Emerald Emblem Posted November 17, 2009 Share Posted November 17, 2009 Really hoping to see Kobayashi get a drive. What he showed the last two races of the season was great and outfinishing Trulli both times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaggle64 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Now go and kick some ass in the WRC! Rumour is Citroen are offering him 10mil Euros - twice as much Sebastian Loeb gets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro_Link Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 haha thanks for the 'quote name' gaggle! Yeah I read that Citroen rumour somewhere. Rallying (and freedom to challenge himself in other categories basically) seems to have become of real important to him lately, and seems to have been the likely sticking point between him and McLaren (who wouldn't let Heikki do any rallying)... http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80187 As well as a difference of opinion about wages, Raikkonen and McLaren were believed to not be in agreement about the number of sponsorship appearance days he should do, or about how free he was to do rallies. With Raikkonen only interested in returning to F1 in a race-winning car, his best option for 2011 would appear to lie with Red Bull Racing – which has a theoretical vacancy for 2011 with Mark Webber currently only contracted until the end of next year. Although it is not clear what Raikkonen will do next year, it is possible that he will focus his efforts on the World Rally Championship – while he sorts out an F1 return. Red Bull could be involved in his rally plans too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicktendo Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. *Breathes* ooooooooooooooooo. Raikkonen was the best guy in F1. Boo to Button and boo to McLaren. Now I'm sad :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaggle64 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 (edited) BBC: Button has now signed for Mclaren. EDIT: Now officially announced. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8363892.stm Edited November 18, 2009 by gaggle64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. *Breathes* ooooooooooooooooo. Raikkonen was the best guy in F1. Boo to Button and boo to McLaren. Now I'm sad :/ You cant rely blame ay but raikkonen if he wanted a drive next year he would have one. If mclarens resons were they didnt want him rallying then thats fair enough. You dont want to be paying a driver a fortune for him to go and crash a rally car and not be fit to race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro_Link Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 Shit! Ross Brawn is gonna be PISSED!!!... From TODAY! (before the McLaren announcement)... http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80188 Brawn against Button McLaren switch "Negotiations [with Button] are continuing and the reports that he has already agreed terms with McLaren are not helpful. I would be amazed if that were the case," Brawn told The Independent newspaper. "His best future is with our team, where he has a good group around him, and there's a lot to be said for that. The logical thing would be for him to stay with us, but of course logic doesn't always prevail." I tell you what, Jenson is one weasely little character. First he screws over Frank Williams a few years back, then he signs the McLaren deal seemingly without Brawn knowing. IMO he's the most overrated driver atm. Now he'll go to McLaren and be playing second fiddle to Hamilton! I bet you that won't be a happy team come mid-2010 if Hamilton continues to be the first to get upgrades etc... and if Rubens could out perform Jenson in qually, surely Hamiltons gonna destroy him! Should have stayed put Jenson! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goron_3 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I can't believe Kimi is not in F1 anymore. Seriously, Kimi is a classic throwback to the old F1 drivers of the decades gone who just did one thing; drive fast. Nowadays all the drivers are media groomed (though Vettel is a star), the sport has much more drama off it than it has on it and overtaking is getting worse (mainly because the tracks are horrible). People say Kimi has no personality but that is FAR from the truth, he just doesn't show it infront of the camera. The famous 'I was taking a shit' line he said at Interlagos 2006 is what makes Kimi so perfect in that all he wants to do is jump in the car and drive. It's a shame after 2008 where Felipe beat him people started saying 'He's overrated, he got beaten by an average driver' because in reality that years Ferrari was developed to be an understeery car which is the complete opposite of how he drives and on top of that, Felipe was and still is lightning quick. I hope we get Raikonnen back because in the 2005 season I saw the fastest driver in the world driving the fastest car in the world and if that Mercedes engine didn't blow up 6 times during the race (4 when he was in the lead i believe) he would have walked that title. Button to Mclaren? Interesting, because again Lewis likes an oversteering car and Button likes a (slightly) understeering car and we all know car development can only go one way..That said if Jenson can get a good set up and look after his tyres you never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Totally agree that he should have stayed at Brawn. It's all well and good being in the best car, but when your team mate is without a doubt their number one priority - and much better than you, the best you can ever hope for is 2nd. As I said earlier in the thread, I think this is particularly stupid move for Button. It will be interesting to see who Mercedes employ to partner Rosberg, if Heidfeld rumours are true then I don't see that that team has a clear leader/race winner in it. Despite other reports I wouldn't rule out Raikkonen going there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro_Link Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 (edited) @Goron, He really is the James Hunt of the modern era! I was SO looking forward to Kimi vs Lewis in 2010! Found this nice video: Both in superfast oversteery McLarens, that would have been worked to the absolute limit by two fantastic drivers who would have enjoyed developing the same setup and pushed each other on. Imagine how awesome that car would have become!! Still, he seemed so relaxed in his Rallying this year, so it was always gonna be a contract deciding factor for him. So hope he can go and achieve great things in whatever he chooses to do next, and hopefully will return to F1 sooner rather than later! Edited November 18, 2009 by Retro_Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaggle64 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 (edited) Kimi could've singed for McLaren weeks ago, but clearly he had developed a taste for rallying and being in F1 just wasn't going to let him pursue that. It would've been fantastic to have him alongside Lewis, but it seems like he'll be happier charging up and down the mud tracks of Europe where there's less media commitment to worry about. Good luck to him. Meanwhile Button and Lewis I think will make great bedfellows. It's always a stretch squeezing 2 world champs into the same garage but the dynamic is very different between Lewis & Button then it was between Lewis & Alonso. They clearly respect each other enormously, professionally and personally, and Button will know full well what he's up against - it won't be a surprise upset of the apple cart like it was with Alonso, and finally McLaren have a duo they know can win the WCC for them. Next year's gonna be great. Edited November 18, 2009 by gaggle64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro_Link Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 (edited) and Button will know full well what he's up against.I don't think he'll truely know what he's let himself in for until the season starts. I also think Jenson's abit disillusioned with regards to how good he is atm. I think he sees himself as a match for Lewis, but I'd be genuinely surprised if he is, and that's only gonna gradually frustrate him more and more until we get another infamous... "Blah Blah Blah Blah" moment Oh and I just hope the BBC coverage isn't cringeworthy next year... PLEASE!!! lol at this caption from the autosports forum... JB: "My boy's a a WDC champ." AH: "So's mine." JB: "My boy has a hot babe." AH: "So's mine." JB: "My boy has a Merc engine." AH: "Mine too." JB: "My boy's a crybaby when thing's aren't going his way." AH: "Mine too." JB: "Let's go get a drink." AH: "Better make it a double..." Edited November 18, 2009 by Retro_Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goron_3 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 @Goron, He really is the James Hunt of the modern era! I was SO looking forward to Kimi vs Lewis in 2010! Found this nice video: Both in superfast oversteery McLarens, that would have been worked to the absolute limit by two fantastic drivers who would have enjoyed developing the same setup and pushed each other on. Imagine how awesome that car would have become!! Still, he seemed so relaxed in his Rallying this year, so it was always gonna be a contract deciding factor for him. So hope he can go and achieve great things in whatever he chooses to do next, and hopefully will return to F1 sooner rather than later! Kimi in an oversteery-on the pace Mclaren would have achieved wonders next season, it's a shame we'll get to see him vs Lewis because they are the two fastest F1 drivers and use very similar set ups. I love that Rubens 'blah blah' video you posted retro, it's so damn good. I have it on my iPod as a music track Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Shit! Ross Brawn is gonna be PISSED!!!... From TODAY! (before the McLaren announcement)... I tell you what, Jenson is one weasely little character. First he screws over Frank Williams a few years back, then he signs the McLaren deal seemingly without Brawn knowing. IMO he's the most overrated driver atm. Now he'll go to McLaren and be playing second fiddle to Hamilton! I bet you that won't be a happy team come mid-2010 if Hamilton continues to be the first to get upgrades etc... and if Rubens could out perform Jenson in qually, surely Hamiltons gonna destroy him! Should have stayed put Jenson! I think weasely is the wrong term. Hes a racer he wants to win Schumacher admits he did some things to win that perhaps he shoudnt have, refering probbaly to running hill off the track. These sort of people will do wat ever they feel they can to win. I think jenson will probably have a few shocking first races. And then the pressure will be lifted from him andhe will start to perform again. Yes ruben could out qually hm but not all season just whn he was under pressure. If he comes to terms with the fact he wont be cham in 2010 early on it will do him a lot of favours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro_Link Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 I completely understand the desire to win and wanting new challenges, but to keep going behind peoples backs is a little much. We'll see. By Brawns own admission, Rubens used to do a lot of the setup work for Jenson, so yeah he may be in for a bit of a rough ride at McLaren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I completely understand the desire to win and wanting new challenges, but to keep going behind peoples backs is a little much. We'll see. By Brawns own admission, Rubens used to do a lot of the setup work for Jenson, so yeah he may be in for a bit of a rough ride at McLaren. Theres probably more to it than we know. Maybe he was worried that kimi was going to get the mclaren seat and then he might not get a seat at all if merc pushed for a german line up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ganepark32 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Honestly not surprised about Button going to Mclaren. I do feel, however, he may have signed for the wrong reasons. Those being purely monetary seeing as it was his salary that was one of the biggest complaints he was holding against Brawn GP. All I'll say is that he better get used to playing second fiddle because it'll surely happen. The form Hamilton was on in the latter half of the season put him miles ahead of Button in all regards and I doubt that will go away with the winter break. Shame Kimi has gone. You know, I wasn't completely taken by him as a person but his racing style and attitude were what the sport needed and really, Mclaren plonking for Button instead of Kimi is ridiculous really. Kimi was and still is the better driver of the two. I do hope we'll see him back but I reckon it'll be another Haikkonen situation where he went off for a break and didn't come back. As for next year, it'll be interesting to say the least but I reckon that Vettel and Hamilton will be the ones to keep an eye on in terms of being contenders. Vettel's going to win the championship at some point and reliability was against him this year so hopefully that's something that'll go away next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goron_3 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I think weasely is the wrong term. Hes a racer he wants to win Schumacher admits he did some things to win that perhaps he shoudnt have, refering probbaly to running hill off the track. These sort of people will do wat ever they feel they can to win. I think jenson will probably have a few shocking first races. And then the pressure will be lifted from him andhe will start to perform again. Yes ruben could out qually hm but not all season just whn he was under pressure. If he comes to terms with the fact he wont be cham in 2010 early on it will do him a lot of favours. That was Villineuve he tried to run off the track. The Damon incident is a 50-50 and even Hill has said he made a mistake in trying to make the move; i really don't see it as Schumachers fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harper Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 It might just be me, but im seeing this more as Mercedes not wanting Button than Jenson running off to Mclaren over his old team. Sounds like whilst Brawn sorted out their takeover they were offering him a contract they knew he wouldnt take too delay things. Ill agree im not sure its gonna be the right move for him to make admittedly, but I dont think its a simple case of him wanting more cash and not thinking Brawn/Mercedes will be up to the task. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 That was Villineuve he tried to run off the track. The Damon incident is a 50-50 and even Hill has said he made a mistake in trying to make the move; i really don't see it as Schumachers fault. I do then again i was 11 and a huge hill fan. You will not change my opinion haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro_Link Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 Interesting... http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80207 Fry: Money not issue in Button departure Brawn GP chief executive officer Nick Fry is adamant that Jenson Button's move to McLaren was not prompted by the financial terms offered by his team. Fry believes that the deal Button has signed with McLaren could be worth less money than was on the table to remain with the rebranded Mercedes Grand Prix team next year. He insists that press reports of the amount offered to Button by the team are significantly short of the actual figure. "I don't think that it was a financial issue," Fry told AUTOSPORT. "We understand that our offer to Jenson may well have been in excess of what he might be getting with McLaren. "We are disappointed that Jenson has decided to leave because we did make what we thought was a very generous offer for a new contract which was significantly in excess of the frankly spurious figures that were put out to the press over the past week or so." Fry added that the team was still keen to proceed with further contract negotiations over the past week, but that Button's management seemed uninterested in talks when approached in recent days. "It was clear to us that things were going seriously astray as of Sunday night or Monday morning," said Fry. "Unfortunately, over the last week there has been very little dialogue with Jenson's management team despite the fact that we have made overtures to have further discussions. But they didn't seem particularly keen, presumably because they were set on the McLaren route." Many pundits, including three times world champion Jackie Stewart, expect Button to struggle against Lewis Hamilton at McLaren. Fry also suspects that will be the case and while he did not simply expect Button to stay with team through loyalty, he does not understand the logic behind the choice. "I respect his decision," said Fry. "It's not one that I would have made and maybe he has been poorly advised. "Clearly, loyalty would be nice but in this day and age you don't expect too much of that. I'm always happy when any employee leaves our company if I think that they've made the right decision and they are going to a better job and they always go with our blessing if that is the situation. "In this situation, we don't understand the logic of the decision and I think Jenson is going to have to up his game if he's going to beat Lewis on home territory." Despite losing Button to McLaren, Fry insists he does not regret delaying contract negotiations until the end of the season in the belief that it would have distracted both team and driver from their main aim of winning the drivers' and constructors' championships. "Unfortunately we were between a rock and a hard place on this," Fry told AUTOSPORT. "Ideally the discussions should have been completed before the end of the season, but because of the way that the championship was going in the latter part of the season, the last thing we wanted was to distract the driver with contract negotiations. "That was the right decision because there was enough going on on the racing side to fully occupy us and him without having the burden of contract discussions on top of that." So in short, 'Jenson, you aint no Lewis, WTF.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goron_3 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I saw Retro leaving a post and assumed it' be a link to the rumour about Kimi going to Mercedes that's doing rounds on Planet-f1 and autosports forums. They guy that announced it is a Brazilian F1 nut and he's the guy that leaked the race fixing scandal and first mentioned Rubens going to Williams. Kimi wants a race winning car and now that Mercedes has taken over Brawn they've got a big pocket to dig into...interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro_Link Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 ^ see now why would you see me posting and assume that it's about Kimi! Brawn/Mercedes must have been pretty winded loosing Jenson. OK so maybe Mercedes didn't rate him, but one minute they had Jenson (WDC), Rubens (3rd), 1 & 2 on their cars, a years worth of WDC & WCC to cash in on/advertising potential etc... And now they've got Nico and possibly Heidfeld (which yes they might end up driving pretty well) but it's not exactly a pairing that'll make any other team stand up and take notice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goron_3 Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 ^ see now why would you see me posting and assume that it's about Kimi! Brawn/Mercedes must have been pretty winded loosing Jenson. OK so maybe Mercedes didn't rate him, but one minute they had Jenson (WDC), Rubens (3rd), 1 & 2 on their cars, a years worth of WDC & WCC to cash in on/advertising potential etc... And now they've got Nico and possibly Heidfeld (which yes they might end up driving pretty well) but it's not exactly a pairing that'll make any other team stand up and take notice! Yeah without Jenson in the team they're lacking a race winner and clear challenger. Just checked on autosport and it's official; Kimi is considering Mercedes. YES! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro_Link Posted November 19, 2009 Author Share Posted November 19, 2009 (edited) Just checked on autosport and it's official; Kimi is considering Mercedes. YES!Wahoo!! Seemed he never even considered Brawn/Mercedes, because he always assumed either Jenson would be their, or that now Mercedes are there, two German drivers: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80215 Although Raikkonen said recently that it was McLaren or nothing for him in F1 next year, Button's shock exit from the former Brawn GP team may have changed the situation. http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2009/11/10229.html Q: What about moving to the newly formed Mercedes GP team? Have you put out any feelers towards Brackley? KR: No, I have not held talks with Brawn. I feel they will run two German drivers next year now that Mercedes are involved. But yeah, now it seems if they come knocking, and can convince him they have the car it takes to win races and the championship, and they'll let him do rallying, he'll take a look. Edited November 19, 2009 by Retro_Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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