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Today, every driver needs a wedge to get into F1. Either being part of a young drivers program or having a rich backer.

Based on results in previous series, Guido, if compared to some others, deserves his chance in F1 but personally I think he's already too old and therefor has the stigmata of "another Dutch paydriver".

What still bugs me the most about the Dutch and racing is that every time someone can enter F1, the whole country is cheering but when said driver needs some money, no-one is there.
Even when Spyker bought crapland the whole nation cheered and said how good this could be for our country. Even some big companies cheered but in the end Philips went to Williams and IGN spent way too much on a cheating Renault. And the rest didn't do jack shit.

The BBC is reporting an opinion I've held for a long time, which is that Ferrari has signed Sebastian Vettel for 2014. Nothing official though.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

yea, I consider it old news now thanks to you

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"An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped by any army or any government"


3x TBKL rFactor Hillclimb champion

Well, I'll say it before kals does - throw enough shit, some of it sticks.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

McLaren are apparently on the verge of signing Felix Baumgartner. They are looking for someone who can operate well in an environment with no atmosphere.

Benson's article isn't actually news for one of two reasons ... it confirms nothing; the rumour is now quite old ...

shame on me thinking you meant Zsolt Baumgarter.

Because he had to improve. His 2009 title was all down to the Brawn advantage from the early races and Barrichello was way over the hill to mount a title challenge anyway. Against Hamilton the BS stopped and he knew he had to perform. Now with Perez, the teammate pressure will be off again as I don't see Perez racing for wins straight off the bat.

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07.04.1968 - Flower of Scotland when will we see your like again?
01.05.1994 - We'll never forget...

To me Perez is a coin on it's side. It can fall either way. Or he's a future champion or he already peaked.

Luca di Montezemola on Vettel Rumors:



http://en.espnf1.com/ferrari/motorsport ... MP=OTC-RSS

He does have a point however.....
Come to think of it, when was the last time 2 near equally good drivers drove for the same team with championship possibilities without getting into some sort of fight?
Berger and Alesi worked well but they couldn't even really fight for a win.

Senna-Prost didn't work. Mansell-Prost comes to mind. Not a great marriage either IIRC. We got Hill and Clark. I'm too young to know if they got along or not.
Hamilton-Alonso didn't work.....


So if Vettel goes to Ferrari in 2014, will Alonso call it quits??

That was a super team if there ever was one. Damon's idol was Jimmy, you know.

There are those who believe that if Alonso gets a third title, he'll call it a day.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

But that quote has already been debunked as he said he'd be happy to have 3 titles once he quits. Not "I'll quit after my 3th title".

I just really doubt Ferrari would risk having "2 roosters". Alonso has already proven he can't really play well with an equal #1 and history has also proven that it's hard to keep both drivers happy once they fight for a title.

Ferrari wants the two best drivers, but also a number one that will win the Drivers title and a number two for the Constructors.

History shows that you can't have two Number Ones and a successful, long relationship.

If Massa can continue this form into 2013, there's every reason to believe they can win the WDC for Alonso and the WCC.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Well, I'm against Ferrari renewing the contract with Massa. When Ferrari decided to renew with him for 2012, I already saw that as last vote of confidence given the horrible season he's had. This year he nearly lost the ride even before the Season hit it's halfway point, with shitty races. I know the car was bad but it didn't justify those results.

If they are about to renew the contract, either they drop dramatically his salary or they make a contract per race with him. Both solutions are good. Another thing, I'm tired of a brazilian driver on Ferrari....we are watching this since 2000, honestly I'm fed up. I like Ferrari but I got the conclusion Ferrari is better without a brazilian driver there. Given our History with F1, top brazilian drivers must look for protagonism and in Ferrari you can't do that.

Maybe that's because Nelson Piquet never accepted a Ferrari ride, even after so many offers. "Winning in Ferrari I'd be just another driver winning for the name of a team....out of Ferrari I'm Nelson Piquet, the driver, winning races".

Er...you do realise he has been the third highest points scorer since the summer break?

Felipe has only had 3 awful races this year; Australia, Malaysia and Barcelona. Then there are those races where he was fast but made a mistake (Canada and Germany). In every other race he has been in the vicinity of Alonso.

Ferrari are clearly not interested in taking a gamble on a younger driver for next year. If Felipe can keep this form up all the way through to next season, and if Ferrari can get the car right from the beginning of the year, they will have two drivers who can fight for the WDC.

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Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

Felipe is too inconsistent to fight for the WDC, but as he has his confidence back and is understanding the tyres - which he freely admits now, so long as he doesn't have an awful start to 2013 - then Massa can make life difficult for several other front runners.

Oh, and yeah, don't let facts get in the way of a good rant.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

My feeling says that it's absolutely impossible to have both Vettel and Alonso in the same team. It won't be good at all when you take the recent history of Ferrari in mind. Since the start of the Schumi decade they've had an absolute number 1 in the team, perhaps the Massa/Raikkonen years as an exception. Ferrari wanted a very good driver for the world title and a decent driver to help their captain but not mixing in the championship fighting. You can't expect from Vettel and Alonso to take such a role.

Therefore, in my eyes, the only option is that Alonso retires after 2013 or Vettel doesn't join Ferrari at all. Allthough these are only rumours, most of the time they do have a little truth inside.

About the vd Garde stories, I hope he doesn't sign a contract (or he won't be offered a contract)for a F1 drive. He's good but not good enough for F1. I want to be proud of my country again and I'm afraid Giedo can't deliver this. There are some other young, Dutch talents who do have all the signs that they're more talented than vd Garde. I'm hoping for them in a few years time.