ltc

OK, so you are your own species?

Darwin called ... He'd like to have a word with you. Give him a moment, he fell off his chair laughing his *** off....

BC

Adam@Autometrics

I have to think this is just to sell papers, as suggested. I don't see how Ferrari could ever "feel right" to Kimi after the '09 season.
I think SV and FA fit well where they're at, and neither will improve with a Kimi #2 (or accept #2 status). But that leaves status quo, and that's no fun at all. Besides, I was way wrong regarding Hamilton; didn't think he'd change, and thought it'd be a mistake if he did. I kinda hope I'm wrong again, really. Fresh driver/team combos seem to be interesting lately.

My993C2

It is the beginning of the 2013 Silly Season and this year appears to be even more silly than past years.

I have a hard time imagining Raikkonen going back to Ferrari and a similar hard time seeing Alonso jumping ship to Red Bull given what happened when he went to McLaren. But I can see Raikkonen going to Red Bull. In 2009 and 2010, there was no #1 at Red Bull. Webber and Vettel were given green flags to race each other. If Red Bull is serious about dominating the WCC, they need Newey to continue to work his magic and have two quality drivers (like they have right now). I could be wrong, but I can see Red Bull signing Raikkonen and telling both drivers, have at it, just don't take each other out. Yes Vettel and Webber did have a couple of on track incidents these last few years. But come on, it's not like this is the first time it's happened in F1.

Sucks for Riccardio if he gets past over because I am sure he can be competitive in a Red Bull, but I am still hoping Kimi signs with the team.

mgent

FA sent his manager over to apply pressure to Ferrari to finally develop a winning car.. I doubt he's leaving...

KR likely leaked a Ferrari seat to help in negotiations with Red Bull... Lotus cash is competitive in comparison, he needs a big checkbook to lever up RB...

multi21

did anyone dare to ask Santander what they wanted? Afterall, they're paying the freight on Miss Alonso's career. Ms. Alonso wants to go to Ferrari after the debacle at McLaren, write them a check to get rid of Kimi. Ms. Alonso is tires of watching RBR win a 4th straight WDC, have Santander write Ferrari a check to cover the contract and RBR a check to cover his salary.

What's that? There is still the problem of having a 4 time WDC at RBR? How much to send him away?

Flying Finn

I can believe Samurai Alonso thinking that way...

It was so rewarding to hear Luca putting him into his place.

There's no way RB will take Alonso, no way.

They have enough money and even more so, very clever marketing people who know bringing Alonso would not bring anything they need.
Kimi however, he would bring a lot more (marketing) and a lot less (drama).

500

Uh... so would it be OK if he was a "petulant English douche"?

That you included his German heritage as part of your slagging of him two posts in a row suggest that you feel that is so?

ltc

Oh, all Alonso's manager had to do was ASK for a competitive car? Who knew it was so easy. Well, I'm sure everyone at Maranello will certainly get with the program now.

Is Alonso's manager an aerodynamacist by any chance? I've heard Ferrari could use a good one right about now ... and right about the same time last year.

Is Alonso's manager a race strategist by any chance? I've heard that Ferrari really could have used one at the last race of 2010 when they focused on Webber and completely ignored the 3rd place driver entering the race .. some young kid.

Ferrari (aka the Maranello Keystone Cops) couldn't find their a^&hole with a funnel, flashlight and a wind tunnel.
And trust me, I don't think their Diva inspires awe, fear, confidence, team building, etc ...

ltc

So I guess this signals that the honeymoon is over.
The question now is who has Luca fallen in love with now...

enduro911

I think that with James Allison going to Ferrari it's not completely out of the question for Kimi to go as well, particularly if he thinks that Allison has a lot to do with the Lotus going from pretty competitive to very competitive.

multi21

IIRC, Rory Byrne is also working on the 2014 package. Thankfully the pecking order may be shaken up for next year.

ltc

Did he bring his own wind tunnel?

BC

I am simply using it as a labeling place holder. Please do not got your hurty feelers in a bunch. It would not be okay if he was an English Petulant Douche, but I don't see any of those?

The only thing worse would be if he was found to be a talentless Frenchman. lol.

ltc

Flavio weighs in on his star client....

Memo to Flav....Ferrari-Alonso a winning combination? Seriously? How many WDC has Alonso delivered for the greatest team in F1 history.
Winning? Where's Charlie Sheen when you need him?



Fernando Alonso has "no temptation whatsoever" to try and engineer a shock move away from Ferrari to rivals Red Bull, Flavio Briatore, who heads the Spaniard's management team, has insisted.

The sport's rumour mill was sent into overdrive last Sunday at the Hungarian GP after Red Bull boss Christian Horner refused to deny that a meeting between himself and Alonso's representative, Luis Garcia Abad, had been about the chance of the Spaniard filling the vacancy that will be created by Mark Webber's retirement at the end of the season.

When the speculation was put to him directly, Alonso insisted he was "very happy" at Ferrari, where he has a deal that runs to the end of 2016, with the team themselves also making clear the 32-time grand prix winner is under contract.

Now Briatore, Alonso's former boss at Renault but who still heads the management company that represents the double World Champion, has told the Italian media that the Spaniard isn't angling for a move away from Maranello.

"Fernando has a contract and contracts must be respected," Briatore told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Alonso has never said he wants to leave. Ferrari-Alonso remains a winning pairing."

And asked whether the Spaniard was tempted to join Red Bull, Briatore replied: "No. No temptation whatsoever."

Nonetheless, despite the highly unlikely nature of any 2014 Red Bull switch, the state of Alonso's relationship with Ferrari has come under the spotlight after the team took the unprecedented step of making public a rebuke that was delivered to the 32-year-old by their President Luca di Montezemolo for negative comments made in the aftermath of the team's poor performance in Hungary.

Ferrari have since attempted to play down the nature of Montezemolo's criticisms - insisting they should be viewed as a "positive injection" - but Briatore has argued that what Alonso said was nothing out of the ordinary as he needed a quicker car to compete for the title.

"It's normal for a racing driver to desire a competitive car and the team must work hard to supply it. End of story," said Briatore.

"He needs to have at his disposal a car that allows him to start from the top two rows.

"We knew it would be tough in Hungary, as it was when I was at Renault. They need to quickly find the instruction manual at Maranello."