2253 replies to this topic

[mads]

i mean we all saw it coming after like monaco

but we never expected it to truly happen

[Nacho]

Toyota will not reach a deal with Kimi Raikkonen for next season unless he drops his pay demands, team president John Howett insists.

The Cologne-based team has made Raikkonen an offer, Howett revealed last weekend in Brazil.

"He gave us back a figure that is much too high," he is quoted as saying by the Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell. "He says he has two options, so we are going to wait.”

It is believed that Raikkonen will receive about 25 million Euros from Ferrari for agreeing to end his 2010 contract, while his management is asking about the same amount from both McLaren and Toyota.

Nick Heidfeld was the forgotten man of the 2010 silly-season, but he could be in the running for a coveted seat at McLaren or Renault.

The Abendzeitung newspaper reports that, with Lewis Hamilton pushing hard against the prospect of sharing a team with Nico Rosberg or Kimi Raikkonen next year, Heidfeld has emerged as a candidate.

"He is the most under rated driver in Formula One," McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh is quoted as saying. Mercedes' Norbert Haug adds: "He brings over ten years of consistently strong performances."

Bild newspaper said Heidfeld, who debuted for Prost in 2000 and also raced with Sauber, Jordan, Williams and BMW although never winning a race, is also in the running for the Renault seat currently occupied by Romain Grosjean.

How does Sometimes-Quick Nick shake the team up less than Kimi or Nico? And if the driver lineup at BMW moves to Renault.

[_R_]

You left out the parts where his teammate moved over for him on multiple occasions.

I'd say that the whole 'teammate letting him by" had more to do with where he finished than anything under his direct control.

what do you think of some of Shummi's championship then?

[_R_]

so Ferrari paid Kimi 25M Euro to sit out, and he's asking for another 25M Euro to race?
50M Euro for a season

I like kimi, but damn dude, let's not go all money happy

[TimzSI]

Chiuey>Nacho

Who the fuck takes the side of a sponsor? The whole point of success is to limit the bullshit you must waste your time on. That doesn't just go for racing.

Trying to handicap driver performance on previous years performance is difficult, there are just too many factors; tracks, cars, teams, teammates. All I am sure of is Kimi has put in some of the most exciting drives of this decade. He remains a top tier driving talent and any team that gets him is upgrading whoever he replaces.

[_R_]

Who the fuck takes the side of a sponsor?

i do...
brought to you by Carl's Jr.

wonder who will get that movie reference

[Redliner]

Chiuey>Nacho

Who the fuck takes the side of a sponsor? The whole point of success is to limit the bullshit you must waste your time on. That doesn't just go for racing.

Trying to handicap driver performance on previous years performance is difficult, there are just too many factors; tracks, cars, teams, teammates. All I am sure of is Kimi has put in some of the most exciting drives of this decade. He remains a top tier driving talent and any team that gets him is upgrading whoever he replaces.

Everything on a professional level is driven by sponsorship. How the fuck would you get paid 25 mil Euros in the first place without it? And frankly, your success 3 years ago means nothing if you just got cut from the most prestigious team in Formula 1. And less than 2 weeks of sponsorship work out of 365 days a year? Give me a break.

I'm a Kimi fan, but I'm not going to sack-ride him like some of you guys are doing...

[DrDickAction]

i do...
brought to you by Carl's Jr.

wonder who will get that movie reference

Ow My Balls!

[DrDickAction]

Who the fuck takes the side of a sponsor?

It's not the side of the sponsor, it's just reality...which makes this rumor all the more baffling.

If you're a famous actor you have to sit through press junkets; if you're an astronaut you have to talk to 5th grade science classes; if you're a fireman you have to cut fat people out of their house. Like all things, there is good and bad...dude just has to deal with the promo days in order to get the cool track days.

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

It's not the side of the sponsor, it's just reality...which makes this rumor all the more baffling.

If you're a famous actor you have to sit through press junkets; if you're an astronaut you have to talk to 5th grade science classes; if you're a fireman you have to cut fat people out of their house. Like all things, there is good and bad...dude just has to deal with the promo days in order to get the cool track days.

To be perfectly fair though... It is not in his contract to do PR next year (nevermind that he doesn't have a contract for 2010), so he is entitled to not want to do any PR. The teams are also entitled to tell him that he can go fuck himself if they feel that doing bare minimum PR work to keep sponsors happy will be better than the results that they may gain by having Kimi on board.

Basically if Kimi says he refuses to do PR then its up to a team that feels like they can afford to not do PR for their sponsors to offer him a seat. To me that rules out McLaren and Red Bull (who are in racing solely for PR, it's not like they make a profit in F1).

[yonson]

i do...
brought to you by Carl's Jr.

wonder who will get that movie reference

idiocracy FTW!

[MrHahn]

To be perfectly fair though... It is not in his contract to do PR next year (nevermind that he doesn't have a contract for 2010), so he is entitled to not want to do any PR. The teams are also entitled to tell him that he can go fuck himself if they feel that doing bare minimum PR work to keep sponsors happy will be better than the results that they may gain by having Kimi on board.

Basically if Kimi says he refuses to do PR then its up to a team that feels like they can afford to not do PR for their sponsors to offer him a seat. To me that rules out McLaren and Red Bull (who are in racing solely for PR, it's not like they make a profit in F1).

I'd also throw in Toyota, they're obviously not in it to win it

[Nacho]

Chiuey>Nacho

Who the fuck takes the side of a sponsor? The whole point of success is to limit the bullshit you must waste your time on. That doesn't just go for racing.

Trying to handicap driver performance on previous years performance is difficult, there are just too many factors; tracks, cars, teams, teammates. All I am sure of is Kimi has put in some of the most exciting drives of this decade. He remains a top tier driving talent and any team that gets him is upgrading whoever he replaces.

12 days a year isn't 'wasting your time on bullshit' when you're getting paid eight figures a year to the people that make it possible to be paid those amounts. It's called reality.

None of us get paid by companies to not give them something in return.

[Nacho]

To be perfectly fair though... It is not in his contract to do PR next year (nevermind that he doesn't have a contract for 2010), so he is entitled to not want to do any PR. The teams are also entitled to tell him that he can go fuck himself if they feel that doing bare minimum PR work to keep sponsors happy will be better than the results that they may gain by having Kimi on board.

Basically if Kimi says he refuses to do PR then its up to a team that feels like they can afford to not do PR for their sponsors to offer him a seat. To me that rules out McLaren and Red Bull (who are in racing solely for PR, it's not like they make a profit in F1).

McLaren makes money due to their exposure in F1, but part of that is the fact that Abbey/Santander and all the other McLaren sponsors get to use the likes of Hamilton and company in their branding/advertisements. It's a big part of what they're paying for, not the tiny logo on the car.

RBR is losing money and only gets brand exposure. Same with Toyota. Both have partner sponsors that will probably request that the highly paid drivers help them get their money's worth out of their sponsor contracts.

[Nacho]

what do you think of some of Shummi's championship then?

I think he's a fantastic driver, but some of his championships weren't as stellar as others. Including the ones he won by taking out his rivals.

That said, the #1/#2 driver system obviously works well if all you're after is results. It sucks for racing though. Makes me glad that not all the teams adhere to that mindset, or we'd have 10 drivers fighting for the championship and 10 rolling chicanes.

[Nacho]

What is less well known, though, is that the [Brawn] car is, in the words of my source, "a botch job".

It was designed for a Honda engine, and it was not until December that the team knew they would be using a Mercedes. That necessitated some pretty crude changes.

"The chassis had the back six inches cut off to fit the engine in - the sort of thing you wouldn't normally do even with a test car," says my source. "And the gearbox was in the wrong place because the crank-centre height is different. There's a massive amount of compromise in the cars."

Those compromises introduced a significant performance deficit into the Brawn car, but it raced like that all year.

That is because the lead time on making a new chassis is several months, and at the time the team would have had to make the decision - in April - the car was dominating.

By the time it had dropped off the pace, and it was obvious the team needed the extra speed that would come with a bespoke chassis and improved weight distribution, it was too late to commission a new design.

Just as incredibly the team, tight on budget, made only three chassis all year - one for Button, one for Rubens Barrichello, and a spare - when a big-money outfit such as McLaren will typically make seven or eight.

That the Brawn was so quick in the circumstances is incredibly impressive.

I had no idea that the chassis was that hacked up to put the Mercedes engine in. I knew the tranny was off, but jesus....

http://www.bbc.co.uk...y_of_brawn.html

[Redliner]

Where'd he learn how to ghetto fab like that? I thought only back-yard mechanics did that trying to fit H22 Prelude engines into a Civic or LS1s into RX7s

Very to Brawn!

[shallow777]

Maybe Kimi saw the flying Hammi pictures and said screw that no PR days.

[_R_]

Where'd he learn how to ghetto fab like that? I thought only back-yard mechanics did that trying to fit H22 Prelude engines into a Civic or LS1s into RX7s

Very to Brawn!

you have to start thinking...
when you take a car to the mechanic they'll charge you like $150 to change your brake pads...

these guys are "the best of the best"...
mech one: we'll just lop 6 inches off the back.... where's the hacksaw...
mech two: how much do you want to charge for the work?
mech one: well, we needed blinker fluid and muffler bearing... $2M sounds about right...

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

Maybe Kimi saw the flying Hammi pictures and said screw that no PR days.

[DrDickAction]

Maybe Kimi saw the flying Hammi pictures and said screw that no PR days.

/discussion.

[yonson]

Maybe Kimi saw the flying Hammi pictures and said screw that no PR days.

What are these?

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

What are these?

http://lightersideof...-hits-back.html

[yonson]

OHHHHHH ok, I remember that

[TimzSI]

It's a shame that so many can no longer seperate great racing from sponorship. Do you really think Having Kimi sign hats and shake hands and give speeches is going to give them a better return on their money? The name on the car is what they pay for, it gives them much more exposure and return money (for profit or not for the team) than a driver appearance at a corporate function ever will.

Those of you who think racing teams should be determined by sponsor wants That is not the way things should go.