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Driver Changes – Success or Failure?

For the 2012 season, nine drivers (not including Narain Karthikeyan) lined up in new seats for season. With half of the season gone, which moves have produced the goods and which haven’t worked out. Paul Murtagh looks at the driver changes for 2012.

Kimi Raikkonen(Lotus) 166pts (5^th in the championship)

It was considered a big risk by Lotus to take on the 2007 champion who, just two years after claiming his crown, left F1 for a fresh challenge in the World Rally Championship. However, it seems that the Kimi Raikkonen we have seen in 2012 is more like the Kimi Raikkonen that impressed everyone during his McLaren days. His speed has been excellent, and it is a wonder why he hasn’t won a race this season. He currently sits above 2012 race winners Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button and Pastor Maldonaldo in the championship standings, and is still within range of a title challenge. Not bad for someone who hadn’t drove a single seater racing car since the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. If he can manage to match his race pace in qualifying, he will definitely be in with a chance of the title.

Success or Failure - Success

Romain Grosjean – 76pts (8^th in the championship)

Like Raikkonen, Romain left F1 at the end of 2009 with many wondering whether he was F1 material. However, a stint back in GP2, including winning the championship in 2011, seemed to give the Frenchman his mojo back, and he has been a revelation this season. Podiums in Bahrain, Canada and last time out in Hungary show how much talent there is. However, his season has been blighted by a number of early-race incidents, including retirements in Australia, Malaysia and Monaco. He has avoided these recently, and should he continue to improve, it could be him and not Kimi taking the first win for the current Lotus team.

Success or Failure - Success

Nico Hulkenberg – 19pts (16^th in the championship)

Many were surprised when Nico wasn’t retained by Williams for 2011, but after a year testing for Force India, he was promoted to a race seat replacing Adrian Sutil. And it would be fair to say that he has done a better job than his fellow German would have done. He has finished in the points in 5 out of the 11 races so far this year, and has regularly qualified well, such as his great effort at his home race. The only downfall is that, despite matching the pace of team-mate Paul Di Resta, he sits 8 points behind his team mate in the standings. Nico will be wanting to beat his team mate over the rest of the season to secure a seat with a top team, possibly Mercedes or even Ferrari, next year.

Success or Failure - Success

Daniel Ricciardo – 2pts (18^th in the championship)

After keeping Tonio Liuzzi very honest at HRT in the second half of 2011, much was expected of Ricciardo this season. And a 9^th place finish at his home race in Australia showed early promise. However, since then Daniel has failed to score a single point, with his best effort being 11^th place in Valencia. A good part of this can be put down to the car, which isn’t very good, but it still has the potential to score the odd point. He should hold onto his seat for next year, but his hopes of a promotion to the senior team in the future have been severely dented.

Success or Failure - Failure

Jean Eric Vergne – 4pts (17^th in the championship)

Much like his team-mate Ricciardo, Jean-Eric came into the season expecting much. So did the team, and points finish in only his second race looked promising. But like Ricciardo, Vergne has struggled to get pace out of the car, especially in qualifying where he is often the unlucky man out of the established teams to drop out in Q1. Has he done a better job than either Buemi or Alguersuari would have done? My gut feeling tells me no.

Success or Failure - Failure

Bruno Senna – 24pts (15^th in the championship)

Having impressed in both testing and racing for Renault last season, Bruno was signed by Williams at the expense of F1’s most experienced driver, Rubens Barrichello. Bruno was also driving for his uncle’s last team, so the pressure was on from the start. I think it would be fair to say that Bruno hasn’t lived upto expectations. Whilst team-mate Pastor Maldonaldo won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole, Bruno has regularly struggled to make the top 10 in qualifying and his highest finish is 6^th in Malaysia. He has out-scored his team-mate since Spain, but is more down to Maldonaldo’s self-destruct button rather than Senna out-racing him. Bruno will need to lift his game or could find himself out of a team for the third season in a row.

Success or Failure - Failure

Vitaly Petrov – 0pts (20^th in the championship)

After being dropped by Lotus for 2012, Vitaly found himself replacing Jarno Trulli on the eve of the season. And despite having very little running before the season started, he has adapted well to life at Caterham. He has matched team-mate Heikki Kovalainen at times during the season, and has only been beaten in a race 3 times by his team-mate. He has probably done a better job than Jarno would have done this year, and will be looking to secure his seat for next year.

Success or Failure - Success

Pedro De La Rosa – 0pts (24^th in the championship)

Almost unnoticed, Pedro has done a superb job with HRT this season. After many years as a test driver with McLaren, his experience has helped HRT develop their car throughout the season. Similar to Fernando Alonso in 2001 with Minardi, Pedro has produced many excellent drives this season that has went unnoticed due to the fact he is driving for HRT – not least out-qualifying both Marussia cars in Canada. He may well have put himself in the shop window for a drive at Sauber or Force India should a seat come free there next year. If not, then HRT would be very wise to retain his services.

Success or Failure - Success

Charles Pic – 0pts (22^nd in the championship)

Having somewhat controversially replaced Jerome D’Ambrosio for 2012, Pic has been expected by many to toddle along at the back and stay out of the way. To a point he has done this, but he has also kept his experienced team-mate Timo Glock very honest throughout the season. Whilst Charles isn’t going to set the world alight in a Marussia car, he could yet still follow the example of Bruno Senna and the man that he replaced by landing a testing role with a top team for next year with the chance of a race seat in the future.

Success or Failure - Success

Paul Murtagh