GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => F1 Drivers => Topic started by: Scott on November 19, 2017, 02:10:22 PM
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Basically, there are three. The two Sauber seats, which nobody really cares about anyway (I weep when I admit this), and the one remaining Williams seat.
Stroll is confirmed for one, but there are 4 rumoured drivers waiting to hear about the other seat - Kubica, DiResta, Kvyat and Wehrlein. I would choose Wehrlein, but is he old enough to satisfy Martini?
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I'd pick Massa so he could have his annual
going away race in Brazil next year
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Today reports are swirling that Kubica has inked a 2yr deal with Williams, but Williams are denying it. Something strange...
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Basically, there are three. The two Sauber seats, which nobody really cares about anyway (I weep when I admit this), and the one remaining Williams seat.
Stroll is confirmed for one, but there are 4 rumoured drivers waiting to hear about the other seat - Kubica, DiResta, Kvyat and Wehrlein. I would choose Wehrlein, but is he old enough to satisfy Martini?
Now that Sauber is mandated to use modern engines, they should be more competitive, a great place for a young driver to put in a surprise performance.
And if Sauber does want to go retro, they can sign a slew of drivers and let the courts settle it again.
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My feeling is that Kubica has satisfied most in the Williams team with his better times in tests than Di Resta or young Sirotkin and the marketing side know Robert is a much better bet than any others. However someone is not happy with the deal on the table, either team or driver wants a different deal - e.g. 1 or 2 year deal.
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...someone is not happy with the deal on the table, either team or driver wants a different deal - e.g. 1 or 2 year deal.
That makes sense...perhaps Williams offered a 1yr deal (more sensible considering so many unknowns with Kubica), and his management leaked the 2yr deal story to pressure them to extend. Problem is, if they p*ss off Williams, I am bet they will pass on him.
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...someone is not happy with the deal on the table, either team or driver wants a different deal - e.g. 1 or 2 year deal.
That makes sense...perhaps Williams offered a 1yr deal (more sensible considering so many unknowns with Kubica), and his management leaked the 2yr deal story to pressure them to extend. Problem is, if they p*ss off Williams, I am bet they will pass on him.
That's true, if there's one team with a history of treating their drivers like 'just another interchangeable part of the team', it's Williams. I know that F1 is a star driven sport, but I also think that a few drivers would do well to remember they're a replaceable commodity. (I think Kimi's deep understanding of that is part of his allure)
I would like to see Kubica back in the sport, and I can see why he'd want a 2 year term, but also with seats opening up next year, maybe Kubica is the one who wants flexibility (no slight intended): if he has a great year at a mediocre team, surely he can move on to a better team.
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Last I heard, there was an insurance issue - Robert got a payout, a quite substantial one, when he crashed - because it was assumed by the insurer he'd never return to F1, no matter how good the rehabilitation work was. (I will leave it to you to decide whether Robert's insurer had done due diligence on him...). Other series just don't pay so highly, so while he was competing in WRC, sportscars and whatever else crossed his path, this was no problem.
Obviously, going to Williams would entail rejoining F1. Which means someone, somewhere, must pay that insurance payout back. Robert may not be able to do this, or at least not immediately, as he spent the money on rehabilitation and competing in WRC (including his own team). As a result, there were/are negotiations in place for whether Williams would pay it instead (and how much less generous the contract would be needed to make that work - Williams aren't the wealthiest team in F1). It's possible that a provisional agreement may be signed, but if so it is conditional on the insurer arrangement being settled. Which would, for once, mean both sides are telling the truth.
Of course, Jeri's theory works just fine in this context too - Robert would not want to pass up the opportunity for a title if someone had the right opening at the right time, and Williams isn't ready for that yet.
di Resta is being kept as an alternative in case Kubica doesn't work out from a financial perspective (and also to prevent Kubica's negotiating team from demanding too much...). Also, it's useful for him to be around in case some other surprise problem occurs, because for a calm, uncluttered bloke, Robert never seems far away from drama. Sirotkin, I suspect, is auditioning for a reserve role, but might get the race role if for some reason both Kubica and di Resta mess up their auditions/negotiations (I doubt di Resta will). Any additional pressure this yields is, of course, right up Williams' street.
That Kyvat is not being invited to the test makes me think he's somehow managed to do something to rule himself out of the seat. I hope that's because he's already figured out where he's going and it's not there (if it was there, Williams wouldn't bother doing a "shootout" for a race seat that didn't involve him).
Sauber does interest me, largely because I think my new favourite upcomer Charles Leclerc is getting one of the seats. If Sauber is smart, it will resist pressure from Ferrari to have two rookies, keeping Marcus Ericsson in the other seat. Yes, Antonio Giovanazzi is almost certainly faster than Marcus. However, Marcus knows the Sauber inside out and can make sure the development doesn't wander too far off-course while Charles goes chasing after those points. (It's sad that Antonio doesn't get a race seat in this scenario, but I think one extra year in development will do him a lot of good, and there will be more seats available at the end of 2018).
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That makes much more sense. Thanks for the clarification Ali.
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It looks like Kubica is also waiting for his FIA medical clearance:
http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/robert-kubica-still-needs-fia-clearance-prior-f1-return
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It looks like Kubica is also waiting for his FIA medical clearance:
http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/robert-kubica-still-needs-fia-clearance-prior-f1-return
Technically, full-season medical clearance cannot be granted by the FIA until the formal 2018 Superlicence application is made (the criteria are less strict for tests, and since Robert wasn't doing a race in 2017, there was no point in asking for the full medical - especially as that would have made Williams look over-keen and possibly resulted in a more expensive eventual contract). So it is not surprising that formal medical clearance is required for 2018 to work. That's another good reason to keep di Resta and Sirotkin testing ;)