* This was posted in Pf1 forum by Farina

f1enigma Dimitris PAPADOPOULO
Autosport mag : Hulkenberg is set to be promoted to a race seat next year alongside Paul di Resta. Story from @eddstrawF1 at @AUTOSPORTdigi

From Twitter. I don't have an Autosport subscription so perhaps someone can confirm the story is there.

What for Sutil if it's true? Williams?

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Even I don't have a Autosport subscription, can it be confirmed!!???

If true, then where is Sutil going to land up. Williams???
What is Williams going to gain from Sutil that they can't gain from Rubens, and if it's money... Williams already have a few drivers with sponsors to choose from.

Surely, they can't bring in a Driver who is being out-performed matched in pace & track skills by Di Resta at Force India and make it sound like Sutil is a driver to take them to the top. They'd much rather prefer an offer for Kimi Raikkonen or keep Barrichello for 2012.

Has Sutil been that mediocre this year, similar to how Rosberg has been???.
They haven't lit up anything in 2011. Boring and under pressure from team-mates to say the least.

What is Sutil's future if Force India replace him??

So you're saying that Di Resta is one of the hottest properties in F1 but the man who's beating him in the same car isn't worthy of a seat next year?

Havent seen this outperforming Di Resta thing. People really do believe the hype.

I'm not saying anything. Just responding to a report suggesting Sutil maybe replaced by Hulkenberg.

di Resta is British, of course he's hot property in the British press

I'd like to see Hulkenberg get a race seat, but certainly not at the expense of Sutil. I just see no performance based justification in dumping AS for NH.

Unless he's looking to move upwards, but Williams I wouldn't say is exactly moving upwards, it's sidewards at best for 2012, perhaps even downwards (a continuation of 2011).

Renault, not really a chance since his incident with Eric Lux.

Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren are all taken.

I suppose Williams would be a new challenge, but I wouldn't see the logic behind him making that choice or Force India dumping him for Hulkenberg

In any case I think Rubens has long overstayed his Visa for F1

I hope Sutil have found racing seat for next year and that is why Hulk will replace him in FI. If Williams is right choice or better choice than FI , I am not sure. But, will be nice to see two hot properties(one British and one German) next year in FI. Will be nice internal battle to watch.

Autosport says Force India is impressed by what Hulk does in practice sessions. Options on both Hulk and Paul expired last weekend, but in both cases their contracts were extended.

Find it hard to believe Sutil will be without a race seat, I think they're both in. (AS and NH, that is)

Only thing I can think of from Force India's point of view is that at 28 Sutil probably isn't going to get any better, but considering that he's outperforming di Resta (despite what the BBC/British press say - and this is coming from someone who normally defends them) then I think its unjustified. Hulkenberg couldn't beat Barrichello in his first year and I don't see how he's going to be any better after sitting out for a year.

It doesn't even make sense from a financial point of view, considering that Sutil has Medion sponsorship. I could understand them not wanting 2 Germans, but I'd still choose Sutil any day.

Actually, I wonder if Hulkenberg has a guaranteed race seat for 2012 in his contract, and Force India can't afford to pay it off? I think Liuzzi had something similar for 2010.

I think poll is missing the option: Sutil is leaving FI and Hulk is taking his place there.

Sutil anyday... He is few places ahead of Di Resta in the standings and after loosing 6:1 in qualifyings, he turned the tables completely around and is now equal with the Scot 8:8... That indicates he has no problems with improving during a year... And other thing to say - When Di Resta is a shining star and future champion, what is Sutil then? A mediocre driver leading an outstanding talent? A logic is missing here... I hope Adrian gets a seat, cause it will be a shame being without a cockpit in 2012 after a pretty nice job in 2011...

Right, I still say he is most underrated driver on the grid. His popularity has been eclipsed by other mid-field drivers and their blind fanaticism.

Because there is far more than simply championship positions to compare the two drivers. Part of that lead comes from the first half of the season, where the Force India wasn't always capable of points finishes. Di Resta suffered from a fair few incidents here, some his teams fault (notably Silverstone), some being caught out by other drivers, some just rookie mistakes. As of late, his driving has improved greatly, he hasn't been involved in any collisions, and I believe that him and Sutil are now at least equally good as one another.

Qualifying is harder to compare, now that Force India don't send out their drivers in Q3.

For replacing Sutil, some here have already hit it by looking at what more he could achieve. Sure, he's performed well over this season, but he's been in the same team for years bringing back good enough results, but never anything better (let's remember it was Fisi that got it on pole, not Sutil). With a driver that can deliver at least as good as Sutl, then taking on a still promising Hulkenberg could e a good bet.

There's no logic missing. Sutil has several season worth of experience and is only matching a driver in his rookie season. They know Sutil well and can see where the greater potential is.

I wasn't a huge fan of Sutil after he was nowhere at Spa 09 and his various incidents during his first few seasons. However he has improved a lot and can consistently bring in points. It would be hard to justify sacking him when he is doing the job. I want to see Nico back, but Sutil hasn't had a Liuzzi season so I'd rather have Adrian at FI next season.

When the car is a midfield runner, the possibility of out-scoring your team-mate by a large margin is very difficult. All you can get from every race is a max of 5-6 points, then how much can you be leading him by? I still feel Di Resta is over-rated, especially by BBC. Sutil has performed very well and would be very unlucky to miss out even though he is leading in the points.

For that argument to hold any amount of water Di Resta should be improving relative to Sutil as the season progresses. In reality the opposite has been happening; it would be extremely difficult for anyone to make a case that Di Resta has looked better than Sutil over the last 7 or 8 races.

A chance for HULK please!

Exactly. It's impossible for Sutil to score points at every race. Maybe he can get 9ths and 10ths frequently, but it's extremely difficult to get 6ths and 7ths when the top 6 places are locked out by the top 3 teams with Mercedes not too far behind. Hulkenberg has more potential, but Sutil can bring in the results immediately, whereas the Hulk would need to readjust to Formula 1.

Many rumors in twitter that HULK yet has Sutils cokpit

i prefer sutil's experience over hulk's claimed more potential . sutil is still in 28 . he can develop with the team as they are improving massively over the season and next year can beat renault to 6th place. i dont understand why change driver lineup just when the team started to bring consistent point finishes and obviously start to find a very good form in Qualifying and the Race

How about Sutil to replace Rubens, Senna gets his seat, and Hulk moves to Renault (I do not see Kubica driving again, ever). You get three way swaps in hockey, why not here?




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Now somebody has to go and tell Frank, Eric, and whatishisname at India.

good choice...sutil already in that team for 4 years,since midland days..sothey must know his limit by now...giving hulk a new chance is reasonable gamble...also considering di rista in his first season easily matching pace with sutil goes against him...

I'd like to see Sutil, Hulkenberg and Di Resta all in F1.

This, essentially, is the the correct answer.

Sutil has problems with the law, TBH, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't find a seat for next season.

But according to 'they', they can't rely on Sutil for a longterm gameplan. I think, the only reason for them to keep him is because he has a lot of knowledge and experience to give the team a guideline to focus on. They can't expect such things from di Resta, he hasn't been in F1 long enough and so is Hulkenberg. But for once in a while a refresh in the tactics can prove its worth, go ask Peter Sauber about what he did in 2001. That season a gamble with both drivers and car paid a really good dividence (4th in the WCC, a great feat for a privateer).

HULK IN - Sutil OUT

german web says Hulk has firmed for Force India for one year...Sutil is out!

Sutil should go to Ferrari.

Problem is - to fit Kimi in , one has to go.

Question is, why anyone have to fit Kimi anywhere? I think he will be not in F1 next year. In 2013 probably. Sutil have bigger chances to drive for Williams at the moment, he bring sponsors money too.

i'm not sure about that, Lux's case against him is still on, and rumour has it that he may lose his Medion sponsorship at the end of the year.

Thank you for your common sense answer.

oh nooooo...please NO!

Yes, you should, he will destroy Nando.

Not a problem for me frankly. Kimi's the past, the other 3 are the present and future.

I suspect Sutil may have a drive elsewhere, but I'll belive this change when Force India announce it.

Force India is a joke

Sutil is a very talented driver who had personal problems in the begining of the season but still manage to start beating Di Resta in every measure.

Hulk, though, is one of the most hyped drivers in recent F1. Maldonado clearly showed this year how the Hulk lacks raw speed.

I have no doubt Hulkenberg can have a very good career in F1, his talent is, at best, very much like Heidfeld's, Barrichello's, Button's and Rosberg's. Very quick drivers who can eventually win races/championships with good machineries but who lack that extra raw speed.

Did you watch '10 Brazilian GP? Are you blind?

Those were changing track conditions and it was about being on track at right time(at the end). Ok, but i don't mean he doesn't have raw speed.

Hulkenberg and Grosjean are the two drivers I most desperately want to see in F1. If they don't fulfil their potential, at least we'll know, but their junior formula records are to be excited about (even if they're not always the best indicator of F1 performance, but it's what we've got).

A bit OT, but IIRC Hulk set the two fastest laps of that qualifying.

Vettel and Alonso were out at the end of qualifying as well.

A fluke is now represantative of his speed?!

He does have raw speed. Half second slower than Barrichello's, on average. While Maldonado is quicker than Rubens.

I'm sorry guys, Maldonado is quicker than Hulk. These are the facts, anything else it doesn't matter. As someone I know likes to say.

Yeah, so Maldonado > Barrichello > Hulkenberg. But Barrichello was quicker than Button at Honda in 2008, which means Button is slower than Maldonado too right?

Heidfeld is still only 2 points behind Petrov. Go figure that one out.
I'm starting to take a major dislike on F1,Suttil has been super all season long.

it is not about sutil beating di resta this season , actually it should be that way or i will write off sutil , but the thing is the team now has a very good form and they started to be consistent with their current engineers, managers , designers and of course drivers , so why change that ?