Ferrari's 2014 Formula 1 driver line-up verdict now imminent By Jonathan Noble Saturday, September 7th 2013, 17:03 GMT Ferrari's 2014 Formula 1 driver line-up verdict now imminent - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo says the team's 2014 Formula 1 driver line-up will be decided within days - and he did not rule out a return for Kimi Raikkonen. With Ferrari having evaluated for several weeks whether to replace Felipe Massa for next year, di Montezemolo revealed at Monza that decision time was imminent. "We will think of this [the 2014 drivers] immediately after Monza because we wanted to arrive at this weekend without any strange pressure," said di Montezemolo to reporters in the paddock at the Italian Grand Prix. "We will take a decision in the next days - and we haven't taken any kind of decision yet. We haven't signed a contract with anybody. We will talk with Massa, then we have our opinion, and then we will decide." Although Ferrari insists that a good performance at the Italian GP could still be enough for Massa to keep his seat, the team has been seriously evaluating other options. And although most of the current speculation has revolved around Raikkonen, di Montezemolo said that the shortlist was longer than just the Finn. "We can take somebody else... we have several names," he said. NO BARRIERS TO RAIKKONEN RETURN However, di Montezemolo did make it clear that despite the circumstances of Raikkonen's departure at the end of 2009 to make way for Alonso, it would not be impossible for the Finn to return. When asked if he would be comfortable working with Raikkonen again after what happened before, di Montezemolo said: "What happened? We won a world championship. "Kimi is a good driver. For us it was a big satisfaction for him to win the first championship without Michael [Schumacher] and without Ross [Brawn]. "In any case, it is not a problem, but also there are some possibilities with other drivers. But there is also the possibility like last year that we decide to continue with Felipe." He added: "We haven't taken any kind of decision yet at all. In any decision you have to be very careful because you have a plus or minus. "Now is time to take the decision. Before was too early, but we will take it now."
Maybe Ferrari could clone Alonso and they'd have two Alonsos. The only question is if Alonso would allow himself as a teammate.
Replacing the number 2 driver may not alter the Championship outcome for Ferrari next year, Red Bull has a better car than Ferrari. Just look at the time gap at the end of the race. The RedBull is sometimes 20 seconds in the lead! Alonso can beat Vettel if he had a faster car. Another approach would be to steal Vettel away from RedBull and or hire their lead engineers. Stealing A Newey might be the best way to slow Red Bull down. It seems that Ferrari isn't able to speed up otherwise.
That could be a really good pairing. The Sauber hasn't let Hulk show his full ability lately, but that young man is a solid driver, with many, many good years in front of him.
Massa is damaged goods at this point. He has been disappointing for so long now, that even if he shakes the cobwebs off and wins a race or two, everyone's reaction will be "OK great, but he can't keep it up. He's going to fade away again next race." When even his staunchest fans are saying its time to go, well maybe we do need a young up and comer. The young gun may or may not do any better in his first year than Massa has, but the difference for the Tifosi will be the renewed hope, that he will.
Flabbio in the Ferrari pits......ummmmmmm.... Seriously Ferrari needs a better car. I'm hoping the addition of Allison will help.
He hasn't won a race in 5 years....and has only podiumed 3 times I believe since 2009. Grosjean has podiumed more in the last 2 years. I heard mentioned that he hasn't won in 72 races-the longest ever by a Ferrari driver. 2008 was a long time ago......
Playing the contrarian note, Webber, while being interviewed this week about Ricciardo, mentioned that it's easy to achieve when there are no expectations, but when the expectations are purple sectors every lap you run it's an entirely different ballgame. Perez looked brilliant last year, but looks like a hack with McLaren (in a bad car, no less). I'd imagine Ricciardo will look a lot different driving for RBR...the smiles will disappear. I think Nico is a high-potential, young driver but we don't really know if he has race-winning skills yet. He still can be a good complimentary driver to Alonso though. We'll find out soon.
The problem isnt continuous purple sectors. Its moving over and coming in behind your team mate who is expected to win and and when his wins are assured you then get to run your own race. Hulk has ZERO idea how that really works in Ferrari. Kimi more or less does but he is a short term solution. Hulk is not the FA replacement as in the case of Riccardio who might get to step up after Vettel. Hulk is a driver not a contender. Ferrari have themselves to blame for this situation as they refuse to move on and have 2 teams within its structure with 2 more or less equal drivers. Its old and useless in my opinion. FA is not really happy to have to guard himself against real competition internally. He didnt quite function well when confronted with that earlier is his life. Whatever Ferrari decide FA will have to step up himself and become comfortable with something he has clearly not liked. That being said Kimi didnt quite 'rule' the team as FA does and Hulk is junior, unknown and unproven as you posted. He has experience but not at the Ferrari level. FA has little to fear with his arrival but does the team know how well he can actually support FA. He will have to temper his hunger if he is given the seat. How long will he want to do that if he has the speed to actually challenge FA. Should be interesting.
I think they will bring Ross back with all the instability at Merc. Send Massa out for sure, and don't sign Kimi because he will just get in the way of Alonso. They should have signed Hamilton if Alonso wasnt such a cry baby.
doubt if Kimi will go to SF. don't think he got along that well there. Not disciplined. too much partying. a free spirit. Hulk would be easier to manage and more of a team player. I would be happy with either choice.
