Ruben's threads merged: Currently he has left the building.

I suppose Button will stay with BAR. If he doesn't want to drive for Williams, than they can't force him to do so. Perhaps he'll have to pay soe buy-out money, but that will be it.

That will give BAR a terrific driver lineup.

Sato is in trouble. Perhaps back to a testdriving role. Can't see him driving for a team other than BAR.

Massa away from Sauber, will almost certainly mean two seats for grabs at BMW. I suppose Heidfeld is pretty certain of one of em, but who will be next to him? Will BMW have the balls to give Nico Rosberg a shot at it? Maybe even Pizzonia has a chance.

Then there's still the vacant Williams-seat. Who would want to race in a Williams-Cosworth? Maybe even Webber has a works-engine clause in his contract (like Button supposedly has)? Suddenly a Williams-seat doesn't look as interesting anymore.

 

He's gone (almost) and next one SCHUMI!
So SF drivers for 2006:
- Christijan Albers
- Robert Doornbos

 

Release RB now and let Gene race!

 

At least one of em will be named Felipe Massa.

 

WHY?!?!?

 

Give Massa a chance and lets see what happens. I think tires are the most important thing right now and next year.

 

Ditto that. Or even Luca in Monza.

Villeneuve will most likely be able to keep his seat. He even said that he'd go to court if he had to.

 

What are you talking about? You said...

Rubens has made no statement...so.... he is still a Ferrari driver in 2006 (in your mind), yes? Were your sources inside Ferrari wrong when they failed to tell you Rubens was a goner? LOL!

Ferrari 1-2 in Turkey, Impy?

 

thought I'd post another link to ferrari's official confirmation of RB's exit.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4731831.stm

 

So now that we know he has left and no longer need to speculate over this, can we figure out why he left?

His contract has been renewed by him and the team in the past, so why did he choose to leave *NOW*?

Did he just grow tired of MS and Ferrari and the grass at BAR is greener or does he know something we don't? Could it be that he lost fate in the Scuderia and he thinks they're not going to be #1 next year either? Has he seen the V8 in testing and was not impressed and/or has he seen the Honda V8 and was impressed?

And to those who say MS will retire as well: If that were the case and Rubens would know it, don't you think he'd stay instead becoming #1? Or have they already told him, that he will be the eternal #2?

Ah, the combinations are endless..

 

Andreas,

I think this is the key point right there. He is seeing the downward spiral from within and figures jump now before impact.

 

Allthough it is useless to speculate, it is also a lot of fun!

I think Rubens is just done at Ferrari. There is nothing for him left over there. When Ferrari was on top, being second to Michael was bareable since Rubens knew he wouldn't have a better shot at succes in any other team. Now, Ferrari have lost their advantage and BAR is the only Michelin-shod team with factory-engines who actually have a vacancy. McLaren is fully booked and so is Renault. His friendship with Gil de Feran might have smoothed up things just about enough to make the deal go through.

Besides, it is now time that Ferrari is preparing for the future. Rubens is the first member of the dream team to step out and pursue other opportunities. In the near future, they will all be gone. Michael, Ross, Rory and perhaps even Jean when he decides to concentrate solely on the consumer-market.

I don't know whether or not Massa is in there for the long run. Fact is however that Ferrari have followed him closely over the past five years and he's even tested their cars in numerous times. Apperantly, he is doing something that pleases the scuderia enough to grant him with one of the most precious jobs in international motorracing.

Forza Massa! Forza Ferrari!

 

Yah I guess Ferrari knows better than all of us put together how to pick drivers. But I never thought of Massa as being a driver Ferrari would be remotely interested in. I'm surprised they didn't buy Jenson Button out of his contract and offer Frank Williams Ferrari engines. Especially now that they won't be supplying Suaber next year.

 

I really think that Ferrari is going to be a mid-field team at best next year. Have they ever done well during a major engine design change? That's an honest question, I really don't know. I'm a bit concerned that the only V8 info seen at this point was the 2-cylinder-down V10, while the cosworth and others have already started testing.

 

Good question and I'm sure some of the historians on here can comment.

From (leaking) memory I'd say the short answer is no: Since it is more than "just" the engine, but obviously a totally new car as well.

- Trying to think back, I believe it took them some time until they got the V12 into a winning package.
- It took them a while to get the turbo going and even once it was reliable the car was a dog.
- The V10 motor and car took years to develop.

OTOH the F1 business is a rapidly changing world and looking simply back at the past is often not a good enough indicator for the future.

 

Thank you Rubens for your work at the scuderia, without you we would not have 5 WCC

 

Good points there.

Perhaps it wasnt something that changed for Rubens but the fact that he realizes that nothing will change in future for him - he will never be top dog.

Michael will be eventually replaced with another number 1 such as lonso or Raikonnen.

Couple that with a sweet talking Gil de Ferran it made the move more palatable. He knows he will get a sympathetic ear with de Ferran as the sporting director who can tailor the car around his needs.

Another factor must have been seeing the DC's successful transition since his change to RBR. So Rubens must be thinking if it is possible for him it might be possible for me.

 

This will be even more motivation for Rubens to do well. He will want to go out strong.

Ferrari 1 - 2!

 

To echo imperial's sentiments early on in this thread...

Good bye and Good wishes Rubens,

Ferrari couldnt have won so much if werent your splendid efforts. I remember with great joy some of your wins from the back of the field - Silverstone 2003, Germany 2000. You are still in the top 2 in the wet/semi-wet situations.

Its too bad that you were paired with an unreal phenom such that your performances look a little muted by comparison

Hopefully you will get a team to design a car around you and will win some races in 2006.

A nice guy to the last....

 

Not bloody likely. RB gave a good dig into Piqet Sr when Sr started talking about this move days ago and RB retorted that he should be paying more attention to Piquet Jr as his career was not doing so well in the formual he's in. Apparently no love lost between RB and Sr.

 

Ever seen anybody who was good friends with Piquet Sr? Aside from Bernie and Murray?

 

I'm betting that the final straw was when MS rudely and unnecessarily ran him into the grass during the Indy race. Which was immediately followed by Brawn and/or Todt coming over the radio to say RB must stop trying to fight back and stay back at low-revs for second.

 

That was actually an overshoot by Rubens, he was trying to hard and it was already the 2nd or 3rd time he did it that weekend. If you watch it again you will see that MS did not touch him, nor did he push him off the road by taking away all the space. MS followed the proper line, Rubens took a risk and braked late, and obviously it didnt work.