OT: Racing 2013 (Spoiler Alert)

[GB_Simo]

Paging sfz. This is an urgent call for sfz:

http://www.fiaformulae.com/news/super-a ... sixth-team

Super Aguri 2: Six Stops Were Not Enough.

[Rodster]

I just became a Williams fan, go Felipe! Claire says he's the defacto number 1 because of his experience. I just read that McLaren is considering whether to replace Chico. Magnussen looks to be the prime candidate with others being considered.

[pk500]

Magnussen replaces Perez. Good move, as Perez's churlish attitude and overrated talent torpedoed the prospect of easy money from Carlos Slim for McLaren.

Let's hope Kevin does a bit better in F1 than his dad, one of the most confounding talents of the last 25 years.

[GB_Simo]

Yeah, I still vividly recall how disappointed I was when Jan didn't get going at Stewart. Everything prior to that drive, including his '95 cameo at McLaren, pointed to him being an absolute star. Not that he's done too badly for himself since, but what a missed opportunity his F1 career was.

You'll all know my thoughts on Perez by now and there's been nothing this season to make me reconsider, but it's surely an absolute stick-on that he'll rock up at Force India or Sauber next year. Quite what that means for their existing drivers, particularly Di Resta and the Hulk, I'm not sure. I don't think that Quantum money has actually made it as far as Lotus yet, raising the very real and frankly distressing prospect of Candy Maldonado being Kimi's long term replacement.

I wouldn't mind knowing who his short term replacement is, as it goes. I assumed they'd put Davide Valsecchi in the car for Austin but the longer they go without announcing anything, the more I wonder what's coming.

[Rodster]

I never liked Chico after he moved to McLaren. He decided to go Maldonado after Whitmarsh said he needed to be more aggressive. And he became just that, taking out cars if they got in his way. That's how I drive in F1 2013.


EDIT: It's official, Chico is out of McLaren at the end of this year.

[GB_Simo]

...and it looks like Kovalainen in at Lotus, after Hulkenberg apparently declined the role. More interestingly, Autosport are reporting that before welcoming Heikki back, the team approached another one of their old boys: one Michael Schumacher. It's another of the drums I've been beating for a while, alongside the "Perez isn't very fast" thing, but Rosberg's pace alongside Hamilton seems to have done wonders for Schumi's standing.

[Zeppo]

...and it looks like Kovalainen in at Lotus, after Hulkenberg apparently declined the role. More interestingly, Autosport are reporting that before welcoming Heikki back, the team approached another one of their old boys: one Michael Schumacher. It's another of the drums I've been beating for a while, alongside the "Perez isn't very fast" thing, but Rosberg's pace alongside Hamilton seems to have done wonders for Schumi's standing.

Hulkenberg declined the Lotus seat, you say? Why would he do that? Where is he going to wind up, if not without a drive at all?

[RobVarak]

Is anyone going to touch Maldonado without Chavez's bankroll behind him? Can't see why they would.

[pk500]

Is anyone going to touch Maldonado without Chavez's bankroll behind him? Can't see why they would.

The same could be said about Perez without Carlos Slim's money. Thankfully for Checo, Slim is not a dead, corrupt South American dictator.

[GB_Simo]

...and it looks like Kovalainen in at Lotus, after Hulkenberg apparently declined the role. More interestingly, Autosport are reporting that before welcoming Heikki back, the team approached another one of their old boys: one Michael Schumacher. It's another of the drums I've been beating for a while, alongside the "Perez isn't very fast" thing, but Rosberg's pace alongside Hamilton seems to have done wonders for Schumi's standing.

Hulkenberg declined the Lotus seat, you say? Why would he do that? Where is he going to wind up, if not without a drive at all?

The deal under discussion here is, to my knowledge, only for the last two races of this season. With that in mind, Nico probably didn't stand to gain that much by taking the drive unless it came with a concrete 2014 offer, which doesn't seem to have been the case. Everyone rates him but the odds of him outpacing Grosjean over the next two races in an unfamiliar car were probably long and I'm not sure much of this year's car will carry forward to next year, so perhaps it's a bit of better the devil you know, just for now.

[Zeppo]

Oh I didn't realize it was just for the remainder of this season.

[XXXIV]

Just to show you big Formula One is here in Chicago. The local NBC has chosen to do wall to wall weather this afternoon instead of showing the Race live.

Since the Rams are off today I was planning to watch it so I am pretty f***in pissed. There are multiple other stations doing the f***in weather.

Only in the USA can the F1 race in Texas be cancelled due to weather in Chicago.

Again anyone that wants to watch the f***in weather has plenty of options.

f*** you NBC Chicago.

[Rodster]

Just to show you big Formula One is here in Chicago. The local NBC has chosen to do wall to wall weather this afternoon instead of showing the Race live.

Since the Rams are off today I was planning to watch it so I am pretty f***in pissed. There are multiple other stations doing the f***in weather.

Only in the USA can the F1 race in Texas be cancelled due to weather in Chicago.

Again anyone that wants to watch the f***in weather has plenty of options.

f*** you NBC Chicago.

http://stream.nbcsports.com/liveextra/

[XXXIV]

Thanks!

I was hoping for the TV but beggars ...

[Rodster]

One benefit to the web version are the different cameras and PIP that's available

[XXXIV]

Plus I can watch Redzone at same time.

[XXXIV]

Bottas?

[Rodster]

Yeah he's pretty good and considered one of the top young drivers. It should be interesting to see how he responds next year with Massa as his teammate.

[XXXIV]

Seb with donuts and two I love you s.

Pretty cool.

I dont get the hate.

[XXXIV]

The Massa reaction to having to take a drive through penalty was intense.

[XXXIV]

Was anyone at fault in the Bottas/ Hamilton incident?

Red Bull with no front right for Vettel was comical. Were they not expecting him?

If the rain comes it could make for a cool finish.

[XXXIV]

The rain stayed away.

Would have been cool if Webber had won.

Seb does donuts and Webber takes his helmet off. Enjoy that FIA.

[GB_Simo]

Was anyone at fault in the Bottas/ Hamilton incident?

Hamilton. He must have known Bottas was there - his line down the straight was defensive, after all - but didn't once look to his right-hand mirror as he started to pull across for the next corner.

[GB_Simo]

Terrible news of Michael Schumacher's skiing accident, which has left him critically ill in a Grenoble hospital:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111979

The initial reports of him being conscious, then deteriorating to the point of coma by the time he arrived at the specialist unit, seem to have certain parallels with the accident that befell Mark Donohue at the Osterreichring in 1975. Very, very concerning indeed.

[Zeppo]

Terrible news of Michael Schumacher's skiing accident, which has left him critically ill in a Grenoble hospital:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111979

The initial reports of him being conscious, then deteriorating to the point of coma by the time he arrived at the specialist unit, seem to have certain parallels with the accident that befell Mark Donohue at the Osterreichring in 1975. Very, very concerning indeed.

Wow. I had seen a news report this morning that indicated he had been conscious and looked to be fine. I didn't know he had gotten worse and fallen into a coma. It reminds me of Natasha Richardson, who had apparently been conscious for a while after her skiing fall but then succumbed to a coma. I sure hope this doesn't end the way it did for her.