2014 Silly Season Thread

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 22 Nov 2013, 15:41

...but that means we need a Norwegian driver, and the only one I can think of is Pål Varhaug...

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 23 Nov 2013, 03:57

dinizintheoven wrote:...but that means we need a Norwegian driver, and the only one I can think of is Pål Varhaug...

Are there actually any Icelandic drivers out there? It's not really Scandinavia, but they speak Scandinavish, which is a word that i just made up.

Post by **tommykl** » 23 Nov 2013, 07:24

This wrote:
dinizintheoven wrote:...but that means we need a Norwegian driver, and the only one I can think of is Pål Varhaug...

Are there actually any Icelandic drivers out there? It's not really Scandinavia, but they speak Scandinavish, which is a word that i just made up.

Kristjan Einar and Viktor Jensen were Icelandic (though the latter was more of a Brit), but they haven't raced in a few years...

Post by **mario** » 23 Nov 2013, 14:15

On the topic of Magnussen, Whitmarsh has now said that McLaren weren't initially planning on hiring Magnussen themselves - he's now stated that he had agreed a deal with another team for Magnussen to drive for them, having spoken directly to the team principle, only for the other team to withdraw from the agreement.

It seems that McLaren only decided to then take a chance on Magnussen themselves after that rejection - if that is the case, then that might explain why the team were initially telling Perez that they intended to renew his contract for 2014 (Massa has claimed that, when he spoke to McLaren, that he was told that there were no seats available as Perez's contract would be renewed) until almost the last minute.
It also begins to make it look as if perhaps the decision to replace Perez with Magnussen was not quite as clear cut if that wasn't McLaren's original favoured option - it's also interesting to wonder which other team it was that rejected McLaren's overtures. http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/11/23/r ... whitmarsh/

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 23 Nov 2013, 14:23

mario wrote:On the topic of Magnussen, Whitmarsh has now said that McLaren weren't initially planning on hiring Magnussen themselves - he's now stated that he had agreed a deal with another team for Magnussen to drive for them, having spoken directly to the team principle, only for the other team to withdraw from the agreement.

It seems that McLaren only decided to then take a chance on Magnussen themselves after that rejection - if that is the case, then that might explain why the team were initially telling Perez that they intended to renew his contract for 2014 (Massa has claimed that, when he spoke to McLaren, that he was told that there were no seats available as Perez's contract would be renewed) until almost the last minute.
It also begins to make it look as if perhaps the decision to replace Perez with Magnussen was not quite as clear cut if that wasn't McLaren's original favoured option - it's also interesting to wonder which other team it was that rejected McLaren's overtures. http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/11/23/r ... whitmarsh/

My guess would be Force India.

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 23 Nov 2013, 15:29

EJ Believes Di Resta and Sutil are candidates for Sauber now and Sirotkin will be number 3 there.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 23 Nov 2013, 15:39

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:EJ Believes Di Resta and Sutil are candidates for Sauber now and Sirotkin will be number 3 there.

If this comes towards fruition then this can only mean Perez and Maldonado partnering up at FI, looks like they are going the sponsorship route. Sutil is a very decent driver, and Di Resta has his days. I can't fault Sauber for picking them up either. Also, putting Sirotkin as 3rd driver isn't a bad idea either, he's just wayyy to young to have a full-time F1 seat. He may be a superstar, he may not. Give him some more time in FP1, and he'll get more experience in an F1 car. From the looks of things, it sounds like he only got one run in an F1 car thus far, and I think it was a 2011 Sauber.

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 23 Nov 2013, 15:41

Aerospeed wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:EJ Believes Di Resta and Sutil are candidates for Sauber now and Sirotkin will be number 3 there.

If this comes towards fruition then this can only mean Perez and Maldonado partnering up at FI, looks like they are going the sponsorship route. Sutil is a very decent driver, and Di Resta has his days. I can't fault Sauber for picking them up either. Also, putting Sirotkin as 3rd driver isn't a bad idea either, he's just wayyy to young to have a full-time F1 seat. He may be a superstar, he may not. Give him some more time in FP1, and he'll get more experience in an F1 car. From the looks of things, it sounds like he only got one run in an F1 car thus far, and I think it was a 2011 Sauber.

Here's the full predictions he's made on BBC right now and he says that it will be between Di Resta and Gutierrez as well

Eddie Jordan has made some predictions about who will fill the remaining vacant seats. The former team boss believes Pastor Maldonado will head to Lotus, alongside Romain Grosjean, with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez teaming up in an all-new line up at Force India.

Jordan tips Adrian Sutil to team up with Esteban Gutierrez at Sauber, with Max Chilton keeping his seat at Marussia. Over at Caterham, he believes Giedo van der Garde will stay, with Swedish GP2 driver Marcus Ericsson making the step up. That leaves Paul Di Resta and Heikki Kovalainen without a seat.

Marco · Post by **Marco** » 23 Nov 2013, 16:55

Sutil confirmed in German TV he has a contract for 2014, but didn't say with which team, yet.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 23 Nov 2013, 20:49

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Eddie Jordan has made some predictions about who will fill the remaining vacant seats. The former team boss believes Pastor Maldonado will head to Lotus, alongside Romain Grosjean, with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez teaming up in an all-new line up at Force India.

Jordan tips Adrian Sutil to team up with Esteban Gutierrez at Sauber, with Max Chilton keeping his seat at Marussia. Over at Caterham, he believes Giedo van der Garde will stay, with Swedish GP2 driver Marcus Ericsson making the step up. That leaves Paul Di Resta and Heikki Kovalainen without a seat.

Jordan still has his touch on the silly season happenings, so this might have truth in it. After all, he did predict the Hamilton to Mercedes move as well last year.

- Maldonado to Lotus: in my opinion, he needs to get his head out of the cash bag first and learn how to teamwork. If this happens, he'll be a number 2 in no time, if RoGro keeps his superb performance up.
- Force India: now that'd be a truly impressive line-up, and also it would point up who's capable of getting a top drive. An excellent intra-team battle bound to happen.
- Sauber: I cannot really agree with EJ. Gutierrez was pretty much deadbeat all year to Hulk, and even if it was because Nico's talent, he still felt like out of league many times. Sutil however might feel a little alienated in the start - spending 7 years at the same team will need time to get through, but Sauber's relation to German drivers (M. Schumacher in sports cars, then Wendlinger, Frentzen, Heidfeld, Hülk) could make it work.

Post by **mario** » 23 Nov 2013, 21:49

Shizuka wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Eddie Jordan has made some predictions about who will fill the remaining vacant seats. The former team boss believes Pastor Maldonado will head to Lotus, alongside Romain Grosjean, with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez teaming up in an all-new line up at Force India.

Jordan tips Adrian Sutil to team up with Esteban Gutierrez at Sauber, with Max Chilton keeping his seat at Marussia. Over at Caterham, he believes Giedo van der Garde will stay, with Swedish GP2 driver Marcus Ericsson making the step up. That leaves Paul Di Resta and Heikki Kovalainen without a seat.

Jordan still has his touch on the silly season happenings, so this might have truth in it. After all, he did predict the Hamilton to Mercedes move as well last year.

- Maldonado to Lotus: in my opinion, he needs to get his head out of the cash bag first and learn how to teamwork. If this happens, he'll be a number 2 in no time, if RoGro keeps his superb performance up.
- Force India: now that'd be a truly impressive line-up, and also it would point up who's capable of getting a top drive. An excellent intra-team battle bound to happen.
- Sauber: I cannot really agree with EJ. Gutierrez was pretty much deadbeat all year to Hulk, and even if it was because Nico's talent, he still felt like out of league many times. Sutil however might feel a little alienated in the start - spending 7 years at the same team will need time to get through, but Sauber's relation to German drivers (M. Schumacher in sports cars, then Wendlinger, Frentzen, Heidfeld, Hülk) could make it work.

Looking at those predictions, I do feel that there is a certain logic to what EJ is suggesting will happen - Lotus have certainly spoken to Maldonado and may find that a deal with him is their best option right now in terms of their finances, and Hulkenberg has signalled that he is prepared to take up other offers elsewhere if the long promised deal with Quantum continues being delayed forever.

Now, Force India are rumoured to have approached Hulkenberg whilst we know that Whitmarsh has supposedly lobbied Mallya on behalf of Perez, so I can see that line up potentially going ahead. As for Sauber, it does seem as if the talk surrounding Sirotkin has died down a little - that might give Gutierrez a slim chance of staying on if he can maintain his backing from the Slim family, though we'll have to wait and see what happens.
As for Sutil and di Resta, Sutil might have a better chance of staying on in the sport because, unlike di Resta, Sutil can provide a small amount of funding from personal sponsorship. It might just be enough to be the deciding difference if he is targeting Sauber - di Resta may, arguably, have been the more competitive driver, but with the team struggling for finance they will probably need all the cash they can get.

Zetec · Post by **Zetec** » 24 Nov 2013, 01:24

Well, the headlines in swiss-newspaper: Hülkenberg has signed a 1-year contract with ForceIndia. Let's see, if it turns out true.

Maldonado and his father on the other hand have been seen at the Sauber hospitality. Sauber wants to announce their drivers next week.

fjackdaw · Post by **fjackdaw** » 24 Nov 2013, 01:37

So rumours would currently have the grid as:

RED BULL
Vettel
Ricciardo

FERRARI
Raikkonen
Alonso

McLAREN
Button
Magnussen

MERCEDES
Hamilton
Rosberg

LOTUS
Grosjean
Maldonado

WILLIAMS
Bottas
Massa

FORCE INDIA
Hulkenberg
Perez

SAUBER
Sutil
Gutierrez

TORO ROSSO
Verne
Kvyat

CATERHAM
Van Der Garde
Eriksson

MARUSSIA
Bianchi?
Chilton?

Sublime_FA11C · Post by **Sublime_FA11C** » 24 Nov 2013, 06:28

This changes day by day but currently it seems:

Force India
Sutil
Hulkenberg (FI made noises about it being a 2 year deal or none at all, but that may have changed since)

Sauber
Perez
?
Sirotkin as 3rd or reserve or whatever.

Lotus
RoGro
Maldonado

Caterham and Marussia will probably wait until the very last minute to confirm, and maybe nab someone at the last moment. It's possible VdG and Chilton will be kept. No idea where that leaves Pic. Di Resta is probably on his way out, and Gutierrez could drive for Caterham or Marussia if he stays in F1 at all.

If by some miracle Hulkenberg joins Lotus, Maldonado is likely to head to Sauber, with Perez maybe??? moving to FI.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 24 Nov 2013, 07:19

Bianchi will stay with Marussia. So he's safe.

Shadaza · Post by **Shadaza** » 24 Nov 2013, 12:12

Shizuka wrote:Bianchi will stay with Marussia. So he's safe.

Well as safe as anyone can be at Marussia, just ask Luiz Razia.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 24 Nov 2013, 12:45

Ferrari wouldn't be supporting his departure then. Remember, they use Ferrari units for next year, and having Bianchi with them will result in a discount. They need money too after all.
However, you're right. Ferrari could somehow put him in a Sauber, if Marussia needs money that much - although the other drivers in for the Sauber ride will have a word about that too.

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 24 Nov 2013, 17:39

AMuS have said that Chilton has ponied up the money for his seat in 2014.

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 25 Nov 2013, 23:41

Backmarker wrote:AMuS have said that Chilton has ponied up the money for his seat in 2014.

He's an affordable driver, as he has shown consistency in finishing a race this year, even if slower than some teams would like (barring ChiltonCraze and Bad F1 Stats). I believe he should stay another year at Marussia, now that his money along with the prize money that comes later will boost Marussia greatly. Hopefully. It never worked for Tony Fernandez, did it?

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 26 Nov 2013, 04:48

go_Rubens wrote:
Backmarker wrote:AMuS have said that Chilton has ponied up the money for his seat in 2014.

He's an affordable driver, as he has shown consistency in finishing a race this year, even if slower than some teams would like (barring ChiltonCraze and Bad F1 Stats). I believe he should stay another year at Marussia, now that his money along with the prize money that comes later will boost Marussia greatly. Hopefully. It never worked for Tony Fernandez, did it?

Marussia need a bit of consistency with their drivers, they've never kept the same two drivers for more than one season iirc and now they've finally taken 10th place, it'll be interesting to see if they can use it to their advantage, much like Lotus/Caterham didn't.

Meanwhile, Caterham have been the first team to deliver their preliminary 2014 chassis to the FIA for crash-testing, so they're not exactly falling behind either. a GVDG-Ericsson line-up sounds pretty promising too.

Post by **mario** » 27 Nov 2013, 20:42

Shizuka wrote:Ferrari wouldn't be supporting his departure then. Remember, they use Ferrari units for next year, and having Bianchi with them will result in a discount. They need money too after all.
However, you're right. Ferrari could somehow put him in a Sauber, if Marussia needs money that much - although the other drivers in for the Sauber ride will have a word about that too.

Exactly - I think that it is far more likely that Bianchi would want out of Marussia rather than Marussia letting him go in favour of another driver. The benefit of having a competitive driver with technical support from Ferrari is probably attractive enough, given their battle with Caterham, to go for a more talented driver and hope he can secure 10th place in the WCC again in 2014 - it's posited that they earned an extra $14 million this season for finishing in 10th, but finishing in that position next season could secure them closer to $30 million (because the split of the prize money is higher for Column 1 teams - i.e. teams that have spent two of the past three years in the top 10 in the WCC).

As for Sauber, Adam Cooper is another journalist who is fairly convinced that Sutil will be ending up there for 2014 - he is reporting that Hulkenberg is signing for Force India after Sauber made it clear that they would not keep him on for 2014, whilst he also seems convinced that Maldonado has agreed to join Lotus for 2014 (hence why that option would appear to be closed to Hulkenberg). http://adamcooperf1.com/2013/11/27/hulk ... -him-down/

Post by **kevinbotz** » 28 Nov 2013, 00:41

It's (essentially) official: Ross Brawn's departure from Mercedes imminent.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111641

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 28 Nov 2013, 03:00

No Marussia?

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 24786.html

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 28 Nov 2013, 03:08

Dj_bereta wrote:No Marussia?

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 24786.html

Translated from Google Translate from German, with logic in brackets

Marussia is looking for a partnership with another team. First, they wanted to buy Toto Wolff's shares at Williams. This is failed. Now the Russians have apparently clean in his sights. Are there in 2014 only 10 teams in Formula 1?

The Formula 1 (team) is not doing well. Until now, the bad news kept coming by Lotus and Sauber. Now it has apparently also caught Marussia. Although the team of the Russian sports car manufacturer will be debt free, but with a budget of 76 million euros, the team from Banbury in the last position of the table.

Marussia F1 chief seeks new team
Chief Andrei Cheglakov has reportedly fed up after a chance down (the order in) the field and needing to dig deep into their own pockets. But he wants to stay in Formula 1.
Therefore, he has tried (to buy some of) the shares of Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff at Williams. That's around 15 percent. Bernie Ecclestone is said to have endorsed the deal, but Claire Williams has apparently rejected the deal. Williams wants to remain independent.

Marussia consoles himself with Sauber?
Now new rumors emerge. Marussia joins forces with Sauber. Sauber is looking for some time for sponsors and partners on the Russian market. Until now, however, (they are) not yet (able to) come to substantial sponsor statements.
Marussia could be an interesting partner for Sauber. The Russian sports car manufacturer has contributed to his team of around 40 million euros from its own funds. The question would be, however, that drivers would then sit in the Sauber. Jules Bianchi is set at Marussia by contract. And Max Chilton is twelve million euros at the door.

My opinion on this? If they say that the team is if Marussia is debt-free, then this is good news. Chilton's apparent 12 million euros will be even better for them, and it will give some stability from the team as well. Plus, they are not at the bottom of the standings as the article states. Remember, they have the 10th place constructors' money. I think their situation is much better than Caterham. I'm looking forward to seeing what Marussia can do with this newfound confidence.

kevinbotz wrote:It's (essentially) official: Ross Brawn's departure from Mercedes imminent.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111641

Hmm, not that the article itself throws in words that are meant to confuse people (it is Autosport after all) but this reminded me from an article made by somebody who didn't really know what they were doing. I made up a little anecdote exaggerating that.

"Apparently, the team reportedly released a statement today that allegedly states that the status of their boss is provisionally questionable. The boss is suspected to leave the team after what many say is personally motivated and not hypothetically due to internal feuds, but these claims are dubious for an indefinite amount of time, and is debatable."

Post by **Londoner** » 28 Nov 2013, 15:52

Mr Gutierrez believes he belongs in F1, on the basis of his "late-season form".

Now I'm sorry, but he's had a grand total of TWO half-decent races in his debut season, at Barcelona and Suzuka. The rest of the time he's mostly been slow, getting himself knocked out in Q1 on a regular basis, or demonstrating poor racecraft (the amount of times he's been caught weaving when defending, and the races at China and Bahrain which need no explanation). Quite frankly, I think he needed another season in GP2.

andrew2209 · Post by **andrew2209** » 28 Nov 2013, 17:09

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111650

F1 teams want drivers to have permament numbers now.

In my opinion, if the world champion always has #1, then I'm not too worried about the idea, especially if numbers such as Ferrari #27 could be brought back.

fjackdaw · Post by **fjackdaw** » 28 Nov 2013, 17:30

East Londoner wrote:Mr Gutierrez believes he belongs in F1, on the basis of his "late-season form".

Now I'm sorry, but he's had a grand total of TWO half-decent races in his debut season, at Barcelona and Suzuka. The rest of the time he's mostly been slow, getting himself knocked out in Q1 on a regular basis, or demonstrating poor racecraft (the amount of times he's been caught weaving when defending, and the races at China and Bahrain which need no explanation). Quite frankly, I think he needed another season in GP2.

As Grosjean has shown, I think everyone needs a minimum of at least a year to really get to grips with things. There are some super talents straight out of the box, of course, like Vettel and Hamilton, but others need time to mature, and it's a sad precedent to have a high turnover of rookies just because they don't nail it in the first year.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 28 Nov 2013, 17:55

fjackdaw wrote:
East Londoner wrote:Mr Gutierrez believes he belongs in F1, on the basis of his "late-season form".

Now I'm sorry, but he's had a grand total of TWO half-decent races in his debut season, at Barcelona and Suzuka. The rest of the time he's mostly been slow, getting himself knocked out in Q1 on a regular basis, or demonstrating poor racecraft (the amount of times he's been caught weaving when defending, and the races at China and Bahrain which need no explanation). Quite frankly, I think he needed another season in GP2.

As Grosjean has shown, I think everyone needs a minimum of at least a year to really get to grips with things. There are some super talents straight out of the box, of course, like Vettel and Hamilton, but others need time to mature, and it's a sad precedent to have a high turnover of rookies just because they don't nail it in the first year.

While I understand your point, the fact is that Gutierrez has done very very little to justify his place. Grosjean had several strong runs which marked him out as one to watch, not just a single race.

watka · Post by **watka** » 28 Nov 2013, 22:42

andrew2209 wrote:http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111650

F1 teams want drivers to have permament numbers now.

In my opinion, if the world champion always has #1, then I'm not too worried about the idea, especially if numbers such as Ferrari #27 could be brought back.

This would be cool, aside from that I can see Vettel incorporating his finger gesture into his #1 logo.

James1978 · Post by **James1978** » 28 Nov 2013, 23:13

Trying to think of what numbers I would allocate if they started this again:

1/2: Red Bull
3/4: Mercedes (formerly Tyrrell)
5/6: Williams
7/8: McLaren
11/12: Lotus (I'd rather give them Colin Chapman Lotus' numbers rather than Benetton's)
14/15: Force India
23/24: Toro Rosso
27/28: Ferrari
29/30: Sauber

Give Caterham and Marussia random unassigned numbers, maybe 9/10 and 16/17. Don't suppose Arrows will ever come back to take their 9/10!! Or Ligier for 25/26 for that matter!

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 29 Nov 2013, 00:23

James1978 wrote:Trying to think of what numbers I would allocate if they started this again:

1/2: Red Bull
3/4: Mercedes (formerly Tyrrell)
5/6: Williams
7/8: McLaren
11/12: Lotus (I'd rather give them Colin Chapman Lotus' numbers rather than Benetton's)
14/15: Force India
23/24: Toro Rosso
27/28: Ferrari
29/30: Sauber

Give Caterham and Marussia random unassigned numbers, maybe 9/10 and 16/17. Don't suppose Arrows will ever come back to take their 9/10!! Or Ligier for 25/26 for that matter!

1/2: Red Bull (Assuming VETTELWINSLOL continues)
3/4: Mercedes
5/6: Williams
7/8: McLaren (Only fixed numbers I remember them having other than 1/2, and 27/28 that one season)
11/12: Marussia (Nick Wirth links with Simtek)
14/15: Force India
17/18: Caterham (Fondmetal Team Malaysia, since Fondmetal were Osella and Osella used these numbers in 1989)
19/20: Lotus (Benetton)
23/24: Toro Rosso
27/28: Ferrari
29/30: Sauber

If HRT were still around, i'd assign them 21/22, purely because of their links to Dallara.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 29 Nov 2013, 03:03

andrew2209 wrote:http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111650

F1 teams want drivers to have permament numbers now.

In my opinion, if the world champion always has #1, then I'm not too worried about the idea, especially if numbers such as Ferrari #27 could be brought back.

*fangirl squee*

This is proof that F1 teams read this forum -- I've been campaigning for this a lot recently.

Non-Autosport link to the same article: http://www.racer.com/f1-teams-pushing-f ... le/323010/

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 29 Nov 2013, 03:53

Cynon wrote:
andrew2209 wrote:http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111650

F1 teams want drivers to have permament numbers now.

In my opinion, if the world champion always has #1, then I'm not too worried about the idea, especially if numbers such as Ferrari #27 could be brought back.

*fangirl squee*

This is proof that F1 teams read this forum -- I've been campaigning for this a lot recently.

Non-Autosport link to the same article: http://www.racer.com/f1-teams-pushing-f ... le/323010/

If this holds true, I'd rather have the teams have their own numbers than have drivers have their own numbers. It just makes having less driver conflict over what number they want.

I'm curious as to how F1 adopted their current numbering system that they use now. Is it to avoid having to renumber the cars every now and then?

(I'm also curious if McLaren is pushing this to avoid having the shame of wearing the #10 for fifth place in the WCC :lol:

)

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 29 Nov 2013, 08:00

Could we see Sony McLaren Mercedes in 2014, as a lead-up to more Japanese yen by Honda?

PT8475 · Post by **PT8475** » 29 Nov 2013, 09:30

Shizuka wrote:

Could we see Sony McLaren Mercedes in 2014, as a lead-up to more Japanese yen by Honda?

Looks much nicer than the vulgar red they've had on since 2006...

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 29 Nov 2013, 09:47

Shizuka wrote:
Could we see Sony McLaren Mercedes in 2014, as a lead-up to more Japanese yen by Honda?

Hey, that'd be nice

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 29 Nov 2013, 09:53

Shizuka wrote:Could we see Sony McLaren Mercedes in 2014, as a lead-up to more Japanese yen by Honda?

Playstation sponsorship like Prost had?

I was under the impression that Gilette or Samsung were the more likely title sponsors.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 29 Nov 2013, 10:30

andrew2209 wrote:http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111650

F1 teams want drivers to have permament numbers now.

In my opinion, if the world champion always has #1, then I'm not too worried about the idea, especially if numbers such as Ferrari #27 could be brought back.

This is like people discussing who keeps the penny found behind the couch when the house is on fire.

It is a ridiculous discussion to have when F1 has so many other issues to solve including the prospect of some teams closing down. My point is easily explained because I don't think it really works on F1. Sure, Ferrari had 27 which began to be used in the second to last Gilles Villeneuve season (he used many numbers across his career) and went mythical because of him, but other than that I struggle to associate any number to any given driver. This is because in F1 and in other single seater formula we identify the drivers for their helmets. Why permanent numbers are irrelevant in F1? Because unlike tin-tops, which usually have a huge number painted on their doors, in F1 we can't see the freaking numbers when the car comes by!!!

fjackdaw · Post by **fjackdaw** » 29 Nov 2013, 12:34

DanielPT wrote:
andrew2209 wrote:http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111650

F1 teams want drivers to have permament numbers now.

In my opinion, if the world champion always has #1, then I'm not too worried about the idea, especially if numbers such as Ferrari #27 could be brought back.

This is like people discussing who keeps the penny found behind the couch when the house is on fire.

It is a ridiculous discussion to have when F1 has so many other issues to solve including the prospect of some teams closing down. My point is easily explained because I don't think it really works on F1. Sure, Ferrari had 27 which began to be used in the second to last Gilles Villeneuve season (he used many numbers across his career) and went mythical because of him, but other than that I struggle to associate any number to any given driver. This is because in F1 and in other single seater formula we identify the drivers for their helmets. Why permanent numbers are irrelevant in F1? Because unlike tin-tops, which usually have a huge number painted on their doors, in F1 we can't see the freaking numbers when the car comes by!!!

I'd much rather see permanent helmets than permanent numbers.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 29 Nov 2013, 12:47

fjackdaw wrote:I'd much rather see permanent helmets than permanent numbers.

Me too. For instance, when Alonso switched to Ferrari he changed his helmet that I grew to be familiar with. Result? It was a pain to recognise him in that car.