81 replies to this topic

[HSJ]

Maybe DC is getting the treatment EI got at Ferrari: finish second in the WDC and you're out! Why? I dunno, but that's the way it went... and goes?

[Hakk]

The fact that he has not tested since June is strange. It makes you wonder... It's a long time.

[logic]

Originally posted by petri
DC has not tested next years's McL while Mika has. Why?

I don't know why, but actually DC tested last time in the very beginning of july. He has not tested McLaren now in TWO months!!!

McLaren has this week a very secret closed test in Valencia. Who will test there?

[Oho]

Originally posted by logic


I don't know why, but actually DC tested last time in the very beginning of july. He has not tested McLaren now in TWO months!!!

McLaren has this week a very secret closed test in Valencia. Who will test there?

Ave !!!

The Finnish commentators, I know bias rumour what ever, told during the Spa weekend that Mika is scheduled to test for one day. Others they did not mention. The test will probably involve a lot of next years development, thus secrecy. I bet its gonna be David, Mika and Alex.

- Oho -

[thistle]

Regarding DC's testing, he tested mid July at Monza, then pulled
out due to food poisoning. There was also a 3 week testing ban
wasn't there?

[CZM]

IMHO if a driver is to be replaced at McLaren it will be Mika.

Here are my thoughts:

It has been suggested that for the bulk of this season Mika has had motivation problems. Perhaps this is backed up by the rumor that RD is offering Mika a performance related salary next year. Maybe Ron is starting to think that Mika is not giving the team value for money. What better way to increase motivation than to pay for performances on the track...

DC has improved his game this year, and looks likely to improve next year also. He is getting better all the time. McLaren need to finish second in the WDC and the WCC to maintain their pride and to get as much prize money as possible. With Mika off his game, I would be surprised if RD has not resigned David at some stage during the summer to increase his motivation, and to make him feel happier with the team, given the problems that he has had with the car.

In addition DC (hopefully) still has many years to go in F1. If there was any hint that he was not going to get a drive at McLaren for 2002, by Germany I would have thought that DC and his management team would have looked for an alternative drive for next season.

There have been a number of small articles in the UK press since Germany hinting that the DC will drive for McLaren next year, and that the team were waiting for Mika to decide what he wants to do in the future. The most recent report I read on holiday, after the Hungarian GP strongly suggested that DC had signed a contract with McLaren for 2002.

As with the lack of texting that DC has done since the summer. One of the latest tests that he was due to attend, he had to pull out of due to illness. In additon I would imagine that the bulk of McLarens plans for next years car are still on the drawing board. It is unlikely that at this stage of the season that they have any significant new parts to test. As such I do not beleive that DC's lack of testing can be seen as an indicator that he is not going to get a seat at McLaren next year.

As a final thought, how many times this year has Mika been asked if he is going to retire, and avoided the question?

[Oho]

Originally posted by CZM

As a final thought, how many times this year has Mika been asked if he is going to retire, and avoided the question?

Ave !!!

This question is largely irrelevant. The journalists posting the question over and over again have not been looking for an answer. They have been looking for a confirmation for the retirement. The same proble seems to plaque a lot of journalists. They do not ask questions to get answers, they ask questions to have their prior convictions or hopes confirmed and will thus not settle for any other answer.

- Oho -

[Mila]

well, we've had hints from several sources:

Rosberg: it's DC who might not know which team he'll drive for in 2002.

Luca: Ron's short-circuited mentality has prevented him from signing drivers for 2002.

DC: says that he "hopes" to be back with Mclaren in 2002.

given what little Mclaren has done for BOTH its drivers this season, I think that it would be scandalous if the team were to drop either of them. that said, I wouldn't be surprised if both Mclaren boys are negotiating with other teams--at least they would be able to illustrate to Ron what other team bosses are prepared to pay for their services. I wouldn't be surprised too if EI still gets sacked at Jaguar, thus opening a spot for one of them, or at least making a departure seem more imminent.

and what of Mclaren switching to Michelin for 2002? and what of BMW showing the way to Mercedes in terms of HP this season, never mind Mclaren getting eclipsed by Ferrari in regards to performance and preparation? in sum, is sticking with Mclaren all that appealing?

[Ricardo F1]

Might as well be in with a shot than no shot at all Mila!!!

[snow]

This is the latest from The Guardian

http://sport.guardia...,547012,00.html

"The McLaren-Mercedes team has made a bid to hire the 21-year-old formula one prodigy Kimi Raikkonen as a long-term successor to fellow Finn Mika Hakkinen who is expected to retire at the end of next season.

It is believed that the McLaren chairman Ron Dennis is willing to pay up to £5m to secure Raikkonen from the Swiss Sauber team to whom he is contracted until the end of 2003. McLaren would then use Raikkonen as a test and devel opment driver next season prior to promotion to the race team on a five-year contract the following season.

Raikkonen's current boss Peter Sauber yesterday admitted that McLaren are stepping up the pressure after several weeks of steadfastly denying he would release the driver.

"Yes, McLaren are interested in Kimi," he told the Italian
television network RAI. "There will be negotiations in the next few weeks.

"Kimi is a driver of the future and we will take that into account.Two top teams are after him, but we would prefer not to let him go. It depends what and how much I am offered."

Raikkonen graduated to formula one this season with only a
season's car racing in the minor-league formula Renault
category under his belt.

The bid will throw McLaren into direct confrontation with their key rivals Ferrari who are also keen to keep Raikkonen within their orbit.

They have a strong card in that they lease Sauber their V10
engines at an annual cost of around £18m and could adjust the fees in Sauber's favour in exchange for an option on Raikkonen's services.

Yesterday McLaren would neither confirm nor deny the stories. McLaren insiders are deeply concerned about Hakkinen's fluctuating form throughout the current season. There is also a worry that the 32-year-old Finn might decide to quit in the middle of next season if he loses his motivation.

Under those circumstances McLaren would want to be in a
position to move Raikkonen straight into the race team
alongside David Coulthard who is also expected to stay in 2002."

[Ricardo F1]

The Guardian is usually fairly reliable - but there's little concrete in there. That said it's what I've been saying for a while now and it makes sense to me. . . .

[Hakk]

At least for MacLaren the solution that was in Guardian would be excelent.

[Rene]

Except that KR's manager has stated that KR would not accept a test drive when a race seat was available to him....the test drive is the real sticky point here...

[GT Racing Online Magazine]

This is all a bunch of cobblers.... Anyone who actually heard the RAI interview, and did not just read it from Finnish newspapers & media (it seems the Finnish journalist who started this story is not so fluent in Italian) or read the english transaltion of the finnish translation of the italian interview, knows that the only thing Peter Sauber said was that a lot of teams have shown an interest in Kimi, and then went on to mention McLaren..He never said anything about any negotiations next week!!

Ciao...

[Hakk]

This has been in other media's also than just finnish ones. For example in Guardian. Do they all translate it so badly?

[Moanaman]

DC has improved his game this year, and looks likely to improve next year also. He is getting better all the time.:n:

Its only because Mika is making him look good!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kimi will be at Sauber untill the end of 2003 with NH then KR to Ferrari (PS wont give up that engine) and NH to Maclaren. As for MH and DC?????...............who cares:p

[Hakk]

I don't think David has improved much over the years - if any. Anyways he'll never win championship.

[pRy]

Well well.. another piece of the puzzle..

Wurz has commented that he is not sure what he will be doing next year, because Ron Dennis hasn't decided yet.

Read as: Ron Dennis doesn't know who the main McLaren test driver will be. This adds weight to the theory that Kimi could become a test driver before actually getting the race drive, and could also be why McLaren have not confirmed Mika or David yet.

[HSJ]

In addition to pRy's comment above, I would like to EMPHASIZE that whatever Rosberg (MH's manager) has ever said about MH's contracts, he has ALWAYS been right. So when Rosberg says that he wouldn't be on a holiday if there was anything wrong with MH's contract AND that DC might not know what team he will be driving for if he doesn't know who his teammate will be, THEN I would be IMMENSELY surprised if MH did not drive for McL next year.

It is now a question of will RD want KR badly enough to give him a race seat in 02 or will he merely buy his contract so that he can have him in 03 and thus prevent Ferrari getting him? I think KR will not accept a test seat, and if he gets a race seat for 02 at McL, DC is out. Think about it. MH has shown that he still outperforms DC if given the equipment and it is likely DC is not able to win the WDC ever. Ron has said that they are not interested in anything but winning, so there is really little reason to keep DC then if he cannot win the title, correct? He knows MH can win the title, and he knows KR will win titles for some team, better make sure it is McL, just like he did with Mika in 93... (in 94 RD already predicted MH would win title(s))

[HSJ]

This is from http://www.kimiraikk...ghspeedzone.com


Sauber's McLaren statement' a twisted truth

The so-called 'McLaren-statement' that Peter Sauber supposedly gave during an interview with RAI is proving to be a bunch of cobblers....
It seems as if the story derives from a Finnish journalist, who apparently is not so fluent in Italian, misunderstood what Sauber had actually told the RAI interviewer. The story then spread yesterday to the English media who apparently had done a poor translation of the Finnish translation of the Italian interview. In fact, the only thing that Peter Sauber said was that a lot of teams have shown an interest in Kimi, and then went on to mention McLaren..He never said anything about any negotiations next week. So stay tuned for more spreading bush fires around Kimi's future.

[birdie]

the lack of texting that DC has done since the summer.

[MortenF1]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by HSJ
MH has shown that he still outperforms DC if given the equipment and it is likely DC is not able to win the WDC ever.

DC has shown that he outperforms MH given the equipment. Try to stay awake during the races, and you wouldn't have to be told this!

[HSJ]

RD (race addicted! ),

DC has shown that he outperforms MH given the equipment. Try to stay awake during the races, and you wouldn't have to be told this!

Yeah, I give you that, but if you want the title... Last year DC had more reliability than MH. Still couldn't beat him. 97 and 01 are the only years he has done it, and both have been really bad for MH in both car handling and reliability. If you care to notice, in both 97 and 01 DC got a great start to the season compared to MH, which means (probably) a psychological boost for DC and (possibly) better/preferential treatment from the team. How about comparing how DC has done when Mika has had the upper hand? 98: MH 8 wins, DC 1... And so on. BTW, even now the qualifying this year is 7-7, not in DC's favor, even though the car is better suited for DC. So, if you do the math, which driver should McL put their support behind if they want titles?

And you should also notice the kind of drives Mika has shown: 01: Barcelona, Silverstone
00: Suzuka, Spa, Hungary
Etc. DC has never been able to perform like those drives, and never will. This is the problem with sticking with DC. DC's only great drive IMO was Interlagos 01.

[Ricardo F1]

How about Magny Cours last year?? How about Austria this year when he beat two faster Ferrari's by putting in blistering in and out laps from his pit stops. Stop looking through biased blinkers.

The car is not more suited to DC this year than Hakkinen, it's just not as easy to set up. On the circuits where the McLarens test a lot (Silverstone, Spain) Mika has been able to extract his best out of the McLaren, on circuits where finding the set up has been a necessity DC seems to have done a better job.

Fact of the matter is that MH and DC are pretty evenly matched, but in a perfect car Hakkinen is quicker. By far the best pairing in F1 and I hope it continues next year with Raikonnen as test driver.

[HSJ]

How about Magny Cours last year?? How about Austria this year

Oh come one! The Magny-Cours race has been misrepresented mostly. Remember that MS was running away with it until he had to slow down, which was the reason the Macs caught up with him in the first place. Great? No.

Austria 01: the same thing, MS was running away with it until "JPM happened."

A great drive is like MH the above and Nurburgring 98, where the opposition is beaten with inferior machinery or is ground to dust in an equal or superior machinery AND they (opposition) don't have any mechanical problems or interference from outside.

[HSJ]

BTW, I DO like DC, and I don't really mind him beating MH this year, but I think it is better to be realistic about any WDC's going Macs way if DC is the leader. Though if Mac had had the kind of car that Ferrari had this year, and vice versa (i.e. no one else would have had a WDC/WCC capable car), THEN DC would have won the title. Actually I'm hoping that DC will in the end win one title, it would be a shame if he didn't, coz I think he should get that reward for his career. Not a great career, but a very good one. EI didn't deserve the title, and many would argue DC doesn't either, but still I would like to see DC win it once.

[Ricardo F1]

Excuse me but everyone believes that the 98 Mac was the class of the field, so how was any win that year genius?? Not that I'll knock MH, in a perfect car he's the quickest of the lot along with MS.

As for Magny Cours - MS wasn't running away with it, Coulthard was stuck behind Barichello. When he passed Barichello he caught Schumacher (who admittedly was complaining about tyre wear - who's fault is that???) made a great pass and ran away to finish 1st.

Austria - how was Michael Schumacher ever running away with that race???? There was a pack of cars lined up from 1 to 6 behind JPM - Schumacher made a bad move / JPM over defended the line, everyone else went past and the race was history for Michael. Fact is DC beat both Ferrari's in a slower McLaren down to good pit stops and damn fast driving.

[HSJ]

OK, there's no point in arguing enlessly. The Nurburgring 98 was a great drive because by then (because of chassis, engine, tyres, whatever) Ferrari had caught McL, IMO even surpassed them. Ferrari took front row, Mika 3rd. At the start Mika got stuck behind EI who proceeded to slow Mika down so that MS could get away. After some laps Mika passed EI and started chasing MS, even though the Mac was certainly no better than the Ferrari, possibly even inferior (slightly). MS pitted and Mika really started to push, probably harder than he ever had before, then came out of the pits just ahead of MS, kept MS behind him (but not easily) for the rest of the race and effectively won the 98 title with that win. (MH only needed to finish 2nd at Suzuka to win the title, and that would be easy as we have seen that at Suzuka it is only MS/MH who battle, the rest are ground to dust.) If you're subscribed to Atlas, check out the race review.

[Ricardo F1]

Agreed - like I said on his day in the perfect car Mika is a great driver, and always capable of great drives. But I don't think you knock either of DC's wins that I mentioned - they were both great performances. In fact some of his performances this year when he DIDN'T win were a lot better than races he's won in the past through default or car advantage.

[MortenF1]

Yup, great drives isn't always awarded with a win! And it's as clear as the balls on the dog that this years McLaren isn't easy to set-up, its not well balanced, which makes DC's season even more impressive. And I will echo what Ricardo F1 wrote, DC's mins at Magny Cours '00, Brazil '01 and Austria '01 were G R E A T performances! Nothing short of MH's Nurburgring win.

[Spunout]

IMO DC has been better overall during ONE season - 2001. However the difference is not that big because for some reason Mika´s best races have been ruined because of technical problems, and in those races where he has been far from the front his car has made it to the end. Obviously DC had more bad luck in 98 for example, but he was never in position to challenge Mika anyway. In 97 you should remember Mika retired from leading position 3 TIMES.

Now back to the technical problems of 2001...

Melbourne
-Is in 2nd position perhaps even having the possibility to win - suspension failure = DNF

Brazil
-Strong qualifying and like DC showed McL was strong in race - glutch failure = DNF

Monaco
-Is in 2nd position quickly catching leading Schumi - steering failure = DNF

Spain
-No explanations needed - DNF

Etc

It seems that he has technical problems ONLY when he is doing well (not to mention the amount of technical problems has favoured DC too). Quals are 7-7. The car IS more suitable for DC and anyone can tell it just by LOOKING Mika´s driving in races. If you can´t see the difference in Mika´s setups when he drives, you should not claim he doesn´t have setup problems. Look at the moment he turns into the corner and you can spot the difference quite easily.

DC has been good this year and at least in my book he has improved a lot. He has more confidence (less mistakes) and he IS driving better than ever. I hate to admit this after all the jokes about DC´s "next year" talks, but it is true, at least IMO. Let´s give DC the credit he deserves.

[MortenF1]

Ah Spunout, maybe I have misunderstood what you wrote....? I have to assume your armchair is in a different room from your TV, cause everybody knows that MH's turn-in is completely different from DC's. (Havent you seen this in previous seasons??)So nothing new there. I think that this years car doesn't actually suit neither 100%, DC is just better at driving round the problems.