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Official news by Caterham just now!

Kobayashi, Kovalainen, HRT pair are now with no drives if rumors continue as they are

Edit: https://twitter.com/MyCaterhamF1

Who will get other seat? Reserve driver getting fp1 ominous signs

Happy for him. He wasn't often on TV, nor was often covered by commentators, but I feel he came closer to Glock than any other Marussia driver.

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The end is near

I think Petrov will keep his seat given how well he fared with Kovalainen and the money he brings

Well he wasn't going to stay there block doesn't like him and feels he has been disrespectful towards him, he has been good in a bad car so its hard to judge i guess we will see next season in a slightly better car how competitive he is.

Petrov has already said he's bye bye due to lack of funds.

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

Glad he is still in F1 next season, he has been quite impressive this season I think in a car which is pretty poo.

Shame if it means Kaumi and Hekki will be gone next year though

But Marussia aero seems better than Caterham. They are very close now and don't have KERS

Next year I won't be surprised if Marussia > Caterham
I assume this was a sort of forced move because it seems a step backwards :/

I'm pleased for him. I originally thought D'Ambrosio was a bit hard done by as Pic didn't have great junior formulae results and didn't appear to bring in much sponsorship either... But Pic has had a strong season, particularly in the second half and with Marussia more than likely bringing Chilton in for next year Caterham was probably his only viable option, whether it is a step forward or not we'll see next year.

I would not be surprised to see Bruno Senna in the other Caterham next year. He brings money and has been solid but unspectacular for Williams and I think he would be out to prove a point.

Personally I'd rather see Williams loan Bottas to Caterham for next year, and take Heikki. It would give Bottas race experience under less pressure and Heikki is consistent and can actually qualify. He would push Maldonado to be even better.

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Pick 10 Competition 2013: Current Championship Standing = 21st with 597 points
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Either Heikki, Sutil, or Kobayashi will partner him.

Personally i'd like to see Kobayashi as we can actually see how these newer drivers are performing. You can't really tell with Heikki or Glock as they've been in the newer teams since 2010, while Kobayashi has been in the midfield and a podium finisher this year. Would be nice to give a guy such as Pic a current benchmark in performance. Sadly though, Kobayashi is short on sponsorship money.

So for the team as a whole, they should keep Kovalainen really.

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I have a band.

Giedo van der Garde has had so much FP1 time lately I wouldn't be surprised if they brought him in. Kovalainen would be a secure choice and Caterham already had a contract ready, but who knows what's going on over there now.
Kobayashi is an option, as is Sutil. We'll have to wait and see on that.

I think it's a good move, a few times this year I've seen his name above Glock. Shouldn't be the case as he's brand new to F1, so he must be pretty good!

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Looks like Heikki will be out of a job

Although I wonder how much cash his Angry Birds sponsor brings in? Cant be anywhere near as much as what Petrov brings tho.

Heikki to Force India maybe?

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I always liked Pic, but I'm not sure if he is moving to better team.

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Renault!

2012 Planet F1 Prediction Competition Champion

He cant really move to a worse one given that the two lowest teams on the grid next year will be Marussia and Caterham.

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Great news.

Didn't rate di Grassi so high, I thought d'Ambrosio deserved better, but Pic has been the best of the 3 in my opinion. Great to see he will be on the grid next year.

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"I am a believer, but I start each Grand Prix with 195 liters of fuel behind me," he explains. "I don't rely entirely on God, I rely on Prost."

Exactly. I'm presuming Caterham's finances are a little more secure hence the move. He's keeping himself in the eye of other teams as well really.

But Kovi, Williams could do worse than snap him up as Senna's replacement. Persuade Nokia to come on board with some money and bobs your uncle. Bottas needs a year in GP2 first before I'd promote him. Won't happen but yeah.

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I think Heikki's F1 career is done. Maybe he'll take up rallying with Kubica.

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Räikkönen - Vettel - Rosberg - Bottas

Interesting move. I'd assume partly borne out of the uncomfortable relationship he supposedly has with Marussia/Glock, and knowing they intend to promote Chilton, this may have been his only genuine opportunity to remain on the grid next year. Marussia have made some positive strides this season, and presumably with KERS, would've been ahead of Caterham on a more regular basis. How exactly those two stack up next season is anybody's guess. Perhaps Marussia will be ahead more often, but it doesn't really feel like either are threatening to catch the rest of the field.

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Currently cheering for: Felipe Massa; Nico Hulkenberg; Romain Grosjean; Felipe Nasr. Oh, and of course, the Toronto Maple Leafs

Pic has done a decent job this year relative to Glock but if he's taking the Caterham seat at Kovalainen's expense then I'll be very disappointed. Heikki deserves to be on the grid next year and there aren't many other options for him now. Hopefully he'll get the Force India seat.

Yes, he still didn't make any progress. Marussia built quite capable car this year. I think they made better progress than Caterham, which stalled. Marusia will finally have KERS next, so there still some room for improvement.

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Renault!

2012 Planet F1 Prediction Competition Champion

I don't see how giving the race seat to Kovalainen instead of Bottas would benefit Williams at all. Kovalainen has already shown what he's made of as an F1 driver: qualifying is supposed to be his forte but recently he's been consistently outpaced by Petrov in qualis, and in races they're pretty even stevens. Petrov has never been rated and Kovalainen is struggling against him. At McLaren he had a great car, lucked into winning one race and never achieved anything else. And he's stated that he can't bring sponsorship money to a team to secure a driver seat.

Bottas doesn't need GP2, he's already been the friday driver this season and he's been with Williams since 2010 so he knows the personnel there. In any case he's a better choice for Williams than Kovalainen would be and most likely is the other Williams race driver for 2013 alongside the Pastor.

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At first I would have welcomed the move to Caterham, but since it looks likely that Marussia will hold onto 10th and get that prize money, this could be a step backwards as Marussia are ever looking stronger in comparison to Caterham, and with that money I assume the trend to continue into next year

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Drivers I like:
Raikkonen
Grosjean
Perez
Vettel

Teams I like:
Lotus
Merc
RBR
Marussia

Caterham took 10th last year as Team Lotus, and they went backwards this year. Flawed logic I'm afraid

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f**k.. is it true??

he's one of my favs.

F**k... is that true too?!

Just kidding, I used to like him at Renault too. Didn't realise he had many fans left.

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"You are the universe expressing itself as a Human for a little while..."

Excited for this actually. I hope Caterham can get their sh*t together next year, and Pic can show a little more of what he's got without being in the shadow of Timo. Marussia has made enormous steps this year, hard to believe he isn't a key part in that. Fingers crossed he can help pull Caterham up a bit.

I also hope Heikki can stay. I predict GvdG will be confirmed soon, but there's a chance they will choose not to go with two new guys.

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I call bollocks until a viable source is provided.

It's all down to how much money Pic brings to the team - dont forget he's a french man, and Renault supply Caterham engines.

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Petrov's own manager has been saying for months that they don't have any money to continue/

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The reports were it was his manager that said it.

Something to do with the Russian Govt' pulling funds.

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

Kovalainen must be the most over-rated driver on the grid.

Pic has really impressed me this year Im pleased he hasn't gone the same way as the other Marrusia drivers. I am also pleased that we may see Max driving next year.

Good choice. Pic has looked very good this year so I hope this is a step forward. I think Cateham need a new start to recover from being beaten by Marussia. Pic for the talent and maybe Van der Garde or Senna to bring money in a well. Petrov has been reasonable to keep up with Kovalainen but has no wonga wheras all I have seen of Kovalainen this year is him spun around or crashed or lapped. Not good enough. I hated Caterham for dropping Trulli but maybe I'll support them again if they improve.

So that's Sochi out the window then is it?

Bottas has apperently managed to put together a decent amount of sponsorship money for next year with help from Toto Wolff.

I'd rather have Bottas than Kova as a Williams fan, Petrov has started to outpace Kova in the second half of the season and Bottas is pretty young, unlike Kova who will be 31/32 next season, Botttas would pretty cheap as well in terms of salary. Also Bottas has plenty of F1 mileage with FPs and young driver tests, maybe a bit race rusty but he had a decent finishing record in GP3.

As for Pic, well done and hopefully Caterham will be able to live up to the hype the build themselves up with.

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i heard he is actually struggling to get new sponsors and still cant get anywhere near what senna brings in. I think he has 3 -4 smallish sponsors in f1 terms unless they can pass force India in the constructors i think they may keep senna as his backers have apparently agreed to make up the shortfall.

all these guys leaving F1 should follow Rubens to IndyCar, much cheaper and of courses there's the Indianapolis 500, the world's greatest race.

not even Bernie has the balls to screw over Putin

I'm pleased for Pic that he's done enough to be picked up by another team. I don't think it's a step backwards, but a step sideways with greater potential, similar to what Hulkenberg has done going from Force India to Sauber. For whatever reason I think Caterham are more noticed and slightly well-regarded on the grid, whether that's just better marketing or because they are actually better but getting that 10th place can be a bit hit and miss due to circumstances. I also think Pic deserves the opportunity because in a single year he's started outperforming Glock who has many, many years more experience.

As for him replacing Kovalainen or Petrov, I'd prefer it was the former. Kovalainen totally lost me in 2008. Even if Hamilton at that point was the equivalent of Senna, Schumacher, Clark, Fangio and Prost (in no particular order), his performance in comparison would have been woeful, and Hamilton wasn't that, so it was......what's worse than woeful? I know people say that he was a great qualifier and fuel-corrected he was often better than Hamilton, but there's no points awarded on a Saturday and he never showed much in the races at all. It all culminated for me when he did nothing at Monza that year: he was in arguably the best car and his only rival was a rookie who'd barely led a race before and he was nowhere near Vettel for the whole race. Again, even if Vettel was the equivalent of those five drivers, it was a woeful performance in comparison. He's never made even the most remote impression since then. He now appears to be being outpaced by Petrov in qualifying as well so Petrov's not just IMO a better bet, but Kovalainen has had his chance.

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