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Sirotkin receives support from Marko 12:53
A load of rubbish – Steve Robertson 12:53
Ricciardo deal already done 15:35
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Sirotkin receives support from Marko
Much have been said about the young Russian that have joined Sauber. And should he be able to get his super license we will see Sirotkin in a Sauber next year.
Sauber is adamant he will be able to deliver the goods and it is not fair to criticise him as he deserves a chance, “You can’t cut him down just because of his age and his father,” said Kaltenborn. She admitted there are drivers that pay for drives but “many who came with backing have very quickly got rid of the ‘pay driver’ accusation. Look at Raikkonen“.
Marko believe Sirotkin is already good enough to have a shot at F1. “Sirotkin is still young but he is already very good. I am of the view that it is not a mistake to promote him.”
Now Sauber just needs to convince the FIA and get him a super license.
A load of rubbish – Steve Robertson
In an interview with Finnish broadcaster MTV3 Raikkonen’s manager Steve Robertson flatly denied having an agreement with Ferrari. “It’s a load of rubbish. We are in the same place as we were a month ago in Hungary; we do not have an agreement.”
The Finnish broadcaster claims Raikkonen will stay at Lotus next year and this is supported by Ecclestone who wants to see the top drivers spread across the teams.
Kimi however wants guarantees the team can provide him the cash and competitive package to challenge for wins and a chance to fight for championships. Lopez however does not want to give any guarantees but believes they are competitive and have given Kimi what he wants and they should be more competitive next year.
“We do not need to give any guarantees, we are very competitive. Rather, the question is about next season. We are very close to reaching an agreement with Renault. I believe that we have very good chances. We’ve done a good job to give Kimi what he wants.”
Steve Robertson will be able to give Bernie Ecclestone a class in negotiations.
Ricciardo deal already done (James Allen on F1)
Speaking to James Allen in the build up to Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix on Australian Network 10, 10 Webber said,
“The decision is made. We all know who it is. I’m happy with that decision. It’s good for him and it’s good for Australia.”
Why is Red Bull taking so long to make the announcement. Are they seriously considering Alonso… or someone else or are they just playing the game?
First of all, I must say I’ve had a lot of fun reading the messages on this site, it definitely brought this silly season to a higher level. Thanks for that! However, with every day passing I get a bigger feeling this was all mainly a lot of bluff (“sources close to” sounds exciting, but it’s also easy to hide behind it) and sensation. Fun to read nonetheless, but will anything that’s being said here actually happen? I hope so, but I don’t get my hopes up any more.
By the way, very strong race from our samurai! I don’t believe in the title anymore, but let’s hope for some good day results!
TJ13 said Alison was going to Ferrari and that happened… Called Red Bull purple… that happened. Just saw Mark Webber said Ricciardo is signed by RB (all but calling his name) and TJ13 said that too. Will Kimi be in red next year.. I bet he is.
Now I read this back it looks harsher and more negative than I meant it to be. What I mean is: as an outsider it’s great and exciting to hear your favourite driver is going back to red, but there’s nothing to go by except for the word of someone I don’t know. I’d love to have some “proof” or at least a look at the trace that makes it all so convincing for you guys. But at the same time I understand this is information impossible to give away.
Let’s see what happens after the coming two (extremely long) weeks. Is the announcement still expected to be made at Monza?
9th to 2nd. Clearly a driver that does that you want to get rid of.
Don’t think Ferrari wants to get rid of Alonso, never have and will not want to. He looks like one of the only people that can get anything out of that car! 🙂
Actually MTV3, which broadcasts F1 in Finland, yesterday reported “from a trustworthy source”, that Ecclestone does not want two top drivers in a top team (Ferrari), since that team would dominate too much, and therefore Bernie would have engineered an Alonso – Räikkönen swap, which also would solve the financial problems of Lotus, since Santander sponsor money would move with Alonso.
Robertson’s quote above is correct, I saw the interview. However, the same Robertson claimed in 2006, one day before Kimi’s move from McLaren to Ferrari was announced, that he “doesn’t have a clue what will happen”.
Is Kaltenborn actually claiming that Kimi came in as a pay driver? Well that’s a first !