I think Jenson killed the rumour that "he is all about money" when he accepted a 50% cut in salary.

Well was that generosity or just facing the facts when the team was teetering on the brink with no buyer? And 50% of his salary was still quite a lot of money. Although as I said I presume it's his managers who are chasing the money rather than Jense himself. But they're in a weak position IMO, Brawn can call them on that easily, Jense isn't going anywhere.

Considering there were no other F1 seats free at the time .... I doubt it was as charitable a gesture as it appeared

This is getting quite annoying and tedious now - doesn't anyone agree that a team needs to announce that they've signed someone for 2010 to start a game of domino's? We're in middle of September, normally by this time we'd know at least half of the grid - but this year we have only about 3/4 places confirmed with current 28 open, and therefore 24 available.

We've only got 4 races left - so negotiation time is running out, right? I hope a team does announce something within the next week to start a game of domino's - this speculation can't go on for much longer.

I don't necessarily think Ferrari need to announce Alonso yet - but someone needs to announce something to start a game of chess and domino's and then everyone can slot in where necessary.

LOL @ people treating sources from the Daily Mail and The Sun as gospel.

Well, Haug said the other week that they might wait until November before choosing/announcing their drivers... So I guess everyone will be sitting around twiddling their thumbs for a few more weeks. Aaaargh!

Massa accident happened. Ferrari couldn't announce Alonso as a Ferrari driver without his future teammate.

You're spot on DMN. I do however think that the Alonso situation will ultimately start all the dominoes. And until then we're just indulging in speculation.
But then, we seem to like it.

I know it is a bit off topic but I hope Sutil gets a better car than this year's what ever this could mean in terms of his driving...

There seems to be trouble brewing in Ferrari between Luca and Stefano.Watch this space, this might turn out to be a very interesting off season.

And the other gossip around is that Ferrari will provide Sauber with free engines and a free Fisi for 2010

Care to elaborate?

I would guess you are talking about them disagreeing on who will drive in their F1 team next year. Guessing further, Domenicali would want to fire Kimi, while Montezemolo wouldn't want to do it. I think like that because my perception is that Domenicali is strongly a Massa supporter, and despises Kimi a little. If Domenicali has confused Kimi's personality with what he can achieve in a F1 car, I don't think he is being very professional.

Perhaps there is a fight going on, should they fire Kimi or Massa? I just speculate, I know nothing.


Looking at what a mess the team seems to be, the way they handle things nowadays, I wouldn't be surprised if there will be changes in the management side. I imagined already a good while ago that Jean Todt might be laughing at what the team has become since he left. And Ross Brawn as well - thanking himself he isn't there any more.

i'm just speculating myself, but my feeling is quite the opposite. isnt luca telling everyone how much he appreciates alonso? he wants to get alonso at any costs and hopes he brings the "glory of a champion (aka diva?)" back to ferrari. smth kimi, even though he's wdc ofc, doesnt provide. just my impression. domenicali on the other hand is looking at the money the divorce with kimi will cost and wants to keep him. i agree with you that domenicali favours massa which is another reason he wants to keep kimi instead of alonso, looking at what happened around him during the last years.

Is Stefano that keen on Alonso? above and beyond the normal politically correct team statements? Though long rumoured, (longer infact than the Alonso saga) I can see Montezemolo soon making a final move into Italian party politics. I think the time is right for him. Fiat has restructured and the landscape of Formula one looks set to change post 2010 and beyond 2012. I also think the recent death of his father will now act as the catalyst to something new.

I just think Domenicali has been very fond of Massa, in the interviews, and ignored Kimi on many occasions when Kimi did better than Massa, so I have this impression that he prefers Massa over Kimi.

So, if he likes Massa more, and (if) they know that one or the other has to be fired, then he isn't going to fire Massa, because Massa is his buddy.

Massa likes to 'lick' the team, while Kimi doesn't, there is the difference, why someone like Domenicali would like Massa more.

It's an unprofessional way to work, if the 'licking' makes them prefer the worse driver. I hope the Italians could see beyond that, but the way Ferrari operates, doesn't look like they do.

No offence but its not hard, all they have to say is that Kimi/Alonso will drive next year with Massa, however if Massa is unable to drive we have Fisi to drive.

Simples.

The thing that is in the back of my mind is that they want to wait until Massa does the test to see if he has any problems (Schumacher had an eye vibration problem although his sight was fine). I think they are aware that the market will fall into place once the Ferrari announcement is made. That is why it is in every teams interest for Massa to test the F60 before the end of the season. They are not fetching in upgrades, so I dont even think SFW will have a problem with Massa testing. It will serve everyones purpose.

Maybe Ferrari are actually considering a Kimi/Alonso line-up. Hmmmmmmmmm.

Everyone is waiting to see if Alonso is going to Ferrari

I think he is and Ferrari are holding back in order to unsettle the other teams - and give them less time to develop their driver/car strategy

They are playing the game

Montezemolo wants Alonso, but surely not "at any cost"! It's Luca who tells us that Alonso will join the Scuderia someday, but time and again refuses to say when. That might tell us something.
I guess it's Luca who is more careful about the money (that's his j o b ), not Stefano....

I wouldn't be surprised if Luca -by now- secretly thinks that Stefano, likeable as he is, is too much an "amateur" (in both the best and the worst meaning of the word) to run a supposedly ultra-professional organisation like the Ferrari F1 team.

No it's not about who drives next year, contrary to what the Spanish press will have you believe Ferrari have an option on Alonso for 2011 and they are not salivating about bringing him in for 2010. It's more the Alonso side that needs a drive for 2010 rather than Ferrari needing a driver.


Domenicali/Luca trouble is about team management and how much information was kept from Luca and how many management mistakes were deflected on Dyer and Baldisseri etc. Steafano does not really understand the technical side and it's been suggested he has insisted on things that were proven very wrong, unfortunately it took months for that to happen.F60 included.And some unauthorized leaks to Pino Allievi about things Luca wanted kept inhouse.

There have been suggestions that Schumacher might take over as team principal inspite of him flat out saying he doesn't want the job in the past.

good point.

If they want to bring someone in from outside there's a guy from Verazuolo, Italy who might be available very soon. Ask Alonso if he's any good ...

just a thought:

ferrari are unable to pay off kimi and keep him.
massa looks certain to return.
schumacher still has an itch.
they don't want to run fisi from the outset.

because of the first two, and certain of a 2011 drive, alonso re-signs with renault - or possibly takes a year off or helps campos set up.

anyway, near the start of the season it becomes clear massa can't race - at least at the required ferrari levels.

bish bash bosh

raikkonen schumacher for 2010, schumi wins and takes over management for
alonso kubica in 2011

Amateur? I'm not sure about that. He is probably too much of a human being in my opinion. If you look at the way Domenicali worked through the different departments of the Ferrari organisation after initially emerging from a fairly wealthy background, he really is quite refreshing. Look at where the street fighting instincts of Flavio get you for example. Domenicali in my opinion seems to be being prevented from actually forming the team in his own image unlike Todt, to put it simply Domenicali is compromised and therefore appears frustrated.

Domenicali is dealing with inherited problems, I'm not sure he particularly has a problem with Kimi but he definitely seems under constant pressure to play up in house favourite Massa. What is it with Massa anyway, by hook or by crook almost inspite of his abilities they seem determined to get him a WDC even before 2008, as if it is written, is it the Schumi link, what is it, who's secret son is he?

That's interesting. So Schumacher isn't on board merely as the 'third car' bait?

Corrected.

I will have to disagree. For the last few races no other team has managed to pip Ferrari (based on the car available to them). The pitstop mistake in Monza was down to Kimi which he has admitted that he was too eager to get away.

Early this year Ferrari looked like amateurs with regards to strategy. Recently they have made every other team look like amateurs. Mclaren especially. They are getting the best out of inferior equipment. They have pulled out a gap over Mclaren even though Mclaren have had 2 points scoring drivers as opposed to Ferrari's 1.

Ferrari have gone on a big learning curve this season and are coming out very strong. I think 3rd in the WCC and even the WDC is going to be an interesting battle.

I actually think Ferrari are now on par with Brawn strategy wise. This is now the most fascinating battle of the season. Who will get 3rd in the WCC and who will get 3rd in the WDC?

If Kimi gets 3rd in the WDC there are going to be a lot of questions asked. Especially if Ferrari dump him.

That Stefano doesn't understand the technical side is no surprise. He is an HR guy after all. If Alonso doesn't drive for Ferrari in 2010, Lobato, Allievi, Perre and a bunch of others will eat humble pie and then some.

The only odd display of Massa preference I can remember was last year at Barcelona. For whatever reason they sent Smedley to the podium. I fail to remember another instance, at least in recent times, when the winning team sent the engineer of the driver who did not win to the podium ceremony. Massa back then was under pressure, the press vultures were calling for his head and maybe it was a smart move to reassure him and show support but it was still odd. Other than that, I haven't seen any open display of fondness towards Massa.

Ok so i thought i'd have a shot at updating grid for next year. Its hard to predict anything at the moment, it seems everyones waiting for ferrari to confirm/deny alonso before they sign anyone.


Emirates Brawn GP Mercedes
Brawn BGP 002 – Mercedes FO108X
1 Jenson Alexander Lyons BUTTON
2 Kimi Matias RÄIKKÖNEN
Test Drivers/Consutants:
Anthony DAVIDSON
Rubens BARRICHELLO

Red Bull Racing
Red Bull RB6 – Renault RS27/Mercedes FO108X/Ferrari 056
3 Mark Alan WEBBER
4 Sebastian VETTEL
Test Drivers/Consultants:
David COULTHARD
Brandon HARTLEY

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
Ferrari F2010 – Ferrari 056
5 Felipe MASSA
6 Fernando ALONSO DÍAZ
Test Drivers/Consultants:
Giancarlo FISICHELLA
Marc GENE
Luca BADOER
Michael SCHUMACHER

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
McLaren MP4-25 – Mercedes FO108X
7 Lewis Carl HAMILTON
8 Nico ROSBERG
Test Drivers:
Gary PAFFETT

Panasonic Toyota Racing
Toyota TF110 – Toyota RVX-10
9 Timo GLOCK
10 Kamui KOBAYASHI
Test Drivers:
Kazuki NAKAJIMA

AT&T Williams
Williams FW23 – Mercedes FO108X/Toyota RVX-10/Renault RS27
11 Heikki Johannes KOVALAINEN/Nick Lars HEIDFELD
12 Nicolas ‘Nico’ HÜLKENBERG
Test Drivers:

Renault F1 Team
Renault R30 – Renault R27
13 Robert KUBICA
14 Romain GROSJEAN
Test Drivers:
Di Grassi

Force India F1 Team
Force India VJM03 – Mercedes FO108X
15 Adrian SUTIL
16 Vitantonio ‘Tonio’ LIUZZI
Test Drivers:

Scuderia Toro Rosso
Toro Rosso STR5 – Ferrari 056
17 Sébastien BUEMI
18 Jaime ALGUERSUARI, jr.
Test Drivers:
David COULTHARD
Brandon HARTLEY

Repsol Campos Meta Team
Campos CM10 – Cosworth CA2010
19 Pedro MARTÍNEZ DE LA ROSA
20 Vitaly Alexandrovich PETROV
Test Drivers:

Virgin Manor F1 Team
Virgin VF1-1 – Cosworth CA2010
21 Adam CARROL
22 Bruno SENNA LALLI
Test Drivers:
Takuma SATO

Best Buy Team US F1
Team US F1 2010 – Toyota RVX-10/Cosworth CA2010
23 Ryan HUNTER-REAY/ Graham RAHAL
24 Alexander ‘Alex’ WURZ
Test Drivers:

Team Lotus
Lotus 110 – Cosworth CA2010
25
26
Test Drivers:

Petronias Sauber F1 Team
Sauber C-25 - Ferrari 056
27
28
Test Drivers:
Chirstian KLIEN

Applause for the superb very detail list !

We must assume plenty of good drivers are possible for the exciting Team Lotus entry be they ex-F1, GP2 or maybe even WSbR or F3 pilots.

Thank Lustigson, i basically just used his list and made some changes.

Lotus and QADBAK have thrown my predictions out! I'll have to do it again:

Mercedes Brawn Grand Prix
#1 – Jenson Button
#2 – Rubens Barrichello

Monza 2009 only delayed the inevitable: Rubens Barrichello was unable to challenge Jenson Button after the Briton dominated in Singapore and clinched the title with a third place in Japan. Both were immediately re-signed as Mercedes bought into the team with the intention of making Brawn their new works outfit. Several new sponsors were signed, including Emirates Air and internet giant Google.

Livery: Brawn retain their white, black and yellow strip for 2010, though the presence of Mercedes means the white has become a burnished aluminium silver. Emirates logos adorn the sidepods and engine cowling, while Google appears on the wings and nosecone. Following the precedent established by Honda, large numbers in yellow and black appear on the rear wings to make it even easier to identify which driver is in which car.

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

After the Italian Grand Prix, Red Bull’s title hopes quickly lost steam. But their successes have brought with them a renewed budget, and the aerodynamic upgrade introduced in Japan is believed to form the basis of their 2010 package. Although their hopes of a World Championship have to be put off for another year, Sebastian Vettel steals victory at the first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. They elect to continue with Renault engines after rivals Brawn become the Mercedes works outfit.

Livery: Red Bull hire a team of young designers to create their 2010 racing strip. What they produce is something that would not have been out of place fifty years ago, a retro purple and silver livery based on the 1969 Ford GT40 from Le Mans.

Scuderia Ferrari Santander
#5 – Kimi Raikkonen
#6 – Felipe Massa

Ferrari retain their 2009 driver line-up despite the persistent rumours of Fernando Alonso defecting to the team. Although as confident as ever, the team admit they are a little uncertain without the use of the KERS system. The blanket ban on tobacco sponsorship has hurt their pockets, but has also signalled a new direction for the team.

Livery: Ferrari return to their original formula for rosso corsa, despite the fact that red does not photograph well. Their car is dominated by a large Santander logo on the engine cowling and sidepods that has to be seen square-on in order to appear properly.

McLaren Racing Cars
#7 – Lewis Hamilton
#8 – Nico Rosberg

The Italian Grand Prix was a turning point for many teams, including McLaren. Lewis Hamilton’s last-lap accident was the first in a string of retirements, with the Briton recording only one finish in the last four races. Heikki Kovalainen rose to the challenge, securing fourth place in the constructors’ championship, but was unable to retain his McLaren drive. After Brawn becomes the Mercedes works team, McLaren distance themselves from the manufacturer and re-style themselves in their original mould.

Livery: With the departure of Mercedes, McLaren run their original yellow-orange strip. Vodafone stays on as a major sponsor, though McLaren’s untried in-house engine means they decide to discontinue title sponsorship. As Ferrari take Santander from them, McLaren take Ethiad, with a view to starting a rivalry with Brawn.

Williams Zero – Mercedes
#09 – Vitantonio Liuzzi
#10 – Nico Hulkenberg

After losing Nico Rosberg, Williams sign on Tonio Liuzzi, who impresses all with four straight podiums in the last four races of 2009 and is the most critical person in the championship battle. Joining him is GP2 champion Nico Hulkenberg. Meanwhile, the void left by RBS is filled by Coca-Cola, and Williams endorse Coke Zero as their new title sponsor. But the bastards are everywhere – they even slip a zero into Liuzzi’s racing number. Williams leave their Toyota contract a year early and pick up Mercedes engines in the deal.

Livery: Black, with red and white in keeping with the Coke Zero colours. It is a very detailed and artful livery, filled with swirls and loops. Secondary sponsors Phillips and AT&T compliment the arrangement. Half an hour after the Coke Zero deal is announced, the idea that Williams will score ‘Zero’ points in 2010 is the oldest joke on the internet.

Panasonic Toyota Racing
#11 – Timo Glock
#12 – Kamui Kobayashi

After trying – and failing – to sign Fernando Alonso for 2010, Toyota hastily pick up GP2 driver Kamui Kobayashi. The move is seen as a mistake, especially after Timo Glock finally breaks Toyota’s duck after he wins in Japan. Toyota get a larger-than-expected budget as a result, and team principal John Howett somehow convinces Tokyo that management-by-committee is an outdated idea. It soon becomes apparent that Kobayashi is on a race-by-race contract, with Super Aguri alumni Takuma Sato standing by.

Livery: Toyota acquire new sponsors in the form of Xanavi and Calsonic after plundering the ranks of SuperGT. Blue and silver are introduced to their red and white in a way that somehow distracts from the lines of the car, making it a bit of a mess.

Force India Grand Prix Engineering – Mercedes
#14 – Adrian Sutil
#15 – Giedo van der Garde

The surprise team of 2009 return, fresh from their maiden victory in Brazil. After losing stand-in and former test driver Tonio Liuzzi to Williams and the FIA denying Karun Chandhok a superlicence, Vijay Mallya signs GP2 driver Giedo van der Garde. The team comes with backing from the Indian Government, and it is believed they have issued Mallya with an ultimatum: win consistently, or the Indian Grand Prix will never happen.

Livery: The State Bank of India joins the team, introducing blue into the team’s orange, white and green design. It’s not the prettiest livery ever created, but it’s not the ugliest, either as the blue is fortunately kept to a minimum.

Toro Rosso Progetto – Ferrari
#16 – Brendon Hartley
#17 – Sebastian Buemi

Scuderia Toro Rosso are renamed ‘Toro Rosso Progetto’ – Toro Rosso Project – which many see as a sign of Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz throwing less and less money after them. It soon comes to light that he is only propping them up long enough to sell them to a buyer, with Eddie Jordan, Aguri Suzuki and Paul Stoddart all putting themselves forward as candidates. FOTA disagree with Stoddart returning to the grid, and the off-season is dominated by Stoddart falling back on his old standby: suing them.

Livery: The charging red bull is gone, as Red Bull Cola becomes the team’s primary sponsor. More gold is introduced to help differentiate the cars from Red Bull. Like Brawn, Toro Rosso include large numbers on their rear wings; the morbid joke being that this is so the front-runners can tell who they are passing.

Lukoil Telefonicia Campos – Cosworth
#18 – Vitaly Petrov
#19 – Jaime Alguersuari

After the deal with Pedro de la Rosa falls through, Adrian Campos pinches Jaime Alguersuari from Toro Rosso. With him is Campos other collaborator, Russian Vitaly Petrov. Although running the single most inexperienced team on the grid, the Dallara-built chassis is a surprise for many during shakedown and a definite points contender.

Livery: Mostly red and yellow, in keeping with the Spanish flag. Large Lukoil logos dominate one side of the car, while Telefonicia appears on the other, despite their colours being blue and gold. It is the first truly asymmetric livery since BAR’s infamous ‘zipper’ design of 1999.

United States Formula One – Cosworth
#20 – Pedro de la Rosa
#21 – Jonathan Summerton

USF1 snatch de la Rosa away from Campos, with the second place going to twenty-one year old superstar Jonathan Summerton, who beat Canada’s Robert Wickens in an informal race-off for the final position; Wickens is retained as test driver. Despite initial doubts, USF1 are the first of the new teams to debut their new car, and while it is not expected that they will challenge for points, they certainly won’t be perennial tail-enders.

Livery: Rather than plastering sponsor logos over the Stars and Stripes – a move Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor considered almost sacrilegious – USF1 go in for a red, white and blue design.

Manor Galactic F1 – Cosworth
#22 – Pastor Maldonado
#23 – Adam Carroll

The quietest of the new teams for 2010, Manor put their heads down and go about their business. Nothing is heard until their car is unveiled, and it is instantly noted that they have signed two untested rookies. But their affiliation with Virgin and Richard Branson has created a relationship with Ross Brawn’s team, and it is believed Maldonado and Carroll come personally recommended by him. Their relationship also suggests that they may become Mercedes customers once the Cosworth contract expires.

Livery: With Virgin Galactic becoming title sponsor, the Manor cars are painted to resemble the VSS Enterprise, the first of the commercial spacecraft. The cars are white with a silver star array across the front wing and nose, large Virgin Galactic logos on the engine cowling and sidepods, and an ‘evolution silhouette’ showing top-down silhouettes of Formula One cars from the 1950s to 2010.

Lotus 1Malaysia – Cosworth
#24 – Heikki Kovalainen
#25 – Bruno Senna

Twenty-five years after Ayrton Senna drove for Lotus, Bruno Senna drives the number twenty-five Lotus 1Malaysia. More cynical minds consider it to be a marketing stunt, but with the Malaysian consortium having purchased Lola’s intended 2010 chassis, the project is not as flimsy as first felt. Joining Senna is Heikki Kovalainen, who Lotus picked up after he was unceremoniously cut loose by McLaren, making this a Malaysian team based in England with a Brazilian and a Finnish driver. If nothing else, they are a truly multicultural effort.

Livery: With Malaysia’s national racing colours being yellow and white, and Lotus’s corporate colours being yellow and green, the car is painted in the style of the Lotus 99T. Petronas joins from BMW as lead sponsor on the sidepods and Italian safety gear manufacturer Alpinestars signing up as secondary sponsor.

Sauber Projekt Rennen – Ferrari
#26 – Robert Kubica
#27 – Nick Heidfeld

After Middle Eastern consortium QADBAK Investments purchased the remnants of the BMW-Sauber team, it was temporarily renamed Sauber Projekt Rennen, or ‘Sauber Racing Project’. A new name was never found, largely because it was so well-received. The Swiss-German team retained its 2009 line-up to ease the transition, though little of the team’s internal structure changed.

Livery: When the car was first unveiled, many thought it was an Audi project with the prominent presence of Infineon as a major sponsor and the gunmetal-grey finish of the car. Other sponsorship comes from postal group DHL, national air carrier Lufthansa, and mobile phone manufacturer Siemens.

Matmut Renault
#28 – Romain Grosjean
#29 – Fernando Alonso

After the 2009 race-fixing controversy, Renault was very nearly kicked out of the sport. Renault president Carlos Ghosn announced that Renault would race in 2010 to reclaim their image and promptly fired the team’s senior personnel, who were banned. Ghosn replaced them with staff from GP2 tea, ART Grand Prix and Le Mans outfit Oreca. Fernando Alonso decided to stay with the team to help them reclaim their image, while Grosjean’s contract was renewed as there was no-one would could really replace him.

Livery: French insurance giant Matmut comes-onboard, with the car styled after the yellow, purple and scarlet one used by the Oreca Le Mans team. It is derided at first, but soon grows on everyone.

Captain Tightpan...: You really made me look forward to next year.

Very nice work Captain...I specially liked the Lotus part "truly multicultural effort" I just hope you are also right about their racing livery aftter seen some pre photos here

That would be Sauber Rennprojekt, then.

to Sgt Tightpants, very good post bra.

to Sgt Tightpants, very good post bra.

I've seen those pictures, too; I take it you're referrig to the pink-gold-purple monstrosity? That's just a model, and probably won't eventuate. I don't even know where it originated from, only that it appeared overnight on Keith Collantine's blog. I do know that it is designed around a pre-2009 car, given the size of the wings, so I'm certain that it pre-dates the Lotus project. After all, sponsors determine colours, but since both Lotus and Petronas are Malaysian groups with government backing, it's almost a given that they'll come together. But Petronas have demonstrated a willingness to appear in a team's colours - they are white on the BMWs, as opposed to their grey colour - so they may be amenable to something different here. I chose the national colours because the team is being pitched as a national team and I don't think it's conincidence that everything falls in with the 99T livery.


That's Babelfish for you; I only speak English an a little bit of Russian. But I like the sound of "Sauber Rennprojekt" (even if I used the word "project" for Toro Rosso). German is not a gentle language, and so "Rennprojekt" sounds to me like something that doesn't really try to be anything other than what it is, and even if you don't speak German, you know what it means. It's a racing team first, last and always. But at the same time, the "projekt" makes it sound like a platform, a work-in-progress that can be built upon and refined. A long-term commitment. Adding the name Sauber just completes it for me.

Thank you for posting here Zucchero, I think you are the only real insider posting here from time to time as your post makes a lot of sense. But I think its complicated for everyone to puzzle out whats going on in SF now.
My feelings about situation were similar to what you wrote, i.e. drivers situation is not the biggest itch for Ferrari as of now as there is some power struggle going on behind the curtain so they quite like that all the press is speculating is about Alonso only. For me its only feeling but if I had to bet on something this would be it.

That's not quite true. He was offered a seat at Renault which he turned down.

NHF man but what a bunch of BS! First, Rosberg to McLaren, it´s a big question. Mercedes will stay with McLaren that´s for sure, they are successful partners and they will be for many years to come...

"Heikki Kovalainen rose to the challenge, securing fourth place in the constructors’ championship" LOL Their goal is 3rd position not 4th...McLaren have faster car than Ferrari and they are in good position to win it. Also McLaren will never run their original colors ever again! They have partners (Mercedes) sponsors (Vodafone/Santander)

"rivalry with Brawn" They will be like brothers and sisters because of influence of Mercedes. Mercedes @ McLaren 40% and McLaren @ Brawn maybe 60-70% so to think that will be some rivaly is just stupid, nhf again.

regards

Did you not pick up on the idea that this is unlikely to happen and that all of it is a fantasy grid? I'm guessing not. Because it's there.


They might be targeting third, but let's say Hamilton keeps retiting. Do you really think Kovalainen would be able to do anything other than secure fourth place for them, or do you really believe he could take the fight to two Ferraris?


Again, read the whole thing in its entirety. Ths fantasy version of the grid has McLaren rebelling against Mercedes after Mercedes decides to make Brawn its works team. McLaren end their association with Mercedes and go their own way. And while they have sponsors, they decide to run an orange livery again. It's all there, and if you'd bothered to read it, you'd have picked up on the fact that it's all fiction and just a bit of fun.

But I'd have the world's biggest I-told-you-so moment if I called everything accurately ...

T,FTFY.

The rumor started to gain legs once Gazzetta published it, before that it was just those crazy, delusional spanish journos making things up.

He doesn´t have to because since Massa´s accident, they have been fighting against one Ferrari only.

Does Kovalainen stand a chance against Raikkonen? No.

While Ferrari might have made a misguided call in running Badoer, I don't think they've repeated their mistake with Fisichella. Martin Brundle commented during the Italian Grand Prix that the Ferrari uses a lot of engine braking to regenerate KERS - even if Fisichella never touched the system - and that he wouldn't be used to it. Once he's familiar with the car, he shouldn't do too badly.

Etihad are not moving from Ferrari, they are owned by the same Arab family that has a stake in Ferrari

Again, did you miss the fictional tone?

This is getting even more interesting now. It was "common knowledge" that Alonso will go to Ferrari while Kimi will return to McLaren.
After the scandal, why would Ferrari choose a driver like FA if they'll already got a "clean" top-driver like Kimi? Is Kimi anymore willing to stay after all the speculation and drama?
If the deals are already done and there are no turning back, Ferrari will find itself in a very stupid situation, indeed.

I keep asking myself the same question: Why is it that Ferrari are so hell-bent on pushing KR out of the team? He is one of the few drivers who doesn't have a whiff of controversy around him. And I'm not talking about his racing exploits.

It´s not Ferrari , it is the Spanish press

The Williams engine situation is rather complicated, according to Autosport.com, who quote P. Head.



With Mercedes saying that they cannot supply Williams, the effectivly state that they already have a 4th team in sight or even contracted. At least, the 4-team limit is what's being said in the press and on this forum. So that's likely McLaren, Force India, Brawn, and Red Bull.

With Renault's future up in the air, Williams may choose the safer option of Cosworth. However, I remember Cosworth saying they either had a maximum of 4 teams, or needed 4 teams to make F1 worthwile for them, financially. If the former is true, then one of the new teams could have opted for an other supplier: Campos, Manor/Virgin and Lotus all going for Cosworth, along with Williams, and Team US F1 taking Williams' Toyota supply.