"Prefect_Being" <jgill (AT) freenet (DOT) co.uk> wrote


Sato, Webber at Ferrari...

Schumacher, Montoya at Red Bull next year...


joe

Whatever you guyz are
smoking...

I want some!

s/s

Prefect_Being wrote:
Alonso, Rosberg at McLaren?

--
Forty

“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and
mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.” - Ernest Hemingway

"forty" <cforteNO (AT) SPAMgmail (DOT) com> wrote

Well Nico's young and blond and half finnish so Ron will go for that ;-)

On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:46:32 -0400, forty <cforteNO (AT) SPAMgmail (DOT) com>
wrote:

Nope.

Ferrari - Kimi, Coulthard (Coulthard rumour was scotched soon enough,
that's the only weak point, maybe they'll keep Massa. Kimi will be
expensive, so they'll need to economise somewhat on the second driver
- two drivers at $35million as per rumour? Bit risky with their
overheads...)

de Montezemelo was happy to say he was after Kimi... If Kimi has a
choice he'll take the money and long term prospects at Ferrari that
Renault won't spend and won't commit to. Perhaps Ferrari will only
want to afford Kimi, and not both him and Michael. It's time for a
change after all that success. I don't think Michael will want to
retire. So where does he go?

Renault -
Kovalainen and Fisi - other driver definately a Finn according to
Fisi, therefore the test driver when Kimi takes the money at Ferrari.

Alonso and Hamilton at Mclaren - Seeing what Hamilton is doing in a
one make series in his first year, they might as well... The only
worry is that he won't keep it up, hence Dennis' comments... Can't see
them taking anyone else unless they are force to, if they're hero
plants it in the scenery too many times from now.

Hamilton will be cheap, which again Alonso won't be. Two drivers at
that sort of money is always tough I guess, again with partners,
sponsors etc to justify things to. Certainly spending heavily on two
drivers is not really a long term measure for most teams.

The only team with shitloads of cash it can afford to just throw
around for the next few years are Red Bull. The same goes for CVC
owned Cosworth, who also have a substantial stake in the sport of
course!

With a very good team, great facilities and a lot of cash one bloke
can spend on his dreams with no answering to a parent company, indeed
still apparently sith huge expansion potential in his business, it is
distinctly possible. Monty has nowhere to go, and is going missing.
This is an Indy 500 winner we're talking. Red Bull want to push
themselves in the US, though that's a minor point perhaps.

Michael won't want to retire, I'm fairly sure. He is Schumacher. He
*is* F1 now.

So... A staggeringly well paid Michael and Monty in an *Adrian Newey*
Red Bull-Cosworth. Red Bull are supposed to be just getting going, so
they could even justify the value.

It sounded strange to me when I came up with it, but now something
makes a lot of sense here.


joe

"Prefect_Being" <jgill (AT) freenet (DOT) co.uk> wrote

"Prefect_Being" <jgill (AT) freenet (DOT) co.uk> wrote

Still sounds like the ravings of a lunatic to me...

On 2006-06-16, Prefect_Being <jgill (AT) freenet (DOT) co.uk> wrote:
Since we're all wildly speculating, I'm going to guess McLaren can get
better results out of Bourdais for the same price as Hamilton.

Schumacher leaving Ferrari, but not retiring, seems a bit far fetched.
I mean, what's the point? What's the motivation for going out and just
turning laps?

--
"I have to decide between two equally frightening options.
If I wanted to do that, I'd vote." --Duckman

On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 20:51:41 +0100, Prefect_Being
<jgill (AT) freenet (DOT) co.uk> wrote:


This all started with people dismissing the Ferrari Dream Team out of
hand. If it is impossible, why did Luca heap praise on Kimi? To drive
Michael out? C'mon... If Kimi decides to go to Renault he'll get less
money I'm sure. I can't believe lifestyle/language would get in the
way of going to Ferrari as he's an outsider anyway. Perhaps he'll stay
at Mclaren... pfffffff

So let's try and put things together logically given the noises we've
heard:

Luca wants Kimi, he's said so. Kimi will get more money and to drive
for Ferrari so I'd be surprised if he went to Renault. The Dream Team
is impossible (not my argument, but I'll accept it) so Michael must be
either retiring or going somewhere else. I'd be very surprised if he
retired.

Fisichella has signed, and said the other driver will be Finnish -
taking this at face value it is a way of not saying it won't be Kimi.

It has been suggested Kovalainen and Hamilton should follow
Kimi/Alonso slow-team route to a fast seat, but both are older than
either of them, Kovalainen with a lot of F1 seat time in the
background already. The jump for Hamilton is nothing like the same
age-wise as for Alonso, nor series-wise as for Kimi, so the comparison
is not good. Alonso won the last race of his first season in F3000,
this *is* Hamilton's first in GP2. If he carries on like this there is
no comparison.

That gives:

Ferrari - Kimi, ?
Renault - Fisi, Kovalainen
Mclaren - Alonso, Hamilton

Toyota have money, but won't get anyone big I'm sure. I would not be
surprised if they look to sell the racing team in a year or two.

Of the Big teams Money/Success wise, Williams are a bit creaky but
still quick, though Webber will stay. Perhaps Nahrain will swap with
Rosberg. Maybe they'll go after Coulthard, Button or Montoya, all
former drivers of theirs, which would be strange but not unheard of
for them to do. It's a possibility. OTOH their line-up is cheap as it
is, which might well be an issue for them.

So we have:

Mclaren - Alonso, Hamilton
Renault - Fisi, Kovalainen
Ferrari - Kimi, ?

I don't see why that "?" cannot be Schumacher, but let's carry on and
say it isn't.

Who else is a big team besides success?

Toyota? - pfffffff possibly cheating mediocraty

Honda? Drivers are there for a while I would image. Team organisation
problem...

Aguri are potentially good, but come on...

....Red Bull are sitting on a headless body of very clever people. The
same can be said of Cosworth. Mateshitz has a strategic interest in F1
at least as far as his own business empire is going. CVC *own*
Cosworth, *Bernie* *AND* *Mcnally's* old plot. It does *NOT* get more
strategic than that. Montoya is a great driver getting lost in
translation, an Indy 500 winner, and to race fans a phenomenal driver.
He is lost in the system.

It could be argued Schumacher *is* F1 now, as much or even more than
the team he drives for. In short, both represent F1 in communication
with the public more than with anyone in the paddock. This is Red Bull
and CVCs area.

Mateshitz might be peeing his money away but he can do that. Or he
might be creating real, real value. This is his territory.

Monty/Schumi at Red Bull would mean Coulthard is out of a seat. The
Ferrari rumour may have been scotched as it was inconvenient given the
order of play. Massa may be kept on as he's getting more reliable, is
young without the advantages of other young drivers, and is quick. And
cheap.

Mateshitz talks strategic F1 with Mosely and CVC *are* F1 strategy.

The pull is there, particularly if it takes away the issue of Michael
running out of options. For Michael to go rather than retire? They'd
have to get Brawn, who may just go back to where his heart is - he
could have his old chums *and* Schumi, and a lot of money no doubt. He
could work with Newey, as could Schumi. Whether that would interest
Schumi is debatable.

Schumacher and Montoya in an Adrian Newey/Ross Brawn Red Bull
Cosworth. That's the head and a strong neck on a very good body of
people. Massive value to the sport, and hence CVC and Red Bull.

It is not as stupid as it first looks.


joe