F1: Who should go, who should come in?

Who can't cut it in F1? Who deserves a chance to write a new chapter?

For the Knacker's Yard:

Michael Schumacher - Past master past his sell by date.
Felipe Massa - Just not good enough anymore.
Bruno Senna - Never was good enough.
Pedro de la Rosa - All of the above (Minus the mastery).

Bring in the young blood:

Valtteri Bottas - Looks quick.
Davide Valsecchi - Every other GP2 champion has made it into F1 sooner or later. Must be in with a shot.
Jules Bianchi - Been waiting in the wings for a while. Part of the Todt dynasty.
Alguersuari/Buemi - Deserve another chance?

British young guns for the future http://www.autosport...t.php/id/102887 Will we see the first Father-Son-Grandson F1 Champion?!

Edited by Tenmantaylor, 27 September 2012 - 20:25.

Sutil in. Better than many current drivers.

De la Rosa is doing great IMO.

Karthikeyen should go but he's probably responsible for half of HRT's budget.

I think Massa is still worthy of a place - but probably at a midfield team.

I think Schumacher's experience could be of benefit to a mid field or backmarker team.

Strange to pick on De La Rosa instead of Karthikeyan. Schumacher should be off and it looks like Petrov is struggling to get cash. Senna has done a relatively solid but unspectacular job & is likely to miss out in place of Bottas. Bottas in F1 is good news though. I have a feeling that Kobayashi might struggle to retain his drive but it would be a shame to see him go. Algeursauri says he will be back which is also good news and I would also like to see Sutil back too but I can't see where. Bianchi might get in if one of the FI drivers move but I can't see where Valsecchi will fit in. I think he could suffer the same fate as poor old Pantano. Due to Chilton's connections to Aon through his dad its a given he'll get a drive (erm at Marussia obviously), to be fair to him he done well in GP2 though.

Edited by Les, 27 September 2012 - 22:25.

Karthikeyen should go but he's probably responsible for half of HRT's budget.

Karthikeyan doesn't bring as much as you think, max £7m + £1m for Indian Weekend (think Tata Tea sponsorship etc) HRT need a driver who brings double that really for their 2nd seat next year.

DLR is outperforming that car is some instances tbh, so strange to pick on him like Les said.

Martínez de la Rosa isn't probably the fastest out there, but his job in HRT is not to win races, so it really doesn't matter. The team wanted him to bring his huge experience as McLaren test-driver, as well as his knowledge, and that's what he's doing. I really don't see why he should go: putting a young, inexperienced, future star in that car would not help that team (or the young driver) at all.

EDIT: I'm saying this as somebody who enjoys his commenting of the races 1000 times better than his driving

Edited by artista, 27 September 2012 - 21:57.

Who should go:

Schumacher - he has had 3 years now to do something worth remembering (other than crashing into people from behind), and the meager take was one podium and one ruined pole position. I dare say that who ever would have been driving in his place would have ended up with a similar (or better!) statistic. Time to hang it up and join the Mercedes team management.

Massa - he's putting up a good fight now, but ANOTHER year blocking a Ferrari seat? As soon as he signs another contract extension he'll fall back into mediocrity once again. Come on. Time to give someone else a shot, please. Anybody.

Glock - his existence is pointless at Marussia. He probably has enough talent left in him to do fine in a better team, but his long term tenure in this go-nowhere seat is useless to him and his career. Better to go try something else, if he can't get a quicker ride.

Senna - just didn't cut it, did he? If he gets another ride next season he is the new Liuzzi. I hate to see the name disappear, and he's a fine young man, but just hasn't been convincing...

Buemi - funny that he is almost never mentioned when it comes to a spot on the grid... he gets no love. Probably time to move on and try another series.

Current GP2 crop - I don't really see any of them amounting to much... at least not the top rankers from this season.

Who should come in:

Bottas - no doubts. I look forward to seeing how well he can do. He paid his dues waiting.

Wickens - got quiet around him, unfortunately... and strangely. I would love to see him take a stab at it, given how well he did in the lower Formulae.

Chandhok - should really take Karthikeyan's place as the sponsorship-bringing Indian in F1. I never understood why the sponsors pushed Narain instead of the quicker and more marketable Karun.

Kubica - if he is healed up and fit, would be a no-brainer to return. At least to try and see how he does.

Some talented American - not really sure who that would be as there is no clear candidate. Rossi hasn't really grown into the shoes - any other ideas?

Frijns - possibly the next big thing... and looks like he'll be the tester for someone next season. Rightfully so.

Edited by maximilian, 27 September 2012 - 22:28.

Who should go:

Schumacher
Massa
Senna
De La Rosa
Karthikeyan

Who should come:

Bottas
Wickens
Frijns
Alguersuari
Valsecchi

Asking MSC out is absurd. Lay off the pipe or at least ask JB out as for 6 races out of 14 was NOWHERE not due plain inability to set the car up.

Wickens - got quiet around him, unfortunately... and strangely. I would love to see him take a stab at it, given how well he did in the lower Formulae.

As he is racing in DTM I see him more often...he's doing pretty well in recent races for a rookie. DTM is often a dead end for Formula talents (see Premat, Mortara, Vietoris, Molina...). Of course di Resta or Albers show that it's possible to reach F1 from there.

Who I want to see next year:
Valsecchi, Chilton, Sutil, Alguersuari. Calado to stay another year in GP2 and join later.

Who should go out:
Massa, Karthikeyan, de la Rosa, Senna, maybe Schuey

GO-

Bruno Lalli (for being slow and a crash magnet)
Both HRT drivers (for being useless)
Massa (for being spineless)

Come-

I don't really care

GO-

Bruno Lalli (for being slow and a crash magnet)
Both HRT drivers (for being useless)
Massa (for being spineless)

Come-

I don't really care

Guess you missed Massa's spectacular overtake of Senna, who ended up retiring from a promising position due to car failure in Singaore then

Who can't cut it in F1? Who deserves a chance to write a new chapter?

For the Knacker's Yard:

Michael Schumacher - Past master past his sell by date.
Felipe Massa - Just not good enough anymore.
Bruno Senna - Never was good enough.
Pedro de la Rosa - All of the above (Minus the mastery).

The problem with F1 is there is no where else for these folks to go. It's absurd.

NASCAR outclasses FOM by far in this regard, allowing 100+ drivers to be paid to race. Surely FOM cannot stand to see this situation continue!

Racing 5 sportscar races a year pays well but is hardly a full-time job. DTM is similarly a part-time series. Meanwhile Liuzzi is plugging around in Italian touring cars (and Klien and Premat are eating pie floaters and racing Australian touring cars)!

The sooner they get rid of the supposedly crap GP2 (apparently RWS is the place to be, and GP2 is for cashed up also-rans who will never make it), and create a true Nationwide style catering for young guns and veterans series the better. Why not have the Judd 4.0 V10 as the control engine, around which a choice of chassis could be used, similar to Formula 3? Similarly, race most races as stand-alones at classic circuits like Brands Hatch, Assen, Mugello etc. instead of steadfastly sticking to modern F1 tracks.

Edited by V8 Fireworks, 28 September 2012 - 01:20.

The sooner they get rid of the supposedly crap GP2 (apparently RWS is the place to be, and GP2 is for cashed up also-rans who will never make it), and create a true Nationwide style catering for young guns and veterans series the better. Why not have the Judd 4.0 V10 as the control engine, around which a choice of chassis could be used, similar to Formula 3? Similarly, race most races as stand-alones at classic circuits like Brands Hatch, Assen, Mugello etc. instead of steadfastly sticking to modern F1 tracks.

The Superleague Formula is gone dude.....

More OT, Scrapheap: Schumi, Karthi. Newcomers: Wickens, Calado, Alguersuari, Nasr. Further down the line: Frijns, Abt, Evans.

Edited by Dispenser89, 28 September 2012 - 02:03.

Jules Bianchi is a rising star, very obviously.

He should already have won the F3.5 without the bad luck that hit him at the beginning of the season.

Jules Bianchi is a rising star, very obviously.

He should already have won the F3.5 without the bad luck that hit him at the beginning of the season.

Really? He flopped in GP2, and now he has been shown up in 3.5 by a rookie. On his way down, I reckon.