Hm, the phrase "McLaren have high hopes for Magnussen" sounds quite familiar - must have read it in Autosport back around 1995 :p
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Hm, the phrase "McLaren have high hopes for Magnussen" sounds quite familiar - must have read it in Autosport back around 1995 :p
Ok here is my prediction
Kimi loses out to ricciaordo for the 2nd RBR seat
so the dominos will fall
1. Kimi joins Alonso at Ferrari, they are probably the only team ready and willing to pay his salary
2. Hulkenberg moves to renault and continues in a young strong pairing with Grosjean, who retains his seat
3. STR hires Buemi back to the team to drive along with Vergne, who is also put on notice that his seat might be vulnerable for 2015 ( or sooner as STR have a habit of switching drivers mid season)
4. Sauber Hires Bianchi and Kobayashi gets a sniff during winter sessions. then gets the 2nd seat with Guiterrez relegated back to 3rd driver duties
5. some gp2 driver gets the 2nd Marussia seat
6. Massa is out of an F1 seat or gets a sniff at the 2nd sauber seat in an open competition with other drivers during winter testing. (btw I think sauber will bounce back and be an occasional podium team again in 2014)
7. No changes at Mercedes, Mclaren, Force india and williams
8. No idea what caterham is going to do, although all sings point to a retention of both drivers.
last but not least, sad that there will not be another team coming into F1.
I'm a bit baffled at the Alonso-to-RBR rumours. It doesn't make any sense for any of the parties involved. I can't see Vettel and Alonso together at any team because the fireworks would be seen from the moon (using a shoe). It might actually make sense to see that kind of change in 2015 and only if Vettel and Alonso exchanged teams, which doesn't look quite likely IMHO.
For the same reasons, I wouldn't expect Ferrari to put Fernando and Kimi in the same team. Surely they wouldn't want to destabilize their star driver? Alonso has been driving really well since he joined the team and has failed to win a championship because Red Bull has produced better cars. Ferrari needs to build a faster car and putting a fast driver alongside Alonso could hurt them more than it would help them.
As it stands now it could be Alonso to Lotus next year.
Yes. Everyone knows that Alonso is an alpha-driver who won't tolerate being on an equal footing with the other driver in the team. However, perhaps Alonso is also realizing now that moving to RBR is the only way he could possibly to take a jab at Vettel? It's hard to believe in this theory, but who knows. It's also not clear if RBR can afford to pay the salaries of two multiple WDC winners.Quote:
Originally Posted by N4D13
If Alonso joins RBR next year I´m afraid Mercedes will winn both titéls. The 2007 saga will repeat.
I think there is some substance to the rumours. Vettel knows that his achievements will never be accepted if he stays at the team. Detractors will always play the 'best car' spiel. On top of that not all's been well in the RB camp since his Malaysia antics. The team swap could come earlier than expected. Every team starts with a clean sheet next year, so that would be a much better time to roll in a new lead driver than 2015.Quote:
Originally Posted by N4D13
The big announcement in Monza: Vettel and Alonso to swap seats!
Alonso to Red Bull - not gonna happen. No way. I just can't see that happening. But I would like to see that for sure.
The problem is that Alonso has a contract till 2016 or 2017 with Ferrari, getting out of that would require the kind of money Red Bull would never pay.
Switch of Alonso and Red Bull's precious? Why would Ferrari do that? I can see that happening only if relations between Ferrari and Alonso really hit rock bottom.
It's not so difficult. Both Vettel and Alonso still have contracts. They could swap and RB pays a lower fee as Alonso's contract runs a year longer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Garry Walker
The times of Vettel being RB's precious are over. He publicly humiliated the team in Malaysia and his race engineer again at Monaco. TJ13 reports there have been a lot of forced smiles in the RB camp since then. The relationship between Ferrari and Alonso already have hit rock bottom. when was a multiple world champion bitch-slapped so publicly like Alonso yesterday and on his birthday, too. I think he's locked horns with them one time too often. And why would Ferrari want Vettel? Very simple - most of the Schumacher brigade jumped on the vettel bandwagon after 2007, so merchandise sales in germany could skyrocket again like they did in the Schumacher days and there is surely more money to harvest in Germany than in Spain, which is short of starving to death in economic terms.