You heard about the rumours? It's said, that Kimi already has signed some pre-contact with the Reds and MS is in contact with Mercedes anyway....

Im sure kimi will look weird with red clothing

Isn't Massa going to Ferrari though? And Schumacher had already re-signed, Though I believe he has an escape clause based on the team's World Championship performance.

Arrggh the circus has begun again.

hmm, no. MS hasnt resigned yet. His contract ends after 2006 season. And today german newspaper says from "absolutely sure source", that Kimi already signed a pre contract with Ferrari...

well I'd like to see Rossi in the Ferrari, not teh Iceman

by the way, nice avatar Joe, maybe the best so far :P

Quote from Vykos69 :

hmm, no. MS hasnt resigned yet. His contract ends after 2006 season. And today german newspaper says from "absolutely sure source", that Kimi already signed a pre contract with Ferrari...

For 2007?

Michael to Mercedes? He will have gone full circle then > Mercedes paid for his first F1 drive (@ £150000 in a Jordan). Michael was racing for Merc at the time in Group C.

rofl, I cannot beleive that!

Quote from Flotch :

rofl, I cannot beleive that!

You think that is unbelievable?..... Poor old Eddie jordan thought he had Michael signed up but some loophole allowed Michael's manager to sneak him into a Benetton contract. Michael went to Benetton and the rest, as they say, is history!

Quote from Gunn :

Isn't Massa going to Ferrari though?

yes, but he is replacing Rubens.

If I see Kimi in red Ferrari clothes I seriously don't know what I am going to do.

Ferrari without Schumacher 0_o . What could they do ?!!
BTW, that would be really really exciting, but while I do not read this into lots of articles, I will not believe in this

And for he next season, Massa and Shumacher will drive the 2 Ferrari V8, but for 2007 there will be some changes , we will see .

Quote from Flotch :

Ferrari without Schumacher 0_o . What could they do ?!

Maybe get some better results?

Quote from frokki :

Maybe get some better results?

Lol, that is highly unlikely. Whether or not you like MS there aren't too many drivers in his class, a few, but not many.

I just dont think that Kimi would go to the Ferrari, McLaren is the quickest car now, and why it wouldnt be in the future. Kimi also said that driving a Mac is like dream come true, if it was just press talk I dont know.

There is a certain prestige in driving for Ferrari (oldest team in F1). I can't remember whose quote it was but some famous driver said somethng like: "every driver should drive for Ferrari .... but only once". :P

I'll tell you why Kimi would go to Ferrari: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Quote from Gunn :

I'll tell you why Kimi would go to Ferrari: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

That's the point. If they pay him 66% of the money MS costs, he'll still get more money than while driving for McLaren

He´s not going.

The strange part about the circus is that until the first race of next season you never know who is going to be driving for which team, or if they even have a drive at all. Rumours and confirmed reports notwithstanding, this has been the way for many many years. It is not uncommon for documents to be signed and promises to be made which all come to nothing in the end. Team bosses or drivers or driver's managers can instigate the greatest legal escapes in F1 and it can be astounding to behold. We shall see what we shall see.

Quote from Gunn :

The strange part about the circus is that until the first race of next season you never know who is going to be driving for which team, or if they even have a drive at all. Rumours and confirmed reports notwithstanding, this has been the way for many many years. It is not uncommon for documents to be signed and promises to be made which all come to nothing in the end. Team bosses or drivers or driver's managers can instigate the greatest legal escapes in F1 and it can be astounding to behold. We shall see what we shall see.

Or, to paraphrase; Silly Season is on!

Michael specifically stated during an interview that he was not signing with McClarren. He is sticking with Ferarri, at least until the contract is up next year. After that, I am betting he retires, or starts his own team. He has nothing left to prove as a driver and he has all the money that he will ever need. Of course, I am sure he would love to leave the sport with just one more championship and a few more poles to capture the only other record he does not already own.
I think that there would be only two reasons Kimi would go to Ferarri: 1 $$$$ like already stated, or 2 he is convinced that Bridgestone can correct their performance slide (pun intended).

I am finding that I enjoy silly season quite a bit. It helps to build anticipation for next year

Quote from Hallen :

Or, to paraphrase; Silly Season is on!

Michael specifically stated during an interview that he was not signing with McClarren. He is sticking with Ferarri, at least until the contract is up next year. After that, I am betting he retires, or starts his own team. He has nothing left to prove as a driver and he has all the money that he will ever need. Of course, I am sure he would love to leave the sport with just one more championship and a few more poles to capture the only other record he does not already own.
I think that there would be only two reasons Kimi would go to Ferarri: 1 $$$$ like already stated, or 2 he is convinced that Bridgestone can correct their performance slide (pun intended).

I am finding that I enjoy silly season quite a bit. It helps to build anticipation for next year

About one year ago Michael said he would expect to drive F1 until around 2009 and that he would not stop racing cars even then. He obviously doesn't need the cash so I guess as long as he's enjoying it he will continue.

The Bridgestone situation is not unusual, it has happened before where more than one tyre manufacturer supplies a series. There is still a certain prestige involved for drivers to belong to the Ferrari team.... and yes the money!

Can't see it happening

And pigs will fly...

Quote from ATHome :

That's the point. If they pay him 66% of the money MS costs, he'll still get more money than while driving for McLaren

Ferrarri does not have the same money resource this year compared to 2004, at leaeset i read it . And probly mclaren have quite alot of money to. I personally think it would be a misstake for kimi to go to ferrarri, just look at MS now, well maybe he's not as good as last year but it must have something to do with the car to.
And I think if kimi moves to ferrarri what if mclaren become even better, for example with their reliability and ferrarri continues to be as bad as this year.

And just watch the race kimi did today from 17th to the win why would he change team (well i know about reliability but anyway ferrarri isn't much better this year i guess)?

MS aint that good a driver in comparison to others (like Kimi) to be fair. It's was his car, and always has been - which was pretty evident this season from ferarri's piss poor performance.

Not that I'm saying hes bad, cos hes definately one of the best, but I wouldnt say miles above the rest like most people seem to think.

Button - theres one to look out for next season

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Ferrari have an excellent reliability record in the past few years, whereas McLaren don't seem to have had a trustworthy engine since Paul Morgan died.

Did you see the way Ron was behaving after the race? He clearly knows that Kimi's making plans to leave. He looked like a bloke who knows he's about to get jilted.

Or he's emotional to have finally seen proof that he has the next Mika!

MS is better OVERALL than anyone out there, but age is reducing the gap year on year.

Alonso is more intelligent. More like Prost was
Kimi is quicker. More like Senna/Hakinnen
Schumi has done it all, so doesn't need to prove anything. Incomparible to anyone really, but Alonso is closest overall.
Button is seriously good, but will never be a Kimi or Fernando. We'll win races, and maybe a championship, but in the same car he'd be beaten by them (but he'll crush Rubens).

Quote from vpr01 :

MS aint that good a driver in comparison to others (like Kimi) to be fair. It's was his car, and always has been - which was pretty evident this season from ferarri's piss poor performance.

Not that I'm saying hes bad, cos hes definately one of the best, but I wouldnt say miles above the rest like most people seem to think.

Button - theres one to look out for next season

Obviously you haven't follwed this man's racing career. Like him or hate him, he is absolutely one of the all-time best drivers. Ferrari more or less ceased development of their 2005 car to concentrate on next year's (V8) car. Coupled with ailing areodynamic design and shitty Bridgestone tyres Ferrari have certainly struggled. But take a look at the constructor's championship and you will see the work MS has done with an inferior car. I doubt more than one or two other F1 drivers could have achieved such a result. If you doubt Michael's ability, the other driver's do not. He is a cut above most drivers and most of them freely aknowledge it (except for JPM who seems to have trouble accepting that anyone else has skill except for himself).

Michael suffers from tall poppy syndrome and when he retires people will find someone else to kick. Meanwhile Michael's amazing record speaks for itself:

1973 - 1987 Karting

1984
Germain Junior Champion

1985
German Junior Champion (also takes part in Junior World Championship)

1986
3rd in German Championship
3rd in European Championship

1987
German Champion
European Champion

1988
Wins Formula Konig Championship
6th in Formula Ford 1600 German Championship
2nd in Formula Ford 1600 Eurpoean Championship

1989
2nd in the Formula 3 German Championship

1990
1st in the Formula 3 German Championship
5th in the Sport Prototype World Championship (Sauber Mercedes)

1991
9th in the Sport Prototype World Championship (Sauber Mercedes)
2nd in the Sugo round of the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship
Michael gets a chance to try F1 (Mercedes pay 150 000 pounds to buy Michael a drive with Eddie Jordan, for one race), unfortunatley he retired on this occasion.
He joins Benetton in F1 after escaping Jordan's flimsy contract via a loophole. He gets 12th in the driver's championship in this, his first year n F1.

1992
3rd in the F1 driver's championship (Benetton).

1993
4th in the F1 driver's championship (Benetton).

1994
1st in the F1 driver's championship (Benetton) despite missing two races and retiring from two others.

1995
1st in the F1 driver's championship (Benetton) despite retiring from four races.

1996
Michael drives Ferrari out of the F1 wilderness by achieveing a 3rd place in the driver's championship.

1997
Despite a strong season Michael was excluded from the championship rankings after an incident at Jerez involving Jaques Villeneuve. Despite four retirements he finishes with a hefty 78 points. (Ferrari)

1998
2nd in the F1 driver's championship. (Ferrari)

1999
5th in the F1 driver's championship. (Ferrari)

2000
1st in the F1 driver's championship. (Ferrari)

2001
1st in the F1 driver's championship. (Ferrari)

2002
1st in the F1 driver's championship with 3 races to spare. (Ferrari)

2003
1st in the F1 driver's championship. (Ferrari)

2004
1st in the F1 driver's championship. (Ferrari)

2005
Season still in progress as I write this (Alonso has clinched the title for Renault this year in an inspired season). Michael is 3rd in the driver's championship currently. Even taking into account Michelin's embarassing failure to provide a useable tyre at Indianapolis, (and assuming that Michael would not have won otherwise) this year's results prove that even in an underperforming car this man is one of the strongest racers in F1 today.

Only about 22 guys get to race F1 each year. Each and every one of them is a professional racer of high calibre. All of them are accomplished racers of great skill. You don't get to stand out in such a crowd by being ordinary. Many F1 drivers never even win a single Grand Prix race in a career which could last more than a decade. That's why you see tears in their eyes when they win even one seemingly insignificant race, it is a big achievement to best your F1 rivals.

Is Schumacher one of the best drivers of all time? Hell yes. He has consistently out-performed every team mate he ever had, and all of them were worthy of their position in F1. Even without quoting the many records Michael has claimed over the years his achievements are highly regarded by the people who count the most: his own peers.