With his comment about next year, I'm 100% sure he will not be taking care of any garden...

Or Robert Kubica. And if Williams were to land Renault or even Mercedes engines, that could be seen as a serious step forward.

And if Massa cant drive 2010 then?
Kind of stupid of Ferrari to kick Kimi not sure when/if Massa going to be as fast as he once was!
If they offload kimi and discover that massa cant deliver, the rest of the good f1 drivers have contracts...
= same situation as today but with Alonso alone.

He's kidding himself if he thinks beating pay driver and rookie would help establish himself as a top tier driver.

It is really quite tricky.

But if Raikkonen wants to stay in F1 he must be shopping around for other options.

I seriously fail to understand why Ferrari would want to get rid of a driver that has helped give them 3 world titles in 2 years. Not to mention his great drives this year with a car way below par. If that is not satisfactory, then good riddens. And that exchange for a driver, who is good, but is also a proven troublemaker. Massa - Alonso=sparks. Its like Alonso have managed to impart the impression on people that he is Gods gift to F1. I dont think he is any better than Lewis, Kimi or Kubica for that matter.
If Ferrari goes through with this, then I wish he would go back to McLaren. As much as I hated them for 2007 and the lying this year, all would be forgiven to see Kimi rub it in Ferraris face while romping on to his second title.

True, but (as I believe would happen) the prospect of getting heikkied by Hamilton isn't any better.

IMO it is because Raikkonen isn't the leader Ferrari feels it needs for the price they're paying him.

Yes, Raikkonen goes well when the car is behaving the way he likes it.

But with the same cash they can hire a guy like Alonso who will lead and motivate the team.

I really don't see that Kimi does that.

It's harsh for him, but you can't expect any mercy when you're being paid $40m a year.

Ferrari clearly don't feel they're getting value for money.

It seems to have worked for Alonso.

Well, it looks like Ferrari are in no position to make any demands, KR has all the jokers.
Either he drives for Ferrari, because he has apparently a watertight contract or Ferrari have to come up with something which is acceptable to KR and the Robertsons.

They really must be desperate to get FA. Wonder what caused this stampede?

True. Robertson is the best manager money can buy. He is a sly devil.

potmotr, if they dont think 3 worldtitles in 2 years are value for money, then fine. Lets see what the magical Alonso can do. He had big problems with Hamilton in 07. And his teammate after that was Piquet Jr. Yea, what a challenge that must have been beating him.
Its not Kimis fault that they went in a wrong direction with the 2008 car. Something they admitted to themselves. They went back to an earlier configuration around this time last year. And all drivers have to have a car that suits them to perform great. Not just Kimi. Anyway - thats bygones. We will just have to wait and see what the end of the tiring Alonso-Ferrari saga will be.
I will not hide the fact that it will leave a bitter taste in my mouth towards Ferrari if they effectively sack Kimi.

Seeing how Räikkönen's chances of having a competitive car next year are somewhere between zero and nil if (and when) Ferrari kicks him out, there's really no reason for him to accept offers lower than what's specified in his contract. Unless he really, really hates the team and is just as desperate to get rid of them as they're to see the back of him.

Oh, and I really, really doubt Ferrari are sacking Kimi because he's not the leader they thought he was. They're not that stupid, they - along with everyone else - knew he's not a leader when they signed him. They signed him because they thought he was kind of fast [and because they didn't realise Alonso was available], they're sacking him because they've realised they were wrong. Basically.

I honestly think they've been disenchanted with KR's performance on track (especially during 2008/early 09) and on a human level there is not a strong 'bond' like with MS. And ironically since they've more or less told him they don't want him any more (and have twice offered to effectively pay him to leave) his perfomance has started to improve again. Humans are complex sometimes!

I don't know, maybe they need a "messiah", a character to look up to, to perform well, like they did with MS.
Maybe they don't want to make the car work for two drivers with different styles.
Maybe holy Mary showed herself to Monte and said to him that he must hire FA.
Maybe Santander are demanding it.

It's politics.

Very interesting moment on the BBC just then courtesy of Ted Kravitz.

Jules Bianchi is rumoured to be taking over from Badoer.

And at the start of FP1 Bianchi was walked into the Ferrari garage with his manager Nicolas Todt.

Both stood behind the rear wing of Badoer's car.

If I heard correctly the Ferrari press manager then hid Bianchi from the BBC by telling him to go out of the garage.

A few seconds later the world feed cut to shots of the media manager shouting at Todt, who looked stoney faced!

Brilliant!

After Spa I take it?

But that's a pretty weak argument. Ferrari's engineers themselves said that the more oversteering the car is the better and faster KR is.
Yet, for some reason for three years in a row they have build a car exactly opposite to his preferences.

Sooner the better, but I'd presume so.

The press officer was really ranting, waving his hands around.

Todt Jnr just stood there looking away, arms crossed with a mouth like a cat's arsehole!

Awesome piece of info potmotr. Thanks
Btw - Todt Jnr is an arrogant arsehole. Just my opinion.

If anybody seriously thinks that Nicolas Todt would risk all the work he's put in to Bianchi's career from karting through to this point, by throwing him into the most pressured seat in F1 when the kid is three quarters of the way through an F3 championship run, they are kidding themselves.

Todt's proud of his work with Bourdais and Massa but picked them both up relatively far on through their careers. As for Bianchi he's groomed him from karting and is taking a completely different satisfaction from watching him climb the ladder succesfully.

Bianchi will be racing in GP2 next season with Todt's ART team. There is no way, no way on earth, that Todt would risk the potential that Bianchi has by throwing him into the deep end this early and for only a handful of F1 races, which could potentially destroy his confidence and his career.

And for the kid to be making his F1 debut, for Ferrari, at Monza... come on? You seriously think that'll happen?

According to the BBC, rumours are, apparently, circulating in the Spa Paddock that Alonso's going back to McLaren! Now, that's ridiculous!

Well Ringo, I reckon it might just be possible.

Give Bianchi the rest of this season to blood himself into F1.

There'd be zero expectation of success (unlike Badoer) so he could just get on with the business Alguersuari-style.

The for 2010 Todt could farm Bianchi out to a smaller F1 team.

At least everyone would know the kid's potential.

And don't forget, the sooner Todt gets his man into F1, the sooner the kid will start earning cash... for Todt!



Stranger things have happened.

Jan Magnusson was put in a McLaren in 1995 to fill in for Mika Hakkinen.

He was plucked from F3 at the time too...

*A quip about your namesake... John Lennon was once asked if Ringo Starr was the best rock and roll drummer in the world. He replied: "No. He's not even the best drummer in The Beatles"

Would it? It has often been said that F. Alonso Díaz's problem was not with L.C. Hamilton, but with R. Dennis. And he has left the race team, so...

I've been following Formula One for close to 20 years, now, and the only things that truely surprised me during that period, were the deaths of R. Ratzenberger and A. Senna da Silva, Alonso's late 2005 announcement that he would drive for McLaren come 2007, and K.M. Räikkönen grasping the World Championship from Hamilton and Alonso's hands in Brazil '07.

Graeme Murray Walker said: "Anything can happen in Formula One... and it usually does."

Really? Where are you reading/hearing this hot rumour!?

That's about as unlikely as Slash rejoining Guns N' Roses.

Lee McKenzie, the pitlane reporter, just divulged the info during the practice coverage about five minutes ago. Oh, silly season does amuse me. What next? Luca Badoer to replace Vettel at Red Bull?

It's just.... Is there some sort of "the silliest silly season rumour" competition going on?

IMO the poster was getting a laugh by putting that tease of a rumour!!!

Well they obviously took the Whitmarsh Alonso leaving was a mistake comment and spun it around.

Potmotr, what you say makes absolute sense, and I can see the allure for Todt in getting his boy into the seat. It's a nice fit, too, given that he also manages Felipe. Replace one of his boys with another of his boys.

I'm just not convinced it's the right time for Bianchi, and I'm pretty sure Todt will be mindful of that. Sure, guys have stepped up from F3, World Series, etc in the middle of a season and done a great job. Magnussen fared pretty well, Vettel of course fared fantastically. Alguersuari's not looking bad considering his experience either.

The French media seem absolutely convinced Bianchi won't get the drive, although it would at least give them a poster boy given that Grosjean is really Swiss.

Overall I think ferrari will be very mindful of what has happened to them with Badoer. Here is a guy they know well, who has been a loyal servant to them for a decade, but who lacked F1 experience of the new car and on a circuit he hadn't seen before (Valencia). He was embarassing. Ferrari can't afford for that to happen with the replacement, which is why I don't think they'll give it to a rookie with no F1 experience and who will not know the tracks at the end of the season (Singapore, Brazil, Suzuka etc)

Linking Bianchi and Hulkenberg with the seat purely because they are managed by the same men that managed great Ferrari drivers, doesn't mean it is actually going to happen.

I think the long and the short of it is, that I'll believe it when I see it but that I hope, for Bianchi's sake, it isn't something we see for a few seasons.

That Alonso to McLaren thing appeared in newsnow's F1 feed a couple of days ago. I think it was originally from some German source. The general gist was that McLaren was - allegedly! - more or less desperate to keep Santander and had inquired if they'd stay should the team manage to lure Alonso back. Supposedly the idea had already been presented to Alonso's manager. Haug was quoted as admitting that he talks with Alonso on a regular basis but denying they've discussed contracts.

And don't forget Alonso stated publically this year that he missed his rivalry with Hamilton and such an intense battle with a team-mate.

Well, nothing against Lee, but she reported quiet a few "silly" rumuors this year.

It was actually Holly Samos that reported it.

Well, reporting on seemingly silly rumours is the essence of Silly Season. Very amusing rumour, I think.

F3 Euroseries to Ferrari race seat is a pipe dream guys, Todt did get some nice publicity for his driver though. He might get in on Ferrari's young driver program that they seem anxious to start though

When all is said and done, as hard as 2007 was for Fred, he was far more competitive than he has been these past couple of years at the Reggie.

Whilst he loves the family atmosphere at Renault, there's just no getting past the fact that they aren't going to be winning anything any time soon on merit. And he really, really wants to win. Realistically, there are two choices for teams who are guaranteed to be running up the front next year and that's Ferrari and McLaren. And if Kimi won't budge...

Ron's gone, Lewis has matured a hell of a lot over this year and, well, 4 wins and 109 points in one year McLaren hell or 2 wins and 77 points in two years of Renault heaven.

Stranger things have happened.

Why tantrum from Ferrari's press officer then?

Martin Whitmarsh: "Fernando's a great driver but I don't think he'll be coming back here quite so soon... I've not talked to Fernando about a return." - BBC

Well. that settles the latest rumour quite tellingly. Can we now get back to the Kimi to McLaren rumour please?

Some of the BBC reporters are showing their inexperience if they're going to publish the rumour that Alonso is returning to McLaren. Someone is having a laugh with them. Was Lee Mac even following F1 before the BBC won the rights?

Yep, that's what I wanted to say with my previous post and it wasn't the first time this year.

thats the silly rumour i mean why would alonso go back there? he knows its hammys team and martin doesn't want another war if it came to 2 drivers winning the world champs.

unlikely as martin was surprised.

However,"McLaren boss M Whitmarsh dismisses odd rumours that Alonso could be on his way back to McLaren next year."

Oh, please. Did you even hear the context in which it was reported? They were having a laugh about it and talking about how it was the silliest of the rumours that they'd heard. Rumours fly around the paddock at this time of the year, and there's nothing unusual about reporters talking about those rumours and discussing how unlikely they are.

and some posters here actually find it quite believable

I don't think it's that stupid. If Alonso primarily wants to win WDC with another team, after the remarkable turnaround of McLaren pace this year to me they look like a much better bet for 2010 than Ferrari does. Stopping development on this years car to concentrate on the next evolution means that next years Ferrari pace is only a simulation figure right now, which you can either believe or not. McLaren on the other hand has found and fixed their aero correlation issues and produced a race-winning package with Hamilton - Alonso already knows from experience how his own pace would compare. If Alonso hasn't signed anything more than a MoU or LoI with Ferrari until now, I am sure he's making another evaluation round before committing.

From Ferrari point of view imagine if Alonso would indeed go to McLaren, Kubica to Renault, Massa couldn't race with one eye and they succeeded in buying out Kimis contract. Who would drive for them then?

For a start off the rumour originated out of German media. Of course once it all got round the paddock most people knew, hence why it was necessary for Holly Samos (not Lee McKenzie as you've quoted) to mention it in a jokey style on air.

Exactly, it wasn't as if they said, "we've received information that Fernando Alonso is set to return to McLaren for 2010", they were reporting it as a rather extraordinary rumour that was flying around and having a chuckle about it.