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Maybe a buyer for HRT? But maybe not for 2013? Or for ever?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105319

Sounds like they want to do it on the cheap with an updated F112, which was an updated F111, which was an updated F110, which was an updated lump of feces.

I just don't want to see Canada embarrassed in auto racing. A lot of great Canadian things out there in racing:

Multimatic, which helped save Lola Cars

SpeedSource, suppliers of nearly every Mazda racing engine from LMP2 down to the spec series

The Villeneuves, one a legend and the other a World Champion whether you like that fact or not

Two classic circuits in Québec (Montréal and Mont-Tremblant) and another in Ontario (Mosport)

The defending DTM champion

The most passionate crowd at any NASCAR race in the history of the sport

Don't do them wrong, Scorpion!

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There were actually three Villeneuves...two by the same name, one the Uncle, one the Nephew...Jacques and Jacques...Uncle Jacques raced F5000's.

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OMFG!!! That's a winner!!!! Poor Seb and poor Nando! They don't have a chance against such helmet!!!

Man, they should just declare Kimi as the 2013 WDC and call it a day!

Awesome!!!

:P

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OMFG!!! That's a winner!!!! Poor Seb and poor Nando! They don't have a chance against such helmet!!!

Man, they should just declare Kimi as the 2013 WDC and call it a day!

Awesome!!!

tongue.png

Agreed then, let's write of 2013 and skip to next year

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Someone needs to shut this guy up. Ok, maybe he was right with certain comments about poor Markie, but the way he did it i dont agree with... I mean REALLY!!!

and now he's comments about Horner, how will the guy feel about someone else publicly revealing things about his contract

http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/440712/Horner_has_new_Red_Bull_deal_8216until_20178242_says_Marko/

FFS!!!!

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Kimi's helmet design is just wicked man!!!! as always!!! the nr 7 stands out nicely, reversed on the other side....

That's note a 7...it's just a red swish.....FFS :P

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Someone needs to shut this guy up. Ok, maybe he was right with certain comments about poor Markie, but the way he did it i dont agree with... I mean REALLY!!!

and now he's comments about Horner, how will the guy feel about someone else publicly revealing things about his contract

http://www.gptoday.c...242_says_Marko/

FFS!!!!

How is that any different to knowing a drivers contracted term?

Tis not like he has spelt out every nuance of the contract....

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How is that any different to knowing a drivers contracted term?

Tis not like he has spelt out every nuance of the contract....

I now read the team officially confirmed the contract... I thought Marko was being his old usual self and reveal things he really should'nt due to his nature....

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Luis Razia in at Marussia? Looks like the GP2 runner up will get a full time drive, whereas the winner, Valsechi, is stuck doing sim runs for Lotus. Sure Lotus is the bigger of the two teams, but ain't nothing better than being on the track.

Never warmed to Valsechi myself...alwyas appeared arrogant on the podiums, but then, hey, he might well be a lovely guy....

All the best to Razia if he actually does get confirmed for the drive.

And in future news....Mitch Evans takes over the number two seat at RBR when Webber retires....(I wish)...was actually watching him today in the Formula Toyota's at Hampton Downs (he was twice champion in this series in 09 and 10 before racing GP3)...was looking very tidy too...much better than the others out there, which includes 3 other Kiwi's and 9 overseas drivers, many of whom are hoping to get into GP3...but I digress...

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That's a lot of rookies. Gutiérrez, Bottas, van der Garde, Chilton, and Razia. Probably get Bianchi at Force India, too.

Outside of Bottas, none really interest me a ton, but it's too hard to predict how things play out in F1.

Besides, no one who was going to ever do anything that impressive (by combination of everything...face it, they are all among the world's best, even the absolute worst in F1, elevated so far beyond a normal person in racing, so to just say "well Glock was talented!" or whatever is pointless...circumstances, ability, results...some things are just in the right situation to work out and if they aren't, they weren't supposed to be, so there's no sense crying over what Kovalainen could have would have might have done...) is left without a ride here, so I guess having the next generation of drivers I don't notice is really no change for me. :P

I did want a better teammate at Caterham for Pic, though, for benchmarking purposes. I think he had a really solid year for Marussia. Not "wow this guy is the next Vettel" or anything, just "hey, this guy might make a dependable lower-end points scorer in the right team."

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Can't see either Marussia or Caterham making a lot of progress with those line-ups, particularly when Pic would be the most experienced. Heck, even having someone like Bruno Senna would have been a better option.

Nice to see Petrov's performance at Interlagos has been rewarded with a "Thanks, but c ya" attitude. But I guess that's the way F1 works sometimes.

I am sad to see Kovalainen and Glock go. The former was a race winner and a handy driver. Not the best, but not the worst either. Glock was starting to look very good at Toyota before they pulled the plug, and he had no other option other than to go where he did given all the uncertainty that surrounded the future of Renault at the time. If things had been slightly different, who knows where the pair of them might be by now? Not suggesting they were future champions, but certainly they were good enough to score solid points and win races. It is tough, but that is life.

None of them other than Bottas will excite me either. Gutierrez and Bianchi should be okay in time. Razia and van der Garde? Hard to see what they can do that the likes of Glock/Kovalainen/Trulli/Petrov couldn't. And Chilton? Hard for me to really justify his position in the team for numerous reasons. But best of luck to him. I have a feeling he'll need it.

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I'd wait and see on the Petrov/Caterham situation. Petrov could have been the one to walk away. Likewise, Caterham could have had a time limit on when they needed their drivers confirmed, and Petrov may have been holding out for the Force India seat too long to the point it necessitated going for van der Garde.

At the end of the day, Caterham aren't stupid. They know that P10 in the WCC pays around $48,000,000, and they know that Pic and van der Garde combined cannot offer that kind of funding. They must be confident in their 2013 program, or so unimpressed by Marussia's, that they think they can get P10 without Petrov. That's what they're racing for and the goal will never be to finish higher than that until the economics of it change. I am not convinced that Pic is worse than Petrov, and Kovalainen didn't really contribute a ton in 2012.

If these teams could be managed from the comfort of an Internet forum, all of us would be making pretty nice salaries right now. I trust that even the worst team has some idea what they're doing and has analyzed the best program.

Another angle: what's the best use of the $48,000,000 WCC money? Hiring Petrov, a mid-field driver at Lotus who hasn't scored a point with Caterham, or investing it in 2014, which presents a clean opportunity for them to finally make a jump in performance?

I only saved that to the end because I am not convinced the goal of Caterham, Marussia, and HRT was ever to improve. There's no incentive to if your goal is solely to run a profitable organization. The jump from P10 to P9 in prize money isn't massive, and I'm willing to bet the budget difference between P9 STR and P10 Caterham exceeds it. Now, not everyone's goal is to just profit on prize money; I think that became the goal of the bottom three when the hard budget cap was dropped.

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All those guys making it in to a race seat, makes you wonder what the point is in winning GP2...other than to guarnatee you can't ever race in GP2 ever again....

Seems to me, it's better to finish in P2 in GP2 so your options are open...try for an F1 seat, or at worst, do GP2 for another season. Win the thing and then not get picked up by an F1 team and you're left twiddling your thumbs on the sidelines, out of sight, out of mind.

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I never expected Calvin and Hobbes in the return of Silas Talbot, but I'm glad it happened. It's actually pretty fitting as we approach the season's start. That "because it's there," so far removed from most of our realities, only adds to F1's appeal. I've missed this bi-weekly exercise of going faster than everyone else just because.

So, welcome back to GPT (not to be confused with GTP or GMT, which are now DP and UTC, which shouldn't be confused with a female racing driver and a nasty infection).

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Came across this today. Spa, 1991. This is where Bob Varsha and David Hobbs called the race for ESPN. Talk about low-budget. :lol:

fkkw3Rz.jpg

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Some engine news that I've found quite interesting over recent days:

  • Toro Rosso will switch from Ferrari engines to Renault engines in 2014.
  • If Force India signs Bianchi, that will most likely pave a move to Ferrari engines for next year.
  • It is reported that Cosworth WILL NOT produce a 2014 engine.
  • There is a lot of speculation that Honda may be about to re-enter the sport as an engine supplier, either to McLaren or Sauber.

I hope the last part is true. I think F1 is in need of more engine manufacturers if Cosworth isn't around next year. It would be cool to see more teams running different motors - it'd certainly make 2014 very interesting if Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes were all using different engines.

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I still say that Macca will have Macca engines...maybe not next year, but before 2020. You don't develop an engine just for a road car if you're primary business is racing.

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Apparently Rory Byrne is confirmed as working on the 2014 Ferrari. I guess if you can't get Newey a guy like Byrne is perhaps the next best thing. I always got the impression he was sort of underrated as a designer yet surely he produced some exceptional cars through his career.

I'm looking forward already to Newey v Byrne in 2014.

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