Silly Season 2013/14

[Pup]

I half suspect that McLaren were hoping that Perez would bring more interest from Latin America, in the form of sponsorships. But I doubt the Claro deal is worth much and I'm going to guess that their deal with Honda and their new title sponsor means that they aren't so concerned about sponsorship now. The car was looking fairly bare for a few years there.

Regardless, McLaren haven't been kind to youngsters who don't over perform, so I don't think it would surprise anyone if he were to go.

[SectorOne]

Last quote seems like a pretty realistic evaluation. Last year there was some huge gaps between Hamilton and Button, like Austin, Hamilton nearly pole and Button down in 12th! In Q2 Hamilton was a second faster then Button.

Button had a problem with his engine.

Thanks, that would explain it.
But still, mid-season he wasn´t exactly lining up next to Hamilton in that period.
I think having one of the big four is a huge asset to a team.

[langwadt]

I half suspect that McLaren were hoping that Perez would bring more interest from Latin America, in the form of sponsorships. But I doubt the Claro deal is worth much and I'm going to guess that their deal with Honda and their new title sponsor means that they aren't so concerned about sponsorship now. The car was looking fairly bare for a few years there.

Regardless, McLaren haven't been kind to youngsters who don't over perform, so I don't think it would surprise anyone if he were to go.

I read that the Clarovideo pays around 12M euro of which Perez gets 8M in salary

[henra]

I think if i was in Mclaren i´d naturally question just how bad the car really is and if a guy like Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso just might not even have snatched a podium with the car during the year.

Personally I 'm even quite convinced that one of those three (probably any one of those three who always seem to drift towards the front often silently but relentlessly even if they are temporarily somewhere down in the depths of the field) would have put that thing on the Podium at least once if not even twice or three times.

[antiuser]

Button is a bit like Massa, in that when the car fits him, he can duke it out with the best of them, but if the car is sub-optimal, he struggles to get the performance out of it.

[SectorOne]

Gotta love this one,

Vandoorne, never driven a GP2 car in his life. Does one day of testing, breaks the lap record.
yum yum yum yum is all i hear from Mclaren with not one but two solid drivers.
I just hope they give these two the best possible opportunities to showcase their skills in the future of F1.

[raymondu999]

What's happening with Vandoorne? I'm sorry I really don't follow much of the junior formulae

[SectorOne]

Looks like he will be in GP2 next year. Magnussen might or might not be in F1 next year.
Assuming Vandoorne excels in GP2 he should be the next man into F1.

[SweetApex]

Gotta love this one,

Vandoorne, never driven a GP2 car in his life. Does one day of testing, breaks the lap record.
yum yum yum yum is all i hear from Mclaren with not one but two solid drivers.
I just hope they give these two the best possible opportunities to showcase their skills in the future of F1.

Actually Vandoorne also completed the first two days of testing with ART and then the third day with DAMS where he was fastest. Still a terrific job going P1 by a distance and the lap record is obviously because of a more rubbered in track. We saw that a lot with the F1 young driver tests a couple years back.

And yeah good to see McLaren have got a hold of two great drivers. A lot of people been saying this silly season that Kevin Magnussen will possibly replace Perez or even still possible can go for a drive with the current midfield or backmarker teams for 2014. Obviously the driver market will start moving again once Hülkenberg decides where he will go possibly Lotus now that they've got their finances sorted. With Vandoorne, Whitmarsh sort of hinted during the Abu Dhabi weekend that he would be racing GP2 in 2014.

[Manoah2u]

McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh described the Mexican's performance in Abu Dhabi on Sunday as "disappointing".

Well that's kinda odd to be honest because quite frankly, I think Perez performed 'good' regarding the AbuDhabi race,
I don't know if Perez had the same 'updates' Button' was carrying, but since I understood the 'updates/experiments' on
Button's car supposedly had a 'positive result', then i'd say the only one disappointing here was Button. To be even more
honest, I personally think very high of Jenson, and I have had him favoured over Cheko, and though I am aware this
years' MCL is a dog, I was very disappointed in Button qualifying 12th, but finishing 12th aswell @ Abudhabi.
Instead, Perez' got into the 9th grid slot, while homing the MCL 5th at Q2 and JB 13th.
In the end, Perez homed in points, and Button didn't.

I feel like Cheko isn't getting the 'support' he needs or perhaps deserves this year with MCL. He has to fill in 'big shoes' with HAM leaving, has been 'neutered' by MCL to become fit to the MCL 'image' [and supposedly be able to perform in a big team], then he gets a below mediocre car handed to him [essentially last years sauber was way better then this years Macca], and in this new difficult environment is trying not to lose out to JB, and neither lose 'face'. Then he get's told by Sh*tmarsh that he needs to be 'more agressive', then suddenly seems to 'own' JB [ JB was a sitting duck to Cheko, whining over the radio with Perez' Senna-esque racing approach on him ], which I think is very impressive taking into account the entire situation Sergio got himself into - then gets cr*p for his Monaco 'behavior' , gets tires blown around his ears, and now last races he outperforms JB, and Sh*tmarsh is 'disappointed'?

The only one deserving to be dissapointed are both JB and Perez to be having to drive this abomination of a car that is the 2013 Mclaren. With the shape MCL was in at the end of 2012, I've no doubt they'd be expecting to be fighting at the front with RedBull and Merc this year, not having to worry about some boring Sutil and diResta for the Constructors Championship.

If McLaren would dump Perez coming year [which i don't believe they will], i'd be shocked and would lose all respect for MCL and Whitmarsh and feel gutted for Sergio, whom, together with Kamui Kobayashi, was quite the performer in the Saub.
I do miss Kamui to be honest, can't believe he hasn't a drive when i look back at his debut grandprix.

[Pup]

What are the odds of McLaren putting them both under contract and putting off making a decision on which one drives until after winter testing?

[scuderiafan]

Seems like Checo was only picked up to replace Hamilton. I fear he could be lost in the shuffle of drivers next season.

[Racer X]

In my eyes both Jeson and Sergio are owed a drive next season. But It seems McLaren will forget all about.that and just dump Sergio.

I wish both drivers a drive next season.

[Hail22]

I nearly blew coffee through my nostrils after reading this (comical), Mika Salo seems to be having a little fun while we're on a two week break til the next GP.

Source: http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/kimi- ... ands-prix/

[stefan_]

I read this a couple of days ago and I don't know if Mika was joking, was drunk or he lost contact with reality. We're not in the '90s anymore when drivers were just jumping from one team to another for 1-2 races.