Imagine if KR wins the 2006 WC then him and FA become teammates for 2007? Two World champs on one team. That would be something to watch!
Actually I'd love to see that. It'd be reminiscent of the Gilles Villeneuve days: Wild races with some occasional moments of brilliance and victory and then a bunch of whatthehellwashethinking crashes in between. It wouldn't be for the title, but for some outstanding moments of Ferrari history. JPM wins Monaco and Monza and DNFs in between...
JPM gets bashed alot on this board, but I like him, always have. He drives with real passion and has extraordinarily good car control skills....like MS.
The Italian press reacted to the announcement and the overall consensus is that Alonso's transfer to McLaren basically confirms that Kimi will drive for Ferrari. The only open question is whom he will partner at Ferrari: It will be either Schumacher (should he stay on) or Rossi. Interestingly nobody even mentions Massa. Seems to be given that he'll be there for just one season. And it also seems to be a given that Rossi will take his place.
Montezemolo wanted Montoya in 1999. It could happen. I will continue to support Ferrari even if Montoya is there.
if you believe flav's statement then i have a bridge to sell you.... now the other question that needs to be answered is who becomes the title bag carrier (i mean sponsor) for ferrari now that vodafone has jumped? this is a fairly weighty chunk of change that has transferred to mclaren....and away from maranello. ferrari need somebody to step up to the plate for $100 mil/yr. i am wishfully thinking of coca-cola since the color would match, or macdonalds....barring that, maybe jim glickenhaus wants to do some advertising !
"La Gazzetta" says that Ron has an option until 31st of December whether to prolong Montoya's contract or not. That will give us an idea who's staying. And don't expect an announcement from Ferrari before July 2006. Ferrari are going to wait for Schumacher's decision (or maybe he is sure to retire and told Luca to start shopping) and also Ferrari will look at Massa's performance. Finding a replacement for Massa when the season still hasn't started is quite stupid. Give the guy a chance. I think he is better than Rubens.
Now THAT is an interesting question. You might be right, I don't know. He is certainly the faster starter than Michael or anybody else for that matter.
More Ferrari rumours... Nicolas Tombazis to come back with Ferrari?.. Tombazis was offered a contract by BMW but refused. He is to replace Ross Brawn as technical director at the Scuderia in 2007. Brawn would then take in Todt's place as teamboss.
More Alonso news... Alonso is on a 3-year deal getting 30 million the first year, 37 the second and 45 million the third year ....according to some reports.
According to a spanish sporting press... Alonso had offers from BMW, McLaren and Toyota. (Renault (?)) Raikkonen has 3 offers on the table: McLaren, BMW and Ferrari. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Briatore kept out of Alonso-McLaren deal. But according to Hans Joachim Stuck, Briatore knew about Alonso's move and helped him negotiate. The reason, Flavio knows Renault will retire after 06 and wanted the best for Alonso and himself.
Latest I read is that Norbert Haug wants Kimi to stay in 2007 as he'd be the preferred teammate to Alonso. That would mean Kimi could fill the "second" seat at McLaren - although it's open between Kimi and JPM for the second seat. Knowing Alonso has signed and I'd be second - you best believe I'd be going elsewhere in '07. Haven't even begun the '06 season racing and already '07 games are being played. This is the ultimate "soap opera" - they give Days of Our Lives some real competition. I hope that Wurz finds a seat somewhere. He's better than most of the drivers out there. Carol
Niki Lauda seems to agree with you. He explained in an interview with German Bild that Dennis made a major mistake with this early deal. He only sees loosers: - Renault will be very unhappy and Alonso will have a hard time working with the team for the 06 title - Kimi will be very upset about this and not even think about a contract extension with McLaren - JPM will feel like a 2nd class citizen and drive accordingly (didn't he do that this year already?)
I would...JPM is a great driver and could win a WC with the right team. He would have won a few races in 2005 with McLaren if he had not hurt himself playing tennis while riding a motorcyle...LOL
Ferrari needs to hire Flavio to replace Todt IMHO. Especially since Todt now has so many other duties with Ferrari than just running the F1 team...It would be great...an Italian team ran by an Italian...
You have a point there. I do think Todt has been spreading himself too thin once he took over the production cars and coincidence or not at the same time the F1 team started to go downhill. Flav has proven that he can pull together a F1 Championship winning team, he'd be a good choice.
JPM with Ferrari will turn the scuderia into a court jester. People would be tuning in only to see what JPM will pull next, only Sato will be needed for the complete comedy team. I think Kimi will spend 2007 with Ferrari under MS tutelage and then reverse roles next year to help Valentino Rossi adjust for his first season in 2008.
yeahhh...JPM future world champ? if he starts last every race, there could be a chance btws, i hope kimi will be at ferrari in '07, partnering massa, if massa does well next season. i'd rather have him than rossi
Now with Dennis signing Gary Paffett as a new McLaren test driver, Kimi had better make up his mind if he is going to stay at McLaren or jump ship. Dennis is very enthusiastic about Paffett and would like to have a British driver on his race team, and with Alonso signed for 2007, Kimi might find himself looking for a seat at a very inopportune moment.
