Speculation is running rife. F1's silly season is most definitely here.
For the first time in several years we have a season where many of the drivers from the top teams will be out of contract at the end of 2012. Hamilton, Webber, Massa fit into this bracket, with Vettel out of contract in 2014. This has caused a great deal of manoeuvring in the 'Big 3,, as each attempts to assure it has the necessary personal with which mount a successful championship challenge.
This in itself is not surprising; what is however, is that most of the talk seems to be revolving around Sebastian Vettel's future, particularly from 2014 onwards.
In late May, the BBC reporter Andrew Benson was the first individual to fan the flame of rumours surrounding the potential for Vettel to join Alonso at the Scuderia in 2014. Although he is commonly renowned for his reliably unreliable sources, there does appear to be more behind this rumour than the idle speculation that is normally available in droves during F1's mid season contract wranglings.
In his May article, Benson made the bold claim that;
"a normally impeccable source close to Ferrari says the team only want a one-year driver in 2013, as they have a pre-contract with Vettel for 2014"
Normally such a claim would be treated with derision at worst, and ridicule at best; however the rumours remain. Vettel himself has been very considered in his response, claiming that,
"I've always said that Ferrari is a great team with a great history", hinting that he would want to drive for Ferrari one day - yet always maintaining "I'm very happy with where I am at the moment".
Under normal circumstances I suppose these comments would have been enough to convince the public that the speculation about Vettel's 'pre-contract', was just that - speculation. The thing is, Christian Horner has never claimed the contract doesn't actually exist. He has always said that Vettel is contracted to RBR until 2014, but never denied that link with Ferrari. More than that, an article published on the Ferrari website, and on Sport Bild and Auto Bild further encourages this belief, with Stefano Domenicali outrightly claiming the potential for both drivers to co-exist at Ferrari.
It seems that there is the possibility that Mr. Benson was right, this time at least.
Irrespective of the current state of play with regards to Vettel's contracts, it does pose an interesting question. Would Vettel and Alonso really be able to work together, even during a title fight? Alonso's downfall at McLaren has obviously been well publicised in the past, but it seems that the opinion that surrounded the situation in 2008 may not have been totally accurate.
Many people thought Alonso's discomfort was due to the challenge posed to his title race by the then rookie, Lewis Hamilton. However, recent opinion has suggested that the actual reasons for the two time world champion's dismay was due to the unfair treatment of Alonso by McLaren, be it real or perceived. Certainly there seems to be no lack of respect between the two drivers now, with both crediting the other as their main title challenge on numerous occasions. It is certain that they each believe the other to be the second best driver on the grid.
It is understood that Alonso would have the authority to veto any driver joining him at Ferrari, in fact common opinion suggested that this had already been the case with regards to Hamilton. This has however been cast into doubt by a recent BBC article that suggests:
"Fernando Alonso says he would have "no problem" with either Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel as a future team-mate at Ferrari."
They do however add the caveat that:
"Alonso's remarks about Hamilton contradict information received by BBC Sport and other media organisations that he had vetoed the Englishman joining Ferrari, but told the team he was fine with the idea of Vettel coming on board."
Irrespective of Alonso's most recent comments it would seem to me at least that Alonso would be much happier with Vettel as teammate, rather than Hamilton. Certainly he has had many opportunities prior to now to contradict the BBC with regards to his veto. It seems obvious that he believes he would be able to contest with and better the young German. Whether this is the case or not, and how Alonso would react such a circumstance remains to be seen.
Despite a world of unknowns, one thing is 'for sure' in this saga, Hamilton's two main title contenders racing for the same team can only be a good thing for the Englishmen.
For the first time in several years we have a season where many of the drivers from the top teams will be out of contract at the end of 2012. Hamilton, Webber, Massa fit into this bracket, with Vettel out of contract in 2014. This has caused a great deal of manoeuvring in the 'Big 3,, as each attempts to assure it has the necessary personal with which mount a successful championship challenge.
This in itself is not surprising; what is however, is that most of the talk seems to be revolving around Sebastian Vettel's future, particularly from 2014 onwards.
In late May, the BBC reporter Andrew Benson was the first individual to fan the flame of rumours surrounding the potential for Vettel to join Alonso at the Scuderia in 2014. Although he is commonly renowned for his reliably unreliable sources, there does appear to be more behind this rumour than the idle speculation that is normally available in droves during F1's mid season contract wranglings.
In his May article, Benson made the bold claim that;
"a normally impeccable source close to Ferrari says the team only want a one-year driver in 2013, as they have a pre-contract with Vettel for 2014"
Normally such a claim would be treated with derision at worst, and ridicule at best; however the rumours remain. Vettel himself has been very considered in his response, claiming that,
"I've always said that Ferrari is a great team with a great history", hinting that he would want to drive for Ferrari one day - yet always maintaining "I'm very happy with where I am at the moment".
Under normal circumstances I suppose these comments would have been enough to convince the public that the speculation about Vettel's 'pre-contract', was just that - speculation. The thing is, Christian Horner has never claimed the contract doesn't actually exist. He has always said that Vettel is contracted to RBR until 2014, but never denied that link with Ferrari. More than that, an article published on the Ferrari website, and on Sport Bild and Auto Bild further encourages this belief, with Stefano Domenicali outrightly claiming the potential for both drivers to co-exist at Ferrari.
It seems that there is the possibility that Mr. Benson was right, this time at least.
Irrespective of the current state of play with regards to Vettel's contracts, it does pose an interesting question. Would Vettel and Alonso really be able to work together, even during a title fight? Alonso's downfall at McLaren has obviously been well publicised in the past, but it seems that the opinion that surrounded the situation in 2008 may not have been totally accurate.
Many people thought Alonso's discomfort was due to the challenge posed to his title race by the then rookie, Lewis Hamilton. However, recent opinion has suggested that the actual reasons for the two time world champion's dismay was due to the unfair treatment of Alonso by McLaren, be it real or perceived. Certainly there seems to be no lack of respect between the two drivers now, with both crediting the other as their main title challenge on numerous occasions. It is certain that they each believe the other to be the second best driver on the grid.
It is understood that Alonso would have the authority to veto any driver joining him at Ferrari, in fact common opinion suggested that this had already been the case with regards to Hamilton. This has however been cast into doubt by a recent BBC article that suggests:
"Fernando Alonso says he would have "no problem" with either Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel as a future team-mate at Ferrari."
They do however add the caveat that:
"Alonso's remarks about Hamilton contradict information received by BBC Sport and other media organisations that he had vetoed the Englishman joining Ferrari, but told the team he was fine with the idea of Vettel coming on board."
Irrespective of Alonso's most recent comments it would seem to me at least that Alonso would be much happier with Vettel as teammate, rather than Hamilton. Certainly he has had many opportunities prior to now to contradict the BBC with regards to his veto. It seems obvious that he believes he would be able to contest with and better the young German. Whether this is the case or not, and how Alonso would react such a circumstance remains to be seen.
Despite a world of unknowns, one thing is 'for sure' in this saga, Hamilton's two main title contenders racing for the same team can only be a good thing for the Englishmen.
