2008 Silly Season Thread (SUPER MERGE)

[Born Racer]

I initially read that as TGF.

[Ralf's Girl]

Now that would be a story!

[Born Racer]

Force India have Ferrari engines..

As it's the silly season, until their second driver is confirmed, we can be silly and speculate that Schumacher's going there

[luke]

Originally Posted by mac

Looks like it is all sorted then - except for Super Aguri perhaps...

1) Ferrari - Kimi Raikkonen
2) Ferrari - Felipe Massa
3) BMW Sauber - Nick Heidfeld
4) BMW Sauber - Robert Kubica
5) Renault - Fernando Alonso
6) Renault - Nelson Piquet Jr
7) Williams Toyota - Nico Rosberg
8) Williams Toyota - Kazuki Nakajima
9) Red Bull Renault - David Coulthard
10) Red Bull Renault - Mark Webber
11) Toyota - Jarno Trulli
12) Toyota - Timo Glock
14) Toro Rosso Ferrari - Sebastien Vettel
15) Toro Rosso Ferrari - Sebastien Bourdais
16) Honda - Jenson Button
17) Honda - Rubens Barrichello
18) Super Aguri Honda - Takuma Sato
19) Super Aguri Honda - Anthony Davidson
20) Force India Ferrari - Giancarlo Fisichella
21) Force India Ferrari - Adrian Sutil
22) McLaren Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton
23) McLaren Mercedes - Heikki Kovalainen

so no ralf ?

oh that's a good thing

[Bononi]

Wait until it's all over...

[Born Racer]

With possibly no pay drivers on the grid next year, could this finally be the first season in which there are no driver changes?

It seemed to nearly be happening in 1996, in which there was eventually a change at Forti, and possibly Minardi (Lavaggi?) Somehow, every year something happens that stops there being no driver changes.

[Pro Racer]

it just wouldn't be F1 without atleast 1 driver change so i'm sure it will happen somehow, but i would like to see it NOT happen.

[Chatters]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

With possibly no pay drivers on the grid next year, could this finally be the first season in which there are no driver changes?

It seemed to nearly be happening in 1996, in which there was eventually a change at Forti, and possibly Minardi (Lavaggi?) Somehow, every year something happens that stops there being no driver changes.

I think Trulli and Fisichella are the ones one the knife edge...

[Born Racer]

I'm far from convinced that Trulli merits losing his drive. He thrashed Ralf Schumacher this year. Let's not forget this is a man who was once performing better than one Fernando Alonso in the same team.

(Then again Frentzen used to beat Schumacher in sportscars and people used to bang on about that as a justification of Frentzen's talents, which was overstepping the mark somewhat).

[Pro Racer]

well i think now Nando and Kovi have signed elsewhere Trulli is almost safe but then again this is F1, i think Fisi might be at risk but reports seem to say he has signed with (no) Force India, but i thought Klien seemed most promising in the test does Fisi bring more dough?

[Gt_R]

I think that although Klien performed well for Force India, Fisichella may bring a level of knowledge and guide the team to perform at a higher level. What i'm saying is that Fisichella's key attractiveness is not in his outright ability and speed, but rather influencing the work ethics and thinking due to the things he learnt from his Renault days.

And that experience and knowledge is what Force India needs to build up the foundations of the team.

[alonso11]

Originally Posted by Gt_R

..Fisichella's key attractiveness is not in his outright ability and speed, but rather influencing the work ethics and thinking due to the things he learnt from his Renault days.

And that experience and knowledge is what Force India needs to build up the foundations of the team.

Barichello's ex-team absolutely dominated the championship for years and did his "knowledge" and "experience" make Honda any faster? If anything, Honda used to be faster without him.

And even if that "he's coming from a World Champion team, he'll make us faster" thing would work out, I think you're overestimating what Force India is. They dont even build a new car for next season and because they've been dead-last in 2007 thats a pretty good chance they'll remain that with what practially is the same car in 2008. Even if Fisichella was the tester/developer he isnt, wouldnt make much difference.

If you love racing but you arnt that well off, you buy a diecast model. If you are Schneider, Malaya or Mol, you buy a team. Live your childhood dream for a while, enjoy it, try to make some money out of it and then you just sell it.

[alonso11]

Btw, Spanish newspaper AS claim that the team signed that Donald or Ronald Rodriguez and an official announcment is coming before xmas (at least if its a rumour it expires soon)

[Bononi]

Whoever drives for them, it's helpless.

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by alonso11

Btw, Spanish newspaper AS claim that the team signed that Donald or Ronald Rodriguez and an official announcment is coming before xmas (at least if its a rumour it expires soon)

You mean Roldan Rodriguez?

[ralf fan]

He is so good that it is like having two drivers for the price of one.

[FPV GTHO]

Originally Posted by alonso11

Barichello's ex-team absolutely dominated the championship for years and did his "knowledge" and "experience" make Honda any faster? If anything, Honda used to be faster without him.

He showed up alot of their electrical systems to be completely pants. Systems that Button and Davidson had unknowingly driven around. That they used to be faster without him is debateable. Honda's management are perfectly capable of corrupting the team without any help from the drivers.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by alonso11

If you love racing but you arnt that well off, you buy a diecast model. If you are Schneider, Malaya or Mol, you buy a team. Live your childhood dream for a while, enjoy it, try to make some money out of it and then you just sell it.

Sad,but true.It must be breaking EJs heart to see what is happening to what was his once championship challenging team.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by martyn bott

Sad,but true.It must be breaking EJs heart to see what is happening to what was his once championship challenging team.

Not to mention their impressive sequence of wins !

[Red Bulldog]

Originally Posted by Gt_R

Fisichella's key attractiveness is not in his outright ability and speed, but rather influencing the work ethics and thinking due to the things he learnt from his Renault days.

And that experience and knowledge is what Force India needs to build up the foundations of the team.

He also seems to be better in a non-challenging car (ie Jordan)

[Kai]

That's the thing about Fisi though, he'll put in some good drives in sub-par cars, but once he's given something decent he just underperforms.

[JohnSSC]

But there you touch on it Kai!

Fisi is a headcase. Period. He can't handle expectations. The beauty part of him being in an under-performing car is that no one expects the car to show well. Therefore, any good result is met with happiness. Any bad result gets a shrug of the shoulders and a "Well, no one expects good results for this car." At no time will anyone be expecting consistent good results. If the finish is bad it is because the car is crap. If the finish is good, the driver is a genius.

When he was at Renault, he was in a good car and was expected to do well. With the pressure on and no room in the cockpit for a live-in psychiatrist he basically choked. Put him in the Jordan/Midland/Spyker/Force India car and he will likely drive the sucker like his arse is on fire and his head is catching...

[Bononi]

Born to be an underdog...

[Sultan]

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

But there you touch on it Kai!

Fisi is a headcase. Period. He can't handle expectations. The beauty part of him being in an under-performing car is that no one expects the car to show well. Therefore, any good result is met with happiness. Any bad result gets a shrug of the shoulders and a "Well, no one expects good results for this car." At no time will anyone be expecting consistent good results. If the finish is bad it is because the car is crap. If the finish is good, the driver is a genius.

When he was at Renault, he was in a good car and was expected to do well. With the pressure on and no room in the cockpit for a live-in psychiatrist he basically choked. Put him in the Jordan/Midland/Spyker/Force India car and he will likely drive the sucker like his arse is on fire and his head is catching...

I have to agree with you there - I've always been a fan of his but frankly, he totally under performed with Renault. It was in the dogs that he showed world class magic...

[Knowlesy]

I'm not so sure about that.

He had his good years in the "dogs". 1998 and 2001 for example. And he was truly sublime in the 2004 Sauber, in midfield.

But then there were other years. 2003 he was awful. 2002 he was non existant.

And let's not forget the 2007 Renault was hardly a car weighed down with expectation and hope of wins. That was pretty darned poor too. And where was Fisi? Left at the lights again.

I reckon he will show well in the Force India car if he goes there, better than he has done in about four seasons. But he could always turn in another 2003 at the same time, so let's not be so sure.

And, frankly, who cares.