Sutil wants Force India decision before December

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: Adrian Sutil says he can’t wait until December to learn if he will be staying at Force India.

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Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Sutil in a hurry to know future at Force India (Reuters)

“I can’t wait till December. I will speak to [Vijay Mallya] very soon and see what his ideas are. I don’t need to wait so long for a seat. I think I know what I can do, so I don’t feel insecure.”

News channels threaten F1 boycott (Hindustan Times)

“[Jaypee’s vice-president of communications Askari] Zaidi added that even the organisers couldn’t get a race feed for a promotional documentary they were shooting on the making of the circuit. ‘We requested them (FOM) to allow us to bring in cameras, but were refused. Even after we asked them to look into the matter, they refused, saying we could only buy a one-minute feed of the race.'”

Mumbai planning Formula One circuit (ESPN)

“With the inaugural Indian Grand Prix taking place outside New Delhi this weekend, interest in the sport in India has been growing, and now a consortium has been appointed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to investigate the possibility of a Grand Prix circuit development in Mumbai.”

Brundle on the verge of Sky move (Daily Telegraph)

“With Brundle ?������ by some distance the UK’s highest-profile F1 pundit ?������ on the verge of moving to Sky for a sum believed to be in excess of �1 million per year BBC chiefs have a conundrum.”

Changes (Joe Saward)

“The most interesting is the news that Jorg Zander is not going to design cars for HRT. This would appear to be an indication that the German engineer is not really interested in getting mixed up with a team that does not seem to know where it is going.”

“See-saw” Splitter, FIA issue a Technical Directive (ScarbsF1)

“The FIA’s response was a technical directive, coded TD35. It’s not surprising that it confirmed such an splitter would not be legal. But, crucially the FIA confirmed that they reserve the right to alter the test to ensure the deflection test procedure isn’t being exploited.”

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Comment of the day

An interesting thought on track design from DaveW:

A missing element of track design is connection of the track and design with the surrounding space, with context. Spa addresses its surroundings elegantly. Same for the Nordschleife, Fuji, Elkhart Lake. Suzuka weaves through its landscape like bird. Look at Turkey, it could be anywhere on earth, or the moon. Same for Shanghai. Making the track in the shape of a character is not context.
DaveW

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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70 comments on “Sutil wants Force India decision before December”

  1. It is obvious that an driver would want to know what will happen in his team as early as possible, especially when he has to be unsure about a future in the sport, so I think Sutil is right in asking for the bigger picture.

    The Schumacher video is actually pretty simple. I guess most of you know the show “punk’d”. We had a show like that in Germany for decades and this is an episode of it. Its carnival and in Germany especially people from the “Rheinland” love to celebrate it, which Schumacher is. He was asked to be on a carnival tv special and needed a costume so they used that to play a trick on him. There you go.

    1. Probably Sutil is in contact with other teams who intend to decide earlier than FI.

  2. Before thinking of a second track they should first make sure this one gets going alright. The political problems, tax shenanigans and state of construction seem to be great problems and therefore, before making something new it is imperative to drive this one project towards success first.

    But if the Indian grand prix becomes a success and people in india become very interested then it’d be great for them to have more tracks to see all kinds of motorsports and if possible, I agree 100% with the cotd, they should make it something special.

    1. Before thinking of a second track they should first make sure this one gets going alright.

      I suspect Mumbai are just riding on the wave of Formula 1 fever sweeping through India at the moment. With New Jersey and Russia joining the calendar, and Argentina, Mexico and South Africa all expressing interest in a race (Bernie has said that once Russia is up and running, South Africa is his priority), Mumbai will have to wait a long time to get a race going.

      1. Seems very likely you are right there PM.

      2. I live in Mumbai. Formula1 would have to wait decades before they have a 5-6km patch of Mumbai road without potholes. Right now our best stretch is 200 meters of even road.

        This Mumbai circuit is just a rumour. I cannot see it ever materialising.

    2. It is just a feasibility study to see whether they can have track which can have commercial success & run on it’s own without govt support. I think it is still long way from firm decision to build circuit. Moreover buddh might have some clause saying no indian circuit is allowed F1 race during their contract period (It is private investment so they need to take about returns).

      1. Such a clause would be anti-competitive. And given both a) the population of India, and b) the amount of attention the race at Buddh International is getting (it’s expected to be a sell-out crowd), a race in or near Mumbai probably wouldn’t threaten them too much, because they’re a thousand kilometres apart; one race would service fans in the north and one race would service fans in the south.

  3. Hope sutil stay’s most underrated driver

    1. It seems highly unlikely he will and knows he has to sort something out before its too late.

  4. What. Brundle. A million a year. That can,t be right.

    1. Brundle on twitter

      Telegraph was wrong,I didn’t sign £1m Sky contract today. Calmly working through it, will end up doing what satisfies me most professionally

    2. What would you prefer? That Brundle stay with the BBC and cover half the races?

      The 2012 broadcast arrangement will see Sky become the source of the world feed, the way the BBC is. The BBC will show the world feed at ten races, the way other broadcasters do. Since the BBC are getting the feed from Sky, it makes the msot sense to put all the commentators in the Sky broadcast. That way, everyone who gets the world feed gets the expert commentary, and the BBC doesn’t have to pay salaries to a commentary team.

      And if Sky Sports are offering Martin Brundle a million pounds per year to do the commentary, what’s the big deal? They can afford it.

      1. The big deal is that most of us are not fans of the Sky TV deal, and that most of us have really enjoyed the BBC’s coverage and are sad to see it end.

        BBC are getting the feed from Sky

        Potentially.

        That way, everyone who gets the world feed gets the expert commentary

        As an Australian, the line up of Brundle and Croft is mouth watering. However, surely you feel for the British viewers in this? For the first time Australia will get better coverage than the BBC… Even I know that’s just not right.

        They can afford it.

        Of course they can, because it’s pay TV.
        Do you not have a problem with this?

        1. Potentially.

          If the BBC wanted to send their own cameras to the races, it would cost them more. The entire point of brokering the Sky deal in the first place was to cut costs.

          However, surely you feel for the British viewers in this?

          After their behaviour over the past few months, not really. I only recently got a set-top box, so I know what the bare-bones coverage is like: delayed telecasts, regular ad breaks, frequent intrusions from local commentators, no coverage of qualifying and no pre-race show or post-race analysis. I believe that the BBC’s coverage for 2012 will be better than all of this – but to hear the British fans tell it, they’d been cheated when they are still getting a better deal than many.

          Of course they can, because it’s pay TV.
          Do you not have a problem with this?

          Of course not. I’m simply pointing out that, as a Pay TV channel, Sky can afford to pay Martin Brundle more than the BBC could.

          1. So it’s ok for the British fans to suffer because we know what it used to be like for us?

            Come on, Britain is one main heartlands for F1 along with places like Italy and Germany, Surely you take this into account?

            They have been cheated. BBC have used a loophole to get out of their contract early. And now they have to pay up or lose out. It’s lose-lose.

          2. <blockquote.So it’s ok for the British fans to suffer because we know what it used to be like for us?
            No, it’s not okay for them to suffer. But it’s just as not-okay for them to act like it is the end of the world. They’re demanding that the BBC keep their old broadcast in place: six hours’ live coverage with no commercials on free-to-air television for twenty weekends in the year. The BBC’s issue that it is too expensive is a legitimate grievance, yes, but there are numerous countries around the world that are lucky to get a) six hours coverage, b) live telecasts, c) no commercials, d) on free-to-air televison or e) for all races in the year, much less all five. The BBC’s 2012 coverage will still be better than half the terrestrial broadcasters worldwide, but British fans are behaving as if they have suddenly gone from having the best coverage worldwide (which they did) to the worst (which they do not).

        2. Doesn’t ONE take commentary audio from BBC anyways? If Brundle isn’t with BBC then ONE wouldn’t have Brundle either no?

          1. But One is getting the feed from Sky Sports, not the BBC. Like I said, Sky will (most likely) provide the world feed, while the BBC will simply be a terrestrial broadcaster like One.

          2. @prisoner-monkeys to my understanding, the FOM world feed (which is supplied to all broadcasters) is actually just the plain vanilla recording of the race – i.e. scrub out all the commentary. And then the various broadcasters would add on their own commentary on top of that. There is no “default” or “world” commentary.

            My local F1 broadcaster TV channel here is actually owned by my mate’s dad. When I turn on the TV to his broadcast; we get Brundle/Coulthard (as they are on the BBC). The channel has a deal with FOM for the broadcast rights; but the Brundle/Coulthard audio is not supplied by FOM. It is actually via a deal done with the BBC.

            Even during Kobayashi’s Leroy Jenkins moment in Suzuka 2010 my local feed switched to Crofty and Ant.

            So my point is if the deal structure that ONE has is similar – unless there was additional terms or dealings since; there would be no reason for the audio commentary deal to trail over to Sky. If what I just said makes sense, that is

          3. to my understanding, the FOM world feed (which is supplied to all broadcasters) is actually just the plain vanilla recording of the race – i.e. scrub out all the commentary. And then the various broadcasters would add on their own commentary on top of that. There is no “default” or “world” commentary.

            That’s true, but the BBC scaled back their coverage in order to cut costs. Why would they then go ahead and spend more employing their own commentary team?

            And why would Martin Brundle stay with the BBC when he knows he’s only going to do 50% of the work (ten full races, ten extended highlights, and no pre- or post-race shows) he usually does?

          4. @prisoner-monkeys weirder things have happened in the world. In fact I believe they (BBC) are running their own pre-race/post-race team, while sharing the commentary.

            However I’m not talking on whether or not Brundle will go; I’m more talking of the deal structure. @Mike said that Australia could get a better commentary team than the BBC; while it’s the same team; nothing has been said in terms of whose commentary ONE will piggyback on after BBC leaves

          5. Like raymondu999 says the FOM feed is nothing to do with any particular commentary team. There is no specially chosen “world feed commentary team”

            If local TV stations were running BBC’s commentary before they will likely be still running it with or without Brundle as it is an individual deal with the BBC and you can be sure they would be getting it way cheaper than they would of SKY.

            And what are they supposed to do if Sky starts bringing in advertisements in the race after next year which is the only year they promised not to.

            The BBC might be showing highlights of half the races but they will be cut up after the full thing is commentated on live and not from a studio in London!

  5. @dmw

    A missing element of track design is connection of the track and design with the surrounding space, with context. Spa addresses its surroundings elegantly. Same for the Nordschleife, Fuji, Elkhart Lake. Suzuka weaves through its landscape like bird. Look at Turkey, it could be anywhere on earth, or the moon. Same for Shanghai. Making the track in the shape of a character is not context.

    But you can only build a circuit on the land you are given. It’s all well and good to talk about the way Suzuka “weaves through its landscape like a bird”, but the Shanghai circuit was built on reclaimed wetlands that were set aside for the circuit. Likewise Abu Dhabi; it’s built on a man-made island. So it’s a little difficult for a circuit to “address its surroundings elegantly” when there are no surroundings. And for that you can thank the faceless bureaucrats who want a Grand Prix because it will increase their international profile, but have very little interest in racing themselves.

    So to be perfectly honest, I find your comments to be a little too idealised to the point where they’re unrealistic and don’t address the reality of the situation. They seem to suggest that there is some kind of magical checklist that, when ticked off, guarantees a high-quality circuit – but it doesn’t work like that at all. Martin Brundle is always talking about how the circuit is a “living thing” that evolves over the course of a race, but so too is the sport. Take, for example, Korea: the circuit is divided into three sectors, with each one testing a different aspect of driver and car. The obvious intention is to bait drivers into playing their strengths when it comes to car set-up in two sectors, and hope the advantage they get offsets the disadvantage in the third sector. And for the most part, that worked; we saw drivers setting similar lap times in qualifying, but getting their speed in very different places. But then the DRS was introduced, and compeltely destroyed this aspect of the circuit: drivers could set their cars up for sectors two and three, and use the DRS to overcome any disadvantage in the first sector.

    The truth of it is that we don’t really know what makes a good circuit. You cite Elkhart Lake as an example of a good circuit, but we can’t really define what makes it so great. It might be challenging to a sports car driver, but put a Formula 1 car on the circuit, and the variages of downforce might completely destroy or disrupt the circuit. So pardon me, but I remain unimpressed by the suggestion that there is some kind of feng shui for circuit design.

    1. But you can only build a circuit on the land you are given. It’s all well and good to talk about the way Suzuka “weaves through its landscape like a bird”, but the Shanghai circuit was built on reclaimed wetlands that were set aside for the circuit. Likewise Abu Dhabi; it’s built on a man-made island. So it’s a little difficult for a circuit to “address its surroundings elegantly” when there are no surroundings. And for that you can thank the faceless bureaucrats who want a Grand Prix because it will increase their international profile, but have very little interest in racing themselves.

      This I agree with. It is quite clear from your 2 examples of Shanghai and Abu Dhabi that they have a common theme. They are flat. I would say that all the interesting track circuits have elevation.

      This was a problem faced at Silverstone being an airfield. I mean in reality the only way that Silverstone kept itself slightly interesting in the past was it’s high avg. speed laptime. With the new design major efforts were made to add some elevation changes.

      Think of the following tracks without elevation:
      Brands Hatch
      Spa
      Turkey
      Interlagos

      and even Monaco, but this should not count as it’s a street circuit. But Monaco has major elevation changes that adds considerably to it’s excitement and challenge on the drivers.

      and for those that want to say “What about Montreal”
      Well, that is always the unique design that is more a street circuit. In effect a few straights linked by a couple of hairpins with some chicanes thrown in. Being more street circuit, with limited run-off and low grip gives the excitement, but not by the track design.

      1. It is quite clear from your 2 examples of Shanghai and Abu Dhabi that they have a common theme. They are flat.

        Nope. Shanghai has six metres of elevation – which might not be much, but it’s more than Silverstone (which, as an airfield circuit, is almost compeltely flat). Likewise, Monza is very flat. And Abu Dhabi has thirty metres of elevation in the first sector, with a smaller rise at the bottom end of the circuit. @dmw cites Istanbul as a circuit that “could be anywhere on earth”, but the circuit is set out over four different levels of elevation. At Spa, the elevation changes are fairly constant, but at Istanbul, they got up and down and back up again. I’m pretty sure Istanbul has the most elevation changes on the calendar.

        I’m not denying that elevation changes make a circuit better or worse. I just don’t think that there is some checklist for good circuit design that will guarantee a popular and challenging circuit each and every time. Compare Spa to Silverstone – both are fantastic circuits, and both sit at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to elevation change. Circuit design is something of a black art.

        I believe the key to a good circuit design lies in car set-up. Spa and Silverstone are so challenging because of the way the car has to be set up in order to get the best lap time at both circuits. Every corner on the circuit subtly influences every other corner on the circuit. The problem is that it is very difficult to dissect set-up data and assemble it in the form of a circuit. You have to look at the whole thing holistically at the same time as looking at each corner individually. That’s why you cannot simply take the “best parts” of the circuit, string them together and expect the end result to be popular.

    2. Though I don’t like most Tilkedromes, you have to give him props for trying something. If you’re given a completely flat piece land, you can’t build a 100m elevation changes there. One of the problem with these modern tracks is, they’re simply not located in exotic or exciting places: instead of the hills of Ardennes you have the swamp of Shanghai or the desert of Yas Marina.

    3. Look at it this way, if Falling Water were built in a pasture, instead of over a stream, it would be a terrible failure as a design, right? Instead, it’s brillant, because of how it fits in to the site. Same with tracks, but more so. That’s all there is to the point.

      As for the limits of of the site, if the track site is bad for a track, then you will probably have a bad track. No one is obliged to pat Tilke on the back for making the least crummy track possible in a crummy spot. But you can blame him for multiplying bad tracks. No one is forcing him to do a track where the only thing he can do to make it interesting is put it in the shape of a character.

  6. I agree with the COTD, although I’m not sure about Fuji. In general it is good- views, elevation etc.- but the Tilke transformation made it very wide, which dwarfs the cars and makes it all look somehow impersonal to me, and more generic of modern circuits. And the configuration of the circuit itself with the fiddly end was disappointing. But I agree, the park settings of Melbourne and Monza work nicely, Montreal with walls, greenery, and wider shots showing its unique position, Monaco a natural winding street circuit (the antipode of Singapore, and Valencia especially).

  7. So, with all the F1 races that are supposedly going to get on the calendar (Austin, Russia, New Jersey’s rumoured, etc.), how many seasons until the calendar is either 1) nothing but Tilkedromes and street circuits, or 2) 30 races long with no summer shutdown?

    Also, off-topic but I’ve just noticed the articles are double timestamped:

    Sutil wants Force India decision before December
    F1 Fanatic round-up
    25th October 2011 @ 12:01 12:01 am by Keith Collantine

    1. @xxiinophobia Well, the current Concorde Agreement states no more than 20 (I think) races per season. The teams won’t let it get out of hand. Many of the core races will remain, FOM aren’t stupid.

      Personally, I don’t mind the competition between circuits. The world economy could do with a kick up the backside and if this helps create jobs then I find it hard to complain.

      1. Well, the current Concorde Agreement states no more than 20 (I think) races per season

        The current Concorde Agreement also expires at the end of 2012.

        Personally, I think 25 races is feasible, if we have more back-to-back races (ie Canada-New Jersey and Austin-Interlagos) and cut out the mid-season break. Teams rotate their pit crews and mechanics on a regular basis – drivers, team principals and race engineers are the only personnel who really go to every race – so fatigue is not a problem.

        1. The teams would disagree with you there

        2. @prisoner-monkeys I knew it was expiring soon, yeah. When I said about the teams not letting it get out of hand I was referring to a new agreement :)

          25 i’m not so sure. I love F1 but I also love my weekends to do other things too!

  8. May be Williams want to know Sutil’s plan?

    1. Sure, but if they feel they need to decide their driver line-up now, and they know Sutil has no contract from Force India, they can make him an offer and sign him up before Mallya does. It will be Mallya’s loss.

      1. I agree. Without testing experienced drivers are pretty valuable. I think there are two ways Rubens leaves. A driver bringing sponsorship or picking up someone experienced. I suppose the other question is whether Sutil would really want to go there. Beggars can’t be choosers I suppose.

        1. I think Sutil checks both of those boxes. He has a good bit of experience and if I remember correctly he brings sponsors as well. As for going to Williams I think he wouldnt mind; it beats not having a drive at all.

      2. agree with Prisoner Monkeys…
        am glad Sutil is speaking up too

    2. That’s definitely possible. I hope Frank Williams makes a sensible decision and hires Sutil instead of Raikkonen for 2012.

      1. I’d be quite happy if I never heard of or saw Raikkonen again

  9. I wish Force India don’t say anything before Febrary, and they give Hulkenberg a seat, leaving Sutil to go to HRT or something.

    1. Why wait until February? They can just tell Sutil that they don’t need his services anymore so the guy can look for another team now not in the winter when all the seats are taken.

      1. @klaas – I think Fer no.65 would prefer things to play out in such a way that Adrian Sutil is left without a seat in 2012, rather than being given the opportunity to join another team. I suppose we all have our prejudices; I myself have no love for the Fernando Alonsos and Nico Hulkenbergs of the grid.

        1. @Prisoner-Monkeys Can’t say I agree with the Alonso part but I completely understand why you feel that way. As for Hulkenburg I agree 100%.

    2. Sorry, @fer-no65, but I think that would be incredibly unfair on Adrian Sutil. He’s been with the team for five years; he deserves more than being left without a seat when the music stops because Force India deliberately stalled.

      Besides, if he felt negotiations were taking too long, he’d naturally start talking to someone else. He is under no obligation to wait for Force India to make their decision; he has the right to make the best move for his career. We saw what happened with Nick Heidfeld in 2010 when he focused too much on driving for Mercedes – they went with Michael Schumacher two days before Christmas, leaving Heidfeld out in the cold over the Christmas-New Year break. By the time he started negotiations with other teams, it was the middle of January, and everyone with a vacancy (most notably Renault) was well into talks with other drivers. Adrian Sutil won’t make that mistake, however much he wants to drive for Force India.

      1. I don’t like him, that’s all. :P

        1. Why? Is that what your mama said? :)

  10. i hope brundle takes dc with him. they’re often talking over each other, tripping over words, or just plain wrong – but i enjoy their commentary. they should have been the big 2 since 2009. the bbc’s coverage has been fantastic (99% of the time) and i’ll miss it.

  11. Hulkenberg is likely to become already the 3rd Force India driver who is promoted from reserve driver seat to race driver. This has become a pattern. I wonder what the reasons behind such policy are? Is it just a coincidence? Or does Mallya think that reserve drivers who have spent some time without race seats are more motivated, more “hungry”?

    1. More likely that they’re already familiar with the team. One of the big challenges facing a driver joining a new team is that he is a stranger to them, and it takes time to build rapport with them. It can often be some time before their influence is felt in the team. But in the case of Paul di Resta in particular, he was integrated in the team whilst racing in DTM, so when he finally joined the team, he could hit the ground running. Nico Hulkenberg is slightly different because he was forced to take a year out of racing after turning down several contracts with Williams (they wanted sponsorship), Virgin (he felt being beaten by another German would be bad for his carrer), and Hispania (they weren’t fast enough). A test drive was the only thing on offer.

      1. Do you happen to have link about Hulkenburg’s opinion toward going to Virgin? I find it quite interesting since I havent read about it.

        Thanks

    2. I’m pretty sure Hulkenberg would’ve had a guaranteed 2012 race seat when he signed the reserve driver contract. It’s the same as they did with Liuzzi, who I think had a guaranteed drive for 2010 when he joined them in 2008.

      It’s hard to see why else Hulkenberg would go to Force India as a 3rd Driver, as opposed to Mercedes for example.

      1. So, what do we think of the likely Di Resta + Hulkenberg 2012 line up at Force India? Sounds quite exciting to me! It will be a great face off between these two young talents, and who ever comes out on top will likely take Schumacher’s seat in 2013. No pressure!

        1. I think di Resta is going to make Hulkenberg look really bad if FI goes ahead with this decision.

          And I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record here, but I find Sutil and di Resta to be a really strong pairing.

          Lastly – Schumacher will be in Schumacher’s seat for 2013 imo

          1. Lastly – Schumacher will be in Schumacher’s seat for 2013 imo

            Doesnt seem likely that the car would be championship winning car then. Maybe a couple of odd race wins thats all.

  12. I hate the BBC. The array of utter garbage programmes it spends hundreds of millions of pounds on, and they could`nt hang on to the F1. Its crazy.

    1. I’m sick of hearing about people complaining about BBC and Sky etc etc.

      Watch Star Sports coverage. I would pay double of whatever is being payed by the British F1 watchers to get your kind of coverage.

  13. Tony Kumaramangalam
    25th October 2011, 11:14

    Keith what do you think of Joe Saward? Why does he always have negative things to say particularly about India? He is almost all the times spewing venom against Indian involvement in F1. Why? Do other british F1 journalists share his view? His Latest article about Indian poverty is so appealing to read. There are so many positive things happening in India, but the British media only concentrated on negative aspects, why? Your view on this subject will be appreciated

    1. I don’t agree with your view that “British media only concentrates on negative aspects” about India.

      If you’ve got a complaint about Joe Saward’s writing then take it up with him.

    2. But that article is in no way negative Tony!

      It might be an uncomfortable thing (or even appaling to many) to read about the poverty that exists, but the piece actually focusses on the positive side of how motorsport can be part of improving that situation.

    3. Tony, I visited India (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Bangalore) for the first time in April this year, as a tourist, and have to admit that as a (no doubt effete) European I found the experience quite difficult emotionally, due partly to the immense gulf between rich and poor.

      To ignore the massive problems India has with corruption (Anna Hazare can speak to that) or to refuse to consider the money being spent on motorsport when so many people need food and basic services such as clean water would lead to a very one-sided article.

      I think the Saward article is balanced and raises a lot of legitimate points; also, as @BasCB says it is generally very optimistic.

  14. This quote from Sutil seems like it is a warning to Force India: if you don’t confirm me before December then I can go to Williams. At least that’s what Sutil believes. The word on the street is that Williams would prefer Raikkonen, although I’m not entirely sure why.

    1. @jonnyw360f1 He’s a world champion. That would do wonders for a team in Williams’ current position. Plus, he’s a better driver. Fair enough, he’s been out of the sport for a couple of years but he certainly doesn’t lack talent.

      I would prefer Sutil there to be honest. I’m uncomfortable with Raikkonen coming back to F1 with Williams.

      1. @andrewtanner My thoughts exactly. I can see why they would want him, but with his lack of motivation at being stuck in a midfield car, I can’t see either party benefitting.

        1. @jonnyw360f1 Yep. For the reasons you’ve pointed out, it just doesn’t add up.

  15. From Twitter:
    MBrundleF1
    Telegraph was wrong,I didn’t sign £1m Sky contract today. Calmly working through it, will end up doing what satisfies me most professionally

  16. Im from india and have followed F1 for last 3 years from the space of my home. Its not a luxary for everyone here. This event will be attended by the wealthy, not by the “fanatics”… and whatever fanatics there will be, they will be sitting on the sidelines, not in the grand stands.

    I… i will be at my home… in front of the TV… hating everyone from Bollywood.

    But i went ahead and expressed my feelings about the matter here. … and had a few laughs at my own frustration….

  17. The Mumbai track story ambitions are also about the Mumbai-Delhi rivalry. Delhi is the political capital of India but Mumbai has always been the commercial, entertainment and cultural capital. The babus in Mumbai obviously feel left out in the tremendous hype for this race near Delhi and its an effort to see if even Mumbai can host one.

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