^ It ain't over till the fat lady sings...

Later, Ken

 

I sure did Pete. I was echoing what you said, more or less to see Ken's blood pressure rise.

And for Ken, the fat lady has been on stage practicing her song. I believe she started when Krashi took out Button at Korea. Seems that Krashi and Grosjean are being mentioned as birds of a feather...

 

It's sad news for Kobay fans, hopefully he gets a little more sponsor money and a ride with another team. With Honda re-entering the F1 business, who knows ....

Honestly I'm shocked McLaren didn't get the Hulk as their driver instead of Perez. IMHO, after his 2010 pole performance @ Interlagos and his solid performance this year he really ought to be in a better team. IMHO, he's a better overall driver than Perez. Especially after how Perez has been performing in his recent races.

 

^I would agree with that. I think Nico is vastly underrated, I was sold on his abilities after that quali session as well.


Mallya said he's not ruling out a return of Sutil to fill that empty seat...

 

Please God no....

 

Hulkenberg signing with Sauber is really intriguing to me. Considering the relative parity between Sauber and Force India, then there isn't much point in switching teams based solely on performance potential, so it really makes me wonder what the story is at Force India. If I remember correctly, wasn't it Force India that they said last weekend was behind on paying their employees? Hard to imagine that they're in more financial trouble than any of the rest of the bottom half of the grid, but maybe so.

 

I totally agree. The move is a horizontal one, not vertical. Sauber and Force India are essentially the same in performance. I think signing the Hulk is a good move though as Sauber seems much better organized than Force India and their engineering staff seems slightly ahead. A lot of the F1 sites are saying this move also is aligning the Hulk with Ferrari for a possible seat in the future. Hard to say, but I would say the Hulk did the right thing.

 

Personally I would rather drive for Sauber than SFI. As far as it being a lateral move, seems like Sauber always starts off the year strong, then tends to fade. Where SFI maybe comes on a little stronger as the years progresses, at least this season seems to be that way.

 

Some points relative to Sauber situation: Perez goes to McLaren supposedly due to his superior driving relative to Kobay and Hulk acquired as supposedly a better driver...Now here R the facts as expressed by another:"A. Kobayashi out scored and out qualified Perez his first year by a mile

B. Kobayashi out qualified Perez so far this season, but given the inferior pit strategy, parts. (Why Sauber would sabotage success is beyond me, top tier teams that aren't Ferrari don't do that).

C. Kobayashi's podium matched RBR/Mclaren's pit stop strategy. No tire drop off gambling. Koba out raced a Mclaren without using 20s pit stop buffer.

By facts he is better than Perez. But X-Factor?

D. He was the only guy overtaking before the DRS every other race... while guys in those season had a hand full of on track overtakes."

Now to the Hulk: he is no better than Kobay...look to the points as of today...FI has the speed on the straits but not in the turns as does Sauber...so toss up as to cars. The only real benefit to his move is avoiding the financial collapse of Mallya...his other business ventures R not doing so well, to say the least...Kobay beware of this seat..it may be fleeting.

As far as Estban Gut. getting the remaining seat at Sauber, he would have already been signed if that decision had been made...his performance in India certainly did not do him any favors...behind Caterhams...I C him in 2014 and Friday Practices in 2013.

Clearly Kobay is better than Senna but Senna carrys $12mil with him...Japan is in the tank...no bucks coming from there as well as all the wet nurses that most drivers get like Smedley for Massa, Niki Lauda for Hami and Nigel Manssell for Vettel...Kobay has been completely on his own...there R many drivers on the grid today that have more bucks than talent...I mentioned one, there R many others. The sad truth is U need talent and bucks, lots of bucks, to B a driver in F1...no, no U say, look at Ferndo...just talent gets his seat...what do U think Santander is paying Ferrari for Alonso's ride? We, the fans, have to eat this situation because F1's script was crafted by Bernie since he holds the purse strings...change is needed so that the best drivers rise to the top, not on the basis of how much money than can get but on pure talent.

Later, Ken

 

^ I'll admit if Kamui gets booted out of Sauber I'll be disappointed, I'd agree with the statement that he's better than Perez, he just didn't get the luck this year

 

Ken was born at the wrong time. Fortunately, being 60 years old, I grew up when the cream rose to the top w/o the funding and glamour that there is today. IMO, Jim Clark was the best F1 driver ever. Certainly, he was a class act and a gentleman. He along with Graham Hill, Jack Brabham, Dan Gurney, Bruce McLaren, Jackie Stewart, Denis Hulme, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Fangio, Hawthorne and a host of others got into the rides they had due to talent and nothing more. Ken is basically longing for a time that will never happen again. This world is driven by money, power and fame. All professional sports have been that way for a long time. F1 is no different. It is what it is.

There have always been teams that have been better, either through better engineering or today, through a combination of money and talent. There will never be parity in F1, which in a way, is a good thing. I want the best teams to duke it out. I don't want a situation where an HRT is the same as Red Bull or Ferrari because that means those teams have had to dumb down their talent.

As for Krashbay, he has shown moments of brilliance in his career, but he is inconsistent. Saying that he is better than Senna or Perez means nothing as neither of them are world championship material. They are not on the same plane as Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton and Raikkonen. The one thing about Kobay is that he is a very likable guy. He seems to be genuinely a good person all around. I like him and his cheerful attitude. For that, I give him 5 stars. However, his talent is mid level at best. I wish him well and hope he can have a ride for next year, but given the change at Sauber with administration and Perez leaving, I think a fresh young driver with lots of money is someone that they are seriously looking at. Hint: Think someone with lots of Mexican backing from Carlos Slim.

 

^ I agree with this although as you stated the comparison with Perez isn't about world championship material, its pretty obvious that neither of them have that kind of talent. But in terms of number 2 driver material at a top team I really think Perez got a lot luckier than he should have this year. I mean if you told me at the start of the year that Perez would be in a McLaren next year I would've laughed. In my opinion it should've been Di Resta or the Hulk at McLaren next year and to be honest I think Ferrari was right in saying Perez isn't ready yet. I mean look at his performance in India... it was an embarrassment, looked like he just came out of GP2. I hate to say this but I think McLaren will be regretting this decision next year but I could be wrong.

And for Kobayashi to lose out at Sauber just due to financial backing reasons is absolutely ridiculous, that certain Mexican driver that your talking about was slower than the Caterhams, its too soon for him, he needs more practice in the car. I think Saubers best bet is Kamui and the Hulk next year.

Also Bottas needs to replace Senna at Williams ASAP, Bruno sucks unfortunately

 

^ I concur. Perez will be a good #2 to Button, but I don't see that spark of greatness that Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso have. And the Hulk may have been a better choice than Perez, but McLaren seems to feel Perez is the better choice.

There may be a "Slim" chance [pun intended] that Kobay may stay at Sauber, but given the vast amount of money that the Mexican telecommunications magnate has and seeing how he wants to promote Mexicans in F1, it would seem that Gutierrez will get that ride. I do agree that Kobay would perform better, but life is not fair and F1 is a perfect example of money talking.

As for qualifying today, Lewis was really on form today. Kind of surprised to see Webber outqualify Vettel, but at least Fred is back in 7th spot. Don't know if everyone caught it about how Ferrari was able to circumvent the rules via the stewards over the curfew rules, whatever that means. Should be a great race tomorrow.

 

I'm just happy to see Vettel not on pole. I'd like to see this championship go right down to Brazil.

 

Yeah I 100% agree, Perez is no Hamilton, Alonso, or Vettel and honestly I think McLaren is going to have a bit of trouble next year. I mean Button isn't any Hamilton either, sure he can pull off a few great results but the chances of him being another championship contender is very slim unless he gets the perfect car, and Perez certainly isn't anywhere near that level either. McLaren is without a top driver now, I think Hulkenburg could have potentially fulfilled that role but oh well.

The problems is that after India I can just see Gutierrez languishing at the back of the pack next year if he gets the drive. Just a shame to see a decent talent get kicked out for money.

I think you get four allowances for breaking the curfew and that was Ferrari's first one of the season.

Me too but Alonso is all the way down in 7th, the chances of him charging through the field at Abu Dhabi are almost impossible, remember 2010? But then again it is Alonso so I'm sure he'll try everything he can to get ahead. I'd love to see an on track battle between him and Seb