Anyone except Kimi or Nico in the second Mclaren seat would be a shock to me. Otherwise Button leaving Brawn perhaps? Kimi to an unexpected team (as in not Brawn or Mclaren)? Or Hamilton leaving Mclaren, but I can't see that happening.

Would be sad to see Kimi retire even though I support Alonso. But I like the idea otherwise.

that would be

hamilton vs button two british drivers on the same team


but where would rosberg go if kubica goes to brawn.

This 'shock' move could be BS. And then we've wasted a whole heap of time speculating. Are we bothered?

No. we are bored.

now that'd be something completely new to this thread! can't imagine that!


JV in a (more or less) competitive ride would be great. Like Williams or Ex-Sauber - ok, both are more than just unlikely, nevertheless it'd be nice to see.
Or even better, JV and JPM at USF1 :> :> :>

Indeed. We'll just have to wait for Noble to do his digging. I hope he brought his pickaxe.

I see you like speculation:

-Alonso will get an F1 ban because of new facts from the crash gate
-Massa says that the incided has blocked him mentally, and he can't race (*touch wood*)
-Hamilton is furious, that Martin Whitmarsh wants a second top driver, he said "What?! I'm not enough for you?!?" and quited macca
-Hamilton wants revenge, and take the #1 seat at Ferrari, taking his friend that will be agree to be clearly #2 in the team (Rosberg)
-McLaren take 2 top drivers that are on the market - Kimi and Kubica
-Ross says, that he will go from F1 in glory, and with WDC and WCC closes BrawnGP, selling the place on the grid to Quadbak Sauber
-Revolution in RedBull, Sebastian Vettel swaps his seat with Mark Webber

You heard it here first, but remember, that is unofficial, and I haven't any sources of this information

F1 isn't what I expected it to be. I was expecting Kimi, Massa, Alonso, Hamilton, Kubica, Vettel and Co to all be fighting for the top spot, with so many saying that F1 was entering a golden age with many race winners and champions. The top cars are still Ferrari and McLaren and whoever are in them are likely to be WDC. Hamilton isn't going to budge, Kimi will return to McLaren and Massa and Alonso will make it 2007 reloaded.

I actually want to see Rosberg, Vettel and Kubica racing at the front, otherwise they are locked out and F1 loses out. F1 feels stale.

I disagree -

Say what you want but right now we have Red Bull and Brawn fighting for championships. Last year these two were nowhere near the front, especially
old Honda. Vettel had his shining moments with Red Bull this year and Ferrari is nowhere this year.

Yes MaCracken did push to the front in the 2nd half of the season and they're there but look at the beginning of the year.

Formula 1 now is nowhere near stale - plus look at all these new teams coming in next season. I want to watch the 2010 season more than any other one!!!

I'm not convinced about Rosbergs talent, but it would be great (naturally 100% theoretically because it is almost impossible), if McLaren, Ferrari and Renault would build top cars, very comparable to each other, and have in their seits Alonso, Massa, Raikonnen, Hamilton, Vettel and Kubica, additionaly, the cars/tracks made to make overtaking easier, and +BrawnGP with Button and Rosberg, ehh... ok, I come back to reality

Wonder if Rubens could be staying at Brawn:

"I had two hours on the shinkansen (bullet train) coming here today with Ross Brawn, and we talked about Singapore and everything else. My chances of being in F1 next year - 99.9 percent, I would say.
Barrichello goes for broke at Suzuka

i'm desperate in waiting to the next tweet from JN...

Interesting!
My turn.Lewis will come to SF.

Toyota apparenty head-hunting Robert Kubica is the latest Autosport article is to be believed.

Fred says he will keep the lights on for him.....but nelson senior told me that NP, jr. was already signed for the second mac seat....

I think toyota would be a better option for kubica if glock is his team mate. If kubica wants to win races he needs a team mate who knows how to set up a car.

Sounds from the article that Toyota isn't interested in either Glock nor Trulli...
They may go after Kova also- for the right price they would do it too...

That's somewhat at odds with their wanting a star line-up.

underpowered engine? check
no history of success? check
Corporate board who knows nothing of how to run an F1 team calling the shots? check

sounds like an environment thats primed for winning. If kubica goes to toyota he can kiss his career goodbye.

You mean multiple podium finishes and pole positions!?

Answered your own question there, didn't you.

It's better than Jaguar is it not?

Well Jaguar is now RBR and they have few wins already... so it is not

They should go for Kubica and Glock - though I don't suppose Glock will be too impressed by the way they've treated him.

Toyota may also be going after Raikkonen:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport...one/8286253.stm

This may be the rumour Noble was Twittering about last night.

Vettel to Ferrari in 2011

Toyota has no chance at Raikkonen. The Finn is a WDC and Toyota, with the same budget as Mclaren and ferrari 9or soemtimes even higher), and being around since 2002 with just a dozen of podiums is no wins, is more than far away from what he wants.

Montezemolo's dream:

4 FERRARI'S IN 2010!

You never know, they may be able to convince him. 2009 has been one of their stronger seasons, and they were ideally-placed for victory in Bahrain. If they convince him that they just need that little push that he can offer - and give him a very generous salary - he may see it as an attractive prospect, espeically if they sign someone like Kobayashi who won't be a threat to him.

Trulli has had his day.

Fast sometimes, but not enough to warrant extending his career.

His race in Singapore was pisspoor.

I'd be amazed if Kimi picked them - the corporate culture, the uncertainty about their future, the reduced budget, and the simple lack of a winning vibe there. Set that against reuniting with Mark Slade, and the progress Mac have made compared with how Toyota's car has 'developed', starting so near the front at the beginning of the season and then drifting back into the midfield, as thought that's somehow where they just naturally belong.

Kimi is wrong for Toyota anyway, they need a more extrovert personality to push them to do things that don't come naturally to them, an agent of change. If they don't see that then that's another reason to think have just don't have much of an idea.

Saying that they are after Raikkonen will ensure that Toyota makes the headlines today and maybe even tomorrow but that is all that will come out of that.

Can't see Kimi going to Toyota, can they really guarantee him a race-winning car? In all likelihood, no.

Kubica could be the leader they're looking for, but despite 'Crashgate' I think Renault could be a more solid team to be at for the foreseeable future.

McLaren might want him, but how would the Hamiltons (sounds like a sitcom) respond to it? He can't have been blind to the way the Alonso-McLaren relationship deteriorated. And would he be entirely comfortable being in the team where he'd be the unspoken number two? He might not give away much in terms of feelings, but I don't think he's ever been in a situation were he's been demoted to the rank of second driver from the very beginning. He has always taken the lead, except in 2008 and 2009, but even then, he had the opportunity to do so. A lot of drivers are sensitive about it: Barrichello and Alonso to name a few. He no doubt respects Hamilton's ability, but he may feel that as the more experienced driver, being given an equal footing is, at the very least, his due.

And even if he's perfectly comfortable with the status quo, the suggestion is that the Hamiltons don't like it. One word from them, and the whole thing gets derailed because you know McLaren won't want to strain their relationship with Hamilton. And if that's the case, where else can Raikkonen look? Brawn are taken, and probably couldn't afford him. Ferrari are obviously sewn up, and Red Bull confirmed Vettel and Webber weeks ago. While Force India is quick, they're inconsistent, and Williams is believed to be gunning for Barrichello and Hulkenberg. And Toro Rosso and the four-and-a-half new teams won't be competitive enough. That means Toyota and Renault are his only options if he wants to stay in the sport. And with Toyota being able to pay him more, he may be swayed.

Well I haven't seen anything to suggest Lewis would have a problem with Kimi, except that obviously he can't say anything that could sound like he wants Heikki replaced. I haven't heard a peep about Anthony having an opinion or a vote either.

Obviously Kimi would go in on an equal basis, nobody would think of anything else.

Kimi has to back himself big time to go up against Lewis, obviously, but there's no reason to suppose he'd bottle it, he's always relied on his driving to do the talking and quite right.

So TBH I think your not-Mac scenario is quite creative .

He won't waste his time in a midfield team, as he's said, it's Mac or Brawn or the WRC. I'm sure money wouldn't be allowed to stand in the way if he wanted Brawn, but all the smoke signals say Mac.

In your dreams maybe but not in reality.

Kimi doesn't care if his teammate is Senna or Takagi. He is a very fast driver and will be given his all out in order to win. That has always been that way.

What he's asking to stay in F1 is a top car, which is something only a few teams can deliver on a regular basis.

Ans still, Toyota at one of their best season cannot do more than 4 podium finishes and one pole position. Whereas Mclaren and ferrari at one of their worse seasons in more than a decade were still able to win races, fight a the top more often than Toyota, both Macca and Ferrari (currently) with 1/2 a driver on their second car. And obviously, they will have 20-30 more points each than the Japanese squad at the end of the season.

So, no, Kimi is not going there.

And you can argue that Kubica is considering going there istead of moving to Renault. But that's because of a simple reason: Kubica is far from being WDC material.

Okay, then: let's say Brawn are taken. Red Bull are taken. Ferrari are taken, and McLaren don't want him. And in the mix of all of this, Raikkonen wants to stay in the sport. Where is he going to go if the current top four teams are locked out?

1. McLaren wants him
2. He said he stays only if he gets good package

Dude, Kubica had the same number of points last year as Kimi, in a worse car! Whilst Kimbo was in the Ferrai! So he is def WDC material.

Anyway, I'd like to see Kimi at Toyota because it would mean they would lift their game, especially if Kubica ends up there as well.

Give me reasons for this opinion please, I'm curious.

1. McLaren wants him. But do the Hamiltons? If they say no, we don't want Kimi as a team-mate, who do you think McLaren will respect? Kimi or Lewis?
2. Assume that he decides he will stay.

Why speculate on something like McLaren not wanting Kimi when in it is not true? Perhaps for some reason you do not want Kimi to return to McLaren but I suggest you start getting used to the idea.

So you disagree when I say that if Lewis Hamilton doesn't want Raikkonen as a team mate, then McLaren won't sign him regarless of how much they want him?

why would hamilton have that position? he's afraid of what? isn't he the-best-big-ball-driver in the world?

You really think Lewis Hamilton has more power than the executives and team principal of McLaren?

I have a feeling Nick Heidfeld might end up at Toyota (with Kubica opting for Renault and Kimi for McLaren). Still, I'd like to see Kubica & Kimi at Toyota but doubt Kimi is interested in them.

I do disagree, yes. It's highly unlikely that McLaren drivers can veto their team mates. I doubt even Schumacher in Ferrari could do that... so he stepped aside for Massa when Räikkönen arrived. As a team manager I wouldn't sign a driver that wanted such a contractual veto.

The only way for a F1 driver to influence his team mate is to avoid teams with not suitable team mate.

Nick Heidfeld should be the first name to be dropped. Together with trulli he has been someone who at best, with everything falling into his place, can get a second place. Besides, he is to old (old isn't bad as long as you are top of the bill, and Nick isn't) and pretty much hasn't suprised me once since he started at Prost.

Apart from all the regular drivers, we should have new drivers too, from GP2.