F1 silly season

[EauRouge]

It's getting very silly now with these rumours of Alonso going to Red Bull- can't see it happening. I hope it won't be Kimi either. Seb needs a good number 2 behind him, someone that won't challenge him for the championship. I reckon Ricciardo is Red Bull's best bet.

Part of me would like to see some fireworks

I wonder if Alonso has a year's sabbatical planned so he can go off and play with his cycling team. He just doesn't seem to be that into F1 at the moment, a bit like Kimi was in 2009.

I'm thinking sabbatical because all the things he has done this season which unless your is stupid you don't do e.g you dont say you want a someone elses car, call your team idiots and court press attention for the red bull drive unless you are either leaving for good or if your going away for a bit it just doesn't make any sense to me and for whatever Alonso may be he has always seemed smart(ish)

The fireworks though they would be amazing but they would all come from Alonso's side because you could just imagine Kimi's approach to it all which would add to the hilarity for me but i imagine would just enrage Alonso even more

I just saw a tweet that made me smile if Kimi moves to Ferrari and Rob Smedley becomes his race engineer could you imagine the radio messages between those two

Hahahaha.

"Kimi, baby..."
"Leave me alone."

I need the move to happen just for that possibility too

If Rob calls Felippe Phillph I wonder what he would call Kimi

Felippe Massa confirms he will be leaving Ferrari at the end of the season ... So someone is going to Ferrari is it going to be Kimi or Hulkenberg?

Just seen on Twitter. Not a surprise, really. I think it'll be Kimi, not sure how I feel about that decision though- in many ways I think Hulkenberg would be a better choice but all that rests on how Alonso and Kimi get on. I think Alonso will have learnt a lot since that awful season at McLaren but I think Kimi will really push him, so there will probably be a few strops thrown by Alonso.

That's if the whole Alonso sabbatical thing doesn't happen and Ferrari ends up with both Kimi and Hulkenburg.

I feel bad for Massa because as he said in his instagram/tweet "For next year, I want to find a team that can give me a competitive car to win many more races and challenge for the Championship which remains my greatest objective" i just don't see it happening he is either going to be at the back of the grid or he is going to retire i don't see him going to the spare seat at Lotus

Shall we start the who is going to Lotus speculation now?

Yes, let's speculate some more

I guess it would depend if they keep Grosjean or not. I know Bouiller is his manager so there's the motivation there, but I think he's had quite a few second chances. I think probably Hulkenberg will go there, and if they get rid of Grosjean then maybe Massa as well.

The strangest thing I heard was on twitter that Alonso is going to Mclaren and partnering with Button and taking his Santandar sponsorship with him l, Sergio will take his sponsorship to a lower team and Massa will partner Hulkenburgs at Lotus with Sauber going with Serotkin and Estaban for the two lots of money they bring in

If all that happens this silly season will be worth the chaos and predictableness the Red Bull seat caused early on

Back to McLaren? Brilliant

Ferrari have confirmed both Raikkonen and Alonso for 2014, so no sabbatical. This line up could be pretty epic!

So, who will sign for Lotus?

Hulkenberg for Lotus?

I agree i think definitely Hulkenberg for Lotus because he doesn't have a seat at Sauber for next year but who is going to partner him because neither he nor Roman are proven race winners so is that going to be a factor?Maybe Massa and Hulkenberg for Lotus?

Also why are Mclaren so late in confirming their driver line up for 2014 as neither Jenson or Sergio have contracts for next year

Also would just like to say i love how lotus responded on twitter with the news that Kimi left for Ferrari "It hurts a little bit"

I love whoever is responsible for Lotus social media. Genius (in the true sense if the word as opposed to Alonso's interpretation)

That Lotus tweet is ace.

I don't know why McLaren are hanging around. Surely they'll keep Jenson? Not sure about Perez, I don't think this season turned out as they hoped but he's got potential so maybe they're thinking a couple of seasons down the line.

I expect Lotus will go for Hulkenberg but now Massa's been thrown in the mix....

Could a complete spanner be thrown in the mix with Hulkenberg going to Mclaren to pair up with Jenson and maybe Sergio will go to Lotus because he has sponsorship money and that could help the teams finances and to partner with Massa because he is a proven race winner and Roman costs too much money with all the crashes he has

Or are Mclaren just being very late with the contracts because as Jenson has said he has a option for next year it just hasn't been picked up and hasn't been signed by Martin but there has been no talk about Sergio being picked up again next year

The Lotus twitter team are amazing they have such funny things on that stream it never fails to make me laugh they are making such good use of twitter the other teams should take note really

So, if th F1 rumour mill is correct, Rob Smedley is on his way to Williams. Which made me think Massa might be headed that way too but I've just seen that he might be going to Lotus. I'm thinking that the bodywork bills incurred by a Massa and Grosjean team could financially sink Lotus.

Yes, I heard that too. I think Lotus have the choice of Hulkenberg and Massa, I wonder who they will go for? Unless they ditch Grosjean, then they could have both.

If Massa did go to Williams, who would go?

If Di Resta is on the move, as rumoured, where would he go?

It's like musical chairs, too many drivers and not enough good cars

Rob can not be parted from Massa because i would miss the radio messages and why if Massa does go to Lotus would Rob go from Ferrari to Williams it seems very bizarre but in the land of F1 the bizarre rumors are usually true but i agree between Massa and Grosjean the bill would sink Lotus surely they have to be thinking of the cost of those two partnering up?

I want Lotus to have Di Resta in one seat and keep Grosjean because that partnership would work really well i think Massa to Williams to replace Botas and partner with Maldonado and Hulkenberg moving back to Force India because Sauber are going with Serotkin and Gutierrez for financial reasons

Does anyone else seem to think its a bit weird Ferrari and Lotus have a bit of a swap going on with key engineering personnel going from Lotus to Ferrari and then you have Ferrari people ending up at Lotus its just seems like a giant trade off they have going on that seems like Ferrari are getting the better end of the deal

Anyone else seen/heard the rumblings about Alonso signing to McLaren for 2014? Apparently thus us why it's taking so long for McLaren to confirm their line up for next year. No idea of the veracity of it but its my favourite rumour of Silly Season so far

Yeah, the Beeb are talking about the possibility of a Button/Alonso line up next year (and if not next year, the year after if McLaren have their way)

I really liked the idea of Button/Alonso pairing at Mclaren but now that Alonso has just committed publically to Ferrari and said he wants to spend his whole career there so I doubt it would happen

I would love to see a Kimi/Nico H pairing at Ferrari though

So Vettel was always going to win his car this weekend was beyond amazing

Does anyone else love the fact that Alonso and Mark will always pick each up each other on the track and give each other a ride back to the paddock