Hulkenberg deserves to stay in F1

By Andrew Hooper
October 24 2010

According to Williams Director of Engineering Patrick Head current AT&T Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg has done performed well enough to maintain his place as a Formula One driver.

 
 Hulkenberg deserves to stay in F1
 

According to Williams Director of Engineering Patrick Head current AT&T Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg has done performed well enough to maintain his place as a Formula One driver. But the big unanswered question is whether he will continue as an AT&T Williams driver IN 2011.

HulkenbergThere has been a large amount of discussion in the media as to whether the Williams team will keep Nico for 2011 or go down the path of taking on a driver who can bring substantial sponsorship with him. The name of GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado has been linked with the team as a possible replacement for Nico as it is believed that he can bring sponsorship with him to the Williams team.

In an interview with autsport.com Head made it clear that the Williams board had yet to make a decision as to drivers for 2011.

Head said: "I think Nico has already done sufficient both before he entered F1 and since being in F1 to support the view that he is a justified driver within the justified drivers in F1."

Head made it clear that the final decision would be made by the Williams board.

Head added: "You would have to ask Mr. [Adam] Parr about that, who is back in England, I cannot help you on any part like that."

"It is terrible to hide behind a board, but these things will be debated and are being debated in the Williams board.

"At the moment we are not in a position where we are making any final decisions. I know it sounds very superior to say so, but when we are ready we will be saying what we are doing, and not before then."

 

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Hulkenberg deserves to stay in F1
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 24/10/2010 06:14
Williams F1
24/10/2010 06:14
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turnstiles
24/10/2010 10:19
Lots of people probably deserve to be in F1, but circumstances have to be taken into account. The team would be crazy if they ignored commercial considerations. The boards / SFW's driver decision should be taken based the team position overall. If the team decides that , for financial reasons, they need to take Sutil or Maldanado (or both) because that's the only way they can fund a "proper" budget for next year then that's what they have to do.

I think both of these options (Sutil or Maldanado) should provide us with a stronger line up than Rosberg & Nakajima did.

There must be various things going on behind the scenes, negotiations with sponsors/ potential sponsors,etc. If we were really that desparate for the money then surely one of the "sponsored" drivers would have been confirmed by now?

Gunk
24/10/2010 11:10
Quote:
turnstiles

There must be various things going on behind the scenes, negotiations with sponsors/ potential sponsors,etc.

Well, Joe Saward has changed his tune and indeed Williams has been talking to the Venezuelans at senior level.

Sutil had a typical brainless day today, so I don't rate his chances.

crusty_bread
24/10/2010 11:31
I would imagine there are some worst case/best case scenario studies being conducted looking at what the team may have to sacrifice and what impact that may have on performance.

I think the driver has the greatest single impact on performance so should be the area that is least compromised, but I suppose the team are armed with more facts than us.

Patrick Head sounds so different these days! Has he become Parr's whipping boy? Is this unswerving party line a sign of the new guard taking control at Williams?

Bond
25/10/2010 03:00
There is no doubt reality bites.
& if Williams has to bend over to get money to go on as a viable F1 team, in the short term every1 has to toe the line...even PH.

Sad but true.

The Hulk more than deserves to be on Williams...on merits & ability.

Lets hope for an 11th hour miracle of new sponsorship & the same 2 drivers.

Sucks not having money.

hemorrhage
25/10/2010 03:08
rubens should out after yesterday performance! bring maldonado and MONEY!

crusty_bread
25/10/2010 08:39
Perhaps we could take the $18m from hiring Pastor, and use some of that money to continue paying Nico's wage for 1 year with him on loan? Perhaps with a small hike in his wages, and a little something for HRT/Virgin as well who so badly need the money?

The whole deal would cost say $4m, which would still leave the team $14m up for the sake of having to race Maldonado.

Then, when Rubens retires, we can get Hülkenberg back, and hopefully, Williams will have had such a stellar year that they can then afford to drop Maldonado for someone faster.

Mr. Pink
25/10/2010 09:40
I have a bad feeling that Rubens will be dropped and we will have Nico and Maldonado driving.
Still, they will leave Rubens for preseason testing.

There, I said it!

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/8830/logoqz0.gif
Sir Frank: "It's what we do, we love doing it. It's like oxygen, it fixes you".

FrankDC
25/10/2010 09:41
I dunno, 18m$ sound like a lot of money, and what you said sounds like a good idea crusty, but how would the Hulk feel, after being replaced for a year, i guess his trust in the team would be not that great after that.

My doubt is, i rate the Hulk much better then Maldonando, but in the end Pastor is not nakajima, he won a title in GP2, so he could even turn out as a good gamble, but still a gamble is.

Best Scenario would be that Williams can find a good sponsor and keep the Hulk.

Do you know what are the sponsors coming with Maldonado?

mayhemfunkster
25/10/2010 10:07
Quote:
Mr. Pink
I have a bad feeling that Rubens will be dropped and we will have Nico and Maldonado driving.
Still, they will leave Rubens for preseason testing.

There, I said it!

God, that just occoured to me too. If we do that, we deserve to go under. If we cannot afford to rehire the guy who has basically saved our 2010 in my estimation, then Frank needs to seriously consider wether his entire philosophy of running an F1 team is viable at this point in F1 history.

Such a strategy is moving from "surviving as a respected F1 competitor" to just "surviving" - and frankly there is no point in that. I will be in it until the end while there is the professionalism and respect, not so sure if we go pay driver chasing.

I always look at Tyrrell. It was only in the very last year they stopped having at least one 'proper' driver - they ofen had two (Salo and Verstappen in 1997 for example). It can be done.

I could not maintain the passion and commitment to the team if we went to the Minardi/Arrows/HRT route of "take the money and to hell with it" approach. That is not a Williams core value.

There, that is the official MF position on Williams and pay drivers!!

crusty_bread
25/10/2010 13:25
Pastor and Adrian? That would test my loyalty to the extreme.

I doubt Rubens will be dropped. That could happen as neither have been signed up yet, but judging from what Nico, Rubens, the team and the media have all been saying, it seems clear that it is Nico's position that is more under threat.

Reading further into it, all year Williams have been quite publicly in ecstasy over Rubens' contributions, saying how crucial his contributions are, how they don't understand why he isnt a world champion, and why he is the best Williams driver for the last decade, yet they have sounded strangely flat with Nico, despite him demonstrating good pace. Im not sure whether they were expecting to see something more from him, or whether they knew all along that they would struggle to keep him for 2011 with sponsorship deals due to end.

Interesting.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:10:25:13:31:09 by crusty_bread.

rpralon
25/10/2010 14:56
I prefer Sutil/Hulk than Rubens/Maldonado...

azouris
25/10/2010 16:36
I think rubens place is secured.I read he tested the 2011 components in kempel airfield last week and said that the development is aggresive and good.And weber says that negotiasions are still going on about hulk.

azouris
25/10/2010 16:37
Here is the link[url=http://[www.totalf1.com]][/url]

hemorrhage
25/10/2010 16:38
Sutil who? he's low class driver!

Hulk and Maldonado = Talent and Money

GPL
25/10/2010 17:05
How can you even think about getting rid of ruby, can,t you see he is the only person that has turned this team around, and put it on the right direction again.
Goodness me.

j-s
25/10/2010 17:20
At the rate this is going I wouldn't be surprised to see Maldonado and Senna in the FW33.

Do you know that Maldonado literally translates to "badly donated?" Usually I find irony very amusing but this just makes me sad.

negotiator
25/10/2010 17:35
woudnt u guys rather have kamui kobayashi?

he does have 13 more points then the hulk in a far inferior car plus 8 retirement and only 2 of them was kamui's fault with 5 mechanical failures.

hulk and petrov are very poor drivers imho put kobayashi in a williams or renault and he would beat hulk and petrov to oblivion.

crusty_bread
25/10/2010 19:24
Quote:
negotiator
woudnt u guys rather have kamui kobayashi?

I would prefer Hamilton, but I suspect Williams can afford neither. That Sauber is purest white.

Quote:
j-s
Do you know that Maldonado literally translates to "badly donated?"

It's comments like these that makes this forum so good.
That is priceless!

Mehryar
26/10/2010 08:27
TBH these kindda comments sound like a way to escape from what the decision brings in.
I mean when he says "uh I can't answer" or "you should ask Parr" , "board should decide over it" ...these are nonsense, he is still the 2nd share holder, his vote should play a role atleast as important as other board members if not more powerful.

I believe he's denying his involvement in the outcome because the decision is not what he likes.

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/1095/mehryarsigyo7.gif

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