F1 unlikely stories and rumour mill

[^^v]

Schumi n Kimi team mates next year?

Schumacher pens new Ferrari deal - report
The rumour is not confirmed
14/03/06 09:57




Michael Schumacher According to reports in the German press, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher may have now signed a new two-year deal to stick around in F1 until the end of 2008.

After missing the Bahrain win by a paltry 1.2 seconds, the 37-year-old is almost certain to line up at the scarlet team next year alongside McLaren defector Kimi Raikkonen, the reports said.

Schumacher's manager, Willi Weber, would not confirm the rumour when pressed by Bild newspaper.

"We will not be making any statements on this issue before the summer," he said.

"But it is clear -- positive results will not impact negatively on Michael's important decision."

Bild also quoted a 'McLaren insider' as reporting that Kimi Raikkonen has already decided to leave the team.

Source GMM
CAPSIS International

[LUD02C]

I reckon Kimi has signed else where already.
After Ron Dennis claimed "Kimi is replaceable"

[LUD02C]

While were on the subject

Ron Dennis may be trying to downplay Kimi Raikkonen's importance to McLaren but no so Martin Whitmarsh, who's determined to retain his services in 2007.

At Sakhir last weekend, Dennis downplayed reports of Raikkonen's suspected imminent departure to Ferrari, saying the Finn may not have a choice in the matter as McLaren may opt to replace him or his team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya.

"If Kimi or Juan Pablo think they will be better suited by moving to another team, then they can leave," Dennis said.

"Likewise, if I think McLaren can be better suited by signing someone else, then I could sign a new driver tomorrow.

However, Whitmarsh, McLaren's managing director, isn't so keen to play mind games with Raikkonen as he wants him and Fernando Alonso to make up McLaren's 2007 driver line-up.

"We have made no particular secret of the fact that we want Kimi to stay with us," he told Autosport magazine.

"We have got one Champion in the car next year and it would be nice to have a second with Kimi taking the title and being in the car alongside Fernando."

Meanwhile Dennis recently refuted claims that Alonso only signed with McLaren for the money.

"The reason he came to us was not to do with the money," he told the Mirror newspaper. "He would have earned more at Renault."

[^^v]

.....

aikkonen rejects latest Ferrari gossip
Schumacher deal may be the stumbling block
15/03/06 09:28



The speculation continues regarding Raikkonen
Kimi Raikkonen has fended off fresh speculation that his switch to Ferrari in 2007 is now signed and sealed.

Germany's Bild newspaper reported this week that the presently McLaren Mercedes driver will earn $150 million over the next five years at Maranello, complementing reports that Michael Schumacher has penned a new $91.2 million deal to stay in Ferrari-red until the end of 2008.

26-year-old Raikkonen, however, denied the latest gossip, which now includes reports that his managerial team may have visited the Toyota HQ in Cologne.

“I have not signed a new contract with anybody,” Raikkonen said, “(and) this Ferrari thing is written again and again, but there is nothing new. ”

Indeed, according to the Sport1.de publication in Germany, Raikkonen might have baulked at news that Schumacher - with a definite 'number one' clause in his existing Ferrari contract - is eyeing a new deal.

“I will not play second fiddle to anyone,” Raikkonen said.

Source GMM
CAPSIS International

[LUD02C]

Kimi, go to Ferrari.
I couldn't stand watching them both driving for the same team.

[^^v]

hmmmm

'Kimi signed Ferrari deal long ago'
Raikkonen reportedly under Ferrari contract
12/04/06 10:44



Additional weight to the Raikkonen-Ferrari rumours
For more than a year now, Kimi Raikkonen's signature has appeared on a long-term Ferrari contract for 2007 and beyond.

That is the claim of a Ferrari 'source', who told Switzerland's Blick publication that the information is common wisdom up and down the corridors of Maranello.

“I am surprised that the (news) was not made official a long time ago,” the newspaper quoted the source as saying.

The red-coloured destination of McLaren's 26-year-old Finn has been spoken about at Ferrari 'for months', the source added.

Source GMM
CAPSIS International

[LUD02C]

Alonso to mcLaren
Kimi to Ferrari
Schumacher to Renault

Michael Schumacher's agent says that Renault are interested in signing the Ferrari driver if he leaves the team at the end of the season.

As Fernando Alonso has already agreed to leave Renault for McLaren, the World Champions will require at least one new driver for 2007.

Although it remains a distant possibility, Will Weber says that Renault have eyes on replacing Fernando with Schumi, who has less than a year remaining on his present Ferrari deal.

"I clearly said to Flavio that we won't talk with anybody before Michael decides if he will continue racing or not and it is only right that we speak with Ferrari first," Weber told Bild newspaper.

"We have known each other for a long time already and we talk together a lot. Flavio told me to talk to him if Michael decides to continue racing and before he signs for Ferrari.

"He would probably have an interest."

Schumi himself played down the speculation and has previously insisted that he will only make a decision on his future mid-way through the current season.

[^^v]

hmmmm

errari to announce Raikkonen deal at Imola?
Fact or fiction? News and rumour in brief...
16/04/06 10:32
Yet more speculation over Raikkonen and Ferrari
At Imola next weekend, Ferrari will announce that Kimi Raikkonen is to become Michael Schumacher's new Formula One team-mate from 2007. The information was published in Austria's Kronen Zeitung newspaper.

As ever at the pinnacle of motor sport, fiction is often more prevalent than fact. If you listen to many pitlane observers, some F1 teams are still engaged in grey-areas often brutally referred to as cheating.

Even with the threats of disgruntled carmakers on his mind, then, FIA president Max Mosley says he is determined to introduce standardised electronics from season '08.

In the latest edition of F1 Racing magazine, he wrote that a common ECU would make it 'absolutely certain' that no funny business is going on inside tricky carmaker-built software.

Meanwhile, closer to the actual asphalt, F1's huge test at Barcelona wrapped up on Friday, a week ahead of free practice in Imola.

Of note, four men did not enjoy their day in the Catalan sun. Honda's Rubens Barrichello left the circuit at lunch to get a trapped nerve in his shoulder checked out. Williams' Mark Webber destroyed his FW28 racer, and (on Thursday), Michael Schumacher experienced yet another Ferrari V8 failure.

Yuji Ide, though - Super Aguri's beleaguered rookie who waited on site all week - had more reason than any to feel forlorn. The Japanese did not turn even a single lap following technical hitches in the white garage.

Source GMM
CAPSIS International

[LUD02C]

I remember Kimi saying, "I will not play 2nd to anyone" and he is going to go to Ferrari?

I still think McLaren will have a new driver line-up for 2007.
Juan to Renault maybe?