The Silly Season thread!!!

[Pro Racer]

i know it's early but there is articles on it already and the weed smoking has started (page 5): http://mag.gpweek.com/

Sato and Grosjean to have a shootout for Piquet's seat for the rest of the year if he does not improve, BMW to sell Kubica highest bidder which will be Ferrari, Kimi to retire if not Massa to Renault maybe, Alonso to Bimmer if they sell Kubica, Webber maybe to Renault (the annual Webber to Renault rumour even happened last year around Monaco time) alongside maybe either Massa, Sato, Grosjean or Piquet, if Webber does not **** off to Renault then him and DC will fight it out for the RBR seat alongside Vettel (IMO Webber is flogging DC so it has to be him).

[duke_toaster]

I'd put most of this in the silly pile.

Let's break this down.

Nelson Piquet Jnr out at Renault : likely but at the end of the season.
To be replaced by Takuma Sato or Roman Grosjean : Probably not. Possibly Sakon Yamamoto.
BMW to sell Kubica : Doubt it.
Kimi to retire : Probably the least likely of the lot. He's only 28!
Massa to Renault : Unless they go for two number 1s (not really Ferrari style), I doubt that will happen.
Webber to Renault : More likely Mark to go elsewhere.
Nelson Piquet Jnr to stay at Renault : Unlikely.
Vettel to RBR : Possibly.

[Taprobane]

I'd say Grosjean to Renault is a fairly reasonable idea depending on Piquet's performance over the rest of the season and if Grosjean can take the GP2 title (which I believe he can).

Don't see any of the top three wanting to change drivers really, and I think Webber will stick it out at RBR for the foreseeable future. Wouldn't be shocked to see Vettel join him though if he can avoid getting crashed into a few times!

We might also see some changes at Force India I think, smaller teams tend to have a decent driver turnover.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Taprobane

We might also see some changes at Force India I think, smaller teams tend to have a decent driver turnover.

The obvious choice at Force India would be to just swap Sutil with Liuzzi.

[Born Racer]

Possibly Sakon Yamamoto.

Now that would be silly.

[Bononi]

STOP ! Something is wrong there... where's the "ALONSO TO FERRARI IN 2009" official rumour ?

[fieldodreams79]

"...expect the Silly Season to get even sillier."

indeed. they always do.

[Malfunction Junction]

Alonso to Ferrari for 2009, with Ralf Schumacher as team mate!

[FPV GTHO]

Originally Posted by martyn bott

The obvious choice at Force India would be to just swap Sutil with Liuzzi.

Judging from pre-season comments, that could happen before the end of the year. I think most at the time thought it would be Fisi's newly acquired seat that would be under pressure

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by FPV GTHO

Judging from pre-season comments, that could happen before the end of the year. I think most at the time thought it would be Fisi's newly acquired seat that would be under pressure

Even though it's obvious that neither driver is having much luck,Fisi is most definitely the quickest at the moment.

[Born Racer]

Sutil's team-mates last year were not very good though, so I think he became (to use a dreaded phrase!) over-rated.

[Ralf's Girl]

Originally Posted by Malfunction Junction

Alonso to Ferrari for 2009, with Ralf Schumacher as team mate!

Nah, Alonso doesn't like having team-mates who might beat him.

[Sev]

As far as I can see it so far...

Grosjean in for Piquet (performance in F1 pending)
Vettel in for Coulthard
Senna (performance in GP2 pending) in for Vettel at STR
Ferrari, Mclaren, BMW, Toyota, Williams all remain the same.
Who really cares about F. India?

I predict a boring silly season :P

[hotwheels]

I was wondering... is Glock doing any far better than Piquet in your opinion, guys?

[Taprobane]

I think so, because although both of them are getting beaten by their team mates Glock isn't sticking his car in the kitty litter nearly as much as Piquet is.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by hotwheels

I was wondering... is Glock doing any far better than Piquet in your opinion, guys?

He must be,because there hasn't been a 'How long do you think it will be before Glock gets the boot ?' thread yet ......Have I spoken too soon ?

[FPV GTHO]

Glock's doing a better job if you look at him independantly, but he'll invariably be compared to a lesser rated driver in Trulli compared to Alonso who Piquet will be compared with.

[mac]

At the end of the day, the Renault appears to be a better unit than the Toyota.

And Glock is almost always in front of Piquet, usually sniffing around the back of the top 10.

Glock has Piquet covered easily so far this year.

[Pro Racer]

Glock>Piquet so far this year.

[Chatters]

Pro, you started this thread, and now you're dragging it off topic...

[CDK 7]

Originally Posted by Bononi

STOP ! Something is wrong there... where's the "ALONSO TO FERRARI IN 2009" official rumour ?

Alonso to Ferrari for 2009, with Ralf Schumacher as team mate!

[deeks6]

Well, its a silly thread so I may as well join in:

Ferrari - WDC Felipe Massa and Mark Webber
McLaren - Lewis Hamilton and Nick Heidfeld
BMW - Robert Kubica and Sebastien Vettel
Red Bull - Nico Hulkenberg and Heikki Kovalainen
Toyota - Jarno Trulli and Kyle Busch
STR - Sebastien Bourdais and David Coulthard
Honda - Jenson Button and Takuma Sato
Force India - Giancarlo Fisichella and Bruno Senna
Renault - Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean
Williams - Nico Rosberg and Danica Patrick

Retired - Raikkonnen, Barrichello
Sacked - Glock, Sutil, Piquet

[Peter Mallett]

Webber to retire.

[OZ_HCR32]

I think it will be a boring silly season.

The only thing i can see spicing it up is if Rosberg has a get out of jail clause for 2009 if they continue to suck this year.

I can see Nakajima being marched. If Rosberg does likewise then Williams could be an interesting seat for the likes of the promising guys in lesser teams like Vettel, Bourdais possibly Kline, Liuzzi etc etc. Odds are at least one seat will be free.

But if Rosberg leaves then there will be some real movement, Rosberg to McLaren meaning that Heikki would be looking around, possibly a direct swap with Rosberg and Williams.

Rosberg is also a possibility at BMW and i suppose Alonso/Rosberg/Kubica could be a possibility at Ferrari should a seat be available.

From there who knows what the likes of RBR end up with, most likely Vettel and Webber. But if the market is open because of the desire for teams to secure Rosberg then the second seat at good teams could open up. For instance Heikki grabbing a safe seat at RBR along Webber or BMW if feels he is exposed by McLaren, Renault, Ferrari arguing over Rosberg.

Hell Rosberg would slot in nicely along Kubica at BMW. I cant see Kubica leaving BMW, though there may be options for him. I can see Heidfeld grabbing the best of the rest seats.

LOL, so yeh. Back to i think it will be a quiet silly season. But Rosberg could fire up some interesting transfers and changes

[Satorian]

Originally Posted by OZ_HCR32

I think it will be a boring silly season.

The only thing i can see spicing it up is if Rosberg has a get out of jail clause for 2009 if they continue to suck this year.

I can see Nakajima being marched. If Rosberg does likewise then Williams could be an interesting seat for the likes of the promising guys in lesser teams like Vettel, Bourdais possibly Kline, Liuzzi etc etc. Odds are at least one seat will be free.

But if Rosberg leaves then there will be some real movement, Rosberg to McLaren meaning that Heikki would be looking around, possibly a direct swap with Rosberg and Williams.

Rosberg is also a possibility at BMW and i suppose Alonso/Rosberg/Kubica could be a possibility at Ferrari should a seat be available.

From there who knows what the likes of RBR end up with, most likely Vettel and Webber. But if the market is open because of the desire for teams to secure Rosberg then the second seat at good teams could open up. For instance Heikki grabbing a safe seat at RBR along Webber or BMW if feels he is exposed by McLaren, Renault, Ferrari arguing over Rosberg.

Hell Rosberg would slot in nicely along Kubica at BMW. I cant see Kubica leaving BMW, though there may be options for him. I can see Heidfeld grabbing the best of the rest seats.

LOL, so yeh. Back to i think it will be a quiet silly season. But Rosberg could fire up some interesting transfers and changes

Rosberg is good, but in my opinion no WDC material, so I can't see BMW being interested in him beyond the marketing appeal of having a german-born, german-speaking driver. I think teams at the level of Williams, RBR and currently Renault suit him quite well, as they don't expose too much, that he's not really up there with the best of the drivers.

Assuming that Heidfeld is about to leave soon, BMW would need someone like Vettel, Kovalainen or Alonso that have the raw pace to get the car to the front of the grid or someone like Bourdais, who is very methodical and technical to help develop the car. I don't see Rosberg excelling at either of those.