The Official Japanese GP Thread 2012 ***SPOILERS***

[SRT77]

Scuffers said:

where did you pick this up from?

Staggering if true...

I watched the press conference on Sky after P2 although it was probably a re-run. Age was the deciding factor in picking Perez.

[TheHeretic]

Wurls said:

Nothing to do with being bankrolled by the World's richest man then?

Not if that man is going to stay with Sauber.

[Steamer]

is it just me that can't get the 5live replays working on iplayer? they seem to have been down all morning

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01n6slh/5_li...

[playalistic]

Wurls said:

SRT77 said:

I watched the press conference on Sky after P2 although it was probably a re-run. Age was the deciding factor in picking Perez.

Nothing to do with being bankrolled by the World's richest man then?

Apparently Perez isn't a "pay driver" for McLaren. Rather he is being paid for his seat. Although I'm sure Slim Jr. will be bringing some big fat marketing opps and sponsorships which sweeten the deal somewhat

[JKDesign80]

Not sure what this is all about...

http://whatwillkimidonext.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEiw-7DQ9GY

[TheHeretic]

Wurls said:

Salaried only to satisfy Mclaren's ego. The 2013 car will have Telmex on it. It might even be in very big letters where it used to say Vodafone. Whitmarsh must think the fans are eejits.

Has that been confirmed? I thought someone said Telmex was remaining with Sauber?

ETA

http://www.sportinglife.com/formula1/news/article/...

[deadslow]

Wurls said:

playalistic said:

Wurls said:

SRT77 said:

I watched the press conference on Sky after P2 although it was probably a re-run. Age was the deciding factor in picking Perez.

Nothing to do with being bankrolled by the World's richest man then?

Apparently Perez isn't a "pay driver" for McLaren. Rather he is being paid for his seat. Although I'm sure Slim Jr. will be bringing some big fat marketing opps and sponsorships which sweeten the deal somewhat

Salaried only to satisfy Mclaren's ego. The 2013 car will have Telmex on it. It might even be in very big letters where it used to say Vodafone. Whitmarsh must think the fans are eejits.

Most commentators seem to think Perez opens up more markets for McL than 2 UK drivers, but Whitmarsh is never going to say he picked a driver on that basis. But a good choice whatever the reasoning.

[TheHeretic]

Wurls said:

Not confirmed as far as I'm aware, just my read of the situation but based on noises made by VF of late (revenues forecast to be down this financial year)

It says confirmed in the article.

[Scuffers]

Bedazzled said:

Scuffers said:

SRT77 said:

In fact at the team principals press conference Whitmarsh said he picked Perez for next year over Di Resta because Di Resta was too old. I think he's 26.

where did you pick this up from?

Staggering if true...

More likely to be because Perez actually defends his position rather than just waving people through, unlike Di Resta. I was quite impressed with Di Resta's 4th place last time out, he's gradually improving for sure, but he can't race for toffee.

not sure I can agree with that?

with F1 the way it is currently (ie, crap tyres etc) putting up a big fight for a position your unlikely to be able to defend for more an a few laps is only going to screw the rest of the race for you.

way I see it, Paul's actions are a sign of him taking the longer view, and not being a hot head.

[Scuffers]

Bedazzled said:

Yes I know what you mean, but he isn't even in the race; he's just sharing the track with them while doing his own little time-trial!

well, given that he's outperforming Hulkenberg (who people seem to rate highly) with the same equipment, I just can't see you can justifiably level this kind of criticism..

if you want to see more wheel-wheel racing, then get rid of these comedy tyres and other gimmicky st.

[airportparking]

De Resta fanboy alert

I find his driving matches his persona perfectly BOOOORING, which is why he isnt sitting in the LH macca next year

[Dr Z]

I see di Resta as an even more sensible version of Button! (If that's possible!) He seems to choose his battles wisely on track, taking care to not end up in costly fights that doesn't have any real impact on his track position/race. Maybe Mclaren feel that they already have a driver that does that well, why bring in somebody to do it even better? Does it fit with the Mclaren ethos? Perez is more of a Hamilton replacement, albeit a 'rookie' version...

[Scuffers]

Dr Z said:

I see di Resta as an even more sensible version of Button! (If that's possible!) He seems to choose his battles wisely on track, taking care to not end up in costly fights that doesn't have any real impact on his track position/race. Maybe Mclaren feel that they already have a driver that does that well, why bring in somebody to do it even better? Does it fit with the Mclaren ethos? Perez is more of a Hamilton replacement, albeit a 'rookie' version...

all good stuff, but I bet money has more to do with it.

[deadslow]

Dr Z said:

I see di Resta as an even more sensible version of Button! (If that's possible!) He seems to choose his battles wisely on track, taking care to not end up in costly fights that doesn't have any real impact on his track position/race. Maybe Mclaren feel that they already have a driver that does that well, why bring in somebody to do it even better? Does it fit with the Mclaren ethos? Perez is more of a Hamilton replacement, albeit a 'rookie' version...

Agree, this is exactly right. DiResta has brains.

[Satsuma]

It was because some of the sponsors don't get along well with the britishness of the team.

[Paul671]

Scuffers said:

SRT77 said:

In fact at the team principals press conference Whitmarsh said he picked Perez for next year over Di Resta because Di Resta was too old. I think he's 26.

where did you pick this up from?

Staggering if true...

I watched that interview this morning.

Whitmarsh didn't exactly say DiResta was too old for them, just that Perez was younger.
He was saying that DiResta is as good as he will ever be, but Perez still has a way to go and could be one of the greats one day. That's how I saw it.

[Sofoklis]

Another interesting thing that came out from the team principles press conference was the McLaren and Mercedes engine supply beyond 2013. According to what Ross Brawn and Martin Whitmarsh had to say, all the hallmarks are there that suggest McLaren will be using the 3 pointed star engine in 2014 after all.

As for choosing Perez over Di Resta and Hulkenberg. Age was a factor. At the current age of 23 and with already 2 years experience under his belt, joining McLaren next year will make him the same age as Lewis when he was first introduced to F1. McLaren believe they have a young driver with potential, rising talent and joins the team without bad habits. They can work with him and groom him to the McLaren way of doing things.

[SpeedMattersNot]

Di Resta's actually quite smart in his approach to racing.

If an overtake is possible in F1 then it typically means the car behind you is over 1.5seconds a lap faster per lap. Defending this position will slow your overall race strategy down by more time when the flag drops than just allowing them to pass without losing too much time.

Regarding Perez, I still reserve my judgement on him. He will either be a massive success or make a complete paper hat out of himself. It can only be one or the other!

[woof]

Paul671 said:

Scuffers said:

SRT77 said:

In fact at the team principals press conference Whitmarsh said he picked Perez for next year over Di Resta because Di Resta was too old. I think he's 26.

where did you pick this up from?

Staggering if true...

I watched that interview this morning.

Whitmarsh didn't exactly say DiResta was too old for them, just that Perez was younger.
He was saying that DiResta is as good as he will ever be, but Perez still has a way to go and could be one of the greats one day. That's how I saw it.

Yep and I agree.
Diresta is as good as he can be (which is pretty good !)
Perez has the potential to be more than he is currently, but he has been flattered by having the option to start on the "right" tyre, rather than having to use the Q3 tyre.
Kobayashi has out qualified him this year but has fallen foul of having to use the softer tyre to start the races with.

In saying that, I've been saying that Perez is a real talent and next year will be very interesting

( Button to win the WDC in 2013 )

[TheHeretic]

Well, 3rd practice done and dusted. Some ruined runs at the end for both JB and LH. Bit of a mixy-blob.