2012 rumours!

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GermanF1

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Hey guys, just wanted you to share some gossip with you. We all like that, don't we?;)

1. Today a more or less trustworthy German F1 page came up with the rumour, that Nico Rosberg might replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari NEXT year. They quoted Eddie Jordan about that as well.
Here is the link (it's in German though).
http://www.formel1.de/de/3260/Gerücht: Rosberg statt Massa zu Ferrari?/newsID/1671246

2. The same page reports that Kimi Raikkonen will not drive for Williams next year, as they will keep Barrichello and Maldonado.
Renault will supposedly have Grosjean and Petrov as their drivers (they say Renault lost their patience with Kubica)
The link is in German as well.
http://www.formel1.de/de/3260/Räikkönen & Williams: Entscheidung schon gefallen?/newsID/1671257

Personally I think Renault are pathetic for not giving Robert Kubica enough time. I mean it's only the beginning of November...But maybe they know more about his medical condition as we do. Whatever is the case, I can't stand this guy Eric Boullier. He seems like a massive moron to me...
 
Personally I think I'm going to wait for an official announcement before calling them pathetic, newspapers are never really 100% trustworthy when it comes to 'rumours'.
 
Ok you're definetly right about that, so let's say they would be pathetic if they had already made a decision against him by now.:)
 
Rosberg to Ferrari would be good. Nice to see if he is quicker than Fernando. Cue radio message.

But somehow I just can't see this happening. It just seems so random.

Williams driver line up is one of the weakest they have ever had. I really hope they mix things up for next year. I don't rate Maldonado and I think Barrichello needs to move aside for younger talent.
 
Yeah they should really get rid of those two. Barrichello is probably a grandpa already and Maldonado is just not quick enough...They should get Sutil and Glock/Kovalainen, that would be the best for them I guess...
 
1. Today a more or less trustworthy German F1 page came up with the rumour, that Nico Rosberg might replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari NEXT year. They quoted Eddie Jordan about that as well.

2. The same page reports that Kimi Raikkonen will not drive for Williams next year, as they will keep Barrichello and Maldonado.
Renault will supposedly have Grosjean and Petrov as their drivers (they say Renault lost their patience with Kubica)

Personally I think Renault are pathetic for not giving Robert Kubica enough time.

Interesting! I haven't noticed any signs in Rosberg's demeanour to suggest that he is unhappy at Mercedes (not since China this year, anyway) - if it's true, it probably has more to do with Massa's continuing downward spiral than with Rosberg taking the initiative.

The thing about Massa, poor guy, is that he is driving so badly now that it harms the Ferrari brand. And although they prefer the #1/#2 driver model, Massa isn't picking up enough points in the constructors' chamionship (i.e. he's overshooting the mark).

I thought that Adam Parr's body language suggested that Williams might well sign Raikkonen when the BBC crew pressed him on the subject, and that was just yesterday - but maybe it was wishful thinking on my part.

As for Renault, who can blame them for wanting drivers in their seats for the whole season? After all, talented as he may be Renault don't owe their existence to Kubica, nor was his accident their responsibility. They are running a multi-million dollar business, not a charity. To phrase it as "losing patience" would be harsh, but perhaps that's just the journalist's choice of words.
 
I agree about Parr and oh how I'd love to see Raikkonen return to F1. I also think that we will most definitely be seeing Hulkenberg in the Force India after the interview yesterday and likely Di Resta alongside him - which then makes me wonder why Renault don't try to snap up Sutil. Unless.... you're right about Mercedes in which case they may be going for Di Resta themselves...

I have to disagree about Rosberg. I've been following him a long long time, he's always been a very diplomatic and positive driver but the reality that he may never win a race is starting to dawn on him. Why oh why Red Bull haven't gone for him I don't know. It's not as if he is a driver that will actively upset the balance. I think a Ferrari move may be okay but he will not be Alonso's donkey on track.
 
It's not long since Massa was regularly outqualifying Alonso, and his pure race pace has looked closer of late too (he was hanging on pretty well in India I thought). Obviously there was the incident, but if that on its own was a reason to fire a driver there would be a lot of vacant seats.

I cannot visualise a situation with Kimi and Williams working out well.

As for Kubica, if he's not ready to drive soon Renault will have to make a decision, or their preferred drivers will look elsewhere. It's a shame but life goes on - and a year spent getting fully prepared for a comeback in 2012 might suit Robert better anyway, if that turns out to be possible.
 
Driver with a couple of wins in Junior formula has career dashed on rocks of back marking team.
 
Better GT racing than commentating...;)

Sad as it is to admit, the Virgin team has been so mediocre this year that it really is a career-wrecking prospect to wash up on their shores. Glock must be praying that the McLaren association brings some tangible benefits, otherwise his F1 career is pretty moribund too.
 
In all seriousness, with Glock there I think Virgin should be a realistic prospect for any driver, as he is a known benchmark and therefore to beat him would demonstrate a decent amount of talent. Certainly more so than at HRT, say, where both drivers are likely to be funded and inexperienced and will find it difficult to distinguish themselves.

Interesting to hear about the Lagardere link. Joe Saward is great :)
 
Taking of rumours...does anyone else think that Lewis Hamilton would be better off in another team...Ferrari. I'm a massive fan of the Woking team. Mclaren say they have passion, It just doesn't come across at the GP's. At least under Ron we knew what we were getting. Hard nose racing. No frills. I'm not convinced with the "new" mclaren ethos. It all seems so fake. Anyone else agree?
Nigel Mansell was revered amongst the Tifosi for his brave and daring moves on the track. I just wonder if the Tifosi would take to Lewis the same way.
 
Pic, teamed up with Panis, won at Monaco!

And I feel sorry for Di Grassi and D'ambrosio, both had potential and most likely to both be dropped
 
These are the driver line-ups which I think will happen next year:

Red Bull: Vettel, Webber
Mclaren: Button, Hamilton
Ferrari: Alonso, Massa
Mercedes: Schumacher, Rosberg
Renault: Kubica, Petrov
Force India: Di Resta, Hulkenburg
Sauber: Kobayashi, Perez
Toro Rosso: Buemi, Alguersuari
Williams: Raikkonen, Maldonado (sponsorship)
Lotus: Kovalainen, Trulli
Virgin: Glock, D'Ambrosio
HRT: Liuzzi, Ricciardo

So not many changes, apart from Raikkonen, Kubica, and Hulkenburg.
2013 will be a real silly season.
 
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