53 replies to this topic

[D.M.N.]

Poll added.

Given that money and 'tough economic times' is mentioned in the statement, I don't think Kovalainen, Kobayashi or Senna is very likely. Personally, I'd love to see Alguersuari get another chance but again, I think that's unlikely. I think it'll be Petrov or Razia, probably Petrov with van der Garde in at Caterham.

[Amin]

I think Petrov is probably the favourite, although it all depends on how much sponsorship money he can bring with him. I can definitely see Senna jumping in there if he can't get the Caterham seat.

Edited by Amin, 21 January 2013 - 09:57.

[Sin]

I said Buemi cause he was tweeting something about some very important news soon

[Peat]

Razia has loads of wonga. He's my vote.

[Amin]

I said Buemi cause he was tweeting something about some very important news soon

I think he may be hinting about a new reserve driver contract with Red Bull.

[William Hunt]

where are van der Garde and d'ambrosio in the poll? Kovalainen, Buemi or Kobayashi make no sense.

[noikeee]

Petrov makes sense due to the Russian connection - specially with the Sochi GP coming up next year -, but if he has money why would he swap Caterham for Marussia, and if he doesn't why would Marussia dump Glock for him?

If we have a paydriver opening I'd like to see Razia just to figure out how bad this year's GP2 bunch were. Think they won't want 2 rookies though so all things considered I think Senna's the favourite.

[Ravenak]

It could very well be Jules Bianchi.

[KingB]

If Razia would get the place at Marussia then we got the Top4 from last years GP2 graduating to F1....except for the champion.

[noikeee]

If Razia would get the place at Marussia then we got the Top4 from last years GP2 graduating to F1....except for the champion.

Didn't Valsecchi already test with F1 teams several times in the young driver tests... and was a product originally of Renault's development driver scheme... and took ages to come any good. I distinctly remember him being clearly outclassed by Felipe Albuquerque as a team-mate a couple of years back in WSR, when Albuquerque's performance was deemed not even good enough to continue as a Red Bull driver? That was the season Vettel arrived in F1 so that's how long Valsecchi has been around at this level.

I think they have evaluated Valsecchi very well over the years and don't rate his innate talent very highly. People improve of course and you won't win GP2 without a hint of speed, but if there's a champ I'm not overly annoyed he doesn't get a F1 shot...

Sorry for going on a tangential rant but relevant when discussing this GP2 class.

[TheUltimateWorrier]

Would love Kobayashi to get the seat, as he'd bring money, has the ability to pick up Marussia's first points and driving in a potential 'dog of a car' could help him to continue to develop as a driver. But I suspect it will one of the Brazilians, Senna or Razia.

[Bloggsworth]

Some no-hoper with two ha'pennies to rub together...

[Baddoer]

Bruno senna with some brazilian cash

[loki0420]

Senna for sure.

[William Hunt]

Bruno senna with some brazilian cash

Razia may also have a lot of Brazilian cash and he has tested for Marussia in the past and did well in GP2 last season

[dau]

They need money, so Buemi, Alguersuari, Kovalainen and Kobayashi are probably not an option. That would leave Senna, Petrov, Razia and some other GP2 drivers with deep pockets, like Van der Garde or Cecotto.

Petrov reportedly stands good chances to keep his Caterham seat, Cecotto would probably be too expensive over a full season. Same for Van der Garde probably, but i wouldn't count him out completely. Senna likely has more money than Razia and also quite a lot of F1 experience, so he seems a logical choice. But if he gets the Caterham seat instead of Petrov, it would probably be Razia over the Russian.

[proviz]

What good is a Marussia drive going to do for anyone who's already been in a better team?

[KingB]

Petrov reportedly stands good chances to keep his Caterham seat, Cecotto would probably be too expensive over a full season. Same for Van der Garde probably, but i wouldn't count him out completely. Senna likely has more money than Razia and also quite a lot of F1 experience, so he seems a logical choice. But if he gets the Caterham seat instead of Petrov, it would probably be Razia over the Russian.

Cecotto has already signed for Arden in GP2
but yeah I'm betting for a Brasilian
Petrov's manager said they don't negociate with Marussia

[dau]

Cecotto has already signed for Arden in GP2
but yeah I'm betting for a Brasilian
Petrov's manager said they don't negociate with Marussia

I don't think a GP2 contract would be much of an obstacle.

If Petrov really doesn't even negotiate with Marussia, he's probably already safe at Caterham. Or maybe things have changed by now. Russian driver at russian team would be a marketing dream for them.

[DS27]

Whether its Senna or Petrov, at least they will be in a car that's suited to their talent, rather than wasting a more competitive car.

[maximilian]

Ma.

I wouldn't be surprised.

If not him, most likely Petrov.

[InSearchOfThe]

Robert Wickens

[Barri]

Petrov. Russian team, Russian sponsors and Russian driver.

[Juan Kerr]

Glock kicked out by the Russians, nice! So yeah Petrov it is. So in this new amazing new F1 with all the cost cutting and energy saving culture with less driver salaries and much financial control all of a sudden more than half the teams are obsessed with hiring pay-drivers!!
This sport has seriously gone to the dogs I'm afraid.

[HistoryFan]

Razia or Petrov.

If Razia get's the seat, Marussia will have a line-up with 0 GP races. When was the last time that a team choose to 0 GP drivers?

[Ross Stonefeld]

HRT in 2010?

[TheUltimateWorrier]

Razia or Petrov.

If Razia get's the seat, Marussia will have a line-up with 0 GP races. When was the last time that a team choose to 0 GP drivers?

Well HRT had Chandhok and B. Senna in 2010

Edit: Ross beat me to it, bah !

Edited by TheUltimateWorrier, 21 January 2013 - 17:10.

[HistoryFan]

oh yes, but it's not often that team use two 0 GP drivers. I have no other examples on the mind.

[TheUltimateWorrier]

Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess.

[Jimisgod]

This guy.

[sopa]

2005 Minardi: Albers, Friesacher
2005 Jordan: Monteiro, Karthikeyan.

Both line-ups with 0 GP's.

Edited by sopa, 21 January 2013 - 17:32.

[Sin]

Marussia announces that Formula 1 has become to young after the departure of Michael Schumacher and Timo Glock. In an attempt to raise the average of the F1 drivers again, they hired Bill Gates as their new driver. Bill is relatively unknown in the racing world, but he brings the sponsorship of a little company called Microsoft. Racing Experts aren't sure if that is a good choice. Bernie Ecclestone however is delighted to finally have a american racing driver in the line up again,

Edited by Sin, 21 January 2013 - 17:38.

[scarsurfing]

Robert Wickens

Yeah too bad he has no cash, he beat the Torro pair in 3.5liter Renault.

[rijole1]

Glock kicked out by the Russians, nice! So yeah Petrov it is. So in this new amazing new F1 with all the cost cutting and energy saving culture with less driver salaries and much financial control all of a sudden more than half the teams are obsessed with hiring pay-drivers!!
This sport has seriously gone to the dogs I'm afraid.

Yeah, It doesn't look good. Actually, I'm seriously annoyed about this crazy obsession for hiring the biggest wallet instead of the best driver.

[rijole1]

Petrov. Russian team, Russian sponsors and Russian driver.

Yes, I't looks like it's going to be Petrov. If not, I think Senna is going to take the seat.

[DutchQuicksilver]

Will probably be Razia. Petrov has been linked far too many times with Marussia and always ended up being false.

[William Hunt]

2005 Minardi: Albers, Friesacher
2005 Jordan: Monteiro, Karthikeyan.

Both line-ups with 0 GP's.

2010 HRT: Karun Chandhok, Bruno Senna

[NotSoSilentBob]

Where's the Susie Wolff option?

[The Kanisteri]

This guy.

Yeah, guy who (with superduperlicense of course) brings most money in will drive.

[Jovanotti]

Buemi is no option, he remains the reserve driver at RB - old news already.

Edit: Official now: Link

Undoubtedly the guy with the most cash will take it, my vote goes to Bruno.

Edited by Jovanotti, 22 January 2013 - 09:40.

[wj_gibson]

If Petrov really did have bags of money to bring then surely he would have been re-confirmed at Caterham ages ago?

The lower teams are all talking about a need for drivers to bring a ton of personal sponsorship, but in truth there are very few drivers who can do that in today's climate. And the ones who can (e.g. Maldonado) were snapped up ages ago, or (in Sutil's case) appear to be on the verge of being signed by someone else (Force India). I can't even imagine who they've got in mind now.

EDIT: "Russian driver at Russian team" is not a "marketing dream come true" in the slightest. All that does is to create a burden of inflated and unrealistic expectation, which can do more marketing damage than good because it very quickly becomes a laughing stock if it doesn't work out and all that marketing efforts ends up in the bin with no return. This is precisely why Ferrari hardly ever sign Italian drivers.

Edited by wj_gibson, 22 January 2013 - 09:16.

[Frankbullitt]

Has to be Petrov, no doubt.

[dau]

If Petrov really did have bags of money to bring then surely he would have been re-confirmed at Caterham ages ago?

The lower teams are all talking about a need for drivers to bring a ton of personal sponsorship, but in truth there are very few drivers who can do that in today's climate. And the ones who can (e.g. Maldonado) were snapped up ages ago, or (in Sutil's case) appear to be on the verge of being signed by someone else (Force India). I can't even imagine who they've got in mind now.

EDIT: "Russian driver at Russian team" is not a "marketing dream come true" in the slightest. All that does is to create a burden of inflated and unrealistic expectation, which can do more marketing damage than good because it very quickly becomes a laughing stock if it doesn't work out and all that marketing efforts ends up in the bin with no return. This is precisely why Ferrari hardly ever sign Italian drivers.

Well, Ferrari doesn't really need to make themselves known in Italy, do they?

[wj_gibson]

I don't think Marussia needs to make itself known in Russia either. It's the market outside of Russia that Marussia is aspiring to build IIRC.

[dau]

I don't think Marussia needs to make itself known in Russia either. It's the market outside of Russia that Marussia is aspiring to build IIRC.

I think they need to make themselves known pretty much everywhere. Getting some more domestic support by milking nationalism would probably help in any case. They could portray themselves as some sort of Russian national team, like Mercedes is for the Germans or McLaren for the Brits.

But like i said, it looks like Petrov will stay at Caterham anyway.

[Dolph]

Yeah too bad he has no cash, he beat the Torro pair in 3.5liter Renault.

Wasn't he a Red Bull driver and didn't Red Bull drop him? If they dropped him over the current Toro Rosso line up what makes you think he is better than them if Red Bull has all the insights?

[noikeee]

Wickens is very good and was harshly dropped earlier by Red Bull, but had a lot more experience than Vergne and Ricciardo at that point and only beat them by a hair.

[KingB]

As said: Petrov isn't in negociations with Marussia

"Seine einzige Chance, 2013 in der Formel 1 zu bleiben, ist Caterham. Es gibt keine anderen Optionen", betont Managerin Oksana Kossatschenko

"His only chance to stay in F1, is Caterham. There aren't any other options." - Oksana Kossatschenko

[TheUltimateWorrier]

EDIT: "Russian driver at Russian team" is not a "marketing dream come true" in the slightest.

I agree with you there, I don't understand how putting Petrov at Marussia would be a 'marketing dream' either. People putting 2 + 2 together and coming up with 11 etc..

[Brian O Flaherty]

I went with Senna. The money and the relative prestige of the surname would be a welcome profile boost for the team likely to be at the back of the grid.