In the round-up: Alguersuari and Buemi describe their disappointment at losing their places in F1.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
Jaime Alguersuari: “I am not a victim…” (Adam Cooper)
“Just a week after winning the Challenge das Estrelas in Florian???polis I talked with Helmut Marko and Franz Tost and they told me they had plans for me in 2012.”
Buemi ‘fell from the sky’ after losing seat (GP Update)
“I was in the simulator yesterday morning at Red Bull Racing in Milton Keynes, where Franz [Tost] and Helmut [Marko] called me…”
“Thanks a lot for all your support! It is now time to head toward a new direction!”
Ferrari to run new car in first test (Autosport)
Luca Colajanni: “The new Ferrari F1 car will be presented in early February, in time to take part in the first test session ahead of the season.”
Paul Di Resta deal earmarks him as force to be reckoned with (The Times, subscription required)
“Vijay Mallya, the billionaire Force India co-owner, was at Silverstone [on Wednesday] to finalise details of the line-up for 2012, when Di Resta is expected to lead the team.”
Timo Gans (Nico Hulkenberg’s press officer) via Twitter
“My understanding is, that it seems most likely, that there will be no announcement [Thursday], but probably [Friday].”
“I won in Brazil, relegating Fernando [Alonso] to fourth. He’s an intense competitor but I don’t think he was that unhappy about losing out by one point. I got a text message from him the day before I was going to India, reminding me that I had to go. It was along the lines of: ‘This is your captain speaking, your flight is ready for boarding.’ It made me smile.”
“[Bernie] Ecclestone on KERS (in the #F1 annual foreword): ‘It costs a lot and all the public know is it doesn’t work sometimes.'”
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Comment of the day
Should Toro Rosso serve only as a ‘rookie farm’ for Red Bull? GT_Racer says no:
If Red Bull want a ‘Rookie training school’ then buy a GP2 team. Running an F1 team like that is wrong.
Like we have seen with Jaime Alguersuari, they put him in the car with no testing (not even any Friday running) at age 19 and almost certainly moved him into F1 before he was ready. He?s then put under more pressure than its really ideal considering his age/experience, He shows improvement year on year and at the point when he looks like he’s really got F1 figured out and was showing massive improvement they throw him to one side.
If Toro Rosso had retained Jaime I’d have marked him out as someone to really watch for 2012 and if he finds a ride elsewhere I still think he will prove just how good he is and how good he will become as he gains more experience.
GT_Racer
From the forum
- The findings of the investigation into the crash that killed IndyCar racer have been released. You can read the full report here.
- Mark Webber’ Jim Bamber-designed Christmas card raises a few laughs
Happy birthday!
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On this day in F1
Two years ago today Felipe Massa made his testing comeback after sustaining injuries at the Hungaroring. He drove a Ferrari F2007.
cduk_mugello (@cduk_mugello)
16th December 2011, 0:07
I think the way Red Bull have treated Alguersuari in particular has been pretty shoddy.
Whilst I’m unsure he’d make a champion, I think he could easily become a Gerhard Berger type figure. If he doesn’t get another break, I think we’ve been robbed of that.
Deurmat (@deurmat)
16th December 2011, 8:12
That’s just the way it goes with red bull, remember Scott Speed, Bourdais at least they got to finish their season lol.
S.J.M (@sjm)
16th December 2011, 9:55
Bordais was booted after 9 races, He might have had a whole season the year before but it was Jaime who replaced him midway through 2009.
Bleeps_and_Tweaks (@bleeps_and_tweaks)
16th December 2011, 11:04
Yep, totally agree @cduk_mugello I don’t like the way Red Bull have handled this at all. To me the logical version of this would have been to let Aljesauri have a year alongside Ricciardo and see how they fare against eachother. Vergne could have easily done another year as reserve driver.
I also totally agree with the COTD by @GT_Racer – GP2 should be the feeder system, not a fully funcitonal F1 team with people putting their heart and soul into designing and running the car round the world all year, its a bit disrespectful really.
Bleeps_and_Tweaks (@bleeps_and_tweaks)
16th December 2011, 11:05
duh! Alguersuari*
Estesark (@estesark)
16th December 2011, 0:09
A very mature reaction from Jaime Alguersuari there. But I’m wondering, if Helmut Marko and Franz Tost really did talk to him about their 2012 plans, were they deliberately misleading him? Or had they not made their mind up yet? Or – and this is the interesting part – does he still have a part to play for them? Perhaps a year as Red Bull’s testing driver, or a move to another team with their backing, is on the cards. I was pretty dismissive of the idea after Alguersuari and Buemi were ditched, but perhaps there is a chance of it happening after all.
Were both the drivers out of contract, does anyone know?
Cyclops_PL (@cyclops_pl)
16th December 2011, 8:33
What did you expect from Mr. Marko? This would be very much his style and Tost is in fact his subordinate and has little to say in these matters.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
16th December 2011, 9:09
@cyclops_pl – I think you’re overstating Marko’s involvement here. Alguersuari’s comments make it pretty clear that Marko and Tost had both promised that the team’s 2012 plans involved him racing for them. For all we know, Marko wanted to keep Alguersuari and Buemi, but Dietrich Mateschitz intervened and said “They’ve had long enough”, or Christian Horner called and told them “We don’t think they would be up to replacing Webber”. Marko was in the wrong for the way he blamed Webber for the crash in Turkey and triggering the Red Bull Civil War, but I think far too many people are far too quick to blame him for everything that goes wrong because of that incident.
T
16th December 2011, 10:25
They didn’t promised, he said “I talked with Helmut Marko and Franz Tost and they told me they had plans for me in 2012.”
Well, that was the plan!
Fixy (@)
16th December 2011, 18:30
How cruel would they be! I sadly don’t think they have any other plans – but now they’re without test drivers for either RB or TR if I remember correctly…
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
16th December 2011, 0:10
Once again, Toro Rosso show a complete lack of respect for their drivers. I still remember when Sebastien Bourdais was fired via text message. And then there was the way Franz Tost tore strips off Scott Speed for spinning off at the first corner during the washed-out 2007 German Grand Prix – despite the way four other drivers (including his own team-mate) did it before him. I get the distinct impression that Toro Rosso only treat their drivers with anything resembling fairness for as long as they remain useful to Red Bull.
Mike (@mike)
16th December 2011, 1:38
Pretty much.
I just hope Jaime doesn’t end up testing for Red Bull. Testing nowadays, with how Red Bull works it’s drivers, is not a good move for his career.
(I remember how they treated that Kiwi guy. Hartley?)
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
16th December 2011, 1:59
Their treatment of Hartley seemed quite reasonable, actually. Hartley knew Bourdais was in jeopardy, and he also knew that he would be the driver to replace Bourdais. However, Hartley felt that he wasn’t ready for Formula 1, and so decided to step down from the Toro Rosso test driver role so that he could concentrate on his WSR season. That’s how Alguersuari ended up in the seat – Red Bull needed someone to replace Bourdais, and Hartley had turned the job done.
However, Hartley was dropped from the Young Driver Program in 2010 when his results in the WSR were not up to the standard Red Bull were expecting. Once you’re in the YDP, you don’t stay there forever – you have to keep performing if you want to keep your place.
The problem in all of this is that while Red Bull have finally plucked up the nerve to be a little ruthless with their driver programme, they’ve been too ruthless. As near as I can tell, they are only supporting four drivers: Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz Jnr. Ricciardo and Vergne have been promoted to Toro Rosso (so officially, they are no longer a part of the YDP), but while Kvyat and Sainz have shown promise, they haven’t raced in anything above Formula Renault 2.0, and they’re only seventeen. If anything should prevent Ricciardo or Vergne from racing next year, Toro Rosso won’t have a third driver at the ready.
RumFRESH (@rumfresh)
16th December 2011, 4:37
Agreed.
Felipe Bomeny (@portugoose)
16th December 2011, 0:12
I’m touting Buemi for a drive with the Rebellion Racing team in the LMS alongside countryman and long-time Red Bull protegee Neel Jani.
TY
16th December 2011, 3:42
I hope Jaimie also goes to lemans for the time being. it seems like the only logical place for them after f1. hopefully he wont even consider indy because thats literally career kill. the new toyota team could use his skill with next years lemans
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
16th December 2011, 0:18
If Toro Rosso is a “rookie farm” to Red Bull, then they should have a real programme in a way that they develop their drivers according to the need.
What’s the point of having 4 drivers “ready to rumble” if there’s just 2 seats at Red Bull? and even worse, only one of the seats is considered available.
They should bet on the long term. Alguersuari was showing great promise and they just sacked him too late for him to react and try to keep going on F1.
That’s not a “rookie farm”, it’s just a driver-blender. They should remember it’s very difficult to impress the way Vettel did in his days, because the rookies are not given the time on track like before. Alguersuari just drove a F1 car for the first time the weekend he made his debut while Vettel had a whole year of friday running on the BMW.
celeste (@celeste)
16th December 2011, 0:33
Buemi and Alguersuari were ready for an F1 drivve back in 2009, after seen their results RBR thinks they aren ´t what they look for RBR (aka a front running team) so they let them go… as simple as that…
Now Vergne and Riccardo are ready for Toro Rosso and F1, lets see in 1 to 2 years if they are ready for Red bull… Thats the idea behind Toro Rosso, why is so hard to understand…
Back in 2009, Alguersuari had has all the time he needs… 2 and a half years… lot s of drivers only get a race to prove themself…
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
16th December 2011, 0:50
You completely missed the point.
They said STR is a rookie farm for Red Bull, not F1. Alguersuari and Buemi did well enough, and you don’t know how they might perform in Red Bull until they actually get a seat in the team, because none of them dissapointed like others have done.
If they are looking for “Vettels” only, then that’s a bit of a long shot. It doesn’t happen every year.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
16th December 2011, 10:08
But that’s the idea… Think about it, if they go through a round of rookies every 3-4 years, then those are actually pretty good odds at finding “Vettels”. You have to remember that these drivers have gone through the development programme before F1, so they are ALL good drivers.
But Red Bull don’t just want good. They want the best. If it doesn’t look like the drivers are going to be the best, why should Red Bull risk a year of results on them?
If the paddock agrees with you, and they think Red Bull are wrong, and that these drivers have true talent, I’m sure they will find a drive. If not, then well, that’s F1. Not every driver is going to have a fairy tale story.
q85
16th December 2011, 10:59
what people forget is the STR in 08 was a very good car. much better than the sister red bull.
Vettel got a great win in monza in terrible conditions, but that aside his results werent a millions years different to jamies. consistent 6’s 7’s and 8’s. and bearing in mind this years STR is much slower than 08s jamie’s 8th 9ths and 10th’s in this season is equally as impressive.
David-A (@david-a)
16th December 2011, 12:02
@q85 – Convert Vettel’s 2008 points to this years system and he would have scored 93 points, with his seven top six finishes. Vettel also took a 4th in 2007. Jaime has never finished in the top six in almost double the races.
The STR was better in 08, Jaime did very well this year, but I wouldn’t say Jaime has been equally impressive.
The Last Pope (@the-last-pope)
16th December 2011, 1:04
So why have they still got Webber? If he was driving for torro roso he’d get sacked for his performance this year. He struggled to get his tyres to work for him the whole year, he’d be miles behind where the two Torro Rosso drivers ended up in the championship.
xjr15jaaag (@xjr15jaaag)
16th December 2011, 17:12
Webber has actually proved that he can mix it with the best of them last year; he has proven he is still one of the best. It isn’t a case of Webber getting worse, it’s Vettel getting better. I mean, his wins last year were incredible; he dominated at Monaco and Spain for example, and a driver doesn’t just get 0.5s a lap slower during the Winter, it’s just seb has got much better
David-A (@david-a)
16th December 2011, 23:49
@xjr15jaaag – I agree, Mark Webber scored more points in 2011 as well, and made less errors.
ScuderiaVincero (@scuderiavincero)
16th December 2011, 1:17
@celeste
You don’t think it was a premature introduction to F1? I mean, he had only turned 19 about 4 months prior to his first Grand Prix.
celeste (@celeste)
16th December 2011, 2:06
@scuderiavinsero Then simple, he shouldn´t have made it to F1 back then… do you want me to tell you the chances that he have made it to a seat at any other age? They are nearly 5%. Good luck with that one…
They aren´t looking for the next Vettel, nor the Hamilton, or Alonso, or Schumacher… they are looking for the next “great” driver, the next “championship winning” driver.
I´m not telling that Buemi and Alguersuari aren´t good, maybe they are… what I´m telling is that Toro Rosso has giving them time to show their worth, and for whatever the reason of standard they have they don´t think they deserve their backing anymore and a Red Bull drive… thats their standard and their choice…maybe it will come to bite them in the ass one day…
They have come to full circle with them, is the same with in any employee at any enterprise… so they hired new blood, if this new blood don´t prove good enough, they will come a new one a so on…
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
16th December 2011, 2:39
Exactly the point I’m making. If they gave him the chance to drive for them with no experience to back his drive, then they should given him the chance to keep going. All in all, Alguersuari practically debuted in 2010.
That’s something you don’t know. What if Alguersuari made it to GP2 and then F1? the proper way in recent years.
They won’t know who’s good and who isn’t if they sack him after 2 seasons. 1 season is barely enough for anyone driving a relatively slow car (it’s more difficult to impress that way).
It’s not as simple as hiring new blood and waiting it to perform instantly. It’s a matter of development, in the long term. If they are a true rookie farm, then they should be a bit more patient OR take another route, because this way isn’t gonna work for them.
celeste (@celeste)
16th December 2011, 3:06
@Fer-no65
Then maybe next time we all cry because teams aren´t willing to take chances on young talents you should think in what you just posted. And is exactly why instead of being outrages at Toro Rosso we should at least respect their ethos, instead of going for the safe bet they are always willing to develop new drivers, even if the driver isn´t hiredby them, if what he has done is good another team will be willing to take the chances on them (see Liuzzi)
Toro Rosso is taking a chance like it took a chance with Vettel, With Bourdais, with Buemi and Alguersuari… and is the same that all the teams do now…
Not a big diference. Even with out 2009 Alguersuari had 2 years to show results… the team don ´t like him is their prerogative to look for another driver, but at least they gave him a chance and waiting enough to pass judgement IMHO.
And how many GP2 winners,runner ups, third places had made it to F1 in the last three years?
Hpw many of these had done it without bringing sponsor money?
Estesark (@estesark)
16th December 2011, 1:17
Great points, @fer-no65. I completely agree with you and can’t find anything to add.
Pavel (@pchun)
16th December 2011, 11:14
Well, may be STR is the only team that picks up drivers without sponsorship. But there is the other side of this coin – essentially they are not only promoting drivers but manufacturing brands for Red Bull marketing department. Remember their obsession with finding young America star several years ago, and it seems to be the same story with Vergne now. You also can easily identify they are interested in Russian market (Aleshin and now Kvyat).
I suppose one of the problems with Buemi and Alguersuari was they were pretty anonymous in marketing terms.
That’s the point. Since early 2000s they took chances with Bernoldi, Frisacher, Clien, Liuzzi, Dornboos, Speed, Bourdais, Allguersuari, Buemi. And none of them turned out to be any good at least on their own standards. They struck gold with Vettel (“co-developed” with BMW). But with drivers they promoted themselves success rate is pretty unimpressive – zero.
celeste (@celeste)
16th December 2011, 15:30
@Pavel thats because finding a World Winning Driver is hard.
Of the drivers that made f1 only 3% win a championship.
And is you want to play statistic more, since you are in the feedder series the chances you get to F1 and win a driver championship is 0.17%.
So good luck if your childhood dream is to win a Driver Championship.
J
16th December 2011, 0:34
@ Fer 65.
You hit the nail on the head.
Harvs (@harvs)
16th December 2011, 0:50
Ah the failings of being in the Red Bull Driver Programme…
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
16th December 2011, 2:57
I feel bad for both Alguersuari and Buemi. Probably the team weren’t clear to them as they were removed from the team.I don’t know what the whole Red Bull management wants but I don’t think the decision they made this time was a good one.
KeeleyObsessed (@keeleyobsessed)
16th December 2011, 8:05
@wasif1
What happened to reading the article? Alguersuari quite obviously had some idea of what was going on, whilst Buemi didn’t seem disappointed (or at least, didn’t seem surprised by the decision) So how were the team ‘not clear to them’?
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
16th December 2011, 9:38
@KeeleyObsessed both were told by their management that their management were thinking about them for 2012.
KeeleyObsessed (@keeleyobsessed)
16th December 2011, 9:44
@wasif1
THINKING. Precisely. At no point was it mentioned that they would be DEFINITELY signed for 2012, both drivers knew that Toro Rosso is a rookie team, and they’ve now had 3 years each in that team. It doesn’t take much to simply make a few phonecalls to another team and inquire about drives. They could’ve at least made provisions in case of something like this happening. Now it’s decided, unless something big happens, the best team they can get themselves into is Force India.. And if not, there’s 1 seat at Williams and 1 at HRT.. They’ve ended up in this situation, but it is by no means Toro Rosso’s fault..
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
16th December 2011, 9:59
@KeeleyObsessed
First of all sorry if my comment meant anything that points finger toward STR as I meant to say that STR didn’t do any good to sign two Rookie when there are hard fight in the mid-field & I hoped that Alguersuari will be given a seat in the RBR in the future once Mark retires.
In Alguersuari’s case “Just a week after winning the Challenge das Estrelas in Florianópolis I talked with Helmut Marko and Franz Tost and they told me they had plans for me in 2012.”
& Buemi “A few days earlier, I had been discussing things for the next season” so yes I agree that they weren’t SIGNED but for some reason or not they were given some hope as both were caught by surprised as both were given some hope.
Masher (@hamish)
16th December 2011, 4:17
Sad news that V8 Supercar driver Jason Richards succumbed to his illness last night in Melbourne. I do know that members of F1 donated items to be auctioned to help this cause.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/motor-sports/v8-supercars/v8-supercars-star-jason-richards-dead-after-succumbing-to-adrenal-cortical-carcinoma-an-abdominal-cancer/story-fn2ms9um-1226223960948
OOliver
16th December 2011, 6:45
It has nothing to do with performance, just the puppet and the strings. Clearly some can’t seem to fight the urge to display their power.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
16th December 2011, 7:10
Still annoyed for Buemi and Alguersuari. Had they actually done developing those 2 drivers? From what I can tell they both still had something to give and prove.
Dev (@dev)
16th December 2011, 7:27
keeping the STR tradition this seems completely fair… they gave both drivers chance to race at the highest level, the drivers whom they replaced too were abruptly removed mainly for performance reasons… they both got decent time to show to RBR & other F1 teams what they got…. now they get replaced by other rookies like them. who will get chance to show their skills.
The only thing that was not in the right spirits was keeping the drivers in the dark… they should have told em that it’s likely that they both will be dropped next year and they should look out for other F1 seats or make alternate plans in advance.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
16th December 2011, 7:48
@dev
Heaven forbid that they should join another team and be competitive enough to race against the Toro Rossos. It’s almost as if the team has the attitude of “we gave you your career, so we have the right to take it away”. I don’t think it’s going to be pleasant when Sebastian Vettel decides it’s time to leave Red Bull …
bosyber (@bosyber)
16th December 2011, 8:12
Exactly @prisoner-monkeys – and while I thought their reactions were mature, especially Alguesuari, reminding himself that Spain has about 5 million unemployed and that he has plenty of opportunity, both of them say something like “I don’t blame them for unceremoniously dumping me, after all they picked me up as a kid and helped me get places” sounds to me a bit too much like Stockhold Syndrom. It should be even worse to treat someone like that when you have such a long bond!
It would be a bit like an alternate reality where Alonso and Ron Dennis hadn’t fallen out, and Dennis dropping HAM at the end of 2007 because he needed a different teammate for Alonso.
Klon (@)
16th December 2011, 10:59
Thankfully, Vettel has built up enough of a reputation already. He’s as immune from Red Bull’s – if you want to call it that – highhandedness as a Young Driver Program’s alumni can be.
q85
16th December 2011, 11:02
doesnt mean he wont leave to find a new challenge.
verstappen (@verstappen)
16th December 2011, 9:09
Harsh and in some ways rude, Toro Rosso. But Liuzzi is an example in more than one way:
– there’s life after RB
– maybe they weren’t wrong to sack him
Time Will tell if this applies also for Alguersuari and Buemi…
antonyob (@)
16th December 2011, 9:52
I assume COTD is sometimes there to generate conversation rather than actually being a salient point. Torro Rosso is a feeder team for Red Bull and if the drivers arent better than what theyve got already its time to move them on. Im a huge fan of Jamie A, hes a proper driver who can handle a car with its tail out but if hes that good then he’ll easily get another drive. And its not old ladies bingo night, its intense pressure wherever you are at that level.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
16th December 2011, 9:57
You assume wrong. I keep an eye on the comments and pick out the one I decide is best. I’m not looking for a comment on a particular subject, or one I agree or disagree with, just a good comment.
q85
16th December 2011, 11:06
some have been a bit vauge of late. almost non comments or stating the obvious ones.
but todays is spot on.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
16th December 2011, 10:08
<a href="http://twitter.com/GrandPrixDiary"Interesting tweet from @GrandPrixDiary:
[quote]Force India. The world waits with (nearly) baited breath. Hulkenberg, as sure as Christmas but will it be di Resta or di Roubles?[/quote]
I don’t think there’s too much too it – “di Rubles” sounds like it was added for the sake of a gag.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
16th December 2011, 11:07
Wow. That was horrible. This is how it should read:
Interesting tweet from @GrandPrixDiary:
I don’t think there’s too much too it – “di Rubles” sounds like it was added for the sake of a gag.
That’s what I get from copy-and-pasting straight from another forum.
ajokay (@)
16th December 2011, 10:12
It’s a very odd way to go about running an F1 team.
If Toro Rosso only exists to serve as a feeder team or a training school for Red Bull Racing, we’re going to have many situations like this where one or two top drivers have been found, and they’ll stay in the RB cars for many seasons, meaning that the Toro Rosso rookies have no-where to go after 2 years, and are pushed aside to let other rookies have a go.
The teams around Toro Rosso… Force India and Sauber, are battling what is seen as a nursery school team… a second-tier operation. That’s a bit of a downer, isn’t it? And any driver who sits in a Toro Rosso is doomed to be kicked out at any point (given Toro Rosso’s history) unless they are better than Sebastian Vettel, which is going to be a rare occurrence.
And if you were Dietrich Mateschitz, would you not want the two teams you were sponsoring running 1-2-3-4, rather than 1st-3rd and 11th-12th?
I know that RB and TR have to be separate entities now, but there’s nothing stopping Red Bull pumping more money (they’ve got enough of the stuff) into Toro Rosso and allowing them to hire whoever is second best behind Adrian Newey, and probably fiddling it behind the scenes so that you have Adrian Newey designing both cars anyway.
But no, instead we have what is essentially a waste of two spaces on the grid with a team who doesn’t want top drivers (because they’re either not good enough and ditched, or too good and passed on), doesn’t want to progress further up the grid, and is denying a future Jordan or Stewart or Sauber from joining F1 and trying to make good.
As has been said above, if you want a place to train your drivers for F1, go and buy a GP2 team, a GP3 team, a Renault World Series team, an Auto GP team… hell, even an IndyCar team… anything. Because (barring Indycar) That’s what they’re for! Just don’t take up two valuable spaces on the F1 grid with what you deem to be in a second tier within the category, because it’s unfair on the drivers you hire, it’s unfair on the teams around you, it’s unfair on the sport and it’s unfair on any teams wanting to move into F1 for whom there isn’t any space.
My new least favourite team, behind even Ferrari: Toro Rosso.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
16th December 2011, 14:02
I agree that it’s quite unusual, but I don’t think they’re my least favourite team!
It’s just that the teams are holding onto their drivers and despite the fact Toro Rosso is giving young drivers a chance, they have no-where to go when everyone else is happy with their line-ups. I think Toro Rosso are in it for the same reasons as everyone else, and they do want the best for the team rather than to just give young drivers experience. That’s why they gave up on Sebastien and Jaime and gambled on two young talents.
antonyob (@)
16th December 2011, 10:17
i dont want to labour the point but i dont understand how stating a team is wrong to follow a policy of employing good potential drivers, giving them a good go and then trying some new ones, is a good comment!
Its a far purer policy then employing someone because they come with a backpocket full of money and i applaud their bravery. It could easily smack them in the face and the easy way is just to continue the status quo.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
16th December 2011, 10:19
Consider your point, which I don’t agree with, laboured.
You may not agree with the Comment of the Day, but that doesn’t make it wrong.
antonyob (@)
16th December 2011, 10:24
any more Labouring and i’ll be giving birth to Neil Kinnock… but its not just me who disagrees with you and the esteemed COTD, its the whole of Red Bulls senior F1 management team.
New favourite team: Torro Rosso !!!!!!
antonyob (@)
16th December 2011, 11:03
If the internet had been around when Williams routinely sacked world champions then i think it would have exploded !
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
16th December 2011, 11:25
Imagine the massive search spike for “Copersucar” in 1975. “He’s driving for who?”
sbl on tour (@sbl-on-tour)
16th December 2011, 20:17
I remember that, think i,ve still got the old motoring news from that week,
one of emo,s cpoersucars is hanging on the wall in the sensheim mueseum in germany, now that is worth a visit,
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
16th December 2011, 13:57
“Jean-Eric Vergne has conceded that Scuderia Toro Rosso team-mate Daniel Ricciardo may have the edge on him at the start of next year, but hopes he can develop quickly to catch him up.”
the new VETTEL admit that a he is the n°2 driver before even driving the car when he tested the RB7 he said that he will be no worse than mark webber ……………..lol
Enigma (@enigma)
17th December 2011, 10:36
@tifoso1989 Ricciardo has experience of 11 F1 races, Vergne has none. That’s why he said he expects Dan to be faster at the beginning, which makes perfect sense.
sharmin. (@spartle)
16th December 2011, 15:04
I wonder who will take place as reserve driver for RB and Toro Rosso. I’d love it if Alguersuari did because that’d be a possible opening for Toro Rosso in 2013 if Webber was to leave RBR.
Steph (@)
17th December 2011, 9:44
Buemi got the call while he was in the simulator? Wow, that must have been a kick in the teeth. I wonder if he was escorted from the premises after…
Enigma (@enigma)
17th December 2011, 10:41
“In this lap, in this lap. You’re fired.”
TheJudge (@thejudge)
22nd December 2011, 0:45
I’m happy for Ricciardo,but what don’t understand is why Vergne was handed the seat? He showed up from nowhere.
But talking about the outsted of Buemi and Jaime,it’s a harsh sittuation for them now. Algersuari performed great for STR,and he seemed to become a rising star in F1,but now he has almoast no options as well as Buemi. Only two vacant seats are wideley contested with more than 6 or 8 drivers standing in line for those places. Most of those drivers has financial backing to offer,but these two only had RedBull.
This is very sad ,but these guys showed a professional attitude and reaction of the news. Can’t imagine what they are feeling now.
Anyway,It would be a shame for F1 to lose tallents like them now. Best of luck for both of the guys.
Lucas_A_Munro
26th December 2011, 22:31
Keith, I got the new MotoGP 10/11 game yesterday and I was playing it and was thinking about Alguersuari, Buemi and Sutil losing their seats in F1, and also how Grosjean lost his seat at the end of 2009 but is coming back after his success in GP2. So I was reflecting on that whilst playing my career as ‘Lucas Revington’ (Made up surname) on the 125cc’s in ‘Team Britalia’ and thinking about the second and third classes and I had a brainwave. Toni Elias returned to the second MotoGP class in 2010, the newly formed Moto2 category with Gresini, and he became the first champion so it kept him on the radar of LCR for 2011 and ultimatley, they signed him but he didn’t have the season he wanted due to being unable to get any feel from his bike, so they dropped him and signed his successor as Moto2 champ, Stefan Bradl. Now Toni is going back to Moto2 for another chance to prove his worth with Aspar. My point is, with there being GP2 and GP3 supporting F1 on most race weekends, and with 125cc (Moto3 in 2012) and Moto2 always coming to the same weekends bar the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, it gives many riders a chance to prove themselves that they deserve a seat in MotoGP, so why not make the GP3 and GP2 Series come to every race weekend in F1 and let it keep people such as Jaime, Seb and Adrian on the radar as well as bringing up the young guns?
Sonny Gregorio
19th February 2012, 9:37
I value the blog article.