2682 replies to this topic

[alpiner]

Williams considering Massa for F1 return if Bottas goes to Mercedes

Williams is considering allowing Valtteri Bottas to leave the Formula 1 team for Mercedes in 2017, with Felipe Massa a potential replacement.

Mercedes contacted Williams to discuss the possibility of releasing Bottas as it needs a team-mate for Lewis Hamilton following Nico Rosberg's shock retirement.

Williams rejected the offer, which included a reduction in the cost of its 2017 engine supply as well as the opportunity to run Mercedes reserve Pascal Wehrlein.

However, it is believed a second proposal is being formulated.

Williams is keen to hold on to Bottas because of his experience, given his 18-year-old team-mate Lance Stroll will be making his F1 debut.

Deputy team principal Claire Williams told the BBC the team would let Bottas leave "if an experienced, credible alternative was available".

It is also conscious of not wanting to stand in the way of Bottas making progress in his career, having brought him through its junior programme prior to giving the Finn his F1 debut in 2013.

In order for a deal to happen, Williams wants to secure a driver with experience to ensure it does not drop further down the constructors' championship.

Massa has now emerged as the leading contender to replace Bottas should Williams release him.

Having fought so hard to return to the sharp end of the field and finish third in the constructors' championship twice in a row, the team finished fifth last season.

Massa retired at the end of the season, bringing an end to a career that spanned 14 years, however he told Autosport he still wants to compete and is aiming to secure a full racing programme next year.

The Brazilian had discussions with Williams about a renewal as well as with other teams about extending his stay in F1.

Massa would provide the necessary experience Williams requires next season, should he decide he wants to return for a 15th year.

No announcement is expected until the new year, with Mercedes having said it will not reveal its plans until January 3 at the earliest.

http://classic.autos...t.php/id/127507

[Hertzog]

Williams bi mogao najgore proci zbog Rosbergovog odlaska

[alpiner]

Massa agrees to race for Williams in 2017, Bottas free for Mercedes

Felipe Massa has accepted an offer to remain in Formula 1 next year with Williams, paving the way for Valtteri Bottas to replace world champion Nico Rosberg at Mercedes.

Although final contracts have not yet been completed, Autosport's sister title Motorsport.com has learned that Massa has decided to go back on his decision to retire at the end of the 2016 season.

Mercedes is keen to sign Bottas in the wake of Rosberg's shock retirement, but Williams had resisted initial approaches for the Finn, which have included offers of reduced engine supply costs and Mercedes junior driver Pascal Wehrlein as a replacement driver.

Williams said it would need a suitable, experienced replacement if it was to release Bottas, and Massa has now agreed to stay with the team for at least another year to help it deal with the major regulation changes for 2017.

Williams has signed 18-year-old rookie Lance Stroll as one of its drivers for the 2017 season, and departing technical chief Pat Symonds had said earlier this month that it was "crucial" to retain Bottas given Stroll's inexperience.

Mercedes has made it clear that a decision on who will partner Lewis Hamilton will not be announced before next year, with Niki Lauda saying that discussions were proving "difficult".

The world champion team admitted it had been caught off guard by Rosberg's decision and that it wanted to sort its line-up as quickly as possible.

http://www.autosport...rejoin-williams

[alberto.ascari]

Massa agrees to race for Williams in 2017, Bottas free for Mercedes

Felipe Massa has accepted an offer to remain in Formula 1 next year with Williams, paving the way for Valtteri Bottas to replace world champion Nico Rosberg at Mercedes.

Although final contracts have not yet been completed, Autosport's sister title Motorsport.com has learned that Massa has decided to go back on his decision to retire at the end of the 2016 season.

Mercedes is keen to sign Bottas in the wake of Rosberg's shock retirement, but Williams had resisted initial approaches for the Finn, which have included offers of reduced engine supply costs and Mercedes junior driver Pascal Wehrlein as a replacement driver.

Williams said it would need a suitable, experienced replacement if it was to release Bottas, and Massa has now agreed to stay with the team for at least another year to help it deal with the major regulation changes for 2017.

Williams has signed 18-year-old rookie Lance Stroll as one of its drivers for the 2017 season, and departing technical chief Pat Symonds had said earlier this month that it was "crucial" to retain Bottas given Stroll's inexperience.

Mercedes has made it clear that a decision on who will partner Lewis Hamilton will not be announced before next year, with Niki Lauda saying that discussions were proving "difficult".

The world champion team admitted it had been caught off guard by Rosberg's decision and that it wanted to sort its line-up as quickly as possible.

http://www.autosport...rejoin-williams

 

 

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

Felipe Massa has played down reports that he is definitely cancelling his retirement plans in order to stay at Williams for 2017.

Amid Mercedes' mad rush to replace its suddenly-departed world champion Nico Rosberg, it is reported that Williams has now agreed to release Valtteri Bottas, but only on the condition that the experienced Massa comes back.

Mercedes' Niki Lauda, for one, thinks Massa is ripe for a comeback.

"My question is this: didn't Massa cry in Brazil?" he said on Austrian Servus TV.

"His wife and child embraced him, the whole nation was crying, so I ask: why did he cry? When you stop, you laugh! I'll call him and ask him."

It's a big hint that Mercedes has cannily negotiated the Bottas deal, but Massa told Brazil's Globo by phone while holidaying that nothing is decided.

"I have nothing to say," he insisted. "I'm very calm here and don't want to participate in it (the speculation). Everything that has been said so far is not official."

However, the reports about Massa's return are specific, with Italian television Sky saying the new Williams deal is for EUR 6 million.

And Lauda is even answering questions about what will happen when Bottas joins Mercedes, because the fact the Finn is managed by his future team boss Toto Wolff creates a conflict of interest.

"It's easy," said the Mercedes team chairman. "If Bottas comes to us, Toto cannot be his manager anymore."

But Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko thinks Mercedes should have chosen from its driver development programme, "namely Pascal Wehrlein. If you do not take him, it means you don't trust your own programme", he said.

Lauda hit back: "I want to clarify. You (Marko) rightly point out that we have a youth programme, but its purpose is to give drivers experience.

"Of course, we can discuss the Wehrlein option, but I want to point out that Max Verstappen was initially in Toro Rosso."

Marko, meanwhile, said that he at least sympathises with Mercedes' situation as it heads into Christmas.

"With Rosberg going, Red Bull Racing has clearly the strongest drivers," he said. "That's why Mercedes does not want to take the risk with a young driver and will use Bottas as a predictable asset."

 

Dakle, jos nista nije reseno. A ja i dalje mislim da bi za sve zainteresovane najidealnije bilo da Mercedes ponudi Masi ugovor na godinu dana, taman da sacekaju Alonsa ili Fetela, pa posle Verlajn ili Okon da budu eventualna zamena za Hamiltona kad ovaj digne sidro...

[DASUBO]

Rešeno je prika, sad je samo pitanje sa koliko se nula pišu određene cifre. Tj. cifra za pogonsku jedinicu, Botasa i Masu.
Sve drugo bi bilo iznenađenje.

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

It is now almost certain that Mercedes will head into 2017 with Valtteri Bottas as Lewis Hamilton's new teammate.

Authoritative reports say Felipe Massa has agreed to scrap his retirement plans in order to replace the departing Finn Bottas at Williams.

It is a blow to Pascal Wehrlein, the junior Mercedes driver who had earlier looked the favourite.

"They (Mercedes) were in a very difficult situation," Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost told the Tiroler Tageszeitung newspaper.

"They have dominated but suddenly lost the world champion, and it happened too late for them to replace him with a top driver because of all the contracts."

So when asked if he would have given the seat to 22-year-old Wehrlein, Tost answered: "Pascal is a great backup driver, but we are talking about the champion team.

"Pascal may be able to fight for victory, but it's too early for him. I've always said that it takes three years for a driver to get comfortable in formula one.

"Of course, Hamilton-Wehrlein was the easiest option for them, but they are fighting for the constructors' championship and a lot of money is at stake.

"And it's also not clear if that driver composition would have a bad influence on the stability of the team," Tost added.

Indeed, Germany's Auto Bild claims that triple world champion Hamilton actually campaigned against Wehrlein joining.

His argument is that the situation of pairing an established champion with a rookie can famously go bad -- just as being Fernando Alonso's teammate at McLaren in 2007 did.

Indeed, it seems boss Toto Wolff was convinced of that possibility, telling the Kolner Express newspaper: "Lewis and Pascal would be an explosive combination.

"What I want to avoid is the Alonso-Hamilton scenario," he added.

 

Bild = nemacka verzija Kurira...

[alberto.ascari]

Tacno tako, Bild je smece kao i Daily Mail, Kronen Zeitung ili Aftonbladet. Nema o cemu da se pise....

[alpiner]

Sauber agrees Wehrlein deal for F1 2017

Sauber has reached agreement for Pascal Wehrlein to line up alongside Marcus Ericsson this year, sources have revealed, paving the way for Valtteri Bottas to take the vacant seat at Mercedes.

After weeks of speculation about who would replace Nico Rosberg at Mercedes – with Wehrlein and Bottas the clear favourites from the start – it appears that the final steps are now being made to get everything signed off formally.

Although Wehrlein had been a contender for the Mercedes seat, it is understood that his lack of experience meant the team felt he was too much or a risk to be promoted to its works team just yet – especially going up against a driver as tough as Lewis Hamilton.

According to sources with good knowledge of the situation, Mercedes has instead now agreed terms with Sauber for it to take its junior driver Wehrlein for 2017. The final details of the contract are still to be finalised, but that should be done in the next few days.

Mercedes has settled on landing Bottas – whose exit from Williams has now been assured, with Felipe Massa having agreed to delay his retirement by another season to ensure that the Grove-based team has an experienced driver on hand alongside rookie Lance Stroll.

The announcements of Bottas, Wehrlein and Massa may well be co-ordinated to ensure that no teams risks being left in an awkward position.

The confirmation of the plans for Mercedes, Sauber and Williams means that the only vacancies left on the grid are now at Manor, which is currently in takeover talks with interested investors.

Esteban Gutierrez is a front-runner for one of the seats, while Felipe Nasr and Rio Haryanto have also been linked with the outfit.

http://www.motorspor...f1-2017-862405/

[romantik]

Kako je glupo ovo sa otkupom ugovora

Kad se vec desila situacija da se oslobodi kvalitetno mesto neplanski, steta je sto ga nije dobio neko ko je trenutno van sporta a ne ovako, zakon jaceg

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

Rio Haryanto has dropped out of the running to return to F1 in 2017.

The Indonesian rookie's 2016 season ended prematurely with sponsor trouble, and now his main backer Pertamina has pulled out completely.

Haryanto, 23, had been in the running to return this year with either Manor or Sauber.

But his mother, Indah Pennywati, told the Asian news source Rappler that her son "Will not be in F1 this year".

"The deadline with the Sauber team is up," she added, referring the Swiss outfit that is believed to have now signed Pascal Wehrlein.

Pennywati said her son is now likely to work in 2017 with the family's popular stationary business, Kiky.

Deputy Indonesian sports minister Gatot S Dewa Broto commented: "I was of course very sorry when I heard that Rio could no longer compete in F1.

"We hope that Rio's career does not end just because of a lack of funds," he added.

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

Mercedes should have been braver and signed MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi for 2017.

That is the view of former F1 driver Alex Zanardi, amid news the German team will almost certainly sign up Williams' Valtteri Bottas instead.

"For me, Valentino was the most logical choice," Zanardi, a former Williams driver, told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Mercedes has had to engineer a complex deal to get Bottas out of his 2017 Williams contract, involving Felipe Massa calling off his retirement and perhaps even fast-forwarding Paddy Lowe's move to Williams.

But Zanardi thinks Rossi, the 37-year-old flamboyant motorcycle racing star, would have been a more exciting choice to replace retiring world champion Nico Rosberg.

"I think it would have been perfect," he said. "His arrival in formula one would have boosted the audience a lot.

"Can you imagine the media impact that a single victory by Valentino at the wheel of a Mercedes would have had?" Zanardi, now a 50-year-old Paralympic hand-cycling champion, added.

But with Bottas set to be confirmed instead, Zanardi thinks Mercedes will again be strong in 2017 anyway.

He dismissed Ferrari's chances of a big improvement.

"I honestly do not think there will be a great improvement," said Zanardi. "I expect to see (Lewis) Hamilton win."

 
Da, kad bi Rosi pobedio to bi bilo fenomenalno sa marketinske strane. Problem je samo sto bi Rosi cak i u dominantnom Mercedesu kakvog smo gledali prosle sezone ispao smesan, u najboljem slucaju bi se klao sa Forsovcima i Vilijamsovcima za neko 5-6 mesto, a Hamilton bi uzeo sve pol pozicije i pobede u sezoni.
 
U sotalim vestima:
 

After losing his seat at Haas, Esteban Gutierrez will continue his motor racing career in the Formula E single seater series.

The Mexican driver and the electric-powered series has announced that the 25-year-old will race in "select events" this season, including in his native Mexico in April.

Formula E said Gutierrez is in talks with "a number of teams" with the aim of then securing a full-time entry for 2018.

"I think this could be the start of a very long and successful career in Formula E," said Formula E supremo Alejandro Agag.

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

Kompletna lista vozaca sa poenima za F1 superlicencu: http://www.f1fanatic...coring-drivers/

 

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