Before the Big Bang… – Eurosport

“We have some things to sort out before we stop our two drivers.” : Ross Brawn, CEO of Brawn GP, ​​hints that he must approve the sale of his team to Mercedes-Benz before letting the Etoile company decide on the “lineup” plans for Mercedes-Benz in 2010. In 2012, the Brackley team’s shares reached 75%. By then, Stuttgart will have its iconic German driver Nico Rosberg (Williams) for a long time. “Merco” even wanted him from 2010 to replace Rubens Barrichello, but Rubens Barrichello is still favored by Ross Brawn. He will play alongside Jenson Button, who is expected to become the 2009 world champion, and will receive a significant salary increase. Then quit, “Rubinho”, push to Williams or Toyota.

RBR has extended Mark Webber’s term until 2010 and Sebastian Vettel’s term up to and including 2011, with an option to extend for 2012. Milton Keynes no longer wants Renault and will switch to Mercedes-Benz. An announcement is imminent.

“Official driverFerrariThe next two seasons will remain the same”, Solemnly declare FerrariOn September 12, 2008, during the Italian Grand Prix… Massa and Raikkonen were set in stone for the 2009 and 2010 races… The least we can say is that Luca di Montezemolo was hesitant in his choice of driver (a bad casting in Luca Badoer) because Ferrari would hire “A Brazilian and a Spanish” he whispered off-screen last weekend. Stefano Domenicali confirmed last Tuesday that “Things have changed.” In short, Kimi Raikkonen is no longer bound by his final year of red contract and has agreed to return to McLaren to make room for Fernando Alonso (Renault). The sporting director wants to announce this “ASAP”. Maybe in Suzuka, “But there are no guarantees.”

Luca di Montezemolo has confirmed that Giancarlo Fisichella will be the third driver in 2010. This does not rule out the possibility that he will be loaned out to another team to race Grand Prix in order to maintain control.

The world champion pair will be joined by Kimi Raikkonen, who won the title at Ferrari a year ago, for the first time since 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton. The Finn’s lawyers are sorting out the final details of his return to Woking, where he will not be a favourite, unlike his period between 2002 and 2006.

What about Heikki Kovalainen? The Singapore Grand Prix once again highlighted his limits, finishing eighth in a grid dominated by his team-mates and seventh in a race won by the Briton. The Finn, created by Renault in 2007 before switching to McLaren, will try to find a job at Williams, Toyota or BMW. Without the support of his mentor Flavio Briatore, this would make the task very complicated…

If McLaren had retained Santander, Ferrari’s title sponsor from 2010 to 2014, the team should have entered a new era, gradually moving away from Mercedes-Benz, whose 40% shareholders were unhappy with the competition the brand brought through Ron Dennis in the pre-eminent GT field.

In the absence of Raikkonen, Rosberg or Kubica, the Japanese manufacturer will have to make a second choice. Although, Barrichello is on the transfer market, so is Kovalainen. In fact, Cologne had to let things settle because the Japanese board demanded further cost cuts in 2010, to around 50% of the 2008 budget. This ambiguity did not help the problems on the driver side: Jarno Trulli was involved. The pace dropped significantly, while Timo Glock, who was second in Singapore, was often weak in qualifying. Then Japan will have to find a way for Kazuki Nakajima, who is no longer wanted by Williams, and Kamui Kobayashi, the number three who disappointed in European GP2.

A new tandem. After four years of collaboration, Nico Rosberg will go to Brawn, leaving McLaren to serve its future interests under the sponsorship of Mercedes-Benz. No points after the 14th Grand Prix: Kazuki Nakajima will not keep his seat. Frank Williams will have to restructure his team, hoping to get support from Renault engines. The ideal would undoubtedly be to reshape the story of Nico Rosberg with Nico Hülkenberg, the 2008 European F3 and 2009 GP2 champion, and introduced to the subtleties of F1 by bosses such as Rubens Barrichello. But beware: the Rosberg/Webber duo failed in 2006 at Williams, as the Australian was already considering a move to Red Bull. In this configuration, Heikki Kovalainen is just an outsider.

“(Alonso) was truly a great champion. I’m sure his family will always be Renault, we will miss him but he will miss us too” : This statement by Renault F1 managing director Jean-François Caubet in Singapore all but confirms that the Spaniard will join Ferrari. Perhaps it will be formalized at Suzuka. His departure will not leave Renault helpless as it was at the end of 2006 with the arrival of Robert Kubica (BMW). It is also good news for Losange, the eastern marketing front that Dacia is building. Debutant Romain Grosjean could renew his contract.

Munich decided to cease its activities at the end of 2009 and found a buyer, the investment fund Qadbak Investments Ltd. But Hinwil has a 14th driver’s license and therefore cannot guarantee a race. Robert Kubica is on his way to Renault and Nick Heidfeld has not found an interested top team yet and wants to continue with his current team, which we do not know if will still be led by Mario Theissen.

Still, it’s solid on a technical level since Ferrari will be supplying the powertrain.

Adrian Sutil’s seat seems to be unproblematic. Vitantonio Liuzzi has been given a suspended sentence until the end of the season.

Faenza does not intend to replace Sebastian Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari.

American Danica Patrick will not be there: she was expected to race in NASCAR, but ended up signing a three-year contract with Andretti Racing in IndyCar. Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion, is already well known in the radio paddock, but Peter Windsor, the right-hand man of Ken Anderson (ex-Onyx, Ligier), is waiting to make a decision. The journalist, a former sporting director of Williams F1, is also not impressed by the pseudo-candidacy of Sebastien Loeb. One thing is certain, the United States Grand Prix Engineering Team will not have an American driver.

The team will operate Cosworth under the YouTube sticker.

Manager Adrian Campos, who discovered Fernando Alonso, proved himself in GP2, winning the 2008 title with Giorgio Pantano. He entrusted the chassis design to Dallara and the propulsion system to Cosworth. The best technical references in the new series for 2010, including Gabriele Tredozi (ex-Minardi, Toro Rosso) and Ben Agathangelou (Aero, ex-Tyrrell, Honda, Benetton, Jaguar, Red Bull, Honda, Brawn). Pilot problems, suggestions pour in. McLaren substitute Pedro de la Rosa and his Ferrari alter ego Marc Gené are both in the starting lineup.

Nelson Piquet Three Cards: Alex Tai, current head of sponsorship at Virgin, which will become title sponsor of John Booth’s team next year, clarified during the Singapore Grand Prix that he would not accept this level of commitment from a driver who flouted Formula One rules.

The V8 Cosworth appears again in a machine designed by Nick Wirth (ex-Simtek, Benetton).