What would Heikki do

What would Heikki do

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Discussion

megy

Original Poster:

2,429 posts

215 months

Sunday 17th November 2013
quotequote all
So Heikki has the Lotus drive for these next 2 races but there are still strong rumours around he will be back in the Caterham next year

Totally hypothetical situation here so play along

Heikki is in 10th position towards the end of the race in USA or Brazil, and one of the Caterhams is in 11th place. Assuming Lotus don't need the single point, would Heikki move over and let the Caterham past allowing them to claim their first point in F1?

Discuss (please keep it nice)

bishbash

2,447 posts

198 months

Sunday 17th November 2013
quotequote all
I don't think he would move over, he's a racer and it would go against his instincts.

But, who knows what it says in the contract between Lotus and Caterham, they may even have a clause that allows for Caterham team orders in specific sets of situations. Are teams allowed to talk to each other on the pitwall, could an order come from Caterham and be passed to Heikki through Lotus?

Either way, I couldn't see anything like this happening today, but last race of the season, who knows?

Edited by bishbash on Sunday 17th November 12:43

RemarkLima

2,375 posts

213 months

Sunday 17th November 2013
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I wouldn't think so... I'd also think that it would damage your reputation more than it would do any good - ultimately the team you're racing for is the team your racing for.

Unless it's part of Caterhams contract to send over Heikki or Lotus felt particularly generous at that point, it wouldn't happen I'd think.

Personally, if a driver had done something like that without the teams consent, I'd not be keen to hire them (should I ever find myself as a team principle!)

snorkel sucker

2,662 posts

204 months

Sunday 17th November 2013
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Caterham in 11th place .... hehe!

megy

Original Poster:

2,429 posts

215 months

Sunday 17th November 2013
quotequote all
snorkel sucker said:
Caterham in 11th place .... hehe!
Good point, but I never said anything about keeping it realistic.

Plus, the mood Maldonado is in and his position today he could easily take out half of those in front of him, leaving Caterham in 11th, again, hehe

designndrive62

744 posts

158 months

Sunday 17th November 2013
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Depends how the ferraris and Mercedes were doing. If they were all out or doing rubbish and grosjean was up at the front, that last point could get lotus a place higher the world champ couldn't it?

P-Jay

10,579 posts

192 months

Monday 18th November 2013
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I was really hoping for a fairy tale return for him yesterday, he got a lot of positive feedback for his Qualli performance, it's shame his race didn't go as well - a careful start was the smart thing to do - broken front wing and a KERS failure.

Anyway, I hope he has a better Brazil.

As for the OP question, no, I don't think he'd treat a Caterham any differently to any other Team's car - Lotus have offered him what Caterham wouldn't, personally letting go of his experience and talent in favour of slower pay drivers represents a lot of what's wrong with F1 at the moment.

weyland yutani

1,410 posts

165 months

Monday 18th November 2013
quotequote all
Whatever happened to the D'ambrosio bloke, seemed to have fallen completely off the radar. Valsecchi should have been given a chance.

Poor race by Kov, an average driver. Andretti was saying before the race he deserved a chance at the top confused

KieronGSi

1,108 posts

205 months

Monday 18th November 2013
quotequote all
weyland yutani said:
Whatever happened to the D'ambrosio bloke, seemed to have fallen completely off the radar. Valsecchi should have been given a chance.

Poor race by Kov, an average driver. Andretti was saying before the race he deserved a chance at the top confused
Umm, he was losing down force and had to change his front wing in an extra pit stop, and his Kers failed. So not completely his fault.


Edited by KieronGSi on Monday 18th November 16:51

P-Jay

10,579 posts

192 months

Monday 18th November 2013
quotequote all
weyland yutani said:
Poor race by Kov, an average driver. Andretti was saying before the race he deserved a chance at the top confused
Personally I think he's very under rated.

Not a great result, - he lost 2 places to a careful / unlucky start - given he's not started a race in nearly a year and was near back of the grid then it was smart to take it easy.

A KERS failure and a broken front wing put pay to the rest of this race really - I hope he has more luck in Brazil.

1000TCR

161 posts

209 months

Monday 18th November 2013
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I thought a star was born when Heikki beat Loeb in his WRC Citroen at the ROC. He couldn't quite live up to this expectation.

JPatkinson18

29 posts

129 months

Monday 18th November 2013
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P-Jay said:
Personally I think he's very under rated.
I agree,

with the performance he gave all weekend despite the problems he was having during the race I think he did a good job and I hope he can get a seat for next year (probably not with Caterham though)

bishbash

2,447 posts

198 months

Monday 18th November 2013
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I think Caterham might actually move up the grid a bit next year, they seem to have been picking up decent engineering people and seem to have a reasonable sized bank account. So whilst I don't think they be challenging for podiums, I can see them being in the points a bit. But it seems like it's going to be a bit of a lottery next year, so who knows.

Henry Fiddleton

1,581 posts

178 months

Monday 18th November 2013
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Heikki might as well join WEC if he thinks he is any good- a la Webber.

He is going to get nothing out of Caterham next year.

The mid field is fine for young and up coming drivers, or true journey men - Sutils, Heikki I guess.

You pick your places (where possible) to suit you.

P-Jay

10,579 posts

192 months

Monday 18th November 2013
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There's a small chance Lotus might take him on full-time.

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns26862.html


TheArchitect

1,238 posts

180 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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Heikki has always been a very fast driver. His mclaren experience did its best to ruin him and his confidence. Something was going on at mclaren as he was not as far off the pace as the car made him appear.

Whilst many don't rate it he was ROC champion in 2004 iirc beating Loeb and Schumacher.

anonymous-user

55 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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TheArchitect said:
Heikki has always been a very fast driver. His mclaren experience did its best to ruin him and his confidence. Something was going on at mclaren as he was not as far off the pace as the car made him appear.

Whilst many don't rate it he was ROC champion in 2004 iirc beating Loeb and Schumacher.
I think the 'something going on at McLaren' was Hamilton......

tristancliffe

357 posts

214 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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Lots of people thought that. But then it turns out that Lewis isn't that quick after all. There was something ELSE going on at McLaren with Heikki.

TheArchitect

1,238 posts

180 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
quotequote all
tristancliffe said:
Lots of people thought that. But then it turns out that Lewis isn't that quick after all. There was something ELSE going on at McLaren with Heikki.
IIRC he always seemed to be running a different strategy which meant he was on heavier fuel loads in qualifying which always hampered him. I also think after his big shunt he was affected slightly which didnt help. I also think he was forced upon mclaren which meant he did not get favoured treatment.

carinaman

21,317 posts

173 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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Would Heikki help Caterham get a point?

Would Perez be viewed in a different light if it wasn't for the 'maintain position' command he got while he was at Sauber last year? How does that compare to 'Multi 21' and Vettel disobeying orders to pass Webber?