F1

Will Hulkenberg finally get a big shot in 2016?

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  • #287707
    Tom_ec1
    Participant

    If Kimi retires at the end of 2015, do you think Hulkenberg will finally get the chance of driving for a big team (i.e. Ferrari) in 2016?

    I guess the two alternatives for Ferrari until recently were Bianchi and Marciello. Sadly Bianchi may no longer be an option. And I expect Ferrari would rather try Marciello in a Sauber or similar first.

    Would be great to see Hulkenberg get the chance he deserves.

    #287708
    Nic Morley
    Participant

    I heard that Ferrari are looking into Bottas for 2016. So if that somehow happens I imagine someone else will take the vacant Williams seat, with Hulkenberg again left out.

    #287709
    Sri Harsha
    Participant

    @robocat I dont think so Bottas is managed by Toto Wolff and he is inline with Mercedes if vacancy arises and if it doesn’t he may continue in Williams for some time
    About Hulkenberg i wish and hope he will get into Ferrari to form all Germany Line up in 2016 but he was been overlooked for years

    #287817
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I think Hulkenberg still has a chance – turmoil at both Ferrari and McLaren means he could sneak into either team. If Lotus come good, and Maldonado falls out with the team (as seems very possible) he could get in there. If Bottas goes to Ferrari, Hulk could return to Williams.

    Still a lot of chances for him.

    #287840
    Theo Parkinson
    Participant

    Hulkenberg has a great chance. Ferrari and Williams will moat likely have a seat available. Hopefully these teams are considered ‘Top Teams’ in 2016.

    #287912
    Iestyn Davies
    Participant

    Ferrari has to be his best bet now.. strangely because of the elimination of his main competition for the seat, Jules Bianchi. Hulk has already had contact with Ferrari, and Jules would have been a perfect number 2 for Sebastian Vettel, after Kimi Raikkonen’s retirement. Hulk, overlooked for Kimi, now moves into that role, with Marciello some way off that. Not that that is a great step forward at the moment – Ferrari are not much better, if at all, than the Force India he’s currently sat in.

    Mercedes will be locked up with Hamilton, Rosberg, Bottas, or Wehrlein.
    Red Bull will be locked up with Ricciardo, Kvyat, Sainz, Verstappen, or Gasly.
    McLaren will be locked up with Alonso, Magnussen or Vandoorne, and Button is seemingly discarded, like Vergne at RB. They could have signed Hulk multiple times now, but won’t because he doesn’t bring any money.
    Force India will rely on him, until it’s sold to the Slims and picks up Gutierrez.

    If (big if), VW Group enter after Bernie has gone, and perhaps RB buy the sport, Hulk might be a good bet for RB Audi. He’ll start a relationship with them at Le Mans, perhaps with other F1 drivers in the 3rd car.

    #287914
    Kingshark
    Participant

    I don’t understand all the hype around Hulkenberg tbh.

    I mean, he’s spend 4 years in F1 this season and still is podiumless. Certainly, his car has been more than once capable of a podium (Brazil 2012, Bahrain 2014) and he either blew it with a crash, or got beat by his own teammate.

    Nick Heidfeld 2.0

    #287922

    @Kingshark I disagree. It is unfair to claim that Nico Hülkenberg blew his chance in Brazil in 2012, where it was a very slight mistake in a difficult situation which cost him a potential victory. And that Force India was not capable of challenging for podiums that year either. In a way Nico Hülkenberg could be compared with Alonso being at the wrong teams at the wrong time. Remember Sauber’s 2013 campaign? He dragged that dog of a car into points more often like Fernando used to do with the Ferraris. And in Bahrain 2014 his race was effectively ruined when he couldn’t get into Q3. Despite the fact that he started from 12th on the grid while his teammate started from 5th, he went on to finish the race within 5 seconds of Sergio. And still he has scored 37 points over his teammate’s 59 is no mean feat.

    #287919
    Enigma
    Participant

    @kingshark For Brazil 2012 I’d say it was him that was capable of the podium, more so than the car. He did blew it in Bahrain, but otherwise, he hasn’t really had many podium opportunities…

    He is worthy of a top drive because he’s time and time again put a midfield car into a 4th, 5th or 6th place finish when it didn’t deserve to be there. Plus his two immense drives in Interlagos proved how good he is.

    #287933
    Dan
    Participant

    I have yet to make my mind up as so much depends on the car. Take for example Raikkonen this year a world champion he struggled for most of the year occasional flashes of speed but not many i would like to see him in a competative car through the season before judging him. As at the moment the cars he drives get out developed mid to late season

    #287935
    Kingshark
    Participant

    @enigma

    @eclairstone

    Remember Alonso at Singapore 2009? The Renault R29 was a proper soapbox of a car, it finished 8th in the WCC that year. Alonso dragged that donkey to the podium, and it was worse than any car Hulkenberg has drove in his career.

    Hamilton, despite of what happened after the race, was masterful at Australia 2009. The early version of the MP4/24 was 2 seconds off the pace, and he drove that thing from 20th to 3rd.

    Nico Rosberg with Williams in 2008 got a pair of podiums in a car which was at least as bad as the 2010 Williams and 2013 Sauber, and likely worse than the Force India’s from 2012 and 2014.

    Hulkenberg has been in F1 for 4 years now and has yet to score a single podium despite driving many solid midfield cars. A really special talent like Alonso or Hamilton would have had at least a couple of podiums already if they were driving his cars, I have no doubt about it.

    Hell, even drivers like Giancarlo Fisichella (with Jordan & Benetton), Ralf Schumacher (with Jordan & Williams-Mechachrome), and Rubens Barrichello (with Jordan & Stewart) were often able to get brilliant results and podiums out of midfield cars. Later, all of them turned out to be average, solid but unspectacular. Hulk hasn’t shown me anything to suggest that he is any better than a Fisi/Ralf/Rubens caliber driver.

    I’d also say that Perez has impressed me more this season, despite of what the final scorecard says. Checo had a lot of bad luck in this season. Brake failure in Canada cost him a 2nd place or maybe even better (18 points), had a 50/50 collision with Button in Monaco (8 points) and never even got to start in Malaysia (Hulk scored 10 that race). Luck-adjusted they have been fairly equal, or Perez maybe even slightly ahead.

    #287942
    Enigma
    Participant

    @kingshark I didn’t say Hulkenberg was better or as good as Alonso or Hamilton. I’m saying he’s done enough to deserve an opportunity at a big team.

    #287944
    safeeuropeanhome
    Participant

    Hulkenberg did well in 2013, but Gutierrez was also really, really poor which makes it harder to judge. I would like to see Hulkenberg in a better car to see how good he truly is though, he deserves that opportunity. I wasn’t impressed with him in 2010 when I thought Barrichello outperformed him but since then he has done well. I do think he is better than Perez however.

    #287962
    George
    Participant

    @kingshark

    Brake failure in Canada cost him a 2nd place or maybe even better (18 points)

    More like brain failure, he drove onto the racing line in the braking zone. Otherwise I agree though, they’ve been pretty even this season.

    #288017
    McL88AsAp
    Participant

    I agree with @kingshark even crashprone Maldonado and Perez get a podium. Perez also better than Hulkenberg when they are on their day, The reason that Perez is behind is because force india is pretty quick at the beginning of the season and Perez have pretty unlucky at first few races.Perez also got 2 battles for Podium (Bahrain and Canada) while Hulkenberg only once. DOTW results also represent how impressive Perez when he was at his day.about 2013 season, Gutierrez is pretty poor benchmark. IMO Hulk is solid driver, but not a star

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