Eddie Jordan threw Silly Season into
full swing by announcing he was privy to information relating to
Lewis Hamilton making a move to Mercedes. However this rumour alone
has not the only impacted Lewis Hamilton, McLaren & Mercedes but
it will form the lynch pin in the whole driver market.
Red Bull shrewdly moved earlier in the
season to resign Mark Webber for another season and with Sebastian
Vettel already on board until the end of 2014 the team can
concentrate on racing rather than PR.
Ferrari have Fernando Alonso
signed until 2016 further showing his status as number one driver
within the team. Meanwhile Felipe Massa's seat with Ferrari has been
in doubt all season, a recent climb in form may be enough to warrant
his seat for 2013 whilst Sergio Perez spends another season with
Sauber. Felipe struggled to come to terms with the F2012 and Pirelli
tyres at the start of the season and marked Monaco as a turning point
in the season claiming that he finally understood the setup required.
It could be no coincidence that Felipe's struggles could be down to
Ferrari's decision to run with Front Pull Rod Suspension, with
Fernando Alonso being the last driver to utilise it to his advantage
in his maiden year at Minardi.
McLaren are obviously at the
centre of a battle between themselves and Mercedes over procuring
Lewis Hamilton's services for 2013 and beyond. Lewis signed a
lucrative deal with McLaren just before the economic downturn and
it's understood that McLaren are no longer in a position to fund the
same or better deal. Further adding to his requirements are his
image rights and the relinquishing of any trophies the driver may
win. McLaren have a history of insisting on their drivers being
intrinsically linked to the sponsors that McLaren have onboard these
image rights alone can be worth many millions if carefully managed
and so XIX Entertainment will be fighting to release these from any
further contracts Lewis should sign.
Jenson Button meanwhile
has already been in this position last year and easily manoeuvred his
negotiations whilst also being put in the frame for Red Bull &
Ferrari seats. Although the team always give the impression that
they favour neither driver it could be argued over the last 2 seasons
their development path has been more favourable to Jenson. Could
this also be a catalyst in Lewis' thoughts about a switch to
Mercedes?
Much has already been
talked about the use of Mercedes global platform to catapult Lewis'
image to a larger audience but I personally feel that if the
negotiations are actually taking place he needs to decide if he is a
racer or a celebrity.
Mercedes have Nico
Rosberg signed for 2013 and beyond but with them courting both Michael
Schumacher for a contract extension and Lewis Hamilton to sign on for
the team could he be forced to leave the team? Using Rosberg as
leverage in a multi faceted driver and engine deal / compromise could
see the young German line up alongside Jenson Button for McLaren.
Rosberg's driving style is not dissimilar to Jenson's and so could
allow McLaren to focus their design process behind the MP4-28 solely
on their more conservative attributes.
The teams DDRS system
although innovative has failed to make a huge dent in a season that
has seen the teams closer than ever. Meanwhile they have been
lacklustre in terms of developing the WO3 and now with only 9 races
left of the season although mathematically still able to contest the
Championships really find themselves battling for 4th
place alongside Lotus and Sauber.
Michael Schumacher's
impact since his return to F1 in 2010 has been low key, however this
year has shown that the old dog still has some fight left in him.
Schumacher's best chance of further glory lies in the regulation
changes of 2014 at which point he will be 45. So can the German
convince the board in Stuttgart he can still bring them success or is
this why they are moving for Hamilton? I fear without Hamilton's
signature either in place of Nico or Michael the German Marque may
decide to cut their losses with their own team and re-focus their F1
aims at just being an engine manufacturer.
Lotus in my opinion
made a shrewd move when signing Kimi Raikonnen although he had been
out of the game for 2 years Kimi had remained competitive in 4 wheel
sport. The Finn brings a certain character style that neither
McLaren or Ferrari truly harnessed. Kimi's goals are not driven by
the celebrity limelight that some require but instead lets his racing
do the talking. He is signed with the team for 2013 that may be
forced to rename as their sponsorship deal with Group Lotus expires
at the end of the season. I have seen Kimi mentioned by McLaren fans
as someone to return to the team should Lewis move but personally I
cannot see that happening.
Romain Grosjean is
undoubtedly a talent having succeeded at varying levels of open wheel
racing however his F1 career is always under somewhat of a cloud.
Whether it's his first attempt at F1 with the Renault team after
Nelson Piquet Jnr was dismissed or his current drive with Lotus.
Boullier however is sticking by Romain and although his contract
expires at the end of the season I expect he'll remain with the team
for 2013.
Sauber are
a team on the up, typically Swiss they always seem to be the most
neutral of all the F1 teams. However behind close doors they work
away on relationships that allow them to keep a foothold in the
sport. The use of Sergio Perez who is part of the Ferrari Academy
allows the team to create a partnership with Ferrari who also supply
their engines, KERS and drivetrain. Notably Checo has been able to
use the Pirelli tyres to his advantage throughout 2012 bringing him
to the attention of some of the top teams. As part of the Ferrari
Academy Checo will undoubtedly have his career manipulated by the
Ferrari team whilst Checo joins a long line of drivers drawn into the
Hamilton to Mercedes battle as the Daily Mail today infer that
McLaren are interested in the Mexican. Meanwhile Ferrari
president Luca di Montezemolo has said that Checo is not yet ready to
join Ferrari and so the temptation of a top seat with McLaren could
test his mettle if offered a contract. The largest stumbling block I
forsee in a move for Checo to McLaren are his ties to Telmex.
Although Telmex are largely a South American concern any deals he
currently has with the brand would eliminate him McLaren's radars
due to their own involvement with Vodafone. As we can see from the
C31 the Mexican's sponsorship is displayed on virtually every corner
of the car (Telmex, Claro, Visit Mexico) with the Billionaire Russian
Abromovich fronting the rest with his Chelsea logo's.
For a team like
Sauber that relies heavily on funding from outside sources Checo must
remain a driver for the team to continue in F1.
Kamui
Kobayshi is a driver that will have warmed most people's hearts when
he burst onto the scene with Toyota at Interlagos in 2009. He
famously took on Jenson Button who needed to finish well at
Interlagos to secure the 2009 Championship. Although Kamui has
scored more points already this season than that of 2011, he has been
overshadowed by Checo and I'd imagine like many others is struggling
with the Pirelli rubber. Kamui is a solid driver and I see no reason
for him to be replaced unless the cash strapped Sauber outfit do
indeed lose Checo and need to balance the books with 2 sponsored
drivers rather than one.
Williams
acquired the services of the Venezulean driver Pastor Maldonado for
2011 and retained his services for 2012. I was recently at Williams
for the FOTA forum where Sir Frank Williams lauded his driver for his
dedication and skill set. I see no reason why Williams would want to
replace Pastor as he brings plenty of money to the team and
previously had success in GP2 with the Rapax Team.
Bruno Senna joined
Williams having previously had arduous seasons behind the wheel of
the HRT (2010) and replaced Nick Heidfeld for the end of the 2011
season for Renault. The Brazilian brings his own array of sponsors
to the table for Williams and although going almost unsung hasn't had
a dissimilar season to Pastor. Rumours are abound that he will be
replaced for next season, however unless a driver of much higher
talent or one that can bring much more money were to be available I
see no reason for him to depart.
Force India
have both of their drivers contracted for the 2013 season but have
already stated they won't stand in the way of either making moves to
higher teams. Both Di Resta and Hulkenberg have been linked with
Felipe Massa's Ferrari seat and as possible replacements should
Michael Schumacher decide to retire once more. Di Resta has more
recently been linked as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton at McLaren
should the latter make a switch to Mercedes. This may be fuelled by
Di Resta's new management who also looks after Jenson Button.
Toro Rosso
have already proven that their driver programme comes first when they
ejected both Sebastian Buemi and Jaime Alguesuari from the 2012
plans. The Red Bull brand use the Toro Rosso team as a platform to
find new talent for their senior team with Sebastian Vettel being the
benchmark. Daniel Ricciardo jumped the queue during 2011 by being
place with HRT in order to access his abilities in advance. With
neither Ricciardo or Vergne showing the type of pace that Vettel did
in his Toro Rosso days it will be a surprise to no-one if the team
start with a fresh line up next season. This will leave the current
drivers looking for drives in 2013.
Caterham
have had the services of Heikki Kovaleinen throughout their various
guises over the last 3 years. It does however seem that Heikki is
done with his share of trying to help the team elevate through the
grid and rumours have linked him to both Sauber and the seat
potentially being vacated by Lewis Hamilton. Heikki has already been
part of the McLaren team once in his career and so McLaren and/or
himself may be reluctant to revisit the partnership. Vitaly Petrov
found his way to a Caterham seat after a lacklustre performance for
the Renault team. I've heard rumour that some of his sponsors are
becoming disillusioned by his and Caterham's performances and may
withdraw their support at the end of the year. I personally never
understood why the Russian didn't find his way to a Marussia seat in
the first place but he looks destined for there should the rumours
hold firm.
Marussia
may well be a further force throughout 2013 with their technical
partnership with McLaren bearing fruit. The team have also announced
they will run KERS for the first time during 2013 which will give
them a much needed boost in order to chase the teams in front. Timo
Glock is the lynch pin in the Marussia team and is signed on a multi
year contract, however Charles Pic is rumoured to be unhappy and
reports have him linked to Caterham, Force India and Sauber for 2013 drives. Marussia could well place Max Chilton in the second seat in place of Pic (Thanks to @MarussiaF1Will for his fan perspective)
HRT the
team if they are wanting to progress surely need to recruit some
young talent in order to inject both life and money into the team.
However De La Rosa's Spanish connection and years of technical experience inside McLaren may well see him keep his
seat. Both Dani Clos and Ma Qing Hua have connections with the HRT team and could see their way to at least one of the seats. Meanwhile Antonio Liuzzi still has some connections to the team and could take up one of the seats again. (Thanks to @Lundo888 for an insight who is a HRT fan)
On the fringes –
There are plenty of drivers out there that still either warrant a
seat or warrant a shot at one but the most likely candidates would
be:
Adrian
Sutil – Was dispatched by the Force India team but has been touted
to be talking to quite a few teams including Ferrari and a return to
Force India
Jaime
Alguesuari – Toro Rosso driver for 09-11 and currently keeping
himself busy with the Pirelli test drivers role.
Karun
Chandhok – Ex HRT and test driver for Team Lotus in 11 Karun never
really had the opportunity to show the talent he may have.
Jerome
D'Ambrosio – Currently a reserve driver at Lotus and drove at Monza
in place of the banned Grosjean
Sebastien
Buemi – Currently a reserve driver for Red Bull Racing
Rubens
Barrichello – Still wants a seat in F1 and could prove an asset to
one of the younger teams.
Lewis
Hamilton holds the key to a driver market that will unravel when he
puts pen to paper and why shouldn't he hold all the cards? Afterall
he is a once in a generation driver who transcended the need to start
his F1 career at a lower tier team and won a title in his second year
(He should really have clinched the title in his maiden year too,
although we'll let him have that one)
You have to wonder if
his desire to win races and titles can be matched by the Mercedes
team. Their only win in 3 years came at a time when almost any team
from 7/8 could have won a race as they all battled over understanding
the Pirelli tyres.
Lewis' decision needs to be one made from the
heart of a racer and not one from the brain of a branding house.
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Thursday, February 14, 2013
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