Renault team principal Eric Boullier has named Bruno Senna, Nick Heidfeld and Vitantonio Liuzzi as possible replacements for Robert Kubica.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
I vertici Renault da Kubica: "Lo aspettiamo entro la fine della stagione" (IVG.it)
Eric Boullier says: “The names at stake are Senna, Liuzzi and Heidfeld.”
Sebastian Vettel Head and Shoulders Ad
The ‘weltmeister’ is flogging shampoo. But who’s that pinned up in his locker? YouichiHophop worked it out:
“Seb’s pic is Rudolf Caracciola winning the 1936 Monaco GP at the wheel of a Mercedes Benz W25.”
Thanks to raymondu999 for the tip.
Robert Kubica crash 3D animation (YouTube)
Another impression of what happened to Kubica.
“One-time Grand Prix starter Luiz Bueno passed away today at the age of 74. He started one world championship race – Brazil 1973 for Surtees.”
Here’s Ajokay’s plan for an F1 Fanatic-sponsored HRT. The photo on the side pod vane is a nice touch!:
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Comment of the day
GeeMac argues for Bruno Senna to get the Renault drive:
He’s the one with the contract that says he’ll step up if something happened to one of the race drivers. But we all know that driver contracts aren’t really worth the paper they are written on in F1.
Many people dismiss him because of a poor season with HRT, but he had the backing of Honda once upon a time and had Honda not pulled out would have been Button’s team mate in 2009.
Everyone says he was nuked by his team mates last year and that simply isn’t true, the figures were actually Bruno 7 – Team mate 8 in races where they both finished, and Bruno was often ahead when he retired. That aside he is a quality driver, and he deserves a fair crack at F1. Mind you, the same can be said of Grosjean, Hulkenberg and Di Grassi.
GeeMac
From the forum
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On this day in F1
Force India launched what turned out to be their most successful F1 car so far on this day last year:
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
9th February 2011, 0:03
What, exactly, does “perfekt pasta” have to do with dandruff?
US_Peter (@us_peter)
9th February 2011, 0:18
I’ve transcribed for you (still doesn’t make a lot of sense):
Scribe
9th February 2011, 0:20
Lol, German adds appear to have their own brand of awful. Not that I watch many German adds but when I see them? All the same, all slightly odd and shiny. All probably awful.
bananarama
9th February 2011, 1:24
You sir are .. absolutely correct. Most German ads are horrible (which sadly is due to the german audience, because German ad production companies regularly win many prices for the work they do outside Germany, so it can’t really be their fault for being bad at making ads) but this one really stands out. On the other hand, whenever I see Vettel on TV I feel its kind of awkward.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th February 2011, 7:05
Worst is in the Netherlands a lot of commericals for things like shampoo and washing powder are revoiced German ads.
A lot of Dutch ads are actually quite interesting as companies try out new things in the smaller market before taking them in bigger campains.
Calum
9th February 2011, 13:20
So my dream of starrin in an anti dandruff shampoo ad has been quashed, now it seems the minimm entry requirem is one F1 Driver’s Title? :(
Button has been in Haed and Shoulder’s ad since 2009.
Seb has just starte his shampoo ad campaign.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
10th February 2011, 9:02
Talking about bad shampoo ads:
Youtube: Schumacher l’oreal
They even dubbed his voice for someone else with a foreign accent?!?!?
Solo (@solo)
9th February 2011, 14:23
It’s a hidden message to Ferrari. He wants to make clear that he will fit just fine because he likes pasta.
Palle
9th February 2011, 18:58
Hehe, or it is a kind of salt in the wound, telling Ferrari, that if they had made their pasta perfect up to the last race, they wouldn’t have missed out on the title….
But generally commercials are lousy.
sw6569 (@sw6569)
9th February 2011, 0:05
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlUhcpFSKeU
Here’s a link to what Boullier actually said (at 1.04). He mentions these drivers but also says that others are on the list too (in fact, it was the journalists question that mentioned the drivers). Its not a closed list yet
snowman
9th February 2011, 0:31
Good find! seen them three mentioned different places. If it all came from that interview it’s not the greatest of journalism is it.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
9th February 2011, 1:49
At the same time, it’s pretty telling that Boullier only saw fit to name three drivers. Last time he did something like this was when he was discussing who would fill the seat that ultimately went to Vitaly Petrov this year. He named a few drivers, and said there were more, but it ultimately went to a driver he named.
That said, I’ve seen a lot of Kimi Raikkonen fans take Boullier’s comments as undeniable, infallible proof that not only is Raikkonen on Renault’s shortlist of drivers, but that he’s already been signed on to race for them.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th February 2011, 7:09
Not really, if you look at that sequece, you have the reporter asking weather Senna, Heidfeld and Liuzzi are being considered. He answers Yes these three and others. Far from mentioning only these 3, he would not have given any names by himself (safe possibly Senna as he is obviously there)
RandomChimp (@randomchimp)
9th February 2011, 7:11
Boullier never stated those names specifically, the reporter did in asking the question. The IVG.it web page quotes him incorrectly for the sake of the story. What their site says he said is:
(courtesy of Google Translate)
He never said that. I don’t believe the above to be from another interview because the rest of the quote fits the video linked by sw6569 (bear in mind translation to and from English).
BasCB (@bascb)
9th February 2011, 7:07
Thanks for posting it here. I was on the brink of doing that myself.
Boullier does not name anyone, the journalist asks him for these 3 and he confirms they are on the list, among others also on the shortlist.
sw6569 (@sw6569)
9th February 2011, 0:07
oh and if what happened in that 3d animation is true then that is horrific. Certainly calls for the safety of the event to be looked at! great find
Pinball
9th February 2011, 3:09
If the animation is correct, it’s not the safety of the event that need to be looked at, but rather the safety of every piece of road that has an Armco barrier installed on it.
Armco barriers, are meant to be bolted together to form one continuous barrier, so that when a vehicle hits it, the barrier deflects around the car (like in this video from 1 minute in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqWs_RdeI8I), rather than one section deflecting and the other impaling itself on a car. From the animation it looks as if this isn’t the case.
From the animation it looks as if two sections of barrier were not bolted together, or the bolts failed on impact, or maybe the lapping over of each section was in the wrong direction. Either way it’s a serious safety issue for all motorists, on all roads. How many other sections of Armco have the same problem?
zecks
9th February 2011, 6:03
worryingly, virtually the entire british motorway system uses this design and there is no way the government could afford to replace it
ajokay (@)
9th February 2011, 9:21
I saw a section the other day that worked very well. On the A1(M) outside Stevenage in Herts. A proper bit articulated lorry has, for whatever reason, had ended up scraping along the central reservation’s armco barrier for 200 meters or so.
Thats a lot of lorry and a fair distance, and the barrier has simply taken the hit, keeled over slightly, but at no point had it seperated from any other part.
So they must work, and when you see a motorway accident where they have been hit, you rarely see a section that’s seperated, I know I never have.
For whatever reason, this section either wasn’t bolted, or the bolts did fail. I hear the co-driver raised concerns about it after the sighter run thingy.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th February 2011, 7:11
I agree, after seeing that I mentioned the enormous task for Jean Todt to take this matter up an really look at road safety.
According to the co-driver there was a breach in the guardrail. Thinking about how many people get injured or worse each day, we are much too complacent about these kind of things.
sw6569 (@sw6569)
9th February 2011, 8:39
in my opinion, what Pinball said isn’t just quote of the day, its quote of the year already.
Fixy (@)
9th February 2011, 14:46
Precisely. Had the guard rail not splitted, I think Kubica would have not reported a single injury.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
10th February 2011, 9:06
Maybe the barriers on a slow mountain road aren’t built to withstand a high speed rally car running into it?
statix
9th February 2011, 22:35
ive read on polish web that there was a gap in the barrier. it probably was not even connected :/
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
9th February 2011, 0:16
That shampoo advert is pure gold. Absolute classic! It’s confirmed my long held suspicion that Formula 1 drivers do indeed sit of bunches of tyres all day.
sw6569 (@sw6569)
9th February 2011, 0:19
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZSD4QqPTTk
Polishboy808 (@polishboy808)
9th February 2011, 0:57
Vytamins? Hrm, never heard it pronounced that way…
Argent (@argent)
9th February 2011, 1:09
It’s the American English pronunciation.
Polishboy808 (@polishboy808)
9th February 2011, 1:25
I live in america and we pronounce it Vita-Mins. Thats a strange way to pronounce it…
Skett
9th February 2011, 1:53
I think you’ll find thats the English-English pronunciation!
sennaboy3 (@sennaboy3)
9th February 2011, 2:01
for sure English-English…but they also spell tire, tyre…so who knows? :)
mfDB
9th February 2011, 2:59
In America it’s Vite-a-mens and i think in the UK its vitt-a-mens.
Prof Kirk (@prof-kirk)
9th February 2011, 7:01
Americans = Vite (rhymes with white) – amens
English = Vit – amens
In Australia however, depending on your education and upbringing it is either, generally those who are scholars and achieve high academic performances pronounce it the “American” way as Australia has a much stronger relationship with America then it does with England.
Source: B. of Physics at the Melbourne University, part time lecturing at Cambridge University, so I could argue that I have had my fair share of experience in the field.
Maciek
9th February 2011, 7:54
@Prof Kirk
That’s pretty interesting actually. In North America, it’s British pronunciations that are associated with higher education – even though it’s really more in the ‘ivory tower’ stereotype vein. In Canada I guess we have our own thing, where we pronounce like Americans, but spell like Brits (sort of anyways). I’m curious – does the ‘American shift’ in Australia apply across the board; I mean do more educated Australians really tend towards a US accent? Anyhoo, just letting my language nerdiness run wild here.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
9th February 2011, 21:18
There’s also this one! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x47HjNTtR_A
Sush Meerkat
9th February 2011, 7:49
Noting beats the Canberra Milk Kid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be3-J9XtJCw
Fixy (@)
9th February 2011, 14:51
That must be the best ever produced ad. Once I see it, I have to see it at least 15 more times, it’s too catching! In fact I didn’t want to click the link, but now I’ll spend the next 5 minutes listening over and over again!
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
9th February 2011, 0:26
his hair doesn’t look that good at the end :P!
James
9th February 2011, 0:54
Liuzzi in the line for the drive? Please, he was beaten by a far better driver last season, and wasnt inspirational against other team mates. For me, it’s either Senna or Heidfield. They’re the only logical choices anyway
mfDB
9th February 2011, 3:00
Agreed 100% and I don’t think Force India is dying to get rid of Sutil…
Todfod (@todfod)
9th February 2011, 7:40
Yep. I do not think Luizzi will be a great addition to the team. He was amongst the poorest performing drivers on the grid last year, and I really doubt that he will be a phenomenal enough car developer to Renault. I think everyone wants to see Kimi, but I really doubt that is going to happen.
To me, the logical choice is between Heidfeld and Senna. I would be glad to see Heidfeld given his last shot in a reasonably competitive drive, and I would also be happy to see Senna prove himself in a decent car.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
9th February 2011, 20:07
Well those are the two that they’ll be testing this weekend in Jerez! Can’t wait to see how Bruno does. If he’s as quick as Nick I’m guessing they’ll take a chance on him…
Aetost (@aetost)
9th February 2011, 1:16
So Keith, does F1 Fanatic sponsoring HRT means you ‘re getting the drive, alongside Narain?
It makes me wonder though, if you want something slow and Spanish, why don’t you buy a small Seat???
Still, kudos to Ajokay for the rendering!
Sush Meerkat
9th February 2011, 7:53
Of course Keith’s not going to do, he’s going to do the only logical thing and pull F1fanatics names out of a hat each weekend and stick them in the car.
I have it on good authority that Ned Flanders and Steph are top contender’s this year.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th February 2011, 8:45
I suppose the winner and second best drivers of the F1 2010 games championship will get that drive!
Honestly, I think the original colours worked better on that car. Still a very nice effort Ajokay!
Dan Thorn (@dan-thorn)
9th February 2011, 8:46
It wont be Ned, the shareholders in his ‘Flanders F1’ team wouldn’t be too happy about him driving for a rival team.
Sush Meerkat
9th February 2011, 19:18
There’s only one thing to do, we as F1Fanatics need to open negotiation’s with Flanders F1 for them to supply the F1Fanatics F1 team with Okley Dokley Drivetrains.
Hopefully Flanders F1 will take payment in the form of “we will say nice things about you on the internet”, its such a precious commodity these days.
Todfod (@todfod)
9th February 2011, 7:53
Between Keith and Narain. I would put my money on Keith hammering Narain in quali, and lapping him during the race. Lets click on the donate button and get Keith his drive… a few thousand quid should be enough to get him a year long contract.
TommyB (@tommyb89)
9th February 2011, 1:28
Hahaha! Ajokay, that F1F car is amazing. Great work! :D
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
9th February 2011, 1:38
Among the three I think Senna is the prime candidate but I would have love to see Hulkenberg to take his seat.
Jakkals
9th February 2011, 1:43
Your report stating “Renault team principal Eric Boullier has named Bruno Senna, Nick Heidfeld and Vitantonio Liuzzi as possible replacements for Robert Kubica.” is misleading.
As usual…… journalists write what others say, without checking the facts, and then it becomes a “statement”. Boullier NEVER mentioned a single name to replace Kubica. During the interview with Boullier, the journalist was the one giving the names, and now it is attributed to Boullier – sad reporting, really sad.
The video of the interview is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlUhcpFSKeU
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
9th February 2011, 1:53
But when asked about those drivers and whether they were on the shortlist, he said “Yes”. I’m not sure how you can read anything else into that.
Hamish
9th February 2011, 2:08
No I agree with Jakkal. The way that this has been worded implies that its a straight race between these three for the race seat. Clearly that is not the case. These 3 are candidates, but not the 3 candidates.
DeadManWoking
9th February 2011, 4:48
Journalist: Heidfeld, Liuzzi, Senna?
Boullier: All these names,yes,are on the list obviously but there is some others as well…
GeeMac (@geemac)
9th February 2011, 5:15
From Autosport’s article on the same topic: “Bruno Senna, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Nick Heidfeld are the three drivers that Renault is considering as the replacement for Robert Kubica this season, team boss Eric Boullier has said.”
Hamish
9th February 2011, 6:36
Thank you DeadManWoking and GeeMac for proving my point.
DeadManWoking
9th February 2011, 6:43
They are not the only three drivers that they are consedering. Watch the video yourself instead of just citing what others have said about it. You will see that Boullier says that they are on the list but so are others.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlUhcpFSKeU
Fixy (@)
9th February 2011, 14:55
They are actually considering them, as Boullier said those 3 are on the list, but that doesn’t mean they’re the only ones.
Michael
9th February 2011, 1:48
That F1F car is awesome.
Would love to know how that is done.
GeeMac (@geemac)
9th February 2011, 4:35
COTD number 3 … not that I’m keeping count!
Icthyes
9th February 2011, 7:49
I think Senna should get the drive because that’s the whole point of a third driver, but there are some question marks about the wisdom of that.
He may have not been thrashed by his team-mates, but he was beaten. Chandhok held his own against him despite having zero experience and being a supposed lesser talent. Klien came in straight away to rules system he had no familiarity with, out of practice for years and still beat him. And considering the third driver was Yamamoto, beating him means virtually nothing apart from not being useless.
So he would have driven for Honda. That means nothing in terms of being good enough to replace Kubica.
I want Senna to have the chance, but because he deserves one. Not for his record. When you think about how other top drivers impressed in rubbish cars and see Senna didn’t do that, it doesn’t indicate a lost world champion.
Todfod (@todfod)
9th February 2011, 7:58
Agree with everything you are saying. Additionally, there are drivers that perform better in a more competitive drive, and some that perform worse in a terrible car. The HRT was a monster truck, and I do not think you can make very accurate judgements about any of the drivers based on the 2010 season alone (except Yamamoto).
glue
9th February 2011, 8:20
and Klien
Andy C
9th February 2011, 9:29
Tiff Needell made a very valid comment on Twitter last night about this though.
There were suspicions that the spec of the cars was different (not uncommon) between the cars.
I’m sorry for all of the doubters, but you don’t suddenly go from being quick in other formula, and talented, to being rubbish because you drive a poor car.
Let him have a chance in the testing. If he is way off the pace (knowing what Petrov had as a gap to Robert last year), then go find someone. If he isnt, then give him a chance.
;379
9th February 2011, 10:31
yeah i agree. Heidfeld is at the moment a better driver (being vastly more experienced), and an underrated one i feel, but young drivers like senna are the future and need to be brought in and nurtured so that they can be as competitive as possible as soon as possible to maintain the high level of competition in f1. Sure Heidfeld would produce better results in the here and now, but Kubica was really Renault’s only realistic hope of achieving anything this season so i personally dont think there’s too much point in making the decision based on who can potentially fight for championships as there are no available drivers of the necessary quality. However, i do think it is vital Renault get someone like Heidfeld in to conduct some friday practice sessions or they are really gonna fall behind in the development of the car with two virtual rookies on board.
Andy C
9th February 2011, 12:01
You have to question, whether if (and it is obviously a big if) Robert comes back fighting fit at the same level and performance, how long he would delay a move to one of the huge teams like Ferrari, McLaren, Redbull if the renault doesnt get up there fighting for titles.
I think on renault, they have proved before that they can mix it with the best, and I saw signs of them getting some form back last year. Lets see.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
9th February 2011, 21:29
That’s actually what does happen with those who can’t cut it in F1. The talents go from being good in good cars in lower formulae to being good in bad cars in F1.
Maciek
9th February 2011, 10:49
So Motorsort columnist Dean McNulty (whoever he is) writes in the Toronto Sun, that Robert Kubica should retire. I suppose the suggestion comes from a good place, but I can’t help but love the reaction in the comments to the article
especially the one from fb_uid:1524783009, February 9th 2011, 5:31am : )
Mister Nillionaire (@mister-nillionaire)
9th February 2011, 11:07
Haha. I also do not agree with the author, he kinda does not understand what racing for real driver is.
HounslowBusGarage
9th February 2011, 11:11
Pretty unanimous verdict in the comments! Made me laugh.
Todfod (@todfod)
9th February 2011, 11:13
Lol! I agree that comment was absolutely priceless, kind of reminded me of a friends response to any lengthy argument he didn’t agree with.
Additionally, whoever this McNulty guy is, he obviously knows nothing much about the mental and physical toughness of f1 pilots. He is also completely ignorant regarding their motivation and passion. Kubica lives to race, and asking him to retire is pretty much worse than chopping his arm off. Kubica is truest form of a racer, and undeniably a world champion in the making. I just hope he doesn’t have to put up with idiotic opinion’s such as these during his recovery period.
Maciek
9th February 2011, 11:34
Just don’t mistake me for the other Maciek leaving comments there – some people just don’t know how to let a simple and effective message do its work.
David-A (@david-a)
9th February 2011, 15:48
This comment from him made my day :P
snowman
9th February 2011, 21:21
Cheers Maciek. Them comments are hilarious. Take it theres no moderation there! Another good one can actually repeat!!
who cares about oval tracks. they are only for morons
haha
ivz
9th February 2011, 12:21
That F1 Fanatic car looks great! Just thinking, how many F1 Fanatic members are there? What if we could all pay $100 a year….1million fans around the whole world would mean $100m to sponsor HRT. Imagine, a fans own sponsored car! :)
Adrian J (@adrian-j)
9th February 2011, 13:02
Hey Keith,
Remember last year you did some posts comparing each of the new cars with each other (and possibly with the previous car, I can’t remember) – would be really cool if you or the guy who writes your tech articles could do something similar this year too…
Calum
9th February 2011, 13:27
Renault will roughl know how good their car is:
If it’s a podium finisher, and consistent point scorer they would be as well giving the ride to Senna, they have othing to lose as far as wining the title is concerned.
If they privately beleive that the R31 will win a few races and can compete for the title then surely Heidfeld is the safe option. Sure he may not have won a race but neither had Webber before the German 2009 GP and once he broke his duck it all fell into place and he has been able to in many races since. Pre-Championsip-Winning Button is another similar driver, quite mature and never lived up to his hype, but when gien a car he delivered.
You hear it here first: Heidfeld is the drk horse for 2011!! ;)
Todfod (@todfod)
9th February 2011, 13:51
I coudn’t agree more. I have always rated Heidfeld in the same league as Button and Webber, and a little higher than both of them at times. It would be great to see if he can deliver in a race winning car, it would end that everlasting ‘what if’ debate on Heidfeld.
Adrian J (@adrian-j)
9th February 2011, 15:23
And then he can retire, so next season we once again have a car with the number 0 on it…
Calum
9th February 2011, 17:00
And Romain Grosjean can be our enigmatic Frenchman who refuses to be number 0 because he doesn’t want to be a nobody!
Calum
9th February 2011, 14:24
*roughly
*win
*given
*dark
Fixy (@)
9th February 2011, 17:34
http://www.ilgiornale.it/sport/kubica_migliora_ancora_e_domani_lotus_prova_liuzzi_o_heidfeld/formula_1-ferrari-f1-formula-ferrari-renault-lotus-kubica/09-02-2011/articolo-id=504891-page=0-comments=1
Heidfeld or Liuzzi to test tomorrow!?
Todfod (@todfod)
9th February 2011, 18:28
I couldn’t understand much from the translated version of that articles. But it seems that Grosjean and Senna will be taking testing responsibilities until Renault make up their mind.
Todfod (@todfod)
9th February 2011, 19:47
Alright .. looks like its confirmed. Heidfeld will get a chance to test the car in Jerez along with Bruno Senna. Luizzi seems out of the picture.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5id61wFeV2TV4vHvvCOzU33lCfk1w?docId=N0648801297278485793A
miguelF1O (@)
9th February 2011, 18:03
For Renault sake, not Senna he is tooo slow and sometimes he breaks cars just like when he participated in LeMans the team retired cause they didnt had more spare parts. Hulkenberg deserves the spot cause he will be the best rookie ever to be left out of F1, anyway Hulk may return like alonso or not probably not
Todfod (@todfod)
9th February 2011, 18:24
Unless Mercedes is able to poach Vettel, I have a feeling the Hulk will get a shot with Mercedes at some point of time.
chris sz
9th February 2011, 19:12
how much does it cost to have your site on a F1 car these days i remember 10 years ao reading about how much ppl would pay to have their logo on an ferrari on the smallest most obscure places.
Nocturnis (@nocturnis)
9th February 2011, 19:21
“The latest news on our line-up for Jerez. Vitaly, Bruno Senna and Nick Heidfeld will all drive the R31.”
-LRGP on Facebook
magon4 (@magon4)
9th February 2011, 20:47
bild newspaper is reporting that heidfeld has the seat as principal driver for the 2011 season.
http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/motorsport/formel1/2011/02/10/nick-heidfeld/als-kubica-ersatz-zu-renault.html
(in german)
Icthyes (@icthyes)
9th February 2011, 21:13
Confirmed: Heidfeld, but only for testing so far http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89366
Nin13 (@)
10th February 2011, 4:10
I think among 3 drivers, Nick Heidfeld would be perfect choice if they think their car is good. When Kubica and Heidfeld were partners, Nick matched him closely, though not as good as Kubica but Nick certainly had his days driving solid and good races.
Luizzi has proved again that he is noot good enough. I year at Forci India, thrashed by Sutil.
Senna TBH has also proved to be inconsistent with crashes and all.