F1 - 2009 season

[elmir]

It will look pretty silly on their part if they refuse to pay Jenson and then hire Kimi on a higher salary.
This might just be posturing on their part to get Jenson to cut his salary.
Money wise I don't think Brawn are still out of the woods yet...

not necessarily.
think about it....even though Kimi has the option of sitting the season out...he'd much rather be racing...and he WILL drop his salary demands if a potential championship winning car came along...

they all know that.
If you were Ross, and had a choice between Jense and Kimi for roughly the same money...

who would you take?

[Genesis]

Hmm, that is a point. But why settle for only either? The second Brawn car is free. If they want Kimi, they could get him in the second car.
I don't think they want to ditch Jenson. There isn't any other world championship winning driver for 8m pounds or less.

[elmir]

the second car is not free.
Rosberg is in it...and if you read a few posts back...probably the best aerodynamics expert in the field who is actually a driver too....he's an asset...and they will keep him...its a no brainer...

Jenson got lucky this year.
chances of him getting lucky again are slim.

Brawn needs a superstar to repair the brand damage they managed to inflict upon themselves this year....

8m is Kimi money.
He'll take that.
Mclaren are only offering 5...

[Genesis]

Rosberg hasn't yet been confirmed for Brawn. Even McLaren are after him.
I wouldn't say Jenson won the championship by fluke. Yes, there are better drivers than him out there, but he's a damn good driver.

I have no idea who'll end up where. Still a lot of drivers free and a lot of rides too.

[elmir]

think about it.
Lewis won't have a team mate who is going to force him into mistakes, make him nervous all the time, who may just know more than him about the car setup...etc...etc...

Nico is that guy.

Jense on the other hand...even Kimi...won't put Lewis under any stress, as they are in different stages in their careers to him....granted, they're all after the same goal...which is to win....but it won't be the Alonso/Hamilton catastrophe again...

Nico is dead set to go to Brawn.
He wouldn't have announced his Williams departure otherwise...unless he has a signed deal...

But i agree, it could be provisional still...

it all rests on what happens to Jenson in the next few days/weeks...

[Genesis]

Urmm, no. Hamilton and Rosberg are good friends from their karting days.  They were also team mates.
I seriously doubt Lewis is going to feel threatened by him especially after racing for a whole season with Alonso.

It's all going to come down to contracts and money, I think.

[elmir]

they were teammates.....were....is your keyword.

No nr.1 driver in F1, no matter how democratic he may appear on the surface is going to potentially embarrass himself by supporting a decision which is risky.

Out of all three options....Nico, Jense and Kimi....if I was Lewis....Nico would make me feel most nervous....whipping Jenson's and Kimi's asses is great for his status and PR....Nico is an unknown....he's awesome....but no one knows for sure how awesome he really is...

I'm willing to bet money that its either Jenson or Kimi who go to Mclaren.....not Nico.

Of course, as you pointed out...i could be wrong...as with these silly season rumors...anything can happen...
but a hunch tells me i could be right...

[Genesis]

Either way, being a McLaren fan, it's going to be great. Hamilton with Jenson, Kimi or Rosberg would make a potent team.

[elmir]

oh yes....next season is hopefully going to be a cracker...

let's hold thumbs that the refueling ban doesn't mess things up too much....but they still have to go in for tires...so we'll still see some pitstop action at least....

[Genesis]

Maybe it's time Jarmo created a F1 2010 thread...

[Genesis]

Jenson Button and Kimi R?ikk?nen have both paid visits to McLaren. Story here.

[elmir]

interesting.
I wonder how much this has to do with Mercedes themselves.

They want nr1 on their car next year, that much is clear.
Brawn is using this in his negotiations with them, to get them to buy in, probably over inflating his pricetag, and using Jenson's "demands" as the reasoning.
They know that he can't pay Jenson unless they buy into the team.
He knows this too.
So does Mclaren.
Who would like to keep Mercedes on their side, as opposed to potentially losing them to some second tier team.
So they call Jense, as they can afford him.

But they really want Kimi, as they have worked with him before, and they know what he is capable of.
And there is nobody in the field who would be more motivated next year to whipping Alonso's ass than Kimi.

But Merc says Jenson should be considered.

If you were Martin Whitmarsh...what would you do?

[Genesis]

If you were Martin Whitmarsh...what would you do?

Probably stall until Jenson signs with Brawn if that's the case. I don't think  McLaren are in any rush.
But I think they are also keen to have two British World Championship winning drivers racing for them.
An all British endeavour...