[WEC] The 2023 and beyond DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENTS MEGA THREAD

[Simmi]

Not sure the best place to put this but a load of drivers have their rankings under review for next year

https://www.dailysportscar.com/2023/...n-reviews.html

Especially with GT3 incoming and the emphasis on bronzes. Just another factor of difficulty in getting these programmes together.

[Adam43]

I can see some of those moving up from each of those categories.

And then there is the old Ralf Schumacher. Presumably an automatic review time moves on.

[broadrun96]

Man some of those could be harsh, but also how is Colton only Gold??

[Adam43]

Some of them, like that one, look like an oversight. Hasn’t made a difference so haven’t been touched.

I guess that can happen as there are a lot of people on the overall list.

It sticks out though!

[Simmi]

https://www.dailysportscar.com/2023/...23-season.html

Gustavo Menezes self-announces that he's leaving Peugeot next season. I know I'm not the only one assuming he'll be announced at Alpine shortly.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Simmi

https://www.dailysportscar.com/2023/...23-season.html

Gustavo Menezes self-announces that he's leaving Peugeot next season. I know I'm not the only one assuming he'll be announced at Alpine shortly.

Alpine or maybe Lamborghini but yeah, he's not leaving the series

[veeten]

even IF for that second car... Drivers wanted, experienced drivers moreso...

[veeten]

Motorsport.com has a story about de Vries joining up with Toyota to take Lopes' spot for next season.

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by veeten

Motorsport.com has a story about de Vries joining up with Toyota to take Lopes' spot for next season.

Why not link to it - https://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/...exit/10522370/

Pechito has taken some flak for performances at times during his stint with Toyota, but he'd still have so much to offer almost every other Hypercar team you'd imagine.

[Matador]

Originally Posted by Simmi

Why not link to it - https://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/...exit/10522370/

Pechito has taken some flak for performances at times during his stint with Toyota, but he'd still have so much to offer almost every other Hypercar team you'd imagine.

Toyota haven't really let loose any of their drivers (Except Sarazin) have they? Wurz and Nakajima are still with the team, Ant basically "retired" into a motorsports commentator/analyst role. I feel like if this does come to past, maybe their LMGT3 effort might need a driver (If Pechito wants to continue driving).

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Matador

Toyota haven't really let loose any of their drivers (Except Sarazin) have they? Wurz and Nakajima are still with the team, Ant basically "retired" into a motorsports commentator/analyst role. I feel like if this does come to past, maybe their LMGT3 effort might need a driver (If Pechito wants to continue driving).

Lapierre was booted rather unceremoniously, and Davison's departure was far from amicable. Things have calmed down with the latter now, but the former is still a no-go topic for Toyota. They're just as ruthless as any other factory team out there.

If there was any driver to be let go from the current lineups, Lopez would be the first choice for consistency (his pace is fine). But I wouldn't want one of my core drivers taking a wealth of information/advice to a rival manufacturer if I were in charge.

[Matador]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Lapierre was booted rather unceremoniously, and Davison's departure was far from amicable. Things have calmed down with the latter now, but the former is still a no-go topic for Toyota. They're just as ruthless as any other factory team out there.

If there was any driver to be let go from the current lineups, Lopez would be the first choice for consistency (his pace is fine). But I wouldn't want one of my core drivers taking a wealth of information/advice to a rival manufacturer if I were in charge.

Riiiiggght, forgot about Lapierre. Don't get me wrong, I'm not discounting their ability to be shrewd and/or ruthless. I just don't think JM, while sometimes inconsistent, has shown the level of throwing away chassis in the same way that Lapierre did.


Most importantly though is that last part.

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Matador

I just don't think JM, while sometimes inconsistent, has shown the level of throwing away chassis in the same way that Lapierre did.

I would agree with that, but on the other hand, de Vries is potentially more capable (I think so at least), younger and is in the best place to step up as the current test driver.

[Mike E]

Lopez is doing a season of LMP2 in ELMS as well. Checking out his semi-retirement options?

[Matador]

Originally Posted by J Jay

I would agree with that, but on the other hand, de Vries is potentially more capable (I think so at least), younger and is in the best place to step up as the current test driver.

Oh for sure. The whole #7 crew is erring toward racing retirement age LOL. I expect that they will be subbed out one by one for some semblance of stability.



On that end, I do expect DeVries to step in, then possibly Miyata (and leave Kobayashi, although he would be sorely missed, to Team Principal duties).


I wonder what Checo has in mind after RedBull? Toyota wouldn't do badly with another "South American" driver . Didn't even realize that he was so "young"

[TF110]

I think Hirakawa is the most inconsistent or mistake prone of the 6 drivers. But I think Toyota will keep him around with their history of having 1 Japanese driver in each car.

[PhilipR]

To me Toyota is in the same situation Audi was in late 2000s

Have very good drivers but probably not the best or outright fastest or consistent. In a time of no major competition you can get by on that however now that more competition is coming they probably need to strengthen their driver line up same way Audi did with Lotterer, Fassler, Treluyer, Digrassi, Duval and Jarvis.

BTW I am not saying the current drivers are not great just maybe they need to strenghten up a bit - Buemi, Conway, Koba and Hartley are still very fast and capable

I like Hirakawa and followed him in SuperGt but not too sure about him against top notch competition

[veeten]

Adam, not to put too fine a point on it, but could you copy and paste from #208-#217 on to the Toyota hypercar thread, for continuity sake.
Thanks.

[Matador]

Originally Posted by TF110

I think Hirakawa is the most inconsistent or mistake prone of the 6 drivers. But I think Toyota will keep him around with their history of having 1 Japanese driver in each car.

Quantify this. Even if you include his debut year I don't think this is a justfiable statement. That being said, from a team that makes very few mistakes it would be a hard line to draw.

[Matador]

Originally Posted by PhilipR

To me Toyota is in the same situation Audi was in late 2000s

Have very good drivers but probably not the best or outright fastest or consistent. In a time of no major competition you can get by on that however now that more competition is coming they probably need to strengthen their driver line up same way Audi did with Lotterer, Fassler, Treluyer, Digrassi, Duval and Jarvis.

BTW I am not saying the current drivers are not great just maybe they need to strenghten up a bit - Buemi, Conway, Koba and Hartley are still very fast and capable

I like Hirakawa and followed him in SuperGt but not too sure about him against top notch competition

Ain't no way. Who would bet against Kobayashi, Hartley and Buemi in the same car? Make no mistake, the others are devastatingly quick as well. I'm not sure that there is any lineup on the grid right now that could match them bar Ferrari for now.

[J Jay]

Not on the current grid, but if Porsche swapped Lotterer with Tandy or Jaminet...

Back to Toyota - apart from Le Mans, I can't recall a major incident of Hirakawa's. Granted, mistakes at Le Mans are magnified, but if I'm being picky Lopez still strikes me as more likely to make errors.

To me Toyota is in the same situation Audi was in late 2000s

Originally Posted by PhilipR

Have very good drivers but probably not the best or outright fastest or consistent. In a time of no major competition you can get by on that however now that more competition is coming they probably need to strengthen their driver line up same way Audi did with Lotterer, Fassler, Treluyer, Digrassi, Duval and Jarvis.

There's truth to this - Toyota have built a "safe" stable, with some pace to spare if required. That pace is now very much required, and, just like Audi when Peugeot/Toyota and later Porsche came along, the need to push is revealing who the 0.1% are amongst the 1%.

[TF110]

Hirakawa made a couple mistakes at Le Mans that ultimately cost them the win. He's also not used to the European tracks, nor Sebring. Thats where he was lacking. His countryman Kobayashi is usually the fastest guy every track. He in turn has more European experience but at newer tracks he still is able to get the car to the front especially in qualifying. Hirakawa was good at Fuji where he has great experience. So maybe that's where guys like Conway and Buemi use that knowledge for their gain.

[E.B]

Not relevant really to this thread other than as info, but Hirakawa has been given a reserve driver gig at McLaren F1. Simulator and development work but also F1 testing in an older car as allowed in the F1 testing restrictions. All done with Toyota's blessing.

[Simmi]

Clearly McLaren are a lot higher on Ryo than some people on this forum haha!

https://www.mclaren.com/racing/formu...eserve-driver/

According to this no impact on his WEC programme.

[Simmi]

Alpine looking at Mick Schumacher for next year - https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/a...rive/10523472/

One thing the WEC is a little short on if we're being honest is that cut-through "star power" to go along with all these amazing manufacturers.

That could all change in a hurry next year, especially if Rossi joins the grid.