A recent interview with Carlos Slim, backer of Sauber and the richest man in the world, does not bode well for Kobay..."And for us, we would not have our participation in formula one without a Mexican driver, so I think it is quite sure that for the first time next year, we will have two Mexican drivers in formula one for a full season,"

Now lets put this into perspective...Sauber has been grooming Gutierez and another, Frijns...both have been driving this week under the new driver program...and what were the results for these two?...mid pack and we all NO Gutierez was in the back when he took over for Perez when he had a cold in one of this years GP. So if Sauber decides to dump Kobay for either of these two drivers, probably Gutierez, the only real driver will B the Hulk...is this the best strategy to move up in the Constructors in 2013?...I think not...is it a good strategy to get Slim to continue to infuse $$$ into the team...yes. So here we have the same old theme again: $$ >> driver talent ...guys like Crashdenado and Senna only have seats due to their $$$ they bring along...in short, some teams R willing to sacrifice performance and standings by as much as 100% viz., Williams just so they can pay the bills...this means that they will underperform but also act as moving obstacles that may take out some of the drivers/teams that R in the hunt for the championship...sort of like adding a little demolition derby to the mix...is this the best receipt for the "pinnacle of motor racing"?...yes, it is true...I have said this before but it keeps "pulling me back in" (Godfather III).

All that said, Sauber could stick with Kobay if he gets some $$ but Japan is not doing so well these days...have to wait and C if he can survive... really to maintain in a midfield team which translates into FI.

Later, Ken

 

^ I have been saying this for awhile. Money wins over talent every time when it comes to a ride like Sauber. Kobay will probably be in one of the bottom 3 teams. Sadly, Kobay is running a close second to Grosjean when it comes to crashing, so this has hurt his chances to stay with the team. Kobay is a great person, maybe the very nicest person in F1. He has a winning smile and always puts maximum effort into his drives. However, he only a midfield driver at best. There is no way that he will ever be a Tier 1 driver.

 

^ i never thought Button as a Tier 1 driver either before he got into Brawn GP, then McLaren.

 

^Button is somewhat enigmatic. While saddled with that Honda dreams donkey, he did nothing. With Brawn, he was in the right place at the right time. Button has moments of brilliance, but I would not put him in the same category as Lewis, Fred and Seb and Kimi. The cream rises to the top as they say, so I am sure that if Kobay showed a lot of promise, the top teams would have been looking at him.

 

^ I am going to put away for later use the statment, :"There is no way that he [Kobay]will ever be a Tier 1 driver."...it may come in handy down the road.

Later, Ken

 

I didn't either... He faired much better against Lewis than I ever thought he would have. I'm sure pairing him with Hami forced him to up his game to a degree as well.



As far as Estaban getting the drive at Sauber, we all know its going to happen.

 

Yeah Ken, make sure to put that away for later use. Not sure how that will come in handy when he is driving either for HRT or in Indycar, but whatever.

 

Although I've been impressed with Maldonado I'd still put him second to Grosjean, Kobay hasn't had that many incidents this year, just the Korea one was pretty stupid.

 

^After looking at that incident in Korea many times, three cars were coming down into that turn, Nico on the outside, Kobay, in the middle, and Button on the inside...coming into the turn, Nico moved left towards the inside squeezing Kobay over to Button...he had nowhere to go and trying to give Nico room, hit Button...that is the way I saw it...I shall make a prediction: Kobay will not B driving for any of the bottom three teams...he may get a seat with FI and Sauber is not out of the question IF he gets some $$$...even Lotus if the powers that B C Grosjean as he is...out of it.

Later, Ken

 

Well, the FIA came down on both Vettel and Kimi for swearing and made a warning to all the teams., saying that "it shines unwelcome publicity on Formula 1". http://en.espnf1.com/fia/motorsport/story/94518.html

My prediction is that Grosjean will stay at Lotus. He is certainly faster than Kobay. Gutierrez I feel will go with Sauber, which will leave Kobay out in the cold, which would be too bad. There needs to be some Asian drivers in the sport as well as Americans. F1 can be a cruel sport and ruthless at times. Either you need super talent to keep a ride or a boatload of cash. It has been that way for 50 years.

 

I totally agree with this ....

I think this is the nail in the coffin for Kobay:

http://planetf1.com/driver/18227/823...ace-for-Sauber

And McLaren to remain with Mercedes, I guess that means no Honda:

http://planetf1.com/driver/18227/823...-with-Mercedes

 

That Slim article is something similar to what I read about a month ago. Slim has been working hard to promote Mexicans in racing, which is a good thing. If anyone here is old enough to remember the Rodriguez brothers, then it shows that Mexico can produce top level drivers.

The McLaren deal kind of surprised me. I really thought that they were going to Honda and perhaps, this might have been the impetus for Lewis leaving along with a host of other reasons. I wonder who will get the second Force India seat? I have been reading Jules Bianchi, but I wonder if FI might look at Kobay?

 

 

^ is that the new flex nose, since the flex wing was banned.

 

sad day indeed. would have been great to see my two favorite teams come together again.

at least its a first step for Honda to get back into F1.