Karthikeyan is back!!!

[Eryx]

Well heres my take on it guys, Narains back because im sure Mr.Kolles knows how much he can pay if not at all or maybe Mr.Kolles is getting rid of the rumors he had set on him last year (Everyone thought they only had Senna because of his name, so now he chose to get rid of him) We dont know who the last spot will go to and for all you saying "They wont have a car"....they will...just not a new car theyll field the f110 again but who knows...maybe this time,theyll actually UPGRADE it they do now have financial backing so to speak.


Lets just see what happens

Eryx xxxx

[DanielPT]

Yes, he was a bit better last year than Senna.

U mad? Almost every race Senna and Karun raced together in 2010 Senna outqualified him, but most of the races just went wrong for Senna either because of reliability, crashes, or incidents.

Some say that Liuzzi is a fast driver, but he has far too many incidents and crashes... I think speed is not everything, that is why I say Chandhock edged Senna. Oh, and because of the official F1Rejects season rankings

[DemocalypseNow]

Reviving dead F1 careers is HRT's new thing then eh?
For the second seat we could have...
Enrique Bernoldi
Norberto Fontana
Ricardo Zonta
Antônio Pizzonia
Tarso Marques

However, above all else I will bet on...
NIcolas Kiesa.
He's raced for Kolles in DTM and done tests for his Le Mans team.

Or, if Mr Kolles is feeling even more ambitious and wants to take away Schumi's mantle of oldest driver on the grid, he could always hire...
Christophe Bouchut.

Perhaps Mr Kolles is feeling so desperate for money he tries one last trick, hiring a rather 'unique' driver when it comes to Formula One...
Katherine Legge. A women in F1 = more sponsorship? Who knows.

But ultimately Albers makes more sense than all of these.

[FullMetalJack]

Christophe Bouchut

Who?

[DemocalypseNow]

Christophe Bouchut

Who?

FOR SHAME.

He's been kicking around GTs ever since he signed for Larrousse in 1995 (just before the team folded obviously).
His racing CV includes;
Le Mans 24 Hours Champion
Daytona 24 Hours Champion
Spa 24 Hours Champion
1000 Miles of Brazil Champion
Le Mans Endurance Series Champion (GT Class)
Multiple FIA GT Champion
Multiple Porsche Carrera Cup Champion

He drove for Kolles Audi this year too.

[mario]

Well heres my take on it guys, Narains back because im sure Mr.Kolles knows how much he can pay if not at all or maybe Mr.Kolles is getting rid of the rumors he had set on him last year (Everyone thought they only had Senna because of his name, so now he chose to get rid of him) We dont know who the last spot will go to and for all you saying "They wont have a car"....they will...just not a new car theyll field the f110 again but who knows...maybe this time,theyll actually UPGRADE it they do now have financial backing so to speak.


Lets just see what happens

Eryx xxxx

It is a bit confusing what is going on over at HRT - for example, after their attempts to cut a deal with Toyota Motorsport Group, they were rumoured to be talking with Formtech (although those rumours died away fairly quickly), whilst others talked about Kolles modifying the TF110 so it could meet the 2011 regulations. What could be a stumbling block, though, would be whether Dallara sold HRT the intellectual property rights to the TF110 because of the current homologation regulations on chassis design.
I suppose that for now, we will have to wait and see what happens - we definitely won't find out before the first test, since HRT are bringing their old car to Valencia, and haven't announced an official launch date yet.

Reviving dead F1 careers is HRT's new thing then eh?
For the second seat we could have...
Enrique Bernoldi
Norberto Fontana
Ricardo Zonta
Antônio Pizzonia
Tarso Marques

However, above all else I will bet on...
NIcolas Kiesa.
He's raced for Kolles in DTM and done tests for his Le Mans team.

Or, if Mr Kolles is feeling even more ambitious and wants to take away Schumi's mantle of oldest driver on the grid, he could always hire...
Christophe Bouchut.

Perhaps Mr Kolles is feeling so desperate for money he tries one last trick, hiring a rather 'unique' driver when it comes to Formula One...
Katherine Legge. A women in F1 = more sponsorship? Who knows.

But ultimately Albers makes more sense than all of these.

Legge is a pretty wild suggestion, since she finished, to use the Aussie term "stone cold motherless last" in this years DTM series (although, to be fair to her, she was running for one of the smaller Audi outfits - Team Rosberg - in (I believe) a 2009 specification car in a season where the Mercedes teams were dominant). Besides, surely getting somebody like Gachnang a superlicence would be easier (given that Gachnang racked up a full season in Formula 2 in 2009)?

However, I can't really see Kolles trying that on - it wouldn't sit well with his style, as he would prefer to be certain that money was coming in before signing a driver, not chancing his arm on better press coverage. I do wonder if we've overlooked two other possibilities - Yamamoto, because he might be able to wheedle his way back into the team if he can summon up enough cash, or Klien, on the basis that HRT's best chance of survival is to put a more experienced driver in the other seat, hoping for a lucky high finishing position in the WCC and getting more money out of FOM.

[JohnMLTX]

Legge is a pretty wild suggestion, since she finished, to use the Aussie term "stone cold motherless last" in this years DTM series (although, to be fair to her, she was running for one of the smaller Audi outfits - Team Rosberg - in (I believe) a 2009 specification car in a season where the Mercedes teams were dominant). Besides, surely getting somebody like Gachnang a superlicence would be easier (given that Gachnang racked up a full season in Formula 2 in 2009)?

However, I can't really see Kolles trying that on - it wouldn't sit well with his style, as he would prefer to be certain that money was coming in before signing a driver, not chancing his arm on better press coverage. I do wonder if we've overlooked two other possibilities - Yamamoto, because he might be able to wheedle his way back into the team if he can summon up enough cash, or Klien, on the basis that HRT's best chance of survival is to put a more experienced driver in the other seat, hoping for a lucky high finishing position in the WCC and getting more money out of FOM.[/quote]


Hold on, hold on... If my memory remembers correctly, she wasn't half bad in ChampCar driving for what was a considerably slower team.

You never know...

[DanielPT]

In order to evaluate someones performance in DTM and guessing how they would do in F1, we must take into account how old F1 drivers fared in that series when they joined. Lets look at Ralf Shu... No, David Coulth... Wait, Stefano Modena, yes... Erm... No, Mika Hakkinen is a good... Hummm, DTM can be harder than F1... Maybe Heinz-Harald... Jean Alesi? I give up... Found one! Bernd Schneider! Five times DTM champion. Now let's see how he did in F1. What are you saying? He's a Reject? Oh, ok... So, perhaps she can win in F1, after all!

[Cynon]

In order to evaluate someones performance in DTM and guessing how they would do in F1, we must take into account how old F1 drivers fared in that series when they joined. Lets look at Ralf Shu... No, David Coulth... Wait, Stefano Modena, yes... Erm... No, Mika Hakkinen is a good... Hummm, DTM can be harder than F1... Maybe Heinz-Harald... Jean Alesi? I give up... Found one! Bernd Schneider! Five times DTM champion. Now let's see how he did in F1. What are you saying? He's a Reject? Oh, ok... So, perhaps she can win in F1, after all!

But Legge was pretty bad in Champ Car in 2006 and 2007. By this logic, Champ Car was harder to crack than F1 despite having some of the worst drivers ever! She would be miles off the pace and probably tear up tons of cars like she did for PKV when her teammate was a solid midfielder... and let's not start on her tenure with Dale Coyne when she regularly qualified last... I really liked Katherine Legge (awesome helmet design) and wanted her to do well for the betterment of all women in motorsport, but she just wasn't able to cut it.

[AndreaModa]

I really liked Katherine Legge...

I can see why

[dr-baker]

But Legge was pretty bad in Champ Car in 2006 and 2007. By this logic, Champ Car was harder to crack than F1 despite having some of the worst drivers ever! She would be miles off the pace and probably tear up tons of cars like she did for PKV when her teammate was a solid midfielder... and let's not start on her tenure with Dale Coyne when she regularly qualified last... I really liked Katherine Legge (awesome helmet design) and wanted her to do well for the betterment of all women in motorsport, but she just wasn't able to cut it.

Miles off the pace? Are you suggesting that if HRT don't sign her, they WON'T be miles off the pace? Give her a chance, I say. Couldn't do worse than Milka Duno, not with the 107% rule in place at least.

[PLAYLIFE]

Legge would be the worst decision to poach one from over the pond since Benetton tested Paul Tracey.

[Waris]

Legge would be the worst decision to poach one from over the pond since Benetton tested Paul Tracey.

How exactly is she from over the pond? AFAIK she is British, and has been driving in DTM for the last few years now.

[Cynon]

I really liked Katherine Legge...

I can see why

That's Leilani Munter, who used to write some very interesting articles for NASCAR.com. A friend of mine actually designed one of the paintjobs on one of her ARCA cars. This is Katherine Legge, who has a great work ethic, but was honestly not much of a match for Oriol Servia in terms of speed in 2006.

But Legge was pretty bad in Champ Car in 2006 and 2007. By this logic, Champ Car was harder to crack than F1 despite having some of the worst drivers ever! She would be miles off the pace and probably tear up tons of cars like she did for PKV when her teammate was a solid midfielder... and let's not start on her tenure with Dale Coyne when she regularly qualified last... I really liked Katherine Legge (awesome helmet design) and wanted her to do well for the betterment of all women in motorsport, but she just wasn't able to cut it.

Miles off the pace? Are you suggesting that if HRT don't sign her, they WON'T be miles off the pace? Give her a chance, I say. Couldn't do worse than Milka Duno, not with the 107% rule in place at least.

If you're not beating Milka Duno, there's something wrong with the car. I'd be willing to give Katherine Legge a chance, but honestly, she's been more overhyped than Danica Patrick, because at least Danica Patrick has shown speed on more than one occasion(even if Andretti Autosport has been dropping into the lower midfield... and Danica is using her NASCAR fling to get more dosh out of Michael Andretti).

As one of the biggest supporters of women in motorsport, I would like to see another woman get a shot at F1 -- but Katherine Legge is not the best choice.

[PLAYLIFE]

Legge would be the worst decision to poach one from over the pond since Benetton tested Paul Tracey.

How exactly is she from over the pond? AFAIK she is British, and has been driving in DTM for the last few years now.

I meant former IRL/CART driver. If you can't make it there, you have a snow flake's chance in hell of making it in F1.

[mario]

As one of the biggest supporters of women in motorsport, I would like to see another woman get a shot at F1 -- but Katherine Legge is not the best choice.

Much as might agree with that sentiment, at the moment there aren't any standout female racing drivers recently who I would have though capable, or interested for that matter, in Formula 1.

Gachnang is seemingly dabbling with Endurance and GT Racing, and Danica Patrick is not going to leave the States when she had built up a very profitable career there (and to be honest, I think that she is a bit over rated anyway). Susie Stoddard is probably not going to do much outside of DTM, and Vanina Ickx perhaps showed a few glimmers of promise when younger, but started to race a bit too late in life to maximise her career, and perhaps it isn't saying much when she was replaced by Legge in the DTM series in 2008.
And with that, I'm running out of names - are there really so few female racing drivers active today?

[Henrique]

Gachnang was the one who got closer by reaching F2, but her performance there was awful and ruined her chances.

[Mister Fungus]

And with that, I'm running out of names - are there really so few female racing drivers active today?

Simona de Silvestro was decent in indycars this year (ended up ahead of Sato and Baguette as other prospective rookies), also I think there are some prospects in the junior categories.

[DanielPT]

Natalia Kowalska did F2 last season. Can she become any good?

[dr-baker]

Natalia Kowalska did F2 last season. Can she become any good?

No, I don't think so. Better than Canberra Milk-a Duno though. Ana Beatriz may be the best of those not mentioned yet. Either her or this fine female:

[Peter]

We already have women in F1. Did you hear Trulli arguing about his crash with Sutil at Brazil in 2009?


Anyway, suprised no one has mentioned Danica Patrick in this women discussion. She may not be the best women open wheel driver, but she is the most popular.

[FullMetalJack]

It's been a year or two of comebacks, how about Giovanna Amati, despite apparently not even scoring a point in F3000.

[golic_2004]

Yay!

[Phoenix]

It's been a year or two of comebacks [...]

Yes, Nige, we are looking at you.

[FullMetalJack]

It's been a year or two of comebacks [...]

Yes, Nige, we are looking at you.

Definitely, I only suggested Giovanna Amati because of the discussion on female drivers. We're due a Mansell return anyways

[DanielPT]

How about Beitske Visser? It seems that she is a really promising talent. She was second in the WSK Euro Series - KZ2 in 2010. If she keeps this sort of form, she could make it.

http://www.beitskevisser.com/en

[Henrique]

In this forum, I usually hate when threads go off-topic or get hijacked. But I just love how a thread about Karthikeyan's return became a thread about women drivers

[fjackdaw]

I think this is the last big frontier for Formula 1, now that we've had a black (or at least, mixed-race) and two Indian drivers... getting female drivers onto the grid. Not just as one-off novelties, either, but as a regular part of the Formula 1 circus.

[DanielPT]

In this forum, I usually hate when threads go off-topic or get hijacked. But I just love how a thread about Karthikeyan's return became a thread about women drivers

Should we keep it going or create a whole new thread?

[Salamander]

In this forum, I usually hate when threads go off-topic or get hijacked. But I just love how a thread about Karthikeyan's return became a thread about women drivers

Should we keep it going or create a whole new thread?

Keep it going. Constant topic changes never stopped the Villeneuve Racing thread.

[mario]

How about Beitske Visser? It seems that she is a really promising talent. She was second in the WSK Euro Series - KZ2 in 2010. If she keeps this sort of form, she could make it.

http://www.beitskevisser.com/en

Promising enough to have won an award from the FIA, I see, which suggests that she does have a fair bit of potential. Even so, it is very early in her career to make any firm predictions, so we'll probably have to wait and see how she is able to perform in a higher racing series, like Formula Ford or Formula Renault - if she can either raise the money or obtain corporate backing, that is.

The problem is, without substantial financial backing, it is going to be all to easy for a promising career to be snuffed out (regardless of gender). I would like to see a female Formula 1 driver who made it into the sport on merit, but I can't see that happening for a long time, mainly due to the glut of experienced drivers currently on the market, and the difficulties of attracting sponsorship in a sharp economic downturn, especially if you are new to the sport.

[jpm]

Natalia Kowalska did F2 last season. Can she become any good?

No, I don't think so. Better than Canberra Milk-a Duno though. Ana Beatriz may be the best of those not mentioned yet. Either her or this fine female:

Lol at Canberra Milk-a Duno!!! I agree that Kowalska was poor; she only outraced the Indian Bollywood star and part-time racer Ajith Kumar and everybody's favourite Bulgarian; the Fire Man himself Plamen Kralev. Its good to see Pippa doing so well in Indy lights, but she was truly awful in World Series by Renault a few years agoon the European circuits, and last year always seemed to be better at the ovals. Simona de Silvestro and Ana Beatriz are definitely the best prospects but on the wrong side of the pond; but I would expect both to make very successful careers for themselves. I like the LOOK of Carmen Jorda but again wasn't to impressive results wise for Andersen Racing, and the only other lady racer on the verge of big things at the moment is Alice Powell, the winner of the BARC British F Reanukt championship. So no female F1 drivers for a while yet it seems...

[Cynon]

And with that, I'm running out of names - are there really so few female racing drivers active today?

Simona de Silvestro was decent in indycars this year (ended up ahead of Sato and Baguette as other prospective rookies), also I think there are some prospects in the junior categories.

Decent? Are you high? Simona de Silvestro was one of the stars of the year in the former-Minardi-Team-USA-crapwagon! Especially early in the season, Simona's pace was jaw-dropping.

As far as the lack of female racing drivers, I could derail this thread even further and go into a bit of a feminist stance on it, but I'm going to spare everyone for the time being. The concept of female drivers getting a bit more attention in American racing has in turn gotten other women interested, from Janet Guthrie, to the astounding efforts of Lyn St. James (considering she was 45 when she made her first Indy 500 start and was basically the only rookie aside from Ted Prappas to not self-destruct in a race that required patience to build up tire temperatures...).

Danica Patrick probably had her worst season ever in the IRL last year, but if you saw the kind of season Michael Andretti's lot had, then you wouldn't be surprised. Occasional great results from all the drivers, but on average, lacking, as the entire team takes a slide towards the back. It saw the Danica Patrick "I Rolled The Dice On Strategy And Made It Work Because I'm A Halfway Decent Defensive Driver", which happens about once a year on the road courses, and saw flashes of her best at Texas and Homestead where she refused to give up. I don't think her NASCAR outings helped much, but Danica has, in a very publicocrap way, said her NASCAR outings aren't really serious (anyone could have told her that, really... all those were for is so she could get a bit more out of Michael Andretti).

Pippa Mann has been winning in Indy Lights if I'm not mistaken. She's easily better than Milk and Donuts (Milka Duno).

Also, why does Beitske Visser remind me of Mika Hakkinen, and is that a good thing that she does? O_o

[Alianora La Canta]

Also, why does Beitske Visser remind me of Mika Hakkinen, and is that a good thing that she does? O_o

There's a definite "steely determined" look in the first photo of her that greets anyone looking at Beitske's homepage (presentation section). That's very Hakkinen and very useful for anyone wanting to get anywhere in single-seater racing.