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[Jabberwocky]

Ferrari said yesterday that Perez is too inexperienced for them at the moment. Also that they will not make a decision on Massa until half way through the season.

I think it all hinges on Schumacher and Hamilton and what they do

[LewEngBridewell]

Ferrari said yesterday that Perez is too inexperienced for them at the moment. Also that they will not make a decision on Massa until half way through the season.

I think it all hinges on Schumacher and Hamilton and what they do

Hamilton will stay at McLaren. Schumacher will either stay at Merc, or retire, depending on how the rest of this season pans out.

[Jabberwocky]

SO the Hulk or Paul to Mercedes then!?!

For Ferrari if they do remove Massa, I would go for Koby

[andrew]

Ferrari said yesterday that Perez is too inexperienced for them at the moment. Also that they will not make a decision on Massa until half way through the season.

I think it all hinges on Schumacher and Hamilton and what they do

Hamilton will stay at McLaren. Schumacher will either stay at Merc, or retire, depending on how the rest of this season pans out.

Indeed, Hamilton is a McLaren product. He will not be allowed to leave considering how much McLaren have invested in him over the years. Plus no other team can afford the repair bill.

I reckon Schumacher will retire at the end of this season regardless of how this season goes. I still think he is just at Merc to act as a development driver so they can mount a serious title challenge in 2013 with Rosberg and someone else.

[Jabberwocky]

I think the question about Hamilton is more a "where would he go if he left?"

Ferrari, is a 1 driver team and I don't think Alonso would give him the nod.

Redbull, although the outcome could be epic, I don't think the team could cope with it. Look at Webber's opinion of things.

Mercedes, I think Ross would love the idea however, with the uncertainty around Merc and the Concorde agreement must muddy that water.

I don't think anyone else has the status to bring him in.

[Hammer278]

Ferrari said yesterday that Perez is too inexperienced for them at the moment. Also that they will not make a decision on Massa until half way through the season.

I think it all hinges on Schumacher and Hamilton and what they do

Hamilton will stay at McLaren. Schumacher will either stay at Merc, or retire, depending on how the rest of this season pans out.

Don't be too sure yet. He's been offered the terms but there's a reason he's not signed it. Hopefully he holds off a bit longer to see if this team is indeed going down the drain, or not.

[Big Azza]

Here is my frank assessment:

Both the Red Bull Teams will keep it in the family. Webber's replacement will be someone from STR you would think, however, I'm starting to think that Webber's in for a strong year giving Ricciardo and Vergne time to develop a bit more.

I don't think STR would make any drastic changes until Carlos Sainz Jr. matures a bit. He is their next big star. In the meantime though, if their hand was forced I would think that they would replace their failing driver with Lewis Williamson.

However, while Vergne is slower and less experienced, he still seems to have a good race. In the meantime, though, I am surprised that Ricciardo is performing a bit better than Vergne.

Schumacher won't retire. To get pole at Monaco at 43 years of age... No one else could do that in this day and age. The biggest issue is Hamilton. In my opinion, if I were McLaren, I would probably keep things as is, although I'd be more excited to see someone else pair with Button. I think Hamilton's time is almost up at McLaren, and possibly he could go to Ferrari.

In summary, contract extensions for:

Di Resta
Grosjean
Hamilton
Schumacher
Webber
Kobayashi
Perez
Ricciardo
Vergne
Maldonado
Petrov?

Exiting F1:
Senna
Massa (possibly on towards Caterham, or Williams)
Pic (always happens at Marussia - more consistent than STR)
Karthikeyan

Entering F1:
Valterri Bottas
Jaime Alguersuari?
Bianchi (likely will replace Hulkenburg)


I will go out on a limb and say that the best fit for Massa's replacement would be Kovaleinen.

[geetface9]

I agree with big azza on many points and that there won't be many top team lineup changes. Webber and schumacher will stick around I think, and I don't see where hamilton would go. He really could only go down, unless he moved to ferrari which a lot of people can't see happening, even with massa's highly likely exit at the end of the season. I'm not sure what STR will do...their car doesn't seem to be up to scratch this year. No memorable results from them, really (other than bahrain for ricciardo i think?). If maldo and senna get consistent points for the rest of the season I don't see either of them departing. Heikki and petrov are staying put I think as well and I agree with big azza about marussia and HRT. I don't think sauber would kick kobayashi but he's been there for a while now and maybe they want to try some new talent?? idk. But perez is definitely here to stay for a while with his sponsorship and his hype. Very memorable races from him over the last year and a half.

[LewEngBridewell]

Ferrari said yesterday that Perez is too inexperienced for them at the moment. Also that they will not make a decision on Massa until half way through the season.

I think it all hinges on Schumacher and Hamilton and what they do

Hamilton will stay at McLaren. Schumacher will either stay at Merc, or retire, depending on how the rest of this season pans out.

Don't be too sure yet. He's been offered the terms but there's a reason he's not signed it. Hopefully he holds off a bit longer to see if this team is indeed going down the drain, or not.

Down the drain? They've performed worse than this before! A lot worse.

If 1 win and 2nd in the WCC is going down the drain, then where are the teams 3rd and down headed? Lotus haven't even won a race this year... they're just as good as finished then.

[andrew]

Ferrari said yesterday that Perez is too inexperienced for them at the moment. Also that they will not make a decision on Massa until half way through the season.

I think it all hinges on Schumacher and Hamilton and what they do

Hamilton will stay at McLaren. Schumacher will either stay at Merc, or retire, depending on how the rest of this season pans out.

Don't be too sure yet. He's been offered the terms but there's a reason he's not signed it. Hopefully he holds off a bit longer to see if this team is indeed going down the drain, or not.

Down the drain? They've performed worse than this before! A lot worse.

If 1 win and 2nd in the WCC is going down the drain, then where are the teams 3rd and down headed? Lotus haven't even won a race this year... they're just as good as finished then.

A few bad races and a team is going down the drain?! That's laughable. Check the history of McLaren and you'll see they've had much worse seasons than this. Of the top of my head, 1994 was a pretty bad year with the Peugot engines proving to be very unreliable. Sitting 2nd in the constructors ain't going down the drain by any strech of the imagination.

[LewEngBridewell]

Ferrari said yesterday that Perez is too inexperienced for them at the moment. Also that they will not make a decision on Massa until half way through the season.

I think it all hinges on Schumacher and Hamilton and what they do

Hamilton will stay at McLaren. Schumacher will either stay at Merc, or retire, depending on how the rest of this season pans out.

Don't be too sure yet. He's been offered the terms but there's a reason he's not signed it. Hopefully he holds off a bit longer to see if this team is indeed going down the drain, or not.

Down the drain? They've performed worse than this before! A lot worse.

If 1 win and 2nd in the WCC is going down the drain, then where are the teams 3rd and down headed? Lotus haven't even won a race this year... they're just as good as finished then.

A few bad races and a team is going down the drain?! That's laughable. Check the history of McLaren and you'll see they've had much worse seasons than this. Of the top of my head, 1994 was a pretty bad year with the Peugot engines proving to be very unreliable. Sitting 2nd in the constructors ain't going down the drain by any strech of the imagination.

It's true that things are not perfect, and silly mistakes have been made in recent years. But it infuriates me when people make it out as if McLaren are on the verge of self-destruction.

[andrew]

Ferrari said yesterday that Perez is too inexperienced for them at the moment. Also that they will not make a decision on Massa until half way through the season.

I think it all hinges on Schumacher and Hamilton and what they do

Hamilton will stay at McLaren. Schumacher will either stay at Merc, or retire, depending on how the rest of this season pans out.

Don't be too sure yet. He's been offered the terms but there's a reason he's not signed it. Hopefully he holds off a bit longer to see if this team is indeed going down the drain, or not.

Down the drain? They've performed worse than this before! A lot worse.

If 1 win and 2nd in the WCC is going down the drain, then where are the teams 3rd and down headed? Lotus haven't even won a race this year... they're just as good as finished then.

A few bad races and a team is going down the drain?! That's laughable. Check the history of McLaren and you'll see they've had much worse seasons than this. Of the top of my head, 1994 was a pretty bad year with the Peugot engines proving to be very unreliable. Sitting 2nd in the constructors ain't going down the drain by any strech of the imagination.

It's true that things are not perfect, and silly mistakes have been made in recent years. But it infuriates me when people make it out as if McLaren are on the verge of self-destruction.

Look at Ferrari. 21 years without a drivers championship and 15 years without a constructors championship. These things happen in F1, however this isn't the place to discuss whether or not McLaren is broken (it ain't - it's just been bent a little ). That discussion belongs elswhere.

[darwin dali]

Ferrari said yesterday that Perez is too inexperienced for them at the moment. Also that they will not make a decision on Massa until half way through the season.

I think it all hinges on Schumacher and Hamilton and what they do

Hamilton will stay at McLaren. Schumacher will either stay at Merc, or retire, depending on how the rest of this season pans out.

Don't be too sure yet. He's been offered the terms but there's a reason he's not signed it. Hopefully he holds off a bit longer to see if this team is indeed going down the drain, or not.

Down the drain? They've performed worse than this before! A lot worse.

If 1 win and 2nd in the WCC is going down the drain, then where are the teams 3rd and down headed? Lotus haven't even won a race this year... they're just as good as finished then.

A few bad races and a team is going down the drain?! That's laughable. Check the history of McLaren and you'll see they've had much worse seasons than this. Of the top of my head, 1994 was a pretty bad year with the Peugot engines proving to be very unreliable. Sitting 2nd in the constructors ain't going down the drain by any strech of the imagination.

It's true that things are not perfect, and silly mistakes have been made in recent years. But it infuriates me when people make it out as if McLaren are on the verge of self-destruction.

Look at Ferrari. 21 years without a drivers championship and 15 years without a constructors championship. These things happen in F1, however this isn't the place to discuss whether or not McLaren is broken (it ain't - it's just been bent a little ). That discussion belongs elswhere.

[Hammer278]

Ferrari said yesterday that Perez is too inexperienced for them at the moment. Also that they will not make a decision on Massa until half way through the season.

I think it all hinges on Schumacher and Hamilton and what they do

Hamilton will stay at McLaren. Schumacher will either stay at Merc, or retire, depending on how the rest of this season pans out.

Don't be too sure yet. He's been offered the terms but there's a reason he's not signed it. Hopefully he holds off a bit longer to see if this team is indeed going down the drain, or not.

Down the drain? They've performed worse than this before! A lot worse.

If 1 win and 2nd in the WCC is going down the drain, then where are the teams 3rd and down headed? Lotus haven't even won a race this year... they're just as good as finished then.

I'm surprised someone of your intelligence took my words so literally. I don't mean the team is going bankrupt or about to quit F1, I mean a team which is not going to be challenging for wins and WDCs for a long time to come. Don't forget, McLaren had not won a WDC for a DECADE until Hamilton arrived and got it back for them. Just. McLaren are always there or thereabouts, they don't seem to have that dominating factor anymore of the late 90s, Ferrari have had it, Redbull have had it, hell even Renault had it. Then came Redbull.

Thinking of it from Lewis' perspective, I don't think he's the kind of chap who is content with getting 3-4 wins a season and that's it. McLaren may not be in a position to deliver more than this for God knows how much longer, which is why it is wise to sit tight and take more time to analyze what's happening with the team. Is Whitmarsh really capable? I have my doubts, McLaren have made mistakes every year, but their consistency this year is scary.

[bud]

2008 he got it back for them correct, he should have gotten it back a year earlier though!