Well, AMG Mercedes have got away with it. The only real losers are the young drivers that will now miss out on a weekend of F1 driving at the young driver development test in July.
Now it's official, Webber quits and Räikkönen is the top contender for the second spot on Red Bull, "If he is free for it" as stated by Horner, the boss.
If Kimi goes for Red Bull and they manage to keep the high quality of their car, next season will probably be most interesting in a long time.
Modern gaming apologist: I once tasted diarrhea so shit is fine.
"People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an excercise of power, are barbarians" - George Lucas 1988
I don't see why Kimi would want to go to Red Bull, or why any Drivers Championship contender would move to Red Bull. It'd be like moving to Ferrari in the late 90's.
Ex-Mod. Technically retired, they just won't let me quit.
Agreed, especially if theyre going to continue showing Vettel the preferential treatment. Kimi is a class driver that deserves championships, not to be fucked over by his team mate.
I seriously doubt that there would be any sort of preferential treatment at that point, else Kimi wouldn't agree to it at all. They've had also pretty long relationship already. Red Bull already tried to secure Kimi for them in 2009 when he was quitting, and then proceeded to finance his first season of rally.
Modern gaming apologist: I once tasted diarrhea so shit is fine.
"People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an excercise of power, are barbarians" - George Lucas 1988
Kimi isn't the kind of driver to tolerate somebody else being the lead driver. Hence why he wanted out of Ferrari so badly when Alonso arrived.
Good riddance. More than anything else, Webber was a massive hinderance to Red Bull's championship hopes. The only problem is that Horner was too spineless to take matters into his own hands because of Mateschitz's support towards the Aussie (Malaysia is a strong example of his spinelessness as well, only in Vettel's favor).
Red Bull have also confirmed that the 3 drivers on their shortlist are Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Vergne, effectively ruling out the likes of Sutil, Di Resta and Hulkenberg. Vergne is by far the best option imo, as Raikkonen is happy at Lotus and Ricciardo is too unruly. Speed matters, sure, but not getting in Vettel's way matters even more, considering none of those 3 are on the same level as him.
He certainly tolerated it in 2008.
Modern gaming apologist: I once tasted diarrhea so shit is fine.
"People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an excercise of power, are barbarians" - George Lucas 1988
I'm not pleased at all with the verdict, so nothing's really changed. How are they even going to dare to look Sam Bird in the eye now?
And I have largely quit F1, so nothing's really changed. Next year's regulations are also looking very bad on paper and Pirelli is rumored to have a contract with most teams for next year, so unless a miracle happens I'm only going to go further away from the sport. 2005 all over again. However, I couldn't pass up the chance to comment on the departure of a polarizing driver like Webber.
Pirelli's tyre contract is with the FIA, not with the teams.And I have largely quit F1, so nothing's really changed. Next year's regulations are also looking very bad on paper and Pirelli is rumored to have a contract with most teams for next year,
Don't know if this is 'news', but either way it's awesome!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/23106096"Red Bull's short-list to partner Sebastian Vettel next season is Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen plus Toro Rosso pair Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne."
Please, make it so!
As you might've already suspected, it's not really news, though it's nice to see them confirm their interest in him. The rumors surrounding his move to Red Bull have been around for ages.
I still think both Ricciardo and Vergne would be better options because Raikkonen would need some time to adapt to the team's requirements, whereas Ricciardo and Vergne largely already know the team inside out. Don't forget - despite his crashes, Romain was considerably more impressive than Kimi in the opening part of the previous season.
And no, I'm not talking about Raikkonen having to take up a #2 role. 2008 showed us that he wouldn't mind doing that, especially if he's on good terms with his teammate and he's being outraced. After all, both Massa and Vettel are known to have a strong friendship with him.
Anybody else notice the two Torro Rosso pilots stepping up their game in qualifying this afternoon now that Webber has announced his retirement?
Grosjean will need to get the recklessness out of his system before Horner and Marko consider him an option.
Di Resta's car was found to be underweight, meaning he could be disqualified and sent to the back of the grid. What in blazes are Force India doing this year? Their drivers must be getting sick and tired of all these nonsensical things happening all the time.
Outqualifying Raikkonen certainly didn't do him any harm.
hehe tomorrow Hamilton?
Can we please have Bridgestone or Michelin back. Puncture has lost Ham this race and Massa a chance of winning. Ham has the worst luck and Vettel can make shit smell of roses.
Last edited by laffling; 2013-06-30 at 12:23 PM.