Webber staying with RB for 2013

I personally doubt having the team work on development of the steering strained anything, but I think not running the car in Monaco to collect data on a dry practice broke the no-nonsense work ethic that is Lotus, and I'm sure Kimi & team had a firm chat about it.

And I'm sure Kimi, being no newcomer to F1, understands that the car and the team have so many other development opportunities and focusing all effort on just steering is not the way to winning...the fact that the team gave it 6 determined attempts speaks boatloads of how strong the relationship is between Kimi + team.

If it was bad or even straining, I'm sure they'd have ended the lollies after the 3rd-4th try. I've always been a Kimi fan and I can't wait for him to win!

 

It was all just drama, IMO. He's on top of his game and has plenty to offer. Would be silly for RB to ditch him.

 

Probably have to pay McLaren to stay there. I'd set the amount at $1M per year ... that should change his attitude real fast.
Pete

 

Good thinking.

 

Maybe RedBull have come to their senses and are not as interested in LH as he is making McLaren think?
Pete

 

Hamilton has virtually no viable options beyond signing with McLaren, and they are going to offer a multi-year contract or nothing. It could well be that McLaren are tiring of his petulance. I certainly am.

 

Given some of the clever responses on here it looks to me as if the there are really not that many open chairs this season.

With the exception (and I'm not even 100% sure on that) of Ferrari's #2 no top team has any real openings.

It looks as if everybody is holding their breath for the new engine formula of 2014. Probably some massive musical chairs going on in a year from now.

 

The new engines arent going to have rev limits right?

 

Sounds right but weren't some saying that about 2013?

 

What has the introduction of the new motors got to do with driver musical chairs?

It *may* shake things up a year later once we know who's got what but I don't see it having any effect on the 2013 "positioning".

I'd also be willing to bet now that the top 4-5 will be the same as they are today - The front runners will continue to be the front runners and hence the most desirable regardless of engine formula.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Unfortunately, they're going to be limited to 15,000RPM.

From the already published 2014 technical regulations. [Available at the FIA site BTW]

More significantly than rev limit are the fuel flow regulations however. Here's the relevant section;

We're way OT here, but I'm expecting the *howls* about how much F1 sucks to start momentarily.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Me first

 

As expected, that didn't take long!

Seriously, maybe we should pop this into a new thread for the haters to hate and not hijack Mark's good news!

Cheers,
Ian

 

Well that is pretty damn lame. Are they at least going to allow engine development??

 

They'll be just fine; I'll bet lap times remain around the same. I know the idea of 'em spinning to ~22K has it appeal, but they're trying to be "relevant".......

I suspect they'll be some tweaks allowed until such time as the playing field gets leveled. I can't recall right now what the deal is on longevity. [IIRC, that's defined in the sporting regs, not the technical regs and that's not yet published AFAIK]

Cheers,
Ian

 

I'm happy for Mark and only chimed in because I thought it expected.

 

Weber does well on a few track but overall is just a B list driver.
He did well to stay put in the best operation.

 

Last time we had new engines it took Renault longer than it's competitors to build a reliable engine. Also new engines mean totally new cars and possibly different engine manufacturers for the teams.

Top drivers will make their plans accordingly

 

He may be the best #2 driver around so his position on the best team makes sense.

 

My projection for the seat in Ferrari......kimi or MS.........joking

 

Indeed, but none of them will have any idea of what's what until at least a few races into the season.

I guess we're gonna have Ferrari, Merc, Renault, Cosworth and possibly Pure supplying lumps. The regulations will (rightly or wrongly) ensure they're all pretty close in power output. As I said, the top teams will remain the top teams. No shake ups, at least none to do with the change.

A midfielder or two may make progress, but I can actually foresee the carousel staying a little more static at the end of next year rather than the opposite.

Cheers,
Ian

 

If history is any indication (and I'm a strong believer in historic data) then Mercedes will be the best/first in line, followed by Ferrari and Renault a distant third. And then the rest.

So a Vettel might consider going someplace else whereas Hami should stay put.

 

I don't know. Once Renault get the reliability down they tend to build decent engines. And with a rev limit of 15K it shouldn't take that long to get them right. Plus Newey is still there on the chassis side...