2009 Formula 1 Drivers Rumours - Third Edition - Return of Sato ?
All we need is 2 weeks break between races and the rumour floodgates open. Let’s have a look what’s new since the second edition.
Robert Kubica has been doing well and so it comes as no surprise his future has been talked about quite a bit. Few innocent remarks to Italian paper La Stampa created two contradictory rumours. First linking Rosberg with BMW Sauber (as Kubica’s team mate) and then linking Kubica with a move to Ferrari. Sounds interesting but whom would Kubica replace ? Massa is under contract till 2010 and doing well right now (after shaky start to the season). There has been lots of talking about Raikkonen’s retirement but if I am not wrong that is part of the post 2009 future. All I can say about Kubica and Ferrari is that Kubica’s helmet matches the Ferrari colour scheme quite well as the picture above shows 
.
Fernando Alonso has dismissed the rumours about him signing for Ferrari, so now it is time to link him to BMW Sauber, now also a race winning car. It may help that Robert Kubica does not seem to mind having Alonso as a team mate. The question for me however is if Alonso would be OK with Kubica in the other car. At the moment all that is sure about Alonso’s future is that he has not made any decision on it, at least that is what he says.
Coulthard’s departure and Vettel’s arrival in Red Bull seems to be the only generally accepted rumour scenario for next year. DC’s speach after his podium in Montreal did sound a bit sentimental and I would not be suprised to see Coulthard move from Red Bull garage to BBC commentators box in 2009. Vettel’s confidence (despite unclear future of Toro Rosso) looks like another sign pointing in his Red Bull direction:
“I know a little bit of the internal situation so I am very confident.”
The rumour that circulated ahead of Canadian GP, suggesting three way switch Coulthard to Renault, Vettel to Red Bull and Piquet to Toro Rosso has only one flaw. How would anybody except Vettel benefit from this ?
Last week we had here interesting debate on Danica Patrick and her links to F1, especially Honda. Most commentators did not find her move to Formula 1 likely, at least not anytime soon. Today however Pitpass and F1 Live came up with a weird one: Honda North America - a second Honda team - could enter F1, possibly as early as 2009. What a cozy environment for Patrick, an American driver with Honda connection, would that be . Unfortunatelly for her the only names mentioned with this outfit were Takuma Sato (surprise surprise) and GP2 race winner Alvaro Parente.
The fact that the alleged reports on this came from Portugal may explain why Parente’s name came up. Honda are said to be ready to sell engines, gearboxes and KERS systems to the new team but where would the chassis come from that quickly the rumour source forgot to ask. Anyway, would Honda support another F1 project only few months after pulling the plug on Super Aguri ?
Photos: F1Wolf, Red Bull/GEPA, Super Aguri F1
tags: Tags: 2009, 2009 Formula 1 Drivers, Alvaro Parente, BMW Sauber, Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Honda, Nelson Piquet, Nick Heidfeld, Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica, rumour, Takuma Sato
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June 17th, 2008 at 4:25 am
The Honda in NA rumor is very interesting and does put the Patrick story higher on the list of possibilities. I still don’t think so, not yet anyway.
My head is starting to spin with all the Alonso rumors and his cryptic messages he sends to the press.
I still feel Kubica will remain with BMW-Sauber. He’s a huge part of the reason they are where they are now and they know that. When talks begin about his future, I bet BMW will open all the doors for him.
As for Alonso as his team mate, you’re right, he won’t care. He won’t bite on anything Alonso and will just do what he does best and let everything else slide right by him. I get the picture he could be the ‘ice man 2″
June 28th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
[...] time not in connection with the “future Honda North America Team” but an existing one - Force India. The rumour has it, as Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell [...]
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:55 pm
[...] his speach after Canadian podium. It would also make some sense out of Vettel’s claim that he knows a little bit of the internal situation and is very confident about his future. I would however also not be suprised if we hear Coulthard coming out soon rubbishing all the [...]