[D33-PAC]

Oh dear, what a surprise!


http://www.sportpulse.net/content/f1...its-sport-5599

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlin.../12/14143.html

Well, I guess that's it for Karthikeyan!

[mgh]

good riddance to bad rubbish.

HRT never deserved to be in F1. Why they entered F1 is itself a big mystery. They never seemed to have even part of the needed funds.

[ashwin.terminat]

They were consistently slower that everyone else and track and were near 2 seconds off the pace on every lap. They barely had the necessary funds too.

Maybe them being so slow caused Bernie to think they would cause safety concerns to other drivers on the grid, so he decided to get them to leave F1? (Remember Nico's aerial episode after tagging a slowly moving Karthikeyan?)

[zenren]

Originally Posted by D33-PAC

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlin.../12/14143.html

Interesting to see car no.9 go to Rosberg and 10 for Hamilton. Who is their lead driver for 2013?

I thought numbers would have been the other way round.

[GTO]

Oh well, no one is going to miss HRT at all. They were a good for nothing team that only raced for LAST position. Heck, you can imagine them rejoicing just because they qualified within the 107% rule. In some races, 1 second separated the top 8 - 10 cars. And HRT was a full 5, 6 or 7 seconds off the pace!

Their best race result was 15th in Monaco. And they were still last

The important question to me is : Who will replace HRT? VW . VW has been somewhat vocal about its F1 ambitions. F1 is biggest in Europe and so is VW. VW has the money (actually, shiploads of it). Sounds like a marriage made in heaven.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by GTO

Oh well, no one is going to miss HRT at all.

I'm sure Vettel would miss Karthikeyan's HRT

It would be great if BMW/VW are in F1. Would be interesting to see more engines than the current 3. Let some good Audi engines rule the tracks.

[tsk1979]

I guess VW can bring in a diesel car , and then complete the race without a single pit stop. Whenever there is danger of being overtaken, lug the engine, and create a smoke screen so thick that everybody else ends up off the track.

[sa_kiran]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I guess VW can bring in a diesel car , and then complete the race without a single pit stop. Whenever there is danger of being overtaken, lug the engine, and create a smoke screen so thick that everybody else ends up off the track.

If the car pits, the pit crew will take the car for a joyride and crash it; tell the driver to fight with FIA for points.

[asr245]

Originally Posted by GTO

The important question to me is : Who will replace HRT? VW . VW has been somewhat vocal about its F1 ambitions. F1 is biggest in Europe and so is VW. VW has the money (actually, shiploads of it). Sounds like a marriage made in heaven.

From what I have read, VW is not interested in owning a team, just as an engine supplier and only after making that engine has some business sense for them. SO probably with new engine regulations, they might be interested.

[Tassem]

I say good riddance. They never made sense anyways. Even with ample funding, I feel the team lacked outright talent to run with the biggies.

VW participating is highly unlikely. Especially since they've made their intentions clear. Though it'd be interesting to see them in action.

On a lighter note, if VW brings in a diesel car, they can go around the track trolling the other teams asking 'Kitna Deti Hai??'

[D33-PAC]

Poor guys; the financial problems are bringing all sorts of headaches for everyone involved with HRT:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...ng-brazil-race

[polopm]

Originally Posted by GTO

Oh well, no one is going to miss HRT at all. They were a good for nothing team that only raced for LAST position. Heck, you can imagine them rejoicing just because they qualified within the 107% rule. In some races, 1 second separated the top 8 - 10 cars. And HRT was a full 5, 6 or 7 seconds off the pace!

Their best race result was 15th in Monaco. And they were still last

The important question to me is : Who will replace HRT? VW . VW has been somewhat vocal about its F1 ambitions. F1 is biggest in Europe and so is VW. VW has the money (actually, shiploads of it). Sounds like a marriage made in heaven.

HRT was always on the edge and they have slipped for good. Actually they were improving a lot compared to the budget they had. I rate them higher than Marussia who had a much better infrastructure setup. But these times are cut-throat and such units will perish.

I think VW will play it safe like Renault and might just be an engine supplier. Running a team is very very complex these days and might not be able to put a good mix of brains. Look at Merc, they have the most enviable team (they even had the Schum ) and look where they are now. Ok, they've got the Hamster, but it will need some diffuser kind of miracle to put them in the front.

[Fullrevs]

Im actually sad the grid is being shorter. N being a Ferrari fan, Karthi's antics on Vettel at Malaysia and Austin was quite helpful.

Last I heard a Chinese company was keen on buying HRT but that failed to materialize. We will have a shorter grid next year as the FIA entry list is now closed. However, Brawn and few teams before have gotten exceptions. So a last minute entry from someone worthwhile could see another team fill up the grid next year. Personally, I think its too late for a last minute replacement.

On another good note, the FIA have added Turkey in next years calendar, bringing the total count to 20 races like this year. I simply adore the long sweeping left hander in Turkey. Turn 13 is it?

[kaushik60]

Originally Posted by Fullrevs

On another good note, the FIA have added Turkey in next years calendar, bringing the total count to 20 races like this year. I simply adore the long sweeping left hander in Turkey. Turn 13 is it?

I think you're talking about turn 8, the sweeping left turn with 4 apexes.
Another reason why I like Turkey is that it took some of the heat off India when the dog-on-track incident happened at BIC in Oct '11. We could safely point and say - "look, its no big deal! it happened in Turkey too!"

[Fullrevs]

I think the decision is still pending and I must apologize for reporting that Turkey has been added back to the 2013 calendar. They are still deciding between Magny Cours, Turkey and the newly revamped Red Bull Ring at Spielberg, Austria.