Caterham signs Kobayashi an Ericsson !

[pino]

Caterham has signed grand prix returnee Kamui Kobayashi and GP2 graduate Marcus Ericsson for the 2014 Formula 1 season.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/112208

[pino]

Now I am quite happy to see Kobayashi back on a F1 seat, but who's this Ericsson, and how he deserves the 2nd seat ? :s

[rjbetty]

Ah, now because Kobayashi may be rusty and Ericsson is a newbie and not tipped to be another Bottas or anything, this line-up could actually be weaker than the 2013 one!

I don't really follow GP2 these days, but it sounds like Ericsson is a competent but not amazing driver.


As for Kobayashi, he does have some talent, but there are probably about 15 drivers around with more. So I again fail to see why he should jump the queue into a top seat.

Perez did beat him in 2012 - despite Sergio's unrepresentative final 6 races. Before that, he had about twice the points of Kobayashi and a higher quality and quantity of highlight performances. Most of all, it was only the raw Perez's second season and quite bit further behind on his development curve, while Kobayashi was in his 3rd and a bit.

I repeat this because I feel that far too many people are OVERrating Kobayashi, thinking he should get in a Ferrari ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and suchlike.

2012:
Best Qualifying: Kobayashi - 2nd in Spa, Perez - 5th in Spa. BUT who was it who was desperately unfortunate not to take pole at Silverstone remember. Also in the Brit GP race, Pere was the one storming up the field before Maldonado ended him. He was on course to finish ahead of Kobayashi despite starting well behind through no fault of his own.

Kobayashi did have a good podium in 3rd, but Perez nearly won 3 races. Kobayashi was praised for coming 5th in Spain, but Sergio started in that position. Just how well would he have done if Grosjean hadn't punctured him on lap 1? Another challenge for victory?

In short, "anything you can do, I can do better..."


Having said this, I'm pretty pleased he got the drive. There are much less deserving people who could have had it. Though He's usually a great racer (though does mess it up too, though nowhere near as much as have-a-go-Sato) and is less reliant on the Dumb Racing Solution than others. Hopefully he will actually perform to the speed level people believe he is, and not spend too much of the season being invisible in what was really a s**t hot car in 2012 (scuse me langwidge).

[rjbetty]

Hey, what numbers are these guys getting?!

[COD]

Kobayashi I can understand, I found him quite specacular when he was in F1 previously.

But Ericsson? He has been mediocar at most in GP2, best season last year finishn 6th in the championship in his 4th! attempt. It is so sad how much tehe wallet of your sponsors decidea nowdays

[pino]

Kobayashi I can understand, I found him quite specacular when he was in F1 previously.

But Ericsson? He has been mediocar at most in GP2, best season last year finishn 6th in the championship in his 4th! attempt. It is so sad how much tehe wallet of your sponsors decidea nowdays

Totally agree :up: Ericsson got a F1 seat, while GP2 Champ winner Valsecchi still is a reserve drive at Lotus :crazy:

[steveaki13]

wow. Weird line up. Kobayashi I can see making a few banzi starts and getting into the side of the midfield.

A bit like Justin Wilson in his early races at Minardi, I could see Kobayashi getting ahead of a few midfielders early in races.

Of course, with the changes. maybe the Caterhams or Marussia's might get some better results.

[Jag_Warrior]

Thank you, Pino, for posting something which made me smile today. Now I can do my Kamui, Kamui, Kamui Kobayashi! Kamui, Kamui, Kamui Kobayashi! chant again this season.

And yes, watching an F1 race with me is probably pretty annoying when I do that. That's why I watch alone. Just me and nobody else. I watch alone! And you know, when I watch alone, I prefer to be by myself!

[anfield5]

Poor Kova, misses out again, just proves that ability now means nothing in F1, it is a circus dedicated to money. Good to see Kobi san back though

[Tazio]

I'm glad that the Japanese got a pilot into the field. They have a lot of debvoted fans, and a very cool GP on one of the best tracks still being used. :)

[steveaki13]

Yep. And am I right off the top of my head, Ericsson is the first F1 driver from Sweden since 1991? Must have been Johansson?

[steveaki13]

I should point out I heard on the radio it was their first driver since 1991, but I am guessing Johansson. Cant think of any since.

[RS]

Poor Kova, misses out again, just proves that ability now means nothing in F1, it is a circus dedicated to money. Good to see Kobi san back though

Realistically, most of the "pay drivers" are now quite talented, there are no Giovanni Lavaggis anymore. Unless you are at one of the top teams, or maybe Force India/Torro Rosso you have to bring money.

Did Heikki even try? His stubbornness may be costing him dear. He is a nice guy and a decent driver, but is he on the level to deserve a drive without bringing money when guys like Sutil, Perez, Massa, Bottas, Maldonado have to?

[Mia 01]

Finally, we got a Sweede back in F1. It was a while since last time with Lill Lövis 1991.

I hope he scores Caterhams first point this year.

But ofcourse, I will still mainly cheer for my idol Kimi!!

[N. Jones]

I just don't understand the Ericsson signing, especially since Charles Pic did pretty well.

[Rollo]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/m ... e16426351/ (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/colourful-kobayashi-returns-to-f1-with-backmarker-caterham/article16426351/)
“I am free. You get more money than me.
We paid with my fans’ donations and I have to really thank my Japanese fans. I think I could not get this seat without my fans.
I don’t need money. I just want to drive. I don’t care about money. I want to be a success in my life and bring the team that success. This is my goal.”
- Kobayashi, via Reuters & The Globe and Mail, 21st Jan 2014

I suspect that Kobayashi will pick up their first points this year. Actually I'm disappointed that Kamui didn't get that Ferrari seat, I think that there may have been a outside chance that he'd have been the surprise 2014 World Champion.

[Rollo]

Hey, what numbers are these guys getting?!

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/3055 ... r-numbers/ (http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/305530/caterham-drivers-confirm-car-numbers/)
Provisionally:
9 - Ericsson
10 - Kobayashi

[anfield5]

Poor Kova, misses out again, just proves that ability now means nothing in F1, it is a circus dedicated to money. Good to see Kobi san back though

Realistically, most of the "pay drivers" are now quite talented, there are no Giovanni Lavaggis anymore. Unless you are at one of the top teams, or maybe Force India/Torro Rosso you have to bring money.

Did Heikki even try? His stubbornness may be costing him dear. He is a nice guy and a decent driver, but is he on the level to deserve a drive without bringing money when guys like Sutil, Perez, Massa, Bottas, Maldonado have to?

You are absolutely correct re modern pay drivers, they are mostly of a decent quality, they couldn't attain a super license otherwise, and the worst pay driver in F1 is light years ahead of us mere mortals.

Comparing Kova to other mid field drivers, personally I would prefer Kova with a limited budget to Maldonado with millions of dollars. I also don't really blame teams from following the money root to a degree, but an aweful lot of talent is slipping through the net. For me F1 should be the pinnacle of single seat racing, with the best teams and drivers taking part. (I know this is an overly romanticised view of things)

[zako85]

Kobayashi I can understand, I found him quite specacular when he was in F1 previously.

But Ericsson? He has been mediocar at most in GP2, best season last year finishn 6th in the championship in his 4th! attempt. It is so sad how much tehe wallet of your sponsors decidea nowdays


Ericsson == $15M

Why am I not excited? I am sad this is the best Kobayashi could have this year. He is just another fine drivers in a long list of fine Caterham drivers who never scored a point. Why am I not excited?

[pcal226]

Happy to see Kobayashi back in F1, although i'm not sure it will be a successful return. I just don't have any confidence in the Caterham, regardless of who's driving it. It would be miraculous for Vettel, Alonso or whoever just to score points if they were in a Caterham or a Marussia. If Fernandez follows through on his threats to pull out of F1 if Caterham doesn't improve, than i'm afraid Kamui will just have a bad year and then be out of a seat again. I wish him the best anyways.

As for Ericsson I have nothing against the guy but I would have rather had them either stick with van der Garde or go with Alexander Rossi. Van der Garde showed some improvement last year and outperformed his teammate a few times and I don't think should be blamed for having a crap car. As for Rossi, his junior formulae numbers are comparable with Ericcson's, but Rossi also has two years as a Caterham's test driver under his belt. He also raced in the 24 Hour of Le Mans last year and will race in the 24 Hours of Daytona this weekend both of which give some good experience against professional drivers. Of course I'm biased because I'm American and I'm dying to see an American back in F1, but honestly I just don't see anything on the track that would make me choose Ericsson over my two year reserve driver Rossi, which means it was probably just a financial decision. I don't know, maybe for the reasons I mentioned above its actually better in the long run for Rossi not to drive for Caterham...

Still, in fairness to Ericsson, although he hasn't set the GP2 world on fire in his four years there, he has improved each year which is at least some reason for optimism.

[Finski]

Was hoping to see heikki back but oh well, good luck to caterham.

[truefan72]

its the best of both worlds for caterham, but of course if the car is useless then it will make no difference.
It is a shame really, as they have a better foundation to build a car and catch up to the heels of STR with, but have si far failed to even beat Marussia. Renault engine, I beleive technical assistance from a bigger team, and some components as well, and they still are languishing.
But for today, lets focus on the return of Kobvayashi (yeah!) and the introduction of Ericsson who is a fairly decent looking driver. I watched enough gP2 last year to notice him doing fairly well, and seemed like he was ready and able to step up to the next level.

[jens]

I remember, when back in 2010 Caterham - back named named Lotus - joined F1 I had high expectations on them and thought they could become a midfield team with a solid Trulli-Kovalainen line-up and decent enough finances at least by the year 2011.

Reality is they never really got going, fell back to needing TWO paydrivers last year (vd Garde+Pic) and nothing in the team seems to indicate they are actually moving forward. Actually I have been slightly more impressed by the progress of Marussia in the last couple of years, because they have bounced back from the CDF-only design philosophy fiasco. Also next year Marussia is finally going to have a proper engine, if we believe Cosworth was genuinely underpowered, though the switch to Renault never seemed to help Caterham.

As for Kobayashi and Ericsson.

I think the Swedish rookie will face a fate similar to di Grassi, d'Ambrosio, van der Garde, and whoever else we have seen in backmarker teams through the years - an opportunity to write into your CV that you have actually raced in F1 even though you were at the back of the grid and no-one remembers you.

Kobayashi is facing the fate of Glock and Kovalainen. One or a few seasons of trundling at the back before having to call it a day in F1.

[Malbec]

I remember, when back in 2010 Caterham - back named named Lotus - joined F1 I had high expectations on them and thought they could become a midfield team with a solid Trulli-Kovalainen line-up and decent enough finances at least by the year 2011.

Once you got past the BS there wasn't really much hope of them beating the existing midfielders given the budget they were on which has always been significantly lower than that of even the least well off existing teams.

I'm more disappointed by their inability to fend off Marussia which has been historically even worse off than they are.

They may get lucky this season and catch one of the midfielders napping but I doubt they will keep any such advantage into the European part of the season.

[BDunnell]

Once you got past the BS there wasn't really much hope of them beating the existing midfielders given the budget they were on which has always been significantly lower than that of even the least well off existing teams.

Having expected a budget cap which never materialised.



They may get lucky this season and catch one of the midfielders napping but I doubt they will keep any such advantage into the European part of the season.

As you say, it's doubtful. I don't see what these two teams add to F1, and, if they again fail to score this year, would be more than happy to see them go.