by Nissan title in his second season in big powerful cars (coming second in his first year).

Valsecchi on the other hand did nothing much of note in two seasons in the same series (by now F.Renault 3.5), then benefitted from four whole seasons of GP2 (or eight if you include GP2 Asia!) before clinching the title in his fifth full campaign.

Comparing where the two were at Valsecchi's stage in his career, there's no question that Kovalainen was the far more convincing prospect, so his comment is ludicrous.

[bella]

don't take words so literally. he was just getting at that heikki isn't exactly a michael schumacher, or whatever, and isn't a solid gold signed sealed confirmation of results. his only mistake was being so candid on the record.

it's all a moot point now anyway, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand what he means. especially considering he's italian and english is a second language.