Thanks for the LOLs.

The Guardian's Maurice Hamilton predicts next year's driver lineups

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/interactiv...ms-2009-2010-f1 (click to see possible 2010 teams)

At least someone believes USF1 will be on the grid next year.

Apart from that, he's suggested the usual candidates.

The same sources that confirmed Rubens at Williams for 2010 are now confirming Cosworth engines for the Grove based team.

would be a disgrace if they (Toyota) retained Kazuki Nakajima in my opinion.

How could they retain him if they never had him? He had their backing, and was said to be part and parcel of the Toyota engine deal, but I don't think he ever actually drove for them; his promotion to race seat was because Toyota wanted a Japanese driver and Nakajima was the best-placed Japanese driver at the time.

Am I wrong, or did Maurice Hamilton leave Team US F1 out of his list?

Hamilton trying to veto the Kimi deal. Would explain the reason for the delay.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=s...slate.google.es

that would be other BS if it's true. Certainly very weak of Hamilton (IF it is true).

How wonderful and refreshing.

Teams claim that they have two equal drivers, but how many of them have truly equal drivers in terms of ability? Brawn and Toro Rosso and Ferrari - before Massa's accident - are the only ones that spring to mind. Most teams have a driver who is more talented that the other; at McLaren, it's Hamilton before Kovalainen; Williams, it's Rosberg over Nakajima; Renault had Alonso over Piquet and then Alonso over Grosjean; Force India had Fisichella before Sutil and now Sutil before Liuzzi. I'd even say Vettel is more talented than Webber, though the difference at Red Bull is much slighter than the other teams, and Red Bull actualy did let their drivers compete. BMW is a bit hard to call because the car is so bad; at some circuits it's advantage Kubica, at others it's Heidfeld.

Anyway, my point is that there is a natural inequality in a lot of teams, even when they claim otherwise. And there is a harmony within those teams. Hamiton evidently feels he can do better when that inequality exists, and that to have Raikkonen as a team mate would only endanger that.

I don't think Hamilton considers Kimi much of a threat so it's probably just some BS by a Spanish writer I've never heard of.

Oh look, Spanish press making things up again. What a surprise.

Interesting. And could make some sense even. With Kimi, Lewis does not know how the situation would turn up. But with Fernando he does know. Hamilton's future could well be at Ferrari. It is the only team alongside Red Bull that could interest him. The situation could bring Lewis to Ferrari for 2011 (already 2010 if Felipe won't be fully recovered, which is of course number one wish and a plan). I feel that he could achieve something.

Yes, sure. And where would Alonso go then? The 2007 rookie is much better now than 2007.

I would like Hami at Red Bull next to Vettel. Some issues need to be settled in here.

yes like how they made up alonso going to ferrari in 2010. Did you expect the british media to report the truth about hamilton?

Alonso wouldnt go anywhere but ferrari have no interest in hamilton anyway. Hes not a ferrari type driver.

well, you don't want to jinx it. Back in 2007, the finn boys were saying Ferrari's not interested in Alonso.

I agree.

They also said he would go to Ferrari in 2008 then 2009, it was almost inevitable that they would eventually get it right. Do you truly believe that the Spanish press is that much more credible than the press of any other country?

Joe Saward: Globo announces Barrichello at Williams.

Right, not yet Ferrari-type but he will learn. This liegate is a good start.

But the Spanish media had been pushing that agenda since March. When Alonso signed for Ferrari, a very different story came to light: Alonso had only been an option for them in the days immediately leading up to the annoucement, and not before. The Spanish media might have made the right call, but they were still wrong about it since they were insisting he and Maranello had become bedfellows six months before they actually did.

Two year contract? Looks like he's going to see out his career at Willy. Good for Nico,I think: can learn a lot from RB's experience.

Trulli: "I have worked together with Mike in three different teams, I would have no problem going to a new team, if he has a leading role.”

Howett wants Trulli out, the people in Japan want to keep him, said to be an internal war over it in the team if the translation is correct.

http://www.f1mania.net/noticias/vernoticia.php?42148

It's starting to look very like Toyota are pulling out at the end of the season with immediate effect in which case no driver moves there can be factored in to the silly season.

Toyota have not renewed either driver contract and cannot sign any until the board meeting in November. Would they really compromise 2010 with a decision to be made at this time? I get the impression that they plan to just slip away with the minimum of media attention...

Alonso was signed to ferrari in 2008, with an option for 2010, when all of you were claiming the crazy spanish media were making things up. Now you all look foolish with pie in your faces as it turned out to be true. Ferrari were even working on him to race for them in 2009 if possible.

Brawn Gp: Button and Kimi

McLaren: Hamilton and ... (Sutil, Glock, Kovalainen or Alex Young)


Well done Anthony Hamilton

I believe you may have hit upon something.

That would be a fatal error by Lewis.

Drivers who will be able to get a Super Licence next year (I avoided repeating names):

-Min. 5 GPs in '09: Button, Barrichello, Vettel, Webber, Räikkönen, Hamilton, Rosberg, Trulli, Alonso, Glock, Massa, Kovalainen, Heidfeld, Kubica, Fisichella, Sutil, Buemi, Bourdais, Nakajima, Piquet, Grosjean, Alguersuari, Liuzzi
-Min. 15 GPs in '07-'09: Coulthard, Sato, Davidson, others?
-test driver in '09, has had a Super Licence at some point: de la Rosa, Paffett, Badoer, Gené, Klien, Hartley, Wurz, Schumacher?
-top3 in F2: Soucek, TBD, TBD (Wickens/Alyoshin/Bortolotti/Jousse)
-GP2 top3 in 2008/09: Hülkenberg, Petrov, di Grassi, Pantano, Senna
-GP2 Asia top3 2008/09: Kobayashi, d'Ambrosio, Rodríguez, TBD, TBD, TBD
-F.Nippon top3 2008/09: Matsuda, Duval, Lotterer, Tréluyer
-Indycar top4 2008/09: Franchitti, Dixon, Briscoe, Castroneves, Kanaan
-F3 Champions 2009: Euroseries - Bianchi, Britain - Ricciardo, Italy - TBD (Zampieri/Campos-Hull/Zipoli/Campana/Sánchez López), Spain - TBD (Míguez/Méndez), Japan - Ericsson
-WSR Champion 2009: Baguette

I wonder which of the new teams will hire Tsugio Matsuda. I also wonder how Yuji Ide got his Super Licence. (Seriously, why is F.Nippon included?)

So no Loeb, Rossi and Villeneuve in 2011?

Why Indy ? It's not connected to FIA.
A guy that doesn't turn both sides can race F1

Where does this information comes from ?

If you question Matsuda you also have to question Duval and Lotterer because he dominated them in 2008 http://www.forix.com/cp.php?l=0&d=303&...mp;c=30&s=0
I wouldn't rate them below a few F3 champions or the current F2 top-3.

Former F Nippon champions include Pedro de la Rosa, Ralf Schumacher and Ralph Firman BTW.

You are kidding, right? Half the IndyCar season is road courses and street courses. The FIA includes them so a top driver in the US could make the jump to F1 without 'wasting' a year in GP2 or one of the other lower formula.

No, he signed a pre-contract in 2008. It committed him to Ferrari at some point in the future; if a full-time seat opened up, it meant Ferrari would consider Alonso first. Alonso himself admitted the 2010 contract came as a surprise; he wasnt expecting to go to Maranello until 2011. Ferrari probably weren't expecting him either, as both sides said that heonly became a real option in the few days leading up to the annoucement that he had signed despite the Spanish media insisting he'd signed a race contract back in March or April. His 2008 contract only meant he'd be first pick if a Ferrari seat came up, but it did not guarantee him a race drive. Ferrari might have ben working on him to race this year, but it clearly didn't happen.

You might want to wipe that egg from your face before you reply.

Except that it was Gazzetta dello Sport, an italian newspaper, that broke the news that Alonso signed a pre-contract in 2008 to join Ferrari in 2011 with an option for 2010. Spanish press - Well, they have been claiming Alonso to Ferrari since 2007. Let's just say those were just desperate primeval cries in the hope of getting a seat for their national hero.

I'm still bemused as to why they ever thought they had a say in Ferrari's driver lineup.

Can this piece of news stir things?

Doubt it. The EC could lay down a fine on the FIA, but it would be damaging to the three teams chosen in that process to reject the FIA's decision and start again.

Plus by that time the governance of the FIA will be under new control, so the FIA may well be able to argue that it should not be punished for the actions of its bodies under the direction of its former President.

I can see N.Technology's gripe, but I think they're on a hiding to nothing.

The new teams have too much invested already to make booting them out a viable idea. They haven't done anything wrong, either, so removing them fom the grid isn't an option. And N.Technoogy won't be able to get ready between November and March if they were granted a grid slot. If the courts agree with them, then I think the only punishment is going to be som kind of fine imposed on the FIA.

If you wonder why Ide got the superlicense, I can tell you that he finished second in Formula Nippon in 2005, and third in 2004! Yes, that's how bad that series is! That it's included is due the fact that lots of F1 driver came taht way in the 90's, but now that series has such a low attractivity that drivers retire from it to focus on GT (!) racing.

Those who were qualified from this criteria to race in F1 2006 (apart from those who actually did) were:

Min 15 GPs in '03-'05: Panis, da Matta, Karthikeyan, Baumgartner, Bruni, Firman, Wilson, Verstappen, Frentzen
Test drivers in '05 (previous holders included): Badoer, Davidson, Wurz, Zonta, Jordan and Minardi Friday drivers (Nissany )
GP2 Top 3 in '05: Kovalainen, Speed (Rosberg already in F1).
F3000 Top 3 in '04: Liuzzi, Doornbos (in F1), Toccacelo (Jordan Friday driver in '05)
F. Nippon Top 3: '04-'05 Lyons, Lotterer, Ide, Motoyama
Champ Car Top 4 in '04-'05: Bourdais, Junqueira, Carpentier, Servià, Wilson
IndyCar Top 4 in '04-'05: Kanaan, Wheldon, Rice, Fernández, Hornish Jr, Franchitti
F3 Champions in '05: Hamilton, Parente, Ferrara (don't ask me who), Soucek, de Oliviera (Brazilian driver in Japan)
WSR Champion: Kubica made his debut that year

It's not unheard-of for drivers who show promise in the feeder series to simply be way off the pace when they make it to Formula One. Liuzzi did it; Pantano, too.

Bye bye Grosjean possibly from Renault:

NobleF1 Robert Kubica says that Renault is looking for an experienced driver to race alongside him in 2010. Not good news for Romain Grosjean
14 minutes ago from web

Heikki kovalainen maybe ? or Barrichello

Kovalainen. Barrichello has already signed with Williams and Burti has said many times on his twitter and on Brazilian press that Rubens cannot say anything about this, as per his contract.

Di Grassi is being quoted today on the Brazilian press that he has a 70-80% chance of racing on F1 next year.

In Argentina, the Automóvil Club Argentino is saying Campos Grand Prix is showing a folder to possible sponsors with the names of this four drivers: Pedro De La Rosa, Marc Gené, Bruno Senna and José María López. They will be travelling to Brazil to meet some people in occasion of the Brazilian gp. Anyway, here in Argentina almost nobody is confident of López chances. Itis said that Senna has 90% of the budget needed or so, and De la Rosa or Gené will be the other drivers. The level of disbelief in people here about López is enormous.
As for Manor Motorsport, the rumour here is that Adam Carroll and Esteban Guerrieri are the two drivers John Booth wants and that they have priority until a certain time (November 5th, in case of Guerrieri, I don't know Carroll) to get around 6.5 million euros. But Booth said recently that he wouldn't have a problem in signing Piquet (!, at least that is in the Argentine press, though I still find it hard to believe), so the confidence here has fallen to the floor about Booth real intentions (many are remembering Fontana and Tyrrell 1998 affair). Curiously, nobody mentions Alvaro Parente as a chance, considering the heavy rumours about him signing with Manor in Portugal, at least.
Trulli and Yoong (I can't believe it) or Fauzy are rumoured at Lotus. plus, you still have Heidfeld and Glock, valuable and experienced drivers, without a secured seat. Add to that combination, Vitaly Petrov and his juicy 10M, Pastor Maldonado and the millionaire support from PDVSA, also Ernesto Viso, who would be considering racing with a top Indy Car team or with a new, small F1 team for the same money, and don't forget Lucas DiGrassi... what a mess...

And that he has talks with Renault! And the new teams.

Kovalainen. Kubica has been asking for a kwality teammate. I just hope for Robert's sake that Kova doesn't wake-up at Renault, or it could be pretty embarrassing.

Depends on the car, it could be close if the car is bad enough.