Hi everyone,
I'd like to add my "story" to the discussion, as I've just been offered a contract by Red Bull in my first (out of 3) career season. I'm driving with Force India, legend AI, all aids off (except for racing line in corners).
I'm pretty much doing well in the season, leading the WDC, 3rd in WCC, outperforming my teammate on every field. I've just finished the race in Korea, achieving the reputation rank of 12. As you can see, it is not very high, as I've struggled to meet all the team's objectives - they often expected me to qualify 5-8 and finish the race in 2-5 position, which is not easy with FI on every track (R&D path is set to aggressive). BTW did you notice that the better you perform the race before, the higher the expectations for the next race are, regardless of the real strenght of the car?
Anyway, halfway through the season I was asked to pick my rival. I was leading the table, HAM was 2nd, WEB 3rd, VET 4th. I chose Webber, as I thought he was going to be slower than Vettel in the second part of the season (which proved to be right BTW). Over the nex few races I've been offered contracts from slower teams: HRT, Virgin, Lotus, Williams as well as to renew my contract with FI. I lost my hope for a better ride next season, to be honest. But come R15 (Suzuka), I was approached by Sauber. I nearly accepted, but also wanted to wait for other offers. And soon, after the next race in Korea, I had an offer from Red Bull. It's worth mentioning, that I've already beaten Webber by now, even if he wins all the remaining races and I don't score any points, he still won't catch me.
So, here are my observations:
1. It's more important to be high up the table than to have high reputation rank, in my example 12 proved to be enough.
2. I assume that it's easier to get a contract from top-tier teams when you're doing 3 seasons career.
3. If you want to take somebody's seat next season, target the team's second driver (Webber, Button, Massa, ...) rather than the team leader.
So, to all of you who lost hope for a better car, have faith!