I would like to see Kubica at Williams.It is still possible.

If Heidfeld is sniffing around hes done himself no harm with his quali performance this weekend, hopefully his race will hold up as well.

IMHO Button -> McLaren is just as likely as Hamilton -> Brawn.

Hulkenberg at Williams kind of makes sense, proven (thus far anyway) and cheap, with Soucek signed as test driver they must be ready to move Hulkenberg up.

Kind of surprised that Alguesuari is on the list above, I don't think hes really done enough to justify his seat. Toro should be looking at Glock/Trulli/Heidfeld etc

Same goes for Grosjean.

It will be interesting to see who the new teams pick up.

I hope Kimi ends up in a good car, if he is to be in F1. It was somewhat sad to see Alonso is a impotent Renault after the fallout with McMac.
Ferrari never did much to make a car for Kimi anyways as the car suited a different style, a style that Alonso is all about. McLaren still makes a car that Kimi can drive to wins consistently IMO as Hamilton also has an aggressive style. Even Massa this year was struggling so Kimi has not had the car but up there with much of the skill to make it work so far in his career. Bad engines in his stint with McMac, and only one year of a decent chasis at Ferrari (for his style! 2008 was a good car but Hamilton would have had similar issues IMO).

So it's RENAULT for Kubica than.

Renault should announce Kubica on tuesday.
Source:Jean-louis Moncet

Renault looks Glock for the second seat.

Just slight OT here: I wouldn't be so harsh on Jaime and Romain and would give them another chance or at least change their leatrning curve with giving them test driver position for next year. It's clearly hard to get on top of these '09 cars in the middle of the season without any serious testing. Yes they didn't exactly shone but take a look at struggling Fisichella just 3 races after he came second with FI!! And he is experienced driver with few wins under his name!! Just shows how tricky these cars are! On the other hand if I'd be in charge of these teams I wouldn't change drivers mid season. Seabass and NP jr. deserved the whole season (crashgate apart...). They might not be (or are, that is another debate) better than Jaime an Romain, but they might preform better due to more experience with these cars.

Back to silly season.

Kubica and Glock are in my opinion the best pairing Renault can get right now. Glock is IMO seriously underrated at Toyota and is somewhere in Heidfeld league atleast. He will give Kubica a run for his money and might seriously damage Kubica reputation as WDC-to-be! Still I give Kubica the upper hand in this duel. It will be interesting!

So Grosjean won't stay at Renault, tbh the guy hasn't showed anything remarkable, only his ability to crash and mess up like today

Or was that Algersuari?

I meant that he spun at Spoon and he was well off the pace today once again

Just noticed MegaFon branding on Renault that I haven't seen before; I've heard that they're Vitaly Petrov's backers. It's be interesting if Renault have a Kubica-Petrov lineup next year, the East European All-Stars. However, the MegaFon logo on the Renault nose is very small, so maybe not ...

Red Bull Racing --> As much as it would be interesting to see Kimi driving for them, it's not going to happen. Vettel has a contract through 2011, with an option for 2012. Webber signed a one year extension through 2010 after his win at the German Grand Prix.

McLaren --> Hamilton has a contract through 2012 and it's highly unlikely he would go to Brawn. He's got a winning car, with a winning team, and has a championship under his belt. Whitmarsh said Kovalainen might still stay with the team, but I'm not sure anyone believes that. Raikkonen is about 90% certain, but something strange (Toyota) could happen.

Brawn --> Button is holding out for money, but is he going to get it? Will Mercedes foot the bill? And if Rubens manages to win the title, then what's Button's position with the team? Rosberg appears to be headed to Brawn for 2010.

Williams --> Barrichello looks like he's going to Williams alongside Nico Hulkenberg. Williams just have the small matter of an engine for 2010 to sort out.

Renault --> Kubica should be announced next week. Vitaly Petrov or Timo Glock could end up there. It depends if the new team managements wants all experience or just a lead driver.

Toyota --> Trulli is out and potentially Glock too. Raikkonen and Heidfeld? Who knows?

With several new teams and lots of driver shuffling the lack of in-season testing could lead to more wrecks or on-track brain fades.

[quote name='TheSaltire' date='Oct 4 2009, 15:34' post='3908171']


Brawn --> Button is holding out for money, but is he going to get it? Will Mercedes foot the bill? And if Rubens manages to win the title, then what's Button's position with the team? Rosberg appears to be headed to Brawn for 2010.

Williams --> Barrichello looks like he's going to Williams alongside Nico Hulkenberg. Williams just have the small matter of an engine for 2010 to sort out /quote]


How about the Brawn driver who is behind his team mate in the WDC is exchanged with Rosberg?

Hülkenberg certain at Williams.
Surprisingly Piquet in talks with Williams also, money is motivating factor. Would be surprised though to see it happen. Probably not, see below.
Howett said he lost Kobica but in fact they never had him. What Howett is recently saying is horrible. This person has not any level. Pig. To say Trulli did great job but we need more from him to get No 1 is shit in his mouth. Remember where Toyota was in Monaco. Indeed Glock's and Trulli's fault. Not saying they are perfect but they don't deserve this.
Should Toyota remain in F1, then possibly with Nakajima, Glock or Kovalainen.
Button should stay at Brawn, with Rosberg
Barrichello should go to Williams
US F1 is one big fake, it seems
Manor big question mark, I know nothing.
Campos in talks with de la Rosa, Senna, Petrov and possibly Wurz.

Don't know .. time will tell.. not a fan of nationalistic driver teams.. but finally we can see som colors on the website instead of only a white page and 'coming soon' + 'Contact us'.

http://www.usgpe.com/

I am not being sure either!

But prior Abu Dhabi race FIA will take a trip to US tu visit US F1. After that we will know more...

So you disagree that they need more? I'm pretty sure Hamilton, Alonso, Kimi, Vettel and perhaps even Kubica could have already taken this years car, and maybe even last years to the top step of the podium. Trulli is damn quick on his day, but "his day" needs to come along more often and consistently. Glock has potential, but I think he needs a partner with true developmental skills and a similar driving style to truly get to the front. It seems setup is really hit and miiss with the team, and the drive is a crucial link in this area.
Toyota F1 need results, and this time around they have stuck with their drivers instead of swapping them out as they did when they first enetered the sport. Time for a change indeed, and they do need somebody top shelf, other wise they just ought to pack up and leave.

Kimi, Timo to Toyota I think.

McLaren in no hurry to name 2010 drivers
I think Whitmarsh and McLaren are trying to put some pressure on the negotiations with the Robertsons and Raikkonen.

Or as I see it simply trying to control the rumour mill in order to take some of the media pressure off Kovalainen's back. That would seem to be the message between the lines.

Toyota telling Trulli he's to expansive and therefore has to leave whilst they sign Räikkönen? Ehrm...

They will reduce budget in other areas to sign Raikkonen though...

Kimi is paid by Maranello Outsourcing spA.....
He's delivering a bit more value for money.

Well spotted, there could be something there. Remember Renault has held F1 promotion events in Russia over the past years, that means they have a significant interest in the Russian market.

The Renault-Megafon deal was announced in early June, IIRC.

Yep announced just before the Turkish GP

http://www.renaultf1.com/en/_2009/team/ind...muniques/22103/

Toyota needs more, but not on driver's front. Maybe in quali better performances would be appreciated. But one way or another, the way Howett behaves is disgusting.

Senna 'closing on 2010 F1 deal' at iTV

GPWeek thinks that since Glock is now in the market, he could get the seat at Brawn rather than Rosberg. He also still has an "outside shot at McLaren".

They also think Grosjean is fairly certain to stay at Renault, while Alguersuari could get fired from STR. Surprising given the latest developments this week.

Trulli and Heidfeld looking at the new teams, with Lotus rumoured as the most desirable seat as they're currently considered the most serious of the 4 new squads.

The speculation is just out of hands this year. GPWeek certainly isn't helping by saying (more or less) that anyone could go anywhere.

From Grandpix.com:

Renault will be announcing Robert Kubica as its lead driver in 2010 in the course of the next 24 hours. It is not clear who will partner him but it is unlikely to be Romain Grosjean, who has seemed completely out of his depth since he replaced Nelson Piquet Jr. The team is saying nothing at the moment but the decision over a second driver will be taken in the off season. One man who might be in line for the job is Heikki Kovalainen, who is going to be ousted at McLaren when Kimi Raikkonen returns from Italy.

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21897.html

Well, now I'm starting to think that Heikki might be on his way back to Renault. He was extremely well praised there and I think the team needs a driver on a nice environment and somebody who knows how the team operates.

It would be a mistake to keep a rookie that hasn't proved himself as people said of him next to a driver that although has more experience and is considered fast, would be totally new for the team.

So I think Renault 2010 will be Kubica + Kovalainen.

I would love to see Kubica + Heidfeld in Renault 2010, and I think it is pretty probably, KUB+KOV is the most probable option for sure.

Why on earth would anyone take Kov over Heidfeld?

money

In the context of Kubica, Renault could prefer Kovalainen because of the contrast in Kubica's and Heidfeld's styles - whenever the car suits one, it does not suit the other. Maybe Kubica and Kova are more similar. Just a thought.

Kovalainen is good friends with Renault's team principal Bob Bell and Heikki obviously knows how the team works.

Webber had the best timing ever for his win in Germany. Wonder if Red Bull is regretting that contract? They could have had their pick of drivers had they waited. Grosjean isn't worth a seat, especially at a top team.

Kubica and Heidfeld have different driving styles, it's been a total headache developing a car that suits both at BMW, so invariably I don't think it's a good idea to have both of them at Renault.

Well one train of thought is that Kovy is a quick driver but is suffering from trying to stay with Lewis in the races. Especially the way Lewis drives the start and the first lap, and manages his tyres. Renault know him, have his telemetry, maybe they think they know how to solve that. Or perhaps just taking that pressure off will make the difference. He looked a lot better in the second half of his season at Renault that he has done at McLaren, anyway.

Heidfeld is one of the biggest unknowns in '10 market. If Sauber option doesn't go trough there is little space for him to operate with stronger teams (aka. not the new ones). Only Toyota comes to mind with available space for him (assuming Glock and Trulli are 100% out of picture for them). But market at this point looks like famous roman dance with chairs. If we assume Rosberg is at BGP next year and Kimi at Mclaren, Rubens at Williams and Buemi at STR (which looks like 99% probable), then it looks somehing like this:

Renault 1 slot
Toyota 2 slots (or is Nakajima there?)
Force India 2 slots (or is Sutil there?)
STR 1 slot

vs.

Heidfeld
Trulli
Glock
Algersuari
Liuzzi
Grosjean
*Sutil
*Nakajima

Let's dance!

Disclaimer: this is without considering the new teams...

I think Sutil and Liuzzi are quite safe at FI - unless something spezial (i.e. lack of money, indian superstar, ...) happens.

And - I've said that dozen times before - Toyota can't be THAT blind and driven by patriotism to put Nakajima in their 2nd car, whoever gets to race in the other one.

Kobayashi!

Actually, yes. From Joe Saward's blog ( http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/...et-on-the-move/ ) :



If they do end up with a Nakajima-Kobayashi duo I'm going to laugh my ass off.

If the grids are as close as this year Toyota will have huge trouble if they have Nakajima and Kobayashi, those 3 - 5 tenths missing will make them finish outside points, even if they had a potential podium capable car.

you wont be the only one...

that'd be the by far most stupid move ever made in their history (which will find its end by the end of 2010 season with 0 points after fighting with the newcomers)

I'd laugh even harder if Bernie "arranged" a win for them next year, something Ralf, Trulli, Glock, daMatta, Panis, etc. couldn't do.

If Nobody is left but those two, they could always give Senna a drive.

If Toyota want a Japanese driver why don't they get Sato?

A Naka-Koba combo would be quite possibly the single worst driver line up in history. That can't even be under consideration, can it? If it is, then it's fairly obvious that Toyota haven't taken a second of their time in F1 seriously. We already have evidence of that, given that their cash black-hole of a team hasn't done anything worthwhile in 8 woeful seasons.

He's a Honda man.

Sorry for offtop, but, why the hell can't Japan "produce" a good driver? I mean, even Poland got to "produce" a pretty good driver, without any, ANY motorsport history, without tracks, and without big money (I know, I know Kubica is a italian "product" in driver meanings).

Kobayashi and Nakajima, I don't think that anybody could be so stupid to make such lineup, that would be like to build a football team with big money to fight in Champions League with players that have only polish nationality

Touche.

Anyway, Kubica is a fluke.