Silly Season 2013/14

[Juzh]

So raikkonen managers confirms he is not going to red bull and that negotiations in fact ended some time ago.

http://www.f1times.co.uk/news/display/07930

[sennafan24]

So raikkonen managers confirms he is not going to red bull and that negotiations in fact ended some time ago.

http://www.f1times.co.uk/news/display/07930

This bit surprised me

Well connected journalist Peter Windsor speculated that Lotus and Ferrari may have agreed to a swap, with Raikkonen taking the Ferrari seat and Alonso joining his former team, Lotus. - See more at: http://www.f1times.co.uk/news/display/0 ... oesxN.dpuf

Alonso at Lotus???????

[Juzh]

All speculation. Chances of that happening are next to nothing. Alonso to enstone based team for the THIRD time in his career?

[stefan_]

When you think silly season can't get any sillier... just wait.

My money is on this scenario:
- Ricciardo to RBR
- da Costa to STR
- Kimi stays at Lotus
- Hulkenberg replaces Massa

And in a secret fantasy of mine, unless Grosjean wakes the hell up:
- di Resta to Lotus

[sennafan24]

- da Costa to STR

I think that one is pretty much set in stone.

I agree it probably is best to just wait at this stage, so much speculation out there.

[Ozan]

When you think silly season can't get any sillier... just wait.

My money is on this scenario:
- Ricciardo to RBR
- da Costa to STR
- Kimi stays at Lotus
- Hulkenberg replaces Massa

And in a secret fantasy of mine, unless Grosjean wakes the hell up:
- di Resta to Lotus

totally agree except diResta, because Grosjean has Total's sponsorship money, so Lotus won't want to sign with diResta unless he finds more money.

[Kiril Varbanov]

Kimi is not going to Red Bull - negotiations have failed some time ago, according to his manager, Steve Robertson, cited by Turun Sanomat - http://www.ts.fi/moottoriurheilu/f1/524 ... d+Bullille

[iotar__]

When you think silly season can't get any sillier... just wait.

My money is on this scenario:
- Ricciardo to RBR
- da Costa to STR
- Kimi stays at Lotus
- Hulkenberg replaces Massa

And in a secret fantasy of mine, unless Grosjean wakes the hell up:
- di Resta to Lotus

Not so secret no more. You indeed must be either living in a fantasy world or you missed two previous races (or half a dozen others). I'd start worrying if I were you because if RG 'wakes up" as you put it, Raikkonen may need five team orders per race to be in front not two as in Germany (not a problem anyway, right?). Tell me who was fighting for wins from the start in the last two races and who wasn't as always (China, Barcelona, Bahrain, Germany, Hungary)?

It doesn't mean it can't happen. Considering that Kubica was old Renault contract and they've ruined Grosjean's and team's two seasons (plus some total money) Lopez's driver management was nothing but clueless. It won't be a surprise if they continue in that direction in 2014. Not that it matters - chances of repeating such a car next season are slim to none and rather small in 2015.

It's also funny how Red Bull choosing Ricciardo (that's what supposedly happened no matter how KR's management will try to spin it) coincided with resurfacing Ferrari rumours. Any doubts now who sold some Finnish paper this revelation? Ferrari's response was funny - we've got all time in the world, indeed they have. I wonder how long they'll be able to drag this soap opera of vast interest from many teams.

Also: Williams are starting to over hype Bottas, if I was him I'd start worrying, they tend to do that before replacing drivers (Hulkenberg)

[dren]

Any chance of Kimi and Alonso at Ferrari?

Hulkenberg sadly may find himself out of F1 yet again unless Gutierez is the one getting dumped for the inexperienced Sirotkin . The Autosport article quoting Hulkenberg on the Sirotkin reads like Hulk is getting pushed aside. Hulk to Ferrari would be a good move, but I don't know if we'll see that.

How long is the Perez contract? Maybe Hulk to Mclaren and Perez to Ferrari.

[raymondu999]

I'm dying to see an old-style double top driver team. Any chances of Alo-Vet at RBR, still? Sigh.

[iotar__]

Haha, Lewis vs Vettel in the same car would cause me to "have a crisis" every time we had a qualifying session I think

I agree that this year has cemented Vettel as a very good driver in my mind much more than previous years have. I still want to see him put up against others in a straight fight though. At the moment, he's still a little bit of a "Nigel Mansel" for me – was that him, or was that Newey's car?

It's the second time I've read this bizarre comparison and the answer is the same:

Got a dominant car in his second season in F1, even more dominant in third and fourth that bailed him out of every mistake in the book, all the preferential treatment you can have and can't overtake to save his life. Yep, sounds like Mansell allright.

[WhiteBlue]

Kimi is not going to Red Bull - negotiations have failed some time ago, according to his manager, Steve Robertson, cited by Turun Sanomat - http://www.ts.fi/moottoriurheilu/f1/524 ... d+Bullille

..The report does not go into detail, it is thought that salary may have been the stumbling block preventing Raikkonen moving from Enstone to Milton Keynes.

That explains what is going on. Ferrari must have offered substantially more than Red Bull. I doubt that Lotus had a hand in the tender for Kimi's services. They don't have the cash muscle. But the Scuderia has reasons to put more money into their driver line up in case Alonso deserts to Red Bull next year, which I see increasing in probability.

[JimClarkFan]

Kimi is not going to Red Bull - negotiations have failed some time ago, according to his manager, Steve Robertson, cited by Turun Sanomat - http://www.ts.fi/moottoriurheilu/f1/524 ... d+Bullille

..The report does not go into detail, it is thought that salary may have been the stumbling block preventing Raikkonen moving from Enstone to Milton Keynes.

That explains what is going on. Ferrari must have offered substantially more than Red Bull. I doubt that Lotus had a hand in the tender for Kimi's services. They don't have the cash muscle. But the Scuderia has reasons to put more money into their driver line up in case Alonso deserts to Red Bull next year, which I see increasing in probability.

I will be surprised to see Kimi at Ferrari

I just cannot see it happening

[gandharva]

So Kimi will stay at Lotus. Seems it's the only team giving him the latitude he wants even if he has to wait for his paycheck sometimes.

I also disagree with the theory that says he didn't go to RBR because of lack of money. He simply hates simulator hours and PR events and at RBR this would be a must...

[Italiano]

Ferrari handled Kimi nicely in the past...why wouldn't they now? I wouldn't be at all suprised to see Kimi at Ferrari and Massa scampering off to Lotus...