Rumour Articles

Force India keeping options open.

Thursday, November 19th, 2009 - Posted by Jack Sargeant

Force India logo

Force India are obviously keeping their options for 2010 drivers open – no less than 6 drivers are in the running for the seats, including the drivers who ended last season with the team; Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Giancarlo Fisichella who went to Ferrari last season to cover for the injured Felipe Massa will most likely stay at the Italian team as test driver next season with Massa and Fernando Alonso having the race seats, although Fisichella has not completely ruled himself out, saying:

“Why not? It is open. It could be Force India. There are a lot of teams without drivers so far.”

Another driver in the running is former Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. who was heavily involved in the ‘Crashgate’ scandal, although it seems his whistleblowing has not deterred Force India. Piquet said:

“I am close to Force India at the moment, but to me NASCAR is very interesting, so I don’t know yet what is going to happen. I don’t want to take a decision without knowing how things work here in the United States, so I came to be with the drivers and team owners.

“It is clear that the F1 cars are very much better technologically – the best in the world – but I find that if it is enjoyable, it doesn’t matter if I am racing in karts. The important thing is to compete.”

The other two drivers in the running are Pedro de la Rosa who was denied a drive at the new team Campos for the lack of Spanish sponsors that come with him, although he is still a possibility for the Force India drive.

The final driver rumoured to join the team sure is an interesting one – Scot Paul di Resta. Di Resta finished 3rd in this years prestigious DTM championship driving for the AMG Mercedes team, including one race win on home soil at Brands Hatch. Di Resta is set for a test at Jerez for the team in early December.

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Posted in Ferrari, Force India, News, Rumour | No Comments »

Has Raikkonen signed for Mercedes?

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 - Posted by Jack Sargeant

Kimi Raikkonen

Earlier on today McLaren confirmed they had signed Jenson Button to drive alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2010 and lets be honest, it was news we were all expecting.

However there has just been a shocking news story by Brazilian journalist Lito Cavalcanti, saying that Kimi Raikkonen has signed for Brawn GP who will run under the Mercedes name next season.

If this sensational story turned out to be true, it would be a complete backtrack by Raikkonen and his management team, who yesterday said that the Finn would not be in F1 next season, and that he would do rallying and possibly compete at Le Mans next year instead.

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Posted in Brawn GP, McLaren, Mercedes GP, News, Rumour | 1 Comment »

Button offered contract by Brawn?

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 - Posted by Jack Sargeant

Jenson Button Sao Paulo

It seemed that Button was on the verge of signing for McLaren, but the newspaper The Times is tonight reporting that Brawn GP have offered Button what he wanted – an £8mill deal to keep him at the team which will run under the Mercedes name next season.

It was expected that Mercedes had their driver line-up sorted for next season with many speculating that the German owners would want German drivers – with Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg favourites for the Mercedes race seats, with Jenson Button off to McLaren and Kimi Raikkonen out of F1 completely.

However earlier on today the head of Mercedes’ motorsport activities Norbert Haug hinted at ’some surprises’ in the Mercedes 2010 line-up, and will Jenson Button staying on at the team be the surprise?

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Posted in Brawn GP, McLaren, Mercedes GP, Rumour | No Comments »

De la Rosa’s F1 return hopes over?

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 - Posted by Jack Sargeant

Pedro De la Rosa

It seemed that Campos Grand Prix had secured their driver line-up a while ago, with the rumours circulating that Bruno Senna and Pedro De la Rosa were to drive for the new team in 2010.

Since then, Bruno Senna has been confirmed as a Campos driver for 2010, but is seems that Spaniard Pedro De la Rosa will not be so lucky.

Team boss Adrian Campos has said that the lack of Spanish sponsors for De la Rosa may be a problem, also citing they may have a couple of other drivers on their shortlist. He said:

“I would like Pedro de la Rosa but he is Spanish and Spanish sponsors are in a bad way. There are other options from Russia and Venezuela but it all depends on the sponsor.”

Pedro de la Rosa has driven in F1 previously for Jordan, Arrows, Jaguar and McLaren from 1999-2006. His highest ever driver’s championship finish is 11th and his highest ever race finish is 2nd, with both of those results coming when he drove the latter half of the 2006 season for McLaren, when Juan Pablo Montoya left the team. De la Rosa has been the test driver for McLaren for the last 3 years.

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Posted in Campos, News, Rumour | No Comments »

Buemi confirms 2010 Toro Rosso drive, Alguersuari to follow?

Monday, November 9th, 2009 - Posted by Jack Sargeant

Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari (c) michael yip photography

Sebastien Buemi has confirmed he will stay put and drive for Toro Rosso in 2010. The 21 year old Swiss driver said:

“I had some contact with other teams due to my good results at the end of the season.

“Toyota could have been a possibility because they had not yet hired any drivers.

“That was not the only one, and anyway I was always talking with (Toro Rosso owner) Red Bull. Finally I signed with Toro Rosso for 2010.”

Buemi scored 6 championship points in his 2009 rookie season finishing 16th in the Drivers Championship.

It also seems that Jaime Alguersuari who drove for Toro Rosso in the last 7 races of the 2009 season is also going to stay with the Red Bull owned team, despite never scoring a championship point.

Alguersuari hinted:

“There will be six days of pre-season testing that, without a doubt, will give me a good base and we will then see the best Jaime.

“The start of the season will be hard because I don’t know the circuits. But at the end of the year I will be good, even better than Sebastien Buemi. This is my hope.”

When Sebastien Buemi was questioned as to whether the Spaniard Alguersuari was to carry on with the team he said:

“I assume that Jamie will team up with me next year. I think the team chose to change in the middle (of the season) because we can’t really do any testing so he may as well get used to the car now.”

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Posted in News, Red Bull, Rumour, Toro Rosso | 2 Comments »

Could Piquet Jr Return to F1 for Campos?

Sunday, November 1st, 2009 - Posted by Formula1Blogger

Nelson Piquet Jr

Some news in the paddock this weekend that is causing a stir is that the recently departed Nelson Piquet Jr is in talks with new Formula 1 team Campos for a race seat next year. Campos only hours earlier on Saturday confirmed that Bruno Senna would drive for the team, with Pedro de la Rosa rumoured to be his team mate.

Bernie Ecclestone was talking to the Daily Telegraph about the possiblity of Piquet Jr going to Campos,

“It’d be good wouldn’t it, another good name. That’s what’s being talked about actually.”

This will alarm some, due to the fact the Piquet Jr, central to the “crashgate” episode with Renault in 2008, escaped with no punishment earlier this year. Whereas his team bosses weren’t so lucky, Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds were banned from the sport. Most believe Piquet Jr should have also received some kind of reprimand, he was at the wheel after all, however the FIA saw differently and gave him immunity for evidence.

At this time it is unknown why talks between the Spanish team Campos and de la Rose have stalled.

For more information on the Formula 1 driver lineup for 2010, check out our Ultimate Guide.

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Posted in Campos, Rumour | 1 Comment »