In the round-up: Sergio Perez accidentally reveals Esteban Gutierrez will drive for Sauber in 2013.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
Perez spills the beans on Gutierrez race drive (Reuters)
“The car will be strong because the rules don’t change much, and the team have a good experienced driver in Nico [Hulkenberg] and he will have a strong team mate in Esteban [Gutierrez].”
All bets are off at season-ending Grand Prix (FT, registration rivals)
“For [Sao Paulo], the event should mean at least $120m in revenues and 10,000 temporary jobs. It is these attractive statistics that are likely to prompt Rio de Janeiro to launch a competing bid to host the Grand Prix after 2014.”
Acorda, Sao Paulo! (TotalRace, Portuguese)
This article suggests Bernie Ecclestone has been approached by another group looking to host the Brazilian Grand Prix – though he may be using this to persuade the Sao Paulo race organisers to commit to building new pit facilities at Interlagos.
Brazilian GP – Conference 1 (FIA)
Bruno Senna: “It’s been a very challenging season, lots of learning. We got some very good results and some tough races as well. Considering it was my first full year in Formula One, and with the small handicap of not doing free practice on Fridays, I think it’s been a pretty good year. In the end most of my races have been very strong. Just starting from a different position from where I should be starting has made me score less points than I could have had. In the end of the day it’s learning and you normally do much better on the second attempt at the same thing, so for sure there will be a lot of improvement to be done for next year.”
Mercedes to ditch new exhaust (Sky)
Norbert Haug: “We certainly, with hindsight, should have started much earlier with Coanda because it gives you a benefit – if you can manage it properly,” he said at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Thursday. We so far cannot, because we were late introducing it in Singapore.
Hamilton expecting to face win drought (Autosport)
“I never know when I’m going to have a car quite as good as this one, so I really hope this weekend I can utilise that. I hope we’re competitive enough to fight the Red Bulls.”
Burn Enters Formula 1 Racing (Burn)
Eric Boullier: “We are proud that The Coca-Cola Company [via burn] has chosen Lotus F1 Team as the best vehicle to represent the burn brand in its most high profile partnership.”
Button wants Alonso to win title (BBC)
“I said after the first race I don’t think he’s got a chance, and I didn’t think he did. He was a second off in qualifying, or even more. [Ferrari] have done a good job and he’s obviously done a great job as well.”
Sebastian Vettel arrives for F1 showdown with reliability concerns (The Guardian)
Christian Horner: “For sure, the alternator is a concern. It is the third failure we have had this year. It is something Renault need to get on top of this week.”
A round-up of tittle-tattle (Joe Saward)
“It is believed that Jules Bianchi and his supporters can raise around $4 million but Bruno Senna is probably able to raise $10-12 million and thus that would be better for [Force India], which should be OK financially thanks to TV money but may need some budget topping-up because of the lack of money available from Kingfisher Airlines.”
Button and Hamilton to be guarded by extra security at Brazilian GP after past troubles (Daily Mail)
“Button and Hamilton will be accompanied by a police escort and armoured vehicles on the 45-minute trip from the Interlagos track to their hotel.”
Did Piquet Jnr have a future in F1? (MotorSport)
“It was after that, of course, that the ‘Briatore affair’ came to light – funny, that – but some might suggest it should more properly be called the ‘Piquet affair’: according to technical director Pat Symonds, after all, the idea came originally from Nelson Jnr…”
In 2010 Piquet Jnr gave a different version of events in that notorious weekend at Singapore.
Tweets
my new favourite race: Austin!!!!!
— Nico Rosberg (@NicoRosberg) November 22, 2012
Eric Boullier: We have paid Kimi 100% of the money he is supposed to have received by now. #f1
— Oskari Saari (@OskariSaari) November 22, 2012
@f1fanatic_co_uk our famous Dutch announcer Olav Mol has told a local radio station that F1 switches from RTL to Sport1. No confirmation yet
— Jeroen | 🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@jeweetmaarnooit) November 22, 2012
There’s a Facebook group for those in the Netherlands affected by their move away from free-to-air live F1 coverage.
Comment of the day
@Osbos has lots of useful links for those keeping an eye on the weather in Interlagos:
Some rain radars for Sao Paulo/Interlagos:
Ipmet
DSA
Redemet (use S?�?�o Roque/SP)
Redemet (animated) (to enable cities, please use Cidades on the left of the window)
Simepar (to the west of Sao Paulo)
Note: these radars are not real-time, like meteoradar.co.uk.I also have some links to satellite images of the region/Brazil:
Climatempo
Weather.com
Somar
@Osbos
From the forum
- Heading to this weekend’s race? Post your pictures and video here
- Lots of people already planning trips to next year’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone
Happy birthday!
No F1 Fanatic birthdays today.
If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
Five years ago today evidence emerged detailed McLaren’s claim Renault had access to their intellectual property in 2006 and 2007.
The claim followed McLaren’s $100m fine from the FIA for using Ferrari intellectual property. However the FIA found no wrongdoing in the Renault case.
Image © Sauber F1 Team
meek (@meek)
23rd November 2012, 0:05
Ouch, Perez. Ferrari look to have made the better decision after all.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
23rd November 2012, 0:09
@meek Ferrari said he was inexperienced, not that “he cannot keep a secret”, though :P.
Eggry (@eggry)
23rd November 2012, 0:22
@meek @fer-no65 It might meant he’s inexperienced in terms of PR :D
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
23rd November 2012, 0:24
@eggry @meek so Ferrari would not hire Vettel, who swears in a podium conference xD
Eggry (@eggry)
23rd November 2012, 0:26
Imagine. If Ferrari had chosen him for next year, he would have said “I will aim the title next year” which is not a great idea in his position next to Alonso :P
Eggry (@eggry)
23rd November 2012, 0:07
Oh, Perez did it!
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd November 2012, 7:28
I did get a bit confused about @keithcollantine‘s headline though,
– probably misses something, I doubt Guttieres is the reason for Perez’ success! Rather his successor :-)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
23rd November 2012, 8:52
Corrected it, thanks.
Timebolt (@timebolt759)
23rd November 2012, 0:19
Oh no what will Kobayashi do now?
Mike (@mike)
23rd November 2012, 2:05
This is really say, he really should be on the grid.
Lin1876 (@lin1876)
23rd November 2012, 2:11
Well, if Caterham can’t afford to keep Kovalainen then I guess he could go there.
It would be a great shame if he were to be without a drive next season. I would say he’s been more consistent than Perez, and that podium at Suzuka was something special. I suspect IndyCar would be a logical move for him where, frankly, his abilities would be wasted.
LJ
23rd November 2012, 3:12
I’d be hugely surprised if he didn’t get a seat at another team. He’s capable of much more than this season has shown, even though he has had his best qualifying (front row, second row), great points finishes and a podium. I think it’s a case of getting a car that suits his driving style and he will bring in the points.
Force India & Williams should be knocking on his door quite frankly.. But I guess Williams is too busy looking for pay-drivers these days and VJ dreaming of bringing Sutil back :-/.
MahavirShah (@mahavirshah)
23rd November 2012, 4:42
Well FI supposedly rejected Heiki as he did not have sponsor backing. Kobayashi is being “fired” for the same reason so it is unlikely that FI would take him on. I think Kobayashi is looking at tim out of sport. Either that or with Caterham or Marussia.
Sergio B. Perez (@sergio-perez)
23rd November 2012, 7:53
A sad, sad day for Formula 1. Kobayashi is a race winning capable driver with a promising future. Sauber developed with him, lets not forget about this. I’m really disappointed in the team for this. Seeing Kobayashi in an inferior team because of sponsorship is wrong. Hope this is not true, but I’m not optimistic. A shame.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd November 2012, 0:31
Dear Lotus’ PR department,
While the announcement of a new major sponsor is always a good thing, please pay more attention to how you go about letting the world know about it, lest you inadvertently Photoshop an image together that makes you’re driver’s head look like it is on fire.
Eggry (@eggry)
23rd November 2012, 0:34
oh lol
Aldoid
23rd November 2012, 0:37
If it’s Grosjean, it might actually be fitting: he did have a tendency to be a bit hot headed on the first lap a few times this year… :P
Tomsk (@tomsk)
23rd November 2012, 0:42
Maybe that’s how they advertise Bum, or whatever it’s called. Does this mean they’ll start selling this drink in the UK, or will the cars say ‘Coke’ at Silverstone, like the much better logos that appeared on the McLarens last weekend?
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd November 2012, 1:00
@tomsk – I was a little sceptical at first, myself. We don’t get Burn down here, and I’d never heard of it until now, but I’ve since found out that it is sold in over eighty countries.
The full details of the sponsorship agreement have not been disclosed, though it is evident that Coca-Cola want to – need to – compete with Red Bull, so it’s only natural for them to put forward an energy drink of their own. I imagine that Lotus will keep the Burn logos at every round, even where the drink is not sold.
Chalky (@chalky)
23rd November 2012, 8:35
I also had no idea what Burn was. I looked up some rather Hey Dude Snowboarding type web site last night, that turned out to be the Burn web site. No details on the drink itself were easily available.
I guess I must have a little bit of NASCAR in my blood as I was sort of hoping for a more well know Coca-Cola brand. A Red car with a swirling white strip down the side. Or perhaps that would have been too Starsky and Hutch for F1.
ScuderiaVincero (@scuderiavincero)
23rd November 2012, 1:04
You sure that’s not a poster for Ghost Rider? :p
matt90 (@matt90)
23rd November 2012, 1:05
Maybe proof read too.
matt90 (@matt90)
23rd November 2012, 1:06
Oops, that was meant to be italics.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
23rd November 2012, 2:30
@prisoner-monkeys maybe they want to fire the driver :D
Please, people, please… don’t applaud this loud ! you’ll wake up the neighbours :D
MahavirShah (@mahavirshah)
23rd November 2012, 4:39
Well the Lotus was on fire quite a bit last year with their exhaust system. So I think the image is quite representative.
Sergio B. Perez (@sergio-perez)
23rd November 2012, 7:57
That’s what I thought after seeing that :) Either that or its a clever subliminal message to what a “hot head” Grosjean is at the starts…
JerseyF1 (@jerseyf1)
23rd November 2012, 9:04
They could just have used this picture
caci99 (@)
23rd November 2012, 10:21
@jerseyf1 Nice one. :)
zimkazimka (@zimkazimka)
23rd November 2012, 9:55
also, BURN LOTUS F1 TEAM? what is this? an add paid for by competitors?
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd November 2012, 0:35
@keithcollantine – Could I suggest adding some kind of warning to the article about searching for images of the Lotus with Burn logos on it? Doing so will result in pornographic content.
thejudge13 (@thejudge13)
23rd November 2012, 1:06
:)
@HoHum (@hohum)
23rd November 2012, 1:22
@prisoner-monkeys, perhaps there should be a warning for Muslims, I doubt that logo will be welcome in the middle-east or has that all been sorted out with the Mullahs ?
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd November 2012, 1:28
Um … what?
Sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about. I was simply pointing out that searching for images of the Lotus E20 with Burn sponsorship will result in some NSFW results.
@HoHum (@hohum)
23rd November 2012, 2:07
@prisoner-monkeys, I was referring to the burning flame symbol, I thought your research may have come across some references to this in relation the symbol used by muslims to denote Allah.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd November 2012, 2:12
Why would you think that?
I made it pretty clear why you shouldn’t go Googling for pictures of a Burn mock-up livery. Islam has nothing to do with it.
Joanna Bessey (@bernie-ecclescake)
23rd November 2012, 3:21
The only symbol of Muslim/Islam that I know is star and moon or arabic symbol for Allah. Never see a burning flame as amuslim symbol.
ScuderiaVincero (@scuderiavincero)
23rd November 2012, 8:58
@hohum I’ll vouch for the non-offensiveness of the flame logo.
John H (@john-h)
23rd November 2012, 2:24
Is this a joke?
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd November 2012, 2:37
@john-h – No. I’d never heard of Burn before the announcement was made, so one of the first things I did this morning was go looking for mock-ups of a Lotus with a Burn-themed livery. Unfortunately, one of the first hits I got was an unrelated tumblr portfolio with a very similar name to what I was using as a search string (“burn” and “lotus”), and that portfolio happens to be pornographic. It isn’t someone who saw the annoucement and decided to take advantage of it; it’s just an unfortunate coincidence. But if I fell into the trap, others might, too – I’ve since seen people at Autosport and GT Planet warning people to be careful with what they searched for – and so I thought I might provide a warning to F1F users who might not be prepared for it.
Dane. (@dane-1)
23rd November 2012, 3:23
It doesn’t sound very refreshing. Burn :/
Timothy Katz (@timothykatz)
23rd November 2012, 8:30
But neither does Red Bull.
I always think “Red Bull what?”
Kimi4WDC
23rd November 2012, 3:45
Well in Denmark their Billboards are definitely on the edge of soft-core :) Through my experience of Burn commercials, they trying to come across as a night-life party Energy drink.
Kimi4WDC
23rd November 2012, 4:21
Makes sense, as they got Kimi on board :D
Alonso or Webber not exactly the types I’d like to go to a club with :D
jsw11984 (@jarred-walmsley)
23rd November 2012, 9:22
And not very good pornographic content at that, at least 60+ covered in tats, very disturbing indeed.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd November 2012, 10:40
*facepalm*
My message was intended as a warning, in case there were other like-minded people out there who thought that there might be a mock-up of the E20 in a Burn livery, because they would be in for a very rude shock. It wasn’t intended as a discussion of the actual content that you might find if you went looking for it.
I do not condone this.
maxthecat
23rd November 2012, 0:42
Title should read ‘Perez lets slip his Sauber successor is Gutierrez’
OOliver
23rd November 2012, 0:50
What I find even more alarming is that he hasn’t got the info from Sauber but from his sponsor, who appears to be throwing his weight around.
thejudge13 (@thejudge13)
23rd November 2012, 1:05
Perez and McLaren look like a lot of fun next year. Lying to the press and admitting he did it to make his life easier then spilling Sauber’s big announcement. Lewis may with hindsight look like a PR deam
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd November 2012, 7:40
I doubt they will want to let him tweet on his own without hteir press department having a say in it :-)
@HoHum (@hohum)
23rd November 2012, 1:18
I read elsewhere that Lotus beat McLaren out of the contest for Burn sponsorship and one of the reasons for that was that Lotus were able to document that their fanbase was the fastest growing currently in F1. I might be wrong but I would credit 90% of that increase to the hiring of Kimi R.
A lesson to teams looking only at what a driver can pay in personal sponsorship, I don’t know what Lotus pay Kimi but I’ll bet they will find it financially more beneficial than Williams deal with Maldonado.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd November 2012, 1:33
I don’t know where you read that.
The only connection I can find between McLaren and Coca-Cola was the talk that Vodafone would terminate their contract with the team one year early because they were said to be unhappy with the situation in Bahrain and wanted their logos removed from the car for the race, but were unable to do so. McLaren was then rumoured to be picking up sponsorship through Coke’s Relentless brand. However, that still doesn’t account for GlaxoSmithKline’s presence on the car; GSK promote Lucozade, which would be in competition with any brand Coke wanted to put on the car.
No, I suspect these stories of Lotus beating out McLaren to the Coke sponsorship because they could prove their fanbase was the fastest-growing in the sport have come from the Raikkonen fans.
@HoHum (@hohum)
23rd November 2012, 2:17
@prisoner-monkeys, the bit about the fanbase was taken from a quote by E.Boullier at what looked like an official announcement at a press conference, alternately it could have been a press release. I was on another planet when I read it.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd November 2012, 2:20
Well, of course Boullier is going to say that. But I doubt he can prove it – he might be able to demonstrate an increase in team merchandise sales or Facebook likes, but increases in the fanbase is hardly something that can be quantified.
@HoHum (@hohum)
23rd November 2012, 2:55
I’ll bet the pollsters differ with you.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd November 2012, 3:53
With enough statistics, you can prove anything.
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd November 2012, 7:43
While I do think that you might be right in saying that Kimi’s personality and fanbase were a significant part of the reason why Lotus appeals to Coca Cola/Burn, I seriously doubt that a deal with McLaren was ever on the table @hohum.
The reason is simple – GSK is already a team partner and they have Lucozade – (and some local brands also seen on the McLaren this year) which compete in the same market.
@HoHum (@hohum)
23rd November 2012, 21:55
@bascb, I’ll blame the reporter for the McL fantasy, but we have gotten totally away from the point I was trying to make. That point is; A good driver is worth a lot more than the dollars he might be able to pay for his seat, points accumulated are worth millions at years end and a fanbase is attractive to team sponsors.
Further I can picture;
Kimi beside his Lotus saying ” Let’s go for a Burn” can in hand.
Kimi in “club” attire ” a Vodka Burn for me”
Kimi in Tux ” a Vodka Burn, stirred not shaken”
BasCB (@bascb)
24th November 2012, 8:21
Yeah, we did let this take us away from that a bit there @hohum, I think Kimi being his fast and peculiar self actually was used well to pitch him as a good fit with the Burn brand.
@HoHum (@hohum)
24th November 2012, 19:48
@bascb, prisonermonkey is the master of the red herring.
BasCB (@bascb)
25th November 2012, 9:05
@hohum ;-)
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd November 2012, 1:25
I suspect it’s Bernie putting pressure on Interlagos to upgrade their facilities (though I was under the impression they were already planning it and that construction would begin after this year’s Grand Prix). The race can’t really move to Rio, because Rio doesn’t have a circuit; Jacarepagua has been demolished to make way for the 2016 Olympic Precinct. The only alternative would be a street circuit, but because of the divisions between residential and commercial zones and the favelas, that has the potential to get very, very messy very, very quickly. This was the best that I could do in five minutes.
Guilherme (@guilherme)
23rd November 2012, 2:20
@prisoner-monkeys I wouldn’t be a street circuit, I read somewhere (can’t remeber, sorry for the lack of sources) that they plan to build a brand new track anyway, regardless if they outbid São Paulo or not. But I agree, that can’t happen, Interlagos losing the race would be a travesty. The thing that worries me though is that São Paulo will be governed by a different party next year, and the Interlagos revamp was the work of the outgoing government. Who knows how many delays (and possibly even outright cancellation) the project will suffer because of that. So far there is no sign of work besides the new run-offs and they certainly wouldn’t be able to finish it in less than one year, as the article Keith links suggests.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd November 2012, 2:32
@guilherme – I’ve heard that the new pit building is a two-year job, and is planned to coincide with the reweal of the contract in 2014. I doubt any government would cancel a project like that halfway through, so once construction begins, it should be okay.
Guilherme (@guilherme)
23rd November 2012, 2:44
@prisoner-monkeys you are probably right about the timeframe of the construction, but don’t underestimate the stupidity of brazilian politics, specially when we’re talking about the two main opposing parties here…
But I agree, this is just Bernie putting pressure. Beto Carreiro tried to bring F1 to his theme park in Santa Catarina in 1996, and of course it never happened.
If you’re interested, this is the proposed track in Rio de Janeiro. Mind you, Interlagos’ facilities and access roads would be first class when compared to this place.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd November 2012, 3:36
Don’t worry. I live in a town where the local council can’t even knock down an abandoned building without screwing it up so much that the Independent Commission Against Corruption – the nation’s anti-corruption taskforce – has to get involved and sort the mess out.
AldoG
23rd November 2012, 7:32
Guilherme, for how long FIA and Bernie have been putting pressure on Interlagos for changes? After the death of Gustavo Sondermann at the same corner that almost killed Webber and Alonso it seemed that something would change, but in fact nothing happened, or just a few details. As far as I can remember, there have been rumours of a new track at Beto Carrero World park for at least a decade, and nothing happened. But the truth today is that Interlagos is still the only track in Brasil able to receive F1. Maybe one day it will be Londrina, but for that you need to park there a truckload of cash.
I think it is very sad what Rio de Janeiro did with Jacarepaguá, a track where I saw Formula 1, Formula Indy AND MotoGP (I saw Valentino Rossi being champion at the 250cc in Jacarepaguá and Jorge Lorenzo winning his first race at the 125cc).
ScuderiaVincero (@scuderiavincero)
23rd November 2012, 9:04
Not bad, a curvy, almost-monagesque layout.
Kimi4WDC
23rd November 2012, 3:54
Not sure how to feel about Gutierrez.
Gutierrez definitely have a much more success on his road to F1 compare to Perez, but for some reason he does not come across as worthy of Kobayashi’s replacement, just now, we’ll see.
Kimi4WDC
23rd November 2012, 3:57
Mr Button reminds me of soon to be wife lately, who believe that, that one day will change her life. He is not going to be driving faster with Hamilton gone, I hope he realises that.
Todfod (@todfod)
23rd November 2012, 9:00
Lol.. I think its more like the colleague hoping to get promoted when his boss leaves. He might be in the new position by default, but can he do his bosses job?
LexBlair (@lexblair)
23rd November 2012, 16:51
Yeah I mean its not like he did it last year*sigh*…….*Seems like ignorance is a bliss*.
MahavirShah (@mahavirshah)
23rd November 2012, 4:37
Now I am sure Perez would make a worthy successor to a guy who posted his teams car telemetry on twitter.
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd November 2012, 7:44
:-)
sumedhvidwans (@sumedhvidwans)
23rd November 2012, 7:56
Haha.. !
Todfod (@todfod)
23rd November 2012, 9:01
Nice one
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd November 2012, 7:52
As for the Dutch TV coverage – its confirmed that commercial station RTL7 will stop broadcasting and pay TV station Sport1 will take over (source in Dutch).
Let me remind everyone who critisized people from the UK for complaining about the Sky /BBC deal for being spoilt brats as this was only a local matter and others pay for their footage as well, that this deal can be seen more and more as a breakthrough for F1. After the first big European marked was done for, Italy will probably follow, the Netherlands now as well. Without doubt such a deal is already on the table in Spain as well and lets wait and see if RTL Germany will keep it on live (possibly they will as long as Vettel is in a winning car).
Will F1 survive in a healthy state with less and less races in Europe (Bernies wish) and diminished TV viewers?
bosyber (@bosyber)
23rd November 2012, 8:36
Hm, and it seems I might be losing RTL DE coverage soon (change of provider) so instead of having three sources of F1 on tv as last year, I will possibly have none – great to have HD …
necrodethmortem (@necrodethmortem)
23rd November 2012, 11:47
On the upside for my Northern neighbours, it now seems more likely that a Dutchmen will have a seat next year :)
Kingshark (@kingshark)
23rd November 2012, 8:25
So do I, Jenson, so do I…
Girts (@girts)
23rd November 2012, 8:41
I think I can understand why some F1 drivers refuse to look for sponsorship money more actively. It’s not because they’re too proud or arrogant. The sponsorship is usually a short-term solution and normally it prolongs one’s F1 career but it’s not what you need if you want to focus on long-term prospects and win races and championships in the future.
Look at Bruno Senna. His whole F1 career has been a struggle. All the time he has to live in fear of losing the financial support and accept different restrictions and hindrances, such as lack of pre-season testing or sitting out FP1 sessions. For sure, it’s very hard to improve yourself as a driver under such conditions and it’s almost impossible to convince the top teams of your potential.
It’s probably a different thing if you have constant backing that you can always rely on, such as PDVSA for Maldonado. But I see where Kovalainen comes from when he says that ‘to collect the money for one season doesn’t do anything’.
JerseyF1 (@jerseyf1)
23rd November 2012, 9:28
@girts I think that it depends on the driver’s own situation. In the case of Kovalainen it makes sense that pulling together money for 1 season isn’t worth it given that he has been in F1 for a few years and at a few teams now, an extra season in a seat that needs a pay driver is very unlikely to result in a breakthrough which leads to a long and successful career in F1. He is past the point of using a pay drive to make a good impression and now needs to rely on ability for career longevity.
Looking at Maldonado, he used sponsorship to break into F1 which would most likely have not happened without the money. He then has to capitalise on that break by demonstrating his ability (for example winning a grand prix) and then hope that his talent will end the need for his sponsorship backing (although having long term sponsor backing may help make negotiation easier). Senna’s career has been a struggle but once into F1 it’s down to him to demonstrate his value as a driver and whilst I don’t think he has been bad he hasn’t really made a big mark which says to other teams that he is a driver worth signing.
Schumacher had to raise the money from Mercedes for a one-off drive with Jordan back in 1991 but immediately made his mark. If you are a driver who believes in your ability enough then short-term funding is all you need. If you need long-term funding then the reality is that you are probably not cut out for F1 success.
bosyber (@bosyber)
23rd November 2012, 8:45
I have become persuaded (partly thanks to Peter Windsor) that a driver should be willing to help his team look for sponsors, so I was a bit sceptic on Kovalainen’s take on not finding sponsors:
But in that article he expands a bit on this, and it makes a lot of sense:
That does make sense, for an established driver it isn’t really sustainable to scrape money together for another year, every year – there needs to be a bigger idea behind it. So it would only be sensible if you used that one year to attract more sponsors/team interest, I guess.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
23rd November 2012, 8:52
@bosyber
Depends if you want the 24 best racing drivers or the 24 smoothest corporate salesmen. I prefer the former.
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd November 2012, 9:45
I am not so sure about that @bosyber.
Yes, sure a driver should probably not go around telling the world how he is not interested in team sponsors or partners or whatever they call them. And building a long relationship with a company can be something of a positive in current reality and even show a drivers skills, its not his ability to drive the car faster than others or get better results with it.
And that last thing should really be what the sport should aim for, because with better results should come the bigger fan base, bigger share of championship rewards etc.
The part about building up something to go forward is the thing a team should do. Not earn money to go racing by hiring out seats. This is exactly what GP2 is lacking too, because the components and cars are sold too expensively. Instead of having the best drivers, we have good enough drivers who were able to buy a seat for the year.
bosyber (@bosyber)
23rd November 2012, 11:40
@keithcollantine,@bascb, yes, I do agree that it is primarily the team that should be responsible for that. But just like a driver probably would be wise to do all he can to improve the car, he should likewise be willing to help the team get more money, which too will help improve the car.
There’s a difference between thinking that the sport should find a better way of finding funding than having to switch drivers (though in a way Maldonado is Williams doing that with that one driver, building up to something …), and thinking a driver should only be driving the car.
At the top teams, the drivers are doing meetings with sponsors and driving fast – that’s the best way they help the team bolster it top team image and increase interest from sponsors so they get some good feelings back for their money too.
At other teams, it currently doesn’t always work that way and a driver might be a stronger “brand” than the team, in which case he might be better off trying to use that to get sponsors than the team is (though really the team should probably organise some of that too, in cooperation).
Alonso and Hamilton both show the value of great drivers, but also the need for a good team and car to match that.
Could Williams have gotten better with different drivers? Quite Possibly. Might Caterham have gotten better results if their car had been better thanks to more money for aero development? Quite likely too, Petrov outraced Kovalainen several times, he’s not a bad driver and the car just wasn’t getting them any further. I will agree that Glock getting 12th might be a counter example, but there have been been quite a few occasions where he couldn’t do anything because the developments weren’t there to battle with Caterham.
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd November 2012, 12:36
But none of that is an argument for drivers to be strong at building a sponsor package. I would say that if a driver is great in that aspect, they have possibly chosen the wrong career (Bernie, Horner, Dennis all started driving cars before moving on to something the excel at). And if they are better than the team at doing so, that is more of a failure for the team, isn’t it?
Just look at Kimi. He is not too kind for sponsors, but he is very fast and the Enstone team is using his image in a good way to appeal to sponsors. Not by making the driver show up and talk with sponsors, but by showing a no nonsense but winning attitude can be a boon for their marketing campaign.
Girts (@girts)
23rd November 2012, 9:27
As I understand from the Google Translate, Kovalainen has also revealed that Caterham plan to use the same car in 2013 (Turun Sanomat, Finnish):
http://www.ts.fi/moottoriurheilu/f1/418052/Caterham+jatkaa+vanhalla+rungolla+2013
Aditya Banerjee (@chicanef1)
23rd November 2012, 9:31
@girts So that means he’s staying?
Girts (@girts)
23rd November 2012, 9:59
@chicanef1 I don’t think so, he’s sceptical about that and another article on the same website says Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde are considered as possible replacement for the team’s current driver line-up.
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd November 2012, 10:08
I also saw that, but I took it more of a confirmation that he won’t be with them next year @chicanef1, @girts because:
He points to the team having to look for drivers with a budget (Pic, VdGarde both bringing money), something he does not have, and is not interested in searching just to prolongue his career. And he points to the tight budget for next year – as that is the reason for using the current chassis – showing that the team is unlikely to push forward anytime soon.
Both things combined show a team that is quite different from the Caterham he joined. They had 2 paid drivers who were there for their skill at the wheel, and they had the ambition to gradually climb the ladder in F1 to get regular points and mix it in the midfield in the foreseeable future.
Aditya Banerjee (@chicanef1)
23rd November 2012, 9:30
It could be that Perez has done this to play mind-games on Kobayashi, who is only eight points behind the Mexican.
Whatever it is, Kobayashi will probably race like a zombie on borrowed time at Interlagos.
R.I.P. Kamui’s career.
Howard (@howard)
23rd November 2012, 10:18
That’s poor manners from Perez, mind your own business.
I’m not a fan of Billionaires pushing drivers from their country into F1 purely at others cost.
There’s nothing sporting about it.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd November 2012, 10:44
@howard
And I’m not a fan of under-performing drivers keeping their seats for purely sentimental reasons when there are potentially-better drivers out there who would miss out otherwise.
Aditya Banerjee (@chicanef1)
23rd November 2012, 12:16
+1
Howard (@howard)
23rd November 2012, 11:51
If Gutirez doesn’t prove to be worthy he will still stay in F1 regardless because of very obvious reasons.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
23rd November 2012, 12:15
I don’t think that HK is the greatest driver the world has ever seen but atm I think he is within the top 15 in the world. He has a wealth of experience at the front, middle and rear of the grid and has proven to be loyal to the team he drives for. In terms of off-track performance, he is clearly a hard-working lovely man and a PR dream. For these reasons I think it is rather unfair for him to be dropped.
I think that he could still do a job at almost any team, solidly collecting points and helping a new talent come through. I feel Caterham should treat him with more respect. Charles Pic would certainly benefit with him as team-mate and HK must have had plenty of opportunities to leave and turned them down. I feel it’s a shame for the sport that a man linked to Ferrari 6 months ago is now facing time out due to lack of investment. Don’t get me wrong, if I was an investor I would take my money elsewhere, and Kovaleinen knows it, but sometimes we need to stay in the present rather than always looking to the future. This view has led to drivers with high potential sacked before their time (look no further than Toro Rosso) and with MS retiring and HRT going bust the average age will be considerably lower than it has been for a number of years. Perhaps the only way around it is introducing a budget cap but, the reality of the situation is that every driver must have serious backing and therefore we will lose out on seeing some great talent.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
23rd November 2012, 19:38
Doesn’t strike me as a big deal about the Gutierrez/Kobayashi thing. It’s not like Kamui wouldn’t have known.