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- 29th November 2013, 0:09 at 12:09 am #245970mhopParticipant
1 – Vettel
2 – Alonso
3 – Raikkonen
4 – Hulkenberg
5 – Hamilton
6 – Rosberg
7 – Grosjean
8 – Ricciardo
9 – di Resta
10 – Button
11 – Bottas
12 – Perez
13 – Massa
14 – Sutil
15 – Vergne
16 – Webber
17 – Bianchi
18 – Maldonado
19 – Pic
20 – Van der Garde
21 – Kovalainen
22 – Gutierrez
23 – Chilton
27th November 2013, 9:32 at 9:32 am #230282mhopParticipantI think Eddie Jordan’s prediction will be accurate but still desperately hoping that Lotus will get the cash injection they need and sign Hulkenberg. In this case a line-up like the following would be perhaps most likely:
Lotus: GRO + HUL
Force India: PER + DIR
Sauber: MAL + SUTI think this would be great because it would help us answer exactly how good Di Resta, Sutil, Maldonado and Grosjean all are (drivers that have generally been in the same team or up against the same teammate for most of their careers). Probably not going to happen, though. :(
24th November 2013, 0:20 at 12:20 am #230261mhopParticipantYes, this year he made a few unfortunate errors, but this was very uncharacteristic: remember in his rookie year di Resta completed more laps than any other driver on the grid (and unlike Chilton, with a high performance level!).
I think his difficult spell can be explained by the fact that he obviously knew he was struggling for a 2014 contract, and he was trying to overdrive a poor car. To keep things in persepective his only costly mistake was Singapore – the worst thing about that was it completely overshadowed what was otherwise an outstanding drive from the back of the grid to 6th.
All the best for the future Paul!
23rd November 2013, 23:45 at 11:45 pm #230259mhopParticipantSad to see di Resta leaving the sport. Despite what the haters say his three years have been a huge success and he thoroughly deserved a fourth: in 2011, coming straight out of Touring Cars (!!), he immediately matched Sutil’s pace; in 2012 he was faster than Hulkenberg for 75% of the season; and this year he has pretty much thrashed Sutil (11-8 in qualifying should read 12-4 when you take in to account underfueling and strategic errors at UK, Malaysia, Monaco and Canada.
Sad to see another talented driver leave the sport. Maybe another reason to watch Indy Car next year instead?
9th November 2013, 12:06 at 12:06 pm #230170mhopParticipant@prisoner-monkeys
It’s a shame that your personal prejudice against di Resta leads you to make continuous baseless aspersions.“di Resta is very difficult to work with” – Where exactly is your evidence of this? I’ve never heard this before. In fact I’ve only heard the exact opposite, with numerous quotes from Bob Fearnley saying how good di Resta is for the team, and how valuable and constructive his feedback has been on improving the car over the past three years.
“four straight retirements due to driver error” – I guess you are blaming di Resta for being t-boned by Maldonado at Spa? Something which Maldonado got a stop-go penalty for? Interesting!
And regarding di Resta “paying himself a massive (and completely undeserved) compliment” on his smooth driving style: “The two have very different driving styles – Adrian is harder on his tyres, Paul is softer, can make them last longer. Therefore, it can take him a lot longer to get heat into the tyres and for them to start functioning.” That was Vijay Mallya at this year’s Hungarian GP – Are you saying that Force India’s team principal is wrong on this matter?
“Di Resta is in his third season and has consistently underwhelmed” – in your prejudiced opinion. There’s no point arguing this back and forth but the fact is that di Resta has scored 121 points in three years at the third smallest team on the grid. More than Sergio Perez has managed in three years with an extremely fast Sauber and a McLaren! With facts like this it is quite perplexing that di Resta is consistently the subject of your wrath.
7th November 2013, 23:20 at 11:20 pm #230150mhopParticipantI can’t see Force India letting him go. Continuity of driver line up has been key to Force India’s success over last three seasons. So I’d be very surprised if they didn’t keep one of their existing drivers for 2014 and I’d be very surprised if that wasn’t di Resta.
4th November 2013, 23:02 at 11:02 pm #230125mhopParticipantMy friend is telling me that SUT has already signed for Sauber, and MAL is about to sign for Force India.
Also there’s a chance that Sam Bird might get BOT’s seat, and Kevin Magnussen is likely to get Friday sessions with Force India.
So,
Lotus = GRO + HUL
Force India = DIR + MAL (MAG)
Sauber = SUT + SIR
Williams = MAS + BOT (BIR)26th October 2013, 0:16 at 12:16 am #230076mhopParticipantThe other curve ball in all of this is that McLaren are still considering replacing Perez with Magnussen for 2014. Apparently McLaren are already seeing next year as a stop gap and and are keen to take the opportunity to try out new talent. This would parachute Perez in to the midfield. I don’t even know how this would affect things in that market!
25th October 2013, 23:55 at 11:55 pm #230075mhopParticipantHere’s an interesting one. Apparently Maldonado has told Force India that as a condition of his funding neither di Resta nor Sutil would be allowed to stay at teammates. Apparently he doesn’t want to be paired with an established driver who would have a strong chance of beating him!!
This explains why Force India are considering bringing Calado forward for 2014 and di Resta’s mystery illness yesterday. (Force India’s original idea was that Calado would run FP1s in 2014.)
Interesting stuff, no?
25th October 2013, 23:42 at 11:42 pm #230074mhopParticipantApologies, that was perhaps inaccurate. I’ve just been told that Louts might be moving towards Hulkenberg, and if this were the scenario the most likely outcome would be something like:
Lotus
GRO
HULWilliams
MAS
BOTForce India
MAL
DIRSauber
SUT
SIRI’m told it’s still a fluid situation. The drivers and teams each know their lists of preferences, and where they rank, but it’s all coming down to finances.
25th October 2013, 23:27 at 11:27 pm #230073mhopParticipantOk, I’ve got an update.
I’ve been reliably informed that 2014 driver changes are going to boil down to:
Raikkonen-Massa swap places
Hulkenberg-Sutil swap places
Sirotkin replaces Gutierrez
(Possibly) Calado replaces di Resta (I’m not happy about that one!)
And obviously the Kyv-Ric-Web escalation/retirement situation at Red Bull.Anyone excited?
14th October 2013, 19:15 at 7:15 pm #229956mhopParticipantHave it from a good source that Force India line up for 2014 is di Resta and Hulkenberg. And that Sutil is talking to both Sauber and Williams. Also if anyone didn’t know Maldonado is definitely exiting Williams.
Despite all the hype around the Hulk I fancy di Resta to beat him in 2014. Paul was consistently ahead of Nico over first 14 rounds of 2012, but everyone seems to only remember the last five races…
28th June 2013, 15:38 at 3:38 pm #237270mhopParticipantAlternatively Grosjean and Massa will pick up their form before the end of the season and there will be no change other than Valsecchi to Lotus! (Most likely scenario?)
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