2nd Red Bull seat

[Knock-on]

As its the most desired drive for 2014, I thought it deserved a thread to itself.

My thinking is that it's between Vergne and Kimi. The Finn has already said that if he does, it would be his last move in F1 and Jean is forcing himself into the equation.

Who else and why?

[Koz]

It can't be anyone else. It will be Kimi.

No one else has a value comparable that of Kimi for Red Bull, not even Vettel. One could say Kimi is the embodiment of Red Bull marketing.

I've got the perfect ad right here.
Picture this:
Kimi is sleeping.
Someone tries to wake him, but he keeps falling asleep.
Then someone gives him some Red Bull.
Immediately, we see him on a Red Bull snowmobile ploughing through the snow, making a huge jump through the air. [Insert epic orchestral music here]
As he lands, he lands on Red Bull motorcoss bike and disappears over a crest. Reappears in his Red Bull Citroen, through some twistie.
And in the end Kimi in his Red Bull charging up Eau Rouge overtaking someone, probably Alonso (during a practice session ).

(C) This is copyright of Mr Koz June 2013. All rights reserved.


Now time for my Red Bull.

[tfp]

The Hulk....

[TheFamousEccles]

Ricciardo for mine. He regularly out qualifies JEV, and also often leads him on the road. He's absolutely ready to step up, it would be a worthwhile reward for much hard work and dedication.

Though in reality (huh?) DR or JEV would do the seat justice, there's very little between them in ability and dedication, but for me DR has the nod.

(Disclaimer: I am Australian and therefore biased. Anything I say cannot be taken seriously because I live on the same continent as DR so I must be besties with the lad and am being paid to spruik his case )

[Rollo]

I'm thinking that it will end up being either Vergne or Ricciardo because Horner's comments prior to Q1 suggest that snaring Kimi might be a difficult ask. I would wager that Red Bull would pick the winner based on results:

2012 - Vergne 16 v Ricciardo 10
2013* - Vergne 13* v Ricciardo 7*

On the strength of those numbers, Vergne has the seat.

[A FONDO]

Kimi is too old and boring.

I think Sutil and Hulkenberg deserve the seat.

[henners88]

I have a feeling this is going to be one of those stories that just runs and runs. Horner will tell the media they are not thinking about Marks replacement just yet, and Kimi will be hassled in every interview he has where he'll deny even being approached.

It could be Kimi, Hulk, Di Resta etc etc. My guess is we'll find out in October.

[zako85]

One important part of the equation is that Kimi Raikkonen has to know something about Lotus that none of the outsiders know. There always exists a chance that Lotus can implode at any moment. We know the team is on a shaky financial background. Also the performance of Lotus cars has been slipping since the beginning of the year. Then there are the unknown issues that only insiders know. If Raikkonen thinks that Lotus may be in trouble for the next year, this may increase the chases of him signing up with Red Bull for 2014.

However, if Raikkonen doesn't sign up for Red Bull, personally I would love to see di Rest, Hulkenberg, or Sutil in number 2 RedBull next year.

[janneppi]

I have a feeling this is going to be one of those stories that just runs and runs. Horner will tell the media they are not thinking about Marks replacement just yet, and Kimi will be hassled in every interview he has where he'll deny even being approached.

The smartest thing anyone who F1 can do is not open any news links about this until Red Bull announces their driver line-up, or when Lotus announces their line-up.

Until then no one is allowed to say anything useful and if the general public doesn't show interest in gossip, then journalist wouldn't have as much pressure to ask the same stupid questions at every press meeting.
Not going to happen, but one could only hope.

[Zico]

From a marketing perspective Kimi would be ideal and I would love to see it happen to find out just how good Vettel really is... but Kimi is a number one driver and would not accept the situation when any preferential treatment or team orders favoured Seb.
I think Ricciardo or Vergne would be the safest option. We all know how the vast majority of No1 driver team mate pairings in previous years have turned out.