Well that ends the Ferrari speculation...

[ireshad]

From Ireland.com


"World champion Michael Schumacher and Brazilian team-mate Rubens Barrichello have agreed new contracts with Ferrari, the Italian Formula One stable announced today.

German ace Schumacher has extended his stay until 2004 while his South American team-mate has been confirmed for next season. AFP"


Did someone else post this? I can't believe that I'm the first to hear the confirmation.

[Damon]

All I can say is they must be paying Barrichello an absolute fortune.

[Speed]

Barrichello said... SHOW ME THE MONEY !!!

[R]

Interesting... especially after the events of the last race. Still, Rubens may think this is his best shot anyway, he is after all closer to TGF now than ever before.

This means TGF will be in F1 for another full three seasons then. I kind of like this news, as it will (hopefully) mean a lot of good fights with JPM over the next three and a half years. Throw Jacques in the mix as well, and I'll be over the moon.

[senna12]

Rubens couldn't find a better car, and would have ended up in midfield, most likely. I think Ferrari's offer may have been increased after Austria, if that is how they do things. I thought I read somewhere that Rubens had given Ferrari a proposal of his own a few weeks ago.
Of course, if DM were still here, he would tell us that the almighty Michael decreed it this way!

[RussianFriend]

Rubinio prefered not to repeat Eddies fate: to get the end-grid No1 seat.
Plus: he'll collect more scores when if he is Toyota or Benetton driver.
Minus: he may say "Goodbuy" to his fighter's ambition. He will never reach more than he has now. Having no illusion about his role in Ferrai we may say that he has sold his right to be a real racer for the mesws of pottage.

Anyway it was his own choice

[Orange]

*sigh*
So much for Ferrari hiring a young charger...

oh well

[garyegrant]

I agree with Orange - it seems by far the best seats are at Ferrari, Mac and Williams, and all seem pretty tied up (barring a catastrophe) for the foreseeable future.

Its a shame, because it might have been nice to see Heidfeld, Kimi or Alonso in a top car, but then I suppose one more year's experience won't do them any harm.

But has Fisichella missed the boat?

[mjstallard]

poor Rubens...I guess this means that he's accepted that he'll only be WDC with Ferrari if Schumi gets injured. I remember watching Rubens scrapping with Mika at the British GP, '94 (my brother's fave driver against my fave, heheh, was fun sitting next to each other in the grandstand at Luffield for that one ). Despite having a not so brilliant season this year (with the pressure he must be feeling, you can't really blame the guy..), I still think that in the right situation he could still be WDC. If you took, say, the team atmosphere of Stewart, with any of the top 3 cars, and we could see really good things coming from him - I think it's that he needs to be supported strongly, and made a fuss of by the team to truly bloom; he doesn't seem to be able to handle the difficulties of driving for Team TGF.

What's worse in my opinion is that TGF is gonna be around until 2004...not going after records, my arse!

I do not want to start a flame war in any way shape or form, or start another tirade of anti-TGF statements, but please, just sod off and retire...I'm not happy with him earning himself the title of "greatest ever"...aiye he's good, but he...grr, you know the score. Please disregard this paragraph, it must be my hayfever or something :P

[Quino]

Fisichella (and Trulli for that matter) may ask themselves what they actually benefitted from their liaison with Briatore. Surely they would've had the drives they have today just on their own merit and probably even better drives. The only reason Ferrari can't get their hands on em is that Briatore practically leased em to Renault and their added value over Barrichello doesn't go to such an extend that Ferrari would pay up huge sums of cash for their legal buyout. So Fisico and Trulli are pretty much at the peak of their careers if Renault doens't swap the ends of the grid in the very foreseeable future. With Ferrari comitting their drivers for at least another season, the first opportunity for fresh blood to reach a decent seat would be season 2003 and that probably will be at McLaren.

[Liz]

Pitlane gossip had predicted this outcome, as it was generally conceded that with the number of top line pilots who said after Austria that they would never take the drive as long as TGF was in residence, it would be best to sign Rubens for one more year and hope the noise dies down.

Assuming nobody has any more Affirmative Action brainstorms, perhaps this strategy may work out.

And Rubens ... must do as he thinks best. *Sigh*.

[Bononi]

Right on.

RB signed a new contract after all, but his first proposal was denied (to short his salary and allowed to have space for his own sponsors).
The terms still are unknown, but the brazilian press agree that there must be a "shut up" clause on it and the salary is estimated to be
U$ 8 million :

http://www.globo.com/sistemas/frames...tao/448115.htm

and

http://www.globo.com/esportes/arquiv...522/4wyj7a.htm

But the most important is that TGF will be around until 2004.

The press speculates that in the next 3 years TGF will be able to break the records of pole positions of Senna and WDC of Fangio... :0

[R]

He'll never break Senna's pole record. He might break the other records, but he won't break that one.

[EERO]

As for Barrichello, "every whore has his or her price". The money won out over pride and Barrichello will be remembered as a journeyman.

As far a TGF is concerned, he's still young and still obviously enjoys the arena and isn't going away soon. The records, Prost's (for sure), Fangio's (likely) and Senna's (Less likely) have to be a large part of the motivation, but racing and winning(no matter how tainted those wins may be) are what matters.

[Quino]

Maybe other topdrivers don't want a seat next to Schumacher, but why would Ferrari would like to have a topdriver alongside MS? Obviously they don't. They are very well aware of the fact that only one driver can take the driverscrown and they have put their faith, money and strategy firmly in MS. Other then 2 drivers who chase the title, Ferrari have opted for the strategy in which a stardriver gets the mission to chase that title and a very good driver gets the mission to do anything in his power to backup the stardriver. Picking up a constructorstitle along the way is nice too. Whether or not that is a right choice is irrelevant. Some other topdriver/egomaniac alongside Schumacher wouldn't give the chase for the driverstitle any added value and it would place Ferrari in the terrible situation that they won't be able to influence the race. Not so easy anyway.

[Speed]

I think having MS for three more years is great... because next year Williams' cars will be evolutioned enough to kick Ferrari's b!!t with him on board.

[Bononi]

Well, so far he has 37 poles.

This season he has 11 rounds to go.

Assuming that the 3 next seasons will be with 17 rounds, he will have more 51 rounds with one of the best car on the grid.

62 chances to beat Senna with only one more pole.

That means more 29 poles to go.

Is that impossible ? Not at all, in fact very reasonable considering he is a master in a flying lap.

[botsquad]

Originally posted by ireshad
From Ireland.com


"World champion Michael Schumacher and Brazilian team-mate Rubens Barrichello have agreed new contracts with Ferrari, the Italian Formula One stable announced today.

reaction...move over rubens, and be a big boy about it. no tears.

[R]

Well, I'm sorry to derail the topic, but concerning TGF's faint chances (IMO) to beat Senna's pole record:

TGF was always better in races than in qualifying (comparatively speaking). Prior to TGF's recent string of pole positions, Mika Hakkinen has been the best qualifier for the past few years. And prior to that, whoever was in the Williams. Williams are coming good again, and by 2004, Honda and Renault will hopefully be top teams as well. I don't think we will see a quite so dominant Ferrari in the next few years as we have lately, because the others are striving hard to get back on top, and what team is on top of F1 changes over the years.

So, IMO, with TGF at Ferrari till the end of 2004:
- He will beat Prost's record number of race wins.
- He will beat Prost's point scoring record.
- He (on second thought) probably won't beat Fangio's record of 5 WDCs, at best I think he'll equal it, but he'll probably end up on 4 WDCs.
- He will definitely not beat Senna's pole record. TGF is not the best qualifier out there, he needs the best car to consistently set pole, and I don't think he'll have that for the next three years. He'll probably end up on 50-55 poles. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that I'll eat my hat if he beats Senna's pole record.

[Tristan]

I don't really know what to think of all this. In a way I'm glad Ferrari still have such a good competitive pair of drivers who, IMO, compliment each other very well.

Ferrari will now have the best driver in the feild until his career finishes. Rubens has got the best deal he could have realistically hoped for, a great car and a lot of dosh. Plus you get the car everyone wants, the Ferrari.

But, as I have said before, what Ferrari truly needs is two drivers who can fight each other and push each other so that Jean/Ross/Luca di/Whoever doesn't feel the need to issue team orders as early as the SIXTH race! You can understand to some extent why they did what they did. I mean, it's not like it's possible Rubinho could realistically challange TGF in terms of points. He's already too far behind.

Is it Ruben's fault? Is he just not good enough?? The fact is, I can't think of many people who'd be any better, short of JPM.

Or is it TGF's?? Is he just too GOOD?? He has Ferrari wrapped round his little finger, as all truly great drivers should. He will always do a better job than the teammate so you might as well give him all the attention. As i repeatedly say, there is/was until today no contractual aggreement between TGF and Rubinho as there was between him and Eddie. Even if there was someone out there good enough, there's no WAY they'd join Ferrari right now because they know TGF would get the better treatment, wouldn't already know all the staff like TGF (many poached from Benetton), would have to drive a car build FOR TGF (it would evolve from seasons previous with therefore no regard for a newcomer) and would almost certainly get beaten early on, leading to a subserviant role for most of the season and a dead-end job.

To see the Ferrari as the car everyone wants to AVOID is heartbreaking for the fan to watch. And I'm not sure if I can take another two years of it.

[senna12]

So it is all the more important that the midfielders continue to improve. Some sort of chink in the Ferrari armor must be exposed. The big problem, of course, is the bottomless pit that is the Ferrari budget.

At least Rubens has decided to be a toady one year at a time.

[Tristan]

Hmm... I probably shouldn't really be caring WHO wins, just so long as it's a red car (not a Scuderia Italia. OR a Dallara. OR an Alfa. Oh shut up!)

But the problem is, I do. Hmm....

[JeremySmith]

Tristan

Excuse me if I am tending to paraphrase you here..Wether we wish to accept the fact or not, Michael Schumacher along with Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, Jean Todt and company have brought Ferrari back from the grave..

Michael has, from all accounts, worked his rear end off to make sure that he is worth the huge sums of money that Ferrari pays him. As far as having Ferrari wrapped around his finger, I agree with you again..They are very committed to him, as they should be, and he is to them..The results of their combined efforts speaks for itself..

Ruben's IMO has made the right choice to continue there for another year.. where would he go?? Who would do a better job than Ruben's? He is capable of winning races, pretty bloody fast and a very nice guy from all accounts. He tries really hard.

Other drivers say that they would not drive while Michael is there..What are they afraid of? It appears that they would be given identical equipment,okay true the focus is on TGF..At McLaren the focus has and I belive still is on Mika. One could say that all the teams tend to focus on "one driver" more than another it is just more apparent within Ferrari but none of this seems to be getting in David Coulthard's way this year..

I would like to see new drivers period at Ferrari, and I am a Schumacher fan..But who would that be?? Kimmi R very fine talent..Montoya with his recent comments won't go down too well..JV who knows.I don't

Best regrads to you all!

[Liz]

"What are they afraid of?" I'd guess they are afraid of hearing themselves commanded on European TV to get off the piste and let their teammate win... and of spending an entire career in the sure knowledge that they would never win a WDC unless their teammate was hospitalized with some dire injury (God forbid) that would prevent him from coming back for an entire season.

I'd guess they are afraid of being humiliated in the press by being called "Michael Schumacher's Poodle."

Personally you couldn't pay me enough money to put up with that kind of end to my Formula One aspirations, and anybody worth his salary wouldn't put up with it either... But as Eero says, every whore has his price, and obviously some people have lower prices than others.

It's a shame, Rubens. It's a damned shame.

[Orange]

Liz, a damned shame indeed, but as far as I'm concerned, Rubinho has made his bed, and now he's got to sleep in it.

Frankly, the whole think is a pity, because Rubens isn't doing himself any favors by staying (other than his bank account!) and he is also preventing the rise of some likely young up-and-comer... a pity.