F1 Fanatic

On another note, if Ferrari do keep Massa it will be for Vettel for 2014, leaving a space at Red Bull, Raikonnen is on a two year contract with Lotus, by the end of next season it will be over, do you think he will go to Red Bull for 2014, I remembering reading some total garbage of rumours for 2011 the Red Bull would move Mark Webber to Toro Rosso so Raikonnen can race for Red Bull.

I’m thinking that Massa will stay for Vettel, yes, and in 2013, Kovalainen will go to Sauber, maybe one of the Williams drivers to Caterham (Maldonado bringing in £25,000,000 and Senna 7,500,00,0(?) , Glock moving up, Bottas in a Williams and no Grosjean or Vergne, or Schumacher.

I don’t see Kovalainen staying in F1 past 2012. He’s not exactly doing a great job against Petrov – in fact, he’s getting beaten – and it’s not like he’s actively trying to improve his relationship with Caterham or something. He wants out. He’s said that numerous times. But with Williams likely running either Senna or Bottas as their other driver next year and Sauber having to resort to the other Telmex-sponsored Mexican in order to secure the oh-so-beloved Mexican wad of cash, he has nowhere to go.

Massa is definitely staying with Ferrari in 2013. Alonso wants him (his and Montezemolo’s comments were quite harsh on the younglings, and rightfully so, considering how pathetically reckless Perez and Hulkenberg were in Singapore) and Domenicali’s been supporting him for a while now. The only ones that don’t like him are the fans.

Grosjean hasn’t really endeared himself to anyone with his brain fades (he’s been worse than Maldonado in that regard), but he has Boullier (his compatriot)’s backing and he’s still shown good pace. Perfect for Raikkonen, perfect for the team, perfect for everyone. Except maybe his rivals.

As much as I dislike Alguersuari, his constant comments on that so-called “impending announcement” are not to be ignored. Unless Schumacher decides to stay in F1 (old man Peter has repeatedly expressed a great deal of interest in him), Sauber will have a Spanish-speaking duo next year.

I’d be surprised if anyone in the paddock was interested in Senna anymore. Easily the worst driver on the grid this year.

Caterham is a mystery. Petrov’s lost his backing and Kovalainen has lost his interest in them, so they’ll very likely have to run an all-new line-up. But who will they get?

Ferrari: Alonso, Massa
Red Bull: Vettel, Webber
McLaren: Button, Perez
Lotus: Raikkonen, Grosjean
Mercedes: Hamilton, Rosberg
Sauber: Alguersuari/Schumacher (unlikely), Gutierrez
Force India: Hulkenberg, Di Resta
Williams: Maldonado, Bottas
Toro Rosso: Vergne, Ricciardo
Marussia: Glock, Pic/Chilton/Haryanto (unlikely)/???
Caterham: Pic/Razia/???, van der Garde/Kobayashi (unlikely)/???
HRT: De La Rosa, Clos/Liuzzi (highly unlikely)

http://www.planet-f1.com/driver/18227/8115368/Sauber-is-no-rush-to-replace-Perez

I don’t think Kovalainen will go to Sauber, he is quite overrated and not the sort of driver Sauber usually hires. With Perez gone, I think they need to get Gutierez to maintain Telmex sponsorship and the second driver will either be Kobayashi or Alguersuari.
The other big seat will be the second Caterham seat. That will either be Pic; who will be replaced by Chilton, Rossi because of the two American races next year, Alguersuari, Senna, Petrov or Kobayashi.
It looks as though Bianchi and Frijins will be the unlucky ones who miss out.

With everything that has changed in the last couple of weeks, I thought I might try my hand at this ‘silly season’ thing…

Red Bull Racing – Renault
1. Sebastian Vettel (DEU)
2. Mark Webber (AUS)

Scuderia Ferrari
3. Fernando Alonso (ESP)
4. Felipe Massa (BRA) – I think that he will be kept by the Scuderia, despite the fact his performances have not been strong – it would be good to see him make way for a better driver in 2014.

Lotus GP – Renault – I can see them having a strong finish to 2012
5. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN)
6. Romain Grosjean (FRA) – he has a 2-year deal, so I see no reason for him to leave.

Vodafone McLaren – Mercedes
7. Jenson Button (GBR)
8. Sergio Perez (MEX)

Mercedes AMG Petronas
9. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) – part of the contract is to get #1 driver status.
10. Nico Rosberg (DEU)

Sauber – Ferrari – this is where things get interesting…
11. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) – Kovalainen would move from Caterham to find a new lease of life to his career.
12. Esteban Gutierrez (MEX) – keeps the Telmex money coming in to what is acknowledged to be one of the less-well-funded teams in the sport.

Sahara Force India – Mercedes
14. Nico Hulkenberg (DEU) – after a strong showing in 2012, Hulkenberg gets the #1 seat in the team.
15. Paul di Resta (GBR) – aims to make 2013 his last in Force India, trying to get a way into McLaren. I personally don’t rate him very highly, but I think the whole “he’s-a-British-driver-for-a-Mercedes-powered-team-so-of-course-he-will-get-in-to-McLaren” attitude might go to his head…

Williams F1 Team – Renault
16. Pastor Maldonado (VEN) – carries on bringing money into the team, and begins to be a more consistent points-scorer for the team.
17. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) – Senna is dropped by the team, which is a shame as he is a nice guy, but not the right person for the team. Bottas shows a lot of potential.

Scuderia Toro Rosso – Ferrari
18. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) – given one more year to get his act together before the threat of the boot.
19. Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA) – see above.

Caterham – Renault – finally break the points barrier in 2012 and finish ahead of their competitors.
20. Vitaly Petrov (RUS) – continues to bring money, but also matures to bring more consistency to the team.
21. Giedo van der Garde (NED) – enters F1 for his rookie season after showing good potential in Young Driver Tests.

Marussia – Cosworth – Timo Glock decides to call time on F1 and decides to try his hand at Endurance racing.
22. Charles Pic (FRA) – last year’s rookie, now this year’s #1 driver – a daunting prospect, but one that could pay dividends for him as he matures in the sport.
23. Max Chilton (GBR) – surprise promotion after Glock’s departure. I know there are better drivers than him on the market, but as he is in their stable, he would be their first choice.

HRT – Cosworth – floundering around in 2012…can things get better?
24. Pedro de la Rosa (ESP) – continues with his contract.
25. Ma Qing Ha (CHI) – replaces Karthikeyan and impresses the team.

Some of this may prove totally unreliable, but that’s why we call it ‘Silly Season’!

Thanks.

That’s bizarre, and makes me think he might not be staying with Lotus after all. If he were, why bother making such a video? There is the sound of F1 (or similar) cars in the background, though, so I think he’ll stay in the sport.