Replacing Massa

[Guest]

I'm thinking of buying the Alfa Guilietta. Everytime she comes past me I flounder. She looks at me with those alluring eyes then throws a suggestive pose with those sexy curves.... Very tempting indeed!!!

Heard she's very trustworthy...

And that my friend is the dilemma ........... do you go for the Italian temptress, that offers so much but delivers so little? or do you go for a north European gal that will finish the job?

[LabradoRacer 2]

So, who'll be likely to move to RBR?

[Quiet One 15]

ALO would not have such an easy time with WEB. Webbo might not be the finest driver on the grid, but he is no Massa, not by a country mile. Alonso knows he is a tough driver, and they both have a long time friendship and respect for each other (whereas FM lost any respect Nando might have had for him since Monza 2006). I dont see Nando demanding for MW to be moved aside by team orders. And I don't see MW accepting them unless he knows they make any sense.

Besides, MW does not need a babysitter a la Rob Smedley. The guy is mentally stronger.

It is a much better line up than FA-FM. I'd say go for it.

[Massa 0]

So, who'll be likely to move to RBR?

I'm sure the big names like Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen, who has a contract with Lotus for 2013, though contracts don't mean much, will be mentioned a lot. Still, both would need to be assured equal footing with Sebastian Vettel and I don't think Red Bull are very willing to do that.

If Jean-Éric Vergne or Daniel Ricciardo really deliver, it's not impossible they'd be promoted, though I'd find that a little bit premature. Then again, I think STR is slowly being phased out (since they've phased out most of their sponsorships to young drivers), so there might be a real rush to pick one of those to, promote him, and let the other one loose.

Kamui Kobayashi doesn't have a contract for next year, either, and people always love to link him to open rides. However, he doesn't strike me as someone who really fits in a top-tier team, and he's not a steady guy like Mark Webber is, so if they want someone to fill Webber's exact role, they'll have to look elsewhere.

Of the other drivers without 2013 contracts, I think Heikki Kovalainen deserves a look. If they want someone to really pressure Vettel, it won't be him, but if they want a steady runner to be fifth every week, I think Kovalainen can do that in a Red Bull. He has great number two potential, having already done it before, and I think he'd be even better now than he was then at being solid. He's young enough and has interesting enough hair to be a Red Bull guy.

You could also make a case for Nico Hülkenberg if his Mercedes ties aren't too strong (I'm assuming one of the two Force India guys is going to Mercedes next year), or, if he doesn't retire, you could assemble an all-German team spanning generations of dominance. However, I don't see why they would pay Schumacher so much to do a job someone else could do, and I don't see why Schumacher would want to be a number two. You only do it if you think the legions of Schumacher fans are going to drink Red Bull, and if you think the legions of Schumacher fans will then say "you know what, when this guy retires, I'll support Vettel and keep drinking that Red Bull."

[Quiet One 15]

I would add Grosjean to that list. RBR has its own personality by now so it's not merely a question of drivers skills, but drivers skills and fitting into their personality.

If Team Poochie really shines this season, and Kimi ends up being the number one driver there, Grosjean will look good on an RBR, has a bright smile, he is young, he smiles a lot, he is showing some potential (and I am assuming he will show even more so as the season unfolds), he likes to smile, he can drive all those other cars for the myrirad of silly showdowns RBR loves to throw around the world and he also keeps smiling all the time.

Yes, I know Eric Boullier is his manager but Flavio is MW's manager and yet he didn't drive for Renault, so there.

[freaky2 1]

Hahaha! Yeah, well, Kimi doesn't smile all that much, I concede it. And Grosjean is doing well alongside him, of course a rookie would crash once or twice, but he still keeps up and then he smiles. Not a bad idea. I agree with Hülkenberg too! I wonder if RBR will want a Kovalainen (as described by Eric) or maybe they want to change the team atmosphere a bit...

[Quiet One 15]

I have the perfect conspirationist move:

1) RBR lets Webber free to move to Ferrari.

2) RBR ditches Vettel.

3) RBR hires Alonso AND Button.

Aftermath:

- Vettel out of RBR would be damaged goods for a while. Even ig he is as good as his fans seems to think, he will need time to get used to the fall from the sky. Alonso and Button already had such experience.

- Alonso and Button is one of the strongest combinations. Button with his Hamilton experience would not feel intimidated by Alonso and would not confront him (unless he is certain he is ready for the strike). He already mentioned Alonso as a welcome teammate. Now, this is the most weakes reasoning but not too farfetched: Alonso would go to RBR if promised a Number One status at least at first (something not even Button would argue much against...at first). They have Newey to entice him and more money and all the love money and energyy drinks can buy.

- In one swift move, RBR have Newey, Alonso and Button together. Macca might be left or not with a rather restless Hamilton, and Ferrari left with Felipe and Webber. Not only they won the best, they also damaged their most probable contenders.

- Of course, there's still Merc and Lotus as possible threats or some other emerging team. But that would be the best defensive/offensive move.

Damn I'm so smart!!! It's scary!!!

Hey, what's this? A letter for me? From the Nigerian's former Prime Minister nonetheless?? I knew my talents would be recognized right away!! Ok...let's see...my PIN number and credit card? That's an easy one!

[Gilles V. 0]

Hi all,

I think Ferrari wants to win now, not next year. I believe they will go with youth and Sergio Perez, and ooner than later, since Massa is too far behind the Master.

[Insider 0]

Try this scenario: Ferrari will probably sign Webber as Perez is still pretty much an extremely talented novice. Alonso will not drive a pig beyond this season. His tolerance and team spirit has limits. There is severe inner turmoil at Maranello and they need an innovative mind to lead the design team. AABAR could pull out of Mercedes F1 and so could the Stuttgart board - this year! Time for Ross to brush up on his Italian again with MS as TP? A real possible for me. In the meantime, the Scuderia has had an interim driver team of Webber and Di Resta because Nando skipped to RBR and Vettel is rattled because he signed a deal with Merc, [who have folded], JB won the 2012 WDC and RBR want him to replace the disloyal German. Ross rescues SV and teams him with Perez, Rosberg replaces a re-retiring Kimi at Renault who is fed up with the bulls##t, Hamilton is joined at Macca by the Hulk, Force India get sold to Tony Fernandez and Heiki gets a decent car for his swan song, both HRT end up in a skip and Caterham merge with Marussia, still come last and Massa wins the 2013 WDC in a Sauber. I do admit that last bit is something of a stretch but I ran out of ideas

[Massa 0]

Hi all,

I think Ferrari wants to win now, not next year. I believe they will go with youth and Sergio Perez, and ooner than later, since Massa is too far behind the Master.

Welcome to the forum! I think Pérez would be an interesting choice. I'd like to see Webber get it only to shuffle the talent among the top teams once more, but at the same time, it's also fun to get a new guy in the mix rather than a recycling of the same stuff. I don't know if Webber really wants to be a number two at Ferrari, whereas Pérez can kind of accept it because he's still young. Webber could pull a Massa and accidentally beat Räikkönen at some events (Hungary and Brazil 2007), forced to spend three hours in the pitlane because it wasn't in the plan. Now I'm cool with team orders, of course, so I have no issues with that, but I figure Webber would.

Try this scenario: Ferrari will probably sign Webber as Perez is still pretty much an extremely talented novice. Alonso will not drive a pig beyond this season. His tolerance and team spirit has limits. There is severe inner turmoil at Maranello and they need an innovative mind to lead the design team. AABAR could pull out of Mercedes F1 and so could the Stuttgart board - this year! Time for Ross to brush up on his Italian again with MS as TP? A real possible for me. In the meantime, the Scuderia has had an interim driver team of Webber and Di Resta because Nando skipped to RBR and Vettel is rattled because he signed a deal with Merc, [who have folded], JB won the 2012 WDC and RBR want him to replace the disloyal German. Ross rescues SV and teams him with Perez, Rosberg replaces a re-retiring Kimi at Renault who is fed up with the bulls##t, Hamilton is joined at Macca by the Hulk, Force India get sold to Tony Fernandez and Heiki gets a decent car for his swan song, both HRT end up in a skip and Caterham merge with Marussia, still come last and Massa wins the 2013 WDC in a Sauber. I do admit that last bit is something of a stretch but I ran out of ideas

I'm not against any of that happening, I don't think.

[HandyNZL 1]

, I don't think.

Sigh...how true....

[Insider 0]

Slighty off topic, another huge possible is that if Merc does get sold then VW is a likely buyer as is Prodrive. The former has been evaluating a dabble for some time and has several marques to choose from as an entry - Porsche, Bentley, Bugatti, Audi, Lamborghini and even SEAT. The latter has good ties to BMW through it Mini Cooper WRC project and there are rumours that Dave Richards would like to bring the Cooper marque back into F1.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

shame... poor Massa

http://www.totalf1.com/full_story/view/415545/Only_Alonso_will_test_updated_Ferrari_at_Mugello/

[JHS18 0]

I don't believe this will happen.

As Eric was quick to point out during the Perez to move to Ferrari right away discussion - surely it'd be a downgrade. I'm a big Ferrari fan, and I like to see them do well, but get real. Ferrari suffered a difficult season last year, and so far this season things don't look to be any better (watch Alonso win the title now I've said that). In that time, the Red Bull has been a front running car, and Webber is enjoying his best start to a season ever, with four consecutive fourth places. On that basis, a move to Ferrari, you'd have to say, would be a move to a worse car.

Plus, who would replace him at Red Bull? As much as I think Ricciardo and Vergne have lots of potential, I don't think they'd be ready after one season - Vettel wasn't. So who would replace him then? Hamilton? Raikkonen? I hope not. Otherwise, what really is the point in Toro Rosso? I thought the idea was that it was a training ground for young Red Bull backed drivers to learn before getting promoted to Red Bull if they're good enough.

Lastly, a one year deal? What really is the point in that? Button admitted after he joined McLaren that it took him a little while to get up to speed, not just with the car, but with the team. Surely that'd be the case for Mark too, moving to a different team after being at Red Bull for so long. Then before you know it, the season will be over and someone else will be coming into the team and replacing him.

Get Perez in there. He's a guy who is at the start of his career rather than at the end of it as is the case with Mark, and if you sign him up now, you can have a long term partnership going between him and Alonso. He'll be able to learn from Fernando, like Massa learned from Schumacher. Otherwise, if teams have young driver development programmes but they never use those young drivers, what is the point in investing in them?

No disrespect to Mark at all - I just think a one year deal is stupid really.

[Insider 0]

I don't believe this will happen.

As Eric was quick to point out during the Perez to move to Ferrari right away discussion - surely it'd be a downgrade. I'm a big Ferrari fan, and I like to see them do well, but get real. Ferrari suffered a difficult season last year, and so far this season things don't look to be any better (watch Alonso win the title now I've said that). In that time, the Red Bull has been a front running car, and Webber is enjoying his best start to a season ever, with four consecutive fourth places. On that basis, a move to Ferrari, you'd have to say, would be a move to a worse car.

Plus, who would replace him at Red Bull? As much as I think Ricciardo and Vergne have lots of potential, I don't think they'd be ready after one season - Vettel wasn't. So who would replace him then? Hamilton? Raikkonen? I hope not. Otherwise, what really is the point in Toro Rosso? I thought the idea was that it was a training ground for young Red Bull backed drivers to learn before getting promoted to Red Bull if they're good enough.

Lastly, a one year deal? What really is the point in that? Button admitted after he joined McLaren that it took him a little while to get up to speed, not just with the car, but with the team. Surely that'd be the case for Mark too, moving to a different team after being at Red Bull for so long. Then before you know it, the season will be over and someone else will be coming into the team and replacing him.

Get Perez in there. He's a guy who is at the start of his career rather than at the end of it as is the case with Mark, and if you sign him up now, you can have a long term partnership going between him and Alonso. He'll be able to learn from Fernando, like Massa learned from Schumacher. Otherwise, if teams have young driver development programmes but they never use those young drivers, what is the point in investing in them?

No disrespect to Mark at all - I just think a one year deal is stupid really.

I think it's a real possibility. I don't think Perez will move for a least two more seasons. He's good but he's not ready for that kind of step up. Ferrari need to re-build and Webber is perfect for that role and he brings the secrets of the Newey wonder car with him. The No. 1/No.2 business won't play out because Nando is quicker than Mark overall. Massa is probably as quick as anyone out there but he hasn't got a clue about dealing with the car at all and the pit wall are at him all the time. Change his environment, put him in something quick and reliable and you would have a different ball game. Button was approached by Ferrari because he is reliable but he made a great call by staying put in my book. Webber probably doesn't have that choice.

[Massa 0]

Sigh...how true....

I don't believe this will happen.

As Eric was quick to point out during the Perez to move to Ferrari right away discussion - surely it'd be a downgrade. I'm a big Ferrari fan, and I like to see them do well, but get real. Ferrari suffered a difficult season last year, and so far this season things don't look to be any better (watch Alonso win the title now I've said that). In that time, the Red Bull has been a front running car, and Webber is enjoying his best start to a season ever, with four consecutive fourth places. On that basis, a move to Ferrari, you'd have to say, would be a move to a worse car.

Plus, who would replace him at Red Bull? As much as I think Ricciardo and Vergne have lots of potential, I don't think they'd be ready after one season - Vettel wasn't. So who would replace him then? Hamilton? Raikkonen? I hope not. Otherwise, what really is the point in Toro Rosso? I thought the idea was that it was a training ground for young Red Bull backed drivers to learn before getting promoted to Red Bull if they're good enough.

Lastly, a one year deal? What really is the point in that? Button admitted after he joined McLaren that it took him a little while to get up to speed, not just with the car, but with the team. Surely that'd be the case for Mark too, moving to a different team after being at Red Bull for so long. Then before you know it, the season will be over and someone else will be coming into the team and replacing him.

Get Perez in there. He's a guy who is at the start of his career rather than at the end of it as is the case with Mark, and if you sign him up now, you can have a long term partnership going between him and Alonso. He'll be able to learn from Fernando, like Massa learned from Schumacher. Otherwise, if teams have young driver development programmes but they never use those young drivers, what is the point in investing in them?

No disrespect to Mark at all - I just think a one year deal is stupid really.

1) It's a good move if Red Bull won't take him back. The fact is, anything is going to be a move down for Webber from Red Bull, but it's not 100% his choice. If Red Bull say "no, you're out," what's he going to do? Retire before he wants to just because he can't be on the best team? Calling it a move down for Pérez in 2012 to do a mid-season swap is fine; Pérez can move up and he'll hurt his season if he switched rides (even to a better ride) mid-season. If he were to hurt his season, and then Ferrari were to drop him, he wouldn't be able to say to other teams "look where I placed in a Sauber in 2012." He'll be saying "look how crap I did at Ferrari in 2012 after starting well." So for a driver on the up, as Pérez is, it makes no sense to move mid-season. But to move for 2013? It makes sense for both. Pérez because he's solidly in with a team, and Webber because it's the highest-ranked team that has room for him. If Webber is relesaed from Red Bull, he doesn't have a choice but to move down.

2) It depends. Red Bull and Vettel may want a number two to roll over, and then they'll go in one direction. They may want equally two great drivers and take a Hamilton or Räikkönen. Just because you'd prefer it to not be them doesn't mean it can't happen or isn't a good move. But no, I think if JEV or Ricciardo ran very well this season, one would get promoted. It's too early for Red Bull to know. They have all year to see who is actually going to be available for them because there are always surprises (i.e. Button going to McLaren a few years ago). Toro Rosso never had a point. The Red Bull young drivers' program never had a point. Red Bull have really cut back on that, and sold ownership in STR. I think they only have one driver left outside of F1 (Sainz) that they still back. It's similar to the Red Bull American Driver Search; once Scott Speed made it to F1, they stopped doing the annual American search because to them, it was "mission accomplished." I suspect that once Red Bull had a driver in Sebastian Vettel and some championships, they started to phase out their driver development (including STR), hence they cut a bunch of drivers in recent years from their program and haven't added new ones. Red Bull developed a World Champion, and now their team is in a great enough position to attract outside talent, so they don't care as much about STR etc. That doesn't mean they aren't going to promote Vergne or Ricciardo, but if they don't, that's why. Only Vettel ever got promoted before, so it's not a new thing if they don't use STR for promotion.

3) A one-year deal makes sense for Webber for a lot of reasons. He's older. He can re-assess if he wants to retire or not after the year without having to break a contract. It gives him flexibility. He may find a better option over Ferrari at the end of 2013 and move on. Maybe he will say "wow, I drove for Ferrari, what a dream, I'm ready to leave." But beyond that, what does it mean for 2013? Well, a one-year deal...it means he can give Fernando Alonso all the hell he possibly can and not be a "good" number two because he doesn't need to worry about his job. It won't be there in 2014 anyway. A one-year deal gives him some leverage. "Well, I wanted a long-term deal, but I'll agree to one-year if..." Maybe the if is equal updates to his car as Alonso's, maybe it's higher pay, whatever it is, if Ferrari really want to keep Pérez at Sauber for one more year, Webber has power in negotiating a good deal for himself that he wouldn't in a long-term contract situation. It happens all the time in sports. Some guy name Dario Franchitti has never had a contract longer than one-year in the United States. You think he's done alright for himself?

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Why the big Boohaaa about Perez? I really I don't understand. Perez has'nt really done anything special to really make me take notice. So he was "developed" throught the ferrari academy. and yes, his drive in Malasia was superb, but that was more because of a brilliant strategy. Actually it was a risk that could have backfired seriously. His drive in the last 2 races were ordinary, and he was struggling to beat his teammate, let alone put a dangerous move on the guy!

I am yet to be convinced, I see him on the scale of a Massa, brilliant when the car is superb, ordinary when it's not....

[Massa 0]

I don't personally rate Pérez as much as others, and I think another year at Sauber would be best for him, but I can also understand where he has potential and why Ferrari would want him for the future. He gets results. His strategies seem to demand a lot from him. He has a lot of responsibility to manage his tires etc. and that's something that we've seen give Jenson Button a huge advantage. In today's F1, with these tires and DRS and all that stuff, a different kind of young talent may be needed.

The thing with Pérez is that he actually does get better, and eventually he'll peak, but I don't think he's peaked yet. If you look at his results on his climb to F1, he went from irrelevant to mediocre to okay to decent to good. Then he got to F1 and has done even better than he did in the juniors. I'm not sure if he just raises his mental game each time he graduates to a better opportunity, or if it's just come with him getting older and more mature, but he's had an interesting development that only suggests he has more unseen ability.

[JHS18 0]

3) A one-year deal makes sense for Webber for a lot of reasons. He's older. He can re-assess if he wants to retire or not after the year without having to break a contract. It gives him flexibility. He may find a better option over Ferrari at the end of 2013 and move on. Maybe he will say "wow, I drove for Ferrari, what a dream, I'm ready to leave." But beyond that, what does it mean for 2013? Well, a one-year deal...it means he can give Fernando Alonso all the hell he possibly can and not be a "good" number two because he doesn't need to worry about his job. It won't be there in 2014 anyway. A one-year deal gives him some leverage. "Well, I wanted a long-term deal, but I'll agree to one-year if..." Maybe the if is equal updates to his car as Alonso's, maybe it's higher pay, whatever it is, if Ferrari really want to keep Pérez at Sauber for one more year, Webber has power in negotiating a good deal for himself that he wouldn't in a long-term contract situation. It happens all the time in sports. Some guy name Dario Franchitti has never had a contract longer than one-year in the United States. You think he's done alright for himself?

I accept your other two points - but what I'll try and explain further what I meant about this:

Basically, you hardly see any movement between the top team drivers very much. I know that's more to do with the length of contract a lot of top guys are ultimately signed too, but if you look back in history it adds up. Schumacher and Barrichello were team mates for ages. Hakkinen and Coulthard too. Teams want consistency in their line up so they can get the best result out of their guys, everyone knows each other, knows how everyone works, etc.

Webber's been at Red Bull since...2007 I think. If (and I know it is a big if) he moved to Ferrari for just one year, surely after being at Red Bull for so long it'd take time to become comfortable in the team. He'd have to get to know people, establish a working relationship with his race engineer - all of which takes time. Equally, Ferrari would need time to find out how Webber works, what his feedback is like, how he likes the car, etc. Webber's been on a one year contract at Red Bull for the past couple of seasons and has extended each time, so possibly with him saying he wants to continue (BBC Chinese GP) the deal would be extended as well...but if it was JUST a one year deal, they'd just get sorted with working with Webber, then that would be it, and someone like Perez (who doesn't have as much experience) would come into the team and the whole thing would just start all over again.

With the problems Ferrari have been facing at the moment, do they really want that?

If they bring Perez in - okay, he needs to learn and stuff, but it'll give him time to build a relationship for the team when and if he became the team's number one when Alonso called it a day. He'd still have a lot of time, should be want it, to be at the team and lead it forward, and by that time he would have learnt all Alonso's tricks and it'd work.

It's a hypothetical scenario, and as I say - I have nothing against Mark. It is just that you don't see a "one year then done" when a driver has moved to a new team very often, and if it was like that I wouldn't really understand why Ferrari would accept that deal. Okay, Webber will ultimately have more experience than Perez, particularly having worked at Red Bull all these years, but he'll be quite a lot more expensive too, compared to Sergio who they could probably get relatively cheaply from Sauber and who's reputation continues to increase.

[Massa 0]

I don't disagree that it's a difficult process to move to a new team, but if Webber has no choice, he may as well play the one-year deal to his advantage. "Well if you can't give me multiple years, then you'll have to give me...(money, equal footing, whatever)." I think Webber knows he isn't going to win the title next year. By the end of the year, he could win races, and with Ferrari, assuming they build something better next year. That would be special, I'm sure, to him. The thing with Webber is that he's never really been a lead driver at a big team. The cars have never been designed around him. He has to adjust to that every year. He's very experienced and he can make an instant impact. Doesn't mean he will, but he brings a lot with him.

Look at Jenson Button. He moved from Brawn to McLaren and was right on it in year one. Two wins in his first four. Fernando Alonso's moves to McLaren and Ferrari. He won in his second race at the former, and his first with the latter.

Mark Webber isn't a young driver and he's not an unknown driver. I don't see why he needs a lot of time to adjust to Ferrari, and I also don't think anyone, himself included, expects to be World Champion next year. If he goes to Ferrari, it's to 1) say he did it and 2) try to steal a race win from Fernando Alonso.

From the Webber perspective, what better option would he have if Red Bull say "you're gone, we don't want you back?" None. He can handle a one-year deal, and knowing he can burn as many bridges as he wants by racing the hell out of his teammate has to be comforting both this year (if he knows he's gone) and next (if he has a one-year deal).

From the Ferrari perspective, they know Pérez better than I do. If they assume Webber can make the move just fine, and if they assume that another year will give Pérez the experience to make the move just fine in 2014, they'll do it. Which doesn't make it right, and knowing their management, it's probably wrong, but...

...now let's get really crazy. Ferrari don't like the 2014 regulations. They're going to pull out of F1 after 2013. They don't want to ruin Pérez' career by tying him down to Ferrari, so they're going to let him go and do whatever he wants, maybe partner Vettel at Red Bull or something. Webber's retiring after 2013 so what does he care? They ride off in the sunset together and Fernando lands on his feet because he's the best driver in the world, whereas Pérez might go to Ferrari, not impress, and ruin his prospects (when he could instead sign a safe, multi-year deal with a team that isn't going to up and leave after 2013). Just throwing it out there.

[Insider 0]

...now let's get really crazy. Ferrari don't like the 2014 regulations. They're going to pull out of F1 after 2013. They don't want to ruin Pérez' career by tying him down to Ferrari, so they're going to let him go and do whatever he wants, maybe partner Vettel at Red Bull or something. Webber's retiring after 2013 so what does he care? They ride off in the sunset together and Fernando lands on his feet because he's the best driver in the world, whereas Pérez might go to Ferrari, not impress, and ruin his prospects (when he could instead sign a safe, multi-year deal with a team that isn't going to up and leave after 2013). Just throwing it out there.

You forget that Ferrari are now a shareholder in F1.

[Massa 0]

They only got be shareholders because they agreed to not compete in the sport anymore as it is a conflict of interest.

Okay fine you got me there, my terrible theory was wrong.

[Massa 0]

Eh, I need a break from studying for final exams...I'll give you guys a useless guess at the grid. Teams are in order of how good I recall them being so far, not where they are in the WCC.

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel

Daniel Ricciardo or Jean-Éric Vergne

McLaren

Jenson Button

Lewis Hamilton

Lotus

Kimi Räikkönen

Romain Grosjean

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg

Paul di Resta

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso

Mark Webber

Sauber

Sergio Pérez

Felipe Massa

Force India

Nico Hülkenberg

Jules Bianchi

Williams

Pastor Maldonado

Bruno Senna

Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo or Jean-Éric Vergne

Vitaly Petrov or Kamui Kobayashi or anyone else...the Red Bull days are done since they have no one else in the system.

Caterham

Heikki Kovalainen

Alex Rossi (doing Fridays this year, Caterham's American sponsors include GE, Visa, Dell, and CNN)

Marussia

Timo Glock

Kevin Magnussen (McLaren link)

HRT

Pedro de la Rosa

Whomever

[Rainmaster 7]

I think it's a real possibility. I don't think Perez will move for a least two more seasons. He's good but he's not ready for that kind of step up. Ferrari need to re-build and Webber is perfect for that role and he brings the secrets of the Newey wonder car with him. The No. 1/No.2 business won't play out because Nando is quicker than Mark overall. Massa is probably as quick as anyone out there but he hasn't got a clue about dealing with the car at all and the pit wall are at him all the time. Change his environment, put him in something quick and reliable and you would have a different ball game. Button was approached by Ferrari because he is reliable but he made a great call by staying put in my book. Webber probably doesn't have that choice.

I agree with most of that.

My opinion on the Webber/Ferrari/Perez situation: Webber is happy with one year deals at the moment, because he is happy to keep his options open. But he knows that if he moves team again it will probably be his last team. He's already said he's happy to compete for a few years yet. Therefore, if he moves to Ferrari next year it will not be a one year deal. It would make little sense from Webber's point of view or from Ferrari's point of view (who in that situation would be looking at Perez long term, maybe after 2 years of Webber).

Red Bull won't want to get rid of Webber next year anyway (why would they?), the only question is whether Webber wants to remain at Red Bull. That depends on whether he thinks he has a realistic chance of beating Vettel next year (obviously he doesn't, but sportsmen are excellent at lying to themselves), and that depends on his results in the first half or 2 thirds of this year. If he thinks he probably won't be able to beat Vettel, or that Red Bull are on a decline anyway, and the Ferrari option becomes open to him, then he might be tempted to work alongside Alonso. Also tempting is the "Ferrari legacy" - which although can be dismissed in most cases, still appears to hold a lot of appeal for drivers, especially those in the last stage of their careers like Webber.

[Guest]

When your team-mate is world champion, the least you should be is runner-up.

Failure to do so implies that you are (in effect) only #3 driver at best (with the competition being the true #2)

For most of last year the gap between Vettel and Webber was not dissimilar to the present gap between Alonso and Massa.

(Closer in some races, but in general more than 1 place behind in the same equipment.)

In the last race, Webber wasn't much use as a rear-gunner for Vettel, and Ferrari will have also noticed that.

Ferrari have (traditionally) liked their #2 drivers be able to defend their #1. - Webber does not fit that criteria.

Grosjean would be an ideal fit for Ferrari, but with the appalling mismanagement at Ferrari these days I wouldn't be surprised if they signed Glock or Sutil.......or any other over-rated pilot.