Driver Line Ups 2008

[RaikkonenRules]

Know it's early on in the season but who do you think will be driving where in 2008

Here are my picks.

McLaren
Fernado Alonso
Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen
Felipe Massa

BMW Sauber
Nick Heidfeld
Robert Kubica

Renault
Heikki Kovalainen
Nelson Piquet Jr.

Williams
Nico Rosberg
Christijan Albers :D

Toyota
Jarno Trulli
Kazuki Nakajima

Red Bull
Mark Webber
Michelle Ammermuller

Honda
Jenson Button
Christian Klien

Super Aguri
Takuma Sato
Anthony Davidson

Torro Rosso
Scott Speed
Bruno Senna

Spyker
Adrian Sutil
Marcus Winkelhock

Fisichella, Barrichello, Coulthard and Ralf in deserved reteirment :p :

[ioan]

You must really feel bored! :\

[zoostation]

Williams
Nico Rosberg
Christijan Albers :D






:s

would doubt it lol

[Alfa Fan]

F1 2008

Ferrari #1 Kimi Raikkonen #2 Felipe Massa (Test: Luca Badoer)
McLaren #3 Lewis Hamilton #4 Fernando Alonso (Test: Pedro De La Rosa)
BMW #5 Robert Kubica #6 Sebastien Vettel (Test: Nico Hulkenburg)
Renault #7 Heikki Kovalainen #8 Nelson Piquet Jnr (Test:
Williams #9 Nico Rosberg #10 Alex Wurz (Test: Graham Rahal)
Honda #11 Jenson Button #12 Anthony Davidson (Test: Mike Conway)
Toyota #14 Ralf Schumacher #15 Jarno Trulli (Test: Ryan Briscoe)
Red Bull #16 Mark Webber #17 Michael Ammermuller (Test: Sebastien Buemi)
Super Aguri #18 Takuma Sato #19 Kazuki Nakajima (Test: Sakon Yamamoto)
Toro Rosso #20 Sebastien Bourdais #21 Neel Jani (Test: Vitantonio Liuzzi)
Spyker #22 Adrian Sutil #23 Marcus Winkelhock(Test: Roman Rusinov)
Prodrive #24 Gary Paffett #25 Marco Andretti (Test: David Brabham)

[GridGirl]

Your ideas on Prodrive could well be spot on Alfa Fan.

Well some of them anyway. ;)

[V12]

Ferrari: Raikkonen, Massa
McLaren: Alonso, Hamilton
BMW: Kubica, Vettel
Renault: Kovalainen, Piquet
Williams: Rosberg, Schumacher? (return unlikely but its the only place I can fit him lol)
Toyota: Heidfeld, Trulli
Red Bull: Webber, Fisichella
Honda: Button, Davidson
Super Aguri: Sato, Yamamoto
Toro Rosso: Ammermuller, Jani
Spyker: Sutil, Winkelhock
Prodrive: de la Rosa, Paffett

DC and Rubens retiring, I reckon Fisi and Ralf will have another season or so... I doubt Wurz will stay either, apart from the first few races of 1998 he did absolutely nothing at Benetton in relation to Fisi and Nico is showing him the way so far this season...

And yes, I'm bored :)

[Timber]

Why do you think he deserve to be a driver at Renault next year
His name ?
one of Flavio's driver
His Talent ?
Fire Flavio and put Bourdais in that car !!! :mad:

[tintop]

I doubt Speed will survive the year. :mad:

Pathetic racing development system we have here in the states.

[ottostreet]

put nick heidfeld in the reno!

[Ian McC]

Know it's early

:dozey: Yes, too early

[Roamy]

andretti wouldn't even take the time to piss on prodrive.

[ioan]

andretti wouldn't even take the time to piss on prodrive.

Well first he has to get that close to it! :rolleyes:

[Valve Bounce]

Surprisingly, I heard a rumour that Rubens might be heading for BMW.
I don't think Fisi will be replaced.
Bunsen will remain where he is - he is tied by the Williams bailout.
I suspect Honda will renege on their gift to Aguri and will grab ant for themselves, although I can see an increase in interest in this guy from the top etams.
Can't see DC leaving F1 after his fiery drive last weekend.
I can see that Heiki will have to pull his finger out or Flav will replace him with Webber.

That's enough for you guys to chew on for the time being. :)

[ioan]

Surprisingly, I heard a rumour that Rubens might be heading for BMW.

Highly unlikely as a race driver, maybe test driver/developer.

[GridGirl]

Well from what I heard, Andretti would be stupid to turn down Prodrive with the backing that they are potentially going to be getting.

[BeansBeansBeans]

Why do you think he deserve to be a driver at Renault next year
His name ?
one of Flavio's driver
His Talent ?
Fire Flavio and put Bourdais in that car !!! :mad:

He didn't say Piquet deserved to be in the Renault, only that he predicts it. I think he's probably right too. Bourdais will be in the Toro Rosso next year.

[truefan72]

its a bit early, but here's what I think


Mclaren
Alonso , Hamilton

Ferrari
Kimmi, Massa

BMW
Vettel, Heidfeld

Toyota
Bourdais, Kubica

Renault
Kovlaienen, Piquet

Honda
Button, Davidson

Williams
Rosberg, Wurz

Super Aguri
Sato, Klien

Red Bull
Webber, Ralf

Torro Rossi
Speed, ( trulli, or Allmermuller

Spyker
Montero, Sutil

Pro Drive
Glock, Trulli

[zoostation]

sooo will bourdais be in f1 next year?

i would love to see it, but torro rosso doesnt seem to be exactly a great move to try and be competitive imo

[jens]

First let's make clear, who has contracts:

Räikkönen (until 2009)
Alonso ('09)
Trulli ('09)
Button ('09)
Webber ('08)
Sutil ('08)
Massa ('08)

Unless someone decides to brake a contract, then we are not going to see changes there.

So...
Ferrari is clear.

McLaren - also clear. Hamilton will most probably continue with McLaren for several more years.

Then we have an interesting triangle in BMW between Heidfeld, Kubica and Vettel (don't believe than Ralf might go there). But as long as Heidfeld continues beating Kubica, then their line-up should stay the same. BMW tries to give Vettel a STR-drive for one season, but the problem is that Berger wants him for more than one season.

Renault - another triangle with one experienced and two rookie drivers - Fisichella, Kovalainen vs Piquet Jr. It seems quite likely that Kovalainen and Piquet Jr will drive for Renault next year unless Heikki really disappoints Briatore alongside Fisichella this year. Personally I'm not in exaltation to see a top team giving a drive for two rookies - IMO it might be too risky, although on the other hand it's an interesting experiment (I can't recall any other top team taking such risk) and the result of that will give the pattern for future. If it's a success, then the rookie-mania will only grow. If the line-up Kova-Piquet fails (at least in the first season), then probably experienced drivers will become more valued again.

Then the most interesting and debatable vacant places are in Toyota (Schumacher), Red Bull (Coulthard), Williams (Wurz) and Honda (Barrichello). All of them are experienced (Wurz not so experienced in racing, but in driving F1-cars) and 30+ drivers. If they can match their team-mates or - even better - beat them, then probably it will be tough to refuse for their respective teams to lengthen their contracts. But if they will decide to hire anyone else, who will it be?

Toyota - Rosberg might be a strong variant. And Rosberg himself might be also interested in that move unless Williams somehow manages to beat Toyota by the end of the season. Driving for a factory team might be a strong enticement and he hasn't much anywhere else to go. Maybe test driver Montagny will be elevated to race driver status? Maybe they'll hire a rookie? And who it might be then? A Japanese like Hirate or Nakajima?

Red Bull - Maybe one of the current STR drivers will be a replacement for DC? Or another driver from Red Bull young drivers' programme? [Doornbos, Ammermüller (if he does well in GP2)] But several people were surprised that RB decided not to hire a youngster for this season, so maybe they are not very convinced in their youngsters and will try to hire an experienced driver like Fisi or Ralf? Or might strong STR candidates Bourdais or Vettel be an option even for RBR seat?

Williams - As mentioned, then both drivers might be replaced. In that case supposable replacement options might be current test drivers Nakajima or Karthikeyan (both of them have probably high hopes, because Wurz managed to rise from test driver status to race driver status). Maybe Glock, who was close to getting a test driver seat for this year? And if he wins this year's GP2, it will be hard to overlook him (Williams also hired a GP2 champion for 2006). Maybe even Ralf if he doesn't demand too much money - Williams needs an experienced driver. But it is also not ruled out that Williams might continue with both current drivers.

Honda & Super Aguri - Well, that's an interesting battle for driver seats between Barrichello, Sato, Davidson, Klien and maybe someone else. Marco Andretti has also been rumoured, but I think that he won't join F1 at least not in 2008. Barrichello might still be the best existing option for Honda to continue with, but I suspect that Rubens might not be too interested to continue driving a crap car at that age. Probably Honda and Super Aguri will have equal cars next year, so if one of the SA drivers manages to beat one Honda driver quite convincingly, it wouldn't be a big problem to switch the drivers.

Toro Rosso - it looks quite obvious that one of the current drivers will have to leave after the end of this season, but maybe even both. It seems that Bourdais' place in that team seems quite possible, but who might become his team-mate? Vettel if Theissen and Berger reach an agreement?

Spyker - Will they continue with Albers if he manages to at least match Sutil? Or will they hire another Dutchman named Giedo van der Garde?

Prodrive - Paffett seems quite probable, but also de la Rosa has been rumoured. De la Rosa would be even quite surprising, because considering the recent young drivers' mania we would be seeing a 38-year-old guy making a comeback! Or maybe they might hire someone else from McLaren-Mercedes' young drivers' programme? (like Green, who has stepped in the footprints of Paffett - driving in DTM after F3 Euroseries)

So all in all my conclusive thoughts, which might change with next new and exciting rumours:
McLaren - Alonso & Hamilton
Ferrari - Räikkönen & Massa
BMW - Heidfeld & Kubica
Renault - Kovalainen & Piquet Jr
Toyota - Trulli & Rosberg
Williams - Glock & Nakajima
Red Bull - Webber & Liuzzi/Speed
Honda - Button & Klien
Super Aguri - Sato & Davidson
Toro Rosso - Bourdais & Vettel
Spyker - Sutil & Albers
Prodrive - Paffett & de la Rosa

[Dazz9908]

Surprisingly, I heard a rumour that Rubens might be heading for BMW.
I don't think Fisi will be replaced.
Bunsen will remain where he is - he is tied by the Williams bailout.
I suspect Honda will renege on their gift to Aguri and will grab ant for themselves, although I can see an increase in interest in this guy from the top etams.
Can't see DC leaving F1 after his fiery drive last weekend.
I can see that Heiki will have to pull his finger out or Flav will replace him with Webber.

That's enough for you guys to chew on for the time being. :)

Good calls
Webber will be at Renualt Next year with Pickets Jr (Piquet)
Cubica is also in the firing line his speed form last year has gone along with Michelin.
Fisi to Red Bull
Heiki to Aguri
Davo to Honda
Rubins Retires along with DC

[Christina]

how come so many people are writing off Nick Heidfeld? he's been pretty damn quick this year! and consistent... does that not count for something?

[ChrisS]

Can someone please explain the situation with Vettel to me

As far as I know he is at BMW on a 2 year loan from Red Bull, So how is BMW going to loan him to STR?

[waitey]

Good calls
Webber will be at Renualt Next year with Pickets Jr (Piquet)
Cubica is also in the firing line his speed form last year has gone along with Michelin.
Fisi to Red Bull
Heiki to Aguri
Davo to Honda
Rubins Retires along with DC

there is no way kubica is going anywhere, he will be in f1 for many years to come and i predict success. he wouldv finished 4th in melbourne beating nick heidfeld and wouldv finished 5th-6th in sepang as well if not for his mechanical problems and so forth and nick running into him at sepang.

He has been outqualified by Nick a few times but nick has had a bit lighter fuel and also kubica has been on the pace if not beating nick for a lot of the free practise sessions even though that doesn't say much. Don't get me wrong, i am not saying heidfeld isn't good, he is very underrated and a terrific consistent driver but kubica is very quick and young and just needs more experience and some better luck and he will produce some good results. remember how much more experienced Nick is than Robert. BMW have a great driver line up and at the way they are going could fight for race wins next year and even maybe late this season if they are lucky.

[Dazz9908]

there is no way kubica is going anywhere, he will be in f1 for many years to come and i predict success. he wouldv finished 4th in melbourne beating nick heidfeld and wouldv finished 5th-6th in sepang as well if not for his mechanical problems and so forth and nick running into him at sepang.

He has been outqualified by Nick a few times but nick has had a bit lighter fuel and also kubica has been on the pace if not beating nick for a lot of the free practise sessions even though that doesn't say much. Don't get me wrong, i am not saying heidfeld isn't good, he is very underrated and a terrific consistent driver but kubica is very quick and young and just needs more experience and some better luck and he will produce some good results. remember how much more experienced Nick is than Robert. BMW have a great driver line up and at the way they are going could fight for race wins next year and even maybe late this season if they are lucky.
Don't get me wrong, he's young and new tracks to him.
But Mario Theissen is said to be concerned that last years pace shown by him hasn't translated to this year. (as by M.Brundle on ITV's broadcast of the GP of Bahrain)
BMW seam to want results sooner than later. or so it seams.

[ratonmacias]

Don't get me wrong, he's young and new tracks to him.
But Mario Theissen is said to be concerned that last years pace shown by him hasn't translated to this year. (as by M.Brundle on ITV's broadcast of the GP of Bahrain)
BMW seam to want results sooner than later. or so it seams.


no new tracks for him he already drove all of them last year as a 3rd driver.

[Roamy]

man - news wise this season is boring as hell!! somebody needs to piss in the other guy's race car and liven this **** up. Hopefully next year we can get a live wire in here and create some excitement between races. either that or we are going to need a scedule like Nascar

[Valve Bounce]

man - news wise this season is boring as hell!! somebody needs to piss in the other guy's race car and liven this **** up. Hopefully next year we can get a live wire in here and create some excitement between races. either that or we are going to need a scedule like Nascar


F1 will never be as exciting as CrashCAR, or even Champ(let's bring the safety car out)car; it's the nature of the races. So having two compounds was introduced to help us stay awake, maybe we should have more contrived things to liven it up, like black flagging cars at random.

[Dazz9908]

F1 will never be as exciting as CrashCAR, or even Champ(let's bring the safety car out)car; it's the nature of the races. So having two compounds was introduced to help us stay awake, maybe we should have more contrived things to liven it up, like black flagging cars at random.
Actually the Two tyre compounds where pushed by Bridgestone. As now they are the only tyre supplier the focus was going off them, they wanted people talking about tyres, Hense thats why they pushed for two compounds per race. Bring their Company into the fore.