Silly Season 2012/2013

[ESPImperium]

Does anyone know what is the length of Lewis contract with Merc?

3 years.

Initial 2 years with a 3rd depending on performance that either can take up for it to be activated. So if Mercedes dosnt want him, Hamilton can force himself into a seat as described in the contract, and visa versa. The rumored payment for this contract is €16m base with €8m in season end bonuses, €5m for a WDC and €3m for a WCC title. However rumor has it that this is only from 2014 onward and for 2013 they have €1m race win clauses with a €25,000 bonus per point.

But without knowing about seeing the contract in person or having a reputable source, this is all subjective. The objective figure is 3 years.

More in the silly season:

HRT looks to be on the grid in 2013, rumor has it they have the €50m from Anglo Spainish & Chineese backers. Pedro De La Rosa with a seat and either Ma in second seat and Clos at Test Driver. However Ho Pin Tung and David Zhu have been lined up as a chineese driver. However all but Tung have problems with a Superlicence, Ma because hs hasnt taken part in so many GP2 or WSR races in past 2 years and Zhu because of not testing a F1 car for 305Km in past 2 years. Tung has tested F1 cars for Lotus-Renault in 2010 and also raced for DAMS that same year as well, so is okay. Other than that it could be Clos untill Ma gets his GP2/WSR race count up to where its needed.

Caterham looks to have secured Van Der Garde as their second driver with Rossi as their Test Driver and lead GP2 driver. Rossi will get 8 FP1 seats in 2013 id guess with 3 full test days (1 pre season and 2 YDT)

Marussia are expected to have Chilton, but pressure is being applied from Russia with Petrovs interest in seat.

Force India have Di Resta, Sutil, Razia and Senna floating around for a seat. Sutil has up to a €14m budget, however he will experience problems getting into at least 3 but probably 6 events next year due to his criminal conviction. Senna has his €16m and Razia has a estimated €30m+ to spend. Di Resta may be out as the team may take Senna/Razia, but two Brazilians in a team may be detrimental to the team, so its either Senna or Razia alongside Di Resta i think.

As for Williams, Their announcement of Maldanado/Bottas is tomorrow rumors suggest. Team are probably going to have Susie Wolf as Development Driver with a experienced TD, Kamui????

This leaves Lotus with a decision about Grosjean. Keep or Boot. I think they will keep him, but on a performance based deal, but keep D'Ambrosio on, possibly give him 2 half days in the car in pre season on days where Grosjean could do full days and also give him say 6 FP1 seats in order to keep him sharp incase he is needed to jump in car if they ditch Grosjean mid way through the season. Alguersuari has been mentioned, but i doubt it, id much rather take Valsechecci as a second TD.

Then itd all down to Test, Reserve & Development drivers.

[stefan_]

D'Ambrosio should have had some test sessions this sason as Boullier said at some point, but with the way the team worked and the (unexpected) good results that came along, they just stuck to the normal line-up to set the car properly. Maybe the lack of testing didin't allow him to get a better result in Italy, but they have their new simulator up & running so maybe he will be more prepared next season if a drive opportunity appears. I would even consider taking Heikki as a TD and tell Grosjean that if he does a mistake, he is out and we have the driver to replace him. It would be an extra (bad) pressure on him, but Romain probably costed Lotus 3rd in the WCC this year.

Seems like Petrov has a chance to stay at Caterham after all (source), so Heikki is 85% out with Pic already signed in.

[fritticaldi]

I would like Heikki Kovalainen at Lotus replacing Grosjean. The Finn would join Raikkonen making an all Finnish team.

[CHT]

I would like Heikki Kovalainen at Lotus replacing Grosjean. The Finn would join Raikkonen making an all Finnish team.

I like that idea. another possible line up will be Kobayashi at Lotus. I think the Japanese at Nissan would love that.

[RB7ate9]

I like that idea. another possible line up will be Kobayashi at Lotus. I think the Japanese at Nissan would love that.

I think Kamui would be a nice balance to Kimi (great name pairing) since Kimi's pretty, well, Kimi, while Kamui is much more jolly and with youthful exuberance. Also, while Kimi has the experience to drive controlled races, Kamui's diving overtakes in 2010 were amazing to see. Two really likeable drivers on one team!

[astracrazy]

i can see Heikki at Lotus. I find it hard to see any reason why the team would want to keep Roman theirs better and (more importantly) consistent drivers available.

Heikki brings experience of being at a top team which is why i wouldn't be surprised to see him there.

Could Senna be another shout based on his time there?

[raymondu999]

Turun Sanomat is reporting Kobayashi as a possible Grosjean replacement - though I wouldn't necessarily agree with that move. I rate Grosjean higher than I rate Kobayashi.

[RB7ate9]

Turun Sanomat is reporting Kobayashi as a possible Grosjean replacement - though I wouldn't necessarily agree with that move. I rate Grosjean higher than I rate Kobayashi.

I think Grosjean rubbed a lot of people the wrong way this year. Considering he had a run with Renault in 2009 that didn't really produce much, got passed over for 2010/11 and then with his big break: retired 7 times, banned from 1 race, but finished out of the points just 2 times out of the remaining 12. So he is fast, but he's just given Lotus so much grief this year.

[raymondu999]

From the Mercedes team thread:

Schumacher has announced he has signed a contract as a test driver. (source)
He has not announced who he has signed it with.

It would be seriously awesome if Schumacher would be on track in Jerez testing the W04. But I wonder if perhaps it is Pirelli with who he has signed the contract?

That's Schumacher, Michael. Not Schumacher, Ralf.

[N12ck]

Hmm, if thats the case, we have ended up with a loop of, race, retire, test, race, retire, test.... what next?

[Nando]

Strong comeback in 2014!
If there´s anyone who can, it´s Schumi.

[stefan_]

Mercedes keep Michael as a "test driver" in case they actually build a (more than one) race-winning car, and if they do that they will push Nico or Lewis down the stairs or something like that to make them unable to race so MSC can jump in the car and win a race for them (</joke>)

[xDama]

Strong comeback in 2014!
If there´s anyone who can, it´s Schumi.

Yep, he's proven that marvellously the last 3 years Would be cool if he'd test for a year, but no more racing please.

[stefan_]

New European slot paves way for Turkey

The addition of a new European slot on the 2013 calendar has paved the way for Turkey to host a Grand Prix again. With a race on the streets of New Jersey being put back until 2014 and a French event failing to get off the ground, businessman Vural Ak has been working with Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone to finalise a deal.

"The date for the 2013 Grand Prix of Germany has been moved to 7 July, and 21 July has been reserved for another F1 European event, subject to the approval of the relevant ASNs," governing body the FIA confirmed on Wednesday.

Ecclestone has travelled to Turkey for the annual FIA prize-giving gala this week, earlier outlining his intention to bring Formula 1 back to the country next season.

I think the race in Turkey next season is more likely to happen rather than one in France.

[Kiril Varbanov]

I think the race in Turkey next season is more likely to happen rather than one in France.

Turkey is better positioned than France in this race, and I thought France already refused? What about Red Bull F1 Ring in Austria?