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Kimi wants Ferrari – Jordan 21:00
FIA alone to decide on tyres 12:00
Rosberg happy to be measured alongside Hamilton 12:00
One last big development for Lotus 12:00
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Kimi wants Ferrari – Jordan (BBC)
The BBC F1 website today: ‘Jordan said Raikkonen had made a return to Red Bull his first priority but when talks with the world champions broke down, he turned his attention to Ferrari.’
Last week Wednesday TJ13 reported Kimi signed a three year deal with Ferrari and today Carlo Vanzini, Italian Skysport F1HD commentator, and guest on the Sky sport 24 TV program said that according to his sources at Ferrari, Kimi has signed for Ferrari. We of course knew this already.
We also know Red Bull will announce Ricciardo as their replacement driver for Mark Webber at Spa. But what came first? Did Red Bull snub Raikkonen, was it Marko politics or did Ferrari get him and Red Bull is reacting?
FIA alone to decide on tyres
Last week TJ13 reported that Mercedes has sided with Pirelli in asking for rear tyres being wider, probably instigating the requirement. This is as a result of the (rumoured) power advantage the Mercedes powertrain has over its rivals.
Renault and Ferrari want the 2014 specification to remain the same as in 2013 and as James Allen confirmed on Friday, the FIA has decided to do just that, keep 2014 tyres the same as 2013. This does not sit well with Niki Lauda. According to Niki Lauda “Charlie Whiting wrote to all the teams that Pirelli wants a larger diameter and wider tyres“.
Lauda goes on to warn that should we not have the larger tyres for 2014 “we should not be surprised if we stand in Melbourne next year complaining again about the tyres“.
He goes on, “Pirelli should determine what next year’s tyres look like without the influence of the teams. With the new cars and engines, it is important that we have stable tyres“.
As we have seen this year, if it is left up to the teams to agree on a way forward no agreement will be reached. Should the tyres for 2014 not change the FIA has effectively limited the power of the Mercedes.
Or is there more to this than meets the eye? Could it be that Michelin has already started looking at tyres for 2014…
Rosberg happy to be measured alongside Hamilton
Ross Brawn has said Rosberg is happy to be measured against Hamilton, regarded as one of the best in Formula 1. When Schumacher was at Mercedes no one knew how good Rosberg was or how bad Michael was.
In an interview with Totalrace Brawn says, “Lewis is a great reference for the team”.
“I think sometimes he (Rosberg) was a little unhappy with Michael, because it wasn’t the same reference. Michael often had difficult moments with Nico. Was it because Michael was not as good as he once was? Or was Nico better than some people gave him credit?”
Brawn says he feels “vindicated” with Lewis on the team and Nico being on equal terms with him as people are saying how good Nico is, just as he [Brawn] has always said.
One last big development for Lotus
According to a report from AMuS, Lotus is planning on introducing a new longer wheelbase from Spa onwards. The new chassis was tried at Hungaroring however the team decided not to use it due to the twisty nature of the circuit however it is felt that the fast flowing nature of Spa will bring big benefits together with their passive DRS.
The longer wheelbase will solve the front tyre graining issue Lotus has been suffering from as well as allow the air to stabalise before it hits the sidepods. If it is enough to give Kimi a real chance to challenge Vettel and Hamilton remains to be seen though.
Lopez said in a previous quote that changing a car’s wheelbase is an early season tweak and not the kind of thing a team would do in the second half of the season. If true we might have to have a “Formula 1 boss in ‘not entirely truthful’ shock” headline.
Following on from Sunday’s news, if Ricciardo is now a definite for RBR and the ‘earthquake’ that is Kimi to Ferrari, then Hulk or Di Resta must be looking good for a competitive drive next year. Even if Kimi doesn’t go to Ferrari, then Hulk or Di Resta might just replace Massa.
Here is my 8 Ball Magic :
RBR VET/RIC
MER HAM/ROS
FER ALO/(HUL|BIA|RAI)
LOT (RAI|BOT|DIR)/GRO
McL PER/BUT
F-I DIR/SUT
STR JEV/DAC
WIL MAL/(BOT|JUN)
SAU GUT/(SIR|KOB)
CAT PIC/KOV
MAR (BIA|MAG)/PET
Do you think Button is safe at McLaren? Till when is his contract, 2016?
I have no idea if Jenson will stay with McLaren beyond 2015 but as far as I know he’ll should be there in 2014/2015. As far as ‘safe’ is concerned I would think so… yet, we all know the frailty of F1’s contract!
The teams are not allowed to bring a spare car to races, but can bring a spare unbuilt chassis; so are you saying Lotus built up a long wheelbase car, brought it to Hungary, tried it on Friday, then stripped it and built up a short wheelbase chassis car for Saturday? Or did they change suspension arms to create a longer wheelbase? What about the mandatory front/rear weight balance? If they changed suspension so, they probably would only change the front, as moving the rear axle center back would lead to countless issues. I don;t know, this doesn’t sound right somehow.
Sorry Steve, my bad. The chassis was not used at Hungaroring. They thought about it but did not use it. Spa will be the first outing for hte longer wheelbase.
The political tyre-war is already on for 2014. Loving it 🙂
Allison moved to Ferrari. Kimi to follow? Sounds like a nice combination.