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Maldonado, Bottas or Grosjean: Who should Lotus/Williams hire for 2013?


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Poll: Lotus F1 team & Williams F1 2013 (131 member(s) have cast votes)

Lotus F1 team 2013 Driver's line up?

  1. Raikkonen + Grosjean (Total Sponsors) (99 votes [75.57%])

    Percentage of vote: 75.57%

  2. Raikkonen + Maldonado (PDSVA $25 Million) (10 votes [7.63%])

    Percentage of vote: 7.63%

  3. Raikkonen + Other (eg. Bottas) (22 votes [16.79%])

    Percentage of vote: 16.79%

Williams F1 team 2013 Driver's line up?

  1. Senna + Maldonado (14 votes [10.69%])

    Percentage of vote: 10.69%

  2. Bottas + Maldonado (94 votes [71.76%])

    Percentage of vote: 71.76%

  3. Bottas + Senna (12 votes [9.16%])

    Percentage of vote: 9.16%

  4. Bottas + Grosjean (Total Sponsors) (11 votes [8.40%])

    Percentage of vote: 8.40%

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#1 BackOnTop

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 04:04

Since both Maldonado & Grosjean are yet to be confirmed, with a great possibility that they both have irritated their teams with multiple crashes over the season.... thus losing them valuable points, forced their teams to create a special "Maldo & RoGro Spare parts Shop" along with heavy duty negative PR for the sponsors/media.

I just think it makes sense for both to have a change of scene, and will be cool to see them simply swap each others team.

I have a feeling Maldonado will perform very well & not crash that much if he has a strong team-mate with him. Having a World Champion alongside will do wonders for Maldo, as he sure is a very confident guy on his own. At the moment, Williams expect him to perform as their No.1, which is a bit unfair me thinks. He just needs less pressure, more freedom and a very good and intelligent teammate to grow into a very classy driver.

As for Grosjean, Having a Race stats of 15-2 in favour of Kimi is too much, considering Romain started most of the races in front of Kimi. It basically shows poor race craft, but great one lap pace when the pressure is lesser on Saturday. So Grosjean is overall a good bet for any team, who just need him to stop competing with his teammate & simply focus on his own race.

On top of that, "", he just cannot understand how Kimi beats him in the races every single time. So what does he do at Race starts... he tries to overtake and get away as far as possible from Raikkonen... with the added effect of crashes along the way because of his hurry. Since Kimi caught up & passed him in Bahrain GP from 11th position, Rogro has been trying too hard to finish races in front of Kimi, forgetting the bigger picture.

The problem with Grosjean looks like he started to believe he was better than Kimi Raikkonen after qualifying in front of him a few times. Big Mistake as Kimi was on an F1 comeback year. Anyways, I think Grosjean will suit Williams as he does seem to have the mentality of being the best, so might as well try leading a team instead of getting overshadowed by a driver he can't match, both in Race Performances as well as Media/Fan/PR Fever.

I am in favour of a Team swap.
Lotus + Maldonado:- Gets another race winning driver, with million of development funds. Lopez will be stupid not to grab him if Maldo's manager is still fishing around. Unlike Boullier who is Grosjean's manager as well, Gerard Lopez has no particular fondness for him. In any case, Lopez would have directed Parmane to listen to everything Kimi has to say about car dev for 2013, as he needs results not crashes.

Williams + Bottas/Grosjean:- gets away from the comfort of his "manager", and will be held accountable for performances on track. At least Williams are sure to get a very good Qualifier Will love to see a Bottas/Grosjean slugging it out... as basically it'll be Grosjean's Total money that gets Bottas the second seat in the first place.

In any case, I just hope Valtteri Bottas gets a drive next year, even if it means one of the crash kids are out of F1 for a year or so to get their heads together.

Grosjean confused by lack of Lotus contract - http://www.thef1time...s/display/06909
Maldonado wants Williams stay- http://en.espnf1.com...tory/91382.html
Edited- The 'F' Word.

Edited by BackOnTop, 02 November 2012 - 11:32.


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#2 WatchingF1since4yearsold

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 06:41

any chance of them hiring drivers based on merit rather than sponsorship and cash they bring in?



#3 Wingcommander

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 06:50

Raikkonen - Grosjean. Romain has shown a lot of promise and if he can keep his nose clean he will score a lot of points. Just needs to calm down a bit.

Maldonado - Bottas. It's the same for Maldonado aswell. Senna hasn't impressed, and i'd like to see what Bottas can do next to Maldonado.

#4 Brother Fox

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 06:50

On top of that, being French, he just cannot understand how Kimi beats him
...

he started to believe he was better than Kimi Raikkonen[/u] after qualifying in front of him a few times. Big French Mistake as Kimi was on an F1 comeback year


Any sense in that post is surely undermined by the explicit Francophobia

#5 MonacoMaster

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 06:55

Raikkonen - Grosjean. Romain has shown a lot of promise and if he can keep his nose clean he will score a lot of points. Just needs to calm down a bit.

Maldonado - Bottas. It's the same for Maldonado aswell. Senna hasn't impressed, and i'd like to see what Bottas can do next to Maldonado.


This. :up:

#6 BackOnTop

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 07:43

Any sense in that post is surely undermined by the explicit Francophobia

Not really, because his manager is also french.

Nothing against a nation that holds some of the most beautiful locations in the world.... but sometimes they can be a bit self-centered to focus on a "team sport".

Also, another French Driver Jean-Eric Vergne had the cheek to claim "he'd be doing better that Mark Webber in RedBull". :wave:

All he has managed so far is being a 'normal' racing driver. So yeah, I have a feeling french drivers talk too much for their own good. This year is the first time in a long while that we got french drivers on the grid, and two of them are already proving that their actions are smaller than their words. I remember Grosjean saying Spa ban has helped him, only to take out Webber in Japan.

Also, it's all in jest.

Edited by BackOnTop, 02 November 2012 - 07:55.


#7 Anderis

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 08:59

Raikkonen- Grosjean
and
Maldonado-Bottas

Make the most sense at the moment in my opinion. I believe Maldonado will do well with more experience and with a team-mate who pushes him more than Bruno. But whatsoever, Williams are not able to drop his huge PDVSA backing before they manage to find a lot of money eslewhere.
Bottas is reportedly hugely talented and is able to bring some minor sponsorship too. Even as a rookie he should be a step forward over Bruno, and he has the potential to lead the team in the future.

Lotus also don't have better options at the moment IMO. Grosjean proved he is fast enough to keep his seat. I don't believe he will crash forever, the same as Maldonado.

#8 ayali

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 09:19

Raikkonen- Grosjean
Romain will have learned from this year and is quick enough to keep Kimi honest and bring home valuable points

Maldonado-Bottas (or someone else other than Senna)
Maldonado, Williams need the money so there's no other choice and Maldonado seems fast enough.
Senna is just not good enough imo, nice guy and improving but I'd rather see Bottas or another youngster take that seat

Silly OP with the Francophobia :down:

#9 Muppetmad

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 09:37

Indeed, the francophobia is uncalled for. Grosjean has shown some excellent pace at times, if it weren't for his alternator failure at Valencia he would have taken at least 2nd, if not the win. Once he calms it down a bit, I think he'll be much better - does anybody remember Petrov's pace in his 2011? In 2010 he was disastrous but in 2011 he looked pretty strong.

#10 Anderis

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 11:00

[I am in favour of a Team swap.
Lotus + Maldonado:- Gets another race winning driver, with $25 million of development funds. Lopez will be stupid not to grab him if Maldo's manager is still fishing around. Unlike Boullier who is Grosjean's manager as well, Gerard Lopez has no particular fondness for him. In any case, Lopez would have directed Parmane to listen to everything Kimi has to

I had missed this suggestion first time I replied this topic.

Maldonado won't go to Lotus, because Lotus will not want to lose Total and Total won't allow a major sponsorship deal from PDVSA. Replacing Total with PDVSA doesn't make much sense. It's replacing a long-time, loyal and major sponsor- producer of high quality fuel and lubricants which certainly give them some boost for engine performance with a company connected with unpopular Hugo Chavez and this certainly won't help with attracting other sponsors.

#11 lustigson

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 11:02

It would interesting to see Maldonado at Lotus. I'm convinced that the Venezuelan isn't a bad driver, although not of Räikkönen's caliber and very probably not of Grosjean's, either.

Grosjean is the better long-term prospect for the team, though, and I'm a bit surprised that Lotus haven't picked him up for 2013 and beyond, yet. I wonder which serious alternative the team might have, apart from Maldonado, as stated by OT, and reserve driver D'Ambrosio. Perhaps any of the former STR drivers, Alguersuari and Buemi, or Kobayashi?

#12 BackOnTop

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 11:05

Indeed, the francophobia is uncalled for. Grosjean has shown some excellent pace at times, if it weren't for his alternator failure at Valencia he would have taken at least 2nd, if not the win. Once he calms it down a bit, I think he'll be much better - does anybody remember Petrov's pace in his 2011? In 2010 he was disastrous but in 2011 he looked pretty strong.

In my OP, the francophobia is in jest... because the way JEV, Grosjean & Boullier (for Grosjean) talked themselves up a few times, I got a fright that they will win this years world championships. :blush:

Anyways, nobody is questioning or even suggesting that Grosjean has no pace, or he should not be in F1 2013. So bringing up Petrov's pace is irrelevant.

All I think is that Maldonado, who is currently a "free agent" with million dollars in his pocket, can very easily be lapped up by Lotus. I can't see a reason why Maldonado would refuse to make a deal with Lotus, they are a good team with a very good World Champion to drive the team forward. All Maldonado has to do is relax and he will deliver very good results for the Lotus team.

Lotus F1 Team will get a massive boost to their development funds in this off season. Romain has good sponsors too, maybe half of Maldonado, but is sure to get a drive with Williams or Sauber in place of Kobayashi.

Both Lotus & Maldonado can be big winners in this whole deal, so Romain's seat is not 100% secure.

Edited by BackOnTop, 02 November 2012 - 11:35.


#13 Tsarwash

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 11:07

I think that having Kimi as a teammate would make Maldonaldo even worse for crashing.

#14 Anderis

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 11:08

I wonder which serious alternative the team might have, apart from Maldonado, as stated by OT, and reserve driver D'Ambrosio. Perhaps any of the former STR drivers, Alguersuari and Buemi, or Kobayashi?

Pic. He is doing very decent job against Glock and he would allow to keep Renault and Total happy. Moreover, he could bring some more money from his personal sponsors too.

I also rate d'Ambrosio high and he somehow reminds me Kimi in terms of driving style. Not a brilliant qualifier, but good racecraft, good at making tyres work on a longer stint and makes not many mistakes. Certainly not a Kimi level ATM, but decent prospect for the future IMO.

Alguersuari, Buemi or Kobayashi have all proven they're F1 level and the lfirst one reportedly managed to find decent sponsorship.

#15 BackOnTop

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 11:09

Pastor Maldonado keeping options open for 2013
http://www.autosport...t.php/id/103231

Pastor Maldonado is happy keeping his future options open, despite finally getting back in to the points with Williams at the Japanese Grand Prix. And having headed into the Japanese weekend admitting that there was no guarantee he would be at Williams next year, he has again drawn short of committing himself there just yet.

"At the moment, for sure, there is the chance to go to other teams," he explained. "But we are considering remaining here, and it is still too early to say anything. The team, usually they confirm the drivers at the end of the season. So we are talking, we are negotiating..." "PDVSA is a company that I've known for a long time and it is going to be all good I think because we have a contract and they have been always supporting my career in the past.

"In Venezuela everyone is happy to see me in F1. We won one race this year which is amazing for my second year in F1. "We haven't had the best car but we still managed to win. We are working very hard on the car and, as you know, I have a lot of responsibility in this team because I am the top driver here. "It is difficult to accept that we miss many points this year, but it is never too late to recover."

When asked if he was happy with how talks at Williams were progressing, Maldonado said: "This is a good family for me. I feel really good. I think they are really happy with me as well, but you know how F1 is. It can change from one day to another."


Lotus still evaluating Grosjean before finalising new contract
http://www.autosport...t.php/id/103928

Boullier said: "Obviously he impressed a lot of people by his speed and by the fact he had solid races and scored some podiums, which is not bad for a rookie season.

"But there is the story of his starts and the fact he had a race ban. So we are monitoring it very closely how he is recovering and getting back from this story. "In Korea and India he did a great job, and this is the Romain Grosjean we expected to have. We would be more pleased if he had a better qualifying, but this is racing.

"So we will monitor it and when we are ready to go for a longer plan we will announce it. We are monitoring it on a day by day basis."

Edited by BackOnTop, 02 November 2012 - 11:36.


#16 Anderis

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 11:10

Lotus F1 Team will get a massive boost to their development funds in this off season.

No. As I stated earlier, they can't have a major deals from both Total and PDVSA at the same time. If they get PDVSA backing, but lose Total, it won't be a massive boost for their budget.

#17 turssi

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 11:19

A creative and fun idea regarding the switch, could be better if we look at the pilots only for sure.

Anyway, as Anderis pointed out in a post above it's just too much paperwork and confusion from the sponsor point of view. Maldonado and Grosjean come with complete paintjob deals and PDVSA/Total plastered all over the team for which they drive. I say no chance because of this.

#18 BackOnTop

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 11:24

No. As I stated earlier, they can't have a major deals from both Total and PDVSA at the same time. If they get PDVSA backing, but lose Total, it won't be a massive boost for their budget.

Maldonado is currently regarded by many journalists like James Allen & J Saward as the richest sponsored driver on the Grid.

I don't for a moment believe that Grosjean brings in a whopping 25 Millions Dollars a year to the Lotus team. No way!
Grosjean's calculation in an article I had come across a few weeks back was in an the zone of 10 Million Dollars from Total.

Even here, 5 Million would surely have been charged by Lotus team as a Fee for having a World Champion in Kimi Raikkonen in the team. After all, Total is featured on Kimi Raikkonen's image rights too, like his overall, his car, his T-Shirts & Merchandise. So generally, Grosjean is worth about 5-7 Million on his own.

Seriously, Maldonado's PDVSA is the biggest driver sponsor after Santander for Alonso.

Edited by BackOnTop, 02 November 2012 - 11:41.


#19 Anderis

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 11:43

Seriously, Maldonado's PDVSA is the biggest driver sponsor after Santander for Alonso.

Yes, it is. But there are some further implications of possible PDVSA/Total switch as I mentioned earlier.

PDVSA partnership is bad for team's PR and may discourage other sponsors. Since they've joined Williams, Lotus is doing much better in finding new partners and this can change with this possible switch.
Total brings also some kind of technology partnership.

+Total is more a team sponsor than a driver sponsor. They may be pushing the team for a certain driver choice, but certainly not as much as PDVSA. It would be a shame for Lotus to lose them. They're one of the most valuable sponsors in current F1 for several reasons, even if they aren't bringing as much money as PDVSA.

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#20 BackOnTop

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 12:13

Yes, it is. But there are some further implications of possible PDVSA/Total switch as I mentioned earlier.

PDVSA partnership is bad for team's PR and may discourage other sponsors. Since they've joined Williams, Lotus is doing much better in finding new partners and this can change with this possible switch.
Total brings also some kind of technology partnership.

+Total is more a team sponsor than a driver sponsor. They may be pushing the team for a certain driver choice, but certainly not as much as PDVSA. It would be a shame for Lotus to lose them. They're one of the most valuable sponsors in current F1 for several reasons, even if they aren't bringing as much money as PDVSA.

No way... If Total was good for Lotus as a Sponsor, this would not be happening???


Difficult to improve more
Janne Aittoniemi - 30.10.2012
Ilta-Sanomat (paper edition) (translated by Wolfie)

Last Sunday some really interesting rumours were circulating on the paddock, rumours about Lotus and Räikkönen which Bouillier tried to deny the best he could. Several people told that they had heard the team was up for sale, that payments to part suppliers as well as salaries to Räikkönen and many others had not been paid .

[i]Among reporters from Auto Motor und Sport there was even a rumour according to which Räikkönen would have demanded the team to free him so that he could still look around to see where else there would be some room left.

No smoke without fire. Those kind of rumours just don't take off unless there is no foundation of truth in them. It can still happen that Kimi won't drive for Lotus next year. He won't drive if the team's finance is as bad as many believe.

Yesterday Lotus needed a positive news story. It might also be that in Räikkönen's 1+1 -year contract an option went off, something that was talked about before the season began. Already back then they rumoured, that according to an option clausul Räikkönen commits to drive for Lotus the second season also if he is in the Top 8 in the WDC-serie

Edited by BackOnTop, 02 November 2012 - 14:49.


#21 Muppetmad

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 12:20

In my OP, the francophobia is in jest... because the way JEV, Grosjean & Boullier (for Grosjean) talked themselves up a few times, I got a fright that they will win this years world championships. :blush:


Fair enough - in this instance it didn't come across in the intended way over the internet ;)

#22 mattferg

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 12:23

Bottas might be fast, but just look at Grosjean. He's fast, but completely inexperienced in F1, and as such he causes a lot of crashes. Do they really need to take the risk with a driver who has no race experience, and introduce yet another possible Grosjean into the field? STICK WITH SENNA.

#23 Anderis

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 12:28

Bottas might be fast, but just look at Grosjean. He's fast, but completely inexperienced in F1, and as such he causes a lot of crashes. Do they really need to take the risk with a driver who has no race experience, and introduce yet another possible Grosjean into the field? STICK WITH SENNA.

Not every rookie does Grosjean in his first year.

There were plenty of rookies in F1 in several last years who managed to keep reasonable speed, consistency and amount of mistakes in their first years.

Grosjean with all his crashes still maximised the car far better than Bruno. Look how much more points he has, it's for sure not only about the car. FW34 was capable of more than 100 points this year and Bruno only managed to get 26. I can't see Bottas doing any worse, even in his rookie year. He didn't show any problems with racecraft in lower series, unlike Grosjean, who had many problems with taking advantage of his speed in his GP2 2008 season AFAIR.

#24 skywing

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 12:28

Bottas might be fast, but just look at Grosjean. He's fast, but completely inexperienced in F1, and as such he causes a lot of crashes. Do they really need to take the risk with a driver who has no race experience, and introduce yet another possible Grosjean into the field? STICK WITH SENNA.

With that logic there will be no new drivers in F1 ever.

#25 darkkis

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 15:18

No way... If Total was good for Lotus as a Sponsor, this would not be happening???


Difficult to improve more
Janne Aittoniemi - 30.10.2012
Ilta-Sanomat (paper edition) (translated by Wolfie)

Last Sunday some really interesting rumours were circulating on the paddock, rumours about Lotus and Räikkönen which Bouillier tried to deny the best he could. Several people told that they had heard the team was up for sale, that payments to part suppliers as well as salaries to Räikkönen and many others had not been paid .

[i]Among reporters from Auto Motor und Sport there was even a rumour according to which Räikkönen would have demanded the team to free him so that he could still look around to see where else there would be some room left.

No smoke without fire. Those kind of rumours just don't take off unless there is no foundation of truth in them. It can still happen that Kimi won't drive for Lotus next year. He won't drive if the team's finance is as bad as many believe.

Yesterday Lotus needed a positive news story. It might also be that in Räikkönen's 1+1 -year contract an option went off, something that was talked about before the season began. Already back then they rumoured, that according to an option clausul Räikkönen commits to drive for Lotus the second season also if he is in the Top 8 in the WDC-serie

Aittoniemi publishes his blogs in a Finnish tabloid... It's not that reliable of a source, besides Aittoniemi's articles tend to be bitter and not at all informative at times... :stoned:


#26 rijole1

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 20:53

Not really, because his manager is also french.

Nothing against a nation that holds some of the most beautiful locations in the world.... but sometimes they can be a bit self-centered to focus on a "team sport".

Also, another French Driver Jean-Eric Vergne had the cheek to claim "he'd be doing better that Mark Webber in RedBull". :wave:

All he has managed so far is being a 'normal' racing driver. So yeah, I have a feeling french drivers talk too much for their own good. This year is the first time in a long while that we got french drivers on the grid, and two of them are already proving that their actions are smaller than their words. I remember Grosjean saying Spa ban has helped him, only to take out Webber in Japan.

Also, it's all in jest.


About french drivers. Grosjean is actually from Switzerland.( I just had to say it)
And what about an other french driver - Charles Pic - he doesn't seem to be talking too much?
Actually, you get an impression that he's a bit shy and very professional

I'm not too impressed of Jean-Eric Vergne's big mouth either, but I do not think it's because he's french.
He's just that kind of guy ;)


#27 l8apex

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 21:03

Raikkonen - Grosjean and Maldonado - Bottas are the only ones that make sense.

Grosjean has great speed and has shown decent race craft after the first lap. I think we will seem him get over this issue and put some more pressure on Raikkonen next year. I say they wait until after the USGP, if Grosjean survives turn one on that crazy high speed up hill then they should sign him. If he screws it up and causes a massive accident they should rename turn 1 Grosjean corner and not sign him.

Maldonado also seems to have chilled out a bit. The car hasn't been as good and he has had some issues and struggled in recent races, but he hasn't had any insane crashes for awhile.

Whatever happens I hope that Williams drop Senna. He just doesn't have what it takes to be in F1. He is a nice guy and has flashes of pace on occasion, but there are a lot of better options available to Williams.

#28 Disgrace

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 21:05

Bottas might be fast, but just look at Grosjean. He's fast, but completely inexperienced in F1, and as such he causes a lot of crashes. Do they really need to take the risk with a driver who has no race experience, and introduce yet another possible Grosjean into the field? STICK WITH SENNA.


Senna is among the most accident prone drivers on the grid, so that is simply not a viable defence. Evidence: Malaysia into his team-mate, Barcelona Q1 into the wall, Canadian/British practice into the wall, Singapore three times and Suzuka into Rosberg. Grosjean and Maldonado are more readily forgiven because they have podium/race winning pace, whereas Senna does not.

#29 rijole1

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 21:19

Raikkonen - Grosjean and Maldonado - Bottas are the only ones that make sense.

Grosjean has great speed and has shown decent race craft after the first lap. I think we will seem him get over this issue and put some more pressure on Raikkonen next year. I say they wait until after the USGP, if Grosjean survives turn one on that crazy high speed up hill then they should sign him. If he screws it up and causes a massive accident they should rename turn 1 Grosjean corner and not sign him.

Maldonado also seems to have chilled out a bit. The car hasn't been as good and he has had some issues and struggled in recent races, but he hasn't had any insane crashes for awhile.

Whatever happens I hope that Williams drop Senna. He just doesn't have what it takes to be in F1. He is a nice guy and has flashes of pace on occasion, but there are a lot of better options available to Williams.


Agree with you.
Raikkonen - Grosjean for Lotus and Maldonado - Bottas for Williams looks like it's going to be.

But I don't think Grosjean is going to learn. It wouldn't surprise me if he's going to crash half of the races next year also.
And even if Maldonado has cooled down, I think he's a ticking bomb.
They're both a bit crazy... :drunk:

Maybe Lotus should give Di Ambrosio a go next year and keep Grosjean as a third driver?

#30 Jimisgod

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Posted 03 November 2012 - 05:49

Maybe Lotus should give Di Ambrosio a go next year and keep Grosjean as a third driver?


What a waste. Grosjean will be kept because he has $. I'd try and get Kamui or someone else off contract, but things seem to be nearing the end of good, available drivers.

I think Grosjean will crash a lot next year, be challenged by Kimi in qualifying and generally underwhelm.

#31 rijole1

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Posted 03 November 2012 - 08:32

Yes, I think also Kobayashi would be a great choice for the other seat.
Or why not Di Amrosio, Di Resta, Kovalainen or Charles Pic?
I'm sure all of them would crash less than Grosjean...