That's what you say when you still have half the season to go with a driver you plan on dropping at the end of the year. He was to have been dropped at the end of last year. Only reason he's still around is because Magnussen wouldn't take a 1yr contract and went to Haas.
yep, he won't...IMO he's the worst performer in F1 currently, consistently. I don't think Hulk is the greatest ever yet Palmer is still on average around 1 second a lap slower...in Q2 hungary it was 8 tenths (he was eliminated), hulk of course improved and qualified a clear second ahead of him. A second! At hungary...He still finished well outside the points (Despite the car being quicker than the Force India's, hulk retiring, Ricciardo retiring...). The publicity Renault and it's sponsors get by throwing Kubica in the car for the remaining races will be worth it alone. If for whatever reason it doesn't work out, Sirotkin and his roubels will pick up the slack. It's a no brainer.
Renault dont 'need' money like Williams the fashion billionaire farce on-going. I can see Ocon or Kubica on merit. Sirotkin can go to Sauber or Force.
I could understand Renault choosing Ocon over Kubica. Ocon is the future, and has shown good form recently. Kubica is the past, trying to make a come back.
Afaik Ocon is not in the frame for the Renault seat since he's contracted to Force India and I don't think they would buy out a rookie driver's contract. If Kubica came back I wonder how much he'd get paid..
Renault is French, Ocon is French; there is a lot of pull there. Renault will get more popular support in France if it has a least one French driver.
why not.. He has a huge amount of goodwill with everyone in the sport including fans and is generating media attention in a similar way that Alonso did leading up to and during Indy. None of us know how his test actually went but he was once considered an elite F1 driver and those types usually don't lose too much speed that they can't get back. Seems like win win win for everyone.
Renault has stated officially that Palmer will keep his seat until the end of the season. Unofficially, they make no mystery that they are targeting Ocon as their main interest for 2018. Rgds
? Why wouldn't they? TV is not interested in showing Palmer's car as he's either binned it or battling a sauber. Kubica will get them TONS of exposure, of course the sponsors would want it! We'll see.
I think it was more a case of: "How much do Renault feel Kubica would be worth to them?", rather than: "How much does Kubica think he can get for driving for Renault?"
Yep. Time will tell, but I think Renault should try to get one of the new hot shoes fresh from F2 or Super Formula instead of Kubica. Ocon or Leclerc would fit very well. Surely they are not all under contract with Mercedes? Alternatively, Sainz or Kvyat, whoever leaves RB first.
Did Alonso say that? Abiteboul, the Renault CEO, has said they were not chasing Alonso at all. I think they are wary of him and he has a high price tag probably. And at the moment, Hulkenberg is their best driver; it would be silly to drop him. Palmer is on the move for 2018, more than likely replaced by a young driver, I may be all wrong, but I don't think Kubica is in the picture for long term.
If Renault genuinely believes that Kubica can deliver a competitive performance, I would replace Palmer immediately (at least on a race by race basis) and see what he can do. It would generate huge publicity for the team and would be a dignified swan song for Kubica's F1 career. Longer term(2018) they need to sign an up and coming talent like Ocon.
