Pedro de la Rosa has signed a two-year deal with HRT and as the team is believed to already has a deal with Tonio Liuzzi it is logical to assume that this will be driver pairing in 2012. That means that Daniel Ricciardo will be moving on and the word in F1 circles is that he and Jean-Eric Vergne are the likely driver line-up at Scuderia Toro Rosso, with the two current drivers being dropped. That might seem like rather a radical step as neither driver will have much experience, but Red Bull has always liked to throw its best drivers up against one another and see who comes out ahead. It then tends to throw away the losers, which is a very good reason for young drivers who can avoid the scheme not to sign for Red Bull in their formative years.
The return of de la Rosa to F1 at the age of 40 is not really a surprise given the naivety of the new team ownership, which is relocating the team to Valencia, on the basis that it is a good idea to “do something different”. One can only assume that it is not their money that will be wasted.
What is fascinating in all of this is the timing. The announcement was made the morning after the Spanish general election, which I think is very significant. There is no other reason that I can think of to make an announcement at this particular moment.
The vote saw a landslide victory for the Popular Party (PP). The conservative organisation won 186 of the 350 seats in the Congreso de los Diputados, the lower house of the Spanish Parliament, winning an absolute majority, which means that it will not have make alliances to get things done. The ruling socialist party lost 59 seats. The result means that Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy will become the next Prime Minister. His priority will be to improve the troubled Spanish economy, which is struggling to meet its debt obligations. The country has the added problem of massive unemployment and so Rajoy needs not only to make cuts but also to find ways to stimulate the economy. The PP in the Valencia region scored its best results in history which means that the current government there is now in a position to continue with its policies, which include supporting the European Grand Prix and, in recent days, providing HRT’s owners Thesan Capital with incentives to move the team to Valencia. Presumably there is more to the deal than just an empty building, just as the team’s original plan to be based in a local government-funded facility in the Parque Tecnológico Fuente Álamo in Murcia.
The election is also important because it will perhaps open doors for Alejandro Agag to find some money to fulfil his F1 ambitions. Although he denies wanting to have his own F1 team, most people see Agag was a man who has a clear desire to to be an F1 team owner. He is the son-in-law of the PP’s last Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, who ruled from 1996 to 2004. Rajoy was his right hand man and successor and there is little doubt that a new government will look favourably upon Agag. There is no shortage of big firms that can be swayed by the new government and so Agag is likely to get the moeny he needs to finally break into F1.
There are many who think that Thesan Capital is working hand-in-glove with Agag and they point to the appointment of Carlos Nunez, Agag’s team boss in GP3 to a position within HRT as evidence that Agag is pulling the strings.
At the moment Agag is the owner of the Addax GP2 team, which grew out of the original Campos Racing, which was started in Valencia by Adrian Campos back in 1998. It started competing in GP2 in 2005 and won the Teams’ title in 2008, at which point Campos sold the business to Agag, and split off the GP2 unit. Campos returned to F3 and it was this operation that developed into Campos Meta 1, the forerunner of HRT, while Agag collected a nice sponsorship deal from Qatar’s Barwa and had plenty of cash to play with in GP2. It is entirely possible that Agag will sell his GP2 team to someone fairly rapidly and the word in the GP2 paddock is that Gerhard Berger has been sniffing around to acquire a team, as he seems to have some large sponsor in tow that will facilitate such a programme. One presumes that in the longer term Berger will want to take over an F1 team…
“This is a very important step in my sporting career and one of the most meditated ones I’ve taken,” said de la Rosa. “I’m at a very good stage in terms of maturity and am prepared to take on this challenge, which motivates me hugely. When deciding on joining this project, for me there were three decisive factors: my desire to return to the active competition, the fact that HRT is a Spanish team and getting to know the people leading this project, Luis Pérez-Sala being amongst them. I’m here to work hard, with modesty and humility, accepting where we are now but keeping in mind where we want to be in 2 years time. For me, this is the time to put into practice everything that I have learnt over the years at international top level racing teams so that we can grow together. I am proud that Spain has an F1 team and that I have this opportunity to be its driver. I can only show my gratitude towards HRT for having trusted in me for this.”
joeblogsf1 
What a fantastic use of taxpayer’s money 😦
Joe, Do you think Dani Clos may be the 2nd driver now? a whole spanish team to keep with what you say above.
Liuzzi has a contract does he? I seem to remember he had one of those with Force India 12 months ago.
Do you not think HRT will need some money from the second driver? How’s this for a possibility…
Luiz Perez-Sala is an advisor to Thesan Capital. As I’m sure you’re aware Joe he has a racing driver nephew by the name of Daniel Juncadella, who won the Macau Grand Prix last weekend. For some strange reason that is unknown to me, Juncadella is supported by the Kazakh consortium called Astana – who are best known for their Tour de France-winning cycling team. That of course did have a strong Spanish link through Alberto Contador.
You can accuse me of adding one and one together and getting four, but any chance that HRT could try and tap into some of this money?…
Liuzzi as De la Rosa’s team mate? You’ve got to be kidding me. The only reason he was on the the grid this year is because he used his severance money from Force India to pay HRT for a seat. (And what a terrible decision it was for Force India to fire him eh? They’ve gone from having a regular points scoring driver and a crasher to having two regular points scoring drivers).
Liuzzi is yesterday’s man, a driver who never raised above utter mediocrity whatever the machinery? I’m sure he’ll be pushed aside to make way for a youngster with money.
As for your assertion that both Toro Rosso drivers will be sacked, I can’t agree with that either. At least one will stay and that has to be Alguersuari as he brings the most money, and that new oil sponsor on the cars is Spanish too.
Billy Coffee,
Your sources are wrong. Liuzzi did not pay for his drive. He was paid.
Interesting stuff Joe, especially as Agag has already sold his GP3 entry to Trident. Could his GP2 team be next? I’m not sure. Something tells me he’ll keep it, but that move to F1 seems increasingly to be a matter of when rather than if.
Will we even see them on the grid next year?
Ah, yes, the timing. The whole deal cought me off guard and trying to figure out if it was a joke or not. Thanks for putting in the missing piece to this Joe!
So anyone thinking that Berger might be looking at getting into STR again? Or would he be looking at FI (only kidding, I think Mallya will not be the one selling that team to anyone soon anymore).
Do you have any clues about the other supprising news (or rather rumour so far – http://fabioseixas.folha.blog.uol.com.br/) jumping up in Brazil, that Rubens Barrichello seems to have a deal in place to race at “the team formerly known as Renault” next year Joe?
BasCB,
That is not what I hear
Surely Jaime Alguersuari would have been a better choice for a Spanish driver if he gets dropped by Torro Rosso.
And Liuzzi must surely be on the way out – if De La Rosa is there to develop the car, isn’t he replacing Liuzzi’s role in the team?
With a number of current drivers with some sponsorship looking for drives (Bruno Senna and Adrian Sutil come first to mind) let alone those looking to break in, you have to imagine the second seat will be about getting some money into the team.
It is a strange one from left field that is for sure. I guess with limited funds and no wind tunnel, unless they find one at their new building, then De La Rosa, is the next best thing, but we have very limited testing in F1 these days.
I guess they are thinking that running around at the back, are good testing mileage, and use his knowledge and experience as a well respected test driver, to move them up the grid.
Tall order, but maybe one worth taking given the current global economy.
How valid is this whole notion that an experienced test driver can help propel a struggling team forward? The concept doesn’t seem to have produced much in the way of results lately, as Williams has gone backwards with Barricello , green Lotus pretty much held station this year, Schumacher hasn’t made much progress in the Mercedes, and the other backmarker teams are still backmarkers.
How strange. Are they gonna use the same car (chassis) for the third year running?
I kinda expected both the Toro Rosso kids out, sadly.
Keith – HRT have been using the Mercedes No 2 Tunnel since June this year to develop the F112.
Funds are incoming from DLR signing.
Surprised? Yes, very. But it does make sense. PDR’s experience (as well as some ideas + insights from Mclaren) can’t harm HRT’s chances. A combination of financial injection and positive driver feedback could see a move closer to the front.
Then again, i think I’m right in saying that Pedro was dropped from Sauber owing to a lack of car-development ability….
Still, as 2010 showed, an experienced driver is still better than a couple of rookies with a bit of spare change.
I´m not so sure if I see what´s wrong with the choice of De La Rosa. If my team was running 6 seconds a lap behind the leaders I would want to have a driver that could answer the 100 questions the designers and engineers need answers to.
Then, assuming they can do that, which in reality may not be down to the answers, nor the driving of De La Rosa, then you can hire a faster kid.
Or?
Was shocked when the news broke it was way out of left field and must have shocked all the drivers fighting to get or retain seats. As you say the Toro rosso drivers have to be worried Ricciardo proved himself against Liuzzi and Vergnes times in Abu Dhabi were very quick. My own personal feeling is that they will keep one of the current drivers, move Ricciardo into a seat and have Vergne as reserve who could get a seat by mid season, as Algersuari did originally.
Its ruthless the way Red Bull go through young drivers but on the other hand they are giving more drivers chances than other teams.
Will be very inbteresting now to see who fills what seats.
Tweet of the day has to go to Adam Cooper when this story broke.
“Good to see Pedro de la Rosa land the HRT seat, but no doubt there will be controversy as youngsters like Barichello have no drive!”
Is Liuzzi’s manager Eddie Irvine and Fisi’s old one?Enrico Zanarini? Has kept a couple of careers alive very lucratively…
Joe, what is the logic of buying a GP2 team to then buy an F1 team?
Phil R,
Ask Berger.
Billy Coffee
agree with your comments about Liuzzi however although both Toro Rosso drivers have performed better than expected, Vergne and Ricciardo are highly rated by Marko who seems to be running the driver situation at both Red Bull and Toro Rosso. Joe, explain to me why Webber is still there when Marko continues to praise Vettel yet effectively slate Webber and whether Jaime Algesuari could be named as the second driver at HRT. He does have money with him besides the Red Bull backing and has consistently performed better than Buemi.
Hey Joe, if you could be a little more skeptical please, that would be good…..!
GM
This sounds like it should be an April Fool story with Pedro de la Rosa signing for the worst team on the grid and Gerhard Berger getting involved in GP2. I just don’t understand why Pedro wants to drive the worst car around. I can understand why he would want to race but this is the team that wanted to introduce a 110% rule. The only person he is liable to see all season who isn’t lapping him is his team mate.
I can’t see what Berger would gain by getting involved in GP2. There is still a slot available on the F1 grid although for whatever reason the FIA doesn’t seem to be doing anything about filling it. Surely if Berger has a sponsor in tow he could make a case for getting that slot.
Odd. I presume De La Rosa has connections with these people. If they were simply after a Spaniard to stick in the car, surely Dani Clos, or perhaps even Andy Soucek (who was pretty handy in GP2 on his day, and won the F2 title easily) would be a better bet.
Irrelevant side-note on HRT: I’ve always had a soft spot for them as when I went to Silverstone and tried sneaking into the pits after the race with a few friends, HRT were the one team who were quite welcoming and invited us all back to have a look (I’m sure the fact I was accompanied at the time by some pretty 20-something women had nothing to do with it 😉 ) when everyone else was desperate to get us out of the way and Virgin ended up getting security to move us on. For a Spanish team, the crew seemed very Teutonic…
Thought we’d seen the last of De La Rosa! You sure it isn’t the equivalent if April Fools Day in.Spain? I’d be interested to know how and why Berger thinks it is a good idea to have another go at F1 management?
Joe, I had the impression that Liuzzi had paid for his seat, or at least contributed at least a deposit for his seat. I think that my source was Sidepodcast, either from Mr. C or a conversation with you.
It just seemed to be the impression about Liuzzi’s place at HRT.
geo,
Your source is not right. And not me.
Joe – could you explain why Pedro seems to be a valuable commodity in F1? As far as F1 pensioners go, at least Schumi got a few world titles!
Could Berger be starting up a RB Junior team in GP2?
Adrian,
He’s Spanish. And no.
Personally, I did not see this news coming, but it is a great decision on the behalf of HRT. First of all, they have a Spanish representative, which is what they aimed for. Second of all, his technical expertise will be a major boost for the team. HRT should retain Liuzzi or pick up Barrichello because an experienced line-up would be crucial if they want to establish a successful future and have young Spanish drivers in their cockpits. De la Rosa’s tenure with the team will pave the way for drivers like Dani Clos and Javier Villa to join by 2013.
On a side note, it’ll be interesting to see if Daniel Juncadella gets an HRT seat in 2013 or 2014. He won the Macau Grand Prix this year (probably his only notable achievement so far) and he seems to have a guaranteed future HRT seat. This is because he is the nephew of ex-Minardi pilot Luis Perez-Sala, who is currently a prominent advisor for HRT. As HRT’s new-look Thesan Management group are interested in a future “Spanish dream team” Juncadella, a Spaniard, must be an option for the team in the near future. Plus, he has lucrative funding from the Kazakh goverment consortium Astana, which also sponsors a famous cycling team. Having a Kazakh-backed driver for the inaugural Russian Grand Prix would be a smart move, as Russo-Kazakh ties have been gaining strength. HRT, not the most sponsor-attractive team, would benefit from Kazakh sponsorhip.
Also, interesting bit on the Agag-Berger situation. I think Berger is interested in team ownership partially due to the fact that he has a nephew in motorsport. This nephew of Berger’s is Lucas Auer, who currently leads the JK Asia Racing Series. Berger no doubt wants to support young Auer, who has shown tremendous speed in JK Asia. Keep an eye on his name; I’ll be interested to see if he ends up at Addax in the near future if Berger does not buy.
Sorry, @Pete93Allen, I honestly did not see your comment! Great minds think alike, eh?
Liuzzi doesn’t deserve to be in a race seat anymore.Probably vergne to get the seat with ricciardo partnering alguesuari at STR.
If HRT wanted a Spanish driver so bad and STR is likely to drop Buemi and Jaime for 2012, why not go with Jaime instead? He’s young and has some glamour given he’s a DJ.
IT’d be incredible if STR dropped both drivers as I think they’ve done as much as you could ask now they’ve been given a decent car. Also, why switch both drivers if they’re looking to sell the team?
Interesting post. Should be a fun off season.
That’s gonna be mouth watering to see DR and JEV square off against each other at STR.
Both contenders for Mark Webber’s 2013 seat.
Joe, you commented “that’s not what I hear”, was that regarding the Berger rumor or the Barrichello one?
Or both?
Tokyo,
Barrichello
@Joe, was Liuzzi’s HRT deal anything to do with his severence from FI? In other words a ‘VL gets XX amouint of money if he if fired with a year to go, but only X if a another F1 seat can be found’?
IMO
Vergne is talking himself up so much that he is starting to take over from Vettel as the most nausiating Red Bull driver and that is saying something.
So does that mean he has a massive ego and an eye for the fame OR is he trying to push himself for a seat and like some other drivers, resorting to talking to the media about it everytime.
I think the later maybe given the content ‘I think i’m better than ____, I can do ____ etc’. But I’m not sure.
That would mean that he could have 1/2 a year as friday driver and doing sim sessions and then in the cockpit. Like Ricciardo was meant to do this year.
Of course then he would either take over from the remaining STR driver from this year if they get beaten by Ricciardo, or if Ricciardo is behind but showing signs of improvement then maybe another team (like Ricciardo) before going to STR in 2013 with one of Alg or Ric fired or put into RBR ditching Webber. Sounds like something Marko would like.
Your thoughts?
Asa…
No
Seems to me that Pedros contract is a lead into him becoming HRT team principle in 2 or 3 years. He has massive knowledge and experience from McLaren, the owners will want a Spanish head in order to make P.R. sense of the whole ‘spanish F1 team’ thing and he is hugely respected in the paddock for his technical capacity…. Your thoughts, Joe?
Maybe it is a waste a money, but on the other hand it does sound exciting and worth a go. If it works, it will create many jobs as there will be service companies in Spain also benefitting from an F1 team being there. Interesting to see if it all plays out as above, especially if Gerhard Berger is getting back into the sport…
I should also add I will be shocked if Toro Rosso drop both of their drivers as neither of them are that bad really. OK, they may not be megastars but I thought they did OK with what they had this year.
Red Bull’s revolving door policy of dropping their young drivers is absurd – I just don’t see how they can nurture talent in this way. Maybe they just have too many drivers on the books?
Hi Joe,
do you know where this leaves Colin Kolles? I assume he’s not moving to Spain, having all his operations based in Germany. Is he out of the team next season? Is he getting paid then all the money HRT allegedly owes him?
Thanks
No wonder Buemi looked so upset about his latest retirement: With STR replacing its drivers and HRT full up, this weekend is probably his last race.
So now the only spaces are, in order or desirability…
A partner to Petrov at Renault
A leader to Maldonado at Williams
plus…maybe *something* at Force India, Virgin or Caterham.
Without testing F1 seems very unfair to potential talents 😦
Buemi, Alguersuari, Sutil, Senna, d’Ambrosio, going going gone?
Although on a different note I can see Webber rounding off his career with a couple of seasons alongside his buddy Alonso at Ferrari.
His crazy overtakes in Eau Rouge etc and general Aussie grit would melt in the Tifosi’s mouthes…
Interesting to hear a little of the background to what seems to have been a largely unexpected announcement. I like DLR and especially so since he’s not taking the easy option and sitting on his computer game driving laurels at McLaren, but I can’t see him or the team making any significant progress next season. It’s good to have him back but I can’t see him and Liuzzi in the same team unless they genuinely do have some significant finances up their sleeve.
Well… as someone who is approaching 40 I have to admit that I secretly support the likes of Barrichello, Schumi and De la Rosa. The battle between experience and youth.
I think it is a good move for HRT for two reasons, first because at least they will have a market interested on the team, as today they have little coverage even in Spain, and second because they need technical reference if they are really serious about staying put.
The only pity is that he will stop commenting F1 for spanish TV. He is really good, and together with Marc Gene, they make, probably, the most interesting and knowledgeable “color commentators” of F1 broadcasts. Both test drivers of the most iconic teams around, true gentlemen, with experience on track
On the decision of moving the team to Valencia, well, it might seem something crazy to do, but I think it is exciting for the sport to have other team bases than Milton Keynes. Yeah, majority of the talent is UK based, but I am sure some wouldn’t mind moving to Valencia, a pretty good city to live in and easily accessible from anywhere in Europe.
I think the reubens to lotus renault on a 1 year contract is perhaps wishful thinking because he isn’t french , if he was I think he would be a shoe in [ like schu at merc lol ] , renault seem to be moving their affections to RBR and a chou chou would certainly be a help to keep them in the loop
the team is in big , big trouble because of the kubica position , and an experienced driver with good development ability is virtually unobtainable …AND they have to recover from the disastrous 2011 EBD …. good idea but they couldn’t develop it and got swamped by teams that did
reubens would fill the gap … if kubica COULD come back by mid season then reubens could move over , in any case by then it should be clear if he is ever going to be back , and give them time to make another arrangement
sometimes you are forced into short term plans
Perhaps HRT think that Pedro has some old Ferrari drawings under his mattress!!!!
Hi Joe. Small question on your thoughts of team location. Do you think HRT would suffer by having a team base in Spain, away from all the ‘activity’? Would it not be better for them to follow Virgin/Marussia and set up next to someone like McLaren, and benefit from a working relationship?
Alex H,
It is not an intelligent move, until the new Spanish government has promised the team SERIOUS money. It makes it harder to build cars, harder to hire staff and more expensive in lots of ways.
I’d like to see Alguersuari teamed up with Kovalainen at Caterham, as it will be next year. He’s the kind of driver who needs to be kept in F1 for reasons of talent and everything else that he brings with him..
I thought Liuzzi was “paid” with a stake in the team? Maybe that’s totally wrong.
Nick,
Yes, that is totally wrong.
Any chance that the 2 Indian drivers will get a drive? How about Karthikeyan who brings some sponsorship money? Does Chandok stand a chance ?
What kind of dirty secrets at Woking is PDLR is privy to? He seem to walk in an out of team on slightest whim….
Given that Gary Paffett does tonnes of the Simulator/Testing work for McLaren these years, Why was PDLR hired as test driver (doing nothing) after Sauber gave him the sack??
Is that just to keep the Spanish sponsor, Santander happy???
Hey Joe, you might me interested in this http://www.italiaracing.net/magazine/2010157/index.asp Morelli announced officially testing for January in formula Renault. Suddenly things around Kubica start to move faster and all will happen AFTER his contract with Lotus Renault will expire.
TeamTruck,
Let us see if this actually happens.
Joe, surely this announcement is further evidence that the lack of testing in F1 is limiting the opportunities for young drivers to break into the top level of racing? l imagine HRT are attracted to De La Rosa for his development skills and if he could test as opposed to just racing then perhaps they might have employed him as a test driver and selected a young talent to race? Whilst I have nothing against Pedro I’d like to see some new blood coming in. And if the plan was to get a Spanish driver why not Alguersuari, especially if STR
are about to drop him?
To give competitive F1 seat time to young drivers, give countries like Turkey, Belgium, Hungary a chance to continue hosting an F1 race, give newer teams a chance to step up gradually why not establish an F1 European championship? It could also help established teams like Williams to raise extra money by supplying customer cars for the championship. And their could be arrangements allowing European championship teams to be testing partners for established teams. I’d love to get your thoughts.
Great work on he blog as always.
PS Just got a copy of GP Saboteurs and can’t wait to get stuck into it.
I’m not sure I understand the logic: putting two drivers in the same car only tells you…how they compare to each other. It tells you nothing of their absolute pace. What if Buemi and Alguersuari are both awesome and the car is mediocre? They’d both be mid-pack. What if both are slow-pokes but the car has enough Newey DNA to be a blazer? They’d both be mid-pack.
So firing both because they happen to compare well with each other on pace makes no sense. I’m not a fan of either driver especially, but when each came on the scene, they were regarded as very fast drivers. Does Marko know something about their pace that he’s not telling and that 1B F1 viewers and followers haven’t sussed out?
Barry
Possibly the most meaningless announcement for next season – a car perpetually at the back of the field, with a driver who has been past his peak for many years (and even then wasn’t too fast). I think the only point of interest is if they will make it to the grid next season at all.
Really hard to understand what’s going on at TR if this is indeed their thinking.
‘but Red Bull has always liked to throw its best drivers up against one another and see who comes out ahead’
Although sometimes neither does, which seems to tell them very little.
The two currant TR drivers may both be better than their replacements – how
are REd Bull to judge?
ain,
That is a good question. But Red Bull makes those decisions.
It sometimes seems that there is no such thing as a slow news day on Planet Saward, but you would think that ‘hopeless team hires middle-aged driver’ would be quite a difficult proposition for any journalist. Only you could make an interesting article out of it.
Nevertheless, the bottom line remains the question ‘what is the point of the bottom three teams?’
Liuzzi and Del La Rosa… sounds a great pairing… two hopeless drivers in a hopeless team. What a stage F1 is in when you have drivers like Liuzzi and De La Rosa holding down slots with the like of Hulkenberg (this year), and now possibly Buemi and Algusuiari possibly being sidelined; both of whom have done good enough in the latter part of the year to retain their seats. Two new drivers in Toro Rosso is the exact opposite of what is needed.
PaulN,
Gosh. How the hell do you know? Liuzzi and de la Rosa in Scuderia Toro Rosso might have produced much better results than the two there now?
I think Pedro will be the first driver, Liuzzi the second. Can we expect Dani Clos to bethe test driver
How the hell do i know?… i thought this was a blog/forum not a dictator ship. Its my opinion shared by many apart from those who think Liuzzi is a good driver. In the past 1o years what have Liuzzi and De La Rosa done that merits applause? What have i missed to suggest that they can improve their already lowly performances on track?
paulN,
This is not a forum. It is a blog. Nor is it a dictatorship. I let you have your voice, but I think it is completely misguided. If these guys are so useless why do they keep getting jobs? It is not because of money.