TBK-Light.com

why not use slim shitload of money to build a new track?

Yes and no
They are bad cuz there aint no more gravel/grass

FIA & FOM have sorted out the Concorde Agreement from 2013-20. It would seem that Marussia has been left out.

what does that mean? Are they out for 2014? Are they not bound by the things in the agreement? Or are they just not getting the money?

The one fly in the ointment at the moment is the Marussia F1 Team, which is competing in F1 but is not included in the commercial deals, despite being accepted as an entrant. In the past the team has benefited from what are known as Column 3 payments, which amount to around $10 million a year, plus travel and freight benefits.

This has not the case this year despite the fact that the team has undertaken to follow the Concorde Agreement that was in place when the entry was made. There are, obviously, questions about whether the current situation is fair because the team is competing with a significant disadvantage and there have even been suggestions that there might be grounds for a complaint to the European Commission on the basis of anti-competitive activity. It serves no real purpose for the sport to get tangled up in European bureaucracy once again but if the signatories to the Concorde Agreement do not alter the terms of the deal, they would seem to be leaving themselves open to complaints. The team is struggling on but is in a position where it really has nothing to lose in the long-term with a complaint.

He has cash, and Sauber needs cash. The only reason Gutierrez hasn't been replaced yet (and the only reason he was chosen over Kamui in the first place) was because Slim paid for a 2013 drive at around this time last year. Sauber couldn't afford to pay him back, and so his driver has the seat. But there's no more money coming from him.

I bet Slim also auto-renews his car insurance without checking the quote ...

Does Boobens have cash?

Barrichello shock contender for 2014 Sauber seat

Rubens Barrichello has emerged as a shock contender to drive for Sauber in 2014. With Nico Hulkenberg expected to move either to Lotus or McLaren next year, Hinwil based Sauber has already said Russian teenager Sergey Sirotkin is set to make his debut in 2014.

But Sirotkin alongside team incumbent Esteban Gutierrez, 22, would constitute a very young and inexperienced lineup. Barrichello, the 41-year-old Brazilian who lost his Williams seat at the end of 2011, would more than solve those problems.

His return to F1 would also be welcomed by Bernie Ecclestone, who has been working to help Felipe Massa find sponsors so that the grid is not represented by a Brazilian for the first time since 1970. Former Ferrari and Honda driver Barrichello is also a winner of 11 grands prix, and according to Auto Motor und Sport he has burst back into contention for a 2014 seat with a reported 'two-digit million sum' in personal sponsorship.

Barrichello, who has been travelling to races this year as a pundit for Brazilian television Globo, is quoted as saying: "I would only have to train my neck. Then I could race tomorrow," the Paulista, who holds the record for the most grands prix ever contested by a driver, added. (GMM)

Does anyone really want to see Rubens tooling around in a Sauber? I like him as much as the next guy, but he's had his time in F1.

16 March Grand Prix of Australia
30 March Grand Prix of Malaysia
06 April Grand Prix of Bahrain
20 April Grand Prix of China
11 May Grand Prix of Spain
25 May Grand Prix of Monaco
08 June Grand Prix of Canada
22 June Grand Prix of Austria
06 July Grand Prix of Great Britain
20 July Grand Prix of Germany (Hockenheim)
27 July Grand Prix of Hungary
24 August Grand Prix of Belgium
07 September Grand Prix of Italy
21 September Grand Prix of Singapore
05 October Grand Prix of Russia (Sochi)
12 October Grand Prix of Japan
26 October Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi
09 November Grand Prix of USA (Austin)
30 November Grand Prix of Brazil