If we listen to you it sounds the best Kimi could hope for is the job of the cleaning lady at Maranello. Again, you have been on the "Kimi will be sacked imminently" bandwagon ever since last year, at least you are consistent and eventually may be proven right

OK, smartypants, name even one reasonably good, somewhat realistic option you think Kimi has for 2010.

Seriously. I'm not trying to be an arse here, I just genuinely fear my boy's going to be left without a drive when the music stops.

Ferrari, McLaren

Kimi was pretty relaxed while answering the questions about his future ( I watched a video from MTV3). So I think he knows where he will go if Ferrari really kicks him out.

I have to admit that I change my mind about the Alonso to Ferrari saga every day.
After this weekend I am pretty confident that Kimi will stay at Ferrari. But this has nothing to do with his win. I just got the feeling that they (Stefano, Kimi, Alonso...) are poking fun at the press. Imagine what will happen if all those rumours are false.

Anyway I also could be wrong but the most important news for me this weekend were that Kimi wants to continue in F1 even if Ferrari kicks him out.

I took almost the opposite from this weekend. It was the first time that I'd heard KR say anything about other teams, which suggests to me he isnt confident of staying.

I, too, got the impression that he knows he (likely) won't be staying but it's true that he seemed awfully relaxed and even happy about the whole thing - not at all devastated that his career has come to an early end or anything like that. I'd like to think he has something else lined up.

He's more or less admitted that he knows he will be racing next year no matter what. That to me sounds like a man who has offer(s) on the table just waiting to be signed should Ferrari not work out. I wouldn't worry he will be much in demand, especially on current form.

Williams would be an awesome fit for him, they're real no-nonsense racers and so is him.

But he'd need to accept a much smaller salary, and be willing to race for a team which shows no indications they'll be competitive. Unlikely IMO. Brawn sounds a little more realistic, assuming they do have the funding they're talking about.

Unfortunately, I don't believe Nick Fry a single word. Seeing is believing ...

TBH, I think everybody is just waiting for Monza to get it over with.

2010: Kimi + Nokia + Renault


http://www.confidential-renault.fr/?id=62

Good make sense, Nokia is renewing its marketing push at the moment.

It's branching out into mini laptops etc.

Certainly has deep pockets too.

Nokia has been in F1 before too, sponsoring Tyrrell with its Finnish driver Mika Salo.

If he drives for $2-3m, certainly no more than $5m... Williams will definitely select Kimi as Rosberg replacement (instead of Heidfeld or Barrichello and certainly over Hulkenberg for example).

Renault (if signing Kubica to replace a leaving Alonso) would consider paying STR or Campos etc to place Grosjean there, if they can sign Kimi for $2-5m and have Kubica/Raikkonen line-up.




At reduced spending Toyota Kimi may be able to get up to $10m... though they would certainly not pay $20-50m salaries any more.

Williams & Renault ARE excellent options. (They are good enough for Rosberg and Alonso, surely you aren't suggesting they are lower quality than Kimi!?)


Racing for P9 is a FINE RESULT in the mighty F1 grand prix series.




Race for P9 on average, sometimes P12-15, hope for a good car at some tracks, and try for a podium there.

V8 Fireworks: I seriously doubt Kimi is interested in fighting for 9th place... certainly not after running at the very front of the field for a couple of years in a row. ofc i dont know him, but that's how i rate him. furthermore i doubt he continues on a 2-5m annual salary... afaik that's more or less what he's currently getting paid per month.

that nokia rumor sounds interesting... not just the rumor itself, but as a side effect renault might finally get a decent livery again ;)

I think Renault will use the current "crash-gate" crap as an excuse to get out of F1, which will then affect Williams also.

Kimi back to McLaren is the likely outcome.

And people say Kimi is a RACER - crikey!!!

Heidfeld drove for Jordan, to fight for glorious P18 in a mighty battle, for FREE essentially and paying his own airfares, a true racer and only 2-3 tenths per lap slower than Kimi. Heidfeld

Yeah, an F1 driver should be satisfied with fighting for ninth place because other good drivers can't get a decent car.

Especially when he has a very realistic chance of signing for a top team instead.

Pretty much any one of the 13 teams except RBR

My guess is that he will be in a Mclaren, and if not then Brawn would make sense.

I would be quite surprised if he joined a mediocre team like Renault or Toyota.

And we can't exclude the possibility that he stays put at Ferrari of course.

Oh, I thought his career is coming to an end and what not, now he has something lined up You are so fickle, make up your mind and stick with it

To stay on the grid, a true racer drives for free.

There is no suggestion of Kimi rejecting a McLaren drive, if McLaren want to recycle their old drivers and perhaps Kimi in a Brawn (on a Barrichello-level salary of course unless Kimi brings $80m in sponsorship to make him a logical signing including paying him a big salary). But obviously if Kimi runs out of other options (unlikely), surely he will do as other true racers do (like Heidfeld) and drive for Campos for example for free.



How is Renault, two times champion team, mediocre?! If it is a good option for Kubica, then it is a good option for Kimi, as Kubica and Raikkonen are equal talents (on average top/maximum/no more performance possible -> +- a little of course, and hence sometimes behind average team-mates like Massa and Heidfeld).

Renault has been mediocre since 2007, and I don't expect the to be a top team next year either. And regarding Kubica, I don't think he has proven as much as Kimi, with a single win compared to 18, and a WDC plus a couple of runner ups vs 4th in the WDC at best. Yes, Kimi has been around longer and had better cars, but he is still a more proven driver than Kubica which might not have the posibility to sign for a real top team at this point in time. I DO hope that he gets a good car though and a good team mate to compare himself to, wouldn't mind seeing him and Rosberg at Williams for example, or Mclaren if Kimi ain't going there.

And for Kimi driving for Campos or whatever, I simply don't see the point why he would do that when he certainly doesn't need to as he should be able to get a good car and a decent even if not as high as currently salary.

For enough money I could see him at Toyota or Renault, but propably not... And I can't imagining him wanting to drive for a new and completely unproven team.

Kubica will NOT go to McLaren.

Be either Renault, Williams or Toyota (the latter being the least likely).

I think Kubica proved his worth last season, when he tied for points with Kimi for the championship in an inferior car.

Why is that? McLaren look for best possible line-up and Kubica cares only about competetive car.

Polish Gazeta Wyborcza reports on an article in La Gazetta Dello Sport saying that Kubica might race for Ferrari in Monza. Source: someone from the team. Pure BS, says I.

More than that: telecommunications is where the sponsor money is coming from these days. McLaren have Vodafone. BMW have T-Mobile. Campos are said to be working with Telefonicia. Telmex has been connected to Brawn. Vitaly Petrov is said to have backing from MegaFon. I wouldn't be surprised if Virgin Mobile are associated with Manor. The only problem with a Nokia Renault team is that it would put another blue car on the grid, and we really need the cars to be a whole range of colours.

ok if we say Alonso to Ferrari. Kimi's best bet is Mclaren if he wants to be sure (close to 100%) of a winnable car. In fact i would say the 2nd Mclaren seat is the best seat available. Kimi will not be phased by Hammy but my question would be that Mclaren are so much in love with hammy that hammy will be the unofficial number 1 driver and get the best parts first

Wait so you didn't have a problem with Kimi being the number 1 driver in Ferrari and getting the best parts first like the lighter chassis but all of a sudden you're worried now that Kimi might go to McLaren?

I've brought this over from the MP-24 thread as we were getting OT there...



Monty would surely not have heaped the humiliation on Luca Badoer if he'd recognised what was going to happen. And it was inevitable. It was a ridiculous emotional decision, reportedly against Stefano's wishes too.

The discussion in the media and here may have been about money, but Ferrari themselves seem willing to blow some 10's of millions to end Kimi's contract early, as well as pay Fernando. I don't think money is the issue, it's all about beating the other teams, plus whatever sentimentality/loyalty/respect about Massa. My feeling is that they'll be looking at Kimi's performances since Felipe was sidelined, and at the prospect of him rejoining the old enemy McLaren, and having a bit of a fresh look at him. It might even dawn on them that they haven't got the best out of him.

Everyone including Monty knew Badoer was gonna be crap, it's just a matter of how crap. He's a test driver for Christ sake. Ferrari didn't have much choice, did they? They had to find a replacement at such short notice, it has to be someone who's a free agent, no contractual issues, preferably someone who's unlikely to drive for another team in F1 again.



If it's as you said, it's all about beating the other teams, neither money or sentimentality are the issues here. KR hasn't comprehensively out performed Massa over the last 2.5 years, it's a decision based on value for money, not sentimentality.

You mean Kimi's performance against Badoer? Don't think Ferrrari would waste time on that. Ferrari are not interested in getting the best out of Kimi, they want someone who's able to get the best out of their car.

There were some other drivers available besides Badoer, and the reason given for him being given the drive was as a reward for his service over the years. But it was a poor decision, bad for the team and bad for the driver too. For me it was a poor quality decision, and if the rumours are true then they're heading for another poor sentimental decision if they keep Massa and let Kimi go to drive for McLaren next year. I think he and Lewis will drive each other to new heights, they will 1-2 all the time, if the car is up to it

I do agree Fernando will do better at Ferrari than Kimi has, he'll take control much more over the engineering aspects of his car and over the team's politics. IMO he will expose Massa completely as he did Fisi. McLaren meanwhile will just give Kimi the right car and he will be devastating in it.

you can't compare kimi's situation today with heidfeld's back then. until 2003 heidfeld drove for mediocre sauber and would (most likely) be out of F1 if he didn't take the jordan-drive for free. kimi on the other hand is driving for top teams since 8 years, got 61 podium finishes of which 18 are race wins and is wdc.
"true racer" is romantic reverie - if they'd be "true racers", kimi, hamilton, alonso, etc. would sign a str or fi-contract to drive for free... after all, it's a business and about money.

looking forward to monza, when the first domino finally falls...?

IF ALONSO goes to Ferrari.
i think we underestimate Massa i think he be just as quick as him if not i think quicker! i really do. If anything Alonso myth he is fastest will be exposed at times next season. Listen Massa is no slow coach all you guys saying alonso will blow him away i doubt it. Hammy in his first season was very competitive against Alonso.

Are you suggest there's no other reason they should keep Massa over Raikkonen except for emotional/sentimental reasons?

There're other drivers, but they're not under contract with Ferrari, contractual negotiation would take time. Some of them are equally susceptible of being rusty and they don't have experience of F60 like Badoer. There's also the concern of letting a non Ferrari driver getting to know their car. Badoer may not be the best choice, but the decision wasn't entirely emotional, there're reasons behind it.

McLaren will just design a car that is the fastest on most tracks, it's up to the drivers to get the most out of it.

Alonso isn't especially adept at politics, but you don't need to be a political animal to be able to influence the direction of development, plus he's very adaptable unlike Kimi, I think he will do fine.

Well we're going to have to disagree over Badoer , but as to Massa I see him around 0.3 slower than Kimi, if Kimi's car is warming its fronts in Q and not too understeery. Massa's presence and popularity in the team worked against Kimi, Fernando won't let that happen to him, I predict he'll beat Felipe every race. If it all goes ahead as we're speculating then FA/FM is a weaker pairing than LH/KR, and for me if Ferrari are thinking clearly and ruthlessly they'll keep Kimi and dump Felipe. But obviously I hope they foolishly dump Kimi and he comes to Mac .

yeah right and it makes Kimi slower....
You know what, you're using the same excuses as the Alonso's fans in 2007. His established relationship with the team, special relationship with Michael Schumarcher, in Lewis's case, Ron etc...
Raikkonen has failed to beat Massa because he can't adapt, period.
If Raikkonen can't get his tires warmed up and lost his 0.3s, it's his own problem, it doesn't take away anything from Massa.
How do you know Kimi won't be "disadvantaged" in McLaren? Hamilton's not popular in the team?



If Ferrari are being ruthless, they'll dump Massa because of uncertainty over his recovery, NOT because he's slower than Kimi.

So if Alonso prefers understeer but they consistently give him an oversteery car, he will adapt and be able to extract the same laps as if it were understeery I have no doubt that Alonso can drive a car that does not suit him but I very much doubt he will be able to do 100%, not because he won't try but just because one would always suit him better than the other. Same with Kimi, he has adapted as much as he could but there are limits to that too.

I didn't say 100%. Anyway, it's not entirely impossible, preferences can change.

Any evidence that suggests Alonso is more adaptable than Kimi or anyone else?

Kimi needs to be given a car that suits him, I agree, then IMO there is no-one quicker on a lap, even Lewis. Or even Lewis so far, let's say, it would be fascinating to see what he would learn. Massa for me can only drive understeer and therefore his car control and inherent speed is less than the top guns'. Even he himself admitted last year than in the once race in 5 that Kimi could warm his fronts he was quicker. China, Spa for example.

At McLaren Kimi would have his old RE and car team, the car would be developed for strong front end grip and a steerable back end which both he and Lewis like. Kimi wouldn't be much affected by the atmosphere, and in any case he would have plenty of support, like Heikki. As a wdc and being so fast he'd have equal strategy, the team would let the drivers race it out.

Plenty. Hes been fast in every car hes ever driven in F1. You can count on 2 hands the number of times alonso has been off the pace in his entire career.

Do you really think Hamilton is comparable to a driver who was kicked out of f1 after his first season?

Please explain.

Sauber threw massa away after his rookie year, and he had to become a test driver. And someone is comparing this driver to one who almost won the wc in his first year. Absurd.

Alonso didn't get a race seat after his first season.

do you really think that will happen? McLaren is 100% around Hamilton

This is not quite true.
Heidfeld destroyed Massa at Sauber.
Taking the tester role at Ferrari was a good way to save his career.

And to gain the experience that was required.