Massa out, Kimi in?

[sammyg2]

Felipe Massa conformed that this will be his last season with Ferrari.

So who will take his place? kimi seems to be the logical choice..........
With Kimi and Alonso in the same car it will be VERY interesting, I put their driving skills very near even.

[Cannonball996]

what about hulkenburg?

[GH85Carrera]

But will Alonso want Kimi as the second driver? That would be a good pair.

[nostatic]

Another rumor has Alonso going to Lotus and Renault stepping up sponsorship.

I don't see Alonso and Kimi on the same team...

[BRPORSCHE]

I haven't a clue what will happen!

Kimi and Hult at Ferrari?

Alonso and Gros at Lotus?

Massa and Esteban at Sauber? Massa is an ex Sauber driver.

So many options!!

[911Freak]

Alonso is THE guy for car development. That is well known inside F1 circles

Ferrari want to keep him and Alonso will stay 'next year' to see if the new regs & Ferrari can deliver Alonso the car to challenge RBR for WDC.

If Ferrari doesn't deliver Alonso the car needed look for him to jump.

Neither really want to part ways but Ferrari want/need a championship car (would give them bargaining power) and Alonso wants a WDC in Ferrari red.

Who gets Massa's car? Nico Hulkenburg makes most sense. He was groomed at Sauber for a Ferrari drive.

Dont see Kimi putting up with Ferrari again unless Lotus/Renault doesn't have the funding. This seems doubtful with Renault motivated to recapture their brand image and WCC winning power plant credit after losing 80% branding to Infinity with RBR.

With that being said, and being a Kimi & Alonso fan, it'd be great fun to watch them compete!

[Don Plumley]

BBC is reporting, without confirmation, that Kimi goes to Ferrari.

Source: Jalopnik

[URY914]

Two former WDC on the same team will never work. Never has in the past. Someone has to be the clear #1.

[Don Plumley]

Originally Posted by URY914

Two former WDC on the same team will never work. Never has in the past. Someone has to be the clear #1.

Scraped this off the net:

Mansell and Piquet at Williams in '86/87
Senna and Prost at McLaren '88/89
Mansell and Prost at Ferrari in 1990

Stragely enough, Tifosi Axis of Oversteer points out that Ferrari's last big success, their 2007 driver's world championship as well as their 2007 and 2008 constructor's titles, came when there was no clear #1/#2 driver structure (in that case, it was Kimi and a then-competitive Massa).

[ZAMIRZ]

There's a storm brewing. Rumors suggest Kimi AND Nico Hulkenberg (or another clear #2) to Ferrari, and Fernando Alonso to Lotus, that will become the pseudo Renault works team next season. I'm not sure how that will play out, since Infiniti seems well-committed to Red Bull Racing (Vettel-edition FX). I don't think Carlos Ghosn is going to be ok with supporting to two different F1 teams with his shareholders' money.

[URY914]

Originally Posted by Don Plumley

Scraped this off the net:

Mansell and Piquet at Williams in '86/87
Senna and Prost at McLaren '88/89
Mansell and Prost at Ferrari in 1990

I didn't say it had never been done, just saying it never works out well.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

[sammyg2]

This could be really really good or really really bad. Either way it should be entertaining.

Official: Kimi returns to Ferrari
Wednesday 11th September 2013

Kimi Raikkonen will once again the don the red overalls of Ferrari in 2014 after the Italian stable confirmed his return.

Felipe Massa's announcement on Tuesday evening that he will leave the team at the end of the 2013 season after nearly a decade at Maranello opened the door for Raikkonen's comeback and it was made official on Wednesday afternoon.

The legendary marque revealed that the Finn has signed a two-year deal that will see him partner Fernando Alonso, whose contract runs until the 2016 season.

A statement from the team read: "Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has reached an agreement with Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn will join Fernando Alonso in the driver line-up for the next two racing seasons."

Raikkonen said: "I am really happy to be returning to Maranello where I previously spent three fantastic and very successful years.

"I have so many memories of my time at Ferrari, memories which have stayed with me these past years, first and foremost, winning the World Championship title in 2007, which was really unforgettable.

"I can't wait to be driving a Prancing Horse car again and to reacquaint myself with so many people with whom I had such close links, as well as working with Fernando [Alonso], whom I consider a great driver, in order to bring the team the success it deserves."

Unlike in the past where Ferrari have opted to go with a clear number one, the 33-year-old's return will give them the strongest line-up on the grid as they will be the only team with two World Champions.

Alonso won two titles during his time at Renault while Raikkonen is remembered fondly by Scuderia fans as he won their last Championship in 2007, but the relationship didn't last very long as he left the team and F1 after the 2009 campaign.

He spent two years in the World Rally Championship before returning to Formula One in 2012 with Lotus, finishing third in the standings with one victory and six podiums to his name.

Although he won the opening race of the 2013 season, Raikkonen and Lotus have fallen off the pace and the Finn is 88 points behind pacesetter Sebastian Vettel.

His relationship with Lotus also appear to have deteriorated in recent months as he warned the Enstone squad on numerous occasions that he will not enter into any contract negotiations until they sorted out some "issues", which is believed to be related to their inability to pay him.

With Lotus not able to get their act together, the Finn was first strongly linked with a move to Red Bull, but nothing came of the deal after which Ferrari decided to pounce.

Official: Kimi returns to Ferrari | Planet F1 | Formula One News

[rusnak]

Ferrari will be ripped apart in the paddock. They dont tolerate taking "sides" and yet it is unavoidable.

[imcarthur]

It's all good. 2014 should be an interesting season.

Ian

[Henry Schmidt]

It seems like a mistake for Ferrari to infuse someone capable of taking points away from Fred.
There are tracks where Ferrari works well and those points will now be shared. The one thing you could count on with Massa is that he would always take one for the team. I can just imagine the radio conversation.
Pit to Kimi--- Fred is faster----- Kimi to pits----- If he is, why is he behind------leave me alone........


An interesting Poll on F1 website:

Ferrari have confirmed their 2014 'dream team', but which star driver will score more points next season?

Fernando Alonso 31.58%
Kimi Raikkonen 44.21%
Too close to call 24.21%


Is it personality or do they really think Kimi can get the best of Fred?