Doors Closing For Hulkenberg as Haas Confirm Drivers For 2020

I think Hulkenberg is a very good driver, but I've always wondered why he was consistently passed over by the top teams when they had seats available. Was it because he was already under contract elsewhere and the timing was wrong? No idea… And now, he's 32 and with the arrival of a very promising group of young drivers, he finds himself likely out of F1, unless he becomes a 3rd driver somewhere. It just proves that a) there aren't enough teams in F1 and b) the window of opportunity in F1 is getting smaller and smaller.

It was just announced that both Red Bull and Alfa Romeo are not interested. Williams will probably get Latifi. And why would Hulkenberg go to Williams anyway? What's the point, at this time in his career, of qualifying on the last row and finishing 2 laps behind?
 
Like a lot of you, I am surprised Haas chose to keep Grosjean with Hulk available. Maybe Grosjean took a discount to stay? The guy's OK but really seemed like Gunter Steiner was done with him at times with the mistakes. This has to be the last opportunity for him I would think, and if he continues to make mistakes no F1 team will take him if Haas drop him.

I have to admit since I only started watching F1 again after a long hiatus about midway through 2016, I haven't seen much of why Hulk is so hyped but sure, he seems quick and usually solid. I feel like he would be more consistent than Grosjean for Haas, at least - and the Hulk/Magnussen partnership could make for a great side story. I've heard more than a few times Hulk is a "future champion if he gets with the right team". Maybe, but F1 seems to have half a grid of those guys and historically only a handful ever get on "that team" at the right time. I like watching F1 but sometimes I wonder why, I kind of feel like F1 is "the pinnacle of motorsport" only because F1 says it is. What's my point? If Hulk ends up out of F1, go be a hero someplace else where you can race your ass off and have an actual chance to win. F1 isn't the only prestigious place to race.
 
It blows my mind how Will Power, the fastest guy in Indycar (both qualy and races) probably since Montoya, never got that Haas seat when Haas first entered F1 (and never got any F1 ride or even test for that matter). I'm now also very surprised that Haas has chosen to keep Grosjean instead of replacing him with Nico Hulkenberg...very surprised indeed.

I’m equally intrigued by that. Why don’t we see more of IndyCar’s top guys landing F1 rides? Is it sponsorship-related? Or is it guys not wanting to live in Europe? I’d love someone with more knowledge than me explain.
 
I’m equally intrigued by that. Why don’t we see more of IndyCar’s top guys landing F1 rides? Is it sponsorship-related? Or is it guys not wanting to live in Europe? I’d love someone with more knowledge than me explain.
First F1 drivers doesnt have to live in Europe (absolutely not)..
and conserning the quality of Indycar drivers compared to F1 drivers then you just have to compare how many F1 drivers there have been (and still is) that have succeded after transistion to Indycars /Champcars compared to the extremely few who have succeded going the other way.

Probably not the wished conclusion for a Indycar biased person but thats the unpleasant statistics.
 
i think every comments about grosjean was a bit too much he is not doing good latest seasons,but he won already race in f1 with kimi in lotus he got podium etc etc... nico never been like that...thats why hass confirmed gros instead hire nico
 
Perhaps because there has been no discussions with Haas. That's what Steiner said today.
I think that Geene Haas just agreed that Grosjean brought a lot to Haas, that's what Steiner said but i doubt it comes from his mouth. If Magnussen or Steiner have decided Grosjean would have been fired for sure. Magnussen is under contract till 2021.

By the way people should check numbers before comparing Hulkenberg and Grosjean.
The reason why Hulkenberg will not be there next year has a name and it's Ocon.
I am starting to wonder if Grosjean is not bringing money along? Is he sponsored by an old French aristocratic family?
 
i think every comments about grosjean was a bit too much he is not doing good latest seasons,but he won already race in f1 with kimi in lotus he got podium etc etc... nico never been like that...thats why hass confirmed gros instead hire nico
Grosjean has never won a race in F1. Only a few podiums at the end of 2013, and one at Spa in 2015/16.
 
Grosjean has never won a race in F1. Only a few podiums at the end of 2013, and one at Spa in 2015/16.

He's actually had 10 podiums (I'm surprised when I looked it up). He won three in 2012, six in 2013 and one in 2015. FWIW, Hulk has never had one (bit surprised by that).
 
He's actually had 10 podiums (I'm surprised when I looked it up). He won three in 2012, six in 2013 and one in 2015. FWIW, Hulk has never had one (bit surprised by that).
Here is the translation of his first season with Lotus.

"On 9 December 2011, Romain Grosjean is named titular driver for the Lotus F1 Team for the 2012 season and becomes the teammate of former world champion Kimi Räikkönen24.

In Melbourne, at the inaugural Grand Prix, he qualifies in third place but abandons the second round after a clash with Pastor Maldonado. A week later in Malaysia, he starts sixth but clings with Michael Schumacher in the first round then goes to fault and gives up in the fourth round. In China, Grosjean qualified tenth and finished sixth, marking the first points of his career in Formula 1. In Bahrain, seventh on the grid, he made a good start and climbed to fourth place in the first corner. After taking a lead after the tire changes, he finished third behind Sebastian Vettel and team-mate Kimi Räikkönen, signing the first hat-trick for the Renault engine since the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix; he achieved the first podium of his career in Formula 1, the first podium of a French driver in Formula 1 since Jean Alesi at the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix.

In Spain, for the return to Europe, Romain Grosjean gets the fourth time qualifying but, following the decommissioning of Lewis Hamilton, third share. The next day, he made a solid race despite a difficult start because of a breakage of an element of his front wing after a touch overtaking Bruno Senna; he made his first fastest lap in Formula 1 and finished fourth. In Monaco, qualified in fourth position, he is the victim, at the beginning, of a boredom of clutch and is exceeded by several competitors. He hits Fernando Alonso, shifts to the left of the track, hits Michael Schumacher and breaks his left rear suspension, forcing him to give up.

Grosjean at the British Grand Prix 2012.
Seventh on the grid of the Canadian Grand Prix, he loses a place after a few corners but, thanks to a strategy with a single stop and good management of his tires, returns gradually to Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel to finish second behind Lewis Hamilton: he achieved his best result in Formula 1. In the Grand Prix of Valencia, when he was fourth on the grid, Grosjean quickly advanced to second place after doubling Pastor Maldonado at the start and Lewis Hamilton shortly before his tire change. However, he gave up because of an alternator problem on the forty-first lap when he was second behind Fernando Alonso. Ninth on the starting grid of the British Grand Prix, he clings with Paul di Resta in the first round, which forces him to stop to repair his front wing. Last in the second lap, he climbs back to sixth place at the end of the race. In Germany, on the Hockenheim circuit, he is penalized with five places on the grid because of a gearbox change. In the first lap, he undergoes a collision and must change his front wing and his tires because of a puncture; he finishes the eighteenth race. At the Hungarian Grand Prix, he achieved the best qualification of his career in Formula 1 by starting second and finishes the third race.

After the summer break, Romain Grosjean qualifies eighth for the Belgian Grand Prix. Initially, it causes a pileup whose victims are Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez; he is penalized by the race commissioners who fined him 50,000 euros and suspended him for the Grand Prix of Italy where he was replaced by the Belgian Jérôme d'Ambrosio25. In Singapore, he started eighth on the grid and finished seventh. In Japan, fourth on the starting grid following the penalty of Jenson Button, he hits Mark Webber and is penalized with a stop-and-go of ten seconds. At the end of the race, out of the points, he gives up to be able to change gearbox without having penalty for the next Grand Prix. In South Korea, he qualifies seventh and after a careful race, finishes in the same place. In India, eleventh in qualifying, he finished the race in ninth place. At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he is a collateral victim of the battle between Sergio Pérez and Paul di Resta: touched by Pérez who returns to the track, he is harpooned by Mark Webber and abandons the thirty-seventh round while he was fifth. At the US Grand Prix, qualified in fourth place, Grosjean starts ninth after a penalty for changing gearbox. In the race, despite a spin at the start of the race, he finished seventh. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, he goes off the track and has to give up. The day after his victory in the Race of Champions, Lotus officially announced the extension of his contract for 2013. He finished eighth in the championship with 96 points, 111 points behind his teammate who finished third for his return to F1."
 
I am starting to wonder if Grosjean is not bringing money along? Is he sponsored by an old French aristocratic family?
His grandfather on his mother side was a successful industrial. He founded the Brandt Company.
Now you know his sponsors but i don't think he got his seat for the next year due to his sponsors.
The reasons given by Steiner make sense and Grosjean was not confident about 2020.
 

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