Vettel to leave Red Bull?

Shogun

It would then be obvious there was a conspiracy within Mercedes to ensure a German driver wins. The Mercedes boss actually said that it did not matter which driver will win the title for Mercedes

That is a different take from thinking hiring Schumacher and paying him a lot of money was not only going to create good marketing opportunities but instant success..which it was not

It also actually cost Mercedes a lot of money just to hire Hamilton so to get rid of him then does not sound like money well spent

So far Lauda has been the one backing Hamilton and he has a seat on the board so he's actually got a powerful voice

If Hamilton wins the driver title next year - then it is an own goal by Mercedes to let him go having wanted a champion in their cars for so long
 
Name me any driver currently in the F1 paddock who would say NO if they were offered to drive for Ferrari (well only Rosberg and Hamilton currently)
 
Maybe Red Bull are planning to leave F1, so Vettel has to look for other teams. Probably Button will retire at the end of the season and I can see Räikkönen do the same thing, so there will be some seats available. But still teams like McLaren and Ferrari are a big step back compared to the Red Bull right now. But since Mercedes won't change their driver line-up in the near future, he won't have better options (Williams is a big risk; they may be strong, but they may also be very weak next year).
 
Red Bull would only leave F1 if Bernie has done something to upset them and they feel they are being ganged up by Ferrari and mclaren mainly

At the moment they are getting a beating and shifting the blame on Renault unfairly in my opinion. However I don't see them leaving F1 yet because they have such a big motor racing programme from junior level to F1 and there is a stack of promising drivers for them to fill Vettel's boots

Vettel probably has to move on if Ricciardo momentum continues like this within the team because next in line after Daniel are apparently Kyvat and Carlos Sainz jnr ( yes JEV I think has missed his chance with the team)
 
While it's true that Honda built and outstanding Turbo in the 80's and a fantastic 3 litre V10 in the 90's it's also true to say they spent most of the early 00's as something of a laughing stock in the their Earth Car and eventually pulling out of the sport at exactly the right time to see their former team take the world title under someone else's name, with someone else's engine in the back.

For any of the top drivers to jump into the McLaren team in 2015 they would be taking a big risk. Something that I don't see Vettel doing. Should the McLaren Honda partnership prove a strong one, then the 2015 silly sesaon should provide a huge amount of to and fro.
 
Is this Ferrari dumpster that everyone's talking about the same one that almost won the Hungarian Grand Prix?
Would that be the same race that JEV in the STR did so well at? Ferrari is still a dumpster fire, despite having some very good performances this year. Theyre Ferrari, anything less than victory is unacceptable.
 
Mclaren has announced it's driver dine up will be based on what serves it best for its long-term Formula 1 ambitions with Honda.
I would have thought Jenson had another year in him with Mclaren, but now I think he's done and dusted.

So maybe Vettel is heading that way? It's another gamble seeing that Honda is unexplored territory in the new turbo era.
 
If Vettel left Red Bull now of his own volition, would it not be perceived that he was throwing in the towel at the first sign of a competitive team-mate? why would he want that?

And after all, the car is widely perceived as having one of the best, if not the best, chassis on the grid - it's only really the engine that's let them down. And the car has now won two races against the all-powerful Mercedes. I can't see why he would want to move anywhere right now.
 
Chad Stewarthill I don't see Vettel leaving Red Bull for Mclaren because I have already said Ron would probably have Magnussen or Vandorn in the other car so another fast youngster who Mclaren want to do well and Vettel will be going through the same issues Alonso had in 2007 with Mclaren having just left Red Bull because apparently Ricciardo is the favoured son now

Clearly Red Bull will not let him go without a hefty payoff for his remaining year of the contract either which Mclaren really do not want
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As for Mclaren saying they want drivers to serve long term ambitions with Honda - well having one of them as a recognised world champions would be expected

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Mclaren 's policy is to have world's best drivers and normally one of them has been a world champion

- the seasons they did not have world champions

1980, 1981, 1994, 1995 (after Mansell quit), 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008.

so far neither Vettel or Alonso have warmed to the idea of leaving their teams for Mclaren

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Red Bull now want Renault to work more closely and constant rumours that they will give Renault money to make sure the engine is up to scratch and so far denied they want to build their own engines

They've also ruled out considering teaming with Audi/ VW when their current engine deal ends
 
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I don't think the situation at Mercedes is as determined as some believe. I would think a lot depends on how acrimonious the relationship between the two drivers becomes. I would also think a lot depends on Hamilton's salary demands. I don't think the team could justify paying him significantly more than they are paying Rosberg, given the parity of their performances to this point. And, since Rosberg is already signed, if one of the drivers is to go, I would think it would be Hamilton.
 
siffert_fan

Rosberg was getting $7- $10m a year whilst Schumacher despite quoted as getting the same initially he was actually getting $25m a year and that was when Mercedes were making job cuts and citing cost savings in their factories

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Now when Hamilton moved to Mercedes from Mclaren he is earning about $20m a year which is more than he earned at Mclaren

Rosberg no doubt on his new contract has doubled what he previously was earning but he is not a guy who will hold the team to ransom as someone like Ralf Schumacher so probably will still earn less than Hamilton

Hamilton - would want at least the same he is on and maybe a bit more which would be strengthened if he wins the world title.

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I think it more depends on what Alonso wants to do at Ferrari who are actually in a mess that will determine the drivers market.
 
Mclaren has announced it's driver dine up will be based on what serves it best for its long-term Formula 1 ambitions with Honda.
I would have thought Jenson had another year in him with Mclaren, but now I think he's done and dusted.

So maybe Vettel is heading that way? It's another gamble seeing that Honda is unexplored territory in the new turbo era.
What about Kobayashi? Do you think maybe Honda would pull some strings and get him a drive as the #2? I cant imagine that Caterham will be around much longer anyways.
I guess the real question is, whats Kamui's ceiling? Is he a driver who can finish in the top 10 on a regular basis with a quality car under him?
 
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If Kobayashi has a quality car he will be in the top ten basically every time he finishes. The problem is how often he would finish though. Doubt that would happen but you never know. And was Hamilton making $20m from the team alone or total counting endorsements?
 
Okay a little left field, what happens in 2014/15 close season and teams drop out due to financial reasons, and that Concorde (spelling & does it still exist) agreement means teams can run a 3rd car to boost grid numbers, what would happen to Vettel & Alonso then?
 
Well it got 6th due to 6 of the cars in front of it messing up or blowing up.

Realistically I'd say Ferrari is the 4th best car on its best circuits and 7th best car on its worse.
Id actually agree with that. Ferrari is easily 4th after Merc, RB and Williams. In the early part of the season, you could have made the case for Force India being #4 but Force India has kind of dropped off the map lately and it sounds like they are having some financial issues.
 
If Kobayashi has a quality car he will be in the top ten basically every time he finishes. The problem is how often he would finish though. Doubt that would happen but you never know. And was Hamilton making $20m from the team alone or total counting endorsements?
Seems like he did pretty well when he was with Sauber.
 
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