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I don't remember Alonso and Senna being teammates?

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Current Standing: 16th

Considering that Di Resta is as tall as him & is as good as confirmed, he may have to wait ironically till the official announcement is made. Sutil is as tall even. Force India prefers taller drivers!

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Unlike Uday!

PF1 Pick 10 Competition
Best Results: 1st with highest ever score of 225 (India 2012) & 2nd (Silverstone 2012)
Recipient of : Rosberg's Chinese Getaway Trophy

Well it seems to me that its harder to accomodate a taller driver with a car designed around smaller drivers than the other way around, i'm not sure if there are standard cockpit dimensions now, but when it was mooted about Massa being replaced with either Webber or Hulkenberg a stumbling block seemed to be the height of the drivers compared to Alonso and Massa.

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didn't say they were, last season he qualified higher than Alonso in his Ferrari in a stagnant development wise Renault.

As long as the drivers are signed prior to the first pre-season test in February there's no problem.

Sometimes I miss the old days where you'd arrive at the first race and the ink on the contract wasn't even dry yet.

Ok i know what you mean now it was at Spa on a drying track, it must be mentioned that Alguersuari in the Torro Rosso outqualified the two of them because of the unusual conditions, however it was a good performance by Senna

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It was a good performance by Senna up until turn one when he took out Alguersuari by doing a Schumacher-a-la-2012 and ploughing into the back of him. Ironically the same thing Schumi did to him at Barcelona...

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

He actually hit him sideways, not from behind. It was Senna's first start with a fully loaded Renault and he didn't anticipate that enough, missing his braking point and hit Jaime.

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-Ayrton Senna fan-

2013 follower of :

Fernando Alonso

I had a feeling it may have been from the side as soon as I posted it! I understand how Senna misjudged it, but I was looking for excuses to dislike the guy, as he took Heidfeld's seat (one of my favourites) and then took out Jaime (one of my favourites) whilst I was there at Spa wanting to cheer someone on! Then of course Lewis had brain fade, and I had to endure a Red Bull thrashing. At least Button and Schumi made for a good race, and Webbo did that overtake at Eau Rouge right infront of me

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

Now that Senna's contract has ended, his name is no where near the speculations about Force India drive. Buemi & Alguesuari are out of contention now.

Sutil has a better chance because of experience & rapport with the Force India engineers. Some have said that Force India may switch to Ferrari engines in 2014 & that's where Bianchi would prove handy. If this is the case, let Bianchi be the reserve driver for another year, give him more outings & in 2014, give him the seat & swap to Ferrari engines. Wonder when the decision about these 2 will be made?

Hypothetically speaking, if the rookies Esteban Gutierrez in Sauber and Valtteri Bottas in Williams don't prove their mettle & struggle with getting up to speed (I doubt Bottas will struggle), would Sutil & Di Resta's experience & hopefully constant point scorings help Force India outscore Sauber & Williams in the WCC standings? If Bianchi is taken, 3 rookies in 3 midfield teams, which would mean battle royale!

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Always S(mile)!
Unlike Uday!

PF1 Pick 10 Competition
Best Results: 1st with highest ever score of 225 (India 2012) & 2nd (Silverstone 2012)
Recipient of : Rosberg's Chinese Getaway Trophy

Fair point about rookies. Sutil could win FI many millions in championship money, it's fairly rare that new rookies score well in their first season, Kobayashi Hamilton being the most recent notable exceptions. Of the recent ones: Di Resta, Perez, Pic, Ricciardo, Maldonado, Hulkenberg, Grosjean and Petrov all did poorly against their team mates in their first season even though most have gone on to be competent drivers since. I can't see why Gutierrez and Bottas will be any different. Sutil & Di Resta will be a consistent point scoring machine, depending on how Merc perform I can easily see FI challenging them for 5th.

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Official Kamui Kobayashi Fanboy

Does anyone else think Bianchi looks like James Franco with his shades on the PF1 homepage?

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

You are quite right. Gutierrez when smiles wide looks so similar to the smile of young Daniel Radcliffe.

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Best Results: 1st with highest ever score of 225 (India 2012) & 2nd (Silverstone 2012)
Recipient of : Rosberg's Chinese Getaway Trophy

It has to be said that Heidfeld's performances were not exactly awe inspiring being regularly outqualified by Petrov though

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Well Heidfeld and Petrov were 6/6 in terms of finishing ahead of one another by then, both with 5 points finishes a piece, Heidfeld with 34 points, Petrov with 32 points. Heidfelds car had just exploded at Hungary and had been punted off the road by Buemi at Nurburgring. Still, he wasn't really fulfilling the role of 'team leader' which they wanted from Kubica. Though I'm not sure how replacing quick Nick with Senna really fixed that given Senna scored only 2 points and Petrov a further 5.

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

I guess the difference was the money Senna could bring, Heidfeld was being paid to drive but was no quicker than Petrov who was a pay driver.

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I found this news site and wanted some thoughts about these drivers who have been in talks with Force India

Di Resta, Apparently they want to keep him.
http://www.yallaf1.com/2012/12/12/di-re ... g-in-2014/
http://www.yallaf1.com/2012/12/11/force ... ite-slump/

Sutil, Has shown interest in returning to Force India
http://www.yallaf1.com/2012/12/17/sutil ... ia-return/
http://www.yallaf1.com/2012/12/11/sutil ... 013-drive/

Bianchi vs Senna, Bianchi is a risky driver to bring in for FI so I'm not sure if he will compete with Sutil for the seat. Senna has a TON of money... so yah...
http://www.yallaf1.com/2012/12/19/bianc ... ndia-seat/

Basically they are stalling over money. Who can give them the most. I wouldn't rule Senna out yet.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Senna did an interview just the other day that said he hasn't been ruled out yet and he is still after the most competitive drive possible so i wouldn't rule him out either just yet, guess it hinges on Ferrari deal for FI i personally think it will be senna or bianchi, there is no obstacle to not have hired or announced sutil yet if they were going to.

Exactly what I was thinking. Each contender is saying they can get more than the other and their management are trying to get their personal sponsors to sign over the cash for a spot on the bottom of the cars sidepod haha

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Warning: The above post may contain sarcasm.

This. Bianchi brings Ferrari "cash" one would imagine, Senna millions of Brazilian monies. Which one will bring more money in the long run though? Which one can prove they will be able to bring home consistent points in a decent car? You'd have to pick Senna going on 2012 evidence, not a fast qualifier but very consistent in races and can bring home small but critical points as well as enough money short term to provide the team a very secure 2013.

If they really wanted Sutil they'd have signed him already. Someone is putting up a strong fight for that seat and making FI really question if Sutil is the man for them, we all know my opinion is that he's not and I do wonder if Mallya is seeing that too.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

I'm with you on that. I don't rate Sutil brilliantly and am sort of now hoping for Senna to get the seat out of the likely candidates remaining. The only reason I'd approve of Sutil being back is to use him as a measuring stick for Di Resta, but the other two drivers could do the same thing, in a different way. I'd rather see Senna stick around than Sutil return and Bianchi step up.

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

Same tbh. If Senna can match or even beat Di Resta then it'd say a lot about both drivers. Di Resta would be finished, Senna would gain some credibility. If Di Resta beats Senna then he's proven he can beat a similarly experienced team mate after Hulkenburg beat him quite easily. I think Senna deserves one more year, Sutil doesn't. I don't rate Bianchi that highly anyway, they guy had two years in GP2 and didn't impress, went down to FR3.5 and still failed to impress. He's not F1 material.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

We all guys are hoping if Senna comes back in Force India. Strangely, whenever there have been rumours/reports about Force India line up, I've heard Alguesuari & Buemi's names in the gossip but never heard Senna's.

I too feel Bianchi is not worth a drive yet. Let it be between Sutil (experience) & Senna (upcoming talent).

It's already coming up 2 the 2nd week of 2013 & the management is still scratching their heads as to go for a driver bringing good sponsor money or a driver with Ferrari ties.

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I just think sutil has had a year out had bo other ties to any teams, force India are his only real bet he would have chucked everything he had sponsorwise at them, they still haven't taken, his past transgression surely is a factor, senna would not only be good for sponsor money but also media and pr attention lets face it the senna name and he has a very friendly likeable personality means more sales of merchandise and more pr events and interviews. Who wants to interview someone with a suspended sentence for glassing someone? Not really a good public image to portray

My biggest concern is, that the longer they take to decide the line up, the more disappointed I'll be when it comes out and it's not what I want to see. I'f rather they just disappoint me now

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

I'm a Force India loyalist, so You wouldn't find it hard to empathize with my impatience relating to this decision.

Basically, whoever they choose, hope that driver tries to be as consistent as possible & hope the Force India car is good this year. Considering Di Resta is hoping to claim 5th in the WCC standings, the car better be good.

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Unlike Uday!

PF1 Pick 10 Competition
Best Results: 1st with highest ever score of 225 (India 2012) & 2nd (Silverstone 2012)
Recipient of : Rosberg's Chinese Getaway Trophy

I misread that as he was hoping for 5th in WDC standings then, I was going to say he's getting ahead of himself a bit there! But 5th in WCC is also a bit of a challenge, so they really must hope their car is up to the challenge. Looking at the teams, Sauber and Mercedes are more likely to finish ahead of them going by 2012 form, possibly Williams. I expected a podium from them in 2012, but seven other teams beat them to it. Was hoping Hulk would get one for them at the end. Best of luck to them!

Top Group - Ferrari, Red Bull, Lotus, McLaren
Next group - Mercedes, Sauber, Williams, Force India
Bottom group - Toro Rosso, Caterham, Marussia

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

If Force India want 5th in the WCC with a Di Resta and Sutil line up, that's apparently Mallya's first choice in an ideal world, then they are going to need a bloody brilliant car to do it. Not just a good one, not just a great one, a bloody brilliant one. And I don't see that happening.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

That's what Force India was hoping for the 2012 season as well but were plundered by Sauber.

The midfield is a much tighter group so they really have to get a lot of things right. Firstly starting with, selecting some one good & making a decision about their line up. Sheesh!

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PF1 Pick 10 Competition
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Recipient of : Rosberg's Chinese Getaway Trophy

I don't see any of the other drivers in the short list being any better than these two

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I don't see any of them being worse. Senna is just as good as Sutil IMO but he has more money.

Personally I'd dump Di Resta, take on Alguersuari and take on Kovi. Kovi seems to thrive better in a smaller team.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Well i have to question how good Senna is, despite the budget he brings Williams dumped him for a rookie driver with less budget, all the drivers you've mentioned have been dumped at some point for lack of performance whereas that wasn't the case for Sutil.

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This. I don't understand the hate for Sutil on here, the guy was quicker than Liuzzi and Di Resta consistently. Senna is just slow, no two ways about it. You rarely see him overtake anyone. Hell, he was matched by Chandhok at HRT and no-one in the world rates Chandhok as an F1 driver, although he is doing well in sports cars afaik.

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Official Kamui Kobayashi Fanboy

in reality Williams were always going to dump senna, you don't give a seat up to solely one driver for 15 of 20 gps was it? Especially when the guy you are giving them up to is the chief execs financial beneficiary and part of his management firm, who has also been with said team 3 years in preparation for a 2013 drive. They took senna for a decent stop gap and to tide them over financially.

huh? How do you figure senna made a lot and some of the better overtakes this season making up alot of places, in fact wasn't he right up there with Kimi for best overtakes on this very site? His quali pace was slow his race pace was very good bar a couple of races.

The only race I remember him having any impact on is Malaysia because he is a strong wet weather driver. I'll happily give him credit for that based on that performance, but he's been in F1 3 seasons and aside from causing mayhem at Spa and his performance in Malaysia I can't remember him doing anything noteworthy. Nothing ala Koabayashi in Spain, Vettel in Abu Dhabi if his car was as out-of-position as you're making it out to be.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against poor qualifiers who can race through the field. Kobayashi is one of my favourite drivers for that reason, Webber, Button, Vergne and Alguesuari also seem to be specialists at this. Maybe after Abu Dhabi add Vettel to that list, given the right car, not that he's a poor qualifier. Senna is just a poor qualifier and doesn't have the speed to make it through the field.

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Official Kamui Kobayashi Fanboy

first you cant count hrt as a season they were lucky to make it 1/2 race distance you cant call it f1 experience the other was 8 races after doing basically nothing but sim work. This season he has lost all bar 5 fp1s hardly fair crack of the whip compared to many. He qualified out of the top 10 all bar once and finished in the top ten how many times? As i said he was ranked by this website (which refers to him as a carbon fibre boy so no favoritism) as one of the best overtakers so you may not remember many but others do.

Maybe it was a mistype, but Kobayashi could never be put down as a poor qualifier. Ironically it was his excellent qualifying that left him with duff strategies in a lot of races in 2012.

Apart from that, I disagree about Senna. A poor qualifier? Certainly. He just didn't get a handle of the Pirellis in qualifying.
But his race pace was often up with, and faster than, Maldonado and quite often the race leaders.
If only he could figure out the tyres in qualifying...

I think Senna has had his chance and blown it. Maldonado has worked on his weaknesses (crashing) while maintaining speed which was evident in Singapore and Abu Dhabi whereas Senna has not really improved his qualifying which is still dire.
Force India dont need him, they have Sahara. They need a driver who has promise so they should get Bianchi. Di Resta/ Senna/ Sutil are not as good as the drivers their rivals have.