Official 2016 Driver's Silly Season Thread; who'll be where?

[DuncB7]

Ocon confirmed for Force India

[Allyc85]

Somebody told me Pascal would get the Force India seat, but clearly they Wehrlein..

[rubystone]

Allyc85 said:

Somebody told me Pascal would get the Force India seat, but clearly they Wehrlein..

[ukaskew]

Ericsson confirmed at Sauber, so just three seats left now.

[Mr_Thyroid]

ukaskew said:

Ericsson confirmed at Sauber, so just three seats left now.

If Sauber's only chance of points is a wet race, why hire a driver who always crashes?

[hairyben]

Mr_Thyroid said:

If Sauber's only chance of points is a wet race, why hire a driver who always crashes?

Thought it was more a case of the driver hiring the team where he's concerned?

[em177]

Mr_Thyroid said:

ukaskew said:

Ericsson confirmed at Sauber, so just three seats left now.

If Sauber's only chance of points is a wet race, why hire a driver who always crashes?

I think it's safe to assume that if he isn't in the car next year then the team won't even be at the next wet race...

[VolvoT5]

em177 said:

Mr_Thyroid said:

ukaskew said:

Ericsson confirmed at Sauber, so just three seats left now.

If Sauber's only chance of points is a wet race, why hire a driver who always crashes?

I think it's safe to assume that if he isn't in the car next year then the team won't even be at the next wet race...

Clearly he is effectively a "pay driver" but he hasn't actually done a bad job over the season has he... He regularly looks faster than Nasr in both qualifying and the race and to be fair even some of the best drivers aquaplaned off the road in Brazil.

[MartG]

Renault reported as saying Palmer needs to show well in comparison to Hulkenberg if he wants to stay for more than next year

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/palmer-will-stay...

[housen]

MartG said:

Renault reported as saying Palmer needs to show well in comparison to Hulkenberg if he wants to stay for more than next year

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/palmer-will-stay...

agreed

[rubystone]

housen said:

agreed

I'd say that Bottas will be watching Renault's performance very carefully next year. The options are, after all, on Renault!s side

[MartG]

Looks like Nasr's out - Banco do Brasil have announced they are pulling their sponsorship of Sauber

[ajprice]

MartG said:

Looks like Nasr's out - Banco do Brasil have announced they are pulling their sponsorship of Sauber

No more Minion colours then, probably back to grey/white/red unless they can get another sponsor.

[MiniMan64]

Oh please not another grey/silver/black/white car! The grid is so dull at the moment, I know the blue/yellow is a bit garish but the rest of the grid looks like an Audi paint catalogue! It's awful!

Very surprised to see Ocon get the nod at FI ahead of Pascal? I thought he was the Merc golden boy?

[rubystone]

MartG said:

Looks like Nasr's out - Banco do Brasil have announced they are pulling their sponsorship of Sauber

Did they say they were pulling their sponsorship of Nasr too? If not, then that doesn't rule him out for the Manor seat. No one has mentioned Guittierez...he has Slim money behind him, doesn't he? I think he might buy the Sauber drive, especially given his Ferrari connections and experience of the 2016 Ferrari PU.

[Vaud]

rubystone said:

I think he might buy the Sauber drive, especially given his Ferrari connections and experience of the 2016 Ferrari PU.

Does PU experience matter that much?

[rubystone]

Vaud said:

Does PU experience matter that much?

Depends how different characteristics are. Can't hurt Can if?

[Smiti]

MartG said:

Renault reported as saying Palmer needs to show well in comparison to Hulkenberg if he wants to stay for more than next year

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/palmer-will-stay...

He did well towards the latter half of the championship and will improve in his second season.

[HustleRussell]

Smiti said:

He did well towards the latter half of the championship and will improve in his second season.

Dead last in Abu Dhabi behind both Saubers and both Manors

[Teppic]

HustleRussell said:

Smiti said:

He did well towards the latter half of the championship and will improve in his second season.

Dead last in Abu Dhabi behind both Saubers and both Manors

After colliding with Sainz (loss of downforce caught him out) and having to drive an entire lap with a damaged front wing before pitting for a replacement.