There has been speculation that the Lotus Racing driver lineup will be changed for next season, with rumours that Jarno Trulli will be the man making way. While both Heikki Kovalainen and Trulli aren’t yet confirmed for 2011, team boss Tony Fernandes has given strong hints that both men will be retained.
“I think we have brought out the best in Heikki. I think Heikki has had probably his greatest year and I think in Jarno we have not given him a good enough car and we want to see him in the best car. He is motivated, he is hungry and it is up to us to give him a good car and his experience will help us build him a better car in 2011,” he told Autosport.
The veteran Italian has been very unlucky throughout Lotus Racing’s maiden season, bearing a big chunk of reliability issues that saw him record eight retirements. Heikki is classified 20th in the driver’s standings, the best of the new teams, while Trulli is 21st.
“I think that it is highly unlikely we will change what we have. I am a big believer in consistency and there have been some very interesting approaches that have been made to us. I took a brave decision in taking two salaried drivers. It showed our attention from day one and we continue to do that, so I don’t see a change unless something miraculous comes up. Consistency is important and keeping a together team, a happy team and strengthening that team is what we are all about,” Fernandes added.
As to when an announcement will be made: “We’re close to being able to say who’s in the car for next year,” team spokesman Tom Webb told the BBC.
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Suruh monyet tu:
– come up the league and earn his place like everyone else i.e. start in go karts fight for formula 3 and then get noticed if good enough to drive for fomula one.
– we all know TF in the still needs to keep the big gorillaz happy
aisey kawan..
who’s monyet?
Keep Heikki, replace the aged Jarno with Fauzy and let’s see how our boy perform for at least a quarter of the races of 2011’s calender. Got to give Fauzy a chance to race for his hard-earned super-license. If Fauzy always 3 second off Heikki’s pace, then replace him with other F1 drivers without a race seat. They are plenty out there!
they should replace Fairuz
he’s useless and can’t even beat bruno senna in HRT in free practice 1
Oh come on! Be fair lah a bit! Senna spent all seasons driving his car (practices, qualifying and full race distance) and Fairuz hardly had his chance driving his…. comparing apple to rambutan ka?
You are the useless one. Fairuz is the 3rd driver and only been in the car 2 or 3 times. Bruno is in the car regularly, he should have done better!
thehehehehe….
butthurt meh.. typical excuses meh
don’t worry meh… LOTUS-RENAULTF1 sponsor by PROTON might be the best place for fairuz to get regular seat..
oh plz keep fairuz frm tat team, he wil spoil the team progression
harap fairuz dapat berlumba sepenuh masa untuk 2011..malaysia boleh
I guess Tony can only afford these drivers…….
Kesian Tony….
Hmm, heard that TF offering Fairuz a driver’s seat for around $10m. Where was the promise of putting a Malaysian in the car (and really racing, not just in Free Practice just for show). How come no one remembers all this?
As for performance, Fairuz did post compettive times, plus his CV is a lot more concrete. Alex Yoong didn’t even have half as much shn he started with Minardi.
Anyhow, Malaysian making money off other Malaysians. Memang Boleh… Blah!
Apa kata tukar fairuz fauzi dgn tengku djan… Tengku Djan lebih berbakat dan pakar dlm dunia permotoran… rasenye tak de masalah drift king jadi pemandu F1. klu jd driver lg bagus. barulah anak Malaysia dgn identiti Malaysia. Smpi bila asyik guna”pemain import” jer