2008 Line-Up (Rumour Mill)

ahhahahahahahahahah!! aah these guys are missing something and it makes them think HondaF1 is a terrible terrible person.

Ahh no I don't think that being racist makes you a bad person. I know a lot of people who are racist to some extent (certain arabs, South africans and asians), it is not politically acceptable in western societies today, but it used to be until very recently in some countries and is still normal in other places. The bottom line is that I would not tolerate racism from Europeans, but I would tolerate it from South african's, arabs and Australians. So HondaF1 is still fine ;) :lol:
 
It really annoys me that whenever someone says they don't like Hamilton, people bring up the racism card lol...

(I don't think HondaF1 was being racist, even to the slightest degree)

I'm not a big fan of Robert Kubica, and I think he looks funny too. Does that make me racist against Poles?
 
I think it's time to move on!

So err, Ralf Schumacher. Still thinks he's a shot at driving in F1 next year.

Ralf said:
"I am not worried at all. I know certain things that will make sure I can sleep at night.

"I am certain that I will race in Formula 1 next season and I'm already looking forward to it."

This roughly translates to 'I keep trying to ring Ron Dennis but it always diverts to his message bank. No answer from Colin or Aguri either...' :(
 
It really annoys me that whenever someone says they don't like Hamilton, people bring up the racism card lol...

(I don't think HondaF1 was being racist, even to the slightest degree)

I'm not a big fan of Robert Kubica, and I think he looks funny too. Does that make me racist against Poles?

I might have missed something but I don't think poles count as "race" :lol:
 
My gf is Polish and even she says hes the weirdest looking man!!
 
BACK ON TOPIC!!!!!!

Red_Bull you are a funny man. He must have the ace to end all aces up his sleeve. I can't see where he is going to go. He actually probably deserves to stay in Formula 1, in the right circumstances in the right car he can be very very quick. If I was hiring him though it would be very much on a performance based, race by race contract though.

So a recap, here is the current situation going into 2008. This of course discounts any trade activity. But trades are very rare in F1.

Ferrari:
Massa (contracted to 2010 )
Kimi (contracted to 2009 )

McLaren:
Hamilton (contracted for the rest of his life)
Alonso (contracted until 2008 )

Renault:
???????
???????

Toyota:
Jarno Truilli (contracted to 2008, maybe 2009)
???????

Red Bull:
Mark Webber (contracted to 2008 )
David Coulthard (contracted to 2008 )

Toro Rosso:
Sebastien Vettel (contracted to 2008 )
Sebastien Bourdais (contracted to 2008 )

BMW:
Nick Hiedfeld (contracted to 2008 )
Robert Kubica (contracted to 2008 )

Williams:
Nico Rosberg (contracted to 2008 )
???????

Honda:
Jensen Button (contracted to 2008 )
Rubens Barrichello (contracted to 2008 )

Super Aguri:
???????
???????

Spkyer:
Adrian Sutil (contracted to 2008, I think)
???????

Prodrive:

???????
??????? (team may not even exist)

Still a couple of big gaps to fill. The biggest piece to fall into place is what Flavio wants to do. He seems happy with both drivers, but obviously waiting to see if something better becomes available, which he can as there is nowhere really for his drivers to go.
 
The following teams are waiting for Alonso's decision.

McLaren, Renault, Toyota, Williams, Spyker, Super Aguri and Prodrive.

The weeks between Brazil and first test are going to be a hive of activity!!
 
Necx0, I think you can be pretty confident that Sato and Davidson will stick at Aguri next year.

I expect Narain to come to Spyker at some point next season, since the team has been bought out by an Indian.

Gary Paffet might be a strong candidate for Prodrive, if they actually make it on the grid.
 
^ Narain wont go to Spyker, they have already said that they will go for quality over nationality.
 
Alonso is out of McLaren. I can't wait to see him struggling in the Renault. :D
 
Alonso is out of McLaren. I can't wait to see him struggling in the Renault. :D
:| It's Ironic, all of us were speculating last year how Alonso will struggle with McLaren's reliability.
 
haha, I like the headline. Mercedes ready to axe Alonso, not McLaren ready to axe Alonso!!

So Mercedes-Benz have held a private discussion and voted no-confidence over Alonso. Well then, thats Alonso's get out card right there!! I wonder if McLaren would have wanted that story published because it now gives him an arguement as to why he would want to break his contract.
 
So if Alonso leaves the team, how does that get handled, since he has a contract?

If Alonso leaves, does his new team (let's say Renault) have to pay McLaren?
or if McLaren fire him, do they have to pay him the rest of his contract?
 
McLaren want him to leave on is own accord, thus making him either sit out a season, or have another team pay for him.

What Mercedes have done is actually say No-Confidence, and I think that he can now leave free of charge based on that. Probably a stupid thing for them to say, unless its designed to destabalise his championship charge.

I think he will go to Renault, although F1 Racing said maybe a swap with Button (I WISH!!)
 
Ok, more on the customer car issue. Bernie has basically said that it's not a good idea and it probably won't happen.

The plan to introduce customer cars in Formula 1 next year appears to have been killed off.

The controversial initiative was backed by FIA president Max Mosley, who saw it as a way of safeguarding the future of F1?s smaller teams.

But, speaking to reporters at Interlagos, F1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone poured cold water on the idea and signalled that the plans are likely to be dropped.

?It was probably not such a good idea after having a good think about it,? he said.

And then, on the subject of whether the initiative was dead, Ecclestone added: ?Yep, I think so.?

rest of the article is here

I think it is a good thing. There is no point in having four McLaren's on the track, even if two of them are run by a rival organisation. F1 has always been about building your own car, then pitching it against someone else's car to see who wins. Its what gives the constructors championship credibility, and if Prodrive were to take to the grid next year with a set of mp4-23's, then that makes a mockery of the whole process.
 
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