could it work??

[steve nielsen]

It seems very strange that a Mercedes backed driver like Heidfeld is'nt going to Mclaren but his teammate is......

[neutral]

My thoughts exactly!!! Ron seems to be infatuated with finnish drivers. Perhaps his hatred towards Schumi has hurt Nick's chances, or any german driver for that matter. Im sure Norbert would have to loved to see Nick in the Silver Arrows.

[Gt_R]

Actually, the reason behind Kimi was chosen is very clear...

When Kimi was picked into F1 by Sauber, Michael himself had witnessed Kimi first hand around Mugello during testings. It wouldn't be hard to read of interviews of praises by not only Michael, but also Todt. After a few strong race performances, there had been very strong rumours that Ferrari is deeply keen in signing on Kimi, to run him along side Michael, in preparation for replacing Ferrari as no. 1. Although there is a 3-year contract, everyone has no doubt that such a transfer would be as easy due to the political reason of engine supply. However, despite being impressed, Ferrari finds it risky, Sauber initially wanted to keep Kimi for an extra year, and when Kimi had stated in an interview he would want to finish his contract with Sauber before any switch, it came as no coincidence Ferrari announced Ruben's contract extention of 1 year... in the waiting

Jig-saw pieces fell into place. Sauber would keep his driver, and Ferrari could further evaluate Kimi's race form and quality. Things seem to fit in pretty neatly. Ferrari do not want to be over-enthusiastic is putting in a driver who may crack up in their car...although they are truly impressed by the Finn, and would love to have Kimi in if he proves his worth. Simply, "We want Kimi if he is really good, we do not know for sure yet, and we'd wait and see".

However, came a change in Peter Sauber. In an interview with ITV, he expressed his team's pretty shallow pockets "our team is one of the smallest" and that there is increasing pressure with Red-Bulls. Peter wanted cash relief, and so there were talks of Ferrari taking Kimi in as test driver, or Sauber keeping Kimi for a year for the finn to gain experience before a transfer. In exchange, Sauber demands free engine from Ferrari.

Ferrari said no. First, the engine sale is a very big form of financial support for the team, and not being fully convinced about Kimi's potential, they are not willing to risk that form of money. "What happens if Kimi screws up, like Button?" they wonder. So that leaves a tattered deal in the drain....

Then comes Mr Ron...who saw what was in the drain. His lead driver Mika is leaving, and DC had again not shown to be up to Michael. Having heard of all the praises poured upon Kimi, he had a raised eyebrow for the new finn. Being one who cannot resist to make Ferrari frown, this sore little man decide to pull one on Ferrari by snatching one of their driver options much with "Politics" scribbled over his forehead. He hoped that this would be a big boost for his ego that he could beat Ferrari at something. He knew Nick was under him with little chance of being snatched due to a petty contract, while Kimi is free in the market. It may be a risk, but he is confident it would pay off. Logic would have taken Nick, but Ron's dislike for Ferrari meant Kimi... besides, there is no other real new young talents out there who is free from a major team contract, and Ron was clearly eager to do a "JPM" or a "Michael" with a 20m contract...

So there it is...do not be surprised to see Nick in the Mclaren next year, but F1 is turning into a Political game of chess, and Ron being one of the most political... you can be sure he'd be at his best~

[drexel]

Maybe Ferrari have really wanted Heidfeld all along (keep some of the German market they've built up the last 6 years and give them a new German King in the Holy Roman Empire ). As a rookie, Kimi was doing well, but a forgotten Nick in his 2nd year was still beating him most times. I think Ferrari's next two drivers after MS and RB are now likely to be either Fisichella, Massa or Heidfeld.

In the end, Maclaren won't be able to keep all the contracts of DC, Mika, Kimi, Wurz, Nick and the new female driver.