2015 Silly Season Thread

Post by **Frogfoot9013** » 28 Feb 2015, 18:13

I think Lotus are just jumping on the female driver bandwagon to gain attention. It's little more than a publicity stunt. There are far more competent female drivers out there than Carmen Jorda, although still, it's one of the most rejectful driver choices ever made, as she only has 5 podiums in her career, none of which are overall podiums, they're class podiums.

watka · Post by **watka** » 01 Mar 2015, 00:16

Milka Duno for Red Bull!

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 01 Mar 2015, 12:41

Frogfoot9013 wrote:I think Lotus are just jumping on the female driver bandwagon to gain attention. It's little more than a publicity stunt. There are far more competent female drivers out there than Carmen Jorda, although still, it's one of the most rejectful driver choices ever made, as she only has 5 podiums in her career, none of which are overall podiums, they're class podiums.

There is no other way of viewing it. It's downright impossible for Carmen to get a new rules Superlicence in the next couple of years. She has 0 points for it at the moment.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 01 Mar 2015, 12:45

DanielPT wrote:
Frogfoot9013 wrote:I think Lotus are just jumping on the female driver bandwagon to gain attention. It's little more than a publicity stunt. There are far more competent female drivers out there than Carmen Jorda, although still, it's one of the most rejectful driver choices ever made, as she only has 5 podiums in her career, none of which are overall podiums, they're class podiums.

There is no other way of viewing it. It's downright impossible for Carmen to get a new rules Superlicence in the next couple of years. She has 0 points for it at the moment.

I highly doubt they'll even let her in the car. The simulator is as far as she'll get, and even then, any feedback she might have is pretty much worthless compared to what Pastor and Romain can offer.

Despite that though, unless Manor can pull off something crazy and put a no-hoper in their second seat, signing Jorda has probably been my favourite off-season hiring this year!

Post by **mario** » 01 Mar 2015, 21:35

AndreaModa wrote:I highly doubt they'll even let her in the car. The simulator is as far as she'll get, and even then, any feedback she might have is pretty much worthless compared to what Pastor and Romain can offer.

Despite that though, unless Manor can pull off something crazy and put a no-hoper in their second seat, signing Jorda has probably been my favourite off-season hiring this year!

One of Jorda's ex-GP3 team mates rather bitingly commented that Jorda couldn't even develop a piece of film, let alone a car, so I would be rather surprised if she was given a simulator test role (I would assume that Palmer was hired to undertake that role). Like other posters, I would have to agree that the way in which she has been appointed suggests that Lotus intend her role to be one aiming for the maximum press coverage for the team than anything else.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 01 Mar 2015, 22:04

mario wrote:
AndreaModa wrote:I highly doubt they'll even let her in the car. The simulator is as far as she'll get, and even then, any feedback she might have is pretty much worthless compared to what Pastor and Romain can offer.

Despite that though, unless Manor can pull off something crazy and put a no-hoper in their second seat, signing Jorda has probably been my favourite off-season hiring this year!

One of Jorda's ex-GP3 team mates rather bitingly commented that Jorda couldn't even develop a piece of film, let alone a car, so I would be rather surprised if she was given a simulator test role (I would assume that Palmer was hired to undertake that role). Like other posters, I would have to agree that the way in which she has been appointed suggests that Lotus intend her role to be one aiming for the maximum press coverage for the team than anything else.

The only reason I mentioned the sim Mario was because I seem to remember it being mentioned when Lotus made the announcement that she'd been hired. I think it might have been her soundbite for the article - something about helping the team to develop the car. I do agree though that the reality is Lotus probably won't let her even do that.

Sublime_FA11C · Post by **Sublime_FA11C** » 01 Mar 2015, 23:22

The real purpose/role is to keep the old man grumpy-happy rather than grumpy-grumpy.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 02 Mar 2015, 00:58

Possibly even using it as appeasement for Bernie to get an advance on their prize money payments? We all know how he is keen to see more female drivers in the sport for the PR spin...

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 02 Mar 2015, 10:31

Biscione wrote:Possibly even using it as appeasement for Bernie to get an advance on their prize money payments? We all know how he is keen to see more female drivers in the sport for the PR spin...

I can see how that pleases the 70 year old target audience...

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 02 Mar 2015, 11:13

DanielPT wrote:
Biscione wrote:Possibly even using it as appeasement for Bernie to get an advance on their prize money payments? We all know how he is keen to see more female drivers in the sport for the PR spin...

I can see how that pleases the 70 year old target audience...

And we can all imagine what Stirling Moss would make of Carmen's skill set...

razta · Post by **razta** » 03 Mar 2015, 02:56

I don't know if this is the place to put this but a rather BRILLIANT Conspiracy theory/Prophecy has been found on Reddit.. here goes..
http://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/commen ... s_and_but/
Ok, so while I was just browsing Wikipedia articles about F1, I found an interesting coincidence between Jenson and Nico. Here's the list:
•Both began their careers at Williams •Both won their first race in their 7th season with technically the same team (Honda-Brawn-Mercedes) •Both drivers have the only helmets on the grid that have their name as the main design. •Both had teammates that were teammates themselves (Rubens and Schumi)
So therefore I'd like to conclude with this: •Jenson won his championship in his 10th season of Formula 1.
2015 is Nico's 10th season.
You heard it here first. And when it does, both have won the title after Lewis.
EDIT: Due to heated debate over Nico's helmet, I will reword the third bullet and state another coincidence I have discovered.
•Both drivers have their name most visible on their helmets.
•Both have gotten married in 2014.
•Both of their helmets are influenced by their wives (Nico has "ViVi" on his and Jenson has Japanese influence on his for his wife.)
•Their marriages describe their teams, McLaren is British-Japanese as so with Jenson's marriage, Nico and Vivian is all German, like Mercedes.

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 03 Mar 2015, 09:49

Tinfoil hats for reddit...

razta wrote:•Both of their helmets are influenced by their wives (Nico has "ViVi" on his and Jenson has Japanese influence on his for his wife.)

I look at the "VI" on Nico's helmet and I see the Roman numerals for 6. As for the number on his car...

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 03 Mar 2015, 13:19

However, Nico Rosberg is not a mere midfielder propelled to a world title by his better teammate being stopped by the incompetence of his team, so yeah... :roll:

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 03 Mar 2015, 15:34

Klon wrote:However, Nico Rosberg is not a mere midfielder propelled to a world title by his better teammate being stopped by the incompetence of his team, so yeah...

Indeed - the difference is that Nico was stopped by his own incompetence whilst being beaten by his superior team-mate, while Jenson effortlessly strolled to the title by the virtue of being the better driver in the team.

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 03 Mar 2015, 17:35

Looking at photos of Carmen Jorda, I'm afraid her neck just doesn't look like that of a race car driver. Even Sakon Yamamoto has got a thicker neck. Which is probably better for her.

AdrianBelmonte_ · Post by **AdrianBelmonte_** » 03 Mar 2015, 18:25

Imagine me drunk, 10 years younger, drugged, falling asleep in each straight line with a Havana cigar in his left hand and scratching my ass with the other, driving the Lotus without touching the steering wheel, I would probably go faster than she ever will go

That's my opinion about Carmen

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 03 Mar 2015, 21:20

AdrianBelmonte_ wrote:Imagine me drunk, 10 years younger, drugged, falling asleep in each straight line with a Havana cigar in his left hand and scratching my ass with the other, driving the Lotus without touching the steering wheel, I would probably go faster than she ever will go

That's my opinion about Carmen

Well ain't that charming

AdrianBelmonte_ · Post by **AdrianBelmonte_** » 03 Mar 2015, 22:09

Rob Dylan wrote:
AdrianBelmonte_ wrote:Imagine me drunk, 10 years younger, drugged, falling asleep in each straight line with a Havana cigar in his left hand and scratching my ass with the other, driving the Lotus without touching the steering wheel, I would probably go faster than she ever will go

That's my opinion about Carmen

Well ain't that charming

I wanted to seem that mean, everything was planned

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 04 Mar 2015, 14:50

AdrianBelmonte_ wrote: I would probably go faster than she ever will go.

So how fast can she go? Does she take it slowly and gently, or is she quite fast and vigorous?

AdrianBelmonte_ · Post by **AdrianBelmonte_** » 04 Mar 2015, 16:07

dr-baker wrote:
AdrianBelmonte_ wrote: I would probably go faster than she ever will go.

So how fast can she go? Does she take it slowly and gently, or is she quite fast and vigorous?

Only 4-6 seconds slower than me

Waris · Post by **Waris** » 04 Mar 2015, 17:30

Maybe we should stop talking about Carmen Jordà now. I think it's a crying shame that someone like Simona De Silvestro isn't able to advance her career into F1 further due to lack of funds, whereas this girl who has no talent at all gets a "test driver" role basically handed to her. (not that it's going to get her anywhere but still)

I really hate that I'm saying this, but right now I almost wish Simona had married Toto Wolff, at least then she would've stood a decent chance of getting a F1 drive.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 04 Mar 2015, 17:47

We should stop talking about Jorda as not only to do so is the whole point of why Lotus signed her up in the first place but as she's receiving much more focus than some other useless male driver the difference fires up a whole other set of issues.

razta · Post by **razta** » 09 Mar 2015, 07:34

http://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/Hami ... 87676.html

that's fine by me - actually I'd pay good money to see Vettel V Hamilton in the same team.. and take your Lewhysteria with you

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 09 Mar 2015, 10:50

razta wrote:http://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/Hamilton-linked-with-Ferrari-switch,87676.html

that's fine by me - actually I'd pay good money to see Vettel V Hamilton in the same team.. and take your Lewhysteria with you

Hamilton has fans in Italy?! :shock:

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 09 Mar 2015, 11:50

Backmarker wrote:
razta wrote:http://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/Hamilton-linked-with-Ferrari-switch,87676.html

that's fine by me - actually I'd pay good money to see Vettel V Hamilton in the same team.. and take your Lewhysteria with you

Hamilton has fans in Italy?!

He's probably got a lot of fans around the world who don't speak English because on track he's a great little driver. It's only when he's off track and gobbing off about such esoteric subjects as becoming a rap artist, handling things like Senna and being 'true to himself' that people often get the urge to push him down a flight of stairs.

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 09 Mar 2015, 12:34

CoopsII wrote:He's probably got a lot of fans around the world who don't speak English because on track he's a great little driver. It's only when he's off track and gobbing off about such esoteric subjects as becoming a rap artist, handling things like Senna and being 'true to himself' that people often get the urge to push him down a flight of stairs.

I can imagine that is the case. Lewis Hamilton is an awesome driver, there is little doubt about that. I for my part only dislike him because he is a total jackass and I doubt I would do so if I wasn't capable of understanding the English language as well as I happen to do.

Collieafc · Post by **Collieafc** » 09 Mar 2015, 13:30

Klon wrote:
CoopsII wrote:He's probably got a lot of fans around the world who don't speak English because on track he's a great little driver. It's only when he's off track and gobbing off about such esoteric subjects as becoming a rap artist, handling things like Senna and being 'true to himself' that people often get the urge to push him down a flight of stairs.

I can imagine that is the case. Lewis Hamilton is an awesome driver, there is little doubt about that. I for my part only dislike him because he is a total jackass and I doubt I would do so if I wasn't capable of understanding the English language as well as I happen to do.

Same. Though add ultra annoying repetitive media bias and blind bloody-minded fanboys to that. On track, I find hes one of the most exciting to watch and if anything is in the wrong era of F1 (He would have suited the late 90s if you ask me)

razta · Post by **razta** » 09 Mar 2015, 14:15

CoopsII wrote:He's probably got a lot of fans around the world who don't speak English because on track he's a great little driver. It's only when he's off track and gobbing off about such esoteric subjects as becoming a rap artist, handling things like Senna and being 'true to himself' that people often get the urge to push him down a flight of stairs.

THANK YOU SIR!!!

Post by **mario** » 09 Mar 2015, 18:40

razta wrote:http://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/Hamilton-linked-with-Ferrari-switch,87676.html

that's fine by me - actually I'd pay good money to see Vettel V Hamilton in the same team.. and take your Lewhysteria with you

All I can see in that article is that usual case of a journalist thinking that 2 and 2 equals 22, as the old joke goes - to be honest, I read Hamilton's comments to Autosprint as him simply making a few comments to flatter the Italian media.

Spectoremg · Post by **Spectoremg** » 09 Mar 2015, 19:43

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31731409
It's started...

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 09 Mar 2015, 20:13

The BBC comment section is a bit dangerous, isn't it? They seem to have a lot of experts on the inside posting under lowercase names on the comments section of a BBC F1 article...

But yes, I am impressed at the lack of use of the words "psychological edge" on that page

GwilymJJames · Post by **GwilymJJames** » 09 Mar 2015, 23:43

Roberto Merhi has signed for Manor

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 10 Mar 2015, 00:35

GwilymJJames wrote:Roberto Merhi has signed for Manor

How DARE they sign the man who stole Lotterer's free practice time at Monza?!

I'm happy for him and for the team. Now all they have to do is unveil that updated car.

watka · Post by **watka** » 10 Mar 2015, 01:04

GwilymJJames wrote:Roberto Merhi has signed for Manor

Interestingly its only a one race deal at present. Not sure if this means that Merhi doesn't bring enough dough to the table, that Manor don't exist to survive long, that its such short notice they are not in a position to sign a longer deal, or a combination of the above.

Waris · Post by **Waris** » 10 Mar 2015, 03:30

I wish F1 teams were allowed to use more than 5 drivers in a season -- we could see a string of paydrivers in the second Manor seat.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 10 Mar 2015, 03:50

Waris wrote:I wish F1 teams were allowed to use more than 5 drivers in a season -- we could see a string of paydrivers in the second Manor seat.

Not only should it be allowed, it should be mandatory.

Manor have announced on their Facebook that they've signed Jordan King as a development driver. I can hear people screaming "nepotism" already.

AustralianStig · Post by **AustralianStig** » 10 Mar 2015, 04:39

watka wrote:
GwilymJJames wrote:Roberto Merhi has signed for Manor

Interestingly its only a one race deal at present. Not sure if this means that Merhi doesn't bring enough dough to the table, that Manor don't exist to survive long, that its such short notice they are not in a position to sign a longer deal, or a combination of the above.

Is there anything official saying that Merhi only has a one-race deal? I've only seen it speculated on click-bait websites that he'll only race in Round 1.

Post by **mario** » 10 Mar 2015, 06:15

AustralianStig wrote:
watka wrote:
GwilymJJames wrote:Roberto Merhi has signed for Manor

Interestingly its only a one race deal at present. Not sure if this means that Merhi doesn't bring enough dough to the table, that Manor don't exist to survive long, that its such short notice they are not in a position to sign a longer deal, or a combination of the above.

Is there anything official saying that Merhi only has a one-race deal? I've only seen it speculated on click-bait websites that he'll only race in Round 1.

I think that the reason why there is some speculation over how many races Merhi will do is the fact that Maor said he'd be racing for "the opening rounds". Moreover, it appears that Merhi still has a contract to compete for Pons in the Formula Renault 3.5 series - those two points appear to suggest that the deal is only short term rather than for the whole season.

AdrianBelmonte_ · Post by **AdrianBelmonte_** » 10 Mar 2015, 07:32

mario wrote:I think that the reason why there is some speculation over how many races Merhi will do is the fact that Maor said he'd be racing for "the opening rounds". Moreover, it appears that Merhi still has a contract to compete for Pons in the Formula Renault 3.5 series - those two points appear to suggest that the deal is only short term rather than for the whole season.

Webber also had a short term contract in 2002 with Minardi, was a 3-race deal, was extended until the end of the season after getting some points on the inaugural race, so there's hope for Roberto

James1978 · Post by **James1978** » 10 Mar 2015, 13:05

Funny the numbers of drivers who have switched between Caterham and Marussia - Merhi, Stevens, Rossi, then of course there was Pic who went the other way!