There is some speculation at the moment about whether or not Marussia will be running Luiz Razia or not this year. It is fairly clear that while there is a contract in place, the Brazilian and his supporters needs to fulfil certain financial clauses, in order for him to be able to race the car this season. In other words, they have to come up with the cash. Obviously there are some problems given that Max Chilton has done almost all of the testing to date and looks likely to do the same in the final test in Barcelona.
This does not mean that Razia is out, but it does mean that the team must keep looking out for who is available, and what money they might be able to bring to the party. Having said that the team owners could always decide that it would be a good idea to get a more experienced driver in the car in order to guarantee more development and perhaps better results and so speculating about the available pay-drivers is not necessarily the thing to do. Marussia knows that the fight for 10th place this year is going to be tough and that the winner will take all. Thus, it is perhaps better to get someone good, with some experience and some money.
There is some talk of Narain Karthikeyan having some cash from Tata, which would be popular over at the Formula One group, which would like to see an Indian driver. It might also help Marussia get a deal for this year to help them with the funding. However, the powers-that-be might also like to see the team take on Vitaly Petrov, in order to develop the Russian market, in the run-up to the first Russian GP in 2014. There are still the likes of Bruno Senna, who might be available, and he would presumably be able to get out of his Aston Martin contract if an F1 drive were to come up. There has also been speculation that Marussia might pick up Jules Bianchi if he is not part of the package at Force India, although this does not seem very likely given the fact that McLaren might be a little touchy about a Ferrari driver getting access to its simulator.
At the moment, however, it is all speculation and the drive is still Razia’s. It is for him to lose.
Think Vitaly Petrov did a pretty good job last season, especially in costing Marussia 10th place!
It would be ironic if he and pIc now swapped positions, wouldn’t it?
Very much so!
I hear Heikki Kovalainen might test for Marussia this week. Three Finns (3,5 if your count Nico) in F1 2013? And no Danes – yet!
Yes, that might be an option too.
I am surprised by this, but BBC reported 30 minutes or so ago, that there is a rumour saying that Heikki will fit a seat at Marussia tonight. Given that Marussia and Glock parted ways since he did not bring sponsors and that Heikki said (at least by the end of last season) that he would not pay to drive, it is strange.
On the other hand, Heikki could of course have changed his mind. We all do that from time to time.
Maybe it a question of the team changing their mind and agreeing to pay Heikki a lot less than it was paying Glock.
And Kovalainen willing to take a very small salary to stay in F1.
I hope I am not the only one that thinks Heikki is overrated. The first two Caterham seasons, it was always Trulli who guaranteed 10th place for the team, despite hating the car. Last season Petrov had to step in because all season, Heikki couldn’t deliver a result higher than Glock’s.
Marussia would be much better off calling Glock to see if he can forgive them, or giving the drive to Petrov, even if he doesn’t bring a lot of money.
Forget Narain though, he’s an ok qualifier but not a consistent racer.
The fact of the matter is, they need a driver with money and also someone that can get the team to 10th place – Chilton is a bit out of his depth in F1 and can’t be counted on for that.
Timo already has a DTM drive with a leading team – he’d be mad to drop that just to slot back into the back-end of F1.
Heikki and Vitaly are both twiddling their thumbs. The former brings 6 years experience behind the wheel (his performances last year didn’t light up the board, but the car was relatively dire too) and the latter brings Russian money. Tough decision.
The Finnish press (e.g. Iltasanomat, MTV3) is in flames. They are quite sure that Kovalainen will, at least, test in Saturday. They claim that McLaren are supporting him. What is your opinion about the chances of Heikki ??
BBC is reporting the rumor that Heikki Kovalainen is having a seat fitting with Marussia tonight. So looks like Marussia will go with experience.
Isn’t Sergio Perez from the driver developmental program of Ferrari Joe? I guess in that case, McLaren may not be as itchy as you are saying being Jules in Marussia. There might be another point as Cosworth is pulling out of the sports, what are the chances of Marussia getting a deal from the Ferrari on the engine, given Jules gets a drive?
Speculation is funny game, it literally has no limit.
I believe Sergio Perez left the Ferrari programme on the back of LdM’s comments.
Basically Marussia is a mess!
Why would Bruno want to get out of a works team with a chance to compete for wins in every race, to get a seat in a car competing to be second to last?
They already approached Bruno before they approached Razia and he turned it down
It might be they are looking for a driver to share the 4 days testing with Chilton, in which case Heikki would be an ideal person to call on. His knowledge of KER’s which is new to Marussia would help them and he is an experienced driver, he also lives between Banbury and Barcelona so he could be ready to roll and test Saturday and Sunday.
Given that this year’s Caterham has hardly set the track alight in testing and that team also has two inexperienced drivers, one of whom is possibly not real F1 material, Marussia must fancy its chances for 10th place now it has KERS. If I read the times correctly, the Marussia (in the inexperienced hands of Chilton) has been the more promising car. The team also has ambitions of securing a decent engine for 2013 and delivering the kind of improvement the other surviving ‘new’ team has so far failed to do.
Someone with experience who can help develop the car more assuredly than Caterham’s pilots would seem a no-brainer to me, finances permitting, perhaps even crucial to its long-term survival. Paying off Glock struck me as shortsighted at the time, unless the team was really desperate for cash or if he had some kind of deal where his fee increased year on year, in which case the writing is sadly often already on the wall.
Sorry, I meant decent engine for 2014. They keep changing the number each January, it gets confusing!
Testing is almost at an end.
If Razia is about to get the bullet then his replacement needs to be able to get in the car and drive it well from the off. Aus is sometimes a lottery, the next races could well be wet and the launch version of the Caterham is a DOG.
The team needs a driver that is good from the off not a beginner with lots of cash that may get the hang of it by July.
‘……that McLaren might be a little touchy about a Ferrari driver getting access to its simulator.’ (about Bianchi to Marussia) Joe what do you think of the Williams situation:Suzie Wolff development driver and now even planning to get a F1 Super Licence,so she can become Williams official F1 reserve driver and husband Toto executive director of the Mercedes F1 team.Does Suzie has a secrecy clause in her contract?