Post here all non technical related topics about Formula One. This includes race results, discussions, testing analysis etc. TV coverage and other personal questions should be in Off topic chat.
2012 has been an interesting season for you. How did the opportunity to join the Red Bull Junior Programme come about?
Da Costa: "At the start of the season I struggled to find the budget to do what I wanted to do - which was GP2 and I felt I was ready for it. But things are tough in Portugal at the moment and I had to settle for GP3.
"I have had a really good run with Carlin and I love Trevor (Carlin, Team Principal) and he put a really good deal up for it. Things started well, taking pole at the first race and then taking a second place in Monaco. After that I got the call from Red Bull and they wanted me to replace their current driver in F1 at the time and things really progressed from there."
Also Marko is talking about Hulken replacing Webber when the time comes, not Vergne or Ricci as i have been saying all along.
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My theory now is Hulken replaces Webber for one year.
Vergne and Ricci are kicked out either mid-season or for next year.
Da Costa and Frijns take the spots, Da Costa will show he´s clearly the guy to have and is the next Vettel, and will replace Hulken after that. Or Vettel if he decides to leave.
"Il Phenomeno" - The one they fear the most!
"2% of the world's population own 50% of the world's wealth."
beelsebob wrote:My best guess just now for 2014:
RBR: Hamilton + Hulkenburg
Ferrari: Alonso + Vettel
McLaren: Button + Webber
While this isn't the silly season thread, really?
I'm quite sure Hamilton will not move only a year into his Mercedes tenure. 2013 will continually be brought up to him as a building year, in view of the bigger picture in 2014. Considering how he's been repeating that mantra over and over, leaving Mercedes after 2013 will only serve to make him look like a massive tit by breaking a promise he has so diligently promised to follow.
Also, why would McLaren sign Webber to REPLACE Perez?
Hamilton is not likely to throw in the towel at Mercedes; he expects a bad year now, indicating he'll drive in 2014 anyhow.
McLaren isn't likely to ditch Perez either. They gove Heikki 2 seasons, so Perez will get the same privilege at the very least. If Perez still gets the boot after 2013, he must have driven like he was drunk all year long.
Chances are realistic though that 2013 is Webber's last year at RBR. They are not going to put in either Vergne or Ricciardo; they never shined out and Red Bull are definitely looking for a second Vettel through their development programme. So far that programme failed miserably (only Vettel got out of it succesfully), so they'll look at Sauber, Force India and perhaps Williams for potentional candidates. what happens with Torro Rosso? New drivers most probably.
I quickly viewed the comments about Vergne and Ricciardo. Personally I don't think they are that bad drivers. However, they never shined out. I can't possibly tell one event where they drove themselves into the spotlights. Agreed that that is difficult with a Torro Rosso, but even in rain races or highly chaotic races they never really came out clearly above most others. That is true for most drivers, but unfortunaly those 2 are TRS: you either shine out in brilliance our you get kicked out of F1.
turbof1 wrote:Hamilton is not likely to throw in the towel at Mercedes; he expects a bad year now, indicating he'll drive in 2014 anyhow.
Agreed, Hamilton won't sacrifice a year just to jump ship from Mercedes when everything indicates they are going to be stronger in 2014.
This year will be useful for Hamilton to acclimatise to a non-McLaren environment.
As for Perez, he splits opinion due to his relative cliff fall performance level in 2012. It will be interesting to see if he sinks or swims at McLaren, but at least an up and coming talent has this huge opportunity.
If only Kobayashi could have a second seat ride at Red Bull or Ferrari....
Replacing both drivers at once is bad for the team, it hurts development of the car. From a team development viewpoint, that was a mistake.
But when you look at the big picture concerning Red Bull, it all fits nicely. They are willing to spend obscene amounts of money to attain their goals of a WDC and WCC. It must work, they have succeeded three years in a row. So when we consider STR's budget and costs, it pales into comparison with the parent company calling the shots, Red Bull.
Although STR appears the be it's own team, it is definitely controlled by Red Bull. And Red Bull is looking for the next Vettel. They have developed an amazing driver development program, and potential canditates will eventually get the chance for an audition. That's right, it's not to find a driver that delivers results for STR, but rather just an audition to find the next Vettel, all done internally via the Red Bull development program.
When Red Bull bought Jaguar, it's now obvious they didn't intend to build on an established team, but rather construct a new organization from the ground up. The present Red Bull team has absolutely nothing in common with the previous team. Red Bull spent a few years building and developing the team, and bringing in key people. Once they got Newey and Vettel, the pieces all fell together and we now see a very dominant team. Red Bull had two very mature drivers in Coulthard and Webber, but once Vettel was ready for the next step up, he took Coulthard's seat.
It would be extremely foolish to replace Webber with anyone else at this time, because he does his job. Don't ever forget that Red Bull won the WCC in the last three years, and Webber had to do his bit to make that lofty goal a reality for the team. So to dump a known, proven, and contributing driver with another is something not to be taken lightly.
Why would Red Bull wish to replace Webber with Hamilton, or anyone else when they are achieving their goals with the present driver lineup? Fans may wish to see some team mate wars between elite drivers, but Red Bull don't. They want to win titles, and they are doing exacly that with the present people.
One day Webber will get out of Formula One, and Red Bull hope to have the next Vettel take his place. Because that's what it is all about, finding the next Vettel, and the STR drivers are there to just audition for the job. If they don't display superior characteristics within two years, out they go, and two new faces will replace them.
Racing should be decided on the track, not the court room.
