Discussion
Sauber have had a fairly anonymous season and have generally suffered quite a decline since a strong start at the beginning of 2014.
Money probably has a lot to do with it, and after the outrageous driver contracts fiasco I also place a question mark over Monisha Kaltenborn and the team management in general.
However one of the stand out factors looking at the season end standings is the sizable points gap between Nasr and team mate Ericsson.
I know Ericsson isn't top flight but Nasr looks quite good having not been on my radar before 2014.
As an aside, is anyone else bothered by how transparent everyone in the F1 commercial operation is in giving so little coverage / credit to Sauber and Manor? are they simply not putting enough money in the pot?
Surely the coverage should be more even-handed?
Money probably has a lot to do with it, and after the outrageous driver contracts fiasco I also place a question mark over Monisha Kaltenborn and the team management in general.
However one of the stand out factors looking at the season end standings is the sizable points gap between Nasr and team mate Ericsson.
I know Ericsson isn't top flight but Nasr looks quite good having not been on my radar before 2014.
As an aside, is anyone else bothered by how transparent everyone in the F1 commercial operation is in giving so little coverage / credit to Sauber and Manor? are they simply not putting enough money in the pot?
Surely the coverage should be more even-handed?
Smollet said:
Palmer beat him quite comprehensively in GP2. He's not bad but nothing special in my book. There because of money rather than out and out talent but he's a lot better than his teammate
This. When he came into British F3 he was suggested to be a man to watch. As that season went on I was not convinced. I remain far from convinced and, if i were being honest, just don't think that he has 'it'.
thegreenhell said:
Apart from his points-scoring debut in Aus, I can't recall a single thing he's done all season. I guess it didn't help that Verstappen and Sainz got all the attention as everybody's favourite rookies. Nasr has just been completely anonymous.
Didn't like being called Fred either. 
Smollet said:
Palmer beat him quite comprehensively in GP2. He's not bad but nothing special in my book. There because of money rather than out and out talent but he's a lot better than his teammate
To be fair, Nasr beat Palmer in 2013, despite Palmer having a year more experience Gp2.Mind, Van Doorne makes them both look quite ordinary, it would be good to see him in a good car next year.
Rude-boy said:
This.
When he came into British F3 he was suggested to be a man to watch. As that season went on I was not convinced. I remain far from convinced and, if i were being honest, just don't think that he has 'it'.
Problem with Brit F3 was that Carlin Motorsport had a stranglehold in the series and on his day Nasr could mix it with the Carlin drivers IIRC in the same year JEV dominated the series. He moved to Carlin the next year and became champ.When he came into British F3 he was suggested to be a man to watch. As that season went on I was not convinced. I remain far from convinced and, if i were being honest, just don't think that he has 'it'.
Nasr has been solid, clean and gets the job done but this can also be percieved as anonymous and partly because of lacking car development, Crashtor Maldonado gifting points.
Has far greater potential than Esteban Gutierrez who could be quite lairy at times and not much potential from what I've seen. I have no idea why Ferrari would want him.
entropy said:
Has far greater potential than Esteban Gutierrez who could be quite lairy at times and not much potential from what I've seen. I have no idea why Ferrari would want him.
I'll fully agree with that.I might be being a bit harsh on him but he never seemed to jump out at you in the sort of way Sato, JEV, Brendon, Perez, Ricciardo and others did.
Then again I found myself disappointed that Pizzonia didn't turn out to be as good as i thought he would be. even if Brendon has proved to be as good as i thought he was (and is still a bloody nice bloke!)...
thegreenhell said:
Apart from his points-scoring debut in Aus, I can't recall a single thing he's done all season. I guess it didn't help that Verstappen and Sainz got all the attention as everybody's favourite rookies. Nasr has just been completely anonymous.
He's done a lot for (to?) me: 'Felipe Nasr' and 'Felipe Massa' don't sound so different when the announcers blurt it out in the middle of a race and it's confusing as hell when I don't see a Williams in the shot.Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff