The Official F1 2019 silly season *contains speculation*

[Dr Z]

Nickp82 said:

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?

Ferrari's chief designer involved in the last few years' cars went to Sauber as TD earlier this year. We can expect a significant upturn in performance for Sauber in the coming years.

[MissChief]

Being that Sauber owners Longbow are personal sponsors of Marcus and it was Marcus that introduced them to the then owners pre-buyout I'd say the odds on Marcus staying are very good.

[Vaud]

Dr Z said:

Ferrari's chief designer involved in the last few years' cars went to Sauber as TD earlier this year. We can expect a significant upturn in performance for Sauber in the coming years.

I wonder which Ferrari powered team will be next to benefit from the special mix fuel... Sauber or Haas?

[Kccv23highliftcam]

HustleRussell said:

Ferrari have announced Leclerc in

Out of the frying pan....

I like others really rate Leclerk.

I hope that Ferrari don't take a sporting driver like Leclerk and turn him into a Verstappen or Schumacher..

[Vaud]

Mercedes
44. Lewis Hamilton (2020)
77. Valtteri Bottas (2019 + option for 2020)

Red Bull
33. Max Verstappen (2020)
10. Pierre Gasly (?)

Ferrari
5. Sebastian Vettel (2020)
16 Charles Leclerc (?)

Racing Point Force India
11. Sergio Perez (out of contract)
31. Esteban Ocon (2019)

Williams
35. Sergey Olegovich Sirotkin (2019)
18. Lance Stroll (2018?)

McLaren
55. Carlos Sainz Jnr (2020 probably)
19?. Lando Norris

Torro Rosso
- ?
28. Brendon Hartley (?)

Haas
8. Romain Grosjean (out of contract)
20. Kevin Magnussen (out of contract)

Renault
3. Daniel Ricciardo (2020?)
27. Nico Hulkenberg (option for 2019) but unconfirmed

Sauber
9 Marcus Ericsson (?)
7. Kimi Raikkonen (2020)

[red_slr]

Well we know Stroll wont be at Williams I guess!

The Ice Man has a few scores to settle I reckon... LOL...

[Sam993]

HustleRussell said:

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?

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.

Call me cynical but I bet that the reason why he stays in F1 is that he wants to stay busy and away from home. He doesn't seem like the type of person who would enjoy being under the thumb and I personally know more blokes who suddenly got busier and their commutes extended when their wives dropped 2 in a row when previously they were more than happy to work from home all the time. Of course I'm not saying he doesn't love his fit as f***k wife and his kids, this has nothing do to with love.

[DanielSan]

red_slr said:

Well we know Stroll wont be at Williams I guess!

The Ice Man has a few scores to settle I reckon... LOL...

I’m still not sure Lance will definitely be in the Force India. I don’t know where he’ll end up if he doesn’t go there, can’t see Stroll Snr paying for his seat at Williams and running his own team, but I don’t know, it seems more likely he will be in a Force India, but who knows.

[ghost83]

Clearly sauber aren’t going to be competitive I don’t know why he didn’t just retire with dignity even go into another category

[thegreenhell]

ghost83 said:

Clearly sauber aren’t going to be competitive I don’t know why he didn’t just retire with dignity even go into another category

Maybe he just enjoys being an F1 driver, and if they're still paying him millions to do it then why not? Being number 2 at Ferrari wasn't a competitive drive either.

[Vaud]

ghost83 said:

Clearly sauber aren’t going to be competitive I don’t know why he didn’t just retire with dignity even go into another category

Because he loves to race.

[Sam993]

thegreenhell said:

Being number 2 at Ferrari wasn't a competitive drive either.

Who knows, he might start shining again and do the Lotus thing again. And then one of the big teams might steal him from Sauber.

[kambites]

Vaud said:

ghost83 said:

Clearly sauber aren’t going to be competitive I don’t know why he didn’t just retire with dignity even go into another category

Because he loves to race.

And on top of that... well it's his job and he gets paid a large chunk of money for doing it. Plenty of people with far less enjoyable jobs carry on doing them despite not really needing the money.

I'm looking forward to seeing Leclerc vs Vettel. It's a significant (and arguably risky) point in his career. Expecting him to trouble Vettel is probably unfair given their relative levels of experience but once you've been soundly beaten by a teammate it's hard to then establish yourself as a top driver, regardless of the circumstances.

Either way I think the first few races of next season could make or break his career because if he gets significantly behind Vettel in the standings, you've got to imagine he'll end up slipping into the number-two role.

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 11th September 11:37

[rdjohn]

Andy S15 said:

Just to spice up this silliest of silly seasons, apparently Kimi has now purchased part of Sauber. The plot thickens...

https://thesportsrush.com/reports-kimi-raikkonen-t...

I thought this was click bait but the bit about Kimi buying into Sauber also seems to be true. Joe Saward says that Longbow want to reduce their ownership and in readiness for 2021 when owning a team might also mean receiving a dividend, perhaps this is plausible.

It makes more sense for Stroll buying into FI. If Liberty could persuade Mercedes to underwrite the German GP, then persuading Stroll into the FI move also makes business sense, regardless of which seat Lance sits in.

I think that there are seismic changes in the offing and those in-the-know are lining up their ducks.

[another 3 points]

Hope he drives the Pirellis off the car on Sunday, no holds barred, no team orders. I’ve a feeling Singapore is going to be even hotter than the weather man say.

[Bradgate]

It's obviously no surprise that Ferrari have replaced Kimi with Leclerc. He has 'future World Champion' written all over him.

Kimi's decision to drop back down the grid to drive for Sauber is a surprise, though. Why would a former champion want to spend the next two years in a mid-field car with no realistic hope of getting back on the podium? Button & Alonso at least had hope that Mclaren would get its act together at some point, but Sauber will never be allowed to challenge Ferrari. It's a very odd decision. Perhaps Sauber / Ferrari have made him a financial offer he can't refuse?

[M3ax]

Maybe Kimi is getting a stake in Sauber rather than being paid to drive.

[another 3 points]

Will Leclerc be allowed to beat Vettel ?

[MissChief]

another 3 points said:

Will Leclerc be allowed to beat Vettel ?

Vettel insists he's not the contracted number 1 driver and didn't have a veto over who they signed. If he did I'd expect him to want to keep Kimi. If Leclerc outscores him for the first 3-4 races then it's certainly possible Seb might be asked to move over for Charles!

[ukaskew]

Surprised by some of the Kimi comments here. Up and coming team with what I presume will be far less pressure and commercial commitments, less politics etc.

He's leaving a team where he has zero opportunity of seriously challenging for anything as he is a clear number 2, that's got to take its toll, probably far more than a relatively easy life at a midfield team which may well have a few exciting podium battles next season.