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Kimi's re signing says to me that they are going to make a play at Max for 2019 or have tapped Le Clerc for a drive in 2019. I expect Sauber to have a more competitive car next year (assuming Le Clerc goes there) and unless he fails big time to deliver, I just for the life of me can't see Ferrari letting him slip through the cracks. Not after what Red Bull have shown with Max.

You're either of the theory that Ferrari want someone who's happy to play #2 to Vettel or you're of the theory that they're waiting until Max's contract is up. You can't have both. Personally I believe the former, and we'll never see Max in a Ferrari until Vettel has moved on.

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I believe they will go hard at Max (are crazy not to really). If they get him, well that's a different story. If that doesn't happen then I think its Le Clerc. I can't help but feel Ferrari are hedging their bets.

Where it gets interesting is what the line up will be in 2020, cause if they feel Le Clerc needs 2 years development, Kimi could conceivably be there for 2019 as well! I hardly feel that they will pick up someone just for one year as a stop gap.

Obviously biased here as I'm Dutch but Max is an exceptional talent and if Ferrari can snatch him up they most likely will. If they don't he'll end up at Mercedes or stay at a revitalized Red Bull and dominate there for the years to come.
Vettel will be 32 in 2019. Looking at the future, he's not their guy, Max could be.
So from that point of view, if they can get him, they will. By that time they wont mind having a pissed off Vettel. They'll replace him with someone willing to be Verstappen's bitch instead of someone being Vettel's bitch.

Ferrari and Mercedes can want it all, but if Red Bull (and Renault) get their act together next year then I don't see Max or Daniel leaving there.

obviously, hence why I said "if Ferrari can snatch him up".

You're right there, Murray.

I still don't believe that reliability cost Kimi the 2003 title. People often point to the engine failure at the Nurburgring, but forget how many times he crashed in qualifying. Driver errors cost him that title.

Happy to see him in F1 for another year, but there were better options for that seat. Hopefully he'll manage a few more wins before retiring.

Indeed, Australia and Barcelona specifically. In Australia he was able to recover to third and Barcelona he crashed into the back of the stalled Jaguar of Pizzonia. He had two other retirements, one a reliability issue at Nurburgring and the other at Hockenheim when he got collected by Ralf and Rubens.

Kimi was incredibly consistent in 2003 and would have deserved the title as much as Schumi and Montoya. But Kimi wasn't as quick as either of the other title pair, Montoya being Schumi's closest challenger (on track).

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And the Mclaren wasn't as quick as the Ferrari and the Williams in the latter stages of the season.

I guess it also has to be considered the fact that the McLaren was an updated car, maybe even an improvised solution to the failure that was the MP4/18.

Kimi was reaching his prime in those years, I'd say. A better car, and the fact that the F2003GA wasn't unbeatable (like the F2001 and F2002), and that title could've been a fairly secure win.

And then, finally a year with Ferrari dropping back, and those damn french came up with that fantastic car/driver combo...

Looks like Vettel is confirmed at Ferrari.

Source Sky Sports

And it seems to be for 3 years

Three years is a surprise

That probably means that Kimi will continue on 2019 if he wants to. Leclerc will drive two years for Sauber and then move to Ferrari. Hamilton and Bottas will continue in Mercedes and Ricciardo/Verstappen in Red Bull.

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"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

Williams out

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let's be honest, Kimi is on the same boat of Roseberg. Both fast, both obsessed with winning a title, both don't enjoy racing in f1 anymore and they lost all motivation after their titles. Roseberg has left f1. Kimi left it too, than came back just for the money. They pay him a lot, he is not even required to perform, he is ok with that. Kimi is there just for the big cash. Rosberg will probably be back in a couple of years too for the same reason.
I personally believe all drivers want to become a F1 driver at one point, but once they're there not many enjoy it.
People like Alonso, Vettel, Schumacher, they fit perfectly there, it is just their thing.
Other people like Raikkonen or Roseberg, i think they just want to race, and they hate every minute they have to spend in sponsor events, or with the media or out of the car.

Roberg will inherit his father's business and he's running his own already. Like father, like son, they're more of business man than pure racing drivers. Keke's father was a business man as well.

I just noticed that this Verstappen kid has only about half the points of what his team mate has. This must mean that Verstappen = shit, he's out of motivation and should retire, he's taking a good seat from a more talented and younger driver. If Alonso, Gasly or Giovanazzi would be driving the other Red Bull, they would definitely have more points than this underperforming Verstappen kid. Retire already, you had your peak in 2016 Spanish GP.

Who do you think will take Verstappen's seat? I bet it has to be Gasly, but does Red Bull have the guts to switch their number two driver to a young talent for next season already? Rumour has it that it might even happen before Japanese Grand Prix. Helmut Marko and Christian Horner must be so fed up with their number two driver for not bringing important points for the team, they're losing the constructors title because Verstappen doesn't bring half as many points as Ricciardo, who's far superior driver of the two Red Bull drivers.

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"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

lol, and they're saying I'm a trol.

Stop trolling, I'm not trolling.

Again zero points for Max. He just can't drive the car without breaking it. What a waste. Alonso would win with that car.

Seriously though, switch Kimi in the place of Max in my previous post and quite many of you would agree. I thought it's only fair to do same with another driver to demonstrate how ridiculous all the Kimi comments are.

Hahaha, orange and wooden shoes. Hur dur.

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"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

Why do drivers never spin anymore? Or did that really not happen all that often, and I have just tainted my memories of the past? It just feels like there are like 3 spins per season nowadays in races, rather than three spins per race 10-15 years ago.

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