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

Good point Fred.

 

the wing he didn;'t want until there was only one "it's my toy, wah wah wah" guys a ****er.

 

Interesting article on how the Webber deal affects the driver market.

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/22058/7887297/The-ramifications

 

Seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher has said he is not ready to end his racing career as he seeks a first victory since making a comeback in 2010.

The 43-year-old Mercedes driver told Germany’s Sport Bild in an interview that “I still haven’t achieved enough” since returning from retirement.
“I am not yet satisfied,” he said.

Schumacher said there had been no talks yet with Mercedes on a new contract but these would take place at a time to be agreed between him and the team.Schumacher retired at the end of the 2006 season, but returned in 2010 on a three-year contract, which expires this year.
The last of his 91 Grand Prix victories was on October 1, 2006 for Ferrari in China.He was back on the podium for the first time with third place at the European Grand Prix in Valencia on June 24.

Courtesy of the Hindu.​

 

To be fair, I have a sneaky suspicion that Michael will carry on his F1 career, but at Ferrari next year. He has very close relations with the Ferrari team, I just don't feel (even though he can perform with the best today), that he is comfortable at Mercedes.

 

That would be excellent if he did because it would leave the option for a few more driver changes. Having said that, although Schuey has shown touches of his past this year, overall he must be dissapointed with what he has achieved on his come back against a more than average Rosberg - It could look pretty ugly againts Alonso!

 

I think certainly that Michael has reached Nico's level at present since 2010 + 2011, and maybe even has the edge on his younger countryman after recent performances have lacked a lot from Nico (going the way of Button), Qualifying seems a lot more balanced as well.

2012 from Michael's side would have been so much better if he had been given the car that lasted more than the first stint haha. Now the car is starting to last the whole race, we have reached races in the calender that do not match the Mercedes very well, so it's either one or the other which is unfortunate.

However it only takes one race result to boost your name again, especially in this unpredictable season. We have many races to go, and his fitness levels are second to none at the moment, so the only hope is a bit of rain and the optimum car, we know Schumi can do it, we just need to wait for the moment.

As for his potential move to Ferrari, he would be a closer match for Alonso yes, but I have to agree that Alonso may have the legs with the Ferrari compared to Michael.
Which brings us onto continuity, Michael is known not to give up, and that can lead to overstepping the mark yes, but I think things will turn for the better at Mercedes sooner rather than later, due to his loyalty and relationship building skills within teams. (ie. Ferrari 1996-2006).

 

I'm warming up to Schumacher again, I think so far he deserves another year or 2 as his form has improved.

 

If Schumacher went to Ferrari he would pretty much be expected to always loose to Alonso, so no matter what he does he won't fall below expectations
I don't think he would be afraid of the challenge and he may (just may) get the odd result against Alonso. I guess it all depends on where he thinks he can get a win. At the moment theres not to much between Rosberg and Schumacher so if the cars good Rosberg isn't to difficult to beat, Alonso on the other hand....

If Ferrari are looking for a 1 year stop gap before Vettel or Perez they could do worse than Schumacher.

 

As a Sheeple, I may be a bit optimistic, but his fitness levels in F1? At the age of 43? Fricking hell. He is a machine.
Yeah his partnership with Alonso could get ugly quick, as it seems to be a one man team, Alonso and Michael both work better individually I reckon.

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Fire + Fire = destruction...

That's a recipe involving Schumacher and Alonso!

 

Hahaha, I think it is high time we ended this preposterous idea. It's all your fault.
But yeah..
2013 from my point of view...
Mclaren: Hamilton-Button?
Redbull: Vettel- Webber
Mercedes: Michael- Nico
Ferrari: Alonso- Alonso's Bitch?
Lotus: Kimi- Grosjean

 

I'd love to see Perez and di Resta go to Ferrari and Mercedes.

I still not sure where Alguersuari fits in, he says he has a drive with a good team. I can't see it being one of the top 5, it's not one of the bottom 3 and it won't be Toro Rosso. So he's either going to Williams, Force India or Sauber. It's looking increasingly unlikely that Sutil will get a drive, I don't think Bottas will either which is a shame. I expect it to be:

Red Bull: Vettel & Webber
McLaren: Hamilton & Button
Ferrari: Alonso & Massa
Mercedes: Rosberg & Schumacher
Lotus: Raikkonen & Grosjean
Sauber: Kobayashi & Perez
Williams: Maldonado & Alguersuari
Force India: di Resta & Hulkenberg

I think Sauber and Force India would be mad to tinker with their line ups. Massa and Schumacher will probably keep their seats as well.

 

They say that Massa could be appealing to Ferrari because he'd sign a one year deal so they can have Vettel in 2014. It wouldn't surprise me if Red Bull encouraged Vettel to keep holding talks with Ferrari so they keep re-signing Massa, Vettel's contract doesn't actually end for another two years so they could keep Massa there until 2015.

 

I was reading a book about Sebs personal thoughts about drivers and it seems he only truly respects Schumacher and Alonso as role models.

If anything, Seb is intent on learning off Alonso before he retires so he can apply the same mindset to his own race craft.

 

I believe I have made my thoughts on Schumacher clear in the past. However, at the same time, I am really starting to question both Rosberg as a benchmark and the car as a machine for delivering anywhere near the performance Schumacher clearly expects. (Though I said that at the start of the season.)

I still don't think he's consistent enough to challenge for the WDC any more, and I feel that he's taking up a seat that could be used to give a shot to a younger driver, but if Mercedes keep him on for another year I don't think I'll get particularly annoyed about it, nor will I be particularly enthusiastic about it. More recently he's shown some good form (Valencia) and some bad form (Canada).

 

2 and a half years and there is still a question mark haha.

 

What's with all the downers on Rosberg? The guy won his first race this year! Sure his last few races haven't been great but he's beaten Schumacher 30 - 12 in all their races as team mates at Mercedes.

 

He's been poor in my opinion, should've been on pole, or at least challenging for it in the first two races. Neither Schumacher nor Rosberg has got close to the potential of the car consistently this season.

 

If nothing else, this year has shown us that at least 5 different constructors have built cars that could have legitimately won races, which makes this year a lot more tough to compete in than the last few seasons. It has also shown us that the operating window for getting your car's tyres into their operating window (and by extension, the car itself into it's peak performance) is very small. With this in mind, I find it difficult to say that Rosberg/Mercedes have been 'poor'. This time in 2010 Rosberg had 75 points and I don't remember everyone saying how poor he was and that was with a podium car (which had opportunities to win like China). Likewise with 2011, Rosberg had 40 points and I don't remember everyone saying how poor he was then.

Like I said, he hasn't been at the top of his game recently but I still struggle to justify this labelling of him. I'd need to see Schumacher out-race him a good few times before that happens.