Article: 2013 Driver Line-ups, News & Rumours | Formula one

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Sutil this year deserved a drive. He lead Force India to their best finish in the WCC. Now they're looking like they're struggling to do anything, apart from beat Toro Rosso and the 3 new teams. I'd say diResta is comfortably beating Hulk but i dont think he's good enough to be a team leader.. yet.

Force India realised he was going to prison I think more than anything else.
 
I feel that Senna hasn't justified his seat so far this year. If he was to be let go and left with no drive, Massa would do well to move to somewhere like Williams where he could rebuild his racecraft away from comparisons with Alonso.

I wouldn't call Massa a step up. Also i dont think there would be much point for Williams. Its the worlds worst kept secret that Bottas will drive for them in 2013.
 
Maldonado, hmmm, when he's on song he's as fast as anyone, but, once again, anther silly mistake and his car is terminally damaged. What are the odds Maldonado has anothe rtrip into the WoC?
 
Bottas looks fast and can race. Until he's gets a chance in f1 we wont actually know if he can transfer this to f1, but he certainly deserves a chance.
 
Silly is the season…

Joe Saward said:
It must be getting into the Silly Season already. We have had a lot of stories of late about Sebastian Vettel perhaps moving to Ferrari in 2014, after Mark Webber has spent a year in the Italian team. That does not sound right to me. At the start of 2011 Vettel signed a deal for 2011 on the basis that if he finished in the top 3 in the World Championship and won two races he would automatically stay with the team in 2012. His salary was $11 million, rising to $13.8 million in 2012. At the time the word was that Red Bull was offering Sebastian a $13.8 million retainer for 2013 with further performance-based options that would win him $16.5 million in 2014. The general consensus is therefore that he will not be on the market until 2015 and will lock himself into his 2014 contract with his performances in 2013. Obviously, these things can be negotiated away, but my feeling is that Vettel will not be screwing Red Bull because they have supported his career since 1998 and that he seems to be a decent guy. Let us not forget also that (at the moment) Red Bull is also offering him the chance to win rather more races than he would at Ferrari and presumably he would like to see how things develop in Italy before committing himself. It is always possible that he has signed something conditional on this and that, so that he has all his bases covered. In 2015 Vettel will be 27, turning 28 in the midseason. Fernando Alonso will be 33, turning 34, and the idea that the two will go together at Ferrari is a risk for the Italians, Alonso got very wobbly when he was teamed with Lewis Hamilton at McLaren in 2007 and while he is now older and wiser, there are no guarantees that he would not react in the same way again. Who can say? More likely, Vettel is discussing with Red Bull how to push the relationship further into the future, as they seem to like to have things squared away two years ahead of time.

Elsewhere in the paddock there are mumblings about Kimi Raikkonen and the Lotus F1 Team.The suggestion is that they are not getting along very well. I disagree. Yes, Kimi is different to handle than most drivers and it is good if he is happy in his work. At the moment he is not 100 percent happy with his car, which is not a surprise given that the rookie Romain Grosjean is going faster than him. However, at the moment Raikkonen is sixth in the World Championship, with 55 points; Grosjean is seventh with 53. They are both ahead of Jenson Button and are the two best-placed drivers not to have won a race so far. It seems quite likely that the team will win a race sooner or later and there has been a fair bit of disappointment thus far. Bear in mind too that Lotus is stonking along in third place in the Constructors’ Championship, ahead of Ferrari and Mercedes, both of which are (effectively) one car teams at the moment as Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa have both underperformed in terms of puttings points on the board.

The tittle-tattle all seems to emanate from comments made in Montreal by Jacques Villeneuve, who thinks that the Lotus is a great car and with a top driver it would be leading the championship. It is an interesting reflection, but then again the definition of a top driver is also a matter of opinion. When all is said and done top drivers are decided upon by their points scores…

It is true that Kimi has not been happy with the steering of the Lotus and that there is still a certain amount of sharp-edge knocking needed to get the relationship smooth, but one cannot fault what Kimi has achieved thus far. Maybe he does not have the raw speed that once he did, but he knows that winning championships is about scoring points and he is doing that very well.
 
Information about Vettel and Ferrari in today's Autosport magazine:

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As far as 2013 is concerned, I think the most logical options for Ferrari would be:
- Sign Webber to a one-year deal
- One year extension of Massa's contract.
 
Information about Vettel and Ferrari in today's Autosport magazine:


As far as 2013 is concerned, I think the most logical options for Ferrari would be:
- Sign Webber to a one-year deal
- One year extension of Massa's contract.

Interesting, even if the word source often puts me off.

Maybe sign Schumacher for a year, would certainly be interesting on here <laugh>
 
Just reading F1 Racing mag. Apparently "every team including Ferrari" has been in touch with Maldonado, according to paddock rumours in Montreal. His deal with PDVSA sounds incredibly lucrative, Williams (I think it was the team who got the bonus, not the driver) were given £19.3m by them for his win in Spain. Considering Ferrari are paying Felipe a bomb, and seem to be struggling for cash, you can see why he'd be an appealing choice. He'd probably cover Fernando's wages and then some.
 
Just reading F1 Racing mag. Apparently "every team including Ferrari" has been in touch with Maldonado, according to paddock rumours in Montreal. His deal with PDVSA sounds incredibly lucrative, Williams (I think it was the team who got the bonus, not the driver) were given £19.3m by them for his win in Spain. Considering Ferrari are paying Felipe a bomb, and seem to be struggling for cash, you can see why he'd be an appealing choice. He'd probably cover Fernando's wages and then some.

But he'd be worse than Felipe. He's too erratic to be a top driver, if anything, he's like the 2002 Massa.
 
But he'd be worse than Felipe. He's too erratic to be a top driver, if anything, he's like the 2002 Massa.

I think they're a pretty similar standard, but Massa is getting paid £15m or something, whereas Pastor brings a huge amount of sponsorship. I really can't see why Ferrari would stick with Massa again, Webber is a much better driver and would demand less wages, Pastor's got his Venezuelan millions and is an OK driver, and there are younger prospects who are better than Felipe now and have the potential to lead the team when Alonso retires. I'd be amazed if Massa kept his seat again.
 
I think they're a pretty similar standard, but Massa is getting paid £15m or something, whereas Pastor brings a huge amount of sponsorship. I really can't see why Ferrari would stick with Massa again, Webber is a much better driver and would demand less wages, Pastor's got his Venezuelan millions and is an OK driver, and there are younger prospects who are better than Felipe now and have the potential to lead the team when Alonso retires. I'd be amazed if Massa kept his seat again.

I agree 100%. *cough* Perez *cough*
 
If they say Perez is too inexperienced, they surely won't go anywhere near Maldonado. Also if they're going to replace Massa for not being good enough, they're not going to sign someone arguably worse. They're not in desperate need of cash - last I heard Fiat were struggling but Ferrari sales were increasing.

I wonder what's happening with Kubica.
 
If they say Perez is too inexperienced, they surely won't go anywhere near Maldonado. Also if they're going to replace Massa for not being good enough, they're not going to sign someone arguably worse. They're not in desperate need of cash - last I heard Fiat were struggling but Ferrari sales were increasing.

I wonder what's happening with Kubica.

Recently had an operation, i think he can use his arm now, but is nowhere near being race ready. I think it may be over for him in terms of F1, shame, considering how talented he is.
 
Kubica had an operation on his elbow to improve movement because while steering he had to let go to straighten up the car.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kubica was lined up to replace Massa for a year or 2 until Seb came if he makes a recovery.

You would be amazed how good the simulators are to help a driver get his feel for racing back.
 
Well Ferrari are in talks with a few drivers but no journalists speak about Kubica anymore, as if they know he's not coming back. Wasn't he supposed to be testing in an F10 around this time? With this option for Vettel, it seems like Ferrari have lost interest in Kubica, but it does make you wonder where he could go if he does recover.

On Maldonado, his manager is Nicolas Todt, the same guy who manages Massa and Bianchi (who are both fighting for seats next year). If Maldonado is secure at Williams, it would surely make sense from Todt's viewpoint to have Maldonado re-sign Williams while he focuses on Massa and Bianchi's future.
 
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"Vettel and Fernando could coexist": http://translate.google.co.uk/trans...a=X&ei=ZeThT5m6DYe50QWf37iiAw&ved=0CGsQ7gEwAA

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/12474/7830281/Ferrari-Vettel-and-Alonso-could-coexist


Would love Seb to drive for Ferrari. :emoticon-0130-devil

A Fernando and Seb lineup at Ferrari would be far tastier than a Seb and Lewis at Red Bull Racing in my opinion. Me and my brother might not talk to each other in the end, but it would be fun watching them take everything with regard to titles every year lol!

Seb, Alonso, Ferrari? rest of the grid would have no chance! <nahnah>
 
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