F1

Pic out, Wickens in?

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 17 total)
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  • #130972
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I was trawling the net for news of Wickens’ plans for his 2012 campaign when I came across this article by a Canadian motorsports journalist: http://thestar.blogs.com/autoracing/ (it’s about halfway down the page, or just search “Wickens”). In the article, this journalist cites rumours that Pic may be having money problems and Wickens will replace him if Pic can’t come up with the money.

    It’s an absolute tragedy Wickens isn’t in F1 this year, especially as Vergne is given that Rob was on the Red Bull Driver Development Programme. From a selfish point of view, I hope this rumour proves true!

    #194010
    GeorgeDaviesF1
    Participant

    Don’t Red Bull pretty much chuck young drivers out the programme if they arent good enough?

    #194011
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @georgedaviesf1 Yep, pretty much – the kicker for me is that Wickens has had much more successful campaigns in the junior formulae than Vergne, and Wickens just beat Vergne to the Formula Renault 3.5 Championship in the 2011 season. Part of me feels like Wickens deserves that 2nd Toro Rosso seat a lot more that Vergne does.

    #194012
    GeorgeDaviesF1
    Participant

    I think Red Bull need GP2 team, the “senior” team is locked out and they have too many drivers for 2 seats at STR

    #194013
    Tommo N7
    Member

    @the-hundredth-idiot There were similar rumours of Pic having money problems a week or two ago, and that Vitaly Petrov would replace him but Marrusia rejected the claims: https://twitter.com/#!/Marussia_F1Team/status/169030213265670146

    #194014
    Pamphlet
    Participant

    @tommothfc Am I the only one who is relieved to hear that?

    #194015
    Tommo N7
    Member

    @Pamphlet You might be in the minority, as it seems a lot of people would prefer to have someone else in the car. Personally I would rather see Wickens in there, as I feel he deserves it more, but that’s not the way it works unfortunately.

    #194016
    W-K
    Participant

    Why should Pic be short of sponsorship. His family’s business GCA Trans sponsored Eric Bernard and Olivier Panis in the past, surely the company will sponsor a member of the family.

    #194017

    No disrespect to Pic, but I would like to see Wickens get a shot. Still I can’t help but think with this particular rumour silly season is starting a bit early…

    #194018
    Prisoner Monkeys
    Participant

    Why should Pic be short of sponsorship.

    He may have the money, but if it isn’t paid on time, the team will see little reason to keep him around.

    #194019
    junior
    Participant

    Im with Keith on this, i seriously doubt pic’s parents have money trouble this close to the start of the year. The knew how much it would costs them back last november so they wouldnt have taken on such a financial burden if they couldnt come up trumps with the cash. Why risk getting a seat and then have the world know that you cant afford it.

    Im not one for drivers paying for there seat but at a team like Marussia they need the cash espically as they lack any new major sponsors this year which is probably quite needed.

    Is there actually any confirmation that wickens has been signed as a test driver yet? Doesnt make much sense when most of the seasons testing is already over.

    Slight detour from topic but did anyone else hear that Marussia are the only otehr team to be running without the stepped nose this year?

    #194020
    George
    Participant

    I think Marussia is probably the worst team to drive for, they were completely anonymous last year.

    #194021
    Prisoner Monkeys
    Participant

    Is there actually any confirmation that wickens has been signed as a test driver yet? Doesnt make much sense when most of the seasons testing is already over.

    They have not confirmed a test driver as yet, but test drivers also fill a reserve role. In the event that a driver cannot race, the reserve driver will usually take his place for the Grand Prix.

    Slight detour from topic but did anyone else hear that Marussia are the only otehr team to be running without the stepped nose this year?

    Yes, I did. Pat Symonds said as much. Apparently, they couldn’t get it to work – most of the teams had a flat-topped nose last year, but Marussia’s was flat-bottomed; the top plane curved. So their nose profile was lower, like the McLaren, whereas the step worked best for high noses.

    I think Marussia is probably the worst team to drive for, they were completely anonymous last year.

    They’ve had a complete overhaul for 2012 – they’ve gotten rid of their CFD-only designs, have new staff, more money, and they’ve done a deal with McLaren to use McLaren’s wind tunnel facilities. At the very least, they should be able to leapfrog HRT.

    #194022
    Mike
    Participant

    I think Marussia, as long as funding keeps coming in, will be fine.

    Glock must be pleased.

    I still think they should extend the prize money to all the teams… It’s a giant handicap against the teams that, with sponsorship harder to come by at the back of the field, are already going to find it difficult to earn enough to support themselves.

    The reason I think the argument that you should have to work to be rewarded falls down is that F1 has moved a long way in the last 20 years. It could have applied when teams came and went at the back and where often funded by single people. But nowadays, even HRT has a $30m budget, I mean, really, it’s not like they are not putting effort into it.

    #194023
    Mike
    Participant

    Also, that was off topic. Personally, I think Pic deserves a chance, whether he deserves it more than Wickens? I dunno. But he has been on the general radar of up and comers for a little while now. So it’s not totally unexpected that he make it to F1. That, and in Marussia, it’s more or less a game of follow the Glock. Who will inevitably beat any rookie they put in the team.

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