planetf1.com

I honestly think Paul has had a good season, I personally think Nico is a cut above (and always have); and lets not forget at the begining of the year, Nico had been out of the car for a year, so i suspect his first half of the seasons we just "re learning" to a certain extent.

That said, I think Paul has shown where the FI is in terms of pace, he certainly hasnt done the car a injustice; so good job done, but not supprised Nico came out on top over the course of a year.

Except that Webber rarely got beaten my a teammate until he was joined by Vettel...

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‘Ayrton had taken pole and now Alain said to me: “where the f*** did he find that time? How the hell can he be that quick?” In the corner, Senna…he looked up and winked at me. Ayrton had a look in his eye that said, “I’ve done it.”
Jo Ramírez

What good team mates did he have before Vettel apart from rookies? Even DC was a match for him, and they was 1-1 after being team mates (In season battles)

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Driver Instructor & Test Driver

What good team mates did he have before Vettel apart from rookies? Even DC was a match for him, and they was 1-1 after being team mates (In season battles)




That was after he signed, he got signed as he was pulling out the results before that.

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Driver Instructor & Test Driver

Yeah Um hows that tin hat.

The falling out comes over a deal with FI. Paul was looking at a sponsorship deal that required buying rights off Vijay. Hamilton gave DiResta a figure they would cost after supposedly talking to Vijay. DiResta later went to Vijay straight and discovered the price was something like a mill dollars cheaper than Hamilton had told him. By that stage the deal had fell through. On paper it looks like either Vijay was stirring a pot or Hamilton was trying to rip him off for a Mill Dollars or just didn't do his homework right.

Last I heard it was going to court. Nothing to do with the McLaren seat. IIRC it started around the Chinese Grand Prix. Way before any of that kicked off.

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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."

I noticed too. Normally, after a crash and without a drive for the next year, you should be sad and angry.
Bruno was quite easy and relaxed in the post race interviews, meaning that probably he has already a contract in his hands with a competitive team (maybe renewal with Williams, or Force India or Lotus)

Regarding Paul; he was a bit of a dissapoint for me. Outraced and outqualified by Hulkenberg costantly in the second part of the season.
Hope that in 2013 he will be stronger, but that wasn't a good year for him.

Hamilton centre of the universe strikes again.

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Jenson Button
Kimi Raikkonen
Romain Grosjean
Nico Hulkenburg

i had a thread on here a few weeks ago asking the same question.

next year is massive for him - he needs to beat his teammate - no matter what.

this year he was doing fine...an excellent 4th in Singapore. then freefall. its as if he expected to get a Ferrari or a McLaren drive then when that didnt work, and splitting with Hamiltons dad he went into freefall. last 5 or 6 races, Hulkenberg has destroyed him.

People who are saying "oh but he beat Vettel in F3". Fair enough but that was 6 years ago. Vettel has come on leaps and bounds as a driver since then, Di Resta has not. If you were to put Di Resta in the same Red Bull as Vettel now I'm fairly sure that Vettel would thump him. Similarly if you had Di Resta in the Red Bull and not Vettel for the last three years then he wouldn't be a 3xWDC. Di Resta is a decidedly average driver, deserves a place in F1 but he'll never be WDC material. There's a reason he was overlooked by McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

If Di Resta is so very average then that makes "The Hulk" average to you. As for most of the season Di Resta was beating the Hulk, only the latter races Hulk beat him and overtake him the standings with a solid run.

But for the most part of the season they have been very close to each other, and it was only the Brazil race where the Hulk pulled a bigger gap, before this race the points gap was like 1-6 points. Di Resta had a poor race and it shows in the standings, but you cant judge just of this race. But as said your calling the Hulk average also

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Driver Instructor & Test Driver

Well no I'm not actually. Di Resta has had two race season in the FI, Hulk only one. I'd expect Di Resta to match Hulk early in the season but Hulk to start pulling away as the season progressed. Which happened. Other than Singapore Di Resta has done nothing all year. Hulk dragged that FI into the lead in Sao Paulo, no average driver could have done that.

Di Resta has peaked to just about where he belongs in F1, Hulkenburg has much more potential as yesterday showed and we saw a snippet of that back at the same track on the Saturday in 2010. He has something, a spark in him that is special. I have never seen that kind of spark in Di Resta.

So yes, Di Resta average, Hulk just above average. That was the difference between them in the last 5 races. One had more potential to unlock when the team mate battle was getting very very tight.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

EJ thinks Senna has the seat at Caterham next year. In the post race walk he cornered him and all but twisted his arm to make him admit it. all he would say was 'I do not have a contract' but with a grin.
He did not say there was no contract or if it was with his legal being checked. Just that he did not have it

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I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.

Marx (Groucho)

It like having Andy Murry in a f1 car

Maybe he was the test driver for F1 2012 the game ?

I don't know what you are talking about. The Hamiltons sued Di Resta?

Di Resta is shit compared to Hulkenberg its just he mentions that he beat in Vettel in F3 all the time so dullards like Jake Humphrey think that it means he is as good as Vettel so they big him up even when he is getting schooled by his team mate.

Also Hulkenberg has got a personality, something Di Resta clearly lacks along with his inability to actually smile unless the subject is about his F3 days.

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Support: Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen
Respect: Alonso, Schumacher, Newey
Not so keen on: Vettel, Di Resta, whoever decides to red flag when it rains in F1

Are you Di Resta in disguise by any chance?, either that or you are his biggest/only fan.

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Support: Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen
Respect: Alonso, Schumacher, Newey
Not so keen on: Vettel, Di Resta, whoever decides to red flag when it rains in F1

Arr so I talk as the season has gone and now am his biggest fan? Critical of all drivers when needed, and the same as Di Resta (Who run an awful Brazil race, silly rookie mistakes)

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Driver Instructor & Test Driver

I met a bloke in the pub (while I was there to watch Texas) and he was really a huge fan. He said he didn't know why he liked him, when I said that's a strange choice from my point of view!

I just cannot imagine him having many supporters, he is a fairly unremarkable driver and has little charisma or personality to bring to the table even in Britain no one cares about him and it's not because he is in the midfield because even when DC and Button were in the midfield people still used show their support for them

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Support: Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen
Respect: Alonso, Schumacher, Newey
Not so keen on: Vettel, Di Resta, whoever decides to red flag when it rains in F1

Di Resta has possibly been the most consistently beaten by his teammate in the 2nd half of the season of any driver on the grid

He said something in Brazil along the lines of he was concerned about being outqualified for a few races but in Brazil he was doing better so he realised it was to do with the circuits and tire warming so he wasn't as worried any more

Maybe he is having problems like Massa early season and Button mid season

this is it for di resta. 2013 will be make or break. i dont see FI keeping hime if he performs like he did this season. it was solid performance but not special.

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Last I read they are suing each other. Hamilton suing Diresta over breach of contract (Firing him) . Then DiResta put in a counter suite because of the sponsorship deal he missed out on because of Hamiltons cock up on the money.

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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."

It's his mouth that's going down hill, from being better than Vettel to complete silence.
His drive is always there: average from day 1. Sorry to say that.
He just looked better than he was (in the 1st half of 2011) because Sutil was underperforming. And Sutil isn't special either.

he sacked Hamilton because he believed Hamilton was quoting him much over the odds to buy his commercial rights from FI i believe band basically siphoning the rest for himself, Hamilton denied this and is taking him to court for wrongful dismissal. Nothing to do with McLaren seat

Di Resta is definitely going downhill and IMO he will never make any sort of lasting impression in F1, no matter for which team he drives. His body language gives the impression of a guy lacking in confidence and plagued by self-doubt. He is definitely not Big League material.

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Vettel / Raikkonen / Button

his downward spiral is in direct correlation with mclaren announcing perez not him for the drive , apparently he was hoping on that seat encouraged by his new management at the time (button)

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Ask no questions, hear no lies

Button isn't doing any managing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motors ... fairs.html

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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."

Just because he missed out on a McLaren seat doesn't mean he gets an excuse for his performances being really quite lacklustre in the latter half of the season. He should still have been performing on track, that's the difference between good and average drivers.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

I have to agree that he initially rubbed me the wrong way when he constantly brought up his F3 win over Vettel in what could only be understood to be self-hype. While I think Perez is the next big thing - that dude is going to rock it - I would agree that Hulkenberg is another to watch along the way. I think we will get a much better idea about him next year in the Sauber.

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Chilton is useless pay driver. As a Brit I wouldn't want to cheer for such a muppet, when you have drivers like Hamilton, Button or even di Resta. Calado would be much, much better replacement for Pic in Marussia, but money talks, so we will have Chilton in F1 next year. He's my bet for the worst driver in F1 in 2013.



As for di Resta, his problem is that he is not only incredibly dull out of the car, but also in the car. Heidfeld also had boring personality, but you remember his drives like Monaco 05 when he made brilliant overtake on Alonso, Bahrain 07 when again he made stonking move on Alonso, Britain 08 with 2 double overtakes. You may be not remembering, but he often made right calls and good performances in wet conditions, a la Button, which gained him podiums like Brazil 01, Hungary 06, Britain 08 or Malaysia 09.

Meanwhile, what can you say about di Resta results? 6th in Singapore last year - just driving, absolutely nothing exciting. 7th in Malaysia - the same (also for Hulk, who was 9th in that race). 6th in Bahrain - one stop less than the others, boring stuff. 7th in Monaco - just in front of his teammate, hardly exciting. 7th in Valencia - on one stop less than his teammate, but Hulk finished 5th, without KERS. 10th in Belgium - without KERS, while Hulk finished 4th 40 seconds ahead, double the gap lack of KERS should account for. 4th in Singapore - brilliant result, but did he challenge anyone? nope, just cruise & collect sort of drive.

That's the problem for di Resta. Boring on and off track. Type in 'di Resta' in YouTube - his highlight is being overtaken by Kimi in Germany. Type in 'Hulkenberg' or 'Sergio Perez' and you will see their overtakes and fighting with top names in the sport. That's the difference - they are exciting new prospects, while di Resta is, well, boring prospect, if you can even call him prospect after he lost to Sutil and now to Hulkenberg.

2013 is make or break year for him. If he again can't at the very least equal his teammate, then next year will be his last, I presume.

I think the problem with Di Resta is that he needs a perfect car, he always seems to be moaning about something or maybe thats just his excuse for Hulkenberg beating him. That said though despite Nico being much more consistent the first time he got a shot at a great result, he blew it, he crashed and took someone else out. Paul held of Alonso in Bahrain despite having worn tyres and a slower car. He also got a good forth and was catching Fernando in Singapore. Yes Hamilton and Maldonado retired from ahead but Hulkenberg got forth in Spa when Grosjean, Perez, Alonso, Hamilton and Kobayashi would most likley have been ahead. His qualifying is abymal apart from Monza and he needs to work on that, perhaps work on his pace and tone up the agression just a bit but I dont think he is not deserving of another chance. Next year is last chance saloon though.

Post of the year

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I never thought di Resta was all that good in the first place, he just seemed to get a lot of hype from the British press because of his nationality. He was largely outperformed by Sutil in his first year and has been outperformed by Hulkenberg this year. He's worthy of a place on the grid but I don't see him as anything more than a midfield driver.

He was beating Hulk for the first half of the season and they looked close, at one point Di Resta was ahead for most of the season and looked okay given the track. But latter in the season when it really mattered he lacked that killer edge that the Hulk had, and at Brazil went with a dry set-up which cost him dearly. However overall they was pretty close this season and the gap is not as big as people are making out as they was both very close overall, just Di Resta seemed to lack something later in the season when it really matter.

He reminds me of a certain Mark Webber, can sometimes have deadly pace to beat his team mate, but fails when it really matters and lacks the consistency of a potential champion. However there is still room to improve next season.

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Driver Instructor & Test Driver

Di Resta's personality is written in the stars. He is a fearless tiger (Chinese astrological sign is "Tiger". Combine that with the fact that he's an Aries, which is a no-nonsense 'fire' zodiac sign. Don't expect him to be great in 'marketing' skills expected in today's politically correct F1 drivers.

Bottomline he doesn't give a sh*t what anybody thinks. Nor is he fearful of his competition. He is more about performing with results. And that is testament with the points he accumulated (wasn't far off from Hulk in points last season, and Hulk only got his additional 10 points in the last Brazil GP).

Given the right car setup (I see him in a MacLaren) and a few podiums, you will see a totally different refined Paul than the disappointed one you see today.

+1

Not sure if serious...

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Räikkönen - Vettel - Rosberg - Bottas

Don't pooh-pooh astrology buddy.

Could be. He looked like he was seeing stars for most of the second half of the season.

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Vettel / Raikkonen / Button