2008 Silly Season Thread (SUPER MERGE)

[Pro Racer]

well Ralf is on the outer has Fisi saved his career and according to M eNews (australia) the anual MW to Renault rumours have started again also read rumours of Lewis to Ferrari (forget where i read) and not to forget the inclusion of Prodrive and who's cars/motors will they use and which drivers, so seems like silly season 2008 is cranking up.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - Mercedes
Fernando Alonso
Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari Marlboro - Ferrari
Felipe Massa
Kimi Raikkonen

BMW Sauber - BMW
Nick Heidfeld
Robert Kubica

ING Renault - Renault
Heikki Kovalainen
Nelson Pequet jr

Red Bull Racing - Renault
David Coulthard
Mark Webber

At&t Williams - Toyota
Nico Rosberg
Alex Wurz

Panasonic Toyota - Toyota
Jarno Trulli
Franck Montagny

Honda Racing - Honda
Jenson Button
Rubens Barichello

Super Aguri - Honda
Takuma Sato
Anthony Davidson

Torro Rosso - Ferrari
Vitantonio Liuzzi
Sebastian Bourdais

Spyker F1 - Ferrari
Adrian Sutil
Marcus Whinkelhock

Prodrive - McLaren Mercedes
Pedro De La Rosa
Garry Paffet

[Pro Racer]

now sutil is being linked with Ralf's seat.

http://www.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlin...31100333.shtml

[Red Bulldog]

Originally Posted by Pro Racer

now sutil is being linked with Ralf's seat.

http://www.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlin...31100333.shtml

I was just thinking the same thing - he looks like Toyota's best option

[Adam43]

I thought Mark Webber was going to Renault?

[elspethhardie]

My goodness it's started already!!! Is it me or do we start this thread earlier each season.... like the postman who is scarily young!

[chunterer]

Don't want to encourage this sort of thread too soon and all that, but I reckon it's pretty definate that these teams will retain the same driver line up:

McLaren
Ferrari

These teams will likely retain same line up, but one of the current drivers may leave:

Honda
Jenson could get a decent move but I doubt it, Rubens contract ends at the end of the year though doesn't it?

Red Bull
No matter how valuable DC's 'experience' is he can't go on forever and Webber's generally had the edge when his car's lasted. If Renault dump both current drivers (unlikely) then Webber could join Regie with Nelsinho and DC gets another season at RBR.

Super Aguri
No reason to change, other than the dreaded sponsorship dollar or yen!

The following teams will be definitely be making changes as I see it:

BMW
One of the 2 current drivers will go, not sure which yet!

Renault
ditto

Toyota
Ralf has definitely shot his bolt, AN Other to replace him

Williams
I don't think Wurz will be retained unless Rosberg leaves, this team could be quite an attractive proposition to a name driver again next year

Torro Rosso
Both could be on their way, this isn't a team that will be bothered too much about consistency the driver front whilst their tyring to step up a level

Spyker
Anything could happen - will they be around still anyway?

Then we have the new team:

If there is the Merc link up then any number of drivers could get their chance!

Prodrive
My money's on Paffet, not DLR and a junior driver.

Drivers who could be out of F1 come 2008:

Fizzi
Heikki
DC
Rubens
Ralf (foregone conclusion?)
Albers
Wurz
Liuzzi
Speed

[Adri_tifosi]

For me , Bourdais in Toro Rosso , Liuzzi in Red Bull Racing and Webber in Toyota , in Prodrive , Paffet and DLR

[Pro Racer]

Originally Posted by elspethhardie

My goodness it's started already!!! Is it me or do we start this thread earlier each season.... like the postman who is scarily young!

surely 16 and 10 months isn't scary, i have my licence maybe scary for my mother though.

[steve nielsen]

Red Bull Racing - Renault
Mark Webber
Robert Doornbos


Panasonic Toyota - Toyota
Jarno Trulli
Adrian Sutil


Spyker F1 - Ferrari
Giedo van der Garde
Marcus Whinkelhock

[FPV GTHO]

Originally Posted by steve nielsen

Red Bull Racing - Renault
Robert Doornbos

What sort of deal does he have with Champ Car? Would it allow him to jump into an empty Red Bull seat?

[steve nielsen]

Originally Posted by FPV GTHO

What sort of deal does he have with Champ Car? Would it allow him to jump into an empty Red Bull seat?

He's still the backup driver for RBR and Red Bull payed for his seat in Champcar.

[marcel82]

Originally Posted by FPV GTHO

What sort of deal does he have with Champ Car? Would it allow him to jump into an empty Red Bull seat?

he's still the official RBR test driver, and he did the first 3 CCWS races in his RBR gear, so I think it wouldn't be a problem

[Pro Racer]

they say Micheal could come back it would be funny if he took his brother's seat, IMO he'd be silly to, although if the rumour's are true about him buying a share in Torro Rosso maybe he could pop up there.

[MrTTraces]

Ye gad! The silly season has started already...


God help us!

If Lewis was to win the title (no hype - just a statement) i'm sure Ferrari would offer him a mega mega bucks deal that Mclaren would never match. Not that I'm saying Mclaren are tight wads, I guess they are a bit more sensible and don't get caught up in a bidding wars which pushes the price up.

[Sev]

Hmm, few things people should take note of:

No matter how many bucks Ferrari offer Hamilton, I don't think there's a chance in hell of him moving. As for why?

1. He's currently under a long term contract to them.
2. McLaren could probably match the money anyway.
3. Ferrari is in no way certain to have a better car next season. And as Jenson showed, the car is the most important thing.
4. McLaren has been loyal to him, I think he'll be very loyal to them.

So lets just kill that right now, please?

Before we speculate too much, lets try and get some facts together:
Drivers with only one year left on contract
Felipe Massa - Ferrari
Nick Heidfeld - BMW
David Coulthard - RBR
Giancarlo Fisichella - Renault
Ralf Schumacher - Toyota
Rubens Barichello - Honda
Scott Speed - STR
Tonio Liuzzi - STR
Adrian Sutil - Spyker
Christian Albers - Spyker

Drivers possible to get into F1, and where
Nelson Piquet Jr. - Renault
Sebastian Vettel - BMW, RBR or STR
Timo Glock - BMW, anywhere
Bruno Senna - STR
Frank Montagny - Toyota, anywhere
Sebastian Bourdais - RBR or STR
[/b]

Any mistakes or omissions, please point them out.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Sev

Drivers possible to get into F1, and where
Nelson Piquet Jr. - Renault
Sebastian Vettel - BMW, RBR or STR
Timo Glock - BMW, anywhere
Bruno Senna - STR
Frank Montagny - Toyota, anywhere
Sebastian Bourdais - RBR or STR
[/b]

Any mistakes or omissions, please point them out.

Piquet and Bourdais are the only ones likely to actually get a race drive next year imo. Vettel will be in GP2, Glock may take over as BMW's 3rd man, Senna will go for GP2 title, Montagny decent enough as he is won't be trendy enough for a f/t ride.

Originally Posted by steve nielsen

Red Bull Racing - Renault
Mark Webber
Robert Doornbos

There's better options for them than Doornobs. Webber's sure to stay.

Originally Posted by Pro Racer

I have the feeling if there is an empty RBR seat it will be MW's, i feel if he dosn't stay at RBR he could turn up at BMW.

Well Webbo's sure to stay put (on 2 year deal isn't he?) unless Flavio decided he can get him a better deal in a better car. Next year I expect the RBR to be reliable as well as quick so he won't need to look elsewhere anyway.

[Red Bulldog]

Originally Posted by Pro Racer

they say Micheal could come back it would be funny if he took his brother's seat, IMO he'd be silly to, although if the rumour's are true about him buying a share in Torro Rosso maybe he could pop up there.

Michael (and the current Ferrari drivers) always seem to be holding a Red Bull can with the name towards the camera.
How about Michael as owner/driver for STR with Scott Speed or driver for RBR with Tonio?

[Pro Racer]

i have the feeling if there is an empty RBR seat it will be MW's, i feel if he dosn't stay at RBR he could turn up at BMW they said they would take him from Williams when the BMW deal ended so why not now or he could go to Renault for the same reasons as every time he is on the move but somehow seems to turn it down.

[FPV GTHO]

Originally Posted by Pro Racer

i have the feeling if there is an empty RBR seat it will be MW's

Well i could only see that happening in the unlikely event Renault want him.

For Coulthard it seems it'll either be yet another contract extension or retirement, so understandably most attention seems to be on whether the team will retain the Scot, not if they'll retain Webber.

i feel if he dosn't stay at RBR he could turn up at BMW they said they would take him from Williams when the BMW deal ended so why not now

Because now theyve got Kubica, Vettel and Heidfeld doing a great job.

That was also at the end of 2005, and whilst IMO Webbers reputation has improved since then, things change. Theres also the situation where its easy for 2 parties to claim a deal could have been done when it was never going to be.

or he could go to Renault for the same reasons as every time he is on the move but somehow seems to turn it down.

Even Renault have Piquet Jnr who they'll be trying to put somewhere, and i doubt they'll put Piquet in Webber's current RBR seat if they can make a swap.

[cds_uk]

Why would Prodrive go for Paffett when Di Resta is doing what he is doing in a two year old car?

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by cds_uk

Why would Prodrive go for Paffett when Di Resta is doing what he is doing in a two year old car?

Because Paffett has over a year's F1 experience (albeit as a testy) - but yeah, Paffett does need to worry, looks like he's getting 'Hamiltoned' again over there, though he's still doing a fine job in a one year old car too of course.

[cos]

Originally Posted by cds_uk

Why would Prodrive go for Paffett when Di Resta is doing what he is doing in a two year old car?

Prodrive should take them both!

[Yannick]

The BMW pairing of Heidfeld and Kubica looks like a pretty stable combination. I doubt this would change for next season.

If Barrichello retires at Honda, I don't think they'd give the race drive to Klien, but promote Sato back to the works effort.

Kovalainen needs better results, otherwise he might be the one that's replaced - not Fisi. With this year's experience, I wonder whether Renault would dare trying out another rookie next year.

It's completely open season at the Red Bull teams. You cannot complain about neither Coulthard nor Webber. And Toro Rosso wants Bourdais, so either Liuzzi or Speed will have to go. It's well possible that one of them gets promoted to the "works effort", and the other stays at the Italian squad, but it's just as likely that both will be transferred to other series.

Vettel - well, he's under contract with BMW and Red Bull. But if he wins the Renault World Series, he'll get a test drive an a Renault. And Renault are the only team of those three who currently seem to be in need of a competent driver for next year, so he may just as well end up driving the French cars.

Sutil showed his potential in Monaco. Hopefully, he is going to be picked up by a larger team, or can keep his Spyker seat. Albers, who looks like #2 driver at Spyker this year, might get replaced by one of the test drivers. But Van Der Garde is still under contract with Super Aguri, isn't he? ;-)

As for the Aguris themselves, Davidson is likely to stay. Sato will stay, too, unless he rejoins the works Honda BAR. Rossiter and Klien would be waiting in the wings.

At McLaren, things look pretty stable. Raikkonen and Massa are probably both fix at Maranello. Wurz and Rosberg look like their seats are safe at Williams - Karthikeyan and Nakajima don't seem like too promising alternatives just yet.

If Scott Speed doesn't get a drive, all the money that Red Bull spent on their search for an American GP driver will be out the window.
So maybe Marco Andretti will get a BAR stool, pardon, seat.

If ProDrive choose McLaren, they'd get DeLa Rosa and maybe Paffett.
Should they choose BMW, they might get Heidfeld and Glock maybe.
Should they decide to buy Ferraris, which is rather unlikely as the Italian manuafacturer already supplies two teams with customer engines, ProDrive might get Luca Badoer and a rookie of their choice. And should they decide to buy Renaults, they might end up with Kovalainen and Piquet Jr.

And Toyota, well, they got enough money to buy up any driver's contract, so if they chose to replace Ralf or Trulli, they surely will find somebody. It would be nice, though, to see a return of Franck Montagny.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Yannick

Kovalainen needs better results, otherwise he might be the one that's replaced - not Fisi. With this year's experience, I wonder whether Renault would dare trying out another rookie next year.

Well, obviously it's Flav's decision at the end of the day, and who know's what goes through that guys brain

But Heikki seem's to have Pat Symonds on his side....

Symonds is convinced that Kovalainen would fare better if the car gave him more confidence.

"Perhaps the most important thing that you need to give a rookie is a car he can trust - a car that he can take to the limit and a bit beyond, and get it back," he said.

"And I think that's where we're probably letting Heikki down a little bit this year.

"The car is quite difficult to drive; it's difficult to find the limit with it.

"If you go a little bit too far, it can bite you, and it has bitten Heikki a couple of times - he had quite a sizeable accident in testing in Bahrain.

"It's the very last thing that a novice driver needs."

[Smokey 6 litre]

I know most people assume that Prodrive will run the Mclaren Merc package but has anything been confirmed yet?
If that goes ahead (and i hope it does) i think Paffet is the best bet, and deserves a shot. Maybe a pay driver to cover the second seat.

Appart from that i hope Toyota gets some young blood in, i'd say chuck out both drivers but i think they'll keep Trulli for 1 more year.