Manor signs Wehrlein, 1 seat to go

Manor F1 team signs Mercedes reserve Wehrlein | Reuters

Wehrlein won DTM last year as a Mercedes driver, so....having the Mercedes engine at Manor this year is his connection.

Rossi says he is still talking with Manor, so we might see him signed up soon too.

 

Rossi stands a fair chance at the seat. He did quite well in the few races he had last year.

 

Nice. Good to see a young, talented driver in F1. Hopefully Rossi is in the other seat and they can compete against each other for something other than 2nd-to-last.

 

I think most likely we'll have to have Haas in last. Manor should move up due to Mercedes power and recent new key team members. Sauber just can't get a lot worse, but they might surprise me and be last. McLaren should be moving way up, but again, we'll see. Renault seems to be another candidate for "who knows", although with the main team at Enstone they shouldn't be worse should they?

 

Don't know.

Sauber went from **** to being awesome in 2011, but have since lost James Key (to Toro Rosso) and the team just imploded...several dumb managerial mistakes have already cost them dearly. They need a great year but with their current drivers and team (unless they've hired some spectacular people I've missed), I just don't see it happening, and thus the end of Sauber can't be that far off, sadly.

In theory Mclaren should be doing great, but it's odd. Mclaren want a size Zero car. They did with their last Mercedes engine and that didn't do much good. With the new Honda engine they also suffered massively from overheating, and couldn't run anywhere near to 100% with the engine. Their recent comments in the news, seems like they're unwilling to change their philosophy.

Renault better do something with that engine of theirs. I wonder how many people left in the last 2 seasons due to the massive budget issues, the issue being there was none. No one worth their weight in gold (or chocolate, since Lotus was kinda desperate for money) would surely stay on?

And then the manors...2014 proved that even with just a Mercedes engine, you're not guaranteed a massive points haul. Ferrari impoved their engine significantly, even though Toro Rosso gets an (end of) 2015 season engine, they'll likely be well into the points all season long. Manors will remain a non contender, and probably snap up a point here and there, but will it touch double digits? I doubt it...

Haas should be ahead of the Manors and Saubers. Mclaren I daren't say. Surely they'll be ahead and easily into the points...surely? It would be great for Haas if they can fight Renault. Don't forget that Haas has Ferrari suspension and engine, and input into how much cooling the engine needs etc.

 

Nobody seems too like this guy...he must be one more cocky version of Hamilton.....

 

Who?

Wehrlein or Rossi ?

 

Wehrlein

 

I didn't get that about him. I follow DTM as best I can over here - I usually see the races a couple of weeks after the fact when they are aired at all. But last year the commentary about him from journo's and drivers alike seemed pretty complimentary.

Yes, he's pretty focused and single minded at times, and perhaps as a young kid his "filters" weren't always turned on, but I always got a pretty positive impression of him.

I say good for him, and glad to see him taking the jump.

 

Not really, i heard many drivers talking about him, all negativly...they complimented him on the title but not as a person...no love lost for him ....

 

Interesting. Thanks.

As I said, spotty DTM coverage over here...

 

Perfect fit for the Bad Manners...

 

Same as Hamilton then.
Although I haven't heard other drivers talking much about him, some of the public don't like Lewis.

Let's see how he gets on next year at Manor before forming an opinion about him.

 

one article now rumors that there will be as many as 3 drivers splitting the last Manor seat, which is allowed under the rules.

 

Interesting. Makes you wonder at what point it could actually make financial sense for teams to run 3+ cars. That would be one way to expand the grid...

 

3 Mercedes, 3 Ferrari, 3 Williams, yes

3 Force India, 3 Renault, maybe

3 Manor, 3 Sauber , NO

 

What about Loldonado?

 

Telegraph says Haryanto has it Briton Will Stevens loses Formula One drive with Manor to announce his departure - Telegraph

 

Manor is up against it again this year with 2 rookie pay drivers.

I don't expect miracles.

 

Can't fault them for needing bucks...but another very average driver. I watch quite a bit of GP2 and he's consistently never been there, only just about this season he stepped his game up.

Certainly not a stoffel Vandoorne..

 

Agreed. Vandoorne had a solid season, coming off another solid season the year before. All credit to him, he has a future in F1.

However, Haryanto over Rossi? I don't know about that. Haryanto has been a solid, journeyman driver the past few years. Good, yes. Standout, no.

Rossi has also been a solid, journeyman driver, that beat Haryanto in his rookie year in the series. Plus, he has shown himself to be soooo smooth and composed with the media, and such a draw for the US market, I am curious as to what sort of sponsorship might follow if he were given the seat.

Either one would be a good pick in my estimation, but if I were the one making the decision, I think I would take a flier on Rossi.

 

Quick clarification, sorry.

My post reads like I was disagreeing with Bas. Not so. We agree that Haryanto is a mediocre driver, ant not a Vandoorne.

My post was expressing that between the two journeyman choices, Haryanto v. Rossi, I would roll the dice on Rossi.

 

I'd vote Rossi also, but I get the feeling that Haryanto has a lot more funding, and that's likely the deciding factor.

 

Rossi posted today that he has some positive news coming soon, but unfortunately for him it will be as an F1 reserve driver at best.

 

Rio Haryanto secures final spot on the grid with Manor

Bleh. Doesn't deserve to be in F1 unless I'm missing something.

Hilarious that Indonesian government would spend money on this instead of more pressing issues.