The Official F1 2019 silly season *contains speculation*

[FourWheelDrift]

Vettel was booed by the tifosi when he won for Red Bull at Monza in 2013.

[housen]

i keep saying it about hamilton and ferrari

the fact that the italian fans booed mario balotelli (not because hes a bad player) at a football match will tell you exactly why hamilton will never go or be wanted

[ajprice]

The latest on Leclerc/Raikonnen is a team swap, with Raikonnen going on to be in a management position and part owner of Sauber. https://www.gpfans.com/en/articles/2559/report-rai... Link from the BBC gossip page.

[M3ax]

Sky just announced that Kimi is off.

[HTP99]

M3ax said:

Sky just announced that Kimi is off.

It'll be interesting to see if he's so compliant when it comes to helping out his team mate.

[Andy S15]

Kimi has just announced a 2 year drive at Sauber too!

[Killer2005]

M3ax said:

Sky just announced that Kimi is off.

Ferrari statement

http://formula1.ferrari.com/en/kimi-raikkonen-to-s...

[HustleRussell]

I am surprised that Kimi wanted to drive for Sauber, let alone to sign for two years.

It makes me wonder whether this indicates a yet closer tie-up between Ferrari / Alfa Romeo and Sauber, with more investment and technical support, and what this means for Haas?

Also this is surely the end for Ericsson so who is going to be in the other car? If Sauber is the new Ferrari 'B' team it will surely be Giovanazzi? but what about Vandoorne? Kvyat?

[HustleRussell]

Ferrari have announced Leclerc in

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Giovanazzi might be his own worst enemy though-his sim work is incredibly valued by the team.

[andburg]

so that's just the second Sauber seat left to announce as far as the red seats go.

Ericsson ought to be out as having him alongside Kimi makes no sense but Ferrari only had option on one seat apparently so he could well retain his seat.

serious warning going to other teams based on the spare seat..

To me an established driver (not Ericsson) means they're gunning for best of the rest, academy driver says its a proper b-team and Kimi is there to mentor.

[Frimley111R]

Vaud said:

The Tifosi don't care if they are winning. They accepted "Il leone" - Mansell as one of their own... Schumacher with his raw speed, Alonso with his passion. Kimi with his monotone mumbles and vodka.

I think the Tifosi (when applied to Ferrari) are open in their adoration of a racer, regardless of what they do off track.

This. It's like football, they all hate opposition players, until they move to their teams and start banging in goals. Any team would be mad not to take Hamilton if they had the chance.

[anonymous-user]

Think Kimi should have just retired.

His career is only going to go one way now.

Great to see Ferrari actually putting a new talent alongside Vettel.

Be interesting to see how that two get on if Vettel starts to get threatened.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

It's certainly a statement from Ferrari, I suspect they are growing tired of Vettel's mistakes.

[FourWheelDrift]

I think Ericsson will stay at Sauber since his Swedish backers are the big money investors that saved Sauber from going under.

[Andy S15]

Can anyone recall the last time Ferrari put a fresh driver into the team? Genuinely excited to see how Leclerc does and if he can rattle Seb's cage.

[anonymous-user]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

It's certainly a statement from Ferrari, I suspect they are growing tired of Vettel's mistakes.

I think you are correct.

If Vettel doesn't win this year's Championship things will quickly start to change at Ferrari.

[andycaca]

Andy S15 said:

Can anyone recall the last time Ferrari put a fresh driver into the team? Genuinely excited to see how Leclerc does and if he can rattle Seb's cage.

I think it's a dead cert that Leclerc will apply significant pressure to Seb, it's just a matter of how the pressure is handled

[Nickp82]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

Think Kimi should have just retired.

His career is only going to go one way now.

Great to see Ferrari actually putting a new talent alongside Vettel.

Be interesting to see how that two get on if Vettel starts to get threatened.

The first two sentences were my initial reaction but now I am quite intrigued by it, Sauber are of course showing an upturn in performance so a highly experienced driver such as Kimi may be what they want to continue the upward curve with development etc in conjunction with Ferrari. I can't see that paying his salary would be a good move for a team of their standing unless there is a serious ongoing benefit beyond the potentially improved prize money?

[Vaud]

Vaud said:

Clickbait.

But I have heard crazier stories. Ferrari's issue might be that both Kimi and Charles have contracts (maybe Sergio committed?) and it all needs unwinding.

I can only think that there must be a serious complexity for the announcement to be delayed from Monza.

Well I was wrong on the clickbait!

What a crazy silly season.