Michael Schumacher loses his role as F1 advisor for Ferrari and is linked to a drive with Mercedes GP for 2010 season
Kimi Raikkonen to take a sabbatical in 2010
Jenson Button joins Mclaren
Valentino Rossi to test F1 car again
F1 legend and 7-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher will no longer be an advisor to the Ferrari F1 team and will instead concentrate on development of Ferrari’s road cars. This comes after an all new three year contract signed in September that states the above mentioned terms. This may come as a shock to all his fans but get this – As a result of this, Schumi might just hope in to drive an F1 car afterall, a Mercedes at that!
Since his retirement in 2006, Schumacher was found at most races helping out the team and even tried to drive for the Italian marque in the last few races after Felipe Massa’s injury. Though not successful in the attempt, he has taken a huge role in developing Ferrari’s road cars, especially the 458 Italia and will continue that role.
Merceres’ Motorsport boss Norbert Haug has expressed his interests to have Schumi drive beside Nico Rosberg. “I have every understanding that all the people in Formula 1 worldwide want to know who the drivers will be now,” said Haug. “It’s not finally decided, but I think and hope we can announce something in the course of the next couple of weeks. We will do a very good job in that respect as well I can promise you – and maybe we can create some surprises.”
Schumacher’s spokeswoman Sabine Kehm didn’t rule out the German returning to F1, but admitted it was “unlikely” at the moment. “Although you never say never in this sport,” she said. Adding further to this is the fact that Mercedes have admitted to be on the lookout for a German driver and prefer MS to Nick Heidfeld.
————————————————————————————————
2007 F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen will take a sabbatical from Formula One next year, according to his manager. After his unexpected early departure from Ferrari, he admitted that he would stay in F1 only if he could find a winning car and Mclaren was his lone option.
Raikkonen’s manager Steve Robertson has revealed that discussions with McLaren have come to an end. Autosport reports that Kimi and Mclaren were unable to agree wages, the number of sponsorship appearance days he should do, or about how free he was to do rallies.
With Button joining Mclaren, Kimi was left with no option but to take a break.”A gap year means nothing for Kimi. He is more interested in fighting for wins and the world championship. F1 will miss Kimi. He worked hard over the summer – doing things in a Ferrari that only the best drivers are capable of.”
————————————————————————————————
Briton Jenson Button has been confirmed as the second driver of Mclaren F1 team beside Lewis Hamilton and replacing Finn Heikki Kovaleinen. Button moved over to Mclaren after he couldnt reach a deal with Brawn over wages. Reports suggest he is on a 3-year deal with Mclaren and at £6 million a season which is around 50 per cent more than Brawn/Mercedes were offering.
“It’s always a difficult decision to leave a team when you’ve been there for so long,” said Button. “But life is all about challenges – and, most important of all, it’s about challenging yourself.” This ends his 7 year long relationship with the team, that he has been driving since it was called BAR Honda. Button is very impressed with the team and the facilities on offer.
“From a personal point of view, it’s also a great pleasure to be joining a fellow British world champion. Lewis has achieved an incredible level of success in a very short period of time, and he’s a wonderfully gifted driver who has earned the respect of every Formula One driver. I’m sure there’s plenty that we can learn from each other, and I’m really looking forward to using our combined knowledge to push the team forward.”
————————————————————————————————
MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi has lined up for another test in a Ferrari F1 car. He has asked this to Stefano Domenicalli by a text message. He is expected to test in January.
Source : AutocarUK, F1 and Autosport
