2014 / 2015 Silly Season. Drivers Market.

[cider_and_toast]

So, as it seems it's more when than if Alonso moves from Ferrari. Can we then assume that Bianchi is Ferrari bound for next season?

For Ferrari that may work quite well. They keep Kimi for one final season with his experience to help Bianchi. Kimi goes at the end of next season leaving the way forward for Vettel to jump onboard at the end of his RBR contract. Whether Vettel whats to do that or not remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, over at McLaren, you would imagine that Button would be the one to go with KMag staying. There are pro's and cons to both. I've no idea how much each driver may be on but you would have to guess that KMag is on less than Button. Alonso won't come cheep, especially with his previous at McLaren, so he'll want to make sure that he's got his contract wrapped up tight. You can't bet McLaren will be paying top dosh for his services.

As far as Bianchi goes, I'm trying to remember a time when Ferrari ran a driver with, by F1 standards, not much experience. The car and team have a habbit of breaking drivers and especially now the team is the middle of yet another transition. He could prove the perfect fit but there is just as much chance that it could all go wrong in a short space of time.

If Ferrari opt for more experience then would Grosjean or Hulkenburg do any better ??

 

[cider_and_toast]

Just had a quick look. If Bianchi does go to Ferrari, the last time they signed a driver with less than 2 seasons in F1 it was Gilles Villeneuve.

 

[Greenlantern101]

Autosport reporting the McLaren Alonso deal is as good as done.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116138

Edit: I would love to see JB and Alonso in the same team. Wont happen but I would like it to.
Edit Edit : Ferrari should fire Kimi and Hire Bianchi and Hulkenberg.

 

[teabagyokel]

As I say 2014 will be their driver line-up.

 

[Road of Bones]

I hope you're wrong there, teabagyokel

 

[teabagyokel]

Road of Bones - The idea that Button could be out of a drive in F1 is ridiculous, by the way. He's just about the perfect fit for anyone.

In particular, Williams and Ferrari ought to be wondering how it is that Button is above Massa and Raikkonen respectively in a significantly inferior car, having lost 8 points through no fault in Singapore too. And they could also substitute "Hulkenburg" into the second clause of that sentence too...

 

[The Pits]

I would add that Perez is doing much better vs Hulk than he did Vs Button, although circumstances were not his friend in 2013.

 

[RasputinLives]

If Alonso does leave Ferrari I think the line up of Button/Bianchi is by far the best they can get from the options they have.

Bet Williams are glad they sorted Bottas' s contract out quick.

Just another point - Has Danny Ric officially signed a contract for RBR next year?

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Joe Saward gives a convincing case for a Vettel-Alonso swap. I have to admit I don't find the case for Alonso to McLaren to sound very likely.
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/the-future-of-fernando-alonso/

 

[RasputinLives]

Question:

If Alonso goes to Mclaren and Danny Ric goes to Ferrari, will JEV have recovered from his deliriously happy giggle fit by the time the 2015 season starts?

 

[Olivier]

...

If Ferrari opt for more experience then would Grosjean or Hulkenburg do any better ??

I think Hulk would but if Ferrari wanted him they would have reached out to him by now.

Do we foresee a 2016 Ferrari with the current RBR line-up Vettel - Riccardo? That would be mind-boggling

 

[sushifiesta]

rufus_mcdufus I won't be overly surprised if Vettel ends up at Ferrari, either in 2015 or 2016, but I just can't picture Alonso at Red Bull. If you just weigh up the facts then, assuming he's leaving Ferrari and Mercedes won't ditch one of their drivers to take him, Red Bull would seem to be the best proven option. However, I just don't think Alonso fits the Red Bull philosophy/mind-set (the sort of laid back, casual, party vibe they give off), they don't seem like a match to me.

Despite their catastrophic effort the first time round, I think Alonso and McLaren are better aligned. However, they are a big risk - both in terms of chassis and engine. The McLaren chassis is currently the worst or second worst out of the Mercedes cars but they have hired new high profile personnel to their design team. The engine is a complete unknown, but equally it is known that the Renault and Ferrari units are someway off the Mercedes and it could end up that Honda will match/better them faster than the other two can.

In many ways both McLaren and Ferrari offer similar potential at the moment, both are in the process of major restructuring and have cars performing worse than the budget of the team should allow. But if Alonso leaves Ferrari I think it's very unlikely that he'll ever be able to go back, which is why for me the sensible option would be for him to stay put in 2015 and have a look at what direction the Ferrari and McLaren projects are going in before he commits to where he'll spend the rest of his career. However, there does appear to have been a complete breakdown in communications between Alonso and Ferrari for whatever reason, which for me forces him to accept a risky McLaren seat.

P.S. On a completely different and largely irrelevant note, I'd like to be able to see how the Vettel vs. Ricciardo battle (or massacre as it's been so far) develops in 2015 so I'd prefer Vettel to stay where he is for now.

P.P.S. If Alonso leaves Ferrari and Vettel isn't available for 2015, I'd be very surprised if they picked anyone other than Bianchi to take the seat, with Button an outside bet.

 

[Bill Boddy]

When he was interviewed on the Beeb today Ron Dennis seemed to be saying that he was quite happy with his drivers, has he spoken to Alonso? Yes, he talks to everyone on the grid. It sounded very much like Alonso has turned him down. Oh, and he pretty well laughed at the Berger rumour.

 

[Il_leone]

well one day and the rumour mill rockets into orbit in the drivers market

Ferrari management are really complete idiots - I would not be telling ALonso to shoo off yet unless they have someone much better than him

I don;t see Kimi the sort of the driver who can pull the team out of the mess

As at Mclaren if Alonso agreed the deal he would want to be No 1 as Honda would have liked. K Mag may have an issue with that whereas Button would probably be Nando's preferred choice

Button to Ferrari aint going to happen given that they already have Kimi who is on the brink of retiring and do not need another one

What is the story about the other Lotus seat ?

---------------------------

The swap between Red Bull and Ferrari - I guess there are two unhappy drivers to force such deal. However this is unlike Red Bull in terms of driver policy. I guess Helmut does not have an issue with the deal then

 

[Il_leone]

cider_and_toast Jean Alesi competed in less than 2 seasons before deciding he would sign any paper in front of him and eventually went Ferrari

 

[cider_and_toast]

Of course, missed that one. You are absolutely right. Jean Alesi was the last Ferrari driver to complete less than 2 seasons in F1 before signing for them.

Since Alesi signed in in 91, Ferrari have used 13 drivers, all of whom had 3 or more years in F1 prior to signing. Not really at team that brings on young drivers are they ??

 

[mjo]

Well the latest piece of the jigsaw has been laid - Vettel's moving from Red Bull, with Kvyat taking his seat. This means that:
1) Either Alonso or Kimi is getting shafted for Vettel probably - almost definitely Alonso (or maybe even both???)
2) Who will partner Verstappen at Toro Rosso next year?? Will they come scrambling back for JEV?
3) Where will the shafted Ferrari driver go? McLaren? But for whom??

 

[KekeTheKing]

Everybody and their brother thought Alonso was going to start the madness. Gotta hand it to Seb for playing the trump card.

 

[HansyRod]

Well the latest piece of the jigsaw has been laid - Vettel's moving from Red Bull, with Kvyat taking his seat. This means that:
1) Either Alonso or Kimi is getting shafted for Vettel probably - almost definitely Alonso (or maybe even both???)
2) Who will partner Verstappen at Toro Rosso next year?? Will they come scrambling back for JEV?
3) Where will the shafted Ferrari driver go? McLaren? But for whom??

Alonso to McLaren. Carlos Sainz Jr. to pair with Max Verstappen at Toro Rosso. Raikkonen goes out. Button moves... somewhere, I don't know? Second Ferrari? I'd guess Vettel would rather partner Button than risk being beaten by a relative newcomer in the likes of Bianchi again.

 

[KekeTheKing]

I highly doubt Kimi is going anywhere. He wants to stay and Ferrari don't want to pay him to leave. He and Seb are fairly decent friends as well. Rather intriguing pairing possibly.