2010 Driver Market

Debaser · Post by **Debaser** » 28 Sep 2009, 15:07

Captain Hammer wrote:It's only circumstantial. Everyone is only assuming that Ferrari are getting rid of Raikkonen in favour of Alonso, but neither party has confirmed or denied it.

Well they're not going to are they? It seems quite clear now Alonso's off to Ferrari, and I'm guessing Kimi's back to McLaren next year. It suits all sides and makes sense commercially and racing-wise.

noisebox · Post by **noisebox** » 28 Sep 2009, 15:30

Captain Hammer wrote:It's only circumstantial. Everyone is only assuming that Ferrari are getting rid of Raikkonen in favour of Alonso, but neither party has confirmed or denied it.

It's happening and has been for ages - get your head out of the sand!

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 28 Sep 2009, 19:07

Norbert Haug is saying he'd quite like Kimi back in McLaren:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79008

Should that happen, it would close the McLaren seat for Rosberg. Shame. Something good might come of it, though: maybe Rosberg will end up in Brawn and give Button a good kicking.

Ulfuls · Post by **Ulfuls** » 28 Sep 2009, 19:41

My guesses, vaguely in order from first to "does not turn up":

Brawn — Button, Rosberg
Brawn retain their 2009 form and are in the fight for both titles to the end of the season. Button's head settles down and he repeats as world champion, narrowly beating Hamilton, while Rosberg takes two wins

McLaren — Hamilton, Raikkonen
Brawn's strongest challenger, with both drivers achieving consistent results and occasional wins. McLaren's organisational and mechanical depth pull them along. Relations with Mercedes cool, and Martin Whitmarsh announces at Silverstone that McLaren will build its own engine from 2012.

Williams — Hulkenberg, Barrichello
A return to form for Williams, with Barrichello winning a race or two; Hulkenberg is strong from the outset, with consistent points and a couple of podiums.

Ferrari — Alonso, Massa
The 2010 challenger is consistent and fast, but not quite fast enough. Alonso takes two wins and Massa a win through racecraft, but the car is still a work in progress.

Red Bull — Webber, Vettel (obviously)
Each driver takes a win or two, but the slightly chaotic and messy technical form which was their undoing in 2009 continues in 2010 and they are unable to sustain a consistent campaign for either championship.

Renault — Kubica, Grosjean
A solid midfield runner, with occasional podiums for Kubica, but money remains a problem with almost no major sponsorship, and as Carlos Ghosn tires of shelling out the team is sold to David Richards during the August break; the engine operation at Viry remains as a stand-alone supplier to the team, Williams and Red Bull.

Sauber — Heidfeld, Fisichella
Heidfeld remains with the team and Fisichella comes along with the Ferrari engines as Maranello decides that it's in their interest to keep their reserve driver sharp. Future of the team is thrown into question in mid-season as Qadbak's financial position becomes increasingly unclear.

Toyota — Nakajima, Glock
Nakajima is brought into the works team after Williams ditches its Toyota power and him with it. Glock wins the drive after his strong Singapore showing. The budget faces a serious slashing, but the team are dependable midfield runners.

Force India — Liuzzi, Trulli
Liuzzi impresses in the back end of 2009, and Trulli goes cheap after being cut loose by Toyota. The car is a development of the 2009 model, and continues to improve on high-downforce circuits, while losing some of the aero advantage that made it so speedy at Spa and Monza.

Toro Rosso — Algersuari, Buemi
Toro Rosso becomes a less attractive proposition to Deitrich Mateschitz once they have to design their own chassis; despite Adrian Newey giving them a couple of sketches on the back of a napkin, they remain the slowest of the non-new teams. Algersuari and Buemi are retained on a series of three race deals as Red Bull development drivers for 2010, but there is doubt about their future as a 55% stake in the team is taken after Suzuka by a team of investors led by... Giancarlo Minardi.

Manor/Virgin — Davidson, Sutil
Sutil is tempted to Virgin by a long-term deal with an attractive pay packet, the promise of a well-capitalised team with strong results three to five years out, and a genius manque in Nick Wirth. The consensus in the paddock is that he has merely swapped tycoons, with the new model being somewhat slimmer. Manor are the strongest of the new runners, picking up occasional points, especially in the rain, on the back of Sutil and Davidson's experience.

Campos — de la Rosa, Senna
Campos opt for a combination of Spanish experience and Brazilian potential, winning the Bruno Senna stakes by stressing the potential of the Dallara-Cosworth combination to him. Unfortunately the Dallara chassis is fairly pedestrian, and points are hard to come by, although Senna does show flashes of potential.

Lotus — Fauzy, Villeneuve
Villeneuve is chosen by Mike Gascoyne for his car development abilities rather than his driving, but flashes of the old hunger are there, and Villeneuve does achieve two eighth-place finishes in a hastily-developed and unreliable car. Fauzy, chosen for his nationality, spends the season as a reliable resident of the back row of the grid.

USF1 — Kyle Busch, Marco Andretti
Drivers are signed amid much fanfare in December, but the team folds in February with their car not having turned a wheel in anger. Busch and Andretti return to the NASCAR and Indycar seats that they prudently kept warm and contractually available.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 28 Sep 2009, 19:55

Ulfuls wrote:Villeneuve is chosen by Mike Gascoyne for his car development abilities rather than his driving

Excuse me, which parallel universe are you referring to?
I figured everybody would have learned from his days at B.A.R, the man doesn't know how an F1 team works, or how to develop a car properly. At the end of the day, he was WDC because of A) His car, B) Schumi cheating and C) Team orders. Every year since 1998, he has sucked, badly.

I'm sorry, but I ain't buying that one

domi-kun · Post by **domi-kun** » 28 Sep 2009, 22:10

Brawn - Mercedes
#1 Jenson Button
#2 Nico Rosberg
Not as dominant as in beginning 2009 but one of the top teams scoring constant podiums.

Red Bull - Renault
#1 Sebastian Vettel
#2 Mark Webber
Car is fast but has some issues with reliability. Vettel wins couple of races and both drivers score podiums

McLaren - Mercedes
#1 Lewis Hamilton
#2 Kimi Räikkönen
Hamilton is one of the strongest favorites for world champion. Kimi gets frustrated because he feels that he's not treated equally, Räikkönen goes to WRC at the end of the season.

Ferrari
#1 Fernando Alonso
#2 Felipe Massa
Alonso is clearly the #1 driver and one of the favorites for world champion. Massa drives a bit too carefully because of his horrible accident.

Toyota
#1 Timo Glock
#2 Heikki Kovalainen
Toyota is fast in the beginning of the season, but the middle of the season is difficult for them. Glock might even score the team's first victory in the end of the season. Kovalainen goes to Toyota, he performs better than in McLaren, because both drivers are treated equally.

Williams - Toyota
#1 Katsuki Nakajima
#2 Nicolas Hülkenberg
Williams is one of the most solid midfielders scoring many 6th 7th and 8th places, Hülkenberg improves towards the end of the season.

Renault
#1 Robert Kubica
#2 Romain Grosjean
Renault is one of the slowest "old" teams they don't have any big sponsors and car isn't that fast, Kubica scores constant points, but Grosjean races mostly with Force's and Toro Rossos.

Force India - Mercedes
#1 Adrian Sutil
#2 Vitantonio Liuzzi
Mercedes wants Sutil to stay, in some races he is quite fast. Liuzzi can stay because of solid efforts in the end of 2009

Toro Rosso - Ferrari
#1 Sebastien Buemi
#2 Jaime Alguersuari
Toro Rosso is the slowest old team, Buemi scores couple of points but Alguersuari is so slow, that he gets replaced in the middle of the season by Bruno Senna.

Campos Meta - Cosworth
#1 Pedro de la Rosa
#2 Andy Soucek
de la Rosa's last change, car is very slow, de la Rosa is fastest of new drivers, Soucek is quite invisible driving a solid season.

Manor - Cosworth
#1 Anthony Davidson
#2 Sebastien Bourdais
Manor decides to sign two drivers with at least some experience in F1, although they see themselves at the back of the grid racing with other newcomer teams.

USF1 - Cosworth
#1 Scott Speed
#2 Marco Andretti
Scott Speed gets another change in F1, Marco Andretti is signed mostly because of his surname.

Lotus - Cosworth
#1 Bruno Senna
#2 Fairuz Fauzy
Senna is second fastest of new team drivers, he replaces Alguersuari in Toro Rosso in the middle of the season, Fauzy is there only because of his nationality and is the slowest driver almost the whole season.

Drivers Table without points

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Jenson Button
4. Sebastian Vettel
5. Felipe Massa
6. Nico Rosberg
7. Mark Webber
8. Timo Glock
9. Kimi Räikkönen
10. Heikki Kovalainen
11. Robert Kubica
12. Nicolas Hülkenberg
13. Adrian Sutil
14. Katsuki Nakajima
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi
16. Romain Grosjean
17. Sebastien Buemi
18. Pedro de la Rosa
19. Bruno Senna
20. Anthony Davidson
21. Sebastien Bourdais
22. Andy Soucek
23. Scott Speed
24. Marco Andretti
25. Jaime Alguersuari
26. Fairuz Fauzy

Teams Table without Points

1. Ferrari
2. Brawn
3. McLaren
4. Red Bull
5. Toyota
6. Williams
7. Renault
8. Force India
9. Toro Rosso
10. Campos Meta
11. Manor
12. Lotus
13. USF1

Henrique · Post by **Henrique** » 29 Sep 2009, 00:44

According to several news sites, Timo Glock won't be staying at Toyota for 2010 :shock:

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 29 Sep 2009, 01:36

Henrique wrote:According to several news sites, Timo Glock won't be staying at Toyota for 2010

I want him on my team.

AllAmericanReject · Post by **AllAmericanReject** » 29 Sep 2009, 03:07

If Toyota is not renewing Glock, I would assume they're not fielding a team at all next season. Maybe Qadbak-Sauber can take their spot on the grid and hire Timo to drive.

Henrique · Post by **Henrique** » 29 Sep 2009, 11:56

More! According to the Spanish press, Ferrari will announce a five year deal with Alonso this Thursday. Massa will stay at Ferrari.
According to the British press, Räikkönen should go back to McLaren and join Hamilton.
Some rumours say Rosberg will join Button at Brawn, if Mercedes buys Brawn. And Kubica should replace Alonso at Renault.

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 29 Sep 2009, 12:03

AllAmericanReject wrote:If Toyota is not renewing Glock, I would assume they're not fielding a team at all next season.

Going by what was said during the BBC's Singapore broadcast, Toyota will offer it back to him if he performs for the rest of the season. I'd say it is a precaution, allowing Glock to explore the driver market in case Toyota back out.

noisebox · Post by **noisebox** » 29 Sep 2009, 12:07

The BBC are saying that Alonso signed for Ferrari in July 2008!

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 29 Sep 2009, 13:09

So with Ferrari having too many drivers and no 3rd car in sight (Kimi, Massa, Fernando, Fisico, Gene and Badoer), who will they put into the Sauber? Is there even going to remain a place for either Heidfeld or Klien?

When Fisico and Massa used to drive for Sauber, they were doing quite good.

What has become of the rumours that linked Giorgio Pantano with Campos?

Brawn has more drivers lining up than seats as well. Button is set, Barrichello would deserve to stay, given his recent performances. Davidson would deserve to get it as well. Senna has tested for them. Yet, Mercedes wants Rosberg.

But maybe, Rosberg stays at Williams, Hülkenberg is kept as tester only and the 2nd car goes to somebody with a sponsor, like Vitaly Petrov.

Who exactly is interested in Petrov?
Renault surely must be, now that they have lost so many sponsors in the wake of "crashgate". Grosjean is still very rookie-ish, but what they need is an experienced guy. Kubica could be it, or maybe Kimi Raikkonen? Might they want Trulli or Kovalainen back after all?

There is more going on in silly season this year than in all those years before. But with the possibility of 28 starters, who would have expected anything else, really? ;-)

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 29 Sep 2009, 13:16

Yannick wrote:What has become of the rumours that linked Giorgio Pantano with Campos?

It wasn't rumour. It was Pantano saying he'd be interested in driving for Campos.

Yannick wrote:Who exactly is interested in Petrov?

He's been connected to Force India and Campos. He was said to have waved a large cheque under Mallya's nose to replace Fisichella, but it never eventuated. As for Campos, he's driven for them in GP2; he knows the team and can bring the best out of them and they out of him. He brings sponsor money from Russia - no-one is really sure who his backer is, but it is believed to be MegaFon - and has learned quickly in GP2. No other driver has improved as much as Petrov has.

RejectSteve · Post by **RejectSteve** » 29 Sep 2009, 15:07

Captain Hammer wrote:
Yannick wrote:Who exactly is interested in Petrov?

He's been connected to Force India and Campos. He was said to have waved a large cheque under Mallya's nose to replace Fisichella, but it never eventuated. As for Campos, he's driven for them in GP2; he knows the team and can bring the best out of them and they out of him. He brings sponsor money from Russia - no-one is really sure who his backer is, but it is believed to be MegaFon - and has learned quickly in GP2. No other driver has improved as much as Petrov has.

I won't dispute who his backer is since I have no idea, but I have not seen MegaFon sponsor Petrov. However, MegaFon has a very tiny sponsorship area on the Renaults...

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 29 Sep 2009, 15:18

I would LMAO if it turned out the two drivers Ferrari were evaluating for their free slot, turned out to be Raikkonen and Kubica.
The Oviedo Job Centre would be filled to the brim with Journos + Alonso.

Waris · Post by **Waris** » 29 Sep 2009, 19:51

Captain Hammer wrote:
Yannick wrote:Who exactly is interested in Petrov?

He's been connected to Force India and Campos. He was said to have waved a large cheque under Mallya's nose to replace Fisichella, but it never eventuated.

Vijay Mallya is a smart guy, who looks at driver ability instead of money or nationality. Let's hope he keeps that up and doesn't succumb to the pressure of Vitalij Petrov's heavy money or the Indian fans who want to see Chandhok in a car for the Indian Grand Prix in 2011 or '12. Though, if Petrov is really that good, then maybe he has a chance, because good (decent) drivers with money are always in demand. I see him ending up at Campos rather than Force India, though. I don't think he'll be in F1 next year anyway, but he'll probably be somewhere in the future.

RejectSteve wrote:
Captain Hammer wrote:[...]no-one is really sure who his backer is, but it is believed to be MegaFon [...]

I won't dispute who his backer is since I have no idea, but I have not seen MegaFon sponsor Petrov. However, MegaFon has a very tiny sponsorship area on the Renaults...

Hmmm...

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 30 Sep 2009, 14:06

To nobody's great surprise...

Ferrari have confirmed the signing of Fernando Alonso for three seasons
beginning in 2010.

301505 SEP 09

dragonsteincole · Post by **dragonsteincole** » 30 Sep 2009, 15:21

I declare this Open Season in the F1 driver's market. Alonso to Ferrari, and these tidbits now.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79043

I dont want to say "I told you so" about what the article says about the contract negotiations between Button and Brawn, but at least I feel relieved it wasn't just a friend leading me on about it.

Also, Kimi to Mclaren or bust imo. You already have the corporate spokesman in Hamilton, so just let Kimi channel the spirit of James Hunt and go for it.

Jordan192 · Post by **Jordan192** » 30 Sep 2009, 15:31

It'll be interesting to see where (if anywhere) Kovalainen finds a home. He's certanily not turned out to be an A-lister, but he's a solid 'Martin Brundle' type and worthy of a decent drive.

Post by **Nuppiz** » 30 Sep 2009, 19:56

Now that the Räikkönen-Alonso squabble is finally finished, I dare to make my own predictions.

Brawn - Mercedes
1. Jenson Button
2. Nico Rosberg
Barrichello is ditched as Brawn wants to invest in the future. Mercedes is happy to make a contract with Rosberg who finally gets away from the appaling Williams. The team is again dominant at the start of the season thaks to Ferrari's and Macca's reliability problems but quickly falls back to a BMW Sauber-2007-esque "third best but miles away from the first two"-performance.

Red Bull - Renault
1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Mark Webber
Both drivers are kept in the team to maintain a proper balance between youth and experience. The car is very much Adrian Newey again, i.e. very fast but highly unreliable which costs them at least three wins during the season and drops them to 4th in WCC.

McLaren - Mercedes
1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi wants to keep driving in a top team and Macca is happy to have him back. Hamilton, the favourite lad of McLaren, gets treated a bit better but in the end Räikkönen can put up a good show here, ultimately leading to a four-way championship battle between both the Ferraris and the Maccas.

Ferrari
1. Fernando Alonso
2. Felipe Massa
Alonso and Massa fight each other bitterly in the team, much like the situation at Macca. Massa shows that he's the type of a driver who can recover mentally from a horror crash. Ultimately both the titles will be settled between Fezza and Macca.

Toyota
Toyota stops funding their F1 team after a dismal 2009 season and cancels it's 2010 project. Glock and Kovalainen were almost sure to be the drivers.

Williams - Renault
1. Anthony Davidson
2. Nicolas Hülkenberg
As Toyota leaves the sport, so do their engines and the legendary Williams-Renault combination will be reborn. That also means the end of Nakajima's foray in the team. Frank insists to have a Brit in the team and signs the experienced tester to help out train GP2 champion Hülkenberg, who had nowhere else to go and thought Williams to be "the best of the rest". And so they shall be, scoring some points and the odd podium.

Renault
1. Robert Kubica
2. Heikki Kovalainen
After the Toyota deal failed Kovy has nowhere else to go but to return back at his mentors. The new Sauber team values money over talent and dumps Kubica, freeing him to fill the empty slot that Alonso left. Grosjean is relegated back to testing duties after half a season of constant retirements and utter slowness. Lack of money means that the car is underdeveloped and rather slow, dropping the team to lower midgrid fighting for points.

Force India - Mercedes
1. Adrian Sutil
2. Vitantonio Liuzzi
Force India has no money to change drivers nor engines, so they'll stick with their current package. Can only beat the newcomer teams and Toro Rosso from time to time.

Toro Rosso - Ferrari
1. Sebastien Loeb
2. Timo Glock
Loeb is very pleased with his F1 experience in the 2009 Abu Dhabi GP and signs a contract with the team after winning virtually everything in WRC, while Alguersuari leaves off to Campos and is replaced by Glock who has nowhere else to go. Support from the "mother team" decreases sharply and the team is really struggling to beat even the slowest newcomers.

Campos Meta - Cosworth
1. Pedro de la Rosa
2. Jaime Alguersuari
Campos plays safe and gets a combination of vast experience and youth, while staying patriotic with the driver choices as well. GP2 managing experience helps them to be the best newcomer team scoring occasional points in the process.

Manor - Cosworth
1. Rubens Barrichello
2. Vitali Petrov
Manor decides to get the most experienced driver ever as he was freed from Brawn to give them the much-needed insight on F1. Petrov is signed to pay his salary. However, the team soon notice the vast difference between F1 and F3 the hard way.

USF1 - Cosworth
1. Scott Speed
2. Marco Andretti
Scott Speed is chosen thanks to his former F1 experience, while Marco Andretti wants to remove the clean up his surname from the 1993 fiasco of his father. However, the "different" style of doing things just shows that Americans could've as well stayed in their own country, given their lack of speed.

Lotus - Cosworth
1. Bruno Senna
2. Fairuz Fauzy
Senna finally gets his break in F1, but despite the magical Senna-Lotus combination the team fails to deliver and is only narrowly better than their previous incarnation (Pacific). He still manages to get a point at Monaco thanks to high attrition. Fauzy is there only because of his money and nationality and is a good candidate for ROTR.

Qadbak - Ferrari
1. Nick Heidfeld
2. Sebastien Buemi
The team get their entry after the fall of Toyota. Peter Sauber doesn't want to use his name with the team nor manage it, therefore the team suffers from bad management as the investors try to manage the team themselves. A shame for Heidfeld, who was chossen because of his former experience with the team. This would be his last chance to prove his talent. The Swiss nationalists want a Swiss driver, so Buemi gets the 2nd seat. The car would be good but management sucks and internal argues claw away any chance of success.

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 01 Oct 2009, 09:45

Raikkonen may not race at all in 2010:

-------

Brawn-Mercedes
#1 - Jenson Button
#2 - Nico Rosberg

Red Bull-Renault
#3 - Sebastian Vettel
#4 - Mark Webber

McLaren-Mercedes
#5 - Lewis Hamilton
#6 - Robert Kubica

Scuderia Ferrari
#7 - Felipe Massa
#8 - Fernando Alonso

Williams-Cosworth
#9 - Rubens Barrichello
#10 - Nico Hukenberg

Toyota Racing
#11 - Heikki Kovalainen
#12 - Kamui Kobayashi

Renault F1
#14 - Timo Glock
#15 - Romain Grosjean

Force India-Mercedes
#16 - Adrian Sutil
#17 - Vitantonio Liuzzi

Toro Rosso-Ferrari
#18 - Jaime Alguersuari
#19 - Sebastien Buemi

Campos-Cosworth
#20 - Pedro de la Rosa
#21 - Vitaly Petrov

Virgin Grand Prix-Cosworth
#22 - Bruno Senna
#23 - Lucas di Grassi

USF1-Cosworth
#24 - Jarno Trulli
#25 - Jonathan Summerton

Lotus F1-Cosworth
#26 - Fairuz Fauzy
#27 - Pastor Maldonado

QADBAK-Ferrari
#28 - Christian Klein
#29 - Nick Heidfeld

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 01 Oct 2009, 16:05

Updated predictions

Alright, here's my current predictions.

Brawn Mercedes

1 - Jenson Button
2 - Nico Rosberg

Red Bull Ferrari

3 - Mark Webber
4 - Sebastien Vettel

Ferrari

5 - Felipe Massa
6 - Fernando Alonso

Mclaren Mercedes

7 - Lewis Hamilton
8 - Adrian Sutil

Williams Renault

9 - Robert Kubica
10 - Nico Hulkenberg

Toyota

11 - Rubens Barichello
12 - Timo Glock

Force India Mercedes

14 - Vitantonio Liuzzi
15 - Karun Chandhok

Renault

16 - Heikki Kovalainen
17 - Romain Grosjean

Toro Rosso Cosworth

18 - Sebastien Buemi
19 - Brendon Hartley

USF1 Cosworth

20 - Robert Wickens
21 - Kazuki Nakajima

Campos Cosworth

22 - Pedro de la Rosa
23 - Jaime Alguersuari

Manor Cosworth

24 - Takuma Sato
25 - Vitaly Petrov

Lotus Cosworth

26 - Jarno Trulli
27 - Fairuz Fauzy

Qadbak-Sauber Ferrari

28 - Nick Heidfeld
29 - Christian Klien

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 01 Oct 2009, 16:24

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:Updated predictions

Alright, here's my current predictions.

Brawn Mercedes

1 - Jenson Button
2 - Nico Rosberg

Red Bull Ferrari

3 - Mark Webber
4 - Sebastien Vettel

Ferrari

5 - Felipe Massa
6 - Fernando Alonso

Mclaren Mercedes

7 - Lewis Hamilton
8 - Adrian Sutil

Williams Renault

9 - Robert Kubica
10 - Nico Hulkenberg

Toyota

11 - Rubens Barichello
12 - Timo Glock

Force India Mercedes

14 - Vitantonio Liuzzi
15 - Karun Chandhok

Renault

16 - Heikki Kovalainen
17 - Romain Grosjean

Toro Rosso Cosworth

18 - Sebastien Buemi
19 - Brendon Hartley

USF1 Cosworth

20 - Robert Wickens
21 - Kazuki Nakajima

Campos Cosworth

22 - Pedro de la Rosa
23 - Jaime Alguersuari

Manor Cosworth

24 - Takuma Sato
25 - Vitaly Petrov

Lotus Cosworth

26 - Jarno Trulli
27 - Fairuz Fauzy

Qadbak-Sauber Ferrari

28 - Nick Heidfeld
29 - Christian Klien

I guess you didn't hear, because of all the Alonso to Ferrari fanfare, that STR confirmed Alguersuari and Buemi. Or at least Franz Tost has.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 01 Oct 2009, 16:34

kostas22 wrote:I guess you didn't hear, because of all the Alonso to Ferrari fanfare, that STR confirmed Alguersuari and Buemi. Or at least Franz Tost has.

That and the fact that my internet has been dead for the past week.

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 01 Oct 2009, 19:14

kostas22 wrote:I guess you didn't hear, because of all the Alonso to Ferrari fanfare, that STR confirmed Alguersuari and Buemi. Or at least Franz Tost has.

Could I have sauce for that? Because this thing says the exact opposite.

Post by **Nuppiz** » 01 Oct 2009, 20:06

Captain Hammer wrote:Raikkonen may not race at all in 2010

Strange then, that the MTV3 Sports News said that "inside information" confirms Räikkönen to Mclaren next year.

Oh well, it's MTV3 after all...

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 01 Oct 2009, 21:10

There really are a trillion rumours pinging around the place. Maybe I could help clarify a few things, driver by driver:

CURRENT DRIVERS
Lewis Hamilton
Has McLaren contract for 2010.

Heikki Kovalainen
Likely to get the boot, and McLaren not confirming him at the same time as Hamilton strongly suggests he will leave. Goodness knows where he would end up, but has been strongly linked to Renault, and Toyota and Manor have also been mentioned at times.

Kimi Raikkonen
Free Agent. Very strong McLaren rumours, but nothing confirmed from either side. Kimi's not even sure he wants to continue in F1 now. In reality, he will go to whatever team he likes, everybody except Ferrari and Red Bull have free seats avaliable for him. But could end up leaving F1 altogether and moving to Tommi Makinen Racing instead.

Felipe Massa
Has Ferrari contract for 2010.

Nick Heidfeld
Current team, with whom he had a contract for next year before the team sale, has no entry at present. Not that many options, and hasn't really been linked to any seats. If Qadbak gains entry, he will likely stay put, if not, he will have to hope one of the new teams pick him up post-season, otherwise it could be over and out from "Quick Nick".

Robert Kubica
Apparently a shoe-in at Renault now, but we will have to wait until next week to see if this is the case. Also linked to Williams. Brief mentions of Toyota too.

Fernando Alonso
Ferrari contract for 2010

Romain Grosjean
Renault or bust it seems. Flav's exit from Renault dents his chances somewhat, new management may want to go with a different type of driver, possibly Kovy.

Jarno Trulli
Free Agent. Is not renewing his Toyota contract, and unless he pulls a Fisichella and lands a Force India ride (which is unlikely if Sutil stays) his only other realistic options are the new teams. Otherwise, retirement could beckon for him.

Mark Webber
Confirmed at Red Bull for 2010.

Sebastian Vettel
Confirmed at Red Bull for 2010.

Sebastien Buemi
Press Release by STR implied he was to be retained next year, but hours later this was denied. Another driver who really needs his team to resign with him, his options elsewhere so far have seemed non-existent. But, of this years rookies, his prospects seem a little better than most.

Jamie Alguersuari
Same goes for Jamie as his team-mate, and his only other probable chance is at Campos, if Adrian goes all soft and picks a pure-Spanish lineup.

Jenson Button
Not 100% sure on this one. I think he signed a contract extension with Brawn a few months ago, there was some debate on that back then, but he appears to be staying put at Brawn for another year.

Rubens Barrichello
Rumours of move to Williams, complementing Patrick Head's comments the team needs an experienced driver made a few months ago. New teams are also a possibility, but hopes of retaining his Brawn seat are fading as the days go by.

Adrian Sutil
Linked to McLaren as replacement for Kovalainen, and not exactly a bad bet now, depending on what Raikkonen does. Otherwise, staying put at Force India seems likely, and Williams has also been mentioned but looks extremely unlikely now.

Vitantonio Liuzzi
Probably has a contract with Force India for 2010. Not confirmed by either party, but Liuzzi said he had a contract with "one of the current [2009] teams", which is reasonably safe to assume is Force India considering his promotion to Race Driver after Fisichella's departure.

Nico Rosberg
Was initially linked with McLaren, but now looks likely to replace Rubens at Brawn GP. Frank Williams' optimism fainting as the days go by.

Kazuki Nakajima
Will probably be kicked out by Williams. Toyota his best chance, otherwise, he could be left without a drive next year.

And now, the TEST DRIVERS
Pedro de la Rosa
Frequently linked with Campos. His last chance at F1. If he fails, he'll either be a tester forever or just retire on the spot.

Anthony Davidson
Brawn GP Reserve has been linked with Manor. His "recent" F1 experience could be a useful bargaining tool. Otherwise, his prospects are little to none.

Paul di Resta
Another McLaren tester, DTM frontrunner, has also been linked with Manor, as well as Force India. But, its the DTM, and graduates to F1 from there are few and far between. Hopefully he does get a decent ride though, he has the talent.

Alex Wurz
Another Brawn GP tester, his chances are pretty much dead, unless a few of the new teams pull out and Superfund get the nod.

Lucas di Grassi
His only connections are to Renault, and is second choice to Grosjean. His prospects aren't good then. No other rumours, looks like he will be consigned to another year of GP2.

Gary Paffett
Almost zero. New teams are his only shred of hope. Otherwise, it will probably be DTM for life.

Christian Klien
Will likely race for Qadbak if they recieve an entry. Otherwise, his chances are effectively zero.

Kamui Kobayashi
Toyota his only option. Otherwise, its another year of GP2.

Nico Hülkenberg
The most exciting young prospect of the year. Looks set for Williams, but manager Willi Weber says they are in talks with a number of teams.

THE REST
Takuma Sato
Sorry, no news here, unfortunately

STR probably his only glimmer of hope, after being considered for a drive their last year. With less Red Bull input at STR, his chances may be slightly better than last time.

Vitaly Petrov
Keith Wiggins' dream. Reasonably quick, heaps of cash. Linked to Force India and Campos. May end up at neither. If he doesn't get a seat at first, expect him to replace someone mid-season, at whichever team is the most cash-strapped.

Javier Villa
Some mentions to Campos. Unlikely though.

Roldan Rodriguez
Same story as Villa.

Karun Chandhok
Linked to Force India, on nationality alone it seems. Mallya says he won't hire him until his GP2 results improve. So thats a no basically.

Narain Karthikeyan
Same as Chandhok. Prospects may be marginally better, has F1 experience, plus Tata money.

Bruno Senna
Stronly linked with Lotus. Bernie will do all he can to make it happen. Limited options elsewhere, but both Brawn and STR have been suggested at times. I think Williams was mentioned but pretty much ignored.

Fairuz Fauzy
Linked with Lotus due to Malaysian backing. Otherwise, his F1 prospects are Zero.

Alex Yoong
Outsider for Lotus. F1 "experience". Same with Fauzy, F1 prospects zero apart from that.

Mirko Bortolotti
Think I heard an STR rumour a while ago. Not much else.

Andre Lotterer
Toyota. Probably people jumping to conclusions, he races for Lexus in Super GT. Was also mentioned by Ferrari after Hungary.

Giorgio Pantano
Is actively seeking drive with Campos. Won the GP2 crown with them. Not much else since then. Currently in Superleague aka Reject Series.

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 01 Oct 2009, 22:47

Wasn't Sebastien Bourdais linked with a USF1 drive a while ago?

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 01 Oct 2009, 23:52

Yannick wrote:Wasn't Sebastien Bourdais linked with a USF1 drive a while ago?

No, people just kept mentioning him because he's known to merican audiences and has Formula One experience.

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 02 Oct 2009, 03:55

This just in: Toyota head-hunting Robert Kubica.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 02 Oct 2009, 11:03

Captain Hammer wrote:This just in: Toyota head-hunting Robert Kubica.

Finally, some sense.

Pacifics only fan · Post by **Pacifics only fan** » 02 Oct 2009, 11:50

I'd really like to see Kovalinen/Kubica at Renault next year, it might not sound fair on Grosjean, but Renault need to do serious work on their reputation and standing, and I feel that next year just isn't the year for having someone who is essentially still a rookie.

It probably won't happen, but could you imagine Raikonnen/Kubica? Would be terribly depressing for the engineers and mechanics to talk to them about about setups during practice.

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 02 Oct 2009, 12:11

Pacifics only fan wrote:It probably won't happen, but could you imagine Raikonnen/Kubica? Would be terribly depressing for the engineers and mechanics to talk to them about about setups during practice.

Toyota are said to be considering Kimi Raikkonen as well.

I think that if it's pitched the right way, it's not as ridiculous as it sounds. Toyota have potential, they just can't follow through. And a part of that is in their driver line-up. Jarno Trulli, while experiened, is an anomaly; he's quick in practice, quick in qualifying and hideously slow in the race. As for Glock, he could win if he were with McLaren, but he's not the kind of driver who can take a car that is oe of the best of the rest and win with it. Toyota need to follow through, and they've never had a driver who can do it; McNish, da Matta, Panis, Schumacher, Trulli and Glock are at best almost-but-not-quite.

As it stands, Brawn are on-track for Button and Rosberg. Red Bull confirmed Vettel and Webber weeks ago, while Ferrari is obviously locked out. McLaren seems to be the hot favourite to acquire his services, but Toyota can offer him something McLaren can't: a team-mate he won't be forced to compete with. And the Hamiltons may not be overly keen on Raikkonen as a team-mate. If Toyota pitch it the right way, they may convince Raikkonen to come over. If I were them, I'd match his salary and give him a very open contract: one year at a time, with the option of leaving if he's not comfortable with it.

Ulfuls · Post by **Ulfuls** » 02 Oct 2009, 13:46

Captain Hammer wrote:... McLaren seems to be the hot favourite to acquire his services, but Toyota can offer him something McLaren can't: a team-mate he won't be forced to compete with. And the Hamiltons may not be overly keen on Raikkonen as a team-mate. If Toyota pitch it the right way, they may convince Raikkonen to come over. If I were them, I'd match his salary and give him a very open contract: one year at a time, with the option of leaving if he's not comfortable with it.

Good point... Hamilton was positively frigid when he was asked about the prospect of teaming with Raikkonen. Certainly it could devolve very quickly into Hamilton sulking and Raikkonen alternating between not giving a toss and going out of his way to twist the knife. And with Ferrari surely heading for some fraternal battles of its own, it could be a very interesting season for other reasons than the racing.

In which case you would have to give the advantage to Red Bull (if they can get their consistency sorted out), Brawn (if Jenson and Rosberg find a good working relationship), and Williams if... no organisational Achilles heel there, really -- if the car is decent, Barrichello will squeeze the best out of it, and with the drama minimised, it's Williams for both championships! Possibly.

Pacifics only fan · Post by **Pacifics only fan** » 02 Oct 2009, 14:44

Captain Hammer wrote:I think that if it's pitched the right way, it's not as ridiculous as it sounds. Toyota have potential, they just can't follow through. And a part of that is in their driver line-up. Jarno Trulli, while experiened, is an anomaly; he's quick in practice, quick in qualifying and hideously slow in the race. As for Glock, he could win if he were with McLaren, but he's not the kind of driver who can take a car that is oe of the best of the rest and win with it. Toyota need to follow through, and they've never had a driver who can do it; McNish, da Matta, Panis, Schumacher, Trulli and Glock are at best almost-but-not-quite.

.... If Toyota pitch it the right way, they may convince Raikkonen to come over. If I were them, I'd match his salary and give him a very open contract: one year at a time, with the option of leaving if he's not comfortable with it.

You've got a good point there, the situation you describe almost sounds like Ferrari in 1995 when they were trying to sign Schumacher. It's a midfield team that does have the potential to do well, they want to sign a championship winning driver to try bring the team forward. Only difference here is that Kubica is a lot more capable and solid than Irvine. Yeah, if they can market the idea well enough to Raikonnen, and offer him enough money (might take some convincing the bosses in Japan, but it'll be worth it) they could pull this off, I really hope they do.

Warren Hughes · Post by **Warren Hughes** » 02 Oct 2009, 14:59

Pacifics only fan wrote:
Captain Hammer wrote:I think that if it's pitched the right way, it's not as ridiculous as it sounds. Toyota have potential, they just can't follow through. And a part of that is in their driver line-up. Jarno Trulli, while experiened, is an anomaly; he's quick in practice, quick in qualifying and hideously slow in the race. As for Glock, he could win if he were with McLaren, but he's not the kind of driver who can take a car that is oe of the best of the rest and win with it. Toyota need to follow through, and they've never had a driver who can do it; McNish, da Matta, Panis, Schumacher, Trulli and Glock are at best almost-but-not-quite.

.... If Toyota pitch it the right way, they may convince Raikkonen to come over. If I were them, I'd match his salary and give him a very open contract: one year at a time, with the option of leaving if he's not comfortable with it.

You've got a good point there, the situation you describe almost sounds like Ferrari in 1995 when they were trying to sign Schumacher. It's a midfield team that does have the potential to do well, they want to sign a championship winning driver to try bring the team forward. Only difference here is that Kubica is a lot more capable and solid than Irvine. Yeah, if they can market the idea well enough to Raikonnen, and offer him enough money (might take some convincing the bosses in Japan, but it'll be worth it) they could pull this off, I really hope they do.

I don't think it's really comparable, Raikkonen is not going to be able to galvanise the team around himself in the way Schumi did from 1996 onwards. OK, Kimi's a world champion, but he's not the inspirational character and personality that Schumacher was. Over the last two years or so, he has seemed to have issues with motivation, particularly when he's not got a chance of winning, and I'm not sure he's worth Toyota breaking the bank for, despite his undoubted pace and talent.

Pacifics only fan · Post by **Pacifics only fan** » 02 Oct 2009, 16:48

True enough, Raikonnen isn't the most charismatic of people, but still having a former world champ could still lend SOME inspiration to the Toyota folks. As for the motivation, it's possible that when he won the driver's championship in 2007, it looked like he'd achieved everything and there was no further challenge left to him, perhaps the challenge of taking Toyota to the top will re-ignite his interest.

Jordan192 · Post by **Jordan192** » 02 Oct 2009, 17:06

Pacifics only fan wrote:the challenge of taking Toyota to the top

When you see it written down, it doesn't really have the same grandeur as doing it with Ferrari, does it?
I can absolutley gurantee that when he was a kid, Kimi never said to himself "When I grow up, i'm going to win the world driver's championship in a Toyota"

Pacifics only fan · Post by **Pacifics only fan** » 02 Oct 2009, 17:21

Lol, that's quite true, Toyota aren't the most dashing of marques (let alone comparable to Ferrari), BUT like Captain Hammer said, it's all about HOW it's pitched, the Toyota bosses could ask him if he wants to be a part of taking the world's #1 car manufacturer to the top of the pinnacle of motorsport.