His form was always the same. He need just better management like in 2007 and not this family-relations-stuff which force Ferrari looks like amateurs club nowadays.

I wonder how watertight the contract is, if it is just that he'll drive F1 why not lend him to another team?

Sorry, I can't agree with that.

Kimi has had a few fairly major performance lulls in the past 18 months while Massa has generally been better.

But respect to Raikkonen, he's looking really good at the moment.

I totally agree. This is the Kimi that is fighting with the determination he had in the latter stages of 2007.

I think Ferrari are going to have a difficult case in justifying getting rid of either Kimi or Massa, even if it is for bringing Alonso. Kimi is driving for 2. If he'd have been like this last year he'd have been a double world champion by now.

maybe massa will be dumped for one season for health recovery with a nice money and guaranteed seat in 2011

I just like Kimi´s way of handling the situation. He gets so much pressure from the press and Ferrari actually doesn´t do anything to shut them up (just the contrary they most likely will kick him out) but he still shows to the world his commitment.

I remember how Massa was treaten unfairly by the press at the beginning of 2007 and the happy Ferrari family was the first one to shut them all up and backed him up. But they do nothing for Kimi.

regarding massa:
felipe baby from ferrari staff sums it all

I think, that kimi hates all circus around f1 he wants to race and win only

second baby in ferrari is luca baby, i dont understand why he is selected for spa race after valencia performance

I wonder if Kimi gets shit on for not dedicating his podium for Felipe.

I hope not.

Yeah, he looks fantastic without the Massa yardstick.

A good point actually.

Thats the thing.Even if he somehow wins this season there is always that Massa cloud there.Hope he comes back quickly,so we can start the WAR! again

Agree that it´s not easy to value his performances without knowing what Massa would have done. But on the other hand it´s not that Massa got many podiums before so I assume that he did really well the last races.

Yeah, as if Massa would have done much better than him in the last two races, perhaps winning them

That's OK. When car is good for him - he drive well, like today. Give him car what he want is management target. Not only for someone who like team child but for other too. That's why i hate new Ferrari management with all sentimental ridiculous BS.

A more sensible explanation is that these last 2 races have been the first in a while where no one held up Kimi.

Interestingly, Kimi Räikkönen has seemed pretty impressive whenever circumstances have made him the main focus at Ferrari (towards the end of 2007 when he was their best bet for WDC, early 2008 when he was the reigning WDC and Massa had a couple of less-than-stellar races, again now that he's their only hope of a decent result). At McLaren, where he used to seem sort of impressive, he had that kind of emotional support/faith/good will almost as a default setting and I honestly think things like that can make a huge difference when the margins are so small. Kimi is not a charismatic people person who just shows up and instantly wraps an entire team around his little finger (which is a big part of why he's failed at Ferrari) but he's a decent driver who, when properly managed, can deliver. I think he could and would still be every bit as good as he seemed a few years ago if he was with a team that wanted and needed him more than Ferrari does. If only someone could be arsed to sign the guy...

If Kimi keeps on the podium,what's next?

A spanish newspaper(El Mundo) says that the next September 10 in Milan, just on the eve of the Monza Grand Prix, Ferrari career, the bank announced its jump to the legendary team. Un trato a largo plazo, no vinculado a la presencia de Alonso, con una inversión cercana a los 50 millones por año y de la que esperan golosos beneficios. A long-term treatment, unrelated to the presence of Alonso, with an investment of close to 50 million per year and the benefits they expect greedy.

Is it? So you take that Räikkönen either bungling or not bungling the start is dependent on Massa's presence. Really the only distinguishing difference in the last two races is that Räikkönen got a good get away and track position where his pace was not dictated by rivals. But it is an entirely predictable argument from equally predictable objective source.

I don't follow...

Brawn GP Formula One Team
Brawn BGP 002 – Mercedes FO108X (currently) / Renault RS27 (should Red Bull and Mercedes get together, and STR stick with Ferrari) / Ferrari 056 (if Red Bull gets Mercedes and STR switches to Renault) / Cosworth CA2010 (as a last resort, although it's said that 4 teams applied for Cossies)
1. Jenson Button (on a multi-year deal)
2. Rubens Barrichello (one more season?)
Bruno Senna (will he get his chance? Might be unlikely if Brawn lift the WDC/WCC)

Red Bull Racing
Red Bull RB6 – Mercedes FO108X (rumoured) / Renault RS27 (currently) / Ferrari 056 (not likely, since Red Bull are now WDC contenders and a potential Ferrari rival) / Cosworth CA2010 (running 20,000 RPMs in Newey's car ain’t bad)
3. Sebastian Vettel (on a multi-year deal until '11, with an option for '12)
4. Mark Webber (re-signed for ‘10)

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
Ferrari F2010 – Ferrari 056
5. Felipe Massa (contracted until ‘10)
6. Kimi Räikkönen (contracted until ‘10)
Fernando Alonso (rumoured since late '07)

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
McLaren MP4-25 – Mercedes FO108X
7. Lewis Hamilton (contracted until '12)
8. Heikki Kovalainen ('10 option not yet taken up)
Nico Rosberg (has Williams deal, but is rumoured for McLaren, would depend on Williams' '09 performance, Kovalainen's results, and whether McLaren actually want him)
Timo Glock (has a multi-year Toyota deal, yet is rumoured for McLaren)
Gary Paffet (long-time McLaren test driver)
Kimi Räikkönen (rumoured if the Alonso-Ferrari deal comes to fruition)

Panasonic Toyota Racing
Toyota TF110 – Toyota RVX-10
9. Jarno Trulli (a new deal is unlikely, according to team bosses)
Kamui Kobayashi (current test driver)
Kazuki Nakajima (allegedly has a long-term Toyota deal, but may not have the ultimate skill to make in in the big time)
Kimi Räikkönen (rumoured, though unlikely)
10. Timo Glock (re-signed for 2009; on a multi-year deal with (yearly?) options; unclear if '10 option has been taken up)

AT&T Williams
Williams FW32 – Toyota RVX-10 / Mercedes FO108X (rumoured) / Renault RS27 (rumoured) / Cosworth CA2010 (always an option)
11. Nico Rosberg (allegedly had a deal until the end of ‘10, but has stated he needs a top car in 2009 to remain at Williams; rumoured for McLaren)
Jarno Trulli (Williams said they’d like an experienced driver in ‘10; Trulli unlikely to stay at Toyota)
Rubens Barrichello (Williams said they’d like an experienced driver in ‘10)
Adam Carroll (GP2 race winner and A1GP champion, has been approached by 2 teams for ‘10)
12. Kazuki Nakajima (confirmed for ‘09; probably on long-term deal because of Toyota)
Kamui Kobayashi (current Toyota test driver)
Nico Hülkenberg (test driver currently in GP2)

Renault F1 Team
Renault R30 – Renault R27
14. Fernando Alonso (signed a '09-'10 deal, but may have a get-out clause)
Robert Kubica (once in Renault’s Driver Development Program; may jump ship from BMW)
15. Nelson Piquet
Lucas Di Grassi (finally takes Piquet's place, depends on his GP2 performance)
Romain Grosjean (Renault test driver, depends on his GP2 performance)

Scuderia Toro Rosso
Toro Roso STR5 – Ferrari 056 (Ferrari contract allegedly runs until ‘10) / Renault R27 (if Red Bull-Mercedes comes to fruition)
16. Sébastien Buemi (hard to see him dropped after some solid drives)
17. Jaime Alguersuari, jr. (replaced Bourdais mid-season '09, likely to stay on)
Brendon Hartley (Red Bull junior driver and tester)
Neel Jani (finally he gets his chance, but 2 Swiss drivers at STR?)

Force India F1 Team (rumoured take-over by Prodrive and badged Aston Martin, which would get David Richards his coveted Mercedes engines, along with a deal to equip future Aston Martin road cars with Mercedes engines)
Force India VJM03 – Mercedes FO108X
18. Adrian Sutil (depending on his ‘09 performance)
19. Giancarlo Fisichella (may retire after ‘09, or be picked up by one of the new teams)
Vitantonio Liuzzi (current tester)
Karun Chandhok (after another GP2 season, he gets the nod from Mallya)

Campos Meta Team
Campos Meta CM10 – Cosworth CA2010 (Dallara-designed and -built car)
20. Pedro de la Rosa (experienced test driver; excellent choice to develop the new car)
Roldán Rodríguez (Spanish GP2 driver)
Javier Villa (Spanish GP2 driver)
21. Vitaly Petrov (although Russian, he drove for Campos/Barwa in GP2 successfully, and brings sponsorship, too)
Giorgio Pantano (although Italian, he was GP2 champion for Campos in ‘08)
Adrián Vallés (Spanish WSR driver, drove for Campos in GP2 in ‘06)
Pastor Maldonado (talented Venezuelan, at least speaks Spanish)

Manor F1 Team
Manor BW01 – Cosworth CA2010 (car designed and built by Nick Wirth, formerly of Simtek and Benetton)
22. Anthony Davidson (experienced ex-F1 driver)
Lucas Di Grassi (GP2 race winner, did F3 for Manor in 2005)
23. Adam Carroll (GP2 race winner and A1GP champion, has been approached by 2 teams for ‘10)
Mike Conway (GP2 race winner, currently in IndyCar)
Edoardo Mortara (GP2 race winner)

Team US F1
US F1-10 – Cosworth CA2010
24. Pedro de la Rosa (although Spanish, experienced test driver; excellent choice to develop the new car)
Alex Wurz (although Austrian, experienced test driver; excellent choice to develop the new car)
25. Danica Patrick (often rumoured, but unlikely)
Ryan Hunter-Reay (experienced driver)
Marco Andretti (some people believe he has what it takes for F1)
Graham Rahal (rumoured)
Sébastien Bourdais (experienced, and a well-known name in US racing)
Jacques Villeneuve (he is looking for a drive; would be quite a coup by USF1 to have an Indy 500 winner and F1 WDC)

Sauber F1 Team (BMW-owned team did not sign 2010-2012 Concorde Agreement, but did apply for an entry in 2010; working on take-over)
Sauber F1.10 – Ferrari 056 (again with Petronas badge?) / Cosworth CA2010 (an other option)
26. Robert Kubica (contracted for '09; option for '10?)
Nico Rosberg (rumoured when BMW had not yet announced its pull-out)
27. Nick Heidfeld (contracted for '09)
Christian Klien (current test driver)

Epsilon Euskadi (rumoured new team in place of BMW Sauber)

Prodrive F1 (rumoured new team in place of BMW Sauber)

Giacomo

Ah, I see.

Mercedes almost certain. There are rumours of an even closer relationship (something like FI-Mercedes). Barrichello is likely to be dropped no matter what he will achieve. Senna will have pretty good chances for car #2, but I think Ross will opt for some established driver without a seat à Trulli, Kovalainen, Heidfeld.


Very difficult one for Ferrari management. They really can't sack Räikkönen until they know Massa will be able to drive, nor can they sack Massa without looking like a bunch of total assholes. I think the most interesting question now is who'll replace Massa, if he is retained, but can't race in the early season. Fisico? Trulli?


Plan a). Replace your number Two with your number Four. I think the most certain piece of information og '10 lineups is Gary Paffett WILL NOT drive a McLaren. Räikkönen is a long shot, and Glock is contracted.


Getting rid of Jarno shows again that not everybody should run an F1 team. Maybe the silliest Toyota decision after... Hmm... Overfunding the rest of Ralf's days... or hiring da Matta... or sacking both Salo and McNish because the car was shit... I think we can take it granted that Trulli won't drive, but no idea who'll replace him. I hope it's not Kazu or Koba, though...


Sad, but Fisico will be dropped. Liuzzi seems to be the replacement. I think we have seen enough professionalism from Mallya to rule Chandhok out.


Isn't Petrov already semi-sure? De la Rosa apparently is still negotiating with USF1 as well. Rodríguez, Villa and Vallés all seem a bit far-fetched; I think Gené may be close to deal, if de la Rosa negotiations fail.

For the 13th entrant: too early to say before we know the team's name.

i disagree with the brawn selection choices, why drop rubens for trulli, kovy or rosberg???? they are not any beter then rubens in fact i say they not as good. rubens is the best development driver in the pitlane, his speed is fantastic and he and button are closely matched. rubens i think will stay if ross wants him -its simple as that.

I think Brawn should keep Barrichello.

He's outperforming Button at the moment.

And he isn far from showing his age.

He'll certainly be better than a complete unknown like Senna.

Indeed. I am not saying it would be wise to drop Rubens, but I just feel his team-relationship has gotten too sour. I also read that Ross Brawn has decided not to renew his contract.

Brawn is a totally pragmatic team boss.

Rubens is very effective, and at this stage of his career, probably cheap.

He represents brilliant value for money.

Yes, Rubens threw his toys a couple of races ago, but he's an emotional individual.

If Ross didn't rate Rubens he wouldn't have stuck him in the car this year.

well you have to say that ross knows in his ferrari days that if 1 driver can win 6 races and rubens (before silverstone) had none. you have to think what is wrong. Ross probably knows that rubens ON HIS DAY is unbeatlable even michael struggled but he has a lot of races where he is just not there. i personally think rubens should stay

I think the surety comes out of the common sense that lies in signing him. He's young. He's fast. He learns quickly; in four years he's gone from almost last to being a GP2 contender. He knows the team. He can bring with him huge sponsorship potential from Russia and Eastern Europe. He's a marketer's dream. About the only thing against him is that he occasionally has a bad race, but who doesn't? Almost every GP2 driver has dropped the ball at some point or another.

has anybody heard jenson possibly open to offers? its on the gpweek website that jenson is not closed to teams contacting him for next year. He probably scared the BGP002 will be a not as fast as the BGP001 so has to look around if anything better out there -before signing with brawn

Somehow I don't think he's a match for the top F1 drivers speed-wise, but he would definitely be good enough to be a contender to the top 18 Q2 sessions next year. Still, he's not a rough diamond like Hülkenberg or Grosjean, and I think he lives on his GP2 experience in matching Hülkenberg and Grosjean this year. However, there's no reason he'd be any worse than what di Grassi would be in the top echeleon.

How many teams would Mercedes be willing/able to supply with engines? McLaren of course, I would be surprised if they didn't maintain Brawn (the very likely WDC and WCC winners), rumoured Red Bull, maybe Williams, and Force India? Would they be able to supply 4 or even 5 teams? If not, who would be told to go looking for another engine manufacturer?

What's weird to me is that BMW isn't considering hanging around as an engine supplier. I mean, the specs are fixed so it's a simple matter of manufacturing and selling the engines. I find it hard to believe they wouldn't be able to make at least some money if they drummed up two customers.

I heard similar things. He's allegedly got a one-year contract with Brawn, with options for further seasons. However, I don't see any opportunities with other top teams for him, since Red Bull have their 2009 drivers signed for 2010 and beyond, Ferrari allegedly have 3 top notch drivers for only 2 cars, while McLaren have Hamilton and no. 2 Kovalainen, and several other options, too.


That's simple: being in Formula One doesn't fit BMW's new image. At least that's what they said at the press conference, earlier this month.

He will be out of contract so needs to keep his options open.

Same could be said for Honda. IMHO it's because they have failed to acheive their goals and want to cut all ties, and therefore association with F1.

Yes - money isn't the whole story behind the withdrawal because supplying engines which have been homologated and frozen is a way to have a motorsport presence that doesn't cost money. BMW just look foolish IMO and will lose their image of sporting heritage uite quickly because of some dumbass suits.

Toyota don't have a clue really, their driver lineups show that anyone could be driving there in 2010. It is going to be one of the silliest of silly seasons because there are major bricks out of place at Ferrari and McLaren which will affect several teams. I don't think we will have the confirmed grid until next year (again).

He's stuck with the team through thick and thin, now they're winning why leave?

Even if Button wins this year's WDC, I don't see his stock increasing that much.

So no, he won't drive for a "top team" (ie. not McLaren and Ferrari).

I don't think Button would seriously consider going anywhere else, not unless something dramatic happens. I think he's got a better rapprt with his team than any other driver on the grid with the possible excetion of Lewis Hamilton.

Isn't there a cap to 4 customer engine supplies per manufacturer from 010 (current cap being 2 with brawn getting special dispensation for its Mercs)


EDIT: If Jenson wins it I can see Toyota paying some dough to buy themselves number 1 and a WDC in their cars. That's assuming he can't stay at Brawn of course, I doubt given a choice he'd move anywhere

BMW could supply KERS to some of the independent non-FOTA teams in exchange for some sponsorship. That should fit their image.

Raikkonen and Kubica would do them nicely at Toyota.

The likes of Trulli and Glock to McLaren, Brawn, Williams, Force India etc.

Doubt there will be a toyota for too much longer

Yeh, did you read that their budget for 2010 has NOT yet been approved by the board and Howett is expecting 'strong' resistance? Not sounding good, they're falling like dominoes.

And I don't think there will be too many people/fans who are going to miss much less mourn the withdrawal of Toyota from the grid. For some reason they never could win over fans from Day-1. Their road cars, on the other hand, have loads of fans (if we can employ such a term).

Toyota published more bad sales figures recently so it wouldn't suprise me in the least to see them pull out.

if toyotas quits, the newly sigend concorde agreement is not worth the paper it's written on...

Bruno Senna very recently spotted in the Force India F1 factory in UK