2009 Line-Up Rumour Mill

You've surely heard the rumours about Alonso going to Ferrari in 2010 along with current McLaren sponsor Santander (which is Spanish).
Well, after all the tabliods had reported it, it appeared also on autosport.com yesterday. Not the whole rumour, just the Santander part. It's far from being official, but autosport.com is usually right.

"Spanish banking giant Santander is set to become a Ferrari sponsor in 2010, high level sources have told autosport.com"
http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/69061

This would not automatically mean that Alonso is heading to Ferrari in 2010, but if you think about it, it all seems logical.
Both Kimi's and Massa's contracts end after the 2009 season, and so does Alonso's contract with Renault.
Allegedly Kimi won't stay in F1 after 2009.
Santander went to Macca last year, together with Alonso, or maybe because of Alonso. And now they'll apparently leave Macca for Ferrari's sake.
And I think you all remember grandprix.com reporting earlier this year that Alonso had already signed a contract with Ferrari for 2010.

I won't take anything for granted until we hear an official announcement but I think Alonso may very well become a Ferrari driver in 2010.
 
Where the hell would Raikkonen go after F1?
 
Joc? said:
You've surely heard the rumours about Alonso going to Ferrari in 2010 along with current McLaren sponsor Santander (which is Spanish).
Well, after all the tabliods had reported it, it appeared also on autosport.com yesterday. Not the whole rumour, just the Santander part. It's far from being official, but autosport.com is usually right.
Click to expand...

You have to remember that autosport's grapevine section is also the rumour section, so the Alonso factor in the Banco Santandar deal at the moment is just that, a rumour.
 
mclarensmps said:
You have to remember that autosport's grapevine section is also the rumour section, so the Alonso factor in the Banco Santandar deal at the moment is just that, a rumour.
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I know. The Alonso factor wasn't even in the autosport article. At leat not clearly, just a hint. But the Santander part seems to be true indeed.

And the Alonso bit fits well in the whole story. We've been hearing these rumours for more than a year but now it's the first time that I believe it can all actually be true.
 
With 50mil+ per year, I can see him being able to binge drink for....a few months? :D
 
This is going all over the place:

http://paddocktalk.com/news/html/mo...le=article&sid=89416&newlang=&topic=1&catid=1

Willi Weber, most famous for being Michael Schumacher's long time formula one manager, has made a bold prediction about the next move for another highly rated German driver.

The 66-year-old, who currently handles the career of Williams test driver Nico Hulkenberg, reckons Nico Rosberg - who races for the Oxfordshire based British team - will be bound for McLaren at the end of 2008.



Rosberg, 23, is under contract to Williams for 2009, but currently he is refusing to say he will definitely still be driving for the Toyota-powered outfit this time next year.

Weber told Sport Bild: "He has a clause in his contract that Williams can surely not fulfil."

Weber claims that Rosberg will be free to leave Williams if the team fails to finish fourth or better in the 2008 constructors' championship. The team currently lies sixth, nine points behind fourth placed Toyota.

Willi Weber continued: "Rosberg will replace Heikki Kovalainen, who will change back to Renault."
Click to expand...
 
Norbert Haug has come out in defence of Heikki and has said that he's a 'star in the making'. It seems unlikely that McLaren would drop him at the end of the season, and surely not for Nico Rosberg who has been pretty unconvincing this season. The clue in the article posted above lies in Weber's capacity as manager for Hulkenburg. Nothing like creating a little tension between team and driver if it gives his man a slightly improved chance of a seat next year.

The underlying theme of course is, that Heikki must start getting the results he needs and deserves. It's all well and good to have potential, and I think he does, but he needs to start making full use of it and score the points for himself and the team. Their patience will only last so long; they're lagging behind BMW and even further behind Ferrari.

Same for Nico Rosberg. He had a great start to the season, but since then has racked up a fairly extensive accident history, been penalised and delivered some underwhelming performances. Contrast this with Nakajima, who is managing to keep his nose clean and is even scoring consistent points for the team. Certainly not the kamikaze crash magnet we all expected him to be at the start of the season.
 
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I've said it before, I'll say it again: As long as Heikki doesn't stir up a fuss, and is consistent, most likely he will not be going anywhere.

Heikki shows a lot more promise than, say, a certain Coulthard!
 
Of course he does. I just posted the article cause I read it, but I am completely sure that Heikki will be with McLaren for a long, long time...
 
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=43359

Vettel is confirmed to Red Bull for 2009. Not surprising given his performance.

I would expect Senna to take his seat at STR unless someone else takes a flyer on him -- but in the end, STR makes sense as a good team to drive his first season for and there's an immensely strong relationship with Gerhard Berger.

The rest of the silly season still needs some chips to fall before everything sorts itself out. I have some guesses but that's all they are, really.

Steve
 
mclarensmps said:
We'll talk again when Heikki's done the same amount of races as DC ;)
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I just think Heikki is always destined to be a good No. 2 driver in the bigger teams, much like Coulthard. I just can't see him being the No. 1 driver in any of the top 4/5 teams.
 
Next year? Nope.
2010 is more likely ;)
 
Yeah, I still don't believe he ever will, but if he will, it will be 10 not 09.
 
What, the rumours accelerate the deicision of the team bosses? They don't give a shit what's going round on the internet...
 
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