Robin Frijns

I have a prejudice against drivers who cheat to win titles. It's happened twice this season. If it happens a third, the BB will melt.

btw, which was the other?

In this regard, all of them were under pressure. Bianchi is pretty much racing for his career as he hasn't set the world on fire in recent years. Bird is also getting a bit long in the tooth. And Freijns had a good season and needed to keep the momentum going. Under the circumstance, it was more of a overtly optimistic Kobayashi brain freeze than a Schumacheresque foul. But Bianchi fans may see it very differently.

Robin Frijns in line for long-term Sauber F1 deal
By Edd Straw Friday, October 26th 2012, 05:21 GMT

Robin Frijns is set for a long-term role with Sauber, provided his run in the Abu Dhabi young driver test proves a success.

The 21-year-old, who was recently crowned Formula Renault 3.5 champion in controversial circumstances, is scheduled to drive for Sauber for one day.

AUTOSPORT understands that the team plans to tie him down to a long-term deal having been impressed with his progress over the past three years, during which he has won the Formula BMW Europe, Formula Renault Eurocup and Formula Renault 3.5 title.

Asked about the reasons for running Frijns, who is not bringing money to test the car, Sauber team boss Monisha Kaltenborn said: "With Robin, we feel that he is very talented driver and that's why we want to give him this opportunity.

"It is a test for now and then we will see what goes ahead. Let him first prove himself - we should first see what he does.

"We want to look at him because we think that he's very talented."

Frijns has admitted that his performance in the Abu Dhabi test could be key to his career.

Currently, he is arguably the strongest driver without any affiliation to an F1 team.

Kaltenborn added that reserve driver Esteban Gutierrez, who made his debut as Friday driver in India, will continue to be prepared for a future F1 role at the test.

It is yet to be finalised whether he will race for the team next year.

"It is part of the project, we are preparing his way to Formula 1 and this is the only place he can really drive because we know we need our Fridays to be given to our drivers as they are not so experienced.

"That's why we gave this opportunity to Esteban."

"It is part of the project, we are preparing his way to Formula 1 and this is the only place he can really drive because we know we need our Fridays to be given to our drivers as they are not so experienced."

You don't happen to know if he has funding for GP2?

It would be a logical move, after all he's only done 1 year above FRenault/FBMW level, not even F3/GP3, it's a bit too rushed to try to do F1 with only 1 year of training at this level when everyone nowadays has 3, 4, 5, 6 years...

You don't happen to know if he has funding for GP2?

It would be a logical move, after all he's only done 1 year above FRenault/FBMW level, not even F3/GP3, it's a bit too rushed to try to do F1 with only 1 year of training at this level when everyone nowadays has 3, 4, 5, 6 years...

Edited by Kyo, 26 October 2012 - 15:46.

Yeah, given the number of drivers Bianchi has taken out over the years with bone-headed moves, it's actually quite ironic.

I hope he finds a funding. Would be quite nice to see he and Nasr racing each other again.

Edited by Risil, 29 October 2012 - 22:29.

He said in an interview recently that he doesn't have any funding.
That's why he takes the Sauber test drive so serious, he needs to do really well to impress.
I hope he does.

The situation of Bianchi crashing out, with his reputation of taking others out in previous years, is just coincidence and bad luck.

Well it's not going to win any special mention at the Annual Greek Tragedy Plotting Awards Ceremony, no.

He said in an interview recently that he doesn't have any funding.
That's why he takes the Sauber test drive so serious, he needs to do really well to impress.
I hope he does.

Edited by noikeee, 30 October 2012 - 12:16.

Ik heb al twee keer nee gezegd tegen Red Bull. Maar ik weet dat ze daar spelletjes spelen. Je mag niets zelf beslissen en als je niet doet wat zij willen, lig je eruit. Ze behandelen je als een hond. Ik heb in mijn carrière altijd mijn eigen keuzes gemaakt en dat wil ik blijven doen. Ik heb mensen nodig om me heen op wie ik kan vertrouwen en waar ik me goed bij voel. Daarom is Red Bull niks voor mij, ook al heb ik meer gewonnen dan Vettel voordat hij in de Formule 1 naam maakte.

Robin Frijns makes some strong remarks about Red Bull. He says he could join their young driver programme at two occasions, but refused.



Translation: I already said no to Red Bull twice. But I know they are playing games. You can't decide anything and if you don't do what they want, you're out. They treat you like a dog. In my career I have always made my own choices and I want to keep doing that. I need people around me who I can trust and with whom I feel good. That's why Red Bull isn't for me, although I have won more that Vettel before he made name in Formula 1.

Source: http://www.nu.nl/spo...-behandeld.html and http://www.volkskran...or-Frijns.dhtml

Pretty strong language. He also says he puts his hopes on Sauber, as they have contacted him already after his second FR3.5 race. And he will jump in the RB8 anyway :-).

another one who thinks he is better than SV ... and he isnt even in F1 yet

Robin Frijns makes some strong remarks about Red Bull. He says he could join their young driver programme at two occasions, but refused.

Frijns, who turned 21 in August, went on to reveal that he has twice turned down an offer to become part of Red Bull’s young driver programme. “Correct,” he confirms. “Twice I had offers, just after I won the Formula BMW Europe title (in 2010). The way they work the programme is just not for me. The deal for being there isn’t really fair and you can’t choose where you want to drive, so you lose such freedom. They determine which team you will race for, but personally I’m very sensitive about my teams...I want to be able to choose how I can help create something special. With hindsight, it’s worked out well for me.”

not a perfectly timed statement, considering he is driving their car in the coming days...

Sure, they can, but they definitely have their favourites.

Frijns, who turned 21 in August, went on to reveal that he has twice turned down an offer to become part of Red Bull’s young driver programme. “Correct,” he confirms. “Twice I had offers, just after I won the Formula BMW Europe title (in 2010). The way they work the programme is just not for me. The deal for being there isn’t really fair and you can’t choose where you want to drive, so you lose such freedom. They determine which team you will race for, but personally I’m very sensitive about my teams...I want to be able to choose how I can help create something special. With hindsight, it’s worked out well for me.”

In the old days Red Bull had a team and they placed their drivers there. In the past three years, off the top of my head, they've run their drivers at Carlin, Tech 1, and Arden/Caterham just in World Series.

Edited by EightGear, 05 November 2012 - 16:03.

A few years back they wanted to move Filipe Albuquerque from the WSR to Japanese F3. That would've killed his career, so he said no and left

Edited by Risil, 05 November 2012 - 16:22.

not a perfectly timed statement, considering he is driving their car in the coming days...

...and the Red Bull on Thursday.

Yep I know, he should do fine as he has spent quite a few days in the Red Bull simulator the last few months.

Now then, I'm beginning to wonder if Perez is actually going to see out the remaining two races with Sauber after his "heart-to-heart" later this week.

Which might give Guttierez a shot in the race seat with Frijns as Friday driver.

Or (better still) Frijns in the race seat. I'd like to see that.

Does that mean Sauber failed to tie him down to a long-term deal, 'cause that was their outspoken desire.

Now that he has officially signed for Sauber as their testdriver, how will his career go from here? I'm not too enthusiastic about the testing roles for young drivers nowadays, as testing is highly limited. Hamilton and Alonso for example could nurture their skills by driving thousands of miles in an F1 car, but today young drivers can only watch how an F1 works and how to communicate with engineers and such. This is however not a substitute for actual F1 experience imo. I am really curious to see how Gutierrez and Bottas will perform next season in their first few races. I hope that this testing role will help to nurture the raw diamond that is Robin Frijns, but I fear that it is not effective.